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March 28, 2024, 08:30:18 PM

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Gardening thread 2021

Started by Ferris, April 05, 2021, 02:26:54 AM

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Ferris

My hops are zooming out the ground like crazy. Looking back at the photos I'm taking a few times a week, they're growing an inch or two every day? And apparently they speed up from this point until the end of June!

The other rhizome has sprouted out of nowhere with seven (!) shoots. Also had another shoot on my "main" plants (bottom right of that photo). Apparently you're only supposed to keep the healthiest 2 bines per plant but no idea how or when you're supposed to decide to do that. More reading required.

Ooh, it's a journey!


Ferris

(Ordered some fuck off massive plant pots and a load of soil/fertilizer from the place down the road so will be relocating these shortly, along with the beans, carrots and tomatoes. Sadly not going to get the back yard going in time for this season, but will at least be able to grow enough stuff to feel like a win and get ready for next year when I'm going full Goode Life. Found out I got onto my desired graduate course this week, so I'll have the time to work on it all this year and next. Gonna be mega.)

Buelligan

That sounds incredibly positive and forward-facing like Mike Gapes only not awful.  Quite the opposite of Mike Gapes, in fact.  Extremely interested to hear how you get on with it all.  Use this hiatus to learn about shit like soil.  Read plant books.  Cannot wait to see the next episode.

Ferris

I'm trying to avoid turning the thread into a photo-blog about a plant I'm growing!

I've enjoyed the photos that Attila and others have shared but the only comparably interesting thing I have to share is the hops so I'm glad you're enjoying them and everyone else is just going to have to strap in for the ride.

Brian Freeze

I'm enjoying the hop news as it happens. Always good to read your enthusiasm and excitement (or the way you put it into words). It will make up for how badly we have fucked our garden.

Ended up with an eight week old puppy recently. We planned for every eventuality inside the house and all escape routes from the garden but didnt give a seconds thought to what she might do to the plants in the garden itself other than the poisonous things.

Eaten or trampled is the answer.

Looking forward to replanting next year.

pk1yen

I got a hop plant late last year, but managed to get a small handful of hops before the winter. Thought I'd killed it by leaving it in a pot, but it's sprung back to life after I planted it out the other week.

Bought a big archway thing from aldi the other day, so hopefully I can get the hops growing over it and looking decent.

Ferris

Oh nice! That bodes well, and I think the second year harvest (onwards) is significantly more than the first season.

Would love to grow mine up a section of fence but it's looking like they'll be in a pot this year and able to stretch out a bit next year.

I considered trying to get some cuttings this year and planting them in the little verge bit by the road. The garlic is going gangbusters and if I could get some hop vines on one of the larger trees it could be really quite nice.

holyzombiejesus

Riddle me this Buellers or someone else. In the autumn, I planted some late potatoes in bags. Gradually built the earth up until the bags were full of soil and the plants were reaching up to the sky. Then, blight struck and al the leaves went black and slimy. I pulled the stalks out and thought nothing more of it until a few weeks ago when me and my little boy popped a couple of sunflower seeds in there. Just gone out to inspect sunflower seedlings and the potato plants are all growing. I thought there were a couple of weeds dotted on the surface but there are big sturdy plants which are just now reaching the surface that I guess have sprouted from last years lates. Late tates. Later potater. What to do?

Buelligan

Heheh.  Potatoes are normally planted in Spring.  I'll just say that first.

If you had potato blight - rather than something else, like them getting frosted for instance, then you really should get rid of the soil and everything because the spores are likely still there, waiting to reinfect.  And potato blight is quite a serious thing. So there's that.

Other than that though, ask anyone who's ever grown potatoes or cared for land that's had potatoes in and they'll tell you, there's always one left that'll sprout the next year.  Check whether you had blight, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans if you did, then I'd suggest radical cleansing.  If not, just let that potato grow and see what happens, harvest it at some point.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: Buelligan on May 22, 2021, 06:27:01 PM
Heheh.  Potatoes are normally planted in Spring.  I'll just say that first.

Late ones aren't, are they?

Buelligan

Late ones?  You're correct late potatoes are planted any time it's too late to plant potatoes.

Here's a handy guide - https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-potatoes/

holyzombiejesus

Lots of places say you can sow as late as September, think I've even seen Monty doing then.

Buelligan

Are you teasing me, HZJ?  Thing is with potatoes, they can't have frost on their green parts.  That's why people earth them up.  So this late-planting thing is all wrong.  All wrong.  Watch and read the little linky if you doubt me.


Buelligan

Ah, sorry, OK, I misunderstood.  You can grow anything out of season if you can create the right light/heat and so on but growing things in the garden, in the normal way is dependent on light/heat/time of year and so on.  I was being too narrow, I apologise!

holyzombiejesus

I'll be planting potatoes in that pottymouth of yours if you're not careful.

Buelligan


WhoMe

Perhaps should have checked the weather before planting some fledgling vegetables in the raised bed, now that it's gale force 46 out there

Emma Raducanu

My strawberry plants are COVERED in aphids and I spent 20 minutes sqashing them all between my fingers. My lupins have some larger aphids too but there's not many. Where did they come from! And how much damage are they going to do!

Ferris

Quote from: WhoMe on May 23, 2021, 08:23:58 PM
Perhaps should have checked the weather before planting some fledgling vegetables in the raised bed, now that it's gale force 46 out there

Replanted the beans yesterday and the storm is so bad it has literally ripped one out the ground already.

