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Motronic posted:Update on winter rye: Nice. You have a really good set up going
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Oct 9, 2017 18:03
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Pillow Armadillo posted:Consistently 25-31C (afternoon highs in the low/mid 90F, 90-100% humidity) Your temps are still high enough to start again. I'd just chuck the lot tbh. Seedlings are only worth so much messing around, especially if you can't identify for sure what's happening with them.
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Oct 9, 2017 21:26
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plasmoduck posted:It's just a dwarf potted lemon that we bought from bunnings last year. Currently looks like this: Lots of flowers and the leaves look pretty healthy! Put in the sunniest spot you have, make sure the pot is draining properly and remember to water it. Also, keep an eye out for pests. Citrus leaf miner especially will become a problem as the plant begins to throw out new spring foliage, and it's not something you can correct once the damage occurs - you have to spray preventatively with a hort oil, or use a hormone trap, while that new growth is coming in to keep them off. In terms of pot size, it's hard to tell from the photo, but I think the best rule of thumb is the pot should look appropriate for the size of the plant - neither to small nor too large. Overpotting can lead to dampness issues, and then fungus, rot etc. It will certainly need to go into a large (50 or even 60 cm) pot eventually, but do it incrementally, once every 1-2 years maybe. FYI, Bunnings plants can be hit or miss, so check them thoroughly before you buy!
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Oct 12, 2017 11:14
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Mozi posted:After the proper period of denial, I've accepted that spider mites have made a beachhead in my greenhouse. Was just a matter of time, I suppose; fungus gnats and aphids have been dealt with or at least managed before, so time to learn how to deal with these suckers... My current plan is to spray (in a cycle, once every few days) insecticide soap, neem and karanja oil, rosemary oil, and lavender tea, while also buying some Neoseiulus mites and lacewing larvae. Hopefully the few ladybugs that hung around from previous aphid battles will lend a hand as well. Guess we'll see if these two-spot bastards are as tricky as their reputation suggests. Just to follow up on how this went, I (knock on wood) may have actually done this correctly. The mites, if there are still any, seem to be controlled by the predatory mites I bought (Neoseiulus californicus). I first did a week and a half of that spraying schedule; the only thing that went wrong there is the 2% rosemary oil spray burned the crap out of some of my plants (my datura in particular looks like somebody dumped acid on it.) Definitely would cut that down to 1% if needed in the future. It was highly effective in killing, well, pretty much everything, though (including some ladybugs, unfortunately.) Anyways, after all that was done the populations of the mites (and aphids, always hanging around) were knocked down considerably, and that's when I introduced the beneficial insects. In addition to the Neoseiulus californicus I also introduced some lacewing larvae and Stratiolaelaps scimitus mites as a general fungus gnat control. Fungus gnats don't really bother me too much - they're pretty much just a part of gardening using organic soil, I think, and there's a lot of fungal activity in my soil - but it would be nice to not have to do the occasional watering with Bti (mosquito dunks/bits) when they get a bit unruly. Anyways, if anybody is encountering similar issues, this worked for me.
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Oct 12, 2017 19:07
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Summer seedlings are coming along OK. What survives to be transplanted to a permanent home is another story but at least it's early enough to start over if necessary.
