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Twelve by Pies posted:Aha, I figured there had to be a gardening thread somewhere! If you are a beginner, never starting anything from seed before. I would recommend flower bulbs. Lupines would probably be easy to start from a seed, they are generally drought resistant, so if you forget to water, they should survive. They also don't need fertilizer and can do well in poor soil. Fozzy The Bear fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Mar 21, 2022 |
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Mar 21, 2022 18:46
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Sunflowers maybe? They're beautiful and everyone loves them and then at the end of summer they droop and wilt and look like 6 foot tall depressed flower skeletons so you also get a spook factor.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:17
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Lupines were easy to start from seed for us, but they don't flower the first year. I second zinnias. Even just grabbing a wildflower mix will be helpful for pollinators and it's easy as long as you get one made for your area.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:29
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Our dirt is red and acidic, we're worried more about heat tolerance than cold tolerance, Oh yeah, tons of red clay out in this area, so I know what you're talking about. And it definitely rarely gets cold, especially since climate change has started to kick in, I don't think we've seen a low lower than 18 F or so in winter for years. It doesn't get much higher than the high 90s either, though it's not unheard of. The catalog my mom gave me has a little map on the order thing that has areas listed in zones (the catalog is the 2022 spring Dutch Gardens catalog) but that seems mostly concerned with temperature rather than soil (and to be fair, I could just buy fancy soil if I wanted, so that's probably why). This catalog seems to almost exclusively sell bulbs/live plants rather than seeds, which is good I suppose since people are saying bulbs are good to start with. I don't see any lupines or zinnias in it, but it does have a good amount of lilies and irises. Also dahlias, like the entire first half of the catalog is dahlias. At any rate I suppose I can also hit up the local farming supply stores since they likely would mostly stock things that would grow well in the area.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:18
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sexy tiger boobs posted:Lupines were easy to start from seed for us, but they don't flower the first year. I second zinnias. Even just grabbing a wildflower mix will be helpful for pollinators and it's easy as long as you get one made for your area. It must depend on the type of lupine, all of mine flowered the first year. I'm in California, threw seed out with winter rains, they are all blooming now.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:50
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Oregon here so yeah maybe it just comes down to the shorter growing season.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:58
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I couldn't find a more appropriate thread for this, so behold, blue oyster mycelium 9 days into a bucket of aspen pet bedding I'm going to try some indoors and out and see if I can't turn a few bucks worth of horse food and hamster bedding into a shitload of fresh mushrooms I'm roughly doing this tek: https://grocycle.com/growing-mushrooms-in-buckets/ If these work well I'll try some fancier stuff. also I'm tempting fate w/ tomatoes outside a month early in coastal VA. I started them too early under the crazy lights when i had room for them under the lights and it was kinda overkill  solo cups are placeholders for parsley, dill and thyme, probably
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Mar 21, 2022 21:13
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I enjoy making jams! Would it be feasible to keep maybe two to three berry bushes in pots on a balcony? Could they possibly thrive in such a condition, enough to yield a maybe a pound or two between them if they're all the same berry? I was thinking blackberries, but am open to other suggestions, especially if what I have in mind isn't ideal for beginners. I'm in Denver, and I don't know if altitude would have an effect. Another concern I have is that where I live, there isn't a TON of direct sunlight, so I guess what I plant will have to enjoy a bit of shade on the balcony.
