A Gardening Thread

[Toth]

Updates from my windowsill farm:

- one of my chestnuts unfortunately died, the other however is becoming quite big and trying to reach the height of the oven. I tried to put the others into the freezer like many of the recommendations told me, but when I planted them afterwards, nothing happened. I guess that trick doesn't work for me.

- one of my colleagues gave me one of the avocado seeds she had been busy germinating. It has been quite difficult to keep it alive. At one point all of its leaves rolled up and, having seen a video where the same was done to chestnuts, I cut open an ice tea tetra pak and planted it in there. Somehow it made a recovery, with only one of the rolled up leaves falling off, the others getting some strength pack and new leaves growing. My colleague told me that around the same time all of her avocadoes died.

- having watched a report about scientists in Israel bringing back an extinct date palm species by planting 2000 years old seeds I thought to myself that this can't be that hard, can it be? So I bought some dates and tried to germinate the seeds. Somehow all it did was them getting ugly pimples all over the place, making me worry that they might have just getting mold. When I planted them, either they just deflated and died or nothing happened at all. Damn...

- in another spontaneous idea I bought a bunch of lychees to try and plant them. I put them first into water where the shells of the seed cracked, but they never developed roots, even when I put them into a wet paper tissue that seems to be the general all-purpose germination trick. However, when I planted some of them out of impatience and accidentally uncovered one of them yesterday, it had developed a thick root downwards, even though no plant was visible as of yet. So I will keep watching how this will develop

- one thing that does work fantastically: Mango! I opened up the core of one, put the seed inside into a wet tissue and let it soak below the heater for a couple of weeks and it worked amazingly, growing a root and the plant while still inside the plastic box. I planted it recently and the plant itself has started to right itself up after just two or three days or so.

- my pepper army has taken some losses over the winter, they especially don't seem to like having too little light, but there was no helping that. I'm actually surprised how many of them are still going strong. Also somehow, inexplicably, four of my tomatoes have survived as well. It's probably pointless to keep them for more than a year, but I'm hesitant to throw away anything that is still alive

[Spockydog]

33 minutes ago, Toth said:

 

- my pepper army has taken some losses over the winter, they especially don't seem to like having too little light, but there was no helping that.

 

You could always get a cheap grow light.

[Toth]

41 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

You could always get a cheap grow light.

To be fair, I kinda let them die on purpose because technically it would be nice to have a dinner table again.

Edit: And like I said, letting them handle the winter on their own only killed a small number of them. Interestingly, those in the plastic pots have proved the toughest while those in the repurposed terracotta pots and salad bowls died first even though they technically should have had the most space for roots.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Toth

[Mlle. Zabzie]

I have successfully repotted one orchid.  I have four others that desperately need to be repotted (like real bad), but all four decided to send out bloom stalks before I could get my act in gear.  So, I guess I will do them serially as soon as each stops blooming?  It is a little annoying because I was hoping to do them all at once because I sanitize the pots and everything and only wanted to handle the bleach mixture one time.  Oh well.

[Elder Sister]

On 2/4/2022 at 12:30 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I have successfully repotted one orchid.  I have four others that desperately need to be repotted (like real bad), but all four decided to send out bloom stalks before I could get my act in gear.  So, I guess I will do them serially as soon as each stops blooming?  It is a little annoying because I was hoping to do them all at once because I sanitize the pots and everything and only wanted to handle the bleach mixture one time.  Oh well.

At one point, I had so many orchids - and multiple types.  My favorites are the slipper orchids and the cattleyas.

I have a big phalaenopsis on top of the refrigerator because darling (demon) cat kept knocking it over when it was on the kitchen table.  So it's just as well that I'm not super into orchids right now.  

[Spockydog]

Can anyone recommend a light, non-stretch, environmentally-friendly material for trellis netting?

Edited February 8, 2022 by Spockydog

[Elder Sister]

On 2/7/2022 at 7:47 PM, Spockydog said:

Can anyone recommend a light, non-stretch, environmentally-friendly material for trellis netting?

What are you looking to do with it?  I've used different things through the years, including chicken wire, but we usually use that for peas/green beans, etc.  

Gardener's Supply sells some environmentally friendly versions, but they're pricey.  I usually just reuse the chicken wire every year.  I'm cheap and it's not the prettiest in the world, but once the beans and peas take over, you can't see it.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

At the end of March or early April I can get pansies and ranunculus.  I am so excited.  We are getting there.  I need to start to plan my annuals....

[Elder Sister]

I just haven't been bit by the gardening bug yet.  I'm going to go Saturday and look at plants and seeds...I'm sure that will start it up.  I'm trying to figure out how to plant seeds since I now have a kitten living in my sun room, which is where I normally have seedlings coming up.  

She's an absolute terror; I don't see that setup working out this year.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

5 hours ago, Elder Sister said:

I just haven't been bit by the gardening bug yet.  I'm going to go Saturday and look at plants and seeds...I'm sure that will start it up.  I'm trying to figure out how to plant seeds since I now have a kitten living in my sun room, which is where I normally have seedlings coming up.  

She's an absolute terror; I don't see that setup working out this year.

No.  No it will not.  I end up having a lot of things that I direct sow (e.g., peas, Okra, beans, cucumbers, carrots, squash, melons, zinnias, cosmos (who am I kidding, the latter are just volunteers from the year before)) and I just buy the rest as seedlings from nurseries.  I sometimes think I should do my own seedlings, but the times I have tried it, I've either killed them with love (over watering, or kitten), or neglect.

