Gardening and Plant Thread

[Dr. Ricearoni]

I'm still working on my garden, it's been too wet and cold to really plant anything new yet, but my garlic I planted last fall is loving the weather.

 

[Spaced Outside Cargo]

Finally getting hot enough for me to sunburn when i work outside but at least the chinky kiwi plants i bought off Amazon last year are waking up. I genuinely thought they were dead and took out one of the female ones before realizing they were just dormant.

Living in southeast US can suck most of the year but right now everything is growing out of control, in general.

Husk cherries are doing bad because of the heat.
Daikon radishes are doing bad because of the bugs.
Cabbages are doing bad because of the heat.
The oregano that ive been waiting to die and didnt water for 2 years and didnt cover for the one snow day last winter is taking over an entire 2x3ft planter box.
Pole beans are doing good though and im currently recycling some old wood to make more stuff for vine plants since I enjoyed growing sweet potatoes and loofah last year.

 

[Uncle_Teds_Cabin25]

Some stuff I do:
I use a heat mat then when the seeds sprout, I use my car as a greenhouse.
I crack my windows when the seedlings are a bit bigger and stronger
It helps to hard them off.

To save on potting soil for large pots, use leaves instead of Styrofoam or plastic bottles.
Fill your raised beds with wood chips and leaves too!
I have a second job in a restaurant so I bring home all the veggie and fruit scraps.
I bury it in my garden instead of composting it.
I also dig up the humus in my woods.
Look for garden stuff on Facebook marketplace.
Hit up Big Box store and garden centers for old pots
Avoid buying if you can re use, re purpose or thrift it.

 

[CEO of Gay]

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.

Found their website and watched that video. I think it is a tiny bit misleading, given that the tests take place in a field with what looks like relatively long grass and moist soil. The ground underneath the tray is going to compress a bit, protecting the tray form some of the force of the tractor's weight. I am not wholly confident that the tray would fare equally well if it were subject to that tractor atop concrete. But that tray isn't disposable 1-season garbage either. The tray you get with a "Seedling Starter Kit" from the big box hardware / home improvement store would crumple like a tissue under those tractor tests.

While probably not as tractor-proof as Never Sink Farms's "Indestructable Trays", I can recommend Bootstrap Farmer's trays as durable and able to last several seasons. The pictures are no longer on the website, but at one point they had pictures of the tray holding a 50-lb kettle bell weight to prove their claim that the tray can hold 50 lbs without breaking. And they're made in the US, so you don't have to worry about the current trade war and tariffs if you're in the US.

 

[Anasa Tristis]

Found their website and watched that video. I think it is a tiny bit misleading, given that the tests take place in a field with what looks like relatively long grass and moist soil. The ground underneath the tray is going to compress a bit, protecting the tray form some of the force of the tractor's weight. I am not wholly confident that the tray would fare equally well if it were subject to that tractor atop concrete. But that tray isn't disposable 1-season garbage either. The tray you get with a "Seedling Starter Kit" from the big box hardware / home improvement store would crumple like a tissue under those tractor tests.

While probably not as tractor-proof as Never Sink Farms's "Indestructable Trays", I can recommend Bootstrap Farmer's trays as durable and able to last several seasons. The pictures are no longer on the website, but at one point they had pictures of the tray holding a 50-lb kettle bell weight to prove their claim that the tray can hold 50 lbs without breaking. And they're made in the US, so you don't have to worry about the current trade war and tariffs if you're in the US.

Feeling is believing. They're not hard brittle plastic like the usual 1020s. They're more pliant and kinda rubbery, like they're made out of the material they use to make those big livestock watering tanks (AKA Hillbilly Hot Tubs). Or something close to that. Note how the tray pops back into shape after the tractor backs over it.

 

[#58fb58]

I got some big (4x4 maybe?) fine mesh bags from Bezos Mart to keep my peppers from crossing last season. (I used to landrace them but I found that hots and sweets were crossing too much and I wasn't thrilled with the results.) You do need to pull them off and make sure you're not trapping aphids inside now and then, but they were inexpensive and look like they'll last a few seasons.

I like the net and fence idea, usually everything eats my crops and this is just the thing to stop it
thanks for the idea

 

[needforsneed]

I figure this is the best place to ask my question, I'm hoping someone will have useful advice:

I have a septic mound in my backyard that was decommissioned over a decade ago. I want to build terraced/stepped garden beds up the mound (which is about 4.5 feet tall). Does anyone have advice for that? I figure I can buy some pressure treated 1x8 board for walls, but how should I secure them to the mound so that they don't just shift out of place?

Everywhere I look for advice, the immediate response is "YOU'LL PUNCTURE A PIPE AND CAUSE A LIQUID SHIT E. COLI EXPLOSION", despite the fact that the house is now on public sewer and has been for over a decade.

 

[Aunt Carol]

I have a septic mound in my backyard that was decommissioned over a decade ago.

