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I think you are stressing out way too much about this. What flower seeds do you have BTW? I guess that nothing would be lost if you want to try starting them indoors now, kind of a dry run. Or if you want to swing by the nursery and see what they have. Its late so whatever they still have will be deeply discounted. Grow what you want rather than what you think will be easy and don't be intimidated if you kill it. The worst thing is you will kill it and if you do, you will know what didn't work and you will read up to see what to do different next time. All that stuff your grandma grew is pretty easy to grow and should thrive if you take care to give them a good start.
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Jul 11, 2010 02:12
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I think you are stressing out way too much about this. What flower seeds do you have BTW? I guess that nothing would be lost if you want to try starting them indoors now, kind of a dry run. Or if you want to swing by the nursery and see what they have. Its late so whatever they still have will be deeply discounted. I bought just a package of lavender and a package of chamomile seeds. And it's not so much that I'm stressing as that I just don't want to waste the seeds if they can't be indoor plants for a while, and that I've never really had a plant that I didn't somehow kill. That's why I figure it would be good to try and practice a bit before picking up a bunch of stuff next year. Really what I'd like to do is grow some edible plants. Not necessarily a bunch of vegetables, but stuff that can go in a salad or something. Finding whatever kind of violet is edible, having some chamomile for tea, that sort of thing. Even if I didn't like them, they'd still look pretty, so it would be okay even if they weren't tasty after all. If that turns out to be troublesome given the climate, then maybe just some plants that butterflies like. Really, I haven't decided for sure what I want since next year would really be when I could actually start, and I don't know if I'm going to be any good at this.
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Jul 11, 2010 04:01
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stubblyhead posted:If you figure it out then let me know. We planted beets, radishes and turnips in the spring, and the beets just never did much. They sprouted fine and putout some decent greens, but the root development was just non-existent. I pulled one as a sort of sacrificial lamb to see what they were like, and there was hardly any swelling at all where the root bulb should have been. The radishes and more especially the turnips went nuts, but the beets just failed to thrive. Beets and radishes (dunno about turnips) like cold weather. Once it warms up the beets stop beeting and the beets turn all woody and not-so-great. I didn't get many radishes this year, and I think it's because it was too bloody hot. Haven't been paying much attention to my beets, but I'm not expecting much beet. Beet.
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Jul 12, 2010 22:22
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bssoil posted:Beets and radishes (dunno about turnips) like cold weather. Once it warms up the beets stop beeting and the beets turn all woody and not-so-great. I didn't get many radishes this year, and I think it's because it was too bloody hot. Haven't been paying much attention to my beets, but I'm not expecting much beet. Beet. I think that I might try planting beets around late October, and see what happens. I think that's when I had planned to try carrots, at any rate.
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Jul 12, 2010 22:54
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bssoil posted:Beets and radishes (dunno about turnips) like cold weather. Once it warms up the beets stop beeting and the beets turn all woody and not-so-great. I didn't get many radishes this year, and I think it's because it was too bloody hot. Haven't been paying much attention to my beets, but I'm not expecting much beet. Beet. That's the thing though, I planted in late March or early April, and we had a long protracted spring, which here means cool and overcast. I'll try again in September or October and see what happens.
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Jul 12, 2010 23:27
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Some rear end in a top hat bugs are eating my pole beans. They look like black dots, and they're clustered around like aphids. What are they, and how do I kill them?
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Jul 12, 2010 23:46
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Emasculatrix posted:Some rear end in a top hat bugs are eating my pole beans. They look like black dots, and they're clustered around like aphids. What are they, and how do I kill them? Disclaimer: I'm a newbie gardener, but did you try spraying with diluted dish soap? I got rid of some little bug that way. I've also heard to use Neem oil. My pole beans are getting attacked by little birds - about chickadee/nuthatch size. They don't eat the beans, just the leaves. However, my beanpoles are at about 8' high and at this point I'd really have a hard time putting netting over them. It also seems like for every leaf the little bird destroys, another pops out in a day so maybe the vine is okay anyway. My first yellow cherry tomatoes have started coming in and the taste is so amazing I could cry. They're absolutely delicious!
