Gardening and Plant Thread

[Anasa Tristis]

black walnuts are just as good as regular walnuts but they're so difficult to get inside of that it's almost not even worth it

The trick with DIY walnuts is to let the cleaned nuts cure in a warm dry spot for a few months. As they dry out, the shells get brittle and the meats inside shrink and are easier to pick out.

 

[AnOminous]

I thought I had wasted my entire pepper crop on a fermentation experiment that resulted in disaster. I absolutely failed and instead they just rotted. I only had a single Reaper in the first crop and thought it was over.

However, the plant apparently decided to deliver three more peppers late in the season, the habaneros are also coming in again, there are some mild banana peppers, so I think I'll try another batch, except this time I'm just going with a vinegar-based sauce that even I can't fuck up.

I think I'll also throw in a carrot/mango mash or something of the sort. Reapers make an insanely hot sauce even if you boil them a bit like I tend to do.

 

[Just_A_guy]

My Witchcraft black orchid is still going strong in regards to it's leaves. It seems like I'm going to see it spike at the end of this month or the start of next when it should start dropping leaves. I also ended up getting a couple more Phals to leave in pots and keep in my room.

I also got some nice black tea that apparently also functions like a nice fertilizer supplement for orchids. Some people use brewed tea to help revive orchids even.

 

[Moist Boys]

I also got some nice black tea that apparently also functions like a nice fertilizer supplement for orchids. Some people use brewed tea to help revive orchids even.

It doesn't contribute any useful NPK other than organic matter to the soil. Humus is good, but you still need fertilizer.

 

[Just_A_guy]

It doesn't contribute any useful NPK other than organic matter to the soil. Humus is good, but you still need fertilizer.

I feed with properly diluted miracle grow at a 30-10-10 and I have a bloom booster at 15-30-15 that I intend to feed with once it starts dropping its leaves. The benefit of black tea is the tannins in it are said to have an invigorating effect on the roots. IDK how much I buy that so I have proper super thrive to help stimulate root growth after repotting.

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Finally turned out the potato sacks that’ve been sat in a dark corner of my back yard for a few years. They’ve sprouted every year, but I really didn’t expect any usable crop as they’d been left with no feeding, weeding or watering for so long.

I got a decent sized bucketful of potatoes from each sack. Of course, they were confined to the top third of soil, so there were less than there would’ve been if I’d planted tubers towards the bottom of the sack, but to see so many ‘taters essentially having self-seeded was really great.

Bonus, my little raised herb bed is overgrown with mint (stuff is spreading into the lawn, I suspect it’ll be taking over the house in five years and the neighbourhood in ten). Minted spuds for tea, yeah!

Apple harvest looks like it’ll be soon. My Gala tree isn’t in a great position and was beset with greenfly and ants, so there’s only a couple of potentially usable fruits on it. The Golden Delicious tree looks pretty good though.

How do I know when to harvest the apples? I have a few fruits a tug last weekend and none came from the tree. Should I wait until they come off easily, or cut them off? There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of fruit getting bigger now, just getting a slight rosy colour from the sun.

Didn’t water my plums well enough this year (not a euphemism). We had a dry summer where I am, and then it rained hard for a weekend, just as the plums were coming ripe. The rain made the fruits swell quickly and split. I lost more than half of the fruits due to that.

Any ideas of what to grow potatoes in? The bit of soil I have is weed-packed and very shaded, so I’ve used bags until now. Was thinking of using laundry or Ikea bags as I have a few lying about. Have heard of people using stacked tyres as a growing container before now.

 

[Just_A_guy]

How do I know when to harvest the apples? I have a few fruits a tug last weekend and none came from the tree. Should I wait until they come off easily, or cut them off? There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of fruit getting bigger now, just getting a slight rosy colour from the sun.

You'll know when you start seeing a few fall from the trees, it should come off easily. Don't cut or forcibly pull them because you can break the spurs which will reduce your fruit next season. This is pretty much the same for all fruit trees.

Any ideas of what to grow potatoes in? The bit of soil I have is weed-packed and very shaded, so I’ve used bags until now. Was thinking of using laundry or Ikea bags as I have a few lying about. Have heard of people using stacked tyres as a growing container before now.

