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Soul Dentist posted:Catalogs are arriving That reminds me of the time I almost impulse bought a Baker Creek heirloom seed catalog as a stocking stuffer for my dad. I opened it to a random page and there was a pic of a guy holding a giant squash of some sort. I read the caption, blinked a couple times, and put it back on the shelf. "Nevada farmer Cliven Bundy poses with his award winning..."
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Dec 22, 2022 01:18
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God DAMMIT there would have been so many openings for a sniper joke in that one.
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Dec 22, 2022 01:19
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That Old Ganon posted:Grew up on the west coast and can confirm; we threw these at each other as kids. They were rumored to have itching powder in them! The sycamore in our front yard was perfect for this. Chuck the pods good and hard and they explode into fuzzy dandelion‐like seeds that stick to clothes and get into everything. (Pods must be ripe. Unripe pods usually result in tears.)
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Apr 7, 2023 23:52
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:If you’re gonna use 2,4-D do a test patch on some of your grass before you spray the whole yard. Some grasses are sensitive to it. St. Augustine is for sure, ask me how I know I think it's certain kinds of St. Augustine. I have some Weed-Out with 2,4-D and it has a listed application rate for St. Augustine (albeit the lowest rate on the label). It also contains a bolded warning to not apply to Floratam. It also says not to apply in the root zone of desirable ornamentals, which I suppose includes the half dozen crepe myrtles in my back yard. Based on this article it sounds like dicamba is the reason for this? I have dollarweed and oxalis becoming a real problem under those trees and was going to try the Roundup with a paintbrush trick, but now I'm wondering if straight 2,4‐D might be safe.
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Apr 8, 2023 22:54
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Off to a late start but making progress. I'm in USDA Zone 9a so it's not like I'm short on growing season. Pepper and heirloom Greek basil seedlings. Some sort of caterpillar (hornworms? they looked like cabbage butterfly larvae but the leaf damage doesn't match) ate the the basil down to the stems practically overnight but they're somehow still alive.  'maters. I wasn't planning on it this year but they were a gift from a neighbor who had a huge surplus of seedlings. Variety unknown. The little one should have been transplanted two weeks ago and is looking rough, but the new growth at the top seems promising.  Clockwise from top left: thyme, sage, rosemary, garlic chives, small child's basketball, regular chives, fig cutting, borage, fig cutting The sage and rosemary were leftovers from a grocery store packet that I stuck in a little pot and put in the garage over the winter. They were really slow to root and grow over the winter but they're still kicking. The borage seedlings got eaten to pieces by the same thing that ate the basil (they were adjacent in the seed trays). LMAO at everything I read that sings the praises of borage and basil for repelling caterpillars. The figs were another gift from the neighbor and have absolutely exploded over the past couple weeks (plus a third that is developing at a more leisurely pace). He got them from the community garden and wasn't sure what variety they are. I'm hoping for an LSU Gold but 
Discussion Quorum fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Apr 17, 2023 |
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Apr 17, 2023 19:00
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IMO small herb garden is hands down the best return on both effort and money for a space like that. Seriously, a few small clippings of slightly wilty herbs at the grocery store will run you $2+ around here. I grilled a bunch of lamb with fresh cut thyme and Greek oregano yesterday and it was a) free and b) incredibly fragrant and flavorful. That's why the thyme is so scrubby in the picture above, I had just given it a major buzz cut (well that and transplant shock, but it'll be fine). Even though most herbs technically like full sun, they tend to be pretty hardy. I'm having trouble picturing tomatoes doing well with that much shade. Most herbs? Sure, whatever. Try to kill mint, I dare you.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:10