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Oct 15, 2017 23:21
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Lolie posted:Summer seedlings are coming along OK. What survives to be transplanted to a permanent home is another story but at least it's early enough to start over if necessary. Glad to hear your setup is thriving! Hot pepper, round 2 started germinating this weekend. Hope I can get some vegetation going before spring and share some seeds with other gardeners... Currently Germinating: Hot Tomato Habanero (West Indies) Bishop's Cap (sprouted in 7 days the first time) Bolivian Rainbow Purple Bird Chili Numex Twilight My goal is to keep whatever eventually transplants alive for a year, then try my hand at turning some into ornamental bonsai. Any advice on tomato plant pollination? I have a red tumbler flowering that I'd love to help fruit. Pillow Armadillo fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Oct 15, 2017 |
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Oct 15, 2017 23:31
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Mozi posted:Anyways, if anybody is encountering similar issues, this worked for me. I certainly appreciated that, cause I've been reading through the thread for that exact same problem. I had my first spider mite infestation a couple months ago on some deck lemons and mint, but I was just starting out and the plants were small so it was easy enough to hose down each leaf with some bio soap + oil in water and knock 'em out. Now, though, the mint looks like this and it's way too bushy to get every leaf with spray (and it'll hopefully get bigger)  Thing is, I've just moved to a place with a yard and I'm going to plant that cluster. Does anyone know if I can just ignore the issue once the mint is established outside? My mom has had a giant mint patch in her yard for at least 20 years without doing a lick of maintenance to it. Different conditions though, I'm in Belgium and she's in New Hampshire. the little buggers 
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Oct 16, 2017 00:24
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Our garden's really taken a beating this year. We've had droughts, floods, and then a hurricane that dropped a big oak tree right on top of the main bed. Probably just gonna have to call it quits at this point. I think my priority for next year is going to be improving the irrigation. It's such a pain in the rear end to drag a hose around and spray everything, but it's all too spread out to just throw a sprinkler in the middle either. Does anyone have an elaborate chained sprinkler & drip hose setups?
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Oct 16, 2017 00:46
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Does anyone have an elaborate chained sprinkler & drip hose setups? Yep. Posted about it in this thread. What would you like to know and how big of a garden are we talking about?
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Oct 16, 2017 02:08
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Motronic posted:Yep. Posted about it in this thread. Hijacking! Should I worry about water hammering using a hose end timer? Pressure is about 50psi (regulated coming into the house), and the plumbing is all iron pipe. I've noticed some thunking when the last valve turns off (I have them all overlap slightly to avoid hammering) and while I haven't seen any sign that it's a problem I'd rather it not be in the form of an emergency plumbing call.
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Oct 16, 2017 02:47
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Hubis posted:Hijacking! Should I worry about water hammering using a hose end timer? Pressure is about 50psi (regulated coming into the house), and the plumbing is all iron pipe. I've noticed some thunking when the last valve turns off (I have them all overlap slightly to avoid hammering) and while I haven't seen any sign that it's a problem I'd rather it not be in the form of an emergency plumbing call. If you have any concern/sign of this you can install a point of use water hammer arrestor: https://www.amazon.com/Sioux-Chief-660-HB-Hammer-Arrestor/dp/B004P5D0MG I had to do this when I got a "fancy" new washer that likes to open and close the valves basically instantly 3 or 4 times during the start of the cycle (WTF LG?) and it sounded like the pipes were going to jump out of the wall. In this case I needed two of them to cover hot and cold. I don't have this problem with my zone valves because they are all fed from the barn, which gets it's water through a 3/4" "well line" (plastic pipe) run underground from the house. This has plenty of give to make up for any hammer they are causing.
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Oct 16, 2017 03:39
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Nosre posted:Thing is, I've just moved to a place with a yard and I'm going to plant that cluster. Does anyone know if I can just ignore the issue once the mint is established outside? My mom has had a giant mint patch in her yard for at least 20 years without doing a lick of maintenance to it. Different conditions though, I'm in Belgium and she's in New Hampshire. Yeah, once the plant is outdoors and exposed to the elements you shouldn't have a problem. Just natural wind and rain will keep good pressure on the mites and you shouldn't have to think about them at all.
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Oct 16, 2017 15:23
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Pillow Armadillo posted:
I assume you're growing inside if you're worried about pollination. If the environment isn't too humid, then a gentle shake should be enough.