The tire tower is a good scalable strategy for a lot of potatoes in a relatively small space. You can even do it on the concrete pad you get in a flat/apartment. You might look like a deranged schizo knocking potatoes out of tires in your drive way or the apartments parking lot though.

 

[Gruntgar The Indentured]

Having finally dialed in my pepper game this year I have an abundance of Aji Amarillo peppers. Normally I give a lot of peppers away but these are impossible to find in store. I want to dry most and grind for powder but might make a small batch of hot sauce as well. Dried and ground would be best for things like Peruvian chicken though and I wouldn't lose any if a hot sauce doesn't work out.
Edit-There were three more of these wood cable/hose reels out in the alley a month ago and I couldn't get them because my DSP gout ankle decided I'd be hopping for a week. If you live in a very hot summer climate and can get these for free grab a few. Raised plants in 10g pots (when you live in a 100f+ Summer climate) fare so much better. With the plants raised above the blistering concrete/ground temp the bottom of the pots can cool in whatever breeze the Heatmiser allows.

 

[Mukhrani]

I feed with properly diluted miracle grow at a 30-10-10 and I have a bloom booster at 15-30-15 that I intend to feed with once it starts dropping its leaves. The benefit of black tea is the tannins in it are said to have an invigorating effect on the roots. IDK how much I buy that so I have proper super thrive to help stimulate root growth after repotting.

If it's the Witchcraft Catasetinae intergeneric hybrid, I wouldn't fertilize at all once it starts dropping its leaves. They go into a hard dormancy where you should basically treat the plant as dead until spring - no water and no fertilizer. It will start to put out a new shoot in spring which will grow new roots. Some people I know don't start watering again until the new roots are six inches long - I think that's a bit extreme, I've always watered at 2-3" with no problem. Then just bomb it with water and fertilizer all summer.

 

[Just_A_guy]

If it's the Witchcraft Catasetinae intergeneric hybrid, I wouldn't fertilize at all once it starts dropping its leaves. They go into a hard dormancy where you should basically treat the plant as dead until spring - no water and no fertilizer. It will start to put out a new shoot in spring which will grow new roots. Some people I know don't start watering again until the new roots are six inches long - I think that's a bit extreme, I've always watered at 2-3" with no problem. Then just bomb it with water and fertilizer all summer.

Will do since it is a Witchcraft. Since the leaves are still strong I'll keep feeding if it doesn't show signs of dropping leaves by the 15th of november I'll discontinue watering till next season.

 

[Gruntgar The Indentured]

It doesn't contribute any useful NPK other than organic matter to the soil. Humus is good, but you still need fertilizer.

Use clover as a ground cover around plants. It's a natural nitrogen fixer in the soil and will shade topsoil from direct sunlight that might be baking roots in some climates. Add eggshells for calcium at planting and a banana peel in a gallon of water overnight is a great source of potassium without worrying about overfeeding and toxicity during flow...uh...bloom.

 

[Troon Meet Noose]

Having finally dialed in my pepper game this year I have an abundance of Aji Amarillo peppers. Normally I give a lot of peppers away but these are impossible to find in store.

I'm growing one of these inside. Started it in late August so I don't have any fruit yet. But the Thai chili I started at the same time looks like it could start flowering any day.

 

[Gruntgar The Indentured]

I'm growing one of these inside. Started it in late August so I don't have any fruit yet. But the Thai chili I started at the same time looks like it could start flowering any day

The Aji Amarillos are very prolific when they start to produce. I ordered a new dehydrator to dry mine in as whenever we have the first frost. Next year is all Cayenne and Aji but they be in separate pots. I have a jalapeno plant now in a pot with another Aji and they cross pollinated. The jalapeños turned out super hot and the flavor is way off. The Aji sweetness adds a weird sweet funky taste to the Jalapeños. I gave away a bag of them last weekend and will ask the recipient what they thought of them this weekend. My favorite pepper will always be cayennes though. I have a small volunteer cayenne from last year with a few peppers I only eat with a nice bloody steak.

 

[Gnu Fig]

Finally the time of year where a good portion of my collection dries up and tucks in for the year.
I've already dug up a bunch of bulbs & tubers, and have them curing on my drying rack.