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Rough couple weeks for my garden. Got super busy at work and prepping for an unplanned move (landlord is selling the house and we didn't want to buy it). All of that as we got hit by this: One of my fig cuttings absolutely melted in the heat, even in the shade. It's probably going to lose all of its leaves although hopefully it doesn't die. Meanwhile the pepper plants that I was weeks late starting and even weeks later transplanting are starting to recover from being practically mummified by the heat. I guess we'll see if I actually get any peppers. Also my Isle of Naxos basil bolted. Still smells basil-y so maybe I caught it just in time. Even my sage and thyme are struggling in this heat. And it's still technically spring! effika posted:5 dill plants is definitely too many for a 5 gallon bucket, right? Maybe I should just take that plant entirely for tasty sour cream dip. Sounds like it's just the right amount then 
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Jun 17, 2023 17:37
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Shemp the Stooge posted:Thanks for the dill suggestions. I will start with refrigerator pickles and make dill salt with the rest. Googling hardening off Don't sleep on garlic dill green bean pickles either. Chili peppers optional but highly recommended. And tzatziki. GlyphGryph posted:What are a few good useful or edible "easy" plants I can add to that list to try out? I assume it's too late in the season to bother with most stuff at this point? Herbs. Rosemary, sage, thyme (parsley too if the song is stuck in your head now), oregano, mint. Especially mint, you basically have to try to kill it. My rosemary and sage were literally grown from cuttings from a grocery store packet. I also really like chives but in my (limited) experience they really take off in year 2.
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Jun 19, 2023 14:12
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SubG posted:Specifically herbs and herb-like things? Random notes: My dad bought some bunching onions for $1 back in the 90s. He is still growing their descendants today. He also gifted some to my mother-in-law, who is also growing them. Pretty good bang for the buck, I'd say! After a season of being back into growing herbs, I am very happy to be growing chives, rosemary, and thyme. They are all things that are needed frequently in moderate quantities. Sage, as another poster said, has proved more trouble than it is worth. It's just a scraggly looking bush in the crazy heat we're having. It takes up an entire container, and for my trouble, I occasionally use a single leaf. We get a pretty good amount of Greek oregano out of a single plant in a 14" azalea pot, enough for summer grilling plus some to dry. It's a prostrate plant though, and so will act more like ground cover and sprawl out.
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Jul 25, 2023 02:51
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I hate myself, therefore I shall grow tomatoes again. I've twice tried to grow them, and twice the same thing happened: they grew really well, and right around the time they set fruit, the leaves and branches started to die from the bottom up. I never could match what was happening directly to any pictures online, so I don't really know what was happening other than it was some sort of blight. Two different varieties, clean new containers each time, fresh soil each time. I swore off tomatoes as being more trouble than they're worth. Never again! Yesterday, I took my four-year-old to the garden center and he decided he wanted to grow tomatoes, because he just ate some of my dad's and loved them. It's a bit late for fall tomatoes here, but we regularly see 80s into November, so an early variety tolerant of cool temperatures (I got Glacier) should do OK if I can manage to not kill it otherwise 
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Jul 31, 2023 17:03
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As an experiment, I potted some mint cuttings into some lovely cheap "compost" I got, which was pretty much just lightly-rotted mulch that immediately compacted into a solid block. It didn't grow one bit over six months and was kinda yellowish, and got pretty crispy a few times, but it's still alive. I'll be repotting it soon - I think it has earned a reprieve.