[Elder Sister]

14 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

No.  No it will not.  I end up having a lot of things that I direct sow (e.g., peas, Okra, beans, cucumbers, carrots, squash, melons, zinnias, cosmos (who am I kidding, the latter are just volunteers from the year before)) and I just buy the rest as seedlings from nurseries.  I sometimes think I should do my own seedlings, but the times I have tried it, I've either killed them with love (over watering, or kitten), or neglect.

Pre-Bebe, I was great with seedlings.  I'll still do some on the front porch, because it's a Bebe-free zone, but it will have to be early summer stuff because the early spring seedlings will not make it on the back porch.  She will destroy them.  Right now, she's racing back and forth through the house and I have an interview with a prospective employee for our dept. in 10 min.  And I'm supposed to pretend to be professional.  If I shut the door, she will sit outside and wail like a banshee.

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1 hour ago, Elder Sister said:

Pre-Bebe, I was great with seedlings.  I'll still do some on the front porch, because it's a Bebe-free zone, but it will have to be early summer stuff because the early spring seedlings will not make it on the back porch.  She will destroy them.  Right now, she's racing back and forth through the house and I have an interview with a prospective employee for our dept. in 10 min.  And I'm supposed to pretend to be professional.  If I shut the door, she will sit outside and wail like a banshee.

 

Bebe will be your recruiting secret weapon.  Everyone loves a kitten.

[lady narcissa]

On 2/10/2022 at 5:01 PM, Elder Sister said:

I'm trying to figure out how to plant seeds since I now have a kitten living in my sun room, which is where I normally have seedlings coming up.

I think this means you need to build some kind of she-shed/greenhouse out in the backyard!

[Cas Stark]

We put in a mini greenhouse set up in the basement.  We used a old metal cart and bought some grow lights.  We sequestered the area with a screen to keep the cats from eating the plant,this is also where we over wintered the geraniums and some of the herbs.

[MeanMrMustard]

As Spring arrives, I curse the idiots who thought Bradford Pears were a good idea.

I'm working on having the greatest buddleia in all the land.

[Spockydog]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:32 PM, Elder Sister said:

What are you looking to do with it?  I've used different things through the years, including chicken wire, but we usually use that for peas/green beans, etc.  

Gardener's Supply sells some environmentally friendly versions, but they're pricey.  I usually just reuse the chicken wire every year.  I'm cheap and it's not the prettiest in the world, but once the beans and peas take over, you can't see it.

I need something that will serve as a horizontal trellis. Something that is light, and will absolutely not stretch, even when supporting kilos of fruit. I'm currently testing a PVC-coated wire mesh panel, but it's relatively heavy, and for all kinds of reasons, I need to find a lighter material.

From a purely functional perspective, chicken wire would perhaps suffice. But the aesthetics are far from pleasing, and I'm ideally looking for a trellis with three or four-inch squares.

[Elder Sister]

On 2/23/2022 at 8:41 PM, Spockydog said:

I need something that will serve as a horizontal trellis. Something that is light, and will absolutely not stretch, even when supporting kilos of fruit. I'm currently testing a PVC-coated wire mesh panel, but it's relatively heavy, and for all kinds of reasons, I need to find a lighter material.

From a purely functional perspective, chicken wire would perhaps suffice. But the aesthetics are far from pleasing, and I'm ideally looking for a trellis with three or four-inch squares.

Will it be visible, always?  Or will the planting cover it?  If it's going to visible always, there are some expensive options if you don't want to build it yourself.  I love some of what Gardener's Supply offers...they're not eyesores, and they're sturdy.  I use their tomato cages that are made of steel rod, and I've used them for nearly 15 years.  I still have all 12 cages and they work great.  

But if you're planting something like melons that is going to grow quickly and have lots of greenery, I'd do something cheaper.  

I ordered a bunch of seeds Tuesday and it made me so happy.  I just love Sow True Seed out of North Carolina.  Their stuff never fails to grow well.

[Tears of Lys]

On 2/3/2022 at 8:07 AM, Toth said:

Updates from my windowsill farm:

Also somehow, inexplicably, four of my tomatoes have survived as well. It's probably pointless to keep them for more than a year, but I'm hesitant to throw away anything that is still alive

when i lived in California, i had a potted tomato plant on the patio and it grew and produced fruits for four years

[Toth]

18 minutes ago, Tears of Lys said:

when i lived in California, i had a potted tomato plant on the patio and it grew and produced fruits for four years

I should note that one has started blooming today. XD

My one successful lychee also developed a cute little plant. The others still have their roots, but inexplicably refuse to grow. Also the Mango somehow refuses to grow out its leaves.

[Toth]

Well, tomato and pepper harvest had been very bountiful these last months: https://i.imgur.com/K0rTpTv.jpg

Just made a couple of photos of what had transpired just on my window-sill in the meantime.

First up: In the end, four of the Mango seeds that I planted in the end turned into plants, but the very first one that stubbornly refused to grow leaves, in the end formed two small ones that it immediately dropped and then it died. However, two of those remaining ones look pretty damn good. Here one of them: https://i.imgur.com/YIyWRat.jpg

Three of the lychees also made an impressive recovery after months of nothing happening whatsoever after germinating. Here the two best looking ones:

https://i.imgur.com/FCchGHc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YDhVfM9.jpg

I also still have the avocado plant that my colleague gifted me. It still looks a bit creased, probably because it expects higher humidity, but it still goes strong: https://i.imgur.com/kR2w4g6.jpg