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Oct 17, 2017 02:45
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Mozi posted:Yeah, once the plant is outdoors and exposed to the elements you shouldn't have a problem. Just natural wind and rain will keep good pressure on the mites and you shouldn't have to think about them at all. Cheers. This yard has a ton of snails, too (Belgium is a good bit more rainy than NH, and doesn't get as cold in the winter, so I'm finding things quite a bit different) but apparently mint is fairly repellent for snails so hopefully I'm good to go. Gonna have to do a lot of research for next spring.
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Oct 17, 2017 14:02
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Pillow Armadillo posted:Any advice on tomato plant pollination? I have a red tumbler flowering that I'd love to help fruit. I used an electric tooth brush to shake the pollen free when I was growing tomatoes indoors.
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Oct 17, 2017 18:17
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Tomato is a Red Tumbler (Tumbling Tom?) currently hanging in a basket outside. I'm not counting on much beneficial insect pollination, but it's going to stay outside as long as it lives. Pepper germination, round 2. The plastic grownbox is a new addition I'm messing with. I put about a third of my varieties in rockwool to germinate under the same conditions as soil. Let's see what happens...  The lone survivors from last month's sowing: 
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Oct 17, 2017 20:01
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Pillow Armadillo posted:Tomato is a Red Tumbler (Tumbling Tom?) currently hanging in a basket outside. I'm not counting on much beneficial insect pollination, but it's going to stay outside as long as it lives. The survivors are looking pretty good. Tomatoes don't need insects for pollination. Natural breezes should be enough. High humidity and high temperatures can make pollen too sticky to fall loose. When that happens the plant will usually abort the first lot of flowers (happens here almost every season). You *can* hand pollinate tomatoes, but if shaking/vibrating the plants isn't working then the pollen is likely too sticky to collect easily. Lolie fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Oct 18, 2017 |
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Oct 18, 2017 06:58
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Pillow Armadillo posted:The lone survivors from last month's sowing: Is that white fuzz mold on the surface of the soil there? If it is that would imply the soil is still too damp, for peppers it is best to let the surface of the soil dry out before watering.
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Oct 18, 2017 10:13
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Ebola Dog posted:Is that white fuzz mold on the surface of the soil there? If it is that would imply the soil is still too damp, for peppers it is best to let the surface of the soil dry out before watering. To me it looks more like the hypha of some mycelium. A lot of commercial soils are innoculated these days as it helps maintain soil structure, nutrient exchange, water retention, etc. I'm glad you were able to salvage some peppers from your previous endeavor. My first time starting seeds from scratch was a total wash; but I learned a LOT of lessons that season. Big Nubbins fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Oct 18, 2017 |
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Oct 18, 2017 15:36
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Shame Boner posted:To me it looks more like the hypha of some mycelium. A lot of commercial soils are innoculated these days as it helps maintain soil structure, nutrient exchange, water retention, etc. This lesson would’ve taken longer without goon guidance- Cause: Watering seedlings in evening with (properly) diluted fish fert... Effect: A lighter concentration of damp, nitrogenous soil is still a great breeding ground (for fungi and bacteria) I should also mention that this germination round is expected to have issues: surrounding my raised vegetable bed and across most of the 1/4 acre of backyard are damp oak leaves and tree limbs from a recent storm. I know some of the insects will go away once that’s taken care of. The constant problem solving and feedback is what’s gotten me hooked on gardening. I’m gonna let these transplants ride and just let the soil dry out a bit. Pillow Armadillo fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Oct 18, 2017 |
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Oct 18, 2017 18:01
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Pillow Armadillo posted:This lesson would’ve taken longer without goon guidance- One thing which might become an issue is the plants not getting enough light. Even in winter, they're still going to need quite a bit of sunlight each day.
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Oct 18, 2017 23:11
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This is a new one for me. Been growing various kinds of eggplant for a couple years and have never had any problems with anything messing with them. Now something seems to occasionally want one (click for huge): Any ideas on what's doing it? The thing that stands out for me is that spot that's been attacked is the stem end, and these are a variety of Japanese eggplant with fairly sturdy thorns on the calyx. So it seems like if you wanted to gnaw on one it's the last place you'd gently caress with, not where you'd start.
