gardening

Discussion, in general

Re: gardening

Postby Malfeasinator » Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:39 pm

I know it won't be the same, but maybe this can help you get the feeling back a little:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Indoor-Gardening/
  • 1

User avatar
Malfeasinator
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1039
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:17 pm
Location: Florida
Show rep
Title: this guy

Re: gardening

Postby Twistappel » Wed Apr 30, 2014 11:52 pm

I'm not great with plants, although the mint that I propagated for my mum hasn't died yet, so yay me.

The Man-creature, on the other hand, is awesome with plants. He got permission from the Body Corporate to plant stuff in the common garden of our building, and has transformed it from a patch of buffalo grass, spindly shrubs and rubble into a thriving garden, with a veggie patch and herbs. He is an ecologist by training, so I suppose that figures.

One thing that I have learned from the Man-creature is that soil is important. He's been throwing fertilizer and gypsum (We live in a suburb called "Clayfield". Guess what we have lots of.) into the soil for about a year now, and it's made a huge difference.

Also, coffee grounds make amazing fertiliser. Especially if you throw them in a Bokashi bucket first.

Sadly, I don't know what to do about a lack of sunlight, other than grow plants that thrive in low light. We have the opposite problem here. Our so-called "winter" lasts for about two weeks, and many of our plants die because the heat/sunlight gets so intense.

Edit: One of these days, I'm going to learn to look at the dates on stuff.
  • 4

You say "New World Order" "communist echo chamber" like it's a bad thing.

The TCSer formerly known as "Sister Morphine’
User avatar
Twistappel
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 2640
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: The People's Republic of Colorado
Show rep
Title: Failed the Turing Test

Re: gardening

Postby Malfeasinator » Thu May 01, 2014 8:54 pm

The thing with clay is it hardens into kind of a brick-like consistency and that can be hard for new seedlings and roots to grow through. You have to keep something on the surface to help keep moisture in, so the clay doesn't dry out. Leaves and pine needles are good for this purpose for plants that are already pretty well started, though they will block out light if you have seeds waiting to emerge (this can help keep new weeds from coming up, though).

Coffee grounds are great, but they're a bit like concentrated fertilizer. Ashes also work well, for those who regularly burn yard waste or have a wood stove or something and have some on hand anyway. Even dead Uncle Eustace could feed your trees.

If you're a little brave and don't mind the smell, you could also use urine, though you have to water it down some, to at least like a 6:1 water to urine ratio. This may, but probably won't, keep larger pests away from your crops. I've heard this works to keep deer away from weed, but you have to do it every day.

And now you'll have that image in your head. Deer hopping around, all high.
  • 3

User avatar
Malfeasinator
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1039
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:17 pm
Location: Florida
Show rep
Title: this guy

Re: gardening

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Thu May 01, 2014 9:14 pm

Oh hey, Mal, you seem to be our resident gardening expert. Black specks on the leaves of my dwarf peach tree that I think are aphids, maybe? Plus ants. Halp! So far I've 1) put a strip of sticky tape around the tree stick-side out to discourage the ants and b) misted a couple of times with a weak solution of dish soap (the fruits are setting at the moment, so I'm really wary of knocking them off or otherwise traumatising them). Any other suggestions? I've heard that planting garlic bulbs around soft fruit trees can help to discourage ants, but it's in a small pot and I don't want to transplant it until after it's fruited and I'm worried about disturbing it or throwing off the balance of nutrients or something. Plus I'm more worried about the aphids (if that's what they are) as I'm not opposed to putting down chemical ant traps if needs be. Any suggestions, my sweet?
  • 1

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: gardening

Postby CarrieVS » Thu May 01, 2014 9:22 pm

Catch any ladybirds you can find and transfer them gently to the leaves of the tree.
  • 3

A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
User avatar
CarrieVS
TCS Redshirt
TCS Redshirt
 
Posts: 7103
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:43 pm
Location: By my wild self in the wet wild woods waving my wild tail
Show rep
Title: Drama Llama

Re: gardening

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Thu May 01, 2014 9:25 pm

Good plan. I don't recall seeing any in our garden, but if I do, I will!
  • 1

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: gardening

Postby Malfeasinator » Thu May 01, 2014 9:48 pm

Ants, quite simply put, are the devil.

They're like the Slivers of Magic: The Gathering. Everybody hates them and they're practically unbeatable.

Short of this: Image,

- there's not much that can be done, without being really creative.

We (me and Mom) used to use Borax, water and sugar as a bait for them and that works pretty well.

