Homegrowmen (Farming and Gardening) Thread #41

>>647848
US Farm Income and Taxes,
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/farm-marketing-and-management/farm-income-taxes-14991.aspx

US Grants and Loans for Small Farms,
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=GRANTS_LOANS
http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-community/grants-and-loans-farmers
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/funding.shtml

Managing Risks on Your Small Farm,
http://agr.wa.gov/Marketing/SmallFarm/managerisk.aspx

Chicken info and forum,
http://www.backyardchickens.com

Rabbit guide
http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/publications/manuals/rabbit-production-a-producer-s-manual.html

A public access seedbank for many types of rare or endangered plants; both edible and ornamental,
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/index.htm

Organic and heirloom selections:
http://sustainableseedco.com/
http://www.seedsofchange.com/
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Potato, Sweet Potato, and Tubers seed bank (free, but requies filling out forms and waiting in line):
http://www.cipotato.org/

Awesome interactive plant/gardening maps for USA, Canada, France, UK, BC, (frost dates, temp zones,

etc):
http://www.plantmaps.com/index.php

Sprout seeds and info:
sproutpeople.org

Insect Habitats for attracting polinating bees, predatory/parasitic wasps, hibernating ladybugs,

butterflies, etc.
http://www.inspirationgreen.com/insect-habitats.html

Toad and Hedgehog Habitats,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JetkWtw7Jc
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/frogcrafts/a/How_To_Make_A_Toad_Village.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/hedgehog_home/
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/leaflets/L5-Hedgehog-Homes.pdf

Chili Peppers
http://www.fatalii.net/

More on Aquaponics & Aquaculture,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=26xpMCXP9bw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=_WgfaJjvfxA
http://www.appropedia.org/Aquaponics

Sourcing plants from the grocery,
http://www.diyncrafts.com/4732/repurpose/25-foods-can-re-grow-kitchen-scraps

>>647849
>>647848
All links checked and updated as needed.

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Muh sneezing Serrano flower!

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>>647888

oh baby

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>>647904
It's a boy!

mentioned this in last thread, right before it died..

hey guys, pretty new to gardening. I have some seeds from a while ago, some radishes, onions, and squash. What other seeds should i acquire as a beginner? Also is it too late to plant the squash this year? Lastly, is it possible to grow the radishes in pots inside year-round? Any tips to help me out would be much obliged. Thanks

>>647964
>What other seeds should i acquire as a beginner?

Anything.

>Also is it too late to plant the squash this year?

How would we know? Check the frost dates for your area and the general instructions for that plant type online.

>Lastly, is it possible to grow the radishes in pots inside year-round?

Of course, you'll need good lighting though.

>Any tips to help me out would be much obliged.

Don't do too much at once. Don't plant everything at once. Don't focus on one thing too much. Don't plant everything in the same place when planting outside (don't plant all the tomatoes in one place for instance). Research the plants you want to plant.

>>647972
by what other seeds, i meant what plants are relatively easy to grow, so i don't kill them haha, But thanks for all the answers! for the good lighting, would sitting on a normal windowsill be good enough?

>>647977
>would sitting on a normal windowsill be good enough?

It depends on the plant. You'll need to google light requirements for each plant.

>i meant what plants are relatively easy to grow

Normal vegetables are all easy to grow. Just think about what you already eat and plant those.

>>647977
Grow pumpkins inside, it's easy

>>648003
Considering you should bury the vine and they can get up to 50 feet long easily, no, they are not easy to grow indoors for most people.

>>648005
>Considering you should bury the vines

No you shouldn't

>>648184
Yes, you bury them to guard them against disease. You don't bury them very deep, you don't cover the leaves, and you don't cover the fruit or flowers. But, the base of each leaf should be covered as soon as you determine there's not going to be a flower there. This helps protect from diseases and massively improves growth, plant stability, and longevity.

Most people put a 1-2 inch layer of mulch over the vines.

It is the number 1 reason growing them indoors in a pot is terrible.

>>648195
Burying the vines can cause them to rot.
I never buried my vines and I had a great crop. Also if you're growing your pumpkins indoors I don't think you need to worry about pests like squash vine borers or fungi from the ground

>>648195
Growing pumpkins indoors is a meme

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I have some African basil cuttings that im trying to get to root but it seems like nothing is really happening.

For the cuttings I just take about a 2 in long stem, cut it, remove the leafs till there are 1 or two left then I just place it in water replacing it periodically? I also scraped some of the outer layer off the bottom.

>>648266
How long have you had it in the water?

>>648267
I want to say a bit over a week now.

>>648227
Rot is more dependent on your local environment.

>>648266
They only root from the nodes. Like a spot where a leaf is sprouted from or can sprout from. Sink it in water a bit more. Change the water every day if you are not using willow water or root hormone. Wait at least 3 weeks before calling it quits.

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Hey guys, just got all these apple seeds from making an apple pie, how should I get around to planting them? Just put a seed in a pot and get the dirt inside wet? Or is there some trick to germination of non-dried seeds

>>648383
Put them in wet paper towel and leave it open on a plate for a few days
If they're not organic apples it's quite possible the seeds are duds fyi

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>>648383

It depends on the seed. With apples you can rinse the seed, stick it in the fridge for a couple months wrapped in a moist paper towel in a baggie, scratch the seed coat with sand paper if you want and then plant it, keeping the soil moist.

You can also just plant it, if you don't want to do all that. :3

>>648383
You should also know that to get good fruit from an apple you need two different varieties of apple trees so they can cross-pollinate.

>>648386
Jesus christ what kind of mutant apples do you have where you live?

