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Here are the pruned fig trees!     Meant to post sooner but I was busy, or weather was gross. Edit: did something go horrible wrong with these pics? I can't tell... on the app, so maybe it's fine for everyone else, but something seems wrong?! Perry Mason Jar fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Apr 16, 2024 |
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Apr 16, 2024 00:07
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Looks like only one hosta didn't come back from last year's hosta party. guacamole and wu la la look like they are gonna be bangers this year. the lady herself empress wu will also be having another banner year it appears
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Apr 16, 2024 02:18
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Dirt bean's arm is almost all the way out btw
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Apr 16, 2024 02:18
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Looking forward to empress wu posts. She’s a beaut.
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Apr 16, 2024 06:31
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bagmonkey posted:Dirt bean's arm is almost all the way out btw Is it a magic bean?
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Apr 16, 2024 11:41
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huh posted:Is it a magic bean? It’s a rhizome that rooted off a ZZ leaf but lost the leaf before it could throw up a stalk. I’ve been faithfully watering it for like 6 months now and last month it started to grow a nubbin and now it’s a whole rear end stalk. It’s gonna be the tiniest little thing too
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Apr 16, 2024 14:45
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I stratified some lily and eucalyptus seeds and none of them have done poo poo in a month. I have more in the fridge that have been going for an additional month now, hopefully those do better
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Apr 16, 2024 15:25
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 tulips looked like they might not make it this year after getting 5" of snow dumped on them after popping up in early march but hey hey they made it yay!
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Apr 16, 2024 16:05
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Bloody Cat Farm posted:Looking forward to empress wu posts. She’s a beaut. I put one in last year and it's too early for hostas to be visible where I am but I am eagerly waiting to see just how big of a botanical mistake I have made (huge, I hope). I hope the weird hosta guy down the street is selling again this year because I want to put a Sum and Substance out front.
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Apr 16, 2024 19:00
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Perry Mason Jar posted:Here are the pruned fig trees! Looks great!
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Apr 16, 2024 20:11
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bagmonkey posted:It’s a rhizome that rooted off a ZZ leaf but lost the leaf before it could throw up a stalk. I’ve been faithfully watering it for like 6 months now and last month it started to grow a nubbin and now it’s a whole rear end stalk. It’s gonna be the tiniest little thing too You persevered for 6 months? That's impressive!
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Apr 16, 2024 20:43
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Mad Hamish posted:I put one in last year and it's too early for hostas to be visible where I am but I am eagerly waiting to see just how big of a botanical mistake I have made (huge, I hope). First year you’re like alright this won’t be so bad! The next year you’re like hmmm potentially a problem? Third year she gets her own bed and your endless love and affection
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Apr 16, 2024 20:55
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huh posted:You persevered for 6 months? That's impressive! I’m freaking FLOORED that my ADHD rear end kept on it enough (with my partners help!) AND the rhizome itself pulled through. Tomorrow might be the day the first leave unfurls, I doubt it’ll be as wide as a dime. I swear if I accidentally cultivated a new type of ZZ…
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Apr 16, 2024 20:56
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Wallet posted:They're usually pretty bulletproof as long as they're getting water regularly. Unless your previous repotting was multiple years ago the soil in the pot is probably just fine. The issue with having too big of a pot generally is that it will retain too much moisture because there isn't enough plant to make use of it, so if you've seen signs that they're rotting or something like that, definitely downsize. I think I'll put them in a new pot with fresh new soil, a better mix since I know better now. As you point out, there won't be much disturbance since I'm not dividing any clumps or anything, and it'll look nicer without the blank spots where clumps used to be. Thanks for the advice!
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Apr 16, 2024 21:03
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bagmonkey posted:First year you’re like alright this won’t be so bad! The next year you’re like hmmm potentially a problem? Third year she gets her own bed and your endless love and affection I mean I put it in a very large and very empty spot under the curly willows in the back yard that used to be a woodpile and is still pretty barren like 5 years later, I'm hoping I gave it enough space but I'm also sort of hoping I am horrified at What I Have Done. One of my hostas (something free and boring, Patriot, perhaps?) got smooshed by inquisitive raccoons last year and I am hoping the Empress Wu is too belligerent and numerous for such interference.
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Apr 16, 2024 21:20
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Well I was wrong - I just got home and took a look to see what was going on and there are in fact some little shoots starting to come out by the Empress Wu's marker. Should I be afraid?
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Apr 16, 2024 22:05
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Mad Hamish posted:Well I was wrong - I just got home and took a look to see what was going on and there are in fact some little shoots starting to come out by the Empress Wu's marker. hell yeah but like quivering in anticipation of how awesome your hosta is about to be
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Apr 17, 2024 15:27
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For my first house plant, I bought a money tree from Ikea 12 months ago. It came in a plastic liner with a few drain slots. I placed this inside a 9.5" terracotta pot which has a central drain hole and drain tray. The tree has grown a ton and it's definitely time to repot it. I think it's probably okay to use the current terracotta pot, at least for now, but I have a few questions. 1) Do I need to find another plastic liner or can I simply repot the money tree in the terracotta pot? It feels like finding a larger liner could be difficult, especially since the terracotta pot has sloped sides. 2) What do I need for repotting? Should I just get planter mix from Home Depot? I've heard that I should try to flush the new soil with hot water to kill any fungus/microorganisms, but I worry that might also flush out the nutrients. I chose the money tree because it's cat safe and low maintenance, so I'm looking for the low maintenance solution.
