Gardening tips thread

[blackemerald1]

No, wish I did though!

I have had several worm farms at various places I have lived in the past 30 years. I haven't been able to take them with me each time I moved only because I moved such vast distances. But they are so easy to set up and then any vegatable scraps and loads of other organic materials are their diet. You can make or buy a small container for them to live in and you can buy the worm castings to populate your farm from local nurseries. The big chain franchises have them but when I have resided in remote places I bought them online and they were posted to me. lol

The fabulous things about worm farms is... they are not yukky, they do not stink or attract horrible creatures and they provide worm 'tea' which once diluted, makes a fabulous fertiliser for any plant. It is so highly nutritious ..amazing.. And it's free.. forever. No real maintenance ever. Just feed them and keep the tap turned on with a plastic bucket under the tap.

The set up takes about oh.. 10 minutes if you stop for a cuppa half way through. You don't have to handle the worms ever.. lol. Just provide them with vegie scraps when you have them. They will increase or decrease in population accordingly.

Omg. That's insanity! I think the highest we've got to this summer so far is 30!

I know..sigh.. I really am not coping with this hot weather. It's disgusting and I will admit... I am a spring and autumn kind of person. Anything under 30 for daytime temp is just lovely... I think I am too old for this kind of heat now..I wanna move to Tasmania. :wtf: That would be so nice there... truly.

It actually reached 43 C today and it's forecast to be 43.6 tomorrow. I have put shade cloth over everything but my tomato's and they miss out bc they are too tall and I have three rows of them about 12 feet long and I just don't have enough shade cloth tbh and cannot afford to buy anymore. Some of them got sunburn today. I have at least another four days of this heat wave to go.

The problem with all of this heat is the several thousand flowers that I have on my plants are shrivelling up and not turning into fruit.. but there's nothing I can do. I've researched this and the plant sacrifices it's flowers if it thinks it is too hot and survival is more important. Once the temp goes down they will flower again if they do survive well enough to support fruit.

I've learned some valuable lessons this year with my vegetable garden. I hope I can deal with it a little better next year.

I was thinking about your suggestion that I may be over-watering the Passion fruit. Good point... but I think they turn yellow if they have wet feet and mine are still a rick dark green colour... just no growth. Aaaargh!
Passion fruit are such big drinkers that it should be difficult to over water them however maybe the soil is really bad there...where I put them. There used to be red gum trees very close to where I planted.. maybe the soil is totally screwed or still tainted with the toxin the red gum's release. Idk..

 

[bellbird]

Thank you for the worm farm info :hug:

I wanna move to Tasmania.

I wouldn't mind living there either. Tassie seems kinda like a mini NZ but less earthquakey.

It actually reached 43 C today and it's forecast to be 43.6 tomorrow.

Holy crap!
I feel compelled to tell you to stay hydrated, but I'm sure you are more than well versed in that :)

Passion fruit are such big drinkers that it should be difficult to over water them however maybe the soil is really bad there...where I put them.

Seems plausible!

--
Anyone know what this whiteish cast on my silverbeet could be?
It's only one one plant, and the plant right next door seems fine.

 

[Changing4Best]

My bamboo plant is getting some brown tips on the ends of some of the leaves. Most of the leaves are OK, but there are about a dozen leaves that have this problem. I think I may have overwatered this plant, as the instructions said not to do that. UGH! The leaves that are having this happen are the older ones. Any suggestions?

 

[blackemerald1]

to stay hydrated,

Thanks bellbird :) I am keeping hydrated but sometimes it just feels like my thirst cannot be quenched and I am prone to headaches caused by excessive heat. And falling to sleep. I have air conditioning but even so... it's still difficult to manage.

Anyone know what this whiteish cast on my silverbeet could be?

Well since your plants are the same in almost every respect and I assume have been watered at the same rate.. there can only be two options left 1)environment - which I assume is mostly the same 2) soil - that might be where the plants differ. You could find that particular plant is in a different ph level than the other. My best idea would be to buy some seaweed concentrate, or some blood and bone and mix it into the water or sprinkle it around the plant and scratch into the surface or, any general mineral additive. Spraying the foliage with the sea weed diluted in water at recommended levels helps the plant take up nutrients.

Or, maybe it doesn't get a full dose of sunlight or is it sunburned? Sounds crazy but it could be either of those too.
It's strange bc it looks like it is lacking in chlorophyll. Did it just grow that way or turn that colour gradually?

I think I may have overwatered this plant

If you have grossly over watered the plant and it is dying off it probably needs a fresh start. I'd get some new potting mix. Take the plant out of it's current pot. Check the roots and see if they are soggy and smelly. Cut back any that are. Toss the old mix and put in the new mix. Plant the bamboo and then water in at only the recommended rate.

You will definitely get some leaves and parts of the plant that will still die back but the plant will likely survive transplant shock much more than soggy roots. Soggy roots are a slow death :(

If you think the plant can dry out.. Just let it dry out completely and start to re water at the correct rate. Cut off the brown leaves - it will grow new ones once it is happy again.

Over watering plants is easy to do. They need oxygen just as much as we do. Water pushes out oxygen and deprives the plant the ability to take up nutrients etc., That's why they go yellow.. or one of the reasons. To check if a plant needs watering stick your finger into the soil. If the soil is moist a couple of inches down.. it's fine. If it's still dry.. give it a drink. Thats a rule of thumb way to work it out.

If it's not over watering - it may be needing re potting or some fertiliser. Deficiencies can show up as yellowing leaves too.

Process of elimination. :) Do the least amount of work first. lol

 

[blackemerald1]

I wanted to tell everyone that my tomato's are finally starting to ripen and I have taken three off the plants and eaten one. It tasted kind of nice really. I would send photos but I don't think it is that amazing in the scheme of things but still pretty good for me I think...and you all know what cherry tomato's look like I am sure. :rolleyes:

I have literally thousands more to ripen but with this extreme weather that may not happen. :( I cannot protect them from the heat and they are cooking on the plants. If this happens and the rest of my crop fails, I may well have just eaten the most expensive tomato's I will ever eat!! However, I will have gained some valuable lessons at the same time... :) Shade-cloth structure's are being researched!

 

[Friday]

I have literally thousands more to ripen but with this extreme weather that may not happen.

I had a year where I ended up with roughly 20 kg of green tomatoes.

If that happens to you? I have recipes to share, including some really badass relishes and jarred sauces/salsas. Because one can only eat so many fried green tomatoes. :sick: Before turning into one!

In the interim, though, fried green tomatoes are deeeeeelicious. (Until they aren’t)
Fried Green Tomatoes

 

[blackemerald1]

fried green tomatoes are deeeeeelicious.

Thanks Friday I've not ever had FGT … is that anything like green eggs and ham lol?

I'd love some relish recipes. I am considering purchasing a preserving kit... in advance of the harvest … I have bought a book on pickling too. All jumping the gun terribly I know... but I don't want to have them all ripen at once... which is likely at not be prepared! And I can probably buy some bulk seconds fruit and preserve anyway.