Author Topic: The Gardening Thread  (Read 34091 times)

Róisín

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #30 on: April 21, 2016, 09:16:28 AM »
Piney: while I was down in Noarlunga today doing other stuff, I took the chance to show the photo of your cactus to my cactus and succulent expert friend, who says the cactus looks as if it needs more light, and that it is probably a Senilicereus, Peruvian Old Man cactus or one of its close relatives, (not to be confused with Selenicereus, the Queen of the Night cactus.) All the things she knows that cause cacti to shrink involve burrowing grubs, sapsucking bugs or root rot (and underwatering as well as overwatering, though I gather that isn't likely to be a problem here). She also said that in general those furry cacti produce more and thicker hair the more sunlight they get, and that they need very little water in winter, if any. They tend to stop growing in the absence of warmth and light.

You might enjoy her gardening and cooking blog: hanasgarden.com.au.

Sunflower: I use coffee grounds in compost (good coffee from the Farmers Market), and spread it about the new seedlings to deter snails. It's good for acid-loving plants like camellias and blueberries.
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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #31 on: May 01, 2016, 02:43:11 PM »
I planted three cherry tomatoes (2 reds, 1 yellow) in pots; I have high hopes for them. Really looking forward to the harvest on the balcony :D
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Róisín

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #32 on: May 01, 2016, 08:03:40 PM »
Excellent! Put some basil in with them, for the health of the tomato plants and for eating with the tomatoes.
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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #33 on: May 29, 2016, 06:55:43 AM »
Excellent! Put some basil in with them, for the health of the tomato plants and for eating with the tomatoes.

Do you have advice for other common (in Europe) garden plants that go well together? It's too late to put such advice to good use this year, but it will definitely come in handy in the future.

In a somewhat related note, I started reading about permaculture and I really like the concept of a garden that is closer to the natural state of ecosystems. With your education and experience in plant-related things, I think you might have heard about it. Any thoughts on it?

Suggested reading on either of this topics is also welcome!

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #34 on: May 29, 2016, 02:00:16 PM »
Ah yeah basil is nice to grow because it's pretty hardy and really likes to grow fast. Plus it's delicious.

I like growing herbs, when I had my small one bedroom / studio apartments having a small variety of some potted herbs made the place feel more homely, plus the bonus of always having the freshest herbs on hand for cooking.

I'm pretty glad though that this summer I have the luxury of having access to actual gardens again and can actually dig my hands in the dirt :3

Mint has grown in my backyard for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I would just, hang out by the mint plants and munch on them all the time. Then one day I insisted on taking a few sprigs and drying them out to crush them and use them to make tea. Then last summer my eight year old cousin did the exact same thing of wanting to make tea with the mint growing in his yard which made me super happy because I'd never even told him I did that too when I was a kid so by coincidence he had the same idea as me and at pretty much the same age I did it  :D


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Solokov

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #35 on: May 30, 2016, 02:48:57 AM »
Neat thread.

My parents are doing a "bale garden" this year i'll try and get some photos from my mom of them, her irises and my lck oaks back home.

Iirc the bales have got two types of basil, some sage, another herb I can't remember, four different kinds of tomatoes, a couple types of squash,peppers and tomatillos.

As for my garden....too damn cold at the barracks to plant anything yet without building a greenhouse (ice on the truck every morning cold) so I think it'll be another year efore I try growig the purple corn i've had sitting in my pack for the last two years.
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Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #36 on: July 04, 2017, 11:56:18 PM »
I need a bit of advice and help with my plants;

I have a small lavender plant in my room which has lately been dried out and looking rather unhealthy. It's been getting water every few days, plenty of sun, and a few days ago I repotted it into a larger pot to give its roots a bit bit more room. However, it's conditions haven't changed at all. Does anyone have any advice to revive it? It seemed to be doing quite well before. Perhaps it's the heat lately?

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Róisín

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Re: Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #37 on: July 05, 2017, 03:48:44 AM »
Luth, is it in direct sunlight magnified through the window? Airconditioning? Either of those may be drying it out despite watering. Also, lavender really doesn't seem to like indoors, except maybe in the dead of winter. Try it out on a sunny porch, or even in the ground.

Are there healthy lavender plants in your neighbourhood? What is different about where they are growing?
« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 09:05:11 AM by Róisín »
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Athena

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Re: Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #38 on: July 05, 2017, 03:22:30 PM »
Luth, is it in direct sunlight magnified through the window? Airconditioning? Either of those may be drying it out despite watering. Also, lavender really doesn't seem to like indoors, except maybe in the dead of winter. Try it out on a sunny porch, or even in the ground.

Are there healthy lavender plants in your neighbourhood? What is different about where they are growing?