>>648396
Sometimes trees get branches grafted on of a different variety, and the fruit that grow on the grafted branch produce untrue seeds, whereas organic fruit don't use grafting so the seeds should be true

>>648386
After the few days, will I start to see a sprout like >>648387 's pic? And what do I do after those days? Sorry, bit of a novice

>>648394
There are a few different apple trees we have currently, these were the neighbors yellow apples

>>648406
>After the few days
It could take a couple weeks

>>648401
That isn't is and that isn't how it works. All apples are cross-pollinated. The fruit you get from the second generation won't be true to the parent. In order to get the type you want, you have to personally control how they get pollinated to make the seeds you want to use. Then you can get a true variety, but that true variety won't give you seeds that are true.

Nearly all apple trees are grafted on a stronger root stock. Sometimes the grafted tree dies that the root stock starts to grow. The tree variety of the root stock will be completely different than the grafted tree.

The root stock does not affect the seeds of the grafted tree unless both are growing and both are blooming at the same time and thus cross-pollinated.

>>648411
True

>>648409
>>648406
Keeping them warm, around 102F will speed the germination a great deal. I keep mine on a wet paper towel inside a ziplock bag that is puffed up with air. I change the air once a day.

>>648406

I'd be very surprised if you can get the apple seed to sprout that quickly without other seed prep.

>>648411
>cross-pollinated.
Okay it makes sense to me now
I always thought the grafting not cross pollinating is what made the seeds untrue
Basically they're like mule apples
Got it

>>648308
It strongly depends on the species and other factors like temperature
From my experience, willow and rosemary cuttings will grow visible roots in a week, sometimes less, while privet and cherry plum took over 3 months in the water (don't worry if the leaves drop off after a while)

>>648387
What nobody mentioned yet is that apples need stratification, so first put them in a small bag with some moist (not too wet) sand or so and toss it in the fridge at around 3-5°C for a couple weeks, this will significantly improve germination rate

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I'm doing it guys
I'm going to germinate these and grow pumpkins in my bedroom this winter

>>648421
>>648413
This guy says keep them cold, this other guy says keep them hot, which one is it /out/?

>>648415
What other seed prep is there to do?

>>648490
>This guy says keep them cold, this other guy says keep them hot, which one is it /out/?
You need to refrigerate them for a couple weeks first, then take them out and keep them warm.
An apple seed's life would consist of being in the ground over a season before sprouting, so refrigerating the seeds mimics the winter conditions the seed would have been in

>>648487

The absolute madman.

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>>648487
>>648499
I'm living at 50°N (very little sunlight, 8 hour day right now and solar altitude peaks at 16.6°, plus 90% of the time overcast) and I'm experimentally pre-growing a watermelon on my East-North-East facing window sill (to be replanted into the garden by April), and it's doing slow but fine
But I'll only let the others sprout by around early February, so I can compare how the early one mentioned above (planted November) is doing compared to the others and if it has a significant better head start

>>648509
watermelon isnt a bad idea because come spring you'll want to harvest. Pumpkin are more of a fall thing.
Maybe I'll try watermelon inside instead

>>648511
>come spring you'll want to harvest
Nah, not happening in our cool, dark climate. I'll project the plant to be just small enough to keep inside until mid- to late April (when no more frosts are to be expected) and then I'll plant it out in the garden, hoping to harvest in July/August (instead of September/October)

>>648512
that's what I meant tho, it's an earlier fruit to harvest.
I'm around 40N in Canada and our days are pretty short now too. Probably colder here outside than where you are, and April is too early for planting outside. I'll have to wait until at least the end of May.

I still want to do pumpkins, just to see if it's even possible.

>>648514
Yeah, it's currently still +10°C outside at 1am here (was +14 in the afternoon), but unusually warm
Pumpkins should be even easier and more north-growing than watermelons though, I'm living on the northern edge (German Rhineland) of where watermelons can even acceptably produce fruit (and only certain cultvars), but Cucurbita maxima is cultivated as far north as Sweden

>>648519
God speed German watermelons!

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>>648535
Meh it's not even that much of an exotic thing here, you just have to cheat a little (black foil on the surrounding soil to heat things up).
Almost every second garden in my village has a fig tree, and I see lots of Turks coming here in October to buy the ripe fruits from the gardeners (dunno why they're so obsessed about that ordinary fruit, apparently it's better than the supermarket stuff I guess - anyway I'm planting one too next year, took a cutting from the neighbour garden back in September, got it rooting in a water glass and temporarily moved it into a pot and planning on planting it out in April, hope to get a nice fruit-bearing tree soon too)
We also got a few olive trees around here, but they get heavy protection during severe winters, but reliably bear green fruit by early to mid November, and true black ones by late December (the ones you get to buy in supermarkets here are just green ones "painted" black with iron gluconate - no comparison to the real deal)

>>648549
>hope to get a nice fruit-bearing tree soon too
it will take at least 3 years to get a fruit bearing tree for most small fruits like that

>>648550
Well I heard about Ficus carica being extra fast in this regard, especially if propagated by cutting, plus it's said to be a very fast-growing plant compared to most other fruit-bearing trees. I'm not expecting too much in 2016, but 2017 should show some fruit, especially since the species flowers/fruits up to 4 times a year (in our climate maybe 2 times but that's enough for me)

>>648555
My goal is to germinate an avocado pit. I've tried a couple times but they've never taken. I heard once you get a tree from an avocado they grow quickly

>>648557
*checks plant on wiki*
Huh, wouldn't have thought it's in the laurel family
As I see it's a tropical plant (doesn't tolerate temps below freezing at all), and to my experience such plants generally need rather hot temperatures to sprout (around 30°C), so I'd recommend placing it above your PC's exhaust fan (that's what I'm doing with my Yucca filamentosa seeds at least) but in an enclosure so that humidity doesn't drop to near-zero

>>648559
I will take it outdoors in June when we have warmer weather, and bring it indoors in August or September.
My house doesnt get that hot, only around 20C, but I think it would survive. Maybe not produce fruit efficiently though

my serrano pepper is flowering like mad and It's native to mexico. Only 8 hours of daylight

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>>648487
A dire fate awaits you.

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>>648559
>>648561
My Serrano

>>648416
>Basically they're like mule apples

lol Yeah sorta, but they can still produce, just not perfectly true. It affects the quality. For good or bad it unknown until you try it.

>>648421
>>648490
You cool them for a while without water. Then you use heat and water. I've never had a problem because most apples are already kept refrigerated, meaning the stratification has already occurred before you even eat the apple.

>>648561
>>648563
Make sure to keep a low fan on it to help prevent blossom/fruit drop. That strengthens the bonds and a normally harmless bump to the plant won't knock half your fruit/flowers off.

>>648561
Yeah, nightshades sprout easily, but some seeds need very high temps to do so, especially laurel-likes. Of course an avocado will survive when it gets close to 0°C shortly, but its seed won't germinate unless it's exposed to 30°C for some time. So for the time to sprout you must somehow ensure high temps (maybe with a heating mat?), after that indoor temps (20°C) are enough for further growth
>>648565
Well, most apples I eat come straight from the tree starting in late August, so they didn't undergo stratification at that point
Of course you can simply let the seeds outside over winter too for "natural stratification"

>>648566
>Make sure to keep a low fan on it to help prevent blossom/fruit drop.
I can't really keep a fan on it in my room all the time as it would be noisy. Is that absolutely necessary? It used to be in my kitchen, but i moved it to my room because I have a south facing window

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What food can be grown fast and easily indoors?

pic unrelated

>>648571
goats

>>648567
>unless it's exposed to 30°C for some time. So for the time to sprout you must somehow ensure high temps (maybe with a heating mat?
okay thanks for the info

>>648573
Red meat causes cancer

Can somebody explain what a true fruit is please

>>648571
Herbs, chickweed, spinach, lambs quarters, stuff like that.

>>648570
Well be careful with it then.

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>>648582
When I'm gone during the day I'll set up a fan like this

>>648576
cabrito is worth it

>>648597
That should do it. Just monitor the soil moisture.

>>648597
You should let a bean plant climb up that figure, That would be cool

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>>648487
don't say we didn't warn you.

>>648571
Where are its arms?

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>>648750

/out/, I have some soil with poor drainage that needs a whole redoing. It's also full of weeds that need some removing. What's the best way to go about it?

I was thinking I should uproot every weed and leave it there to dry, and then mix it with blood and bone meal and some compost. Would that improve the drainage of the soil after a few weeks? What other things could I use to improve it? I know you can use stuff like horse manure and seaweed but that's not exactly in ample supply around my parts.

>>648862
To increase drainage you can add sand and/or simply mound it up. Sand is best. Make sure it isn't beach sand that has salts in it. Add in organic materials will help drainage in heavy clay based soils but will also help retain moisture that the plants can access. Heavy clay based soils tend to hold water and not give it to the plants as well.

As far as weeding goes. If you are going to completely redo the soil the weeds will get tiled under. So, do whatever you feel is best with them. If you are not conditioning the soil then leave the weeds right up until you are planting your own crops. The weeds help protect the soil and mycology.

Regardless of what you end up doing, there will be tons of weed seeds. The instant you start messing with the soil or weeding, the old seeds in the soil will start to sprout. This can't be helped. Your best course of action is to use mulch to help prevent them from sprouting or growing after sprouting.

As far as mounding up, you can make raised beds, and add completely new soil tailored specifically to your environment. This is what I do since my land is all 95% clay. I could dig up a shovel of dirt here and start making bricks, cob, and pottery. I use raised beds with soil I made over the years.

>>648872

My soil isn't that bad in that vegetables can actually grow on it (currently growing some tomatoes and strawberries), it's just that some areas have poor drainage. A lavender plant that was there since I moved in recently dried up and I suspect it's because of heavy rainfall we've had. I saw parts of that soil super moist even after a few days had passed.

I want to avoid the expenses of having to build raised beds, and the logistical problems of dealing with the huge amount of soil I'd need to fill them, which is why I haven't really considered it.

Weeds are sprouting left and right even after thorough weeding, it's annoying but I've grown accustomed to it. What kind of mulch is best to keep weeds out? I've been trying dried bark splinters but that doesn't seem to work too well.

>>648876
There is literally nothing wrong with weeds if you are harvesting by hand.

>>648882

Really? I thought they drained nutrients from the soil and interfered with root growth. What gives?

>>648882
They're ugly

>>648884
They can help or hinder. It depends on the type of "weed" and the type of plants you are growing. Some revitalize the soil by trapping nitrogen from the air and depositing it in the soil. Some are great for removing pollution from the soil and trapping it in their leaves. Some emit gases that help your crops. Some enhance soil mycology or help keep pest nematodes at bay. Some act as trap plants for pests.

And, the opposite is true of every aspect listed. It all depends on what weed is growing.

>>648876
> What kind of mulch is best to keep weeds out? I've been trying dried bark splinters but that doesn't seem to work too well.

A non-uniform size mulch is best. That is one that is comprised of small and large particles. The depth of the mulch is the biggest factor though. There should be about 4 inches/10cm of mulch. Keep in mind that mulch will also prevent the soil from drying out as fast.