No relevant experience here, but when they decommissioned it, did they remove the tank/pump that was pumping to the mound, or did they just leave everything in place? It seems like if the machinery is gone, any pipes you encounter are just going to be the equivalent of tree roots. It's a distribution pipe system where the poop is supposed to seep out and be digested by the earth, not stay under pressure forever and make a poop-filled dirt pimple.

If you don't have info on what the Ancients did, can you call around to septic companies in your area and ask if they were the ones installing/uninstalling at your address a decade ago, and pick their brains if so?

Please post video if you do cause a liquid shit explosion.


eta: you gotta paint a rustic garden sign with butterflies and flowers, but it's THIS IS NOT A PLACE OF HONOR, NO GREAT DEEDS, DO NOT DIG etc

 

[needforsneed]

No relevant experience here, but when they decommissioned it, did they remove the tank/pump that was pumping to the mound, or did they just leave everything in place? It seems like if the machinery is gone, any pipes you encounter are just going to be the equivalent of tree roots.

The machinery is still there, but it's just against the house. So the mound itself is just dirt on top of gravel/sand and has old pipes in it. Really I'm just curious if I should use something like rebar stakes to hold the wood in place through the gravel. I don't intend on growing any root veggies so I'm not worried about a raised bed being too shallow.

 

[Aunt Carol]

The machinery is still there, but it's just against the house. So the mound itself is just dirt on top of gravel/sand and has old pipes in it. Really I'm just curious if I should use something like rebar stakes to hold the wood in place through the gravel. I don't intend on growing any root veggies so I'm not worried about a raised bed being too shallow.

Since it's not in use, I'd think the only damage you'll cause is that the rebar stakes will poke through any landscape fabric that was under the gravel and dirt, and since you don't need to keep the pipes clear from roots/dirt any more, that's not a concern.

The septic mound pipes are basically a reverse French Drain and when they were in use they needed protection from clogging. Now they're just hanging out there.

 

[Bloodfeast Island Man]

I'm a complete noob to all this but I took over my grandparents' old house after my grandmother died. There's an azalea bush that I like that's got a big ass cherry laurel root system in the middle of it. I keep cutting the cherry laurel branches that grow out but the fucker keeps growing back. Looking online, everyone just says use roundup or something but I don't want to kill the azalea bush around it. I'm gonna have to get a trowel to do weeding (I haven't found one around the house or in the shed) but like, this stump is pretty big.

Am I just gonna have to bite the bullet and dig this fucker out or is there something easier?

 

[Aunt Carol]

I'm a complete noob to all this but I took over my grandparents' old house after my grandmother died. There's an azalea bush that I like that's got a big ass cherry laurel root system in the middle of it. I keep cutting the cherry laurel branches that grow out but the fucker keeps growing back. Looking online, everyone just says use roundup or something but I don't want to kill the azalea bush around it.

Bonide Stump+Vine Killer, the kind that comes with a brush in the cap like a giant-ass bottle of nail polish.

You cut the unwanted plant, then brush the herbicide onto the freshly-cut ends so it poisons the roots etc. Have to be careful that you're not getting it on anything but the plant you don't want; I covered the ends with plastic wrap after I treated them.

 

[Bassomatic]

Bonide Stump+Vine Killer, the kind that comes with a brush in the cap like a giant-ass bottle of nail polish.

You cut the unwanted plant, then brush the herbicide onto the freshly-cut ends so it poisons the roots etc. Have to be careful that you're not getting it on anything but the plant you don't want; I covered the ends with plastic wrap after I treated them.

This works well but tbh, I am old fashioned and prefer to just dig it the fuck up. I like doing that anyway. Plus it's "done" and you can plant something else right then.

It's gotta be early in the season, I'm happy every time I pull a weed. That'll change.

 

[Rakovnik]

I'm a complete noob to all this but I took over my grandparents' old house after my grandmother died. There's an azalea bush that I like that's got a big ass cherry laurel root system in the middle of it. I keep cutting the cherry laurel branches that grow out but the fucker keeps growing back. Looking online, everyone just says use roundup or something but I don't want to kill the azalea bush around it. I'm gonna have to get a trowel to do weeding (I haven't found one around the house or in the shed) but like, this stump is pretty big.

Am I just gonna have to bite the bullet and dig this fucker out or is there something easier?

A chain and a 4wd truck will remove most shrub stumps, make sure the chain is heavy duty or it'll snap. If you end up going the chemical route the active ingredient you're looking for is triclopyr, most wooded plant killers will usually include glyphosate salts (roundup) too

The machinery is still there, but it's just against the house. So the mound itself is just dirt on top of gravel/sand and has old pipes in it. Really I'm just curious if I should use something like rebar stakes to hold the wood in place through the gravel. I don't intend on growing any root veggies so I'm not worried about a raised bed being too shallow.

