The Gardening Thread

[Fauna]

Does anyone have tips for increasing the soils ability to hold water? The drought is downright merciless here. I've buried some sheeps wool around young plants hoping it will absorb moisture and keep what little rain we might get (there's a government ban on watering so yeah), but I'm looking for anything that might help my garden out rn.

[Róisín]

If you specifically need low-light plants and would like edibles, you might try watercress (Nasturtium officinale), violets(Viola odorata), or wood strawberries (Fragaria vesca). If the edible bit is less important there are always ferns. Wood strawberries are the tiny slightly pointed ones with the incredibly rich strawberry flavour. Pretty leaves and flowers, fruit is edible fresh, cooked or as jam.

[Sc0ut]

Does anyone have tips for increasing the soils ability to hold water? The drought is downright merciless here. I've buried some sheeps wool around young plants hoping it will absorb moisture and keep what little rain we might get (there's a government ban on watering so yeah), but I'm looking for anything that might help my garden out rn.

Government ban on watering? D: That sounds post-apocalyptic to me.

I think your best bet now is mulching. There are several possible materials for this, and I'll leave it to more experienced people (or your own research) to suggest a good one since my experience with it is rather limited.

Ana Nymus, I think it's fun to try to grow herbs you can eat or enjoy for their smell, so look into mint, basil, oregano, that kind of thing. You may not be successful with all of them, but if it works out, it's even more rewarding than a plant that you can't eat They do need more consistent watering than succulents and can get "sick" easier than a succulent would, but I still think it's worth a try, and I grow some every year, with varying success rates.

Also if you have a place that sells plants nearby, it's worth talking to someone there and ask them recommend you something appropriate for a beginner. There are a lot of plants that may work! For instance, I have Dieffenbachia that came with the apartment I rented and it's a type of plant that will live for years simply hanging out in water without even needing to be potted. It's as resilient and low maintenance as it gets imo (also, it turns out it's mildly poisonous, but I cared for mine for years without being aware of this and never had any reaction  )

[thorny]

Government ban on watering? D: That sounds post-apocalyptic to me.

Quite a lot of places do this during dry spells. There are many places on the planet where fresh water is in seriously short supply, and needs to be reserved for drinking water and essential agricultural supply. Some major metropolitan areas on the planet are in serious danger of running out of water altogether and having to ration drinking water.

Some areas that won't allow overhead might allow drip tape, and/or watering from a greywater system, or from rain barrels if you do get occasional rain. Mulching can indeed also be useful. And then there's xeriscaping -- grow plants that are native to dry areas and more tolerant of drought.

Also if you have a place that sells plants nearby, it's worth talking to someone there and ask them recommend you something appropriate for a beginner.

Some places that sell plants have people who know a lot about them. Others don't.

Try to find a place that's actually growing the plants, not just selling them.

-- Herbs are indeed often a good thing to grow in pots. Some of them will tolerate low light; and in some others the legginess from low light can be controlled by cutting the plant back frequently -- and using the cuttings. If you're not cooking in the dorm, you can spread them out to dry and bag the dried herbs up as gifts (though little baggies of dried green material can be hazardous to try to carry through airports -- )

[Róisín]

What thorny says about dry places reserving water for essential survival uses! I live in such a place. Which is why I have two big tanks and and several rain barrels. I have lived for years at a time without mains water, but it is useful to have as a backup.

I know that California tried to ban lawn sprinklers a few years back, possibly because at the time the highest water consumption of any crop in the state was for lawn grass. Whatever finally happened about that?

[Lenny]

Mmm, ban on watering is pretty common. Not that common in Tasmania or the Netherlands, both places are very wet, but in South Africa it's very normal to live day-to-day life while rationing water. In lots of areas it's a fool's game to even try to maintain a live lawn of grass, and people keep gardens to things that can survive without lots of water. Probably the most recent mention of the most severe form of this in the news was Cape Town last year. The dams now are back at 53% capacity overall, but it was very, very near no water at all. It was flush the toilet once a day and scramble for bottled water situations. You don't water plants in that situation unless you've got your priorities all messed up :'>

[Sc0ut]

Quite a lot of places do this during dry spells. There are many places on the planet where fresh water is in seriously short supply, and needs to be reserved for drinking water and essential agricultural supply. Some major metropolitan areas on the planet are in serious danger of running out of water altogether and having to ration drinking water.

I know, but as far as I know Fauna lives in a certain European country that should have no problem with that. So my reaction wasn't "wow I can't believe some places have problems with water" but rather "I can't believe severe drought is happening in this area". Though of course I may remember incorrectly, or they may have moved, or climate change is even worse than I thought (which is particularly bad, since I'm always the pessimist when it comes to this).

Some places that sell plants have people who know a lot about them. Others don't.

Try to find a place that's actually growing the plants, not just selling them.