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Mar 21, 2022 21:30
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That Old Ganon posted:I enjoy making jams! Would it be feasible to keep maybe two to three berry bushes in pots on a balcony? Could they possibly thrive in such a condition, enough to yield a maybe a pound or two between them if they're all the same berry? It's certainly possible, though it may take a while to get the plants developed enough to have a significant yield. I know Logee's has some blueberry varieties that are (supposed to be) well adapted to growing in containers but they may not like the lack of light very much depending on just how shady your porch is. Wallet fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Mar 21, 2022 |
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Mar 21, 2022 21:50
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That Old Ganon posted:I enjoy making jams! Would it be feasible to keep maybe two to three berry bushes in pots on a balcony? Could they possibly thrive in such a condition, enough to yield a maybe a pound or two between them if they're all the same berry? Look for: Baby Cakes® Blackberry Raspberry Shortcake® Raspberry They were developed to be thornless, grow in pots, and only get 3 feet tall. I would still probably go with a 10 gallon pot minimum. I don't know what kind of yield you would get per plant. Check at which time the sunlight directly shines on your balcony, and which time it goes away. Berry bushes will need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Also under brand name "Bushel and Berry"
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Mar 21, 2022 22:59
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All the plants I ordered from One Green World last autumn are doing amazing and I now have new growth on the Zanthoxylum simulans (prickly ash/peppercorn) trees and the tea trees as well. I don’t expect to get anything for cooking this year, but future years look promising.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:02
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unlimited shrimp posted:Sunflowers maybe? They're beautiful and everyone loves them and then at the end of summer they droop and wilt and look like 6 foot tall depressed flower skeletons so you also get a spook factor. When my girls were younger we always bordered the gardens with the tallest sunflowers I could find. You get the added bonus of all the finches in your area fussing at you when you're in the garden! Mostly I just keep running flowers on the fence to attract pollinators these days.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:07
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mischief posted:When my girls were younger we always bordered the gardens with the tallest sunflowers I could find. You get the added bonus of all the finches in your area fussing at you when you're in the garden! For some reason no one seems to be aware that there are perennial sunflowers and you can get this without having to plant them every year.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:12
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Wallet posted:For some reason no one seems to be aware that there are perennial sunflowers and you can get this without having to plant them every year. The birds and squirrels always did their best to make sure we didn’t have seeds left, so cutting a dry head off before they eat it all kept us drowning in seed growing up. But sunflowers are great and easy to grow even if it’s just plant new seed every year and do your best to cover it long enough to keep the birds away.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:22
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Look for: Does the material matter for the pot the bush will go in? Does it just need holes on the bottom?
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Mar 22, 2022 22:30
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I don't believe I've ever put a perennial in a garden and my wife would probably be annoyed if I put them in the front beds. It was always a fun thing to do with the kids, plus like Jhet said they got homemade seeds out of it and our whole yard at that house was absolutely covered in goldfinches and house finches who thought they owned it. Where we are now is way more woodland, lot less birds and lot more critters. I don't remember the last time we actually planted flowers. I had some kind of morning glory type flower grow up on the old dog run fence that I encouraged and it gets really pretty but that's about it.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:35
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My favorite "sunflower" is tithonia (just calling it that because of its common name). They grow into huge bushy things that last all season. Butterflies love them.
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Mar 22, 2022 22:53
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Wallet posted:For some reason no one seems to be aware that there are perennial sunflowers and you can get this without having to plant them every year. In my neighborhood we have sunflowers blooming now. We're in California and the seasons are very confusing to the plants. A few years ago, a handful of sunflowers were planted in one front yard. That fall the seeds dropped and were dispersed by wildlife and when it rained in the fall, the seeds sprouted and grew (slowly) all winter, in at least three yards, including a dense forest of sunflowers in the original spot. That year we didn't get any real frost and they survived, blooming in the late spring and through summer. Squirrels and birds dispersed even more seeds even farther, now reaching several houses down on either side of the street. Again, it rained in the fall and they sprouted, no frost (thanks climate change), and we've had sunflowers blooming since the beginning of March. It's inspiring me to want to scatter as many sunflower seeds as I can find in vacant lots this fall.
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Mar 22, 2022 23:19
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I have some of these guys and they are perennial. I don't know what they are (the old gardener lady who passed them along to me just called them 'mexican hats'), but they are fantastic and have nice looking foliage when they don't have a flower. I've seen them growing wild in East Texas.
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Mar 22, 2022 23:54
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Rudbeckia maxima I believe
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Mar 23, 2022 00:02
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Bloody Cat Farm posted:Rudbeckia maxima I believe That's it exactly, thanks! I've always wondered what it actually was.
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Mar 23, 2022 00:17
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I have some of these guys and they are perennial. I don't know what they are (the old gardener lady who passed them along to me just called them 'mexican hats'), but they are fantastic and have nice looking foliage when they don't have a flower. I've seen them growing wild in East Texas. Close! For some reason I don't see the perennial Helianthus very many places but Prairie Moon has a number of species (and a lot of other cool stuff).
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Mar 23, 2022 13:13
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unlimited shrimp posted:Sunflowers maybe? They're beautiful and everyone loves them and then at the end of summer they droop and wilt and look like 6 foot tall depressed flower skeletons so you also get a spook factor. I'm beyond stoked for sunflowers this year. I got some Mammoths to anchor a three sisters bed (and distract aphids) and then a pretty looking Evening Sun variety I'm going to put around the yard. I'm going to be curious to see if I can sufficiently distract the local bird population from my wife's feeders.