>I saw parts of that soil super moist even after a few days had passed.

Normally, that indicates too much organic matter in the soil. It acts like a sponge even if the soil is well draining. Double check the drainage. Also, you don't need to "build" a raised bed. You only need to raise up the soil a couple inches higher than the surrounding area right where the plant(s) is.

One year I just put a couple shovelfuls of soil in a clump on the top of the ground and planted in it. It was about the size of a large flower pot. I did that for all my cucumbers and tomatoes and had a bumper crop.

My neighbors grows lavender at the end of their driveway in an exceptionally wet area. All the clumps of plants are raised up above the ground on their own soil and do well.

>>648564
What is a true fruit?

This might seem like a weird question but is it possible to get roots out of the stem off of a fruit?

Like, the stem from an apple or orange or lemon? If I put it in water, is there any chance it will grow roots?

>>649001
If you mean the tiny bit that is stuck at the top of the apple/..., no way. If there's a whole branch attached, you might have a tiny chance, but growing from seed is really easy and fast so there's not much of a point in trying to get a little branch to grow roots.

However for example a pineapple you can cut off the top, put it in the ground and it will form a new plant (with some luck), so not everything needs seeds (and getting pineapple seeds to ever sprout is hell).

>>649020
okay thanks, i was hopeful

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Who here /druggardening/?

Got peyote seeds I'm planting this spring.
Growing san pedro, poppies, dream root, and morning glories.

I'm considering going out in the middle of the woods and planting a patch of poppies here and there.

Any drug plants you grow or want to grow?

>>649070
Post on /b/ or 420chan.org
Don't post on here, please.

>>649080
I don't grow marijuana though.

>>649088
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinopsis_pachanoi
>This is the case in the USA, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand, and Norway, where it is currently legal to cultivate the San Pedro cactus for gardening and ornamental purposes, but not for consumption.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_somniferum
>In the United States cultivation is illegal. Opium is listed as a Schedule II controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. In addition, "Opium poppy and poppy straw" are also prohibited.[16] However, this is not typically enforced for poppies grown or sold for ornamental or food purposes.[5] Though the opium poppy is legal for culinary or esthetic reasons, poppies were once grown as a cash crop by farmers in California. The law of poppy cultivation in the United States is somewhat ambiguous.[17] The reason for the ambiguity is because The Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 (now repealed),[18][19][20] stated that any opium poppy should be declared illegal, even if the farmers were issued a state permit.[21] § 3 of The Opium Poppy Control Act stated:

>>649101
So I don't have anything illegal besides the peyote which no one will even care about.

>>649106
That isn't the point. Get your drug shit off the board.

>>649070
You're in a thread where people are discussing the feasibility of growing pumpkins indoors in Canada, the stratification of apple seeds and manually pollinating peppers indoors.

Take your drug shit to /b/

>>649128
>>649131
Okay sorry I didn't know it was that big of a deal. I make regular posts here about my peppers and such all the time.

>>649158
This is a fun free zone
Serious plant talk only

What kind of soil should I use for planting potted citrus?
I live in a climate where citrus can't be grown, so I'm not sure I'll be able to find the right soil and fertilizer easily.

>>649165
I just used any soil for mine when I grew them. I had lemon and orange trees for many years. They didn't seem to need anything specific.

>>649165
Just buy "potting soil"
It should be good enough

>>649169
Did you grow your lemon from seed? I'm trying to germinate a lemon seed now

>>649171
Yes. I just planted it in the soil and bam, lemon tree. It had a few lemons for a few years before succumbing to massive scale infestation and dying. I had no clue what I was doing back then. It was before internet existed.

>>649208
How long did it take before it produced fruit?

>>648571
Radishes and peas.

>>649218
>peas
This would be easy

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>>649212
Different anon, here. I planted two lemon trees (I think they're Meyer) from seed. One took 4 years to flower, the other has yet to. I planted them in soilless mix and fertilize whenever she looks hungry.

>>649221
Just a seed out of a store bought lemon?

>>649212
3-5 years, I'm not 100% certain. When things are optimal, my trees usually produce fruit 1-2 years earlier than the internet says they should.

>>649221
I can't decide if that pumpkin has a nose or is really happy to see your lemon tree.

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>>649224
My sister shipped me some lemons from here tree in California. I live near Chicago, so the tree spends about half the year inside.

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>>649226
cool, I'm in Toronto so My tree would probably spend half the year inside too. I have a pineapple plant I've been growing the same way, but it has yet to grow a stock and flower and it's 4 years old

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>>649225
Yeah, it was a goofy looking thing. I almost went the nose route, but changed my mind.

>>649224

Not that guy,but I live farther south,and I just save seeds from the lemons I use for tea and oranges I eat,plop them in some starting mix,and they pop up in a few days.

I actually started giving them away just because they are so easy to start.

>>649229

Also forgot to add,yes,store bought.

I thought there might be issues too,but none so far.

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>>649228
That's a big pumpkin

>>649230
okay thanks for the info. Im trying to germinate a couple seeds right now, then I'll start them inside this winter in potting soil

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>>648509
Watermelons hate being transplanted, good luck. I've grown some bush sugar babies hydroponically inside before....wasn't worth it, but they did produce. The big problem is you only get a couple, and it is hard to know when they're ripe.

>>649228
Oh yeah I remember that, pretty cool.

>>649233
Yeah, I heard about the roots being very sensitive, so you're supposed to replant the whole chunk of earth with the roots in it

>>649233
>it is hard to know when they're ripe.

