Gonna Make This Garden Grow

[menikmati]

There were some tomato plants, some bell pepper ones or something, and something else, I think maybe basil or something similar. Then there were a bunch of weird small flowers, and some type of butterfly flowers, that really didn't attract anything.

Not sure what's in store for this spring/summer yet. There are tons of weeds out in the backyard right now...I've been neglecting it.

[marooko]

Try neem oil. It's a natural pesticide that is pressed from the Neem tree, and many organic farmers use it. It stinks but should do the trick.

I moved into a place last year that has a tiny back yard and started growing my own vegetables. It turned out really well, I grew 2 kinds of peppers, 2 kinds of tomatoes, onions, peas, lettuce, radishes and tons of herbs. I'm going to try to do a cutting garden this year in addition to the veggies. It's nice to not have to buy wax covered, barely ripened produce from the supermarket.

It stinks BAD! Use gloves.

Anyone with anything organic, post. Go!

[zonarob]

Use fish emulsion fertilizer. The fish gives the microbes in the soil a very happy place to live. The microbes will then in turn cause any organic material to convert to nitrogen, potash and potassium. (NPK as seen on organic and inorganic fertilizer containers). In Hawaii there should be plenty of organic material in the soil. Places like AZ that have terrible soil need organic compost added for optimum results. I believe this to be some of the best fish emulsion available.
http://www.organicgem.com/

[lizng]

Fuck you winter, you're officially over now that these puppies have started blooming. This was a nice little surprise to wake up to this morning...

[lizng]

Holy crap. I just spent the day digging a trench from my patio 10' to the back fence so I could extend my a/c drain. Now the water won't pool and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I kept the shovel going and turned over all the soil in my vegetable garden and planted the following: cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, 2 banana pepper plants, 2 green bell pepper plants, jalapeño peppers, basil, peppermint, sage, stevia, 2 hostas, some asian jasmine ground cover, a big fern, cannas, and dahlias. I also threw down some white zinnia, impatiens, and nasturtium seeds in pots. I'm going to plant some squash, spinach, and lettuce when I get back from Coachella and hopefully won't have to do much other than weeding until fall. I really hope the boyfriend can manage his plant watering duties while I'm away because I'll be quite sad if all of that shit dies.

[chairmenmeow47]

so i've started doing some planting. this post is fairly pointless and just my experience thus far. i have no idea what i'm doing, but i've started lol.

i had a lot of free seeds laying around for starters. i had some electric daisy carnival daisy seeds, cosmos and a mix of wildflowers. i decided to get some sweet peas also because i wanted something fragrant. the last thing i got were poppies just because they looked pretty.

so far, everything has come up green. i have a south facing window and a west facing window and the south facing window has had the best results. unfortunately though my ledge is small and i've already knocked over the poppies and will have to start over with those everything's still growing, so the south window must be working well, but i have no idea if the get the "right" amount of sun or not as they haven't flowered or anything yet. also, i feel like i may have put too many seeds in some of the pots and i wonder if that will become an issue as they get bigger.

the watering is tricky. i use a small dixie cup to pour small amounts of water on the flowers (never the whole thing). i want a watering can, but most seem to pour out more water than i want for my very small pots. the dixie cupes seem to be working ok if i constantly check on the soil. my pots don't have any sort of drainage. i try to feel the soil for dampness. i also try to put little drops onto the leaves themselves, but i don't know if that's necessary. to me it just seems logical as rain falls on the leaves, right?

the sweet peas are getting tall enough that i've placed very long fireplace matchsticks next to the flowers and tied a wire to them to keep them from falling over. i also turn the pots whenever i can, so that one side isn't facing out more than any other.

my dad got me some herbs & strawberry growing kits for my birthday that i will try next. i hope i have as much luck with these as everything else. i guess i'll know if i'm doing anything wrong once the plants start dying, right?

[Courtney]

Yay Ivy! I am also going by the trial and error approach, because I don't know much about gardening. Love poppies and sweet peas and strawberries though.

My gardening project is a mixed success so far. The various lettuces, mesclun greens, kai choy, mint, thyme, dill, basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, and papaya plants are all thriving. However, I completely killed all the tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash, and green beans. I'm thinking this may partially be a light issue, and I may just need to stick to plants that do well with less sun. Will keep on playing around until I find a mix of things that work.

