Gardening and Plant Thread

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

Practically any fruit or nut tree you get from a nursery is going to be grafted 'cause that's how they can offer a consistent product. There are some exceptions like avocado trees. That's why you have to be vigilant and pull any suckers out if you see them, though this must not be common knowledge since a bunch of trees in my neighborhood have been totally taken over by their rootstock.

Anyway all my sunflowers died because the high temps just wouldn't let up. Think I'm probably unofficially zone 10B now.

There's some nursery un-grafted stuff, it's either because it doesn't take to grafting well (Chestnuts, Banana), or is true to type so you don't need to graft (tomatoes/peppers), or just is such a big adventitious shoot spreader there's not really a point (fucking jujube).
In commercial settings they actually have dedicated de-suckering machines. Think a big ass tractor with the automatic car wash spinners.

You aren't the only one. I noticed leaf tip burn on crape myrtles from the heat and sun. Walnuts and pecans are gonna get fucked due to lack of nut fill, and pomegranates are just dropping like flies. Good business for plant growers if they can keep stuff grown.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I had a neighbor who kept cactuses. I had a pot of cactuses but they died and I was too lazy to ever clean them out much less plant new ones. When he moved he abandoned his cactuses and I took them (moved them to my side of the porch). When he came back one day - not for them - he had this look of surprised happiness to see his cactuses in good condition and cooed over them a bit and gave me an extra he had on hand for some reason.

I tell people I run a cactus rescue.

 

[Aunt Carol]

Speaking of which, anyone found a good place to buy large packs of seeds? I cannot for the sake of god find seeds in good quality anywhere and I work in agriculture for a living.

I like OutsidePride for bulk flower/ground cover seed. If you want a pound of California Poppy or Lacy Phacelia, that's the place.

Sadly, they don't have a lot of fruit/vegetable, and there's no way to search by what's available in disturbing quantities vs. regular packets.

 

[AnOminous]

Finally, the ghost pepper has produced one thing that, while small, is definitely the beginning of a pepper. If so, the other things all over the plant should start producing fruit. I noticed this while giving a probably overdue dose of fish emulsion to all the edible-producing plants.

 

[Xarpho]

My plants have suffered terribly in the hot Texas sun. The garlic finally died, following the pre-deceased other plants (parsley and mint). The basil is still pushing through, the bell pepper has shed some leaves to survive but otherwise fine (if barren), and the arugula is struggling to make it (no viable leaves, attempting to flower). The potato is still growing.

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

My plants have suffered terribly in the hot Texas sun. The garlic finally died, following the pre-deceased other plants (parsley and mint). The basil is still pushing through, the bell pepper has shed some leaves to survive but otherwise fine (if barren), and the arugula is struggling to make it (no viable leaves, attempting to flower). The potato is still growing.

I would ask did you irrigate properly but holy fuck disease pressure is out of control this year.

 

[Xarpho]

I would ask did you irrigate properly but holy fuck disease pressure is out of control this year.

Unfortunately, I cannot do much for irrigation. I live in an apartment, all of them are in pots with drainage areas at the bottom, and natural rain cannot get to them.

 

[Honored guest]

My plants have suffered terribly in the hot Texas sun. The garlic finally died, following the pre-deceased other plants (parsley and mint). The basil is still pushing through, the bell pepper has shed some leaves to survive but otherwise fine (if barren), and the arugula is struggling to make it (no viable leaves, attempting to flower). The potato is still growing.

Your arugula is bolting due to the heat, its more of a cold weather crop along with most other leafy greens. There are a few exotic leafy greens that do well in heat like malabar spinach, but thats a climber and it might not work in an apartment balcony. I can't remember off the top of my head the other heat loving greens but it shouldn't be to hard finding them with a quick search online.
As for irrigation it might be worthwhile get some plant pot saucers (if you dont already have them) and put some extra water in them to allow the moister to wick up into the soil as it dries out.
I've never grown garlic in pots, and have been told is isn't very effective, have you had success in the past?

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

Your arugula is bolting due to the heat, its more of a cold weather crop along with most other leafy greens. There are a few exotic leafy greens that do well in heat like malabar spinach, but thats a climber and it might not work in an apartment balcony. I can't remember off the top of my head the other heat loving greens but it shouldn't be to hard finding them with a quick search online.
As for irrigation it might be worthwhile get some plant pot saucers (if you dont already have them) and put some extra water in them to allow the moister to wick up into the soil as it dries out.
I've never grown garlic in pots, and have been told is isn't very effective, have you had success in the past?