The only good method for common watermelon is to check the spot on the bottom. It will be white when young and will deepen to a dark yellow (sometimes near orange) the riper it gets. Hanging watermelons that get even sun are very difficult to tell if they are ripe since they don't have a spot on them where they'd normally be laying on the ground.

>>649238
Yeah, peat pots are a must. No transplanting root damage.

Anything I can plant outside right now that requires little maintenance?

In north Florida.

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>>649226
Could I trouble you to mail me some seeds in Canada? I'll mail you back some white pumpkin seeds!

>>649244
A flag

>>649244
Lots of greens and salad greens. They love cooler weather. Spinach, lambs quarter, chickweed, plantain, chard, lettuce, etc.

>>649221
What do you fertilize with, my lemon looks like shit and still really hasn't recovered from its unfortunate last winter

>>649255
Not him, but the trick is to never let temperatures of the soil where the lemon sits in drop below 13°C for more than a couple hours, else they'll drop their leaves especially if the plant gets a lot of light

>>649258
Thanks! That might be an issue, it's in a south facing window that is in an part of my garage that is the one spot that's not heated, I've heard of wrapping Christmas lights on the top of the soil, think that will keep it warm enough? It never gets below 45 F where the plant is

>>649262
IMO citrus are best over wintered "warm" (15-18°C), i.e. inside the house, but make sure they get a lot of light then (southern window), even here at 50°N and mostly overcast skies this amount of light is sufficient, the plants continue slight growth this way but don't etoliate if it doesn't get too warm.
Second best option would be placing them cool (a couple degrees over freezing), but then dark
Never put them cold and light though, this way the leaves start activity but the roots can't deliver water, leading to leaf drop

Just a question for my fellow growers, how many hours a week do you spend in the garden? I on average spend about two to three hours a week, but I also spend about half the year away from home

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>have to move my plant into a bigger pot soon
>that fear of fucking up and killing it
What's the best way to do this that causes as little stress to the plant as possible?

>>649364
You must try getting the soil to just the right humidity so that you can remove the whole chunk of root ball with the soil attached at once and have already some compost at the bottom of the bigger pot prepared (if it's deeper) so that the height stays the same, then fill around, a little, press on, fill a little more, and so on. Consider pruning a bit (if possible) if you suspect you lost much root, to keep upper and lower parts in balance

>>649364
Most potted plants can do with some root damage and actually do better for it, so long as it is minimal. This is do to being rootbound. Just yank it out with as much soil intact as possible and put it in a new pot. If the soil appear crumbly, wet it some so it will stay together.

>>649270
52 weeks a year.
Gardening online during the good months (Zone 5 location).

About 1.75 hours a week it is were average I think. Non-average means about 2 hours a week when planting and prepping beds. But, 10 hours a week harvesting when time comes. About 90 hours a year probably.

Some things like potatoes are still in the ground despite snow. I go out and dig up 5lbs at a time when needed. They are covered so the ground doesn't freeze. That takes like 10-15 mins once a week at most.

>>649262
FYI, 13c = 55F

Yes, xmas lights will work.You can go as far as to couple them with a thermostat and wrap it all up in a blanket. Just maintain moisture levels.

>>649378
What's the point of Fahrenheit?

>>649495
It's a system of measurement you retard

>>649378
Yeah I did the conversion quick in my head late at night, but I more meant it as, it gets cold but no where near freezing levels, I'd move it inside, but there isn't a decent Window for it, I'll definitely try out the xmas light solution

>>649497
Celsius actually makes sense tho

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The yuzu seedling have taken a long while to progress, but a few of them finally started germinating.
Here is the set up I have planned so far. I'm planning on making a pebble tray out of the larger container for moisture, and single grow light for all three. Of course the lamp I was planning to use turned out to be busted, so I'll have to look for a spare one in the meantime. What do you fellas think? Good plan?

>>649524
>2015
>Not using Kelvin

>>649543
Well a CFL is better than nothing I supposed, but maybe you should consider investing in a LED with certain wavelength.
Don't wanna advertise here, but I got one for €40 lately from T**T****cs (24W in 12 LEDs with different red and blue ones), and stuff is doing remarkably better (light is ~80cm away from the plants) than when I used a 10W regular room light LED (but which was only 10cm away - I'm having much more stuff under the new light now)

>>649546
This might sound stupid, but do most LED grow light need some sort of support from above, like ceiling fixtures?
At the moment I'm not really in a position where I could install anything like that. You're saying I'd have to keep the bulb I currently have 10cm from the soil? Maybe I'll return it and look for something a little more heavy duty.

>>649551
Nah, you don't necessarily need to put it that close, just grows faster this way.
The one I got myself is one fitting with a regular E27 socket, so I put it in a desk lamp and placed that on a stool, with the greens on the ground
You're probably thinking of those huge, long rectangular 400W or so thingies, well those hang from the ceiling

>>649561
>You're probably thinking of those huge, long rectangular 400W

Ahh, I see what you mean now. So you're talking about something more like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Efficient-Hydroponic-TaoTronics-Greenhouse-Combination/dp/B00GNWK2XO

If that's the case then I'll have to pick one up as a Christmas gift for myself. I suppose for now I'll use the CFL bulb that I have, then switch over. Thanks!

>>649563
Yup that's the one. Had good reviews so decided for it an am not disappointed so far (got the 24W model though because I have more stuff, the 12W should be enough for you if you just want to use it for the small citrus seedlings)

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>>649569
All coming together now, managed to find a cheap desk lamp at a second hand store that should work fine with the LED bulb coming.
I'm still unsure how well citrus plants take repotting, though I don't think I'll have to worry about that for a while.
Do you think 4 or 5 seeds per pot would be a good idea? Only about 2 of the seeds actually germinated in the month that I've kept them in there. I have a few other ones I've kept dormant in a plastic bag on the side, so I'm going to see how well they'll do without germination period.