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Jul 13, 2010 00:27
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A couple weeks ago, I posted about how I was attempting to germinate seeds from 2 types of hot peppers that had been frozen for 3 years. Much to my surprise, they sprouted, and with a vengeance! Now, I have about 15 small habanero sprouts and I think a couple of the mystery pepper sprouts (some variety of Thai Pepper, I think). I'm amazed that 3 years of freezing didn't just ruin those seeds. Nature is awesome 
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Jul 13, 2010 01:10
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Help! I hosed up (I think) dammit. Okay let me explain. This was the first time I ever grew anything and I was doing a great job up until 4 days ago. It started when I came back from my vacation and noticed that my veggie/fruit patch had acquired bugs. Being the dumbass that I am I thought hmmm insecticide kills insects right? So I bought me a big ol' jug of bayers veggie, fruit, and something insect killer medicine. I glanced over the measurement instructions and decided to just half the dose because gently caress it, I don't know what the gently caress I'm doing. So I filled the measuring cup they provide to about half way to the first line and dumped it into an 8 liter jug of water and went hogwild on the patch. The patch is about 15x8 and is filled with various fruits, berries, and veggies. This was four days ago, and last night my wife made me a delicious salad with some of the cherry tomato's from the patch. So this morning I decide well I never want (bad) bugs to come into my garden again so I'm going to read up and become a little more educated. Turns out that bayer is extremely deadly to my worms and also I'm not supposed to use it on anything I plan to eat in the next 24 days. What I'm asking anyone here in this great subforum with great combined knowledge and expertise is if there is a way to reverse or neutralize my mistake? I have tomatos, eggplants, bell peppers, bitter melons and hot Thai peppers that are harvestable, but are they all turned to poo poo now? How poisonous are they? HELP! anyone with a time machine or anyone that knows how to get my garden to a restore point please PM me. Any other help would be greatly appreciated as well.
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Jul 14, 2010 03:26
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a forbidden love posted:Help! I hosed up (I think) dammit. This really depends on what chemical you were using. I'm assuming the insecticide you used was Bayer advanced fruit, citrus and vegetable insect control (it's the closest name I can find), so that would be Imidacloprid. If so... Well, it works by being sucked up into the roots and permeating the plant to make it toxic to insects. It's been a short time since applying it so you could try completely soaking the soil and letting it drain repeatedly to try and wash the poison still in the soil out. You might be able to harvest some things before the 21 days as well (there should be a chart of vegetables and how long to wait on the label, if it's not there it's on their website. It says strawberries are 14 days, eggplants are 21 days and rhubarb is 45, for example) The thing with imidacloprid is that it's rapidly metabolized by mammals (wikipedia says 96% in 48 hours, but it has a couple of terrible byproducts) so it's probably not going to kill you unless you're drinking it out of the bottle, but it's still a neurotoxin. You can probably get away with eating the contaminated vegetables with little or no ill effect but it's still not a great idea.
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Jul 14, 2010 04:11
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Brass Key posted:This really depends on what chemical you were using. I'm assuming the insecticide you used was Bayer advanced fruit, citrus and vegetable insect control (it's the closest name I can find), so that would be Imidacloprid. If so... Well, it works by being sucked up into the roots and permeating the plant to make it toxic to insects. It's been a short time since applying it so you could try completely soaking the soil and letting it drain repeatedly to try and wash the poison still in the soil out. You might be able to harvest some things before the 21 days as well (there should be a chart of vegetables and how long to wait on the label, if it's not there it's on their website. It says strawberries are 14 days, eggplants are 21 days and rhubarb is 45, for example) Yup. That's the one. Once I get home I'll do what I should have done in the first place and read the drat label. But for the moment you seem to be knowledgable fellow and perhaps you wouldn't mind answering some quick questions. It's been raining a lot here, all night last night at a constant rate, should I keep watering the stuff? Will over watering hurt corn, bittermelon, thai peppers, carrots, basil, eggplant, watermelon, tomatos, potatos, radish, daicon radish, strawberry, raspberry? Is there any way to save my worms? How long will the chemical stay in the plant? If you know these answers off the top of your head then please enlighten me, otherwise don't trouble yourself to research something that would probably take me the same amount of time to find out. thanks again
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Jul 14, 2010 05:34
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If it has been raining you probably do not need to water your plants as well. Most plants are sensitive to changes in watering patterns/amounts, especially stuff like tomato that is prone to crack or end rot the 'maters if you don't water consistently. If it rained, you should be fine to skip watering one day. Overwatering can literally drown the plants, so try not to overdo it. I try to water the garden early every evening, around 6 or so, because it's cool enough that I'm not wasting water and still warm enough that the plants don't go through the night damp risking fungus or the like.
