| FDF: fun tv |
[24 May 2013|06:38pm] |
Masterchef: great reality competition show or greatest?
Which do you prefer more, generally speaking - competition-based shows and "day in the life of"-type shows?
What are the appeal and drawbacks of each for you?
And talk about your favorite reality show(s) if you have them, and what you enjoy most about them.
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| Freeze warning in late May |
[24 May 2013|04:47pm] |
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Anybody else looking at freeze / frost warnings for the next couple of nights? I'll be covering my tomatoes, but should I cover my newly-planted roses that I rescued from bLowe's? (I couldn't resist, they were those roses-in-a-plastic-sack but were all very healthy looking, one even had little buds on it - Blaze and Pinata.)
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| cactus in the north |
[23 May 2013|08:37pm] |
Does anybody grow cold-hardy cacti? Particularly in the midwest? How did yours do this winter? What did you do, if anything to keep them alive?
This winter was brutal, here in Wisconsin - alternating wet and really damn cold. I lost a few, but they were mostly new ones. I lost an echinocactus that had survived last winter, but last winter was mild. I had damage to two older cacti, but nothing too serious. And some new agaves died.
Here's one that is doing splendidly...
( see moreCollapse )
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| Save my orchid! |
[23 May 2013|01:40pm] |
Hi everyone! First off, thanks for everyone who sent in suggestions about the aphid infestation of my camellia plant. I took one advice and sprayed the plant under the tap and so far so good as far as aphids not returning is concerned. Now I come to you with a question about my orchid.
This plant was something a coworker gave me for my desk at the office about... two years ago. It's done fairly well--this is its third time producing flower and at one point had two flowering stalks with four or five blossoms a piece--but now the leaves are looking a little sickly.
( Pictures of the orchidCollapse )
This happened once before when one of the original leaves dropped off and the plant spent half a year producing another leaf to replace it, so I don't know if this is just part of its natural cycle or whether there's something I can do to encourage more growth. I've stuck to the care instructions and only water it when the soil/moss feels dry to the touch, but I'm wondering if it needs to be repotted with some fertilizer. We keep the office fairly cool--around 68-72--but it gets warmer up front due to the windows. The plant gets some direct sun for a few hours in the afternoon for much of the year. However, because the windows are tinted, it's not as intense as it probably normally is.
In addition, the plant has a bunch of these weird root-like offshoots--can anyone tell me what those are? They creep out my coworkers, but I don't know if I can pinch them off or what their purpose are.
Any help anyone can give me would be great. I've become a bit attached to this little plant and I'd love to be able to keep it as long as possible. Thanks in advance!
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| Tiny red bugs on my pepper plants |
[23 May 2013|01:45pm] |
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Just transplanted my pepper plants into our garden and yesterday I noticed miniscule red bugs eating the primary and secondary leaves (the only leaves on the plants, dammit). I'm so frustrated by this. What do I do to get rid of these a$$holes?
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| Corn, no corn, beans and stuff |
[23 May 2013|10:33am] |
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The first corn I planted on May 2 only has spotty germination (the seed was from 2011 so I guess I shouldn't be surprised), so I'm going to just till that under when the ground has dried some and replant with the Miracle hybrid.
The REAL first corn I planted May 15, it's all up and looking pert and cute, about 1 inch tall! It's Miracle Hybrid se+, and it's so sweet you can eat it raw off the cob. Makes big 9 to 10" ears, usually 2 per plant, so it's a great producer. I'll have 3 total plantings of this variety. It says it takes 82 days, but last year we were harvesting at 66 and 72 days, so we'll see.... if it goes at 72 days, that means we'll have fresh corn around July 27.
The second corn will go in where the snowpeas have been -- I think they've got another week in them, then I'll pull them and plant. 2 weeks later I'll plant the third corn. That'll give me about 2 weeks between each planting, which will be good -- I won't get too sick of putting it up.
I planted the bush beans May 14, and they're up and looking good! They'll be big enough to thin in about a week.
The carrots are up, and they should be big enough to thin in a couple of weeks.
Tomatoes and peppers looking great.
I went out and cultivated the tomatoes and peppers, because The Grass That Will Not Die was coming up! I have one of those high wheel plow/cultivators, and it worked really well. So well, in fact, that I went and cultivated the corn just because I was in the mood to do it.
When the bush beans are done, I'll be putting watermelons in there, and when the second corn is done, I'll put in more beans.
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| plant id and questions |
[22 May 2013|10:21pm] |
My aunt gave me a few plants for my garden, though I'm not sure what one type is. It's supposed to be a shasta daisy, but I bought another, "snow queen", and it has rounded leaves instead, and my google image search also seems to show rounded leaves for shasta daisies. It's growing well, but it does seem to wilt from lack of water very quickly, more than any of my other plants, which wouldn't seem to be what should happen with a shasta daisy since they're supposed to be tough plants (right?).
This is another of the same type which is not looking as happy:
( Read more...Collapse )
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| Garden porn, year 3 |
[22 May 2013|10:13pm] |
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I've been wanting to share some pictures for a while now, but between the rain and the infestation of hackberry sprouts due to birds + rain keeps me busy pulling and raking. Now, of course, the cottonwood tree is firing up its cotton production . . . . not too bad yet. Anyhow, the first year I was doing a lot of digging, amending, creating walkways, hauling rocks and gravel. Year two was a lot of planting, moving, replanting, changing my mind and then the scorching hot summer did a number on a lot of the foliage, which I was concerned about. I use a lot of natives so they tend to be pretty well adapted to the heat. Fortunately, this spring things are coming back, filling in and it looks like it will be a good year overall. The heaviest part is behind me.