>>649616
how much energy have you penciled out the light to take, over a month?

>>649616
Difficult to say, planting multiple ones in one pot will make you have to deal with fiddling the roots apart later on, one per pot will be to spacey for putting them all under the grow light (unless you use smaller pots first and replant regularly)
It's up to you if you want to keep all of those which sprouted later on, or if you opt for only keeping the strongest ones and discarding the others (in case all survive)
>>649627
As I said above I have a 24W grow light running for about 14 hours a day, even with our astronomic electricity prices of €0.30/kWh (yay socialism), it only costs about 10 cents/day (or €18 per season if I let it run like that for a whole half year which I won't)

>>649630
Holy shit, its only 9 cents here

>>649634
That's what we deserve for pushing shit like photovoltaics in a country where even the best places have 2000 sunshine hours, with an average of more like 1600, as well as knee-jerking hastily after Fukushima, thanks Merkel.

>>648562
>>648743
Just wanted to say that these replies inspired me to also start growing pumpkins in a tiny dormitory room. Let's have some fun!

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Just found this while examining some brown spots of my 3 month apple tree. Anyone got any idea what caused this and the brown spots? Leaf miner perhaps?

>>649662
>Green apple leaves in December
Are you in Australia or cultivating indoors? At least latter one is not a good idea

>>649662
Looks like some other type of physical damage. Is that the only one? If there are more are they all straight lines like that?

Hey m8s, I have a question.

I've planted a small flat of strawberry seeds about a week ago and they aren't breaking soil yet, what's the dealio lads?

It's been really hot but it's cooling down now, what's the best temp to grow them from seed?

>>649840
Wait longer, also strawberry seeds may need a quick acid dip prior to planting. Something like soda will work as an acid dip for about 30-40 seconds.

>>649848
Thanks man, will a vinegar solution work? If you know the ph they need I can easily make up a dip.

>>649851
Yes, but only dip them for like 5-10 seconds in vinegar.

No clue the pH needed.

>>649851
Oh and if the acid does not work try bleach, no joke. Sometimes the animals eating the strawberries will be turtles which have alkaline stomachs. So, if the strawberry variety evolved with turtles spreading the seeds you'll need to use that instead.

>>649855
What a world!

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>>649668
Not that I can see. The same tree has these brown spots on 2 of the leaves however. I thought they might have been linked.

>>649906
The line is just something else I'm sure. The brown spots are generally "normal". Probably bacterial spots. Pull the worst of the leaves if it looks like it is spreading.

>>649888
Checked

>>649630
>electricity prices of €0.30/kWh
Holy shit it's like 12cents here in Ontario

>>648487
They still havent germinated ;_;
Duds?

>>649951

Pumpkins are around 4-10 days at optimal conditions. You could give it some more time if you started on Thurs.

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Would anybody be interested in a holiday seed swap? e-mail me here

[email protected]

And maybe if we get enough people, or 4 or 6, we could do a seed swap where we can mail seeds from our plants to each other for christmas.

Yes?

You apple tree faggots realize you can't grow good apples from seed?

>>650000
Quints never lie

>>650000
so the only good apple trees are the orignal ones god created, fully grown and fruit-bearing, on the third day of creation?

it's also true that you can't create good people from sperm, in my experience

>>650000
I think those growing from seed do it for the fun of it or to use it as ornamental
Plus grafting is no fun

>>650000
Of course you can. You just need to control what you are cross pollinating. Besides, second gen trees usually have pretty good fruit. It won't be the same as the parent plant, but it will be good. Grafting to root stock, something you've grown from seed, isn't needed either, but it does help, depending on the variety of apple you are growing.

>>649963
I am.

>>650081
okay cool, send me an e-mail

I want to get like 6 or 8 people at least. It think it would be interesting

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Including myself there are 3 people interested in seed swap

We need a few more, then I'll take mailing info and randomly assign.

I'm pretty sure you can just send seeds in a regular envelope through the mail. Ofc tell them what the seed is, maybe some tips on how to grow it

>>650169
I'm interested in this seed swap but i'm new to gardening and have no seeds.. but do let us know how it turns out, participants!

>>650169
I'd be interested, but I'm not sure if anything i have is viable, I'd hate to send bunk seeds

>>650171
>>650178
You two would be a good match

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>>650169
Some seeds get wrecked in a normal envelope, it gets sent through rollers. Someone sent me some sunflower seeds once, and they turned to dust. Bubble mailers are the way to go.

>>650248
>Bubble mailers are the way to go.
thanks for the input

Are you interested in participating?

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>>648487
Holy jesus

It's happening

>>648487
That right one is already sprouting in that pic, fyi.

>>650266
>it begins

Drop it in some warm soil. Stand back. Hope you have enough light to make it worth it.

>>650248
Pro advice right there, Homegrowmen.

>>650276
>Hope you have enough light to make it worth it.
I have a south facing window, that's about the best I'll get. I want to get an energy efficient lamp to leave on it as much as I can. I already have a small fan if necessary

>>650169
So anyone actually doing this?

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>>650266
RIP

>>650281
I am. Got lots of seeds to swap.

>>648195
Im not sure what diseases your trying to protect them from. By burying the vine you may promote more roots to grow and providing the plant with more nutrients that's about it

bruhs my aloe vera is turning brown and shriveling badly. could this be caused by the cold temperature and lack of sunlight? or is over watering the most likely culprit? i know its better to under water instead of over, but i already barely water it, or at least, what seems like barely to me.