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Jul 15, 2010 01:22
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Anybody know much about asparagus? I've read that it's hearty in all zones, which is good. I'm visiting family in Montana, and there's the "old asparagus ditch" near the home where there are thousands of mature asparagus plants that grow like mad. I'm gearing up to dig up as many crowns as I can take back down to California to grow, but I want to make sure that I get them set up properly so I don't end up killing the plants. Mature asparagus crowns aren't cheap, and the ones you buy on eBay are generally 2nd year crowns, which means that it's their first year of production. As far as I know, these crowns will produce a BOUNTY of asparagus every year... fun!
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Jul 15, 2010 04:45
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jovial_cynic posted:Anybody know much about asparagus? I've read that it's hearty in all zones, which is good. I'm visiting family in Montana, and there's the "old asparagus ditch" near the home where there are thousands of mature asparagus plants that grow like mad. I'm gearing up to dig up as many crowns as I can take back down to California to grow, but I want to make sure that I get them set up properly so I don't end up killing the plants. You might have more luck transplanting them when they go dormant in the fall, but you can try. A couple other things to keep in mind. I know California grows asparagus, but depending on where you are, you might want to check on it. It will be winter hardy, but some plants adapted to temperate areas tend not to thrive when brought to areas without winter/seasons. The other thing, assuming you can grow it, is there are a number of advantages to the all male hybrids out there, even though they cost a bit more. You will get more, and thicker spears and because they won’t go to seed, your bed won’t fill up with little seedlings competing with the main plants.
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Jul 15, 2010 17:04
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Zeta Taskforce posted:You will get more, and thicker spears and because they won’t go to seed, your bed won’t fill up with little seedlings competing with the main plants. I'll have to consider the seedlings competing, but I do know that the spears here in this ditch are remarkably plentiful and thick. My wife's family has a tradition of harvesting from this particular batch of roadside asparagus, and they pulled plenty.
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Jul 15, 2010 17:12
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stubblyhead posted:That's the thing though, I planted in late March or early April, and we had a long protracted spring, which here means cool and overcast. I'll try again in September or October and see what happens. I'm going to plant a fall crop soon - hopefully this time I will catch the broccoli before it goes to seed 
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Jul 15, 2010 21:40
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Does anyone have some good literature on how to bonsai fruit trees? I've googled for it but all I come up with is pay sites and bare bone articles of people that have done it. Thanks again.
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Jul 16, 2010 06:12
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a forbidden love posted:Does anyone have some good literature on how to bonsai fruit trees? I've googled for it but all I come up with is pay sites and bare bone articles of people that have done it. Thanks again. This book is about bonsai in general, but I thumbed through it at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and thought it seemed like a particularly well-organized and useful book. I have never grown a bonsai tree though, so take that as you will. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Practical-Encyclopedia-Bonsai-step-/dp/0754821803/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279285407&sr=1-3 I don't think you necessarily have to find a book tailored just to fruit trees. I think you just have to approach it first as if you were just purchasing a fruit tree for your home, and when you've made the right decision for the location the tree will be in (indoors/outdoors, lighting), then follow a bonsai tree guide. For example, just because you can grow a small tree indoors doesn't mean it wants to be there. You'd probably have to pick a tree that's sub-tropical, and doesn't need a cold dormant phase in the winter in order to flower and fruit in the spring/summmer. When I've seen fruiting bonsai trees at botanical gardens they tended to be citrus, cherry, or fig. So you might want to start with one of those. Barbados Cherry and Surinam Cherry are two cherry species I've seen that are sub-tropical and could work indoors. The Barbados was especially pretty. There was one orange citrus variety that was also particularly stunning but I forget its name, as it only had a scientific label.