You can also use White Vinegar as a deterrent. They hate the stuff. If you spray it directly on them they act like this:

Image

Diatomaceous earth seems to work pretty good, too, but there's different kinds and you may want to see what kind is right for you.

Coffee grounds also supposedly deter them.

Cream of Wheat is said to kill ants. I haven't tried this myself, but if you're feeling like a mad scientist, go for it.

I'm sure there are more things you can Google up and try out. Mostly the White Vinegar and Borax thing worked for me, but you're going to be fighting a never ending war with them, and they'll probably adapt over time to your efforts, so you might have to keep switching it up.
  • 2

User avatar
Malfeasinator
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1039
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:17 pm
Location: Florida
Show rep
Title: this guy

Re: gardening

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Thu May 01, 2014 10:02 pm

Thanks! I think the ant traps we've got in the past are basically Borax and Syrup. I might try the coffee grounds thing, unless you think putting them directly onto the soil in the pot might harm the tree in any way.
  • 1

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: gardening

Postby Twistappel » Fri May 02, 2014 12:19 am

Malfeasinator wrote:Even dead Uncle Eustace could feed your trees.

That reminds me. When I ultimately haul down the curtain and join the choir invisible, I want my ashes to be deposited in one of these.

http://urnabios.com/

... or failing that, jammed into a McDonalds cup with a gumnut. I'm not fussy.
  • 2

You say "New World Order" "communist echo chamber" like it's a bad thing.

The TCSer formerly known as "Sister Morphine’
User avatar
Twistappel
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 2640
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: The People's Republic of Colorado
Show rep
Title: Failed the Turing Test

Re: gardening

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Fri May 02, 2014 12:22 am

But what if the tree died? That would be awful. Not for you, obviously, but for the people who...uh...planted you.
  • 3

A society without redemption would damn us all ~ Kate
User avatar
OrangeEyebrows
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 5700
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: Dormouse-like in a teapot
Show rep
Title: Magnifitail

Re: gardening

Postby Twistappel » Fri May 02, 2014 1:48 am

OrangeEyebrows wrote:But what if the tree died? That would be awful. Not for you, obviously, but for the people who...uh...planted you.

You clearly haven't met my family.
  • 2

You say "New World Order" "communist echo chamber" like it's a bad thing.

The TCSer formerly known as "Sister Morphine’
User avatar
Twistappel
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 2640
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: The People's Republic of Colorado
Show rep
Title: Failed the Turing Test

Re: gardening

Postby DoglovingJim » Tue Feb 06, 2018 12:58 pm

Image
So, what's new in your personal slices of Eden people?

Reviving this thread as I will probably be using it quite a bit this year.
  • 3

Image

Edgar Cabrera wrote:HOLY SHIT GUYS, IT'S DOGLOVINGJIM!!! HE'S HERE!!!

skoobadive wrote:It's the legendary DoglovingJim! Ohboy, this must be the greatest day of my life!

Cracked.com wrote:Initially, his interest in animals was "primarily a sexual attraction," but as he grew older, he also "developed the emotional attraction." We guess we could call what Jim does ... dog-lovin'
User avatar
DoglovingJim
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 2798
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:07 am
Location: No block of land is going to tie Jim and his dogs down.
Show rep
Title: Manly Man

Re: gardening

Postby Malfeasinator » Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:45 pm

My last posts in this thread were a few weeks before the house fire. I had such high hopes for gardening that year.

I did learn a lot about what can be neglected, though, since I wasn't able to come back much. Kale survived; I'd come back months later, (mostly to check on the house, yard, etc., but I had to know what was up with the garden) and they'd still be growing with no watering or anything. I'd break some leaves off and eat them. The collection of edible flowers that I'd established also did very well with nothing but nature's mercy. Sunflowers did much better than I could have imagined.

Kale even seemed to survive the winter. Some things re-seeded themselves for the following year.

I wish I'd kept better records but my life has been kind of in chaos since then. I'm getting a grip on things, though. I'm not sure if I'll go back to Maryland. I might. I mean, my family's there, and there's definitely a sense of power and pride and belonging that goes with that.

I did try some edible weeds. Chickweed was alright; nothing to write home about, but it grew as groundcover even in Winter.

I know where some Kudzu grows, not too far from here, and I might see if I could grow it as an indoor plant and cultivate it for food use. The locals might think I'm crazy for trying, but they don't have to know what I'm doing. It would be pretty sweet to make my own Kudzu jelly.

I still have hopes for gardening in the future. I miss what I was able to do, but I'll never up the gardening spirit.
  • 3

User avatar
Malfeasinator
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1039
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:17 pm
Location: Florida
Show rep
Title: this guy

Previous

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests