Gardening and Plant Thread

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@Yeshua Moon go with zoysia or Bermuda grass. Get sod preferably. A bag of seed is cheap, but the results are often patchy and take a while to grow in. Sod won't wash away in hard rain.
Add a layer of topsoil at least 1/2 inch.

If it's new construction builders clay? Good luck. Not much will grow on that cheaply.
 
Yeshua Moon said:
Anyone have advice on making a lazy cheap garden from seed in a lawn that is mostly clay? Everyone on youtube seems to do raised beds with expensive gardening soil but based on my uninformed calculations it seems like the expense is dramatically more than it would cost to just buy the end product from the grocery store.


I tried really hard at making a garden once, but everything ended up getting obliterated by yankee beetles. I liked them when I first saw them because they looked interesting. Then they ate every leaf. Then I learned they were probably the origin of chemtrail conspiracy theories because the russians blamed cold war era starvation on americans dropping them from planes. (https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23929124#:~:text=There was a huge propaganda,collect the beetles after school.)
I do have chemtrails over my house all the time.......
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With clay soil you're going to need to break it up and add organic matter like compost, peat moss, dead leaves, grass clipping, etc. you could either use a shovel or a tiller to break up the clay and add your organic matter try to avoid doing this when the soils really wet. How big do you plan on making your garden? If you plan on going big or using raised beds don't buy bagged soil it will cost you a fortune, look into local companies that sell top soil or compost they sell in bulk and some will deliver to your property. When it comes to amending clay soil it could take a few seasons of adding organic matter before its really good so don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results.

When it comes to personal gardening its really hard to get out of the red in regards to the cost of just buying from the store, I personally get around this by growing things you can't get from the store. There are thousands of pepper and tomato varieties, that's a hell of a lot more than the dozen or so you'll see at the super market, you also can't get vine ripened tomatoes from the store as they'll to delicate to ship so any home grown will taste better than store bought. Fresh herbs are usually pretty easy to grow and if you use them regularly you could end up saving money, theres also a lot of different vegetables and fruit that you can grow that you can't normally buy. I view gardening as having two resources: Time/work and Money, they have an inverse relationship (the more money you put in the less time/work you'll need, and the more time/work you put in the less money). So if you want to be cheap be ready to put a lot of work and time into your garden.

As for the yankee beetle also known as potato beetles, while I've never had problems with them neem oil and BT should help control and kill them. Neem oil is a natural oil that kills on contact by stripping the waxy coating from insects causing them to dehydrate, its best used either by spot spaying (spaying beetles and eggs as you see them) or full cover spray in the evening so you avoid killing beneficial insects like bees. Make sure you mix it correctly if its to concentrated it can hurt your plants, and its not poisonous to humans. BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a live bacteria that when consumed kills insects. Its best applied on all your foliage every couple of weeks and after a rain, only insects that consume foliage with the bacteria will die so beneficial insects won't be harmed, it is also not harmful to people or pets.

At the end of the day do it for the enjoyment, there will be days when you get frustrated or angry because a crop failed or pests got into your garden, learn to adapt and overcome these and enjoy the satisfaction you'll get when you succeed.
 
Haint said:
@Yeshua Moon go with zoysia or Bermuda grass. Get sod preferably. A bag of seed is cheap, but the results are often patchy and take a while to grow in. Sod won't wash away in hard rain.
Add a layer of topsoil at least 1/2 inch.

If it's new construction builders clay? Good luck. Not much will grow on that cheaply.
Click to expand...
No it's not hardcore clay it does grow some grass/weeds. I'm gonna try the lazy irish foldover method like this with a layer of compost on top:
 
here is how my basil and cilantro are doing.
still using the one 6 band full spectrum bulb with dome.
i have them growing in a plastic storage bin with the light aimed down at them.
i've eaten some of the leaves already.

commonherbs2.png
 
Once that takes off, it'll go wild all season! Enjoy it and don't be scared to clip for food! I'm still a little leary for putting stuff out since nearly frost tonight. But I plan on going wild.

I have a wild strawberry in a jar that I just forgot about that somehow survived the winter. It's not exactly eating but wow. I'm putting in a fresh pot and good soil as a reward. As always a lot of peppers, I might build a potato box to learn this spring.
 
This is a Golden Chain Tree (Laburnum anagyroides). It is native to Southeasten Europe. It looks like a tree from a fantasy movie/game, as in May it produces hanging bunches of bright yellow, sweet smelling, flowers.

imgs_touch.png

It will grow in (US) climate zones 5-9.
 
The stone wall between my garden and my neighbours is crumbling. We've decided to put up a nice high wooden fence together (3 neighbours in a row). I've got a bunch of wallcrawlers I don't want to kill (wisteria, jasmine, clematis). I'm thinking of detaching the lattice racks and leaning them back attaching them to pegs (leaning them the other way as it were). To protect the plants on the ground from trampling, I thought just simple chicken wire around them so nobody steps on them accidentally.

Any tips?
 
You are a cool neighbor! Wisteria will take abuse and winters so expect that to grow.


I'm not much a tech person and always check my area (NE america) for spring but I felt so amped my computer said "frost risks" so I will bring things in,
 
Xarpho said:
My peppers just didn’t sprout and after a week or two after the arugula and basil did, I gave up on them.

Debating whether to try them again with new seeds or just to dump it and restart the pot with parsley.
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I know people already suggested the issue being lack of warm soil but here's a DIY if you, like myself, need to sprout just a dozen difficult seeds for the whole season and got no time or space for all this crazy seed starter warmer stuff (yet).

- One small hard plastic container (like the packaging for organic herbs or sprouts at the supermarket - preferably something that doesn't leak)
- Paper Towel
- Water
- Your seeds
-The modem for your wifi You have one...right?

Wet the paper towel a little so it's nice and damp, put it in the container, lay the seeds on the paper.
Close the container.
Place the thing on top of your modem preferably wherever the warm air comes out.
Check it at least everyday to make sure the water hasn't evaporated/is leaking/is trying to fry your modem.
Transfer seeds to actual soil pretty much as soon as they are shooting their white roots; having to rip them sprouts off the paper towel is not the best idea. Some people let them grow a bit more and cut the paper towel off around the sprout before planting. You can experiment around that part tbh.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any IT woes you might suffer by doing this.
 
Bassomatic said:
You are a cool neighbor! Wisteria will take abuse and winters so expect that to grow.


I'm not much a tech person and always check my area (NE america) for spring but I felt so amped my computer said "frost risks" so I will bring things in,
Click to expand...
THe frost here gnawed at some of the fresh leaves of my ground plants, but they're recovering! I've left most of the delicate stuff in the shed, but the sun is finally coming out. I can't wait to start on this fence!
 
MightyMorphin'Willbender said:
I know people already suggested the issue being lack of warm soil but here's a DIY if you, like myself, need to sprout just a dozen difficult seeds for the whole season and got no time or space for all this crazy seed starter warmer stuff (yet).

- One small hard plastic container (like the packaging for organic herbs or sprouts at the supermarket - preferably something that doesn't leak)
- Paper Towel
- Water
- Your seeds
-The modem for your wifi You have one...right?

Wet the paper towel a little so it's nice and damp, put it in the container, lay the seeds on the paper.
Close the container.
Place the thing on top of your modem preferably wherever the warm air comes out.
Check it at least everyday to make sure the water hasn't evaporated/is leaking/is trying to fry your modem.
Transfer seeds to actual soil pretty much as soon as they are shooting their white roots; having to rip them sprouts off the paper towel is not the best idea. Some people let them grow a bit more and cut the paper towel off around the sprout before planting. You can experiment around that part tbh.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any IT woes you might suffer by doing this.
Click to expand...

I ended up just buying a pre existing red bell pepper plant. Still, I’ll be planting the parsley later this week as well as an onion that managed to grow several stalks in a cabinet (courtesy of my mother).
 
I just ordered some 'Purple Rain' Asiatic lilies. The cool thing about Asiatic/Oriental lilies is that not only do they have cool flowers, but their foliage is very unusual, as it gives them an almost prehistoric appearance, and they spread like crazy where I live as they like to clone themselves.

