Gardening and Plant Thread

[eternal dog mongler]

My garden has just gotten worse. The salvaged ivy I gave up on (could've clipped it I guess), the potato died too...it had fallen over this morning and there was white stuff on the bottom of the roots. I should've known the potato had problems. It shot up from the eyes that I planted yet the leaves were still young and curled up, never maturing.

Try growing barrel potatoes so you can get them away from the soil. There are a few potato diseases that lurk in the soil for years and years. And if THOSE die you've got blight in your area and that's not good.

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I just spent over an hour picking blueberries. MY HANDS ARE BLOO!!!

[got ~8 cups worth, wooo)

 

[cuddle striker]

my tomatoes finally created food. figs are starting to ripen.

a cheaper alternative for silicon in the soil is optisorb, it's at the car parts store. it's chunks of diatomaceous earth, adds silicon to the soil pretty naturally and also helps the soil hold water longer, if you're in a dry region.

 

[AnOminous]

The ghost pepper has been sprouting peppers everywhere but until yesterday they were all bright green. Now one is slightly, but distinctly yellowing and there's even a bit of orange. This variety should go red. They're already too nuclear to eat plain so they're bound for a sauce, whether they end up red or not.

 

[Honored guest]

So I just found https://www.logees.com/ and they have some pretty cool tropical plants that I'm thinking of getting, Does anyone here have experience with growing dwarf citrus or banana plants in pots?

 

[Captain’s Coffee]

Aha! Plant people!
A set of questions has been on my mind for literally decades and extensive normie googles get me almost nowhere.
The bell pepper. It seems to be the fruit with the largest hollow volume. If I were to stick a needle in there and analyse it, what would I find? Is it the same O2 and CO2/N as the atmosphere? Would plant respiration make it lower in O2, or photosynthesis lower in CO2? Would it be the same night and day? Is it different in a green fruit than a red fruit?
So many questions.
I know that having these questions answered wouldn’t change anything or further science in any way…but it’s something to think about.

 

[AnOminous]

About the bell pepper thing, I Googled this a bit and someone (not so far as I know a scientist) says they're permeable and the gas inside is the same as the gas outside.

As for my ghost peppers, some of them are finally starting to turn color.

These should eventually be red if we don't get an early frost, but after months of waiting with first no peppers at all, and then tiny peppers that seemed to stay tiny forever, there was finally an explosion of growth and about three peppers of the batch (two of them here) are now bright orange. You can see one of the green peppers (which most of them are) in the background.

 

[Honored guest]

So I'm thinking of growing some dwarf/super dwarf fruit trees and maybe some berry bushes in large pots next year, do any fellow Amerifats have any recommendations for good sites/merchants? I've bought berry bushes in the past and its been hit or miss on the suppliers I buy from.

 

[River possum]

Browsing through this thread I see most of it is in relation to fruits and vegetables, but does anyone here have knowledge about queen of the night cactus aka orchid cactus? I was given a fairly large one last year, and I am keeping it healthy and growing (watering once a week, using liquid super green plant food every other week, 8+ hours of indirect sunlight) but I can't seem to get it to flower. Does anyone here have any expertise on this particular plant?

 

[River possum]

Yes ivy of all forms can take a beating, so clip it.

My mint's still going crazy strong, so I made a new batch of mint tea. It's so comfy tasting.

I have apple mint all over my front yard, I pull some of them up to keep them relatively contained but I let most of them stay. They smell wonderful.

 

[WolfeTone]

 

[Mukhrani]

Browsing through this thread I see most of it is in relation to fruits and vegetables, but does anyone here have knowledge about queen of the night cactus aka orchid cactus? I was given a fairly large one last year, and I am keeping it healthy and growing (watering once a week, using liquid super green plant food every other week, 8+ hours of indirect sunlight) but I can't seem to get it to flower. Does anyone here have any expertise on this particular plant?

They can be finicky. What most people have labeled under this common name isn't the true nightblooming cereus (Selenicereus grandiflorus), it's an Epiphyllum or some kind of Epiphyllum hybrid. The big thing is that they often will not bloom if they aren't rootbound, they are not a plant that you want to repot often if you want to see flowers - on average I do it once every five years, and use a pot which is only slightly larger than the rootball. They're like Dendrobium orchids in this regard - they like to be cramped. A slightly drier, cool period can also trigger blooming (letting the plant get into the 50s at night - don't let them drop into the low 40s). This should be done in the winter for about two months, and during this period you should fertilize very sparingly with a dilute high potassium fertilizer, if at all. When it comes to media, you'll want to do a well-draining mix, with sand or maybe some pebbles for drainage. I usually use a terracotta pot. Don't let them dry out during the growing period (spring & summer), but never let the rootball sit in water.