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Oct 19, 2017 22:40
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Bugger me, I'm sore. If anyone wonders what it's like to do gardening on another planet, please be my guest. Do it for me. I just finished up another 2x2m or so patch in the yard where I'm attempting to get grass to grow. There has been some on and off since we got this place but it's been hard to keep alive. That it grows at all is due to a PO of the house who seems to have gotten a truckload of sand and attempted to mix it into the top few cm of the ground. I've found a solution that seems to work is the following: Penetrate the ground at least 10cm (a very long and difficult process) and smash the chunks as best I can. Like get them down to a tennis ball or smaller size. Wet the area with a lot of water. Introduce organic matter and maybe 10-20% sand compared to ground. Mix it all through with the fork, add more water and rake it even-ish. Add grass seeds. Dig them through so they are at various depths. Deeper have a lower chance of surviving untl they reach the surface but have a higher chance of surviving once they are up. Rake and water. Hope for the best. That was just grass. Planting vegetables, fruit trees and decorative plants is anothe rthing again. The vegetable garden was established at some point before we moved here then left to return to it's natural state. Over the years I've built it up with fertilizer, organic matter and compost. It's diggable maybe down to 20cm depth on average. Over the last 8(?) years I've been experimenting with different methods of getting things to grow. So far I have worked out the following. *Watering needs to be done either very early in the morning or very late at night. Otherwise there is a high risk of hot water burning the plants, or residual water droplets burning them from a lens effect. * Nothing can grow near structures. The reflected light and heat can kill plants within a day. * Almost nothing will germinate. After a lot of experimentation I have a small shadecloth covered greenhouse with automatic watering that seems to be capale of germinating plants on one side. A second layer of shadecloth, possibly with an air gap may be needed for the other side. These plants germinate in a vegetable potting mix. * Nothing survives in summer. Half a day and the plants are brown and crispy. I've got some tomato seedlings, some baby beets I think, and some other plants I can't remember germinating in the greenhouse currently. I just planted a whole heap of seeds. Whatever germinates is a bonus. There are some pre-established (purchased) tomatoes growing in the garden. They are not growing as fast as the control tomatoes. One of which was in the greenhouse, the other in a planter in the verandah. For the first time we are having success keeping a pre established strawberry plant alive. There is also a pre established pumpkin plant which is surviving and growing slowly. Everything is watered for 20 minutes a day with a combination of mist, rotating, and drip watering. If you are wondering what the soil (ha) is like, it's clay. Not clay soil. Clay. No rocks or pebbles, very little grit. Very little organic matter of any kind. Non-porous and almost as hard as concrete. I don't know what it's origin is, but I suspect it's as old as the continental landmass, and much of it has never been touched. Ever read The Martian? That's what it feels like only with more atmosphere and more heat. The sheer number of plant deaths can be discouraging, but I grew up gardening and I like having green around me. Also for some reason things grown in this soil have a good flavour. Just putting this out there partially to vent, and partially to help encourage others to keep at it.
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Oct 24, 2017 03:55
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where the hell do you live, southern algeria?
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Oct 24, 2017 05:04
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General_Failure posted:*Watering needs to be done either very early in the morning or very late at night. Otherwise there is a high risk of hot water burning the plants, or residual water droplets burning them from a lens effect. This is why most tropical rain forests have no plant life.
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Oct 24, 2017 05:18
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awesmoe posted:where the hell do you live, southern algeria? 'Straya, mate. On the plains, inland. It gets far, far worse than where I live but it can still be a challenge. It's a bit of a weird town. There are plenty of gardens but they consist of a really strange mix of plants. Probably imported on the sly a long time ago by locals travelling abroad. Crops around here are mostly rice and canola. I kind of get the rice. It might be expensive to buy the water allocation, but besides evaporation, that water isn't going anywhere. In all seriousness, I can dig a hole and put water in it. Most of the water will still be in the hole weeks later. Un-improved soil won't grow poo poo. In my yard one corner is particularly bad. Even speargrass and kikuyu struggle to get a toehold. Oddly the first thing we've succeeded growing there is a soft shell almond tree. I guess they like poor soil. The bit of ground I dug was about 2x3m btw. I wasn't paying much attention to the size of it. Been working on it piecemeal for the last week though.