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Apr 18, 2024 06:57
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Josh Lyman posted:For my first house plant, I bought a money tree from Ikea 12 months ago. It came in a plastic liner with a few drain slots. I placed this inside a 9.5" terracotta pot which has a central drain hole and drain tray. You can put it in the terracotta since it's got drainage! For repotting, if you can find some perlite to mix into the planter mix that would be preferable, since that keeps your soil from bogging up too much. If you can find succulent/cactus compost mix then great, but if not it's not the biggest deal. And you don't need to flush the soil! I never have and I have a bunch of healthy crassula, succulents and cacti.
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Apr 18, 2024 10:47
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I've never flushed soil and I've never had issues beyond gnats. As for the terracotta, if it has drainage then you're good to go! When it comes to needing drainage, you don't NEED to have drainage, but you're also betting on your ability to perfectly water your plants every time. Some plants, like pothos, don't mind getting a bit moist, but something like a euphorbia trigona will hate you and start rotting the second you water a bit too much (ask me how I know!) so that's why it's HIGHLY recommended starting with pots that have good drainage. A lot of times if the plant likes good drainage, I'll put a layer of river rocks on the bottom of the pot to assist with drainage, but it's not necessary as long as your drainage hole doesn't get blocked
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Apr 18, 2024 14:33
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I'd also wonder what kind of money tree. I would assume something like Pachira aquatica but it sounds like another guy a few posts up thinks of Crassula ovata (Jade plant). Common names for plants can be very confusing! Either way I think you'd be ok potting it up into the terra-cottage pot. If it's growing and happy then you're probably doing something right. If it is a jade plant then a grittier, sander potting mix would be good but tbh all of my jade plants have been in regular potting mix and they've been more or less ok.
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Apr 18, 2024 15:19
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Dirt Bean Update: I forgot how loving slow ZZs grow lol I will say, this isn't as painful as watching a zenzi zz grow through, holy gently caress that is the definition of slow growth also here's an unedited daffodil picture 
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Apr 18, 2024 16:11
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bagmonkey posted:A lot of times if the plant likes good drainage, I'll put a layer of river rocks on the bottom of the pot to assist with drainage, but it's not necessary as long as your drainage hole doesn't get blocked Heads up that this doesn't actually help with drainage. Drainage itself is kind of a misnomer—unless you have a pot with no hole(s) in it (don't do this unless you're growing bog plants) or you've fully occluded the hole(s) in a pot that has them, water is going to drain through any reasonable potting medium at about the same speed once that medium is saturated. Because water is hydrophilic when you put rocks or bits of broken pottery or whatever in the bottom of a pot you're mostly just raising the water table higher in the pot volume. What you're generally worried about with moisture sensitive plants is the medium's porosity—the proportion of the volume occupied by the medium that is not filled by the medium itself—and the characteristics of that porosity. That pore space is where both air and water are going to exist within the medium (and be available to your plant's roots), so a medium's porosity can be subdivided into water porosity (how much of the volume is filled with water when the medium is saturated) and air porosity (the same, but air). Something like a succulent is generally going to want high air porosity, which you can get by using a medium with particles large enough that the pores between particles can't retain water (e.g. gritty mix). Sand isn't generally recommended as a soil component for succulents (or otherwise) because while sand itself doesn't retain water, the particles tend to be small enough to pack into the pores left between particles of other soil components, reducing your medium's air porosity. Chromacolor? You have good taste in daffodils. Wallet fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Apr 18, 2024 |
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Apr 18, 2024 16:32
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yeah me and my partner have a pretty specific way of doing stuff that's worked really well, specifically with the fact that there's a bunch of house plants in pots without proper drainage holes. My other reason for layering the bottom w/ rocks is because a TON of the pots-with-build-in-trays have comically small drainage holes that clog up super quickly, so the layer of rocks helps buy some time before that happens. I've honestly just kinda vibed my way into having 70+ house plants and I regularly lose them to dumb, preventable poo poo, but with my ADHD, it's about as good as it's gonna get. I have about a dozen plants that get treated EXTREMELY well with me doing proper research and such but for the most part is 100% vibes in bagmo land Wallet posted:Chromacolor? You have good taste in daffodils. weirdly it's a Canon 6D Mk2 w/ 24-70 f/4L, so the color absolutely should've popped more. I think auto white balance caused it but it looks rad as hell so it stays!
