Gardening and Plant Thread
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- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
La Muerte Rosa!Maybe you've get the never before seen grasshopper form of the rocky mountain locust?Don't let too many of them rub on eachother or we're all fucked.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
So excited for gardening season. I pulled up all the old plants yesterday, and I'm using one of my plots for composting, so they all went in there.
This year I'm going to be growing 3x the number of peppers, both bell and jalapenos.
This year I'm going to be growing 3x the number of peppers, both bell and jalapenos.
I'm curious about this. one of my relatives lives in Zone 2 and they had their yard almost completely taken over by rogue strawberries, and that's despite using a lot of weed whipper line and herbicide. are they sensitive to the cold?
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2013
I'm in 6b and how it seems to work here is if you don't cover them they will come back from the roots as totally new plants, but if you cover them the old leaves will usually turn kind of reddish or rust brown and get wilty but not really die. When you uncover them they will revive and set flowers much earlier/make more because the plant's bigger. I would presume there is some level of cold where the roots will die off, but zone 2 is awfully cold so maybe not.
Do you think they're wild strawberries?
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2023
If you can, set out grasshopper bait/poison now. As you've seen grasshoppers are starting to emerge. The more of them you get dead early in the season, the less you'll have to deal with a plague of them later in the season. Plus the less of them to survive to reproductive adulthood, then hopefully you'll have to deal with them less next season.
I need to do the same. Last year, grasshoppers cause major damage to almost everything I grew. I almost lost my entire basil crop.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
absolutely. The berries were the size of grapes, and very sour. for about 2 weeks though, they were the best things on the planet. Literal jam on a vine.
There were 2 separate occasions when a pre-10-year-old me threw up from eating too many of them.
Enjoy_the_Soylence
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2019
I do not, but I jacked up the heater. One more came up, but I'm not hopeful.
I took my dahlias out of storage* today and am so relieved they're not moldy, dessicated, or covered in gall. That counts as a good day for gardening. It's a month too early to put them outside but they're going in pots. Last year was my first year growing them.
*I put them in a sealed storage container in moistened sterile cedar shavings. In the garage, the box wrapped in a blanket. I didn't check them, or add any water, or wrap them in plastic. I'm willing to do some work for dahlias because they're honestly spectacular but not that much work.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2019
Every year I try to garden and everything I touch dies. But the snow is finally gone and I refuse to learn my lesson.
I saw an adorable umbrella used as a trellis for morning glories and I wantvto try it.
I saw an adorable umbrella used as a trellis for morning glories and I wantvto try it.
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2022
This year I decided to invest in a soil blocker and some heavy duty 1020 tray flats. Both of which have simplified the seed starting stage and will save money in the long run.
The soil blocker has eliminated those 72 tray seedling trays that tend to fall apart after a use or two. Pretty well breaking even within this year or next year. Once my seedlings are showing good growth I transplant them into some non-woven fabric pots. Can buy a hundred or two for $10, much better than solo cups; though filling is slightly more tricky. All of them claim to be bio-degradable but I can't find any proof they are. They appear to be made of the same material as landscaping fabric which doesn't break down. Roots poke through them pretty easily so may forego removing plants from the bags and just ripping them out of the ground at the end of the season to prevent trashing my garden.
If your tired of those shitty 1020 trays that again don't last. I gotta shill these. They have held up well to moving seedlings and my transplants without much flexing. The sturdiness will be really nice once I start hardening off my plants. Should last a few seasons at the very least. I'll probably pick up another 10 at the end of the season as I'm starting to run out of them between my starters and various supplies. They are handy to put seeds, plant markers, soil, transplanting supplies, etc, etc.
The soil blocker has eliminated those 72 tray seedling trays that tend to fall apart after a use or two. Pretty well breaking even within this year or next year. Once my seedlings are showing good growth I transplant them into some non-woven fabric pots. Can buy a hundred or two for $10, much better than solo cups; though filling is slightly more tricky. All of them claim to be bio-degradable but I can't find any proof they are. They appear to be made of the same material as landscaping fabric which doesn't break down. Roots poke through them pretty easily so may forego removing plants from the bags and just ripping them out of the ground at the end of the season to prevent trashing my garden.
If your tired of those shitty 1020 trays that again don't last. I gotta shill these. They have held up well to moving seedlings and my transplants without much flexing. The sturdiness will be really nice once I start hardening off my plants. Should last a few seasons at the very least. I'll probably pick up another 10 at the end of the season as I'm starting to run out of them between my starters and various supplies. They are handy to put seeds, plant markers, soil, transplanting supplies, etc, etc.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2025
I live in a city, my landlord doesn't allow gardening in the backyard. I want to start gardening but am not sure how to do so in the confines of my own home outside of putting a pot next to a window and praying for the best. I'm thinking of starting small, with medicinal or culinary herbs though I'm not sure the environment is right for it. Any advice?
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
YES.
When you say "Doesn't allow gardening in the backyard" what do you mean? No digging or no cultivation? Because pot-planting is a possibility. What's your budget?
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2025
No digging or cultivation. We arent allowed outside of basic maitenence. My budget is pretty flexible, max is 200 dollars but I can wiggle around if I budget more consistently.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
Booooooooo. What about windows and balconies? How much space do you have?