Does anyone understand the pecan grading system? Apparently there's multiple ways to grade them. But has anyone heard of a system where there's a range from 0-60 and the higher the number is the better. I heard it mentioned but would like to know what the numbers stand for or how their measured.

>>648559
Yucca Filamentosa...

If that's what I'm too lazy to look up and verify, then you can make soap from the roots and cordage from the leaves.

>>650364
Just want them as ornamentals, but nice to know what to possibly do when pruning old leaves

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Anyone interested in holiday seed swap please email
[email protected] before Christmas Eve, preferably by Wednesday
Then I will pair people up to mail seeds

Another anon recommended using bubble mailers because seeds can get crushed in regular envelopes

>>650322
Make sure its in sandy soil where the water runs through pretty easily. They are desert plants and barely use water. Also ya they need as much sun as you can provide and if its in a cold winter that'll it too.

>Aloe- well drained soil, warm temperatures, full sun

>>650000
Yes you can but the new plants may not be geneticly similar to the parent plant. This may be a bad thing because apples originally arnt sweet. Old apple genes were unbearably sour like crab apples.

Also the seeds you get from store apples probably arnt ripe enough to germinate so you have to wait and hope they ripen enough before they rot with the apple

>>650301
You're kidding right? You don't grow prize winning pumpkins by mistake you know.

>>650471
You're right. You grow prized pumpkins inside

>>649270
I'm a Gardener by trade so I spend 8 hours a day plus probably on average another 1 at home during the week. Than weekends it varies from 1-3 I'd say, plus at least another half hour for my basement plants ;)

>>650456
well its in the soil i bought it in.
ive decided ill leave it while i go on winter break, that will give it time to dry out and i wont have to resist the urge to water it.

>>650474
Probably for the best. Think desert when your watering it. I had another aloe, not aloe vera but a close cousin, which I acquired somewhere but decided I didn't want and ended up abandoning it and forgetting about it. About 6 months later I found it and it was still kicking. Looked rough but it was still alive.

>>650485
so should i give it like, a splash every weekend or do a little more but at longer intervals?

>>650364
You can also eat the flower petals.

>>650472
You don't want to? Fuck off with your trolling.

>>650486
Deep and infrequent as they say. Water it really well but make sure it has time to dry out between waterings. How often depends on the soil, temp etc. Stuck your finger in and make sure its dry, and not just on top.

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We've got 4 people down for the seed swap

Let me know soon if there are others

>>650489
ok thanks. do you think ive been way over watering it and thats why it looks sick, or the temperature and lack of sunlight plays a bigger role? cause theres nothing i can do about those

>>650490
Even if I had something to trade there'd be a problem, so the others might consider it too:
If shipping trans-Atlantic then it goes via air mail, right? Doubt most seeds like being exposed to -40 or however cold it gets up there

>>650494
Most seeds can be frozen, some even require winter conditions to germinate in the spring
Make sure your seeds are dry and freezing shouldn't damage them

>>650493
It's most likely the water in my experience. If its in a cold window though that may be the problem too. Light depends. They won't be happy but they'll live in part light but won't grow very fast. If you can't do anything about it though try the water and hope for the best. If it does die get something more suitable for the environment. Good luck annon.

>>650494
Seed banks freeze their seeds m8, I'm sure it's fine

>>650498
alright, thanks friend.

>>650495
>>650499
Yeah I know about stratification some seeds need, plus there's alpine stuff like Pinus mugo, or tundra species like many Larix which are exposed to such temps in nature so they should do fine, but what about (sub-)tropical ones?

>>650501
>but what about (sub-)tropical ones?
Let's seed what Google has to sow:

According to some farming forum tropical fruit seeds which are completely dry will still germinate If they've been frozen.
So cutting a seed out of a fruit and mailing it may not be best, but dry seeds or prepackaged seeds should be fine

That was a good question tho, it'd be a shame to mail a bunch of bunk seeds

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Alright lads, just bought myself an allotment in September and have a question, when I bought it, no work had been done on it for 2 years. I've pulled out all the weeds and have been spending the rest of the time getting the roots out of the ground. I've been spending months pulling the roots out of the soil put it's literally endless. Is it worth spending all this time pulling the roots out? They're mostly dead.

>>650508
You could always cover it in dry grass and light a quick fire
It will fertilize the soil and kill most roots

>>650490
>>650494
>>650495
>>650499
>>650501
Btw most of the time seeds are fine shipping over borders but sometimes they randomly get confiscated for no reason.

>>650526
Farmer post authority expanding his seed collection most likely

Now we have 5, need a 6th person to get another pair

Email [email protected] if you're interested in the seed swap

I figure by the end of January everyone will get their seeds

hey guys i have a question for you all. i came home from college to find a potted plant on my window sill. i'm pretty sure my parents planted parsley and i was wondering what the likelihood of it growing/how long it'd take to grow. i've tried growing parsley/basil in the past but the sprouts always died after a few weeks. my understanding was that you have to soak the seeds, then plant them in a starter pot covered for a few weeks until the plant sprouts and i feel like my parents haven't done that, which is why nothing has sprouted. also what's more important, warmth or sunlight? i live in southern ontario (canada) so we get maybe 6 hours of sunlight a day during the winter. thanks

>>650996
Don't put too warm obviously now in winter, maybe around 15°C, so it won't etoliate because of the low light (is it a southern window at least?), also don't over water (yellow leaves indicate that in case you have that)

>>650996
>so we get maybe 6 hours of sunlight a day during the winter.
Today's the solstice, days will be getting longer
Toronto represent

So, I'm looking to go to school next year for botany.
Good idea or bad idea?