 

[Coffee Druid]

My peppers are fruiting again and my cherry tomato is flowering. Finally! And my English lavender is flowering.

Also I'm not sure if it entirely fits here, but I'm sad. I had a yellow garden spider I nicknamed Yellow (creative, I know) in my chicken run/garden area. It rained hard here and I noticed she wasn't in the middle of her web like always. I hope she just went into hiding and didn't get washed away. But, I did notice she left three big egg sacs nearby. Even for someone who likes spiders it's kinda creepy to look at. I don't mind more of her children as garden spiders are (like the name suggests) good for eating garden pests.

 

[River possum]

View attachment 3740118

Thanks for this! I remember seeing something similar to this in my grandma's farmer's almanac

View attachment 3740118

They can be finicky. What most people have labeled under this common name isn't the true nightblooming cereus (Selenicereus grandiflorus), it's an Epiphyllum or some kind of Epiphyllum hybrid. The big thing is that they often will not bloom if they aren't rootbound, they are not a plant that you want to repot often if you want to see flowers - on average I do it once every five years, and use a pot which is only slightly larger than the rootball. They're like Dendrobium orchids in this regard - they like to be cramped. A slightly drier, cool period can also trigger blooming (letting the plant get into the 50s at night - don't let them drop into the low 40s). This should be done in the winter for about two months, and during this period you should fertilize very sparingly with a dilute high potassium fertilizer, if at all. When it comes to media, you'll want to do a well-draining mix, with sand or maybe some pebbles for drainage. I usually use a terracotta pot. Don't let them dry out during the growing period (spring & summer), but never let the rootball sit in water.

Thank you! I have mine in my sunroom (I live in a mountainous region which isn't very conducive to having it outdoors), and you are probably right about it not being the true night bloomer since I got it as a "gift" from an older woman that ran out of room for all her plants lol. I'll attach a pic, you'll see I have it in a fairly large pot. It's somewhat spindly but lately it's been getting new growths so I feel positive about how it's been getting on recently. and I added a drainage shelf on the inside of it. I water it once weekly (same schedule as my orchid) and last week I added "super green" liquid plant food to the water.

 

[Mukhrani]

Thanks for this! I remember seeing something similar to this in my grandma's farmer's almanac




Thank you! I have mine in my sunroom (I live in a mountainous region which isn't very conducive to having it outdoors), and you are probably right about it not being the true night bloomer since I got it as a "gift" from an older woman that ran out of room for all her plants lol. I'll attach a pic, you'll see I have it in a fairly large pot. It's somewhat spindly but lately it's been getting new growths so I feel positive about how it's been getting on recently. and I added a drainage shelf on the inside of it. I water it once weekly (same schedule as my orchid) and last week I added "super green" liquid plant food to the water.

Yes, that's an Epiphyllum. They have similar habits to the true nightblooming cereus, and will also bloom at night, with the flower withering at dawn. They tend to grow like that, they can be even be trained up walls like a vine and held in hooks hung from the ceiling. That pot looks like it will take some time to grow in to, so you might not see blooms for a while depending on the size of the rootball. The cold rest might help, and definitely don't continue fertilizing it through winter. If you do see a bud forming on the edge of the leaves, it's extremely important to not move the plant as that could cause it to drop the flower.

This is the true Selenicereus grandiflorus:

This is what your Epiphyllum will likely look like when it blooms (some species can have smaller flowers):

So still rather impressive. Some of the Epiphyllum hybrids can even get brightly colored flowers - and they smell divine. I once went to a former plantation house in the deep south, and was fascinated to see that the one-time lady had grown an enormous plant that had grown to cover much of a ballroom-sized enclosure. It would get hundreds of flowers on the night when it bloomed, and she would throw a huge social event that evening.

 

[River possum]

Yes, that's an Epiphyllum. They have similar habits to the true nightblooming cereus, and will also bloom at night, with the flower withering at dawn. They tend to grow like that, they can be even be trained up walls like a vine and held in hooks hung from the ceiling. That pot looks like it will take some time to grow in to, so you might not see blooms for a while depending on the size of the rootball. The cold rest might help, and definitely don't continue fertilizing it through winter. If you do see a bud forming on the edge of the leaves, it's extremely important to not move the plant as that could cause it to drop the flower.