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Apr 18, 2024 16:40
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bagmonkey posted:weirdly it's a Canon 6D Mk2 w/ 24-70 f/4L, so the color absolutely should've popped more. I think auto white balance caused it but it looks rad as hell so it stays! The photo looks good; I'm pretty sure Chromacolor is the cultivar. bagmonkey posted:My other reason for layering the bottom w/ rocks is because a TON of the pots-with-build-in-trays have comically small drainage holes that clog up super quickly, so the layer of rocks helps buy some time before that happens. Yeah, this is one of the reasons I don't really go for pots with an attached saucer except for hanging plants. I don't know why they make the holes so small. You can get little drainage screens that can help keep them from clogging up and seem to work pretty well—I vastly prefer the plastic ones to the mesh ones. Wallet fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Apr 18, 2024 |
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Apr 18, 2024 16:42
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Wallet posted:The photo looks good; I'm pretty sure Chromacolor is the cultivar. Oh duh! It's the people down the street's front yard garden, luckily it's at the sidewalk so I can easily get pics w/o being a weirdo. Fun fact, they own one of the local florists! 100% them btw, they have a bed full of em
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Apr 18, 2024 16:44
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So, about that "scratch test". Once I've determined that a tree has pretty much fully died back to the base, and I've cut it down to where I'm seeing bright green under the outer bark layer... Where should I be expecting it to regrow from? I've cut back my fig trees again to where they're basically a small stubby trunk (but noticeably thicker than they used to be) and there are shoots coming up from a few inches below the cut. Am I basically starting over, growing a whole new trunk from one of the shoots? Is the old trunk going to do anything? Fortunately since these are figs I don't think they're grafted, so the new growth should be solid. Hoping my new peach and apple trees fare better though. If those die down to the roots next winter that'll be a real problem. (So far they're looking great though.)
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Apr 18, 2024 17:12
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A drill is a necessary tool for every plant person to make or expand drainage holes.
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Apr 18, 2024 17:24
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Fitzy Fitz posted:A drill is a necessary tool for every plant person to make or expand drainage holes. With the appropriate bits for what you're drilling into. You'll need masonry bits for clay/ceramic pots. Also, I have a new pineapple coming! 
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Apr 18, 2024 19:42
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Mad Hamish posted:I'd also wonder what kind of money tree. I would assume something like Pachira aquatica but it sounds like another guy a few posts up thinks of Crassula ovata (Jade plant). Common names for plants can be very confusing! Either way I think you'd be ok potting it up into the terra-cottage pot. If it's growing and happy then you're probably doing something right. Here's a photo from 12 months ago when I brought it home from Ikea:  And a photo from today. I obviously did not keep up with the braiding  
Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Apr 18, 2024 |
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Apr 18, 2024 19:44
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That is spectacular.
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Apr 18, 2024 21:05
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kid sinister posted:With the appropriate bits for what you're drilling into. You'll need masonry bits for clay/ceramic pots.
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Apr 18, 2024 21:23
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I use a super cheap set of diamond hole saws for tile and they work great.
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Apr 18, 2024 21:46
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What are our opinions on the midwest's lone cactus? It looks all wrinkly and stupid half the year tbh on another, slightly more serious not, we're had these two sorel plants since we built these beds in 2020. One get Empress Wu-like leaves, the other is "normal" sized. What gives?? 
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Apr 19, 2024 16:57
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oh, also, serious cactus question I forgot to ask. I need to transplant that stupid thing this summer after we fix our fence. What type of gloves are best to keep the spines off your hands? I've gotten dozens over the years and it's why its getting moved against a fence line lol
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Apr 19, 2024 17:04
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I am pro-midwest cacti. The midwest actually has several species, including Opuntia macrorhiza, Opuntinia fragilis, Opuntia humifusa, and Coryphantha vivipara. My favorite gardening gloves are from Wells Lamont. They've protected my hands from everything from raspberry patches and stinging nettle to buckthorn and black locust.
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Apr 20, 2024 16:06
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Can you feel the ground in those gloves? I go out to the garden in gloves and they're off in five minutes because I can't feel the dirt. This isn't a crunchy Mother Earth thing; I judge how wet the soil is with my hands. Not "is this soggy to the touch" but "what does it do when I squeeze gently". Then I have my elbow-length rose gloves for pruning. Rose gloves are great.
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Apr 20, 2024 17:09
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Then I have my elbow-length rose gloves for pruning. Rose gloves are great. Sounds like welding gloves. They're heavy leather too.
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Apr 20, 2024 18:33
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Can you feel the ground in those gloves? This is my first priority. These are my favourite type. Stretchy, thin, rubberised palm and fingers, snug around the wrist so nothing falls in. 
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Apr 20, 2024 20:42
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I noticed my big phal starting its flower spike for the year which is always exciting, but now that I've looked closer while watering it I think it's doing TWO flower spikes: This is the first year that I've fertilised it so I guess it's paying off! Very excited to see what it manages.
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Apr 21, 2024 03:46
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