>>650510
A good tactic but may end up with you getting put in jail depending on the state. I know California is pretty serious about controlled fires right now.

>>651208
I don't think the job market is great for it but I'm not entirely sure. There may be a big demand for it with upcoming marijuana legalization and general revival of farming in pop culture.

Honestly I am really into it but I just study it on the side and major in Info systems.

>>651215
That's what I'm kind of hoping for, starting a legal growing operation and using it to pay for a nursery I can open.
I figure if I can use the education I receive to master getting the frostiest healthiest buds I can get, I can use that degree and tangible evidence to get people to want to buy my crop.

>>651208
Start here:

http://www.botany.org/bsa/careers/car-faq.html
http://www.botany.org/bsa/careers/car-jobs.html

>>651215
>I don't think the job market is great for it but I'm not entirely sure

Meaning you have no clue about it at all and shouldn't be voicing your opinion on the matter.

>>651217
Fucking potheads.

>>651365
>fucking potheads

My hobby doesn't hurt anyone, and it's only really part of the plan because I couldn't afford to start out a nursery outright, and would rather not have to take a massive loan out. I'm much more interested in saplings, flowers, vegetables and the like.

>>651208
Botany I'm not sure about as far as work if your looking to study plants for a living. There's alot of horticulture jobs out there though if you want to grow them. I work as a Gardener half the year and sit back and can relax on EI for most of the rest if I choose.

>>651499
The off season being the perfect time to perfect other aspects of "growing" by the way

>>651499
You should try growing pumpkins indoors this winter

>>651526
Is this a new meme?

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Purdddy

>>651531
More a challenge

>>651535
I'm gonna try it then I guess.

>>651552
Are you crazy!?

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If anyone can get a pollinated pumpkin plant this winter, I'll mail them like 50 seeds from various plants.

>>651577
Pollinating isn't hard. Grab a Qtip and go from male to female flowers. The hard part is containing it. If you have enough space and a good light setup, I dont think indoor pumpkins would be that hard actually

>>651583
Well yeah, but you need wicked amount of vine before you start getting female flowers. You need a ton of space, and lots of lights. Hence the challenge.

>>651577
Unless you have hundreds of watts of light hitting the entire vine it's not going to flower
Each leaf photosynthesises and feed to plant

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The light got shipped faster than I expected, though now I sort of wish I bought a lamp to go with it.
This desk lamp works, but it's being weighed down by it and it's difficult to get it positioned where every pot is lit.

>>652038
Explain what the light is for

>>652043
Sorry, I'm >>649616
Light is for yuzu seeds that have already been germinated via moist paper towel and plastic bag. Though I'm trying to see if I can do the same results with one other pot that I've covered with plastic wrap.

>>652044
Cool, good luck anon

>>651587
>>651577
I'd love to accept this challenge but I am staunchly determined to grow nothing this winter and focus on other things. Then hit spring like a sack of potatoes with tons of growing. I actually have enough lights to do this, but I don't want to spend $25 a month in electric for it when I can do it outside soon enough. (no I don't have solar/wind turbine yet that I want and adding lights would almost double my electric bill.)

>>652056
don't b scared m8
They're just pumpkins

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>>650996
I'd try to shine it in a more vertical angle (maybe put the pots on the floor?) But be careful, that bulb is heavy, so I'd fix it with a sort of clamp
Pic related my current/temporary setup, a bit ghetto still, but works

Could I train pumpkins to grow up a trellis in my room? If I keep cutting it back could it still flower?

>>652296
Yes
If you're patient you can train them to do back flips too

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>>652296
They took to my fence just fine.

>>652391
Nice man
I won't have as much light in my room and the trellis isn't that big bit I'm sure I'll run out of floor space

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Here we go.

>>647848
I have fig tree (ficus religios) seeds on the way, I live in the UK

what do

>>652401
Lots of lights, Christmas lights on the soil

>>652432
hmm

>>652397
OH SHI-!

>>652397
if youa ctually get a good vine going, you should try and root it in a second pot. You'll get more female flowers

>>652230
Whoops, meant for >>652038

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>>652397
Not quite the same as that "challenge", but kinda related from the same plant family, my watermelon experiment (planted early November, see >>648509) is doing well despite the little sun we currently have, just the nice and slow growth I want so it'll be ready to put outside late April

>>652507
You're the German right?

>>652511
Yeah, the one from the Rhine, there might be others ITT

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>>652511
>>652512
Also, at that opportunity let me show off my fig cutting (ca. 30cm long, cut from neighbour garden tree in late Sep and put in water glass, grew roots by mid-Nov, put in a pot since then, to be planted out in the garden by next April), it's been nicely sprouting for a while at the top now

Happy Christmas homegrowmen

>>652397
RIP

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Merry Christmas

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>>652847
Nice anon
I got this

>>648549
Why do English people love those begonias so much?

is it normal fro chilies to take a month to turn red?
i have a Thai red ikea special chili tree and it's got the best part of 30 chilies on it. the first few started coming through in late november, but they are still green and are secure to the tree.

i have put some blood and bone (Ausfag) in it about a week ago and some chili, tomato and other vegetable fertilizer in mid november. if that changes anything

>>653130
My Serranos never turned red even after 4weeks
I'm sure it's fine anon

>>653131
when should i pick them then?

my last time growing chilies (habaneros) they would pluck easily when ripe, these ones are still very firmly held on

>>650526
>no reason
Actually, it's not lawful in any case unless you have a permit. But seeds are let through most of the time because no one gives