[chairmenmeow47]

my wildflowers wilted. i think i overwatered them one day using a normal cup instead of a dixie cup; everything came pouring out too fast. today after work if i can remember, i'm going to get a spray bottle. that seems much more logical for spraying the leaves without dousing them in water.

yesterday i re-planted the wildflowers and the poppies with a few daisies as well since that is the bigger of the pots. also planted the strawberries & herbs. there was nothing in the packaging about what time of year is best, so hopefully since they are indoors i'll see some results!!!

only thing you can actually see are the sweet peas and the cosmos off in the distance since everything else is freshly potted. i'm going to need a new table for the window if i keep this up!!!



courtney, i can't see the pics on the first page at work. are all your plants in containers? are you planting indoors or out? food seems so much more difficult to me, so you're a braver woman than i

[HowToDisappear]

Yay, Ivy, flower seedlings! They will eventually have to be thinned out, however, or they'll crowd one another and none of them will do well. And yeah, the south facing window will make them happy 'cause they get full sun all day. The west window is problematic because they're in full shade half the day, then blasted by the hot sun the other half. This is what happens on my patio; our building faces due west.

And I would advise putting them all in pots with drain holes. No matter how carefully you water, it will eventually collect at the bottom and the roots will rot. They need air. That way, when you need to water, just take them to the kitchen sink and give them a good soak. When they've thoroughly drained, you can put them back on the ledge (on saucers for protection).

Would love to see pics when they are blooming.

[atom heart]

We dug some thin flower borders this weekend around the main walk and planted marigold and two kinds of nasturtium seeds, along with some gigantor sunflower seeds. The marigold seeds are kind of old so hopefully they sprout. Can't wait for 10 foot sunflowers!!

[donkey sex]

sounds like a Led Zeeplin song title

[chairmenmeow47]

thanks for the advice, HTD. i wonder if i can just drill some holes in my existing pots. the herbs seem to be flourishing, but nothing from the strawberries yet. i saw a bit of poppy peaking through this morning too which was a nice surprise. i may have planted them too late though.

[Courtney]

Plant update!

My papaya plants are crazy tall now. I have four of them, and they're probably going on two feet each. Otherwise, the things that seem to be growing are leafy, shade-loving things. Mint, kai choi, parsley, chives, dill, thyme and basil are all doing well. Weirdly, my red pepper plant is doing well also (I think it must love the heat).



I had some cilantro, but it went through an entire life cycle so quickly that I hardly had time to use the leaves before they went all feathery and bitter, so now I've pulled it out and planted some new coriander seeds. The two varieties of lettuce (anuenue and manoa) and assorted mesclun greens I had have also gone through a full life cycle, so I need to plant more.

The eggplant is sort of growing slowly, although it is not very happy and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it.

I killed everything else: the tomatoes (all four varieties), green beans, squash, rosemary, lavender, poppies, morning glories, sunflowers, cucumber and zinnia. I figure this is a learning process and once I know what is happy in my space, I'll have a better success rate. I hope!



AND:

courtney, i can't see the pics on the first page at work. are all your plants in containers? are you planting indoors or out? food seems so much more difficult to me, so you're a braver woman than i

Sorry I didn't see this before!

I'm just planting things in containers on my balcony right now. I really mostly have an interest in planting food because I like the idea behind being self-sustainable as a way to reduce my carbon footprint and undercut big agribusiness. It also appeals to me to really know what is going into my body and to be able to control the amount of chemicals and fertilizers in these things. I love my CSA, but this is a good way to supplement.

[bleep]

papaya leaves have a slight bitter taste to 'em, i love when my mum uses it in cooking.

[Courtney]

How does one go about cooking with papaya leaves? Please tell me more. Google results simply yield that you can wrap things with them the same way you would do banana leaves, and that papaya leaves may or may not cure cancer.

[bleep]

Indons like their papaya leaves. stir-fy like this. or boil and serve either w/ other veges gado-gado style or as a side dish w/ rice and Indon curry. or eat raw w/ grated coconut and spices kinda like this.

[Courtney]

Woah, thanks bleep, that's awesome. I'm totally going to try and report back.

Also, newly planted: morning glories, beets, rosemary, more cilantro, more mesclun.

[JustSteve]

here's my coachella grass i grabbed for a little souvenir, haven't killed it yet...

[MarkO]

My tomatoes are finally starting to get going ........ the weather sucked here through April/May/most of June.

[Courtney]

I harvested my first batch of worm compost today and used it to fertilize my summer squash and papayas. Soooo satisfying.

[donkey sex]

is that Zepplin?

[Devin the Dude]

Courtney gardening gives me a boner.

[Devin the Dude]

A RACIST BONER.

[Geno_g]

I need to start composting, those earthworm castings are great for plants...

[Courtney]

I HAVE A FLOWER. I am so excited.

[chairmenmeow47]

anyone have any experience growing freesia?

[HowToDisappear]

They're pretty easy to grow (at least, here). What did you need to know?

[TomAz]

[Sublime]

So I have a money tree that was growing very healthy. During a move something fell into the plant chopping off all of the branches. Anyone be able to recommend things I can do to get my buddy to start growing again?

[chairmenmeow47]

They're pretty easy to grow (at least, here). What did you need to know?

i'm lazy & haven't done much research. they just appear to be bulbs. what makes bulbs different from seeds?