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Jul 16, 2010 14:24
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jovial_cynic posted:I'm gearing up to dig up as many crowns as I can take back down to California to grow, but I want to make sure that I get them set up properly so I don't end up killing the plants. Not trying to be a downer here, but I'd be more worried about office of agriculture people destroying your plants. This link explains a bit You really can't bring any type of plant or 'agricultural product' into california without some sort of license, or literally smuggling it across the boarder, AFAIK. If you're flying you might get it past, but if they check your bag, they'll throw whatever plants you have into the trash unless it is a houseplant that will be kept indoors. Well, you might have the best chance if you're flying, I doubt the TSA people will have a problem with plants in carry-on baggage, and they won't police you on california ag procedures.
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Jul 16, 2010 16:23
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Amykinz posted:Not trying to be a downer here, but I'd be more worried about office of agriculture people destroying your plants. This link explains a bit You really can't bring any type of plant or 'agricultural product' into california without some sort of license, or literally smuggling it across the boarder, AFAIK. Who's going to check his bags at the border, exactly? TSA don't give a poo poo about state laws, and besides they would be doing their thing in Montana, not California.
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Jul 16, 2010 17:05
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stubblyhead posted:Who's going to check his bags at the border, exactly? TSA don't give a poo poo about state laws, and besides they would be doing their thing in Montana, not California. Also, I'm driving. It won't be a problem to stuff asparagus crowns into a 5-gallon bucket with some moist dirt and shove it under the couch-bed in the motorhome. edit: Having read more on the california quarantine info, the concern is more with the dirt, and not with the asparagus crowns. To be a good citizen, my plan is to fully rinse out the crowns, and to transport them in wet newspaper instead of in dirt. I'd hate to bring an invasive species from Montana back to California. There's apparently an invasive beetle here in Montana that can wipe out a whole forest of evergreen trees. Crazy. jovial_cynic fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jul 16, 2010 |
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Jul 16, 2010 17:38
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They do check at the border, at least they do at the 80 and at whatever highway it is that comes back from Las Vegas. You are supposed to declare anything you're carrying, even an apple you're snacking on, and if they suspect anything they will search your car. So I wouldn't completely discount it. I'm not sure if you went to the trouble of washing, etc. that whoever is checking at the border would think that is sufficient.
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Jul 16, 2010 18:04
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jovial_cynic posted:There's apparently an invasive beetle here in Montana that can wipe out a whole forest of evergreen trees. Crazy. The mountain pine beetle? I've seen aerial shots of the devastation it's caused in parts of Canada. There was an unrelated invasive pine beetle where I grew up in Mississippi that has had a much more limited effect. There are a lot of yellow pines in that state, due to growing them for the logging industry, and once all the yellow pines in my neighborhood got mostly wiped out due to damage caused by an ice storm that made it easier for the pine beetles to attack. What's interesting is that you can actually HEAR the beetles chewing away inside the pine tree if you put your ear next to a badly infested one. It's a bit creepy.
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Jul 16, 2010 18:05
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hepscat posted:They do check at the border, at least they do at the 80 and at whatever highway it is that comes back from Las Vegas. You are supposed to declare anything you're carrying, even an apple you're snacking on, and if they suspect anything they will search your car. So I wouldn't completely discount it. I'm not sure if you went to the trouble of washing, etc. that whoever is checking at the border would think that is sufficient. They didn't check us on Route 101 from Oregon in April but we thought they would and panic-ate all our apples at the border  .
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Jul 16, 2010 18:12
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Am I reading this right that California has border checkpoints where they stop and inspect cars entering from other states? Do they have them on only on interstates, or on secondary roads too?
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Jul 16, 2010 19:02
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Am I reading this right that California has border checkpoints where they stop and inspect cars entering from other states? Do they have them on only on interstates, or on secondary roads too? I've only crossed the border on interstate roads. I know on 101 from Oregon they didn't stop us, but they did stop us on I5 from Oregon...
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Jul 16, 2010 21:31
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Rooster286 posted:When cauliflower gets too much sun, some of them will develop coloration. Many people that grow it rubberband the big leaves around the developing heads to protect it from the sun. It's perfectly fine to eat, though I don't know what the crystals are. Upon closer investigation, it looks like what I thought were previously crystals were actually extremely tiny purple-colored nymphs of some sort of insect. Very odd, though hopefully that means it'll be easier to deal with.