In Texas? He might wanna try Okra, lots of the "usual" food vegetables don't do too well (from a non-commercial standpoint) lest planted in the Rio Grande Valley due to the temperature snaps. Cucurbits/squash do fine but I'd hang myself if I had to eat another 8 months of that shit.

 

[Blue Fin]

I'm in the UK. My latest purchase is a brugmansia which is a weedy, single stem, six inches tall and I'm wondering how long it will take to look like this:

 

[Prince Vegeta]

Mildew! Mildew! I've battled the elements, birds, slugs, lice, wildlife and now it's mildew! Bloody hell the neighbourhood is infested with it... so after a few attempts to sort it, I'm actually going around with a tank on my back, spraying a homemade sulfur solution everywhere because it keeps coming back because some people just leave it.

It's already getting into my fruit trees. I refuse to give up.

This concludes my rant. Carry on.

 

[AnOminous]

My plants are back to looking beautiful but harvests are nothing. Every time I harvest, the plants visibly suffer and to let them recover, I just don't harvest. I've had maybe three harvests of basil for pesto and caprese salad, and a few of peppers, but any time I harvest, every other leaf on the plant seems to go yellow and the plant gets visibly weak.

I guess I'll cope. I'd rather have these pretty plants than their harvests.

That said, I'm looking forward to these ghost peppers actually coming to term. Tiny little ghost peppers. Literally just touching one and then touching your tongue is like being chemically assaulted.

I'm also pleasantly surprised by the scotch bonnets. The sauce from them is amazing, and literally two drops or so will turn a dish from mild to fiery.

And the basil has finally come back to life. I will have to wait until the season is over to make pesto from this again, because this punishing heat means I can barely harvest more than seasoning level quantities from it, or the entire plant suffers.

After a couple weeks of plucking yellowing and wilting leaves, the plants themselves are thriving. I guess I'll just have to cope with this year's gardening mostly just being having pretty plants.

Fish emulsion keeps everything alive.

It's sad looking around and seeing brown everywhere and the only green is stuff I put great effort into keeping that way.

I'm in the UK. My latest purchase is a brugmansia which is a weedy, single stem, six inches tall and I'm wondering how long it will take to look like this:

Eat a bunch and give us a trip report!

And while I don't often mark my jokes, seriously don't. If you have this shit make sure no humans or mammals in general have access to it. It is incredibly poisonous and has absolutely ghastly psychoactive effects.

It is probably okay as an outdoor houseplant and is really pretty, and most animals know enough to stay away from it, but do not contact it excessively. All parts of that plant are highly toxic to humans and other animals.

 

[cuddle striker]

The squirrels and all the animals this year absolutely decimated anyone with an orchard, shit was gone before it ripened.
Pecan harvest might be 100% fucked this year, nuts probably not gonna fill in this weather in the southern US.

Speaking of which, anyone found a good place to buy large packs of seeds? I cannot for the sake of god find seeds in good quality anywhere and I work in agriculture for a living.

I get big packs from Johnny's, Eden brothers, and adaptive seeds co.
Johnny's for the big bulk, Eden for short lived germination rate stuff, adaptive for oddities.

we've been eating squirrel at least once a week all year. they're bad this year. I have mostly orchard tree and perennials and usually flash tape is enough to get rid of them, this year they've gone berserk and destroyed everything. I have the humane trap and also sit out with the air rifles and the dog.

it's good if you cook and clean it correctly.

I'm in the UK. My latest purchase is a brugmansia which is a weedy, single stem, six inches tall and I'm wondering how long it will take to look like this:

in the UK brugmansia is a container plant, it's subtropical and will just die in your winter outdoors
it takes a few years to get tall but can flower in a year or so. grows about a foot a year

about like figs, your climate is bad for it

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

about like figs, your climate is bad for it

There's some that might do well.
Celeste, Chicago hardy (up north), Kadota (It's a southern TX, Mexico variety that deals with humidity well), LSU purple.

The news I'm hearing is that nut harvest (Pecan, Walnut, maybe almond) is 10/10 fucked because no kernel filling, orchards about to get double fucked by the major Freeze+drought in TX+OK+LA this year.

 

[cuddle striker]

There's some that might do well.
Celeste, Chicago hardy (up north), Kadota (It's a southern TX, Mexico variety that deals with humidity well), LSU purple.