I don't have air conditioning in my room, but it was in direct sunlight through the window. That seems likely - it was doing better during the winter inside. I put it out on the porch and gave it a bit more water this morning, hopefully that'll help. Thanks for the advice! :)

And I'm not sure about lavender growing elsewhere in the neighbourhood - I'm not usually very social with my neighbours... ::)
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Róisín

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Re: Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #39 on: July 06, 2017, 02:50:21 AM »
Jhev, succulents succumb to overwatering more often than they do to underwatering, and mould suggests that as a possible cause. Is it summer where you are? Some don't like humid heat. If the root is still intact and not rotted out, clean off the rotted and wilted bits, put it somewhere warm and dry and see if it regrows. I've moved a lot of mine indoors, because the really fleshy ones don't like frost, the ice crystals forming in the leaves shred them like freezing a jelly. It's winter here, and an unusually cold one, so my sedums and aloes are suffering, as are some of the agaves.

**we actually have a gardening thread here in the forum, or we used to, but I haven't been able to find it for awhile**
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Re: Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #40 on: July 06, 2017, 03:45:28 AM »

**we actually have a gardening thread here in the forum, or we used to, but I haven't been able to find it for awhile**

I've gone ahead and merged the solely gardening related posts ^_^ I feel it's about time this topic got some more love

Also, does anyone have advice on Rosemary care? I'm worried mine may have a fungus or something. The stems have a slight powdery coating and quite a few of the needles have been dying. I think it must be in the early stages of whatever it is, but I had a similar problem with one of my flowers a while ago, and because I left it untreated for too long the whole plant died :(
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Róisín

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #41 on: July 06, 2017, 06:01:46 AM »
Gwenno, thank you! I searched through the dormant threads, but could not discover it. I'm afraid my gardening skills are better than my thread-necromancy skills.

Anent your rosemary: where is it growing? Out in the garden or inside? Rosemary is quite tolerant of both heat and cold (that's why you so often find it in Christmas decorations), but, like its relative lavender, it doesn't like humidity or full shade. My rosemary bushes do best in full sun, even in our horribly hot summers, being subject to moulds and other fungal diseases if it gets too cold, dark and wet.

The other thing rosemary likes is good air circulation, that is, having the air moving around its branches, to prevent the buildup of moisture. It also needs very good drainage; having standing water around the roots is certain to make it rot. Rosemary likes a slightly alkaline soil, so if your soil is acidic give it a sprinkle of lime. If the problem seems to be a mould or fungus, I'd say cut off the affected bits and dispose of them by burning or putting them in the rubbish, water it, including the foliage, with one part milk to four parts water (sounds weird but works), and if it is in a pot, move it to somewhere with lots of air and sun. There are commercial fungicides you can use, but many of those also kill the soil biota.

Which rosemary cultivar do you have? My hardiest ones are 'Blue Lagoon' which has large very dark blue flowers, a white-flowered form, the pink-flowered trailing form and 'Silver Laced' with its white-striped leaves and pale blue flowers, all of which are fairly modern cultivars developed within the last few centuries, and another unnamed one which I grew from a cutting of the rosemary hedge along the driveway at Cave House, taken when I lived there about twenty years ago. Those five grow in shallow sandy/gravelly soil, right out in the open, exposed to frost and blazing sun, and they do fine. The one from Cave House is particularly tough, when I came there it was growing as a long hedge along the drive, exposed to all weathers on a very windy hilltop, and had been completely neglected for at least twenty years. The bushes were gnarly and twisted with weather, planted in gravel against an old stone wall, but only a few had died, and the scent and the flowers were amazing - our summer honey was always wonderful there.

I also have the cultivars 'Benenden Blue', which has very fine leaves and bright blue flowers, and 'Gold Laced' which has a pale blue flower and leaves with a gold stripe. Those two can tolerate part shade, one being on the eastern side of my house so it gets only morning sun, the other is under partial summer shade, growing between the jujube tree and the Early Settler peach, both of which are deciduous so it gets winter sun.
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Re: Re: General Discussion Thread
« Reply #42 on: July 06, 2017, 07:37:21 AM »
I don't have air conditioning in my room, but it was in direct sunlight through the window. That seems likely - it was doing better during the winter inside. I put it out on the porch and gave it a bit more water this morning, hopefully that'll help. Thanks for the advice! :)

And I'm not sure about lavender growing elsewhere in the neighbourhood - I'm not usually very social with my neighbours... ::)

What soil are you using for the lavender? They like somewhat sandy soils to push their roots through properly. Adding some sand to planting soil (or gently fertilizing cacti soil) would be good for it. Putting it in a pot of regular store-bought flower soil, probably not so much.

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #43 on: July 06, 2017, 07:49:00 AM »
I've been thinking of growing cover crops in my potted plants to keep them from drying out too horribly. The soil is exposed in the sun on my windowsill so they dry up faster than I want them to.

Have anyone ever tried? I'm thinking that some low herb like ground thyme could work but IDK.

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Re: The Gardening Thread
« Reply #44 on: July 06, 2017, 08:47:47 AM »
I've been thinking of growing cover crops in my potted plants to keep them from drying out too horribly. The soil is exposed in the sun on my windowsill so they dry up faster than I want them to.

Have anyone ever tried? I'm thinking that some low herb like ground thyme could work but IDK.

An alternative to this is mulching - cover the soil with something like dead leaves or pieces of bark or some other natural material that doesn't decompose too fast. The advantage is it's instant and guaranteed to work. I do this for the plants I keep on my very sunny balcony.