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Mar 23, 2022 13:51
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That Old Ganon posted:It was actually seeing these guys while farting around in a Walmart that inspired me to look for this thread and ask. I've found terra cotta or plastic is the best. But the size of the pot matters more, as I said, you will want at least a 10 gallon pot for each berry bush.
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Mar 23, 2022 16:14
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Hi friends, new to the thread but not to gardening. I got it in my head last night to try and grow my own Szechuan peppercorns this year and they come from a plant called Prickly Ash that grows naturally here in Ontario, Canada and parts of the northeastern US. Currently trying to source seeds locally but has anyone ever tried this and have any tips or recommendations?
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Mar 23, 2022 18:48
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flashy_mcflash posted:Hi friends, new to the thread but not to gardening. I got it in my head last night to try and grow my own Szechuan peppercorns this year and they come from a plant called Prickly Ash that grows naturally here in Ontario, Canada and parts of the northeastern US. Currently trying to source seeds locally but has anyone ever tried this and have any tips or recommendations? If you're looking to start out, I'd suggest looking for a nursery that keeps them. They're a bit of a niche plant but they're out there. I don't know of any place in Canada that has them, but this past year the place I got my first peppercorn from years ago, One Green World, had them come into stock and a bunch of people in the thread picked up seedlings from them. Once you get one plant established it's a pretty fuckin hardy plant, and you can propagate by cutting, although you need to use one of the stronger rooting hormone compounds (or at least that's my experience). If you have a fruiting plant (and presumably that's what you're after) you'll get a bunch of seeds/drupes that of course can theoretically be used for propagation, but since I've literally never managed to get any to germinate I can't comment on whether or not they breed true or if you have to worry about crossing with random e.g. citrus trees in your neighborhood.
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Mar 23, 2022 19:45
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flashy_mcflash posted:Hi friends, new to the thread but not to gardening. I got it in my head last night to try and grow my own Szechuan peppercorns this year and they come from a plant called Prickly Ash that grows naturally here in Ontario, Canada and parts of the northeastern US. Currently trying to source seeds locally but has anyone ever tried this and have any tips or recommendations? The flavor isn't the same, but there's still a sensation. I'd recommend doing it from cuttings from a forest, or finding a nursery selling that or the Z. simulans plants. One Green World wouldn't be able to ship it to Canada, but I'd search around in Toronto or Vancouver for better luck. You should be able to source the plants though as it does exist natively to Ontario. Calling around will be so much easier than trying from seed. There's no good way to know if the seed you're planting was fertilized as they'll make the pods either way. It's a plant a thousand and hope for 2 seedlings sort of variety. I finally got mine last autumn from One Green World after trying to get it sorted for a few years. Worth the time to find the existing plant.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:44
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This is amazing advice, thank you both! I was just talking to a friend who might have a lead on seedlings, which would hopefully solve the "near impossible to germinate" issue. I was thinking that a literal weed which is considered to be pretty hardy wouldn't be too difficult to start! I mostly germinate my other plants (various herbs, strawberries, leafy greens, cannabis, etc) using a Click and Grow garden and their 'experimental' pods which allow you to plant anything. Guessing that a '1 in 1000' situation like this would make that method pretty expensive.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:55
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flashy_mcflash posted:This is amazing advice, thank you both! I was just talking to a friend who might have a lead on seedlings, which would hopefully solve the "near impossible to germinate" issue. I was thinking that a literal weed which is considered to be pretty hardy wouldn't be too difficult to start! Those other plants will have germ rates of 85% or higher easily. Different plants use different methods of spreading, and this seems to be one that uses the spread as many seeds as far as possible via birds (I'd guess from the red seeds when they're ripe), but most of them won't make it. But a mature Z. simulans will send out thousands of seeds, so that's okay if most don't make it. From trying to track it down it seems commercially they're just done from cuttings which have a high success rate. They don't grow super quickly and prefer a bit of shade as an understory plant.
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Mar 23, 2022 22:28
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So I talked to my mom, she said irises and lilies were a good idea, but she said she's tried lupines before a few times and she's never gotten them to grow here. I'll probably skip those, but she said she was getting some zinnia seeds for herself so she'd grab me some, and I'll get some iris/lily bulbs. She also suggested gladiolus, as they're fairly cheap, so I'll get some of those too. I don't know why I've all of a sudden decided to get into this but I'm kind of excited to start. Maybe it's like a mid life crisis, at least this is cheaper than a sports car. 
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Mar 24, 2022 00:58
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Embrace the crisis, plant squash, gourds... pumpkins. You'll have a blast. Plant everything
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Mar 24, 2022 01:31
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Embrace the crisis, plant squash, gourds... pumpkins. You'll have a blast. Plant everything Out here showing chaos! I like it.
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Mar 24, 2022 02:52
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Chad Sexington posted:I'm beyond stoked for sunflowers this year. I got some Mammoths to anchor a three sisters bed (and distract aphids) and then a pretty looking Evening Sun variety I'm going to put around the yard. I'm going to be curious to see if I can sufficiently distract the local bird population from my wife's feeders. I'd love to see your three sisters bed set-up. I have a big space in my front yard where a tree used to be and I'm thinking three sisters + flowers might be ideal.
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Mar 24, 2022 03:53
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Fozzy The Bear posted:I've found terra cotta or plastic is the best. But the size of the pot matters more, as I said, you will want at least a 10 gallon pot for each berry bush. I don't know if it'll substitute properly, but I've recently acquired some grow lamps in a really stupid way. I'm not sure if sunlight will be a huge issue anymore?
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Mar 24, 2022 04:42
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Well I'm in for the long con then! That is what I was seeing as well Every time I give squash or zucchini a chance with a small patch, they end up taking over the entire garden. And at some point when I'm not looking, they start making plans to jump the fence and take over my neighbor's garden patch as well. They know no bounds.
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Mar 24, 2022 15:50
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You can grow most squash vertically. It's kind of a pain in the rear end, but it's doable and it'll keep them from taking over everything. Last year I grew all my summer squash up a big arch trellis made out of cheapo concrete supports and it worked great. Had 6 squash plants each in two 8x4 beds along with a lot of other plants. I also tried growing my pumpkins vertically but that went pretty lol Edit- To be clear, growing the pumpkins vertically actually went just fine at first. But then they were like HAHA I'M IN YOUR TOMATO BEDS and OH WAIT I'M OVER YOUR FENCE NOW and then LMAO I'M COMING FOR YOUR HOUSE MOTHERFUCKER
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Mar 24, 2022 16:12
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Twelve by Pies posted:So I talked to my mom, she said irises and lilies were a good idea, but she said she's tried lupines before a few times and she's never gotten them to grow here. I'll probably skip those, but she said she was getting some zinnia seeds for herself so she'd grab me some, and I'll get some iris/lily bulbs. She also suggested gladiolus, as they're fairly cheap, so I'll get some of those too. I've never known anyone who failed to enjoy it once they picked it up. Playing in the dirt rules. Veritek83 posted:I'd love to see your three sisters bed set-up. I have a big space in my front yard where a tree used to be and I'm thinking three sisters + flowers might be ideal. I'm sure I'll post a bunch ITT once it gets going since it's a new thing for me this year. For my seed supply I got purple pole snap beans for added visibility when climbing the sunflowers and then seminole pumpkins that are supposed to be resistant to both vine borers and downy mildew, which have bedeviled me in the past.
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Mar 24, 2022 16:29
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I used square foot gardening when I had that first tiny garden and still try to grow as much as possible vertically even with a lot of room. It makes it so much easier to not have surprise mega squash or whatever hiding in the dirt drawing in the bugs. We still never identified the chinese killer monster squash that my mother in law pawned off on us. Once that thing starting shooting out runners it was literally growing so quickly and was so abrasive that it was cutting other plants down around it. It weighed easily 30 pounds when I finally got sick of it and dug it out and burned it. Any running squash can quickly change the game in a garden.
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Mar 24, 2022 17:09
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If you ever get tired of gardening one summer and just want something to cover up your garden with no effort, plant some bottle gourds those fuckers dont mess around. Like 4 seeds is enough to cover everything in 6 weeks
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Mar 24, 2022 17:45
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Wallet posted:Weed fabric does really awful poo poo to soil because it restricts oxygen. Usually if you peel that poo poo back in someone's garden it smells like rot instead of nice happy dirt. Oh man, this stuff is the bane of my existence. I am removing a patch of it at a time from my entire yard. The wet decomposed mulch on top weighs a ton and is held together by weed roots and to the fabric by shallow tree roots.
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Mar 24, 2022 20:08
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