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Aug 1, 2023 14:49
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rojay posted:Thyme definitely likes a pot in South Louisiana, but I've had "English" thyme in a big terracotta pot going for 10 years. I fertilize it a couple of times a year with a general purpose liquid concentrate, but I think it's successful because I always compliment it when I cut some for the kitchen. Do you cut it back really hard in the spring? Mine was getting pretty woody by year 2 and I finally just culled it because it was just not thriving. I'm in Houston, so other than being a bit dryer, the conditions should be pretty similar. (It also got completely roasted to a crisp by our heat wave before recovering, which probably didn't help)
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Aug 5, 2023 16:14
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My kid wants to grow pumpkins, and I am a pushover. He loves pumpkins and even used to sleep with a stuffed pumpkin  He picked sugar pie seeds, which should be doable before any reasonable chance of cold weather.All I have right now are 5-7 gallon grow bags and terracotta pots up to about 14-16", which are obviously not going to cut it. Would a 4'x2' raised bed (metal Amazon cheap-o or wooden DIY) be big enough for a sugar pie vine (trellised) and some carrots or radishes as well, or will the pumpkin basically need the whole thing? Plan B is to drill some drain holes in an old 27-gallon tote that is already somewhat worse for wear, but then I'd have nothing to mix my potting soil in 
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Aug 5, 2023 22:40
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Pumpkin seeds - $2.49 Expanded shale - $10.99 2cf of composted pine bark - $11.99 40lb of leaf mold compost - $6.99 My kid being happy about a $40 pumpkin for 5 minutes before he sees a lizard and runs off - priceless?
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Aug 6, 2023 05:07
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B33rChiller posted:I think I found some lookalike, defensive mimicry employing bugs. Maybe some kind of leaf cutter bee? Some of them look like chonky honeybees. e: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/megachile_bees.shtml
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Aug 7, 2023 19:57
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I've seen those at Lowes and assumed that they would probably just fill up with wasps. Maybe now I'll give one a try.
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Aug 7, 2023 20:24
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Soul Dentist posted:I had a great experience with Refining Fire for chile seeds this year This is where I got mine, and the seeds did pretty well. Nearly everything germinated (the plants did poorly, but that was 100% my negligence). He even threw in a couple of freebies.
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Aug 28, 2023 01:44
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Nobody tell this goon about figs, the tribble of fruit trees
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Aug 29, 2023 14:34
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Motronic posted:I already tried this yesterday. I mean, it's the classic south philly tree to have and to light. I started the summer with 2 fig cuttings, now I  I'm starting to understand how people end up with dozens of the things. nunsexmonkrock posted:I just need a new hobby to keep myself entertaind other than playing Resident Evil Village or Journeyman Project and SpaceQuest.. If "planting seeds" is the part of the hobby you think you would like, look into annual wildflowers or vegetable gardening where you get to do that every year (or multiple times!). If you want caring for fruit trees to be your hobby, get a grafted fruit tree because it's still a tree, and I'm not sure what you would be missing out on? Spending 5-10 years growing a "lime" tree, excitedly watching the first fruit form, dreaming of the day you get to taste your first home grow fruit, wondering why it looks so hosed up, but eagerly cutting your first slice only to find it's 70% rind sounds like a weird idea of a good time.
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Aug 30, 2023 15:06
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sterster posted:Oh? Now I'm just curious. Link? Pictures? I assume they mean the Bundys. That would be Cliven and Ammon, not Al and Peggy. Comes up now and again. I dunno how much they "support" them but they are happy to do puff features on them in the pages of their catalog, so.... From upthread: SubG posted:This isn't directed at you but just as a sort of recurring public service announcement: Baker Creek went to bat for Cliven fuckin Bundy. They invited him as a speaker to one of their public events, they did a profile piece on him where they called him a "land rights activist" or some poo poo, and when called on this they spent several days talking about ~*freedom*~ before finally un-inviting him because of "security concerns" for the event.
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Sep 5, 2023 18:11
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My poor peppers are in a state. It was too hot until a couple weeks ago for there to be any real chance of setting fruit. I had dozens and dozens of dropped blooms all summer. Now that it has cooled a bit, they are getting absolutely murderfucked by aphids. I'll get a few freaky stubby and deformed golden cayennes, but my habanero is likely going to finish the season having produced precisely squat.Motronic posted:Italian "long hots" are very much known for this. Seems like 10% of them are burn your sinuses out hot. I played these odds when I tried to introduce my extremely spice-averse wife to shishito peppers. She rolled a natural 1. Oh well, more for me!