Honestly, makes me wonder why I even bother.

Buelligan

Quote from: DolphinFace on May 23, 2021, 10:16:33 PM
My strawberry plants are COVERED in aphids and I spent 20 minutes sqashing them all between my fingers. My lupins have some larger aphids too but there's not many. Where did they come from! And how much damage are they going to do!

Aphids can absolutely fuck lupins (and other things).  You could try making some treatment with washing up liquid.  Put a few squirts in a bit of water in a jar and shake it until you have lots of bubbles, spread the bubbles thickly over the aphidy bits, which should kill them.  Do this on a non sunny day - the liquid/heat combo could scorch tender leaves and buds.  If it gets really bad, you could lop off the worst bits and take them far away to try to preserve the rest of the plant, I'm afraid lupins are very susceptible to aphid damage.  Try to deal with them sooner, rather than later, those big ones are the motherfuckerloads, all the millions of little ones will pop out soon and you'll have a job to sort it if you wait until then.  But don't stress, plants primarily exist to feed little bastards like aphids, it is part of the price.

Oh, also, try to make sure your plants are not stressed.  If they're drying out, for instance, aphids will damage them worse and they'll be unable to repair themselves as quickly, so keep an eye on that.

Brian Freeze

Back when we had frosts I was marvelling at how resilient the aphids were on the front rose bush at coping with sub zero temperatures when there's nowt to them, while wishing they weren't.
I do the same with weeds sometimes and their tenacity and survival techniques.

Buelligan

Heheh, I know what you mean.  I tend to leave aphids now, I look at them in a rather terrible way, thinking about how happy the blue tits will be when they find them.

peanutbutter

I've a pretty tiny patio with some trellises, about half of the patio gets some decent sunlight and the other half gets hardly any but I could deflect some in via paining a wall white. What would be some good things to grow up the trellises? bonus points if there's any chance of them surviving winter.

Not sure what else to try and buy, obviously gotta get started pretty soon though. Was half tempted to try and grow weed outdoors just to see if I can but  I imagine it's too late to start on that at this stage.

Jittlebags

Quote from: peanutbutter on May 25, 2021, 12:58:15 PM
I've a pretty tiny patio with some trellises,

Is that an euphemism ?

Buelligan

#175
Quote from: peanutbutter on May 25, 2021, 12:58:15 PM
I've a pretty tiny patio with some trellises, about half of the patio gets some decent sunlight and the other half gets hardly any but I could deflect some in via paining a wall white. What would be some good things to grow up the trellises? bonus points if there's any chance of them surviving winter.

Not sure what else to try and buy, obviously gotta get started pretty soon though. Was half tempted to try and grow weed outdoors just to see if I can but  I imagine it's too late to start on that at this stage.

Depends on your climate, of course, if I had to recommend one easy, manageable, beautiful, climber, that keeps its leaves year round and has beautiful starry white highly-scented flowers, it'd be the irreproachable Trachelospermum-jasminoides.  I have three, I've also grown them in the UK. 

On other thoughts, think about your site.  This is a rule no matter where you grow things.  Always try to plant with the site, rather than attempting to grow a particular thing in spite of the conditions, if you're not on it 24/7 and most times, even if you are, the site and prevailing conditions will always win. 

Never forget RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT PLACE.  Sounds to me you're thinking at least some areas of your garden are rather shady and maybe lacking in natural light.  Think about stuff that will thrive in those conditions - ferns immediately spring to mind, why not try making a fern (and other shade-loving plants) wall?  You have to remember to water them or install a system but if your walls are shady, it could be a beautiful way forward and the great thing about them is you can change individual plants very easily.




ETA: If you want to grow weed outdoors, do a bit of research and invest in decent seeds.  You can buy feminised hybrids bred for outdoor life online I believe.  Lots of varieties to chose from and it's worth choosing well.  I would say though, if your site (right plant, right place) lacks daylight, you could be onto a hiding to nothing.  I understand, if you want to grow something worthwhile, you'd need full sun for a substantial part of the day - over 12 hours really and you'd need to get them planted in early May to get the day length I'm guessing.

Buelligan

I'll just weed out that fucking glitch right now.

Emma Raducanu

My little Acer tree, which I got a couple of months ago was looking great, then all of a sudden, it drooped and shrivelled and curled up and I don't know why. I've heard about Verticillium, about being over watered, under watered and fuck me, just live.

Ferris

Quote from: DolphinFace on May 29, 2021, 05:08:36 PM
My little Acer tree, which I got a couple of months ago was looking great, then all of a sudden, it drooped and shrivelled and curled up and I don't know why. I've heard about Verticillium, about being over watered, under watered and fuck me, just live.

It's mad isn't it? If you can't survive when you're in a safe pot being watered and nitrogen'd out the arse then how the fuck do these bastards grow out in the big bad wild?

Buelligan

Quote from: DolphinFace on May 29, 2021, 05:08:36 PM
My little Acer tree, which I got a couple of months ago was looking great, then all of a sudden, it drooped and shrivelled and curled up and I don't know why. I've heard about Verticillium, about being over watered, under watered and fuck me, just live.

Acers hate direct sunlight, they hate harsh winds.  They are tender troubled little fucks that need total love.  Right plant, right nuisance.

They grow in the big bad wild but only in the places they are evolved and specialised to thrive in.  Put a saguaro in a peat bog, a sundew in the Nazca, death will result.  Right plant, always, right place.  Never forget this.