The news I'm hearing is that nut harvest (Pecan, Walnut, maybe almond) is 10/10 fucked because no kernel filling, orchards about to get double fucked by the major Freeze+drought in TX+OK+LA this year.

my hazelnuts fell to squirrel this year so I don't know if they'd have ripened.

all figs unprotected from winter will die if it gets below 35F. if you protect the root ball, Chicago Hardy will come back and produce if your season is long enough for main crops. the rest won't produce in time.

you can protect them a hundred ways, tarps, wrapped in leaves and blankets, knocked sideways and covered in soil and wrapped, greenhouse, etc and some do make it through winter that way. Celeste and Florea do this pretty well, they are short season fruit you could grow there. most will put up with a bit of damp, but will like to be dry the weeks they're ripening. Celeste are notorious for dropping unripe fruit if you look at them wrong.

Kadota can take damp but not cold. the roots die at 40F. LSU purple is related to brown turkey, they'll come back if you mulch hard to keep the roots warm, and they'll make small figs in a short season.

in the UK I think only a few of the main-crop, Etna figs might make it without serious work to protect them from the winter. the damp will kill a lot of the really flavorful figs.

it's dry summers where I live so my only concern with my figs is winter cold, I protect them really well. it's the only plant in the garden I will do hard work for.

edit: Olympic is a variety that might be good for warmer regions in UK. it handles the damp and gray weather very well, but it would take some winter protection.

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

Speaking of which, anyone found a good place to buy large packs of seeds?

Presuming you're in the USA, I have been buying half or full-pound packages of many allium varieties of seeds from Kitizawa Seed Company for several years now. Their catalog specializes in varieties of asian veggies.

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

my hazelnuts fell to squirrel this year so I don't know if they'd have ripened.

all figs unprotected from winter will die if it gets below 35F. if you protect the root ball, Chicago Hardy will come back and produce if your season is long enough for main crops. the rest won't produce in time.

you can protect them a hundred ways, tarps, wrapped in leaves and blankets, knocked sideways and covered in soil and wrapped, greenhouse, etc and some do make it through winter that way. Celeste and Florea do this pretty well, they are short season fruit you could grow there. most will put up with a bit of damp, but will like to be dry the weeks they're ripening. Celeste are notorious for dropping unripe fruit if you look at them wrong.

Kadota can take damp but not cold. the roots die at 40F. LSU purple is related to brown turkey, they'll come back if you mulch hard to keep the roots warm, and they'll make small figs in a short season.

in the UK I think only a few of the main-crop, Etna figs might make it without serious work to protect them from the winter. the damp will kill a lot of the really flavorful figs.

it's dry summers where I live so my only concern with my figs is winter cold, I protect them really well. it's the only plant in the garden I will do hard work for.

edit: Olympic is a variety that might be good for warmer regions in UK. it handles the damp and gray weather very well, but it would take some winter protection.

I forgot the UK had a short growing season. You could probably grow them with hydroponics if you so desired, that is however an entirely different game (have fun trying to do cordon wires and finnagaling with apical dominance)

 

[cuddle striker]

I forgot the UK had a short growing season. You could probably grow them with hydroponics if you so desired, that is however an entirely different game (have fun trying to do cordon wires and finnagaling with apical dominance)

luckily I'm not a britbong so I don't care if they can grow figs

 

[Xarpho]

In Texas? He might wanna try Okra, lots of the "usual" food vegetables don't do too well (from a non-commercial standpoint) lest planted in the Rio Grande Valley due to the temperature snaps. Cucurbits/squash do fine but I'd hang myself if I had to eat another 8 months of that shit.

I don't live in the Valley, I live near Austin, which doesn't get nearly as much rain as Houston on average. Hill Country can get pretty dry. I bought the arugula seeds from H-E-B, and I assumed that them selling seeds would mean that they'd grow in the climate. Heck, a few months ago I saw them selling banana plants, and those things won't survive the year because of a consistent annual freeze.

I've never grown garlic in pots, and have been told is isn't very effective, have you had success in the past?

The garlic was a spur-of-the-moment decision when a clove started to sprout. It seemed to do very well at first but eventually stalled out and started to die.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

I don't live in the Valley, I live near Austin, which doesn't get nearly as much rain as Houston on average. Hill Country can get pretty dry. I bought the arugula seeds from H-E-B, and I assumed that them selling seeds would mean that they'd grow in the climate. Heck, a few months ago I saw them selling banana plants, and those things won't survive the year because of a consistent annual freeze.

That's understandable. Usually your local garden center or co-op will sell varieties of seeds and plants for your region. I have to do this if I want any warm weather vegetables or fruits because the time it is actually hot as they like it can be measured in as few as 6 weeks and they have to be far more cold tolerant than normal. Next season, check them out first. They will probably sell a more heat tolerant arugula or cabbage or whatever. It may be slightly more expensive, but at least it is far more likely to grow properly in your area.