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Oct 20, 2023 18:29
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Unless you know how they were pollinated, don't count on them being Scotch bonnets. I germinated this spring using the paper towel trick in the same room as our hot water heater. The seeds got a little moldy but survived transplant at almost 100%.
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Nov 2, 2023 01:58
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Huh, I guess I went from 9a to 9b. I mostly worry about summer highs and drought these days, which USDA zones don't really capture anyways
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Nov 17, 2023 21:49
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Will they be growing in-ground or in containers? And do they have said garden beds or containers? If not, a gift card to Lowes (for timbers or whatever) is not the worst idea. There is always something. I am frequently happy I have a foam kneeling pad, a soil sifter, and good garden scissors. Also a hori hori but that may involve a bit more personal choice. I am not sure I would ever use a soil pH meter though. That's what your local extension office is for (in the US, anyways). E: f-double-b
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Dec 9, 2023 01:35
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freeedr posted:I never have trouble just germinating on top of the refrigerator where it is warm. Not that I’m saying that’s best practice or anything. I have germinated peppers on a high shelf in my utility room (which has the water heater and clothes dryer). If it's dumb and it works, it's not that dumb...
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Dec 17, 2023 01:02
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I ordered from Victory Seeds this year since they carry a ton of stuff from the Dwarf Tomato Project. Shipping and delivery was lightning fast (as in I ordered my seeds last Thursday and got them on Monday). They do lean into the anti-GMO thing a bit, but no Bundys in the closet that I am aware of... e: I have been happy with Seed Savers Exchange in the past Discussion Quorum fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Dec 19, 2023 |
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Dec 19, 2023 17:48
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Tell me about your experience with self watering planters from 5 gallon buckets. Thinking about experimenting with them for figs (already in 5 gal buckets) and maybe some dwarf tomatoes (rather than grow bags). The main objective is to cut down how much I need to manually water in our summer heat, especially if I want to go away for a long weekend and not come back to stressed or fried plants. I was thinking about moving away from peat this year and using coconut coir, but some sources indicate it doesn't wick well enough to move water up 12+".
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Dec 19, 2023 19:12
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mischief posted:The seed catalogs begin again. I'm delving into Dwarf Tomato Project stuff this year. I'm container bound, otherwise I would be checking out more of the Wild Boar options (although the DTP Fred's Tie Dye appears to be a dwarf of a Wild Boar variety). I will also be grafting figs and citrus into Frankentrees  Chad Sexington posted:In my mind this qualifies as "simplifying." I too was going to make such a claim until I started typing it out, and lol lmao nvm
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Jan 15, 2024 04:00
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Container gardening is gardening. I started with herbs in small pots and still have them outside my back door. Which herbs you should grow depends on what you like to cook and what your climate is.
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Feb 4, 2024 19:48
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Basil, mint, rosemary, and thyme are must-haves but don't sleep on chives. No more buying a packet for $3-$4 and only using half of the limp watery stuff in the packet before it goes yellow and brown. Want chives on your scrambled eggs? Snip, snip, yum. On your potatoes? Snip, snip, yum. Mushrooms? Chicken breast? Bagel with cream cheese? Turkey sandwich? Mac and cheese? Go nuts because the more you eat, the more they grow.
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Feb 4, 2024 23:55
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Good news, chive flowers are edible and make your salad feel 300% fancier
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Feb 5, 2024 00:40
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Even dwarf citrus get pretty big (by patio/container standards), they just do it more slowly. My MIL's are each in a half whiskey barrel. If you need something that can be kept truly compact, consider a dwarf fig variety like Little Miss Figgy or Petite Negri. Even a regular fig can be kept pretty compact for a while if you learn how to prune effectively. Strawberries and alpine strawberries in balcony containers are very much a thing. If your balcony is high enough you don't get squirrels, you may even get to eat a few.
