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Soil that is too wet can prevent proper functioning of the roots and the appearance of a lack of nutrients when in fact the soil has plenty. When growing plants in planters water control is very important. You want to water it well (make sure there is good drainage) and then let it almost dry out before you water it again. If you over-water the water will wash out all the micronutrients. If you let it dry too much the plants will wilt. I like plastic pots because I can push them with my feet before I water. Given the weight of the pot I can tell if it needs water or not. It's a good way to do it if you have planters in differing levels of sun and with different types of plants.
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May 28, 2012 00:10
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Hey, I'm having more issues with my little indoor garden. Most of them are doing well, but my oregano has started drooping pretty badly these past couple days. I'm not sure if I'm overwatering, or underwatering, or if it's a temperature thing (sitting around 70F normally), or what, but it's looking pretty sad at the moment. Anybody have experience trying to grow oregano inside and know what's going on?
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May 28, 2012 16:15
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Nolanar posted:Hey, I'm having more issues with my little indoor garden. Most of them are doing well, but my oregano has started drooping pretty badly these past couple days. I'm not sure if I'm overwatering, or underwatering, or if it's a temperature thing (sitting around 70F normally), or what, but it's looking pretty sad at the moment. Anybody have experience trying to grow oregano inside and know what's going on? I grew oregano last year inside, and have some growing right now. I killed mine last year because I overwatered it. This year, I'm basically ignoring it and the oregano seems to be thriving. Put it in some crappy, sandy soil, water every two weeks and then ignore it. Oregano likes full sun, and poor, dry soil without much fertilizer.
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May 28, 2012 16:29
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polyfractal posted:I grew oregano last year inside, and have some growing right now. I killed mine last year because I overwatered it. This year, I'm basically ignoring it and the oregano seems to be thriving. That's probably exactly it. I have it in some stock standard potting soil, watering it whenever I water my other herbs (every 2-3 days). It was doing fine until a couple hours after the last time I watered it, so I'll let it dry out and see how it fares. Thanks!
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May 28, 2012 17:37
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I love seeing all these lovely looking gardens everyone has. This year is the 2nd attempt at a potted garden. Last year one of the tomato plants appeared to have a disease which spread to some other plants and I ended up being rather neglectful with watering since the prognosis wasn't looking all that great to start with. But this year is looking up! Everything  Oregano planted last year really resurged nicely.  Same story with the Thyme. I should probably move that cilantro that's peaking up from that mess. I planted some rosemary seed on the side that isn't just a bush of thyme and I'm hoping that sprout right in the middle of the open left side is just that.  Basil that doesn't seem to be doing poorly but doesn't really seem to be doing much growing either.  Cute little flowers on the second largest tomato plant.  Cherry tomatoes just showing up on the one cherry tomato plant which is the largest plant by far at the moment.   Pretty bell pepper flowers.  Big difference in squash plants planted in different sized containers.  Lettuce. 
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May 29, 2012 05:50
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I never knew there was a DIY subforum until recently. My tardiness extends to my garden too. I live in Vancouver, BC so started planting late compared to most of you. I just planted everything two wees ago from seed (it took that long to really get springtime here) -- except for snow peas, which can endure frost and which are getting fricking huge already. Oh, and I had germinated tomatoes inside, but they are still pretty tiny. Looking forward to sharing harvest pictures later. I've got, besides tomatoes and snow peas: bush beans, bunching onions, strawberries, leaf lettuce, carrots, dill, cinnamon basil, and cilantro. In the yard I also planted turnips and pumpkins. About leaf lettuce, the copper barrier should work. I have a raised garden, surrounded by 6 x 2 wood, which is supported by rebar. I simply unraveled some copper scouring pads around the area the leaf lettuce will grow. Hopefully, that'll keep out the slugs. I've also recently replanted a potted jasmine and hope it starts taking off. And I planted a hydrangea that was white when it was given to us in a pot but now is purple. I guess the hydrangea color changes with acidity of the soil. I haven't really planted any other flowers. Whoever lived here before us has gotten azaleas, camellia, roses, you name it.
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May 29, 2012 08:38
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Desmond posted:I guess the hydrangea color changes with acidity of the soil. Yes, one of the few that do. http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html
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May 29, 2012 13:09
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Is your whole yard gravel that has since grown over with weeds?