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Oct 24, 2017 08:28
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crikey noo zullund is a lot easier to garden in, that's for sure
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Oct 24, 2017 09:00
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General_Failure posted:*Watering needs to be done either very early in the morning or very late at night. Otherwise there is a high risk of hot water burning the plants, or residual water droplets burning them from a lens effect. If you think about the physics involved with this idea, it becomes obvious very quickly that this is a massive myth (if you don't believe me, Google it, because I certainly didn't believe the first few people who told me). Watering late in the day when the sun is still out can actually be beneficial if you have humidity issues which, granted, it sounds like you do not. Sounds to me like growing local species might be easier. Do you have any indoor space where you could grow things that can't stand the heat outdoors? kedo fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Oct 24, 2017 |
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Oct 24, 2017 13:28
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kedo posted:If you think about the physics involved with this idea, it becomes obvious very quickly that this is a massive myth (if you don't believe me, Google it, because I certainly didn't believe the first few people who told me). Watering late in the day when the sun is still out can actually be beneficial if you have humidity issues which, granted, it sounds like you do not. Maybe I'm wrong about the lens effect, but it certainly does cause massive issues if the water gets on the plants, even if the water is cool. Wetting the soil is fine. I've lived around the place in QLD, NSW and VIC, and it is certainly region dependent. It doesn't seem to be a simple relation to latitude. I live on the NSW/VIC border and compared to most other places I've lived growing things is really hard here. Unless there is rain, which is pretty rare there's not a real humidity issue. Evaporative coolers are used widely here for that reason. quote:Sounds to me like growing local species might be easier. quote:Do you have any indoor space where you could grow things that can't stand the heat outdoors?
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Oct 24, 2017 20:47
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General_Failure posted:I live on the NSW/VIC border and compared to most other places I've lived growing things is really hard here. I would have assumed the Sunraysia area from what you said earlier but it seems not. The successive heat waves last summer really battered my garden around but I did still manage to harvest some tomatoes, some cucumbers and lots of capsicum. One thing I have realised is that most general gardening guidelines are wrong and you really do have to adapt them to your specific area. I don't even try to deal with my clay soil. I grow everything in raised beds/containers. I laugh at the "full sun" recommendations because I know that full summer sun will fry just about everything. I usually find you need to plant either earlier or later than recommended in gardening guides (planting instructions on seed packets are especially useless). I absolutely agree with you about watering either early morning or late evening in summer, though (it doesn't matter that much at other times of the year). I don't think it has as much to do with the lens affect as it does with how quickly those water droplets heat up and start to steam the leaves. You pretty much can't be away from your garden even overnight in summer unless you have some kind of automatic watering system. I'm actually trying to grow salad on my (south facing) kitchen windowsill this summer. It will be an interesting experiment, but I'm determined to be able to harvest some kind of salad leaves this summer, even if it's microgreens/baby leaves.
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Oct 25, 2017 03:50
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I am very skeptical of the supposed dangers of watering during the day. To my knowledge the main issue is just that mid-day watering is less effective because it evaporates before the soil and plants can fully absorb it.
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Oct 25, 2017 13:58
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I am very skeptical of the supposed dangers of watering during the day. To my knowledge the main issue is just that mid-day watering is less effective because it evaporates before the soil and plants can fully absorb it. It only seems to matter here once summer hits. During the milder seasons there's no issue. Bear in mind that we're talking temperatures where the first water out of the hose is scalding hot and where you cannot be barefoot outside. Tomatoes pretty much go dormant during that kind of heat so that could also be a reason why watering them during the heat of the day doesn't seem to be effective and only seems to create problems..