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Feb 5, 2024 01:36
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I'm starting tomatoes, peppers, and some wildflowers indoors this year. Specifically in my home office, and they're due for their first baby dose of fertilizer soon. My go-to water soluble ferts have been fish emulsion (which smells like what it is) and Miracle Gro organic (which smells like cat piss). Recommend me something that will not have my office smelling like a dead fish that pissed itself. I can get Fox Farms stuff at a local ag supply store, but I can't exactly crack open the seal and give it a smell test in the store.
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Feb 8, 2024 21:06
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I know it needs to be super dilute, but they're in 50/50 peat/vermiculite currently, which has like no nutrients. I'm probably a couple weeks from needing to do anything.the milk machine posted:I use General Hydroponics in a deep water culture setup and it doesn't have any odor I can detect. Yeah, I was thinking hydroponics nutrients might be the way to go. Thanks!
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Feb 9, 2024 00:16
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Good luck! I seeded a xeristrip on my property with prairie verbena and pink evening primrose. Where it widens out, I've seeded various coneflowers, lanceleaf coreopsis, lemon mint, and Engelmann's daisy. Sadly, we have had such a warm winter that I am wondering what germination is going to look like for things that want to be stratified. Fortunately, I also stratified a few things in the fridge, so I have some milkweed and Rudibeckia starting indoors.
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Feb 9, 2024 21:20
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My fig trees are on the cusp of waking up and we're supposed to be up to 80F this week, so I did a thing. I repotted my LSU Purple from a 5G bucket to a SIP of my own design based around a food-safe 10 gallon trash can. And because I a) want many varieties b) don't want to have a million fig trees and c) can't leave good enough alone, I tried my first multi graft tree.  Rootstock is LSU Purple. Left is a (bad) cleft graft of LSU Strawberry. Right is a (better) whip and tongue of LSU Champagne. I pruned off the only branch on the trunk because it was all hosed up, but this thing sends up suckers like crazy. If everything takes, I'll have a purple, green, and gold Mardi Gras LSU fig tree 
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Feb 20, 2024 07:34
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My peppers and tomatoes had a rough start too. I started mine in mid-January. Unfortunately, I was trialing a new LED grow light setup, and despite following the directions, they got torched pretty good before I raised the lights. I'm way behind in terms of development - some still on their first set of true leaves - but somehow nothing died, and an early application of diluted fertilizer seems to have kicked them back into growth mode.CommonShore posted:my onions and leeks are germinating! They're germinating!!!!!!@! I am growing multiplying onions for the first time (descendents of a single flat my dad bought 20+ years ago) and I am wondering why I slept on these. I'm eating fresh green onions on my eggs every morning 
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Feb 23, 2024 18:27
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The goddamned squirrels dug up most of my carrot seedlings burying their stupid acorns. Little shits. I think I'm done trying to direct sow in containers as long as we live on this property. At least in the back yard. When I was refreshing my potting mix a few weeks ago I must have found a dozen germinating acorns and even a few pecans stashed in my grow bags.
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Feb 28, 2024 13:54
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Having seeded some of those only to see a warm winter with only ~200 chill hours, I can confirm that germination has been poo poo. Some of the Mexican hat/coneflower appears to have germinated, but nothing else is identifiable from the weeds yet. Thankfully, I elected to stratify my milkweed and rudibeckia* in the fridge and am doing an emergency speed run of coreopsis to try sowing in early March. * I also bought some bare-root from Lowes, and they appear to be dead as a doornail. Honestly, no surprise there.
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Feb 28, 2024 20:50
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Every time I think "oh it's just $20 to rent a truck/van" I forget about all the time spent inspecting for damage, cleaning, etc just to do one drat run. And that's just for moving boxes around, I'm sure a bedful of compost would suck to clean up. Also, a conversation that just happened: Me: Hey I found a nursery about 45 minutes away that has a ton of native plants, I'm gonna take the kiddo to check it out on Saturday Her: Fine, have fun, I don't want to go anywhere Me: Their "our staff" page has a bunch of cats with job titles Her: Don't you dare go without me
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Feb 29, 2024 01:47
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