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May 29, 2012 18:29
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Costello Jello posted:Is your whole yard gravel that has since grown over with weeds? Yeah, I'm under the assumption that my landlord want to use the space that is currently the backyard as space for parking spots he could rent out until he realized that the city requires paved with painted lines for parking lots. It's the entire reason for the garden being container, it's like anyway from 3 to 6 inches of rather sizable rocks back there and I wasn't about to dig down to soil. (also handy for the off chance that they do get the permits to pave that area and we lose our yard) snarkcookie fucked around with this message at 18:57 on May 29, 2012 |
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May 29, 2012 18:54
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This summer I'm going to try to tame my backyard, the one with the foot and a half of crazy layers. Wish me luck!
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May 29, 2012 22:42
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Emasculatrix posted:This summer I'm going to try to tame my backyard, the one with the foot and a half of crazy layers. Wish me luck! How did you decide to do that? I'd probably try to price out someone with a small backhoe loader myself. That is a lot of work.
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May 29, 2012 23:33
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Finally decided to start container gardening in my apartment as I've given up on a spot opening on a communal plot here. My first problem so far has been getting my plants enough light: my balcony faces east, but the roof and building itself effectively block all light to the plants past 11 or 12. Will the ambient/reflected light around them be enough to keep them going the rest of the day? What kind of solutions have others come up with? (Hanging at the edge of the roof isn't an option as my balcony is over a walkway) Additionally what's the largest haul others have gotten from containers? I'm growing a few tomato and pepper plants in a single large pot and they've been doing fairly good so far. Costello Jello posted:How did you decide to do that? I'd probably try to price out someone with a small backhoe loader myself. That is a lot of work. How effective would it be to just rototilling all of that and then tarp it for a season?
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May 30, 2012 00:33
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Revener posted:How effective would it be to just rototilling all of that and then tarp it for a season? Well, previously in the thread he said this: Emasculatrix posted:I'm not sure where to ask this. I dug up some of my backyard and discovered that in order to reach dirt I need to go through a layer of wood chips, a layer of landscape fabric, a layer of gravel, a layer of chunks of broken concrete/bricks, a layer of sand, another layer of landscape fabric, and (finally) dirt with relics of wooden flower beds. What should I do? Is there some kind of equipment I could use to get back to the bottom instead of digging up a tenth acre by hand? Should I just put down another layer of landscape fabric and dump some topsoil? So I don't really think roto-tilling is the answer, because it might damage the rototiller he's probably renting, and he'd definitely need a good one. And then he's still got gravel, concrete, wood, and landscape fabric, except now it's been mixed up with the soil more, which doesn't really help things much. I'm not sure what the best low-cost solution for him would be. If he wants a real yard I think pulling all that out and bringing in a layer of top soil would be the only real solution. What are you plans for what your yard should look like, Emasculatrix?
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May 30, 2012 00:57
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Costello Jello posted:What are you plans for what your yard should look like, Emasculatrix?  I don't need plans! Seriously though, I thought about my goals, budget, and how much work I can put into this. Basically, I just want a niceish yard that will be low maintenance and will eventually fool potential buyers into offering on the house. So I decided not to pull up the yard.It appears that the layers of doom start around the deck, and go to the far end of the yard...which is back-breakingly large but just small enough to ruin my plans of renting a skid-steer. My current plans are to: 1. Cut down blackberry forest 2. Pour round-up over everything living 3. Shovel off wood chips 4. Pour more round-up for good measure 5. Add more landscape fabric to reinforce currently existing landscape fabric 6. Build a bunch of vegetable/flower boxes and plant a cherry tree to take up all that space 7. Replace woodchips For the area toward the front, I'm going to kill off what's left of the lawn and put in eco-lawn. I also need to repair the deck, clear out the gazebo area, and plant some bushes where the blackberry forest was growing (next to the gazebo).  edit: Do cherries even grow in zone 10a? Emasculatrix fucked around with this message at 01:59 on May 30, 2012 |
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May 30, 2012 01:42
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Get a backhoe and scrape that whole lawn. Get a trailer load of topsoil and spread it. Seed it or buy a couple of pallets of sod. Water like hell.
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May 30, 2012 03:01
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GD_American posted:Get a backhoe and scrape that whole lawn. Get a trailer load of topsoil and spread it. Seed it or buy a couple of pallets of sod. Water like hell. Really? I was going to do this, because it looks easier and uses less water.
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May 30, 2012 03:16
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GD_American posted:Get a backhoe and scrape that whole lawn. Get a trailer load of topsoil and spread it. Seed it or buy a couple of pallets of sod. Water like hell. Agreed. I could buy two tons of top soil tomorrow for what you're talking about spending in Round Up alone. Do you have access issues to the yard that would prevent getting something actually useful back there? Emasculatrix posted:Really? I was going to do this, because it looks easier and uses less water. You can plant clover and have a sweet eco lawn for pretty cheap. You local bee population will love you and your yard will smell awesome.