This is the true Selenicereus grandiflorus:
View attachment 3745298

This is what your Epiphyllum will likely look like when it blooms (some species can have smaller flowers):
View attachment 3745300

So still rather impressive. Some of the Epiphyllum hybrids can even get brightly colored flowers - and they smell divine. I once went to a former plantation house in the deep south, and was fascinated to see that the one-time lady had grown an enormous plant that had grown to cover much of a ballroom-sized enclosure. It would get hundreds of flowers on the night when it bloomed, and she would throw a huge social event that evening.

You are the best, thank you so much for this info!! I'll refrain from any more fertilizer/food until spring. Yes the pot is large, I did not know about them liking to be cramped. I keep my orchid that way, and it does well. I think I have heard about that plantation house before, it sounds very familiar. I grew up in the south and have family in the deep South so I am sure some of them have brought it up at one time or another. You have been such a great help! hopefully one day I can return the favor but somehow I doubt it lol. Maybe if you have a question about snakes or other wildlife in the South

 

[AnOminous]

My peppers are fruiting again and my cherry tomato is flowering. Finally! And my English lavender is flowering.

After a couple of untimely frosts, my ghost pepper (removed into a heated shed) is the last of the peppers alive. I'm not sure if I'll put the effort into wintering it and seeing if it survives into another year (although I am leaning that way) but it's also fruiting again and more importantly, what is probably the final batch is actually bright red.

I'm not sure what to do with these. The orange ones were so insanely hot that I had to dilute them with carrots and green peppers and other stuff just to render them into a sauce so hot I still can't use it without diluting it.

Has anyone else done ghost peppers?

My best was a sauce with just two along with a few habaneros and tomato paste and lots of vinegar and sugar.

I have one that was roasted (semi-charred) ghost peppers, green peppers, a few habaneros, and garlic and onions and celery, roasted and blended, and it's absurd. The good thing is I'm definitely going to have that until well into winter, putting it onto nearly everything.

The batch of pickled peppers I made (with some ghosts) is also ridiculous and I can barely even take a single pepper out of it and eat it without feeling like I just got maced.

And I used to use actual pepper spray as a seasoning.

Any ideas what to do with about two dozen bright red ghost peppers that probably actually are hitting the 1 million Scoville units rating?

 

[Honored guest]

After a couple of untimely frosts, my ghost pepper (removed into a heated shed) is the last of the peppers alive. I'm not sure if I'll put the effort into wintering it and seeing if it survives into another year (although I am leaning that way) but it's also fruiting again and more importantly, what is probably the final batch is actually bright red.

I'm not sure what to do with these. The orange ones were so insanely hot that I had to dilute them with carrots and green peppers and other stuff just to render them into a sauce so hot I still can't use it without diluting it.

Has anyone else done ghost peppers?

My best was a sauce with just two along with a few habaneros and tomato paste and lots of vinegar and sugar.

I have one that was roasted (semi-charred) ghost peppers, green peppers, a few habaneros, and garlic and onions and celery, roasted and blended, and it's absurd. The good thing is I'm definitely going to have that until well into winter, putting it onto nearly everything.

The batch of pickled peppers I made (with some ghosts) is also ridiculous and I can barely even take a single pepper out of it and eat it without feeling like I just got maced.

And I used to use actual pepper spray as a seasoning.

Any ideas what to do with about two dozen bright red ghost peppers that probably actually are hitting the 1 million Scoville units rating?

I grow the big three; scorpion, reaper, and ghost. I only really use them in a few things, I make large batches to salsa from home grown tomatoes and can them, in one of these batches I might add 1 pepper for 4-5 pints worth of salsa. I also make fermented hot sauce, there's a few different recipes you can find online, you can add a few hot peppers to a recipe you like, just keep in mind that the results hot sauce will be HOT. I find that I have much more control on the heat with a hot sauce since I can add it a drop at a time.

 

[Cats]

set up the Diddywumpus and Pooninny nursery this weekend, excited to see them blossom next year

 

[NoReturn]

Also I'm not sure if it entirely fits here, but I'm sad. I had a yellow garden spider I nicknamed Yellow (creative, I know) in my chicken run/garden area. It rained hard here and I noticed she wasn't in the middle of her web like always. I hope she just went into hiding and didn't get washed away. But, I did notice she left three big egg sacs nearby. Even for someone who likes spiders it's kinda creepy to look at. I don't mind more of her children as garden spiders are (like the name suggests) good for eating garden pests.

Kind of heartbreaking, but not all the babies will make it. Just think of it as a couple of really weird-looking eggs for just a couple babies.