Gardening tips thread

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

I’m so jealous our growing season here is totally done. Pumpkins, kale and brussel sprouts that’s about it. Lemon trees ? maybe in a year round heated glass house. I need to move somewhere with a better growing season and a bit more heat.

 

[Friday]

@NoWhereKnowWhere I kept the lemon trees inside a PacNW apartment. Local weather a lot like Edinborough / the damper & gloomier parts of England. Figured I might need to supplement their light, but nope. They did awesome.

Granted, I DO keep my homes warm.

 

[bellbird]

Our lemon tree at my old place fruited all through the winter time @NoWhereKnowWhere . And we're in NZ. Maybe take a look at different varieties?

Had never heard of them being grown indoors though that's awesome @Friday

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

@bellbird don’t get enough sun for long enough too high latitude. it would be a pointless endeavour unfortunately.

 

[blackemerald1]

I was given some Black English Mulberry cuttings today. So I have dipped them in the hormone growing stuff and put them into little pots and inside my mini hot-house. I will report back in 4 months if they struck. :)

I also did the same thing to a lovely Geranium cutting I was given. :)

My neighbour pruned a Connifer tree and it looks so terrible. I don't think it's supposed to be pruned. I'm feeling sad for that tree. It looks like a poodle tail now. :(

 

[Friday]

It looks like a poodle tail now

:roflmao: OMFG! My husband did that to our cherry tree!!!

I was sooooooo mad. :mad: He read something during half a minute of “research” that said to prune the branches back 2 feet. So he did. Each branch was *exactly* 2 feet long. :banghead:

Baby... cut 2 feet OFF. Not LEAVE 2 feet. :facepalm:

I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t leave a 2 foot stump :meh:

Hot damn that tree was hideous. It looked like a poodle tail. For YEARS. (I think the tree just gave up. It didn’t die, but it didn’t seem to consider growing worth the effort. Why bother? Sigh. Life? Growing? What’s the point? I’ll just sit here. Looking retarded. Forever.)

 

[Friday]

LOL... @blackemerald1, your clones just reminded me of my tomatoes (that I used to clone the blazes out of). I know you can make your own root tone out of curly willow, but I looooove those little packets. Love. And. Adore. And peat pods. :inlove:

Anyhow, since it’s on my brain (and I’m avoiding going to bed), I figured I’d post my tomato soil recipe, for anyone in a part of the world getting sunny ?☀? who doesn’t have their own favourite mix.

Friday’s Tomato Soil

Measurements by rough/eyeballed volume, not weight.

• 5 parts - Black Gold Potting Soil >>> my fav brand, the ingredients & ratio are listed here if it’s not available / to find something similar. Great stuff, this. Black Gold® Natural & Organic Potting Mix - Sun Gro Horticulture <<< I used to buy this stuff in 50lb bags.
• 2 parts - Pearlite
• 1 part - Vermiculite
• Bone Meal (fine/generous dusting over your pile o’dirt)
• Blood Meal (fine/generous dusting over HALF your pile o’dirt)
• Ongoing Care - Mix worm castings with your water per the bottles directions about once a month. (I usually do it right after I’ve leeched the toxins out, see below).

Spoiler: Watering

NOTE : Tomatoes grow best if you let the soil dry out almost completely between waterings (pick up the pot and it weighs next to nothing! Droopy sad looking plant is another good tell, if you aren’t container gardening.)... and then saturate the soil. By this I mean water them. Then wait 5 minutes & water them again. (The first one really just made the soil able to accept water) Then water them with a 3rd good soaking. Feel free to top them off 5 minutes after that, just to be sure. In HOT weather, you might do this twice a day. In warm weather once a day. In cooler weather once a week.

How do you know if you’re watering too much? “Burned tips”. Looks like someone took a lighter to the end of your leaves. Dry, brown, & crispy. I don’t worry if it happens right after I water, and is gone in a day or so. If the tips are burned consistently? I space out my watering more.

Spoiler: A pot to piss in

WEIRD TOMATO FACT
During your vegetative cycle (and early fruiting cycle) peeing on the soil makes for very happy plants. New urine, only (24 hours), otherwise the ammonia makes them very unhappy plants. I just had my boys have fun peeing outdoors, but when it was just me? Wide mouthed mason jar.

Spoiler: Vigorous Plenitful Stalks

This is super simple/easy, but it makes your plants take a few weeks longer to grow ie start sooner.