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May 30, 2012 03:19
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mischief posted:Agreed. I could buy two tons of top soil tomorrow for what you're talking about spending in Round Up alone. Do you have access issues to the yard that would prevent getting something actually useful back there? That's another issue. The only way to get equipment back there would be to take down some fencing, remove the steps to the in-law and some wooden decking, and then let it destroy my tulips. It'd still have to be fairly narrow, like 4'. I'll have to take a closer look at clover. Whatever I choose, it'll have to hold up to my dog, be very drought-resistant, and also grow slowly (because we mow pretty much never).
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May 30, 2012 03:34
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Why pour round-up over everything? It seems stupid to poison everything and let that poo poo get into the soil. I mean, if you're not after the most perfectly perfect manicured lawn why put that poo poo on it? Edit - Seriously. It's loving poo poo rear end poison. Don't be lazy, just tear that poo poo up.
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May 30, 2012 05:47
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Emasculatrix posted:Really? I was going to do this, because it looks easier and uses less water. Also, from your link it looks like you were thinking of just killing your grass, raking the ground a bit, and sprinkling some seed over. That will probably take years to establish a lawn in that manner, and in the meantime it will just be growing over with weeds again. Emasculatrix posted:I'll have to take a closer look at clover. Whatever I choose, it'll have to hold up to my dog It's not as easy to grow clover as those proponent sites claim (the clover will die off after something like 4 years so you'll have to keep re-seeding) and they don't hold up well to trampling.
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May 30, 2012 06:09
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Emasculatrix posted:2. Pour round-up over everything living Round up is evil evil stuff, and you dont want to touch it. Its been linked to lower sperm counts in males, it straight up kills eggs in females, it screws with the soil composition, killing beneficial microbes that fix nitrogen and other various stuff
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May 30, 2012 06:28
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Our yard is pretty rocky and rooty (lots of trees in places), and it is really hard to dig a garden. I couldn't even jump up and down on the shovel to dig, not enough weight. That's why I ended up building a raised garden. I did dig small spots for pumpkins and turnips though. Turnips have a deeper root system, and the pumpkins need to spread out over a large space. Emasculatrix, it makes sense if you live there long term to just do the work and get rid of poo poo that's been put down in your yard. For a short-term solution if you want to do a garden, put about six inches of top soil down in a plot that's not too big, and grow in it. We did this and got Garden Center, in Canada, to deliver the dirt in our driveway. It was 2 yards of dirt for $30.00, plenty for an 8x8 plot. Cheap! We supported the plot with wood and rebar, and the whole project was more labor-intensive than money-intensive. Not bad though. It was way less labor-intensive than trying to dig that size plot in our rocky yard. We just moved a lot of dirt in a wheelbarrow to the yard and spread it out in the plot. We had covered the grass with newspaper, which will just turn into mulch. Of course, I don't know what kind of stuff you have underneath and how that will affect your plants, if at all.
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May 30, 2012 06:39
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Another reason to hate roundup is Monsanto being real bastards to farmers.Emasculatrix posted:
Killing any of the existing lawn with chemicals isn't really necessary. Sprinkle composted manure, cover with overlapping cardboard, layer with a few inches of compost and at least a few inches of wood chips, or skip the compost. If you want green instead of wood chips then overseed the lawn with a good variety of grasses, herbs, etc rather than a monoculture. To your average landscaper my lawn would look horrible with it's mix of clover, moss, various grasses and dandelions. I don't do anything but mow and it's greener than my neighbor's lawn and he waters and mows his all the time. In fact, right now it's practically scalped and brown. loving hideous. Oh, and those blackberries are never going to go away. That might actually be the only situation I would recommend glyphosate (don't support Monsanto, buy a generic version). Inject that poo poo with a syringe into the blackberry canes to kill the root system. I'm not a fruit tree expert but "The Backyard Orchardist" points out that Sweet Cherry needs 1100 to 1300 chilling hours (below 45 degrees) and Tart Cherry needs 1200 hours. So it might not be a good choice for 10a (southern Florida?). The chart recommends low-chill apple, low-chill pear, European pear and plum for that region of the country.
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May 30, 2012 06:47
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What bushes are these? The hedge planting in front of the porch. Someone told me it's Rose of Sharon, but googling that actually seems closer to an unknown bush I was wondering about under a nearby tree.  Mystery bush growing under nearby tree, 12+ ft tall. Zone 6  Past the weeds and branches it's a very woody structure similar to the ones in front of the house which makes me think they're related.  I think it'll look pretty good if pruned properly, with some of the lower branches removed for a more tree like appearance. Might be too late to do a heavy pruning. I'll do the bottom part now and mulch, then cut the top significantly in Feb since it goes dormant. Then again it's so established by now I can't imagine a heavy pruning would affect it much would it?
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May 30, 2012 17:22
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Posted in the wrong goddamned thread, oops: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3376974&pagenumber=6&perpage=40#post404121443 Link to higher quality gallery http://imgur.com/dmBYz,AOi0v,y06bM,KC9c5,NUwD7,KHBvk,hPKiW Alterian posted:I always wondered if a cayenne pepper solution sprayed onto ripening fruits would stop squirrels from eating them. 
coyo7e fucked around with this message at 17:47 on May 30, 2012 |
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May 30, 2012 17:40
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coyo7e posted:Posted in the wrong goddamned thread, oops: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3376974&pagenumber=6&perpage=40#post404121443 I put in two different varieties of peas this year in rows 18" apart and they are a little too close. They keep trying to grab onto each other and I have to separate them. The pea plants are getting pretty big now, approaching 2 feet tall but no flowers yet. The only peas I've seen around here with flowers though is one bush that survived the winter so I guess it's still too early. For trellising I used the zigzag metal wire things and it seems to be working well. I'll try to take some pictures at the community garden today since I have the camera with me.
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May 30, 2012 17:50
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coyo7e posted:Posted in the wrong goddamned thread, oops: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3376974&pagenumber=6&perpage=40#post404121443 I put cayenne pepper in my chicken feed to keep my dogs from eating it. My dumb lab started having an issue with drooling and smacking his lips all night when we brought him in the evening and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Turns out he was eating the chicken feed with cayenne anyway despite the hotness and the feed would get stuck in his teeth. We caught him eating it with snot and drool and watery eyes the whole time me was munching down. 
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May 30, 2012 18:29
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Traxxus posted:What bushes are these? I can't really see the leaf details, are they green, somewhat glossy with obvious veins? Did it flower this year? Could be a big-rear end Viburnum, they look like trees if you don't prune them.
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May 30, 2012 19:40
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I think whoever told you Rose of Sharon for that first one was pretty spot-on, although it would have been better if they'd used the proper name of Hibiscus syriaca. It's really hard to tell though from the pictures you posted because we can't see a close-up of what the leaves look like or what the branching structure is. It looks to me like it's alternating branching which would be consistent with a hibiscus; viburnum have opposite branching. Either way you'll know for sure if it blooms- the hibiscus is so distinctive in flower it can't be mistaken for anything else. As for your other "mystery bushes" I can't tell anything from the pictures you have posted. I would hazard a guess that they're not even bushes at all though- probably small trees that just have a shitton of water sprouts coming off the trunk due to improper pruning and maintenance.
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May 30, 2012 20:18
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GD_American posted:Get a backhoe and scrape that whole lawn. Get a trailer load of topsoil and spread it. Seed it or buy a couple of pallets of sod. Water like hell. This is the only real solution if you are going to do it right. It sounds like you are not going to do it, but taking down a fence and stairs isn’t that big of a deal and if the tulips are that important to you, you can dig them out and replant them, or just buy more. They are not that expensive. You don’t have such an expanse that you need enormous earth moving equipment, it shouldn’t be hard to get something back there. That said, I have no problem with Roundup. If you don’t like Monsanto, there are other companies that sell glyphosate. It is harmless to insects, worms, birds, and mammals. It is absorbed through plant’s leaves where it is carried down to the roots and kills the plant. The part that lands on the soil becomes tightly bound and is rapidly degraded by soil bacteria. It does not leave residues or get into ground water. It is also quite inexpensive.
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May 30, 2012 20:21
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Alterian posted:I put cayenne pepper in my chicken feed to keep my dogs from eating it. My dumb lab started having an issue with drooling and smacking his lips all night when we brought him in the evening and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Turns out he was eating the chicken feed with cayenne anyway despite the hotness and the feed would get stuck in his teeth. We caught him eating it with snot and drool and watery eyes the whole time me was munching down. 
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May 31, 2012 02:11
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Zeta Taskforce posted:
I cannot give you a direct link unfortunately, but there are peer reviewed papers published in biology/agriculture journals that link glyphosate to problems in reproductive organs of lab rats.
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May 31, 2012 05:50
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Toxx posted:I cannot give you a direct link unfortunately, but there are peer reviewed papers published in biology/agriculture journals that link glyphosate to problems in reproductive organs of lab rats. http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?q=glyphosate+human&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5
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May 31, 2012 06:16
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I often forget how useful google is
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May 31, 2012 08:00
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Toxx posted:I cannot give you a direct link unfortunately, but there are peer reviewed papers published in biology/agriculture journals that link glyphosate to problems in reproductive organs of lab rats. I don’t want to have a Roundup derail, but I was responding to everyone jumping at Emasculatrix. Glyphosate remains the safest herbicide on the market and 88,000 tons of it were used in 2007 (the most recent year I could find) In warm moist soil it has a half life of 3 days, although it is longer in colder, drier climates. Compared to the literal tons of it that are sprayed on roundup ready crops, using an ounce of it as a one shot deal to kill persistent weeds is not going to matter. Using it is not a moral failing, it is a tool that we can choose to use or not use.
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May 31, 2012 16:40
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I am one person, with a very limited budget, almost no gardening experience, and no experience with backhoes or other equipment. My fiance, who owns the house, just pretends the yard doesn't exist, and doesn't want to spend any money or effort to get it in shape or maintain it. To me, taking down a fence is intimidating, much less taking it down to bring in equipment I don't know how to use to dig up a yard I'm not sure what to do with. I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of spraying chemicals all over my yard, but I'm trying to find a way to create a usable/less embarrassing space using the simple skills I do have. I'm definitely open to suggestions, but please keep in mind how intimidating some of this stuff can be.
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May 31, 2012 19:22
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Emasculatrix posted:I am one person, with a very limited budget, almost no gardening experience, and no experience with backhoes or other equipment. My fiance, who owns the house, just pretends the yard doesn't exist, and doesn't want to spend any money or effort to get it in shape or maintain it. To me, taking down a fence is intimidating, much less taking it down to bring in equipment I don't know how to use to dig up a yard I'm not sure what to do with. I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of spraying chemicals all over my yard, but I'm trying to find a way to create a usable/less embarrassing space using the simple skills I do have. I'm definitely open to suggestions, but please keep in mind how intimidating some of this stuff can be. Doing nothing: free Building raised beds: about $100 for soil and wood for a 32 cubic foot bed. Doing it right: $5,000 - $10,000 with no return on investment in house value. You will need to contract a landscaper to bring in a dump truck, excavator, labour, and a couple truck's worth of soil. If you just want to grow some stuff go with option 2. If gardening is your passion go with option 2 unless you have tons of money then go with option 3. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 20:59 on May 31, 2012 |
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May 31, 2012 19:31
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You will probably get as many opinions as people here, but I vote for doing it right, or doing nothing. If you don’t want to spend any money and are trying to sell it and move, and don’t really know what you want to do anyway, nothing isn’t a bad idea. That or save up and spend the money to hire a landscaper who will take down the fence and clear out all your layers of garbage. What I can’t advocate however is to do something half-assed and put another layer of whatever on top and pretty it up a bit.
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May 31, 2012 20:38
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I think we thoroughly ran that topic into the ground, so here's some pictures of my community garden plot. 9x12 plots, each of those rows is 3x9 with 1.5' wide paths. Ignore the giant dowsing rod/slingshot. I was going to use that for stringing up a tomato plant but I don't think it's strong enough.  Alternating rows of carrots and radishes. The radishes are ready for harvest over the next week or two probably.  Lettuce patch. I harvested a few leaves from each and a radish and had my first salad from the garden last night.  The tomato row has a Stupice on the near end, two Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes, and a determinate Oregon Spring hiding in the back. These guys are all getting too big for the cloches but the nights are still too cold to take them off permanently. I've got some cosmos and herbs scattered around the rest of this row.  My nemesis, some type of bindweed. I didn't know it was in there when I tilled the plot so now it's sprouting up everywhere. It's pretty easy to pull the sprouts when the ground is wet. These ones are 2-3" from yesterday but it rained last night and I was able to pull out some 6-8" sprouts today.  I have more pictures of other plots and stuff in the community garden if anyone is interested.
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May 31, 2012 21:44
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That's some low density planting. You could eat it all in one big salad. I just scatter sow radishes and carrots quite heavily and then thin by consumption. Nice mulching. Also I'm glad I didn't dedicate much space to radishes since half are full of radish maggots. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 01:44
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