Hopefully this Fredclarkea will rest a little bit longer into next year. It woke up on me early this last February, but put on some good growth despite being stuck on a windowsill during its peak growth time.

 

[he who has thus come/gone]

Anyone have advice/recommendations for what to do with 8 quarts of specialty blueberry potting soil and 8 quarts of specialty citrus potting soil? I potted some plants today and have those left over. The only restrictions are that I live in an apartment without a terrace (yes, the blueberries probably weren't a great idea in retrospect but I'll do my best).

 

[Aunt Carol]

Anyone have advice/recommendations for what to do with 8 quarts of specialty blueberry potting soil and 8 quarts of specialty citrus potting soil?

I'm lazy, so I'd see if anyone on hyperlocal social media wanted them. Buy Nothing kind of people ideally, or plant hippies.

 

[Just_A_guy]

Anyone have advice/recommendations for what to do with 8 quarts of specialty blueberry potting soil and 8 quarts of specialty citrus potting soil? I potted some plants today and have those left over. The only restrictions are that I live in an apartment without a terrace (yes, the blueberries probably weren't a great idea in retrospect but I'll do my best).

I just hang onto my excess potting media because orchids like being repotted from time to time. Plus I wanna clone a couple phals. I don't think repotting will be as frequent with your plants but you might hang onto it and pot plants that like a similar soil composition.

 

[Anasa Tristis]

Anyone have advice/recommendations for what to do with 8 quarts of specialty blueberry potting soil and 8 quarts of specialty citrus potting soil? I potted some plants today and have those left over. The only restrictions are that I live in an apartment without a terrace (yes, the blueberries probably weren't a great idea in retrospect but I'll do my best).

The specialty blueberry stuff is probably peat moss heavy for acidity/low pH. (Check the label in case they added something else.) It’ll probably be chunky and retain more moisture than your standard peat/perlite/wetting agent potting soil. Blueberrys don’t mind wet feet. The citrus stuff is similar, just not as acidic (probably not as peat heavy or maybe has more perlite or even sand) and has a finer grind. But it will drain and dry out faster than regular potting soil. And much faster than the blueberry stuff. Citrus needs lots of root air so they prefer fast draining and fast drying conditions. (And to be repotted religiously.)

Both can be used for other acid loving house plants. Or ones that don’t care. Just watch the watering. Basically the blueberry stuff will retain more moisture and the citrus will retain less.

I did a quick search and geraniums like a low pH and fast draining/on the dry side conditions. So you could use the citrus stuff for geraniums.

 

[Just_A_guy]

Just got some six inch slotted plastic orchid pots ordered. I'll be repotting my newest Phals, I am still intend to clone some of them and will post the results of my experimentation.

Also I have grown a recent fixation at the prospect of being if not the first, one of the first to cultivate a coralroot orchid in captivity. They utilize their mycorrhizal fungus as capillaries to leech nutrients from the surrounding plants. They do not photosynthesize for themselves and are entirely reliant on surrounding ground cover. They are not fully understood still but I wanna cultivate the Pacific Coralroot which is native to the cloud forests of the Olympic Peninsula. I am sentimental and would like to be able to bring an exotic plant from my home region where ever I end up so this is an interesting side project.

*example of a Pacific Coralroot in the wild.

 

[Justsomecicada]

Just got some six inch slotted plastic orchid pots ordered. I'll be repotting my newest Phals, I am still intend to clone some of them and will post the results of my experimentation.

Also I have grown a recent fixation at the prospect of being if not the first, one of the first to cultivate a coralroot orchid in captivity. They utilize their mycorrhizal fungus as capillaries to leech nutrients from the surrounding plants. They do not photosynthesize for themselves and are entirely reliant on surrounding ground cover. They are not fully understood still but I wanna cultivate the Pacific Coralroot which is native to the cloud forests of the Olympic Peninsula. I am sentimental and would like to be able to bring an exotic plant from my home region where ever I end up so this is an interesting side project.

View attachment 8099041
*example of a Pacific Coralroot in the wild.

So what’s your plan? Identify the fungi, inoculate the soil, then plant a host plant in the soil, then finishing with attempting to cultivate with seed?

I am also very into parasitic orchids