1. As little seedlings in peat pods, point a fan directly at them, so the blow over completely. As soon as they start to stand back up? (A couple days) turn them around so they’ve blown over, again. Keep spinning your plants and let the wind knock them over, until it can’t do it anymore. Do this to them as babies, and instead of a finger thick stalk, it will prompt them to grow a main stalk as thick as your wrist. Which not only makes them sturdy as hell, but also creates a very wide highway fo water/nutrients = lots and lots of fruit.

2. As soon as they’re about a foot tall, “pinch the tops”. Literally, pinch the tops off, right by a leaf, if possible. Generally about 1cm or less down. When it grows again, instead of 1 stalk, it will fork into 2. When it’s gone about 6 inches, do it again to both stalks. And then all 4. Stop there, or keep going to 8 or 16. Depends how BUSHY you want your plant, and how much time you have. Each pinch makes it take about a week longer than you would without pinching.

IF CONTAINER GARDENING > Once a month run water through your pots (in the bathtub inside, or with a hose outside) until the water exiting the holes runs clear. Like Goldfish being dirty fish, tomato family are dirty plants. They “exhale” a lot of their wastes into the soil, which slows vegetative and fruiting cycles if it’s allowes to build up, makes your tomatoes tend toward ‘flavorless’ or ‘sharp/chemically” (even though zero chemicals used), or weirdly both... and shortens their lifespan considerably. If you’re planting in the ground these wastes are so tiny every time you water they fall right though the larger soil particles and are a non-issue. But in pots they just build up and build up. After a month? The water will run orange out the holes, and after 2mo blackish brown. :wtf: So leech them out monthly. Your plants will thank you. (By growing gang busters).

 

[blackemerald1]

It didn’t die, but it didn’t seem to consider growing worth the effort. Why bother? Sigh. Life? Growing? What’s the point? I’ll just sit here. Looking retarded. Forever.)

Well it's only been 24 hours since the neighbour maimed the tree and it might yet give up. I wouldn't blame it. It must feel assaulted - poor thing. Nothing short of tree vandalism honestly. But the neighbours think they pruned it correctly? Sigh... What next?

@Friday - thank you for the tomato soil mix - it is indeed time for me to plant tomato's so I am going to be doing that in the next few days too. I don't think I will piddle on them though - but I do believe the science justifies it lol :)

Lemon trees apparently benefit from a dose of Epson salts and men pissing on them (Uric acid?) - but my trees will have to learn to live without that too. lol...

 

[blackemerald1]

I'm under attack!... No.. I mean my passion fruit's leaves are being eaten and also my lemon/lime tree leaves!

I have gone on the offensive and have dusted their leaves, fertilised them and am keeping up the water.

I just hope I dusted them with the right stuff :unsure:

I have tiny little lemons and limes on my tree so I am feeling quite paternal :wtf:

 

[bellbird]

I'm under attack!... No.. I mean my passion fruit's leaves are being eaten and also my lemon/lime tree leaves!

Bugger! Any idea who the culprit is?

 

[blackemerald1]

No! But I am feeling quite murderous about it all... :banghead:

I went to the nursery today... actually this is the second nursery I have attended seeking expert advice and I have googled the crap out of it.

First I sprayed white oil on my passion fruit - that killed these little black bugs that were barely visible to the eye - so I thought whew! Job done! But then the next day, on inspection, more foliage missing :wtf:

So now I have dusted them with this white powder stuff... I'm hoping this will do the job. but idk.. :unsure:

Then I inspected my lemon/lime and mandarin trees and some of the leaves looked a little bit dodgy...so I have completely over-reacted (possibly lol) and sprayed them with the oil too. shrug...

I have given them all a really decent feed and a nice big water.... I'm hoping they will be okay...

I have heaps of birds in my back-yard they have really let me down!! They don't have much to do except eat bugs...what the hell have they been doing while this carnage has been going on...??

 

[Friday]

My first line of defense is usually insecticidal soap... but the plants have to be saturated with it, usually several times. Because it only works on contact. It’s a bit of a pain -literally, your squeezy hand won’t like you, who’d have thought a spray bottle could be a workout- but it works on most soft bodied insects, larvae, mites, and the like.

I’m not too up on Australian pests, but weirdly I know it works on one kind of imported Aussie moth we get around here that doesn’t have any natural predators / our predators haven’t acquired a taste for it, yet, anyway. So it might be worth a go if the powder doesn’t work.