Hm okay, isn't this getting a bit excessive? What if someone does buy a plant from a place where the employees aren't that knowledgeable? In the vast majority of cases, either it will be totally fine, or they will have wasted a small amount of money on a plant they're not prepared to care for. The worst case scenario, where the entire tomato crop of a state is decimated, won't happen just because someone bought a plant for their dorm room. Let's be a bit more realistic, maybe?

[thorny]

I wasn't suggesting that nobody should ever buy plants. I was suggesting that if one is buying living things, it's better to do so from a place that knows what they're doing; especially if asking the place for advice about said plants.

Yes, lots of people buy plants that are unsuited to what they want to do with them, and/or that they're given the wrong growing instructions for, and/or that are diseased or infested, and by far the most common worst thing that happens is that they're out the cost of the plant. But if one's going to ask for advice, why not ask for it from someone who's likely to have accurate answers?

And there are invasive organisms being frantically battled all over the world which were introduced by people who had no idea that they were doing any such thing. I wish that weren't realistic; but it is.

[Róisín]

thorny, you are right about that. Many dangerous agricultural pests, diseases and weeds have been introduced to Australia, where I live, and to other places, by people who had no idea that what they were bringing in was a problem. We need to be a bit careful. If we buy exotic plants we need to buy them from a known clean source, such as a nursery with an import license, which is what I do because I have a collection of rare and unusual vegetables.

On a slightly different note, I have found it useful to share some of my more unusual and rare garden plants with other collectors, both because it is good to have the plants spread around a bit, and to have a source of replacements should something happen to my plants. Yesterday I spoke to an audience of food gardeners at an Urban Farm down near the coast. It was an interesting gig, and a bonus was that some years ago I gave specimens of a number of rare cabbage cultivars to the chap who manages it, and I was able to get seed back of several of them that I had lost in a year in which my garden had suffered heat waves, severe frosts, wallabies and rabbits. This time I will plant them in a better and more protected position. And hopefully soon I will have more seed to share with community gardens and urban farms. Food reserves are a good thing to have!

[Unlos]

Nah, I see Sc0uts point. Aren't you from Sweden, Fauna? It's uncommonly hot and super dry in large parts of Norway as well, and bans on watering many places (and restrictions in others -very sensible "only water with what you can carry and don't leave the sprinkler on" for private gardens, but still not what you usually get around here) that indeed gives me the shivers and a pre-if not post-apocalyptic scare.

[Antillanka]

Wish me luck, a friend gave me a pink echeveria leaf (wohoo! they're super rare here!) and now I'm crossing my fingers for it to multiply successfully!

[Róisín]

Antillanka, if the base of the leaf is not already dry and callused, leave it for a day or two to harden. New roots start better from a dried base. Echeverias have such a pretty flower, as well as interesting shapes and colours of the rosette.

[Antillanka]

Antillanka, if the base of the leaf is not already dry and callused, leave it for a day or two to harden. New roots start better from a dried base. Echeverias have such a pretty flower, as well as interesting shapes and colours of the rosette.

Thanks for the advice The source plant was very pretty, I'm hoping for a very nice echeveria in a few months... or half a year haha, whatever it takes it to grow ^^

[Cancvas]

On water retention, adding plant based charcoal (bbq coals might not be the best, fire residues might better) will increase water and nutritient retention. 10% volume or so.

 But the question, does anyone know if hare (not rabbits) eat vine vines (ones growing grapes)? Question might be moot, depending whether grapevine will survive winter or not.

[Fauna]

Nah, I see Sc0uts point. Aren't you from Sweden, Fauna? It's uncommonly hot and super dry in large parts of Norway as well, and bans on watering many places (and restrictions in others -very sensible "only water with what you can carry and don't leave the sprinkler on" for private gardens, but still not what you usually get around here) that indeed gives me the shivers and a pre-if not post-apocalyptic scare.

Old topic now but indeed. It's been ridiculously dry here this year. It's lush and green now as we have had rains the past few weeks and all the trees have recovered (thanks, gods!) but up until last month or so, the place I live literally looked like those stereotypical images of dryland Africa. There were still leaves on the trees, but they were all shriveled up and dried, or they were orange like they go in November. The lawns were clay and dust. Walking to the bus was accompanied by leaves crunching underfoot, it was creepy to say the least.

That being said, Sweden honestly isn't the best nation in the world when it comes to water rationing. A number of parts of the country, especially Gotland, have had problems with supplying water for a good couple of years now. Turns out that when your land has a lot of water, it's easy to want to have a bit less of it. Marshes and wetlands is very fertile agricultural land when you dig them out, and peat moss is commonly used to heat up buildings and worth quite a bit of money. I'm a nature nerd so I keep tabs on these things somewhat, but I'm still always slightly surprised by the fact that PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED when we have less ground water, despite the fact that WE HAVE GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO HAVE LESS WATER. Like this year, we had MASSIVE spring floods and a couple of weeks later it was drought warning. Yes, sure, we didn't have any rain, but that was a lot of meltwater we just directed out towards the oceans.