Here is what Purple Rain is supposed to look like...

85466.jpg
 
My parsley is now coming in, basil continues to grow, peppers are now growing flower buds, a creeping ivy is also growing (that one was a free giveaway—it’s the only non-food plant), a garlic clove that sprouted is actually doing very well, arugula probably needs to be culled, mint is growing bigger.

My onion plant appears to have two stalks growing next to each other despite coming from one rotting onion. Can one be transplanted…?
 
my basil and cilantro are still alive.
commonherbs3.png

after the first picture, i cropped the top of the basil so it's growing two branches instead of one.
they've been trimmed a handful of times already, i use them fresh or dry it for later.

i only have to use a 2 or 3 tablespoons to water them when they're dry.
the cilantro is getting so root bound it's drying out quickly, it will need a new pot soon.

this is a 6 band full spectrum LED dome lamp aimed down into a plastic storage bin.
commonherbs4.png

previous posts of basil and cilantro:
 
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I've got tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squashes in the community garden right now. I'd like to add some of my basil and sage sprouts soon. I also had success with pumpkins last year and will plant more in July if someone doesn't come to claim one of the extra spots. At home I have tomatoes as well as purple basil, rosemary, oregano, English thyme, lemon thyme, dill, lavender, some serrano peppers. Also jalapeno, serrano, summer savory, basil, sage, and lemon grass sprouts I started from seed.

Last fall I planted bearded iris and Japanese iris (Ayame type or iris sanguinea) seeds. Some of the bearded iris and most of the Ayame have survived and are now little sprouts. It's slow as fuck getting iris from seeds but I'm pretty confident I'll eventually have some full grown plants from both.
 
Xarpho said:
My parsley is now coming in, basil continues to grow, peppers are now growing flower buds, a creeping ivy is also growing (that one was a free giveaway—it’s the only non-food plant), a garlic clove that sprouted is actually doing very well, arugula probably needs to be culled, mint is growing bigger.

My onion plant appears to have two stalks growing next to each other despite coming from one rotting onion. Can one be transplanted…?
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Onions are pretty fucking hard core, no matter the varient. So yea transplant em.

I just got my piles of peppers. Including my favs heirloom jalpenos, and sishitos! I fucking LOVE sishitos. So mint is taking over the trees behind me. I'm not too salty but let me share this funny story where you can all mock me and call me a powerleveling faggot.

So my mint is only just starting, last week was the Kentucky Derby and I had a lot of guests. Mint Julips are the drink of it. I used as an excuse to have buddies over snack and cocktails. Well, my mint wasn't ready... I went to a place that does bulk sales, seconds etc. It's a great chain but (I promise I'm going somewhere) little spirgs of mint were like 1.50. Not a lot of money and I'm hosting so I'm ok paying some cash.

Well, they had thick 7+ stalk mint plants for... 3.99 so I got two cut less than half off one and planted the rest and it's going bonkers in growth.

Woe is me, I have near unlimited mint.
 
Bassomatic said:
So my mint is only just starting, last week was the Kentucky Derby and I had a lot of guests. Mint Julips are the drink of it. I used as an excuse to have buddies over snack and cocktails. Well, my mint wasn't ready... I went to a place that does bulk sales, seconds etc. It's a great chain but (I promise I'm going somewhere) little spirgs of mint were like 1.50. Not a lot of money and I'm hosting so I'm ok paying some cash.

Well, they had thick 7+ stalk mint plants for... 3.99 so I got two cut less than half off one and planted the rest and it's going bonkers in growth.

Woe is me, I have near unlimited mint.
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I've had that happen before with peppermint in my herb garden. A single plant put down runners like crazy that started invading the space of the other plants. The lesson learned was to put peppermint by itself in a pot in the future, which is probably for the best anyway because even though I love the smell it's very strong I don't want every other herb to smell like it.
 
My first year of gardening, I made the mistake of planting mint in a regular garden bed with other stuff. Couple of seasons later, I'm still struggling to get rid of it. However I'm rewarded with a strong minty scent whenever I dig into the soil in that general area and my string trimmer smells like mojito.
 
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