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Jul 20, 2010 07:19
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I'm a recent container gardener convert. So far this year I've been doing pretty well. I've got 6 foot tall tomato plants, a zucchini that's attempting to take over half of the patio, not to mention cucumbers, lettuce, and strawberries. Question though. Something tiny is munching on my lettuce. It comes off the plant looking like swiss cheese. I think it's mites, if so, how does one get rid of them safely? Second question, more of a discussion. What size do you guys prefer to pick your zucchini? I'm pulling them off when they're about 6-8 inches long. I have a feeling that if I left them on too long they would keep growing like Clifford the Big Red Dog.
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Jul 20, 2010 16:47
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ho mercy posted:Upon closer investigation, it looks like what I thought were previously crystals were actually extremely tiny purple-colored nymphs of some sort of insect. Very odd, though hopefully that means it'll be easier to deal with. Could be aphids; they come in all colors and are pretty tiny. I've heard of red ones, so there may be purple ones as well.
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Jul 20, 2010 16:57
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ho mercy posted:Upon closer investigation, it looks like what I thought were previously crystals were actually extremely tiny purple-colored nymphs of some sort of insect. Very odd, though hopefully that means it'll be easier to deal with. Its Thrip season, at least in the UK.
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Jul 20, 2010 19:23
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Turns out they're Mealy cabbage aphids. I should probably introduce lady bugs since insecticidal soap isn't cutting it.
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Jul 21, 2010 05:09
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ho mercy posted:Turns out they're Mealy cabbage aphids. Try neem oil or just a sharp blast from the hose. Ladybugs will surely munch on some aphids, but buying them to release means they're just going to go hang out at the neighbors'. What you do is hope that they buy some ladybugs, that way they'll come over into your garden.
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Jul 21, 2010 06:31
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stubblyhead posted:Try neem oil or just a sharp blast from the hose. Ladybugs will surely munch on some aphids, but buying them to release means they're just going to go hang out at the neighbors'. What you do is hope that they buy some ladybugs, that way they'll come over into your garden. This is true. I bought a container of lady bugs and haven't seen one since I let them go.
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Jul 21, 2010 18:36
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My wife and I are being forced out of our home and were finding a new place now with a bit of land to it. I fully plan on setting part of the yard as a garden, as prices at the grocery store are getting so high and most of their produce is lackluster anyways. What would you all recommend as a good size garden to start with? One of the homes we are looking to move into has 5.5 acres of property, so space will not be an issue.
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Jul 21, 2010 18:45
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Invasive psyllids are beginning to ravage my tomatoes. I can see their tinyyy yellow eggs all over the place. Bad news
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Jul 22, 2010 05:17
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Daddyo posted:This is true. I bought a container of lady bugs and haven't seen one since I let them go. Try companion planting next year. I used to have terrible aphid problems on my tomatoes until I began sticking Nasturtium on the ends of my beds.
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Jul 22, 2010 14:03
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^^^ Nasturtiums are rad, and they are also excellent in salads - leaves and flowers and all.Amykinz posted:Not trying to be a downer here, but I'd be more worried about office of agriculture people destroying your plants. This link explains a bit You really can't bring any type of plant or 'agricultural product' into california without some sort of license, or literally smuggling it across the boarder, AFAIK.  "Any fruits or vegetables?" "Nope!" "Thank you, have a nice day, sir!"Zeta Taskforce posted:Am I reading this right that California has border checkpoints where they stop and inspect cars entering from other states? Do they have them on only on interstates, or on secondary roads too? If you read the top half of my post, you can see how strict it is. I've literally never seen them ask to inspect a cooler/trunk/etc, they just ask you and it's Scout's Honor. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jul 23, 2010 |
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Jul 23, 2010 23:10
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Daddyo posted:This is true. I bought a container of lady bugs and haven't seen one since I let them go. I was so pleased, on the first day, to see all those ladybugs hanging around my garden. Day two: they were all gone. Ladybugs are a-holes.
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Jul 26, 2010 18:59
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My garden this year is a complete failure due to terrible soil conditioning. I was lazy, it's my fault. I only have 3 or 4 tomatoes actively growing and nothing else. 
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Jul 26, 2010 19:36
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Psyllid eggs on a tomato leaf if anyone is curious what they look like Impossible to remove them without removing the whole leaf and destroying it
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Jul 30, 2010 19:42
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