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Oct 25, 2017 21:44
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I just took the laziest route possible to "amending" my clay soil and dumped a heap of compost that's full of cow poo poo and duck poo poo over it. I doubt it will improve the soil, but at least it will fill in the baked rock hard dips/holes.
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Oct 27, 2017 22:01
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Finding more and more little holes in my leaves. I caught a caterpillar completely devouring my basil plant but I don't know what could be causing this. Is this something that bugs or a caterpillar would cause?    
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Oct 28, 2017 17:10
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Any insect life growing on the underside of those leaves?
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Oct 28, 2017 18:34
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ROFLburger posted:Finding more and more little holes in my leaves. I caught a caterpillar completely devouring my basil plant but I don't know what could be causing this. Is this something that bugs or a caterpillar would cause? Definitely looks like caterpillar damage. I find that when they're teeny they'll chew holes anywhere in a leaf and that you don't tend to see big chunks taken out of the edges of the leaf until they're much bigger. I tend to just pick off the damaged leaves with established plants, but in your third picture they're doing a lot of damage to a plant which isn't yet established. I have a new sage plant which they were getting to quite badly and for the moment I've cut a soft drink bottle in half and am using it as a cloche to protect it from egg layers until it's bigger. They've been ravaging my mint and oregano, too but those are well established plant which can cope with me picking off the damaged leaves. You could also net your seedlings until they're much bigger. Both natural and synthetic sprays work really well against caterpillars. It's generally not worth trying to work out the specific type of caterpillar involved, but if you see a lot of butterflies around expect trouble. You'll probably find your caterpillar problems come in waves. I tend to get them around now, then they disappear for a while during the hot weather (when aphids are happy to take their place). It's really, really hard to see baby caterpillars. They tend to lie flat against the veins on leaves. If you've got big fat ones around, you've almost certainly got lots of babies too. Lolie fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Oct 28, 2017 |
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Oct 28, 2017 21:30
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Pillow Armadillo posted:Any insect life growing on the underside of those leaves? None that I can find. Looks the same on the bottom as it does on the top Lolie posted:Definitely looks like caterpillar damage. I find that when they're teeny they'll chew holes anywhere in a leaf and that you don't tend to see big chunks taken out of the edges of the leaf until they're much bigger. Yeah, I've only caught one because his color contrasted against the fence he was climbing. I wonder if I could put the plants on table and put something on the table legs that would prohibit/discourage them from climbing up?
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Oct 29, 2017 01:48
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ROFLburger posted:
Almost every caterpillar which will eat your plants hatches on the plant itself, so elevating your plants doesn't usually help much. Netting is your best chance of keeping butterflies from laying eggs on your plants, but you'll still need to check the plants frequently. Some species only lay single eggs at a time, which you almost certainly won't notice before they hatch. Others lay many eggs at a time which makes it easier to notice them. They almost always lay on the underside of leaves. BT is an extremely effective natural caterpillar killer which is harmless to beneficial insects.
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Oct 29, 2017 03:32
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We had a big frost this morning, is it too late to plant garlic over winter? Also any UK goons use kings for seeds?
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Oct 30, 2017 12:02
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cakesmith handyman posted:We had a big frost this morning, is it too late to plant garlic over winter? Hell no it's not too late. I was super lazy last year and let fall get away from me, so when we had a few sunny days in the middle of the week around Christmas, I sprung into action and set up a mini greenhouse over my garlic bed:  Before the rig, the ground was frozen solid. By the end of that week, I could easily plunge my hand a foot into the soil. I planted ~100 cloves, put away the screen door, mulched heavily, and let it do its thing. I had a really successful harvest this year; enough to be very selective about which cloves I plant for next season. I still haven't planted any, but it's been busy lately and I still have "plenty" of time 
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Oct 30, 2017 15:24
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