( Buncha picturesCollapse )
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| Wasabi question -- Anyone grown this? |
[22 May 2013|10:36pm] |
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Suttons are selling Japanese wasabi plants in the UK. Which is a first as far as I know. Has anyone had any experience growing this? What conditions does it need? Obviously I'm tempted as I like a bit of spice in my food and unusual plants so this is a golden opportunity to blend the two. I'm just not sure how difficult it is to grow, and whether I'd just end up killing it.
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| Egyptian Walking Onions |
[22 May 2013|03:53pm] |
I bought a little start of Egyptian walking onions two years ago this spring.
I looked at my start yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to realize that my "little" start ain't so little any more!
As a matter of fact, it distinctly looks as though my walking onions are putting on their track shoes judging by the number of bulblets they look like they're putting on!
Does anyone else around here grow them?
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| Quince tree |
[22 May 2013|04:17pm] |
My mother wants to give me a quince tree for Christmas, and I think I've found the right place for it in the garden. However, before I go ahead and say yes, to her offer, I need to know a little more.
The place I'm thinking of is in a raised part of the garden, about a metre higher than the level below, and contained by a stone wall. My concern is that if the quince has invasive roots, such as some trees have, it might end up breaking the wall.
Does anyone know if that's likely to happen?
(I live in the UK, in the east midlands.)
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| "Take a wish" |
[20 May 2013|05:00pm] |
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According to snl's weekend update (only the most credible sources for you, booj) families have been hiring tour guides in wheel chairs to help them get into the shorter lines at Disney world. The debate is- how might these families be justifying this decision? Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
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| Scary Note |
[20 May 2013|03:08pm] |
Your kid is in 3rd grade. He has a close friend in class who has some behavior issues, but they don't bother you much because your own kid has ADHD and has most of the same issues and the kid is really sweet in general.
The week before the big standardized test, the kids are asked to write an encouraging note for a buddy. The friend writes a note to your kid. The note says the expected things, like "good luck! don't forget to check your work!" It's a very nice note. the problem is that the note is illustrated with stick figures having gun battles, with some of the figures behind what looks like desks. There are a few detailed drawings of guns. At least one of them looks like an assault rifle complete with scope and safety switch. you see that the words "I might not make it in time" have been erased poorly.
You ask your kid to tell you what the picture is of and he says "that's just war and mayhem." then your kid shows you a drawing of a fighter jet that he made.
so... are you concerned or is this just age appropriate boy stuff? if you are concerned, what do you do?
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| Squirrel Repellent--Well Tested! |
[19 May 2013|05:02pm] |
A couple weeks ago I bought a big bagful of lily bulbs which isn't a great thing to do when you have squirrels hanging around your yard. I was determined to have lilies though so I decided I should try my luck with using hot sauce as a deterrent.
I soaked my bulbs overnight in water and then gave them a good dowsing in Louisiana hot sauce from the bulb all the way up the sprouting stem (I used the house brand from MuleWart).
My Hubby was a lot stingier with his bulbs. His only got a few drops splashed on them.
The squirrels dug his bulbs up but then left them alone. (I had to go back and recover his.)
They didn't even bother to dig mine up!
And the moles haven't come anywhere near any of them either which is a good thing since apparently I have the Vigo County franchise rights on mole reproduction in the state of Indiana.
(It's so funny: The moles won't cross over into the Lawn Nazi's yard next door in spite of him telling me that he doesn't use lawn chemicals!)
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[19 May 2013|11:48am] |
This spring, something I've been waiting for for years has happened: the laburnum, AKA golden chain, tree is blooming. This is a big deal to me because I grew this plant from a seed. Then, when I put one in the ground, the gophers ate it. I put another one in the spot. The deer ate it. It survived, but now instead of a regular tree shape with a single trunk it's a giant multistemmed thing. But that's all okay, because it's now taller (barely) than the house and it's doing this:
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| Watermelon |
[18 May 2013|10:34pm] |
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Has anyone ever grown watermelon vertically or trained them onto a fence? I just prepped a section in the back (that actually gets enough sun) for some edibles. I've had to get creative as my garden has lots of shade. Anyhow, it runs along a chain link fence and has a walkway, so the growing section is only about 2 feet deep and about 20 feet long. I have some watermelon starts to put in, but I was thinking that in order to make use of vertical space, staggering the plants and having every other one trellised to the fence, high enough to get it off the ground but low enough that the fruit won't have to go into slings. I hope. Has anyone done something like this and did it work out well for you?
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| Please Read This If You Dislike Monsanto or Certain Other Big Corporations |
[18 May 2013|08:01pm] |
I know that at least some of the people who are members of this gardening community dislike Monsanto and would avoid buying its products if they could. According to this article I found, there's a new app called "BUYCOTT that shows you a product's corporate family tree while you shop" and thus lets you avoid buying products that put money in the pockets of corporations you dislike.
(BTW: The comments section that follows this article has some interesting comments that might be worth reading too.)
Here's the name of the article and the website if you're interested:
New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto and More by Scanning Your Shopping Cart
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/app-lets-boycott-koch-brothers-125701452.html
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