I've built several raised gardens and a 5' wall with landscape timbers before. Typical landscape timbers are 6x8 or so and yes you use rebar driven through multiple layers into the ground to hold them in place. I'd reconsider using 1x8 boards as they're pretty thin and you don't want them bowing outward.

2x8s might be strong enough, if you're set on doing it that way I would drive C channel into the ground at each end of the wall and slide the boards into the channel, if the wall is long then add a center support. If you want to do a little more digging and not use metal, place a 4x4 post at each end instead and put the boards against the inside so they're pushing against the posts not away.

The septic tank might've been filled in with gravel or sand when it was taken out of use to prevent the tank from collapsing in the future. Like AC said the liquid should be all drained out through the leech field by now. Maybe it's got some solids in it still but that's free fertilizer!

 

[Aunt Carol]

This works well but tbh, I am old fashioned and prefer to just dig it the fuck up.

I love digging stuff up too, but consider: blackberry bushes don't understand the human concepts of wooden fences and "trespassing," but the people on the other side of my fence sure did. What I couldn't reach to destroy, I painted with murder juice.

 

[needforsneed]

The septic tank might've been filled in with gravel or sand when it was taken out of use to prevent the tank from collapsing in the future. Like AC said the liquid should be all drained out through the leech field by now. Maybe it's got some solids in it still but that's free fertilizer!

So the tank itself is a ways away and is for solids, while the mound is just a few inches of soil on top of a layer of gravel on top of a pile of sand with perforated pipes in it - no risk of hitting a tank.

I would drive C channel into the ground

I hadn't considered using metal brackets before! I might drive some L channels into the ground on the insides of all the corners to keep them stable. I already have some planter bricks with channels cut in the sides so I can slide boards into them, as well as a center hole to drive some rebar into the ground through the middle. I plan on using those bricks on the top and bottom to keep the flat portions stable.

After way too long in inkscape, here are my drafts... I could try looking at the Home Depot by me to see if they have 2x8 or 2x12 instead of 1x8 - I was planning on essentially stacking 2 boards on top of each other to get the walls between 1ft and 2ft in height, but I'm not quite sure how to do that on the sloped section, so your landscape timber suggestion might be my best bet.

 

[LowlyPheasent]

I hadn't considered using metal brackets before! I might drive some L channels into the ground on the insides of all the corners to keep them stable. I already have some planter bricks with channels cut in the sides so I can slide boards into them, as well as a center hole to drive some rebar into the ground through the middle. I plan on using those bricks on the top and bottom to keep the flat portions stable.

After way too long in inkscape, here are my drafts... I could try looking at the Home Depot by me to see if they have 2x8 or 2x12 instead of 1x8 - I was planning on essentially stacking 2 boards on top of each other to get the walls between 1ft and 2ft in height, but I'm not quite sure how to do that on the sloped section, so your landscape timber suggestion might be my best bet.
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Are you planning on terracing or just laying the beds with the grade of the slope? If you do terrace be sure to put drainage/weep holes at each wall and put drain fields below it all as well as leading out of it. Even if you go with the grade of the slope the bottom box will need weep holes for drainage. You don't want water pooling and giving your plants root rot.

If you intend on using those bricks initially you may also want a pedestal brick beneath them buried to rest on. If you want to be doubly sure cement the pedestal the bracket bricks set on in place. If you use wood use pressure treated, and you may also want to consider protective coatings or liners to prevent the wood rotting on the interior. P

 

[needforsneed]

Are you planning on terracing or just laying the beds with the grade of the slope?

I was planning on having the 2 long 12.5ft sides be along the grade, buried a few inches with some paver sand underneath. The dividers will make the terraced effect happen. The lower bed definitely has more room for below-grade gravel and bricks, but I'm hoping the top part will be okay with just paver sand underneath, considering the topsoil is only a few inches deep before it hits gravel.

Do you have a favorite treatment for pressure treated lumber?

 

[LowlyPheasent]

Do you have a favorite treatment for pressure treated lumber?

You'd have to let it dry a while but the standard outdoor stains are fine. Alternatively just some plastic garden barrier (like the plastic sheets) at the edges could also work without having to wait and stain. Usually pressure treated is pretty freshly treated and still wet. It's more expensive but will last longer.

 

[Anasa Tristis]

no risk of hitting a tank.

Unless you're absolutely sure that the septic tank was properly dealt with (filled or removed), find out where it was and verify that. (If you can.) If the tank was just disconnected and left in place, that's a potential hazard. I was assured when I got my place that the old 1950s septic system was "gone" when they hooked up to city water and sewie in the 1970s. Mowing my lawn one day a tire flipped something big (like 6x6) off to one side. It was a chunk of the top of the tank with about an inch of grass and weeds growing on it. When I went back to check out the spot where it came from, I discovered a 6x6 dark hole that turned out to be about 5 feet deep. Those fuckers lied. The tank was still there, and it was breaking down. I was lucky I found it how and when I did. It was a real bear to get out too.