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2025
If I rearrange the furniture in my room, I can put shelves directly by the windows that will allow for sunlight and air as I keep the windows open most of the time.
I have a back door patio, more like a concrete slab, that has a lot of space and goes unused by my roommates.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
YES. Ok, good, put the more delicate things inside on that shelf. Make sure you get the right kind of soil, too. A lot of things you buy from greenhouses are used to bright light and lots of moving air, so the soil they come in won't be appropriate for your space, you'll likely want to repot them with looser soil.
This is also were you might want to buy some things new (maybe) like self-watering pots. It might seems frivolous, but dammit if mine haven't been worth every penny.
This is where the pots go. Get plates for the bottom so you don't stain the concrete, or use ollas so you don't gotta worry about water runoff at all. You can get pots pretty cheaply from thrift stores, Facebook marketplace, etc. There's no real reason to buy anything new unless you're looking for something specific.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2025
Appreciated very much! I will post when j manage to get this all together. God Bless. My ex boyfriends mother does gardening as well and knows where to get discounted supplies, ill be contacting her on that.
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2023
Many culinary and medicinal herbs do well in pots. Basil, chives, cilantro, green onions, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme are the most common ones I know of. Chamomile does well in pots, too.
Mints and related plants like lemon balm are something you should keep in a pot anyway, even if you have native soil or garden beds available to you. Mints are rhizomes, meaning they will send out side stem/root shoots from which they will spread. A great example of this is morning glory or bindweed if you have ever had to deal with that. Mints will spread and take over wherever they are planted. Thus, keep your mints in pots.
Some common vegetables do well in pots: Peppers and tomatoes are popular. Some varieties of bean, and okra can work well in pots, too. Potatoes can work okay, but you're going to want a very large pot or planter, and the potatoes will probably be smaller than what you get at the store. Corn can also do okay in pots, but again, you're going to want large pots, and several of them. Corn pollinates itself by wind transfer from the tassels to the ear silk, and so does best when you have a lot of stalks close together, so you'll need several pots deep enough for their roots that you can cluster together so the corn can pollinate itself. Various root vegetables can also do okay in pots, provided they are wide and deep enough. Yields will be limited compared to planting in a bed or native soil.
Sprawling or climbing vines like squash, cucumbers, and melons are much trickier to grow in pots. Those kinds of plants want to spread as wide as they can, and will try to throw down additional roots as they spread, making it hard to keep a squash or melon vine in a pot sufficiently watered. Cucumber vines have the same problem but aren't as bad.
Pot sizes I would recommend:
Culinary herbs: 10-14"
Peppers: 12-20".
Tomatoes: 12-20"
Bush bean varieties: 16-20"
Okra 14-20"
Potatoes: 20" or larger
Root vegetables: 20" or larger
Corn: multipe 16" or larger, gathered in a cluster.
If you're on a budget and don't have the money to buy bunch of plants, and it's too late in the season to start from seed, good news: you can get at least some of your plants from the grocery store.
Many culinary herbs are part of the mint family and clone readily, by striping the leaves and submerging the stems in water until new roots grow. Save the bottom 1-2 inches of your green onions instead of throwing away the roots. Plant them, and you'll have a new green onion plant. Though potatoes are often treated to try to keep them from growing so they last longer in storage, I'm sure you've seen old potatoes starting new roots from its eyes. Tomatoes and peppers are trickier. Many of the varieties you'll get from the grocery store are hybrid varieties, and you aren't necessarily guaranteed that you'll get the same style if you plant the seeds. But, there is little to lose in trying. You weren't going to eat the seeds anyway, so they're effectively free. Try them, and see what happens.
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- Joined
- Feb 25, 2021
Check on local buy nothing/resale boards for big-ass pots and other planter-type things; they're not always there, but when someone needs to get rid of big-ass pots, they usually want them gone.
Rapier Ape
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2019
If you're looking for pots then hit up local restaurants. Especially chain restaurants.
They usually get a lot of their products shipped in 5 gallon buckets. Pickle & Mayonnaise buckets.
Most of them just Chuck the buckets out in the dumpster.
If you just walk in and ask they'll more than likely just set em to the side somewhere for you to come in and grab. They usually go through several a week.
Just drill some drain holes in the bottom and you're set.
Also those square kitty litter buckets work well. I have a friend that uses those and has half of her front yard lined up with them. They do well for individual plants like tomatoes, cucumber vines etc.
They're a bit tedious to water in July and August but that's no big deal.
I've grown individual Brussels myself in them and they turned out great.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
You'll never regret that. I have all 3 sizes (.05, 1.5 and 2 inch) and they are fab.
Those are an improvement over the usual, but when they crap out on you get some Never Sink Farm "Indestructible Trays". They're pricey (and heavy when they're loaded up) but worth it. I got a few to try out and that video they have on on their site of running one over with a tractor is not fake. Super tough trays.
Those big black nursery pots for trees and lots of other smaller sizes can be found for free in your local landscaper's dumpster. They usually just pitch 'em. If you have organized recycling for them in your area (or want to be more considerate and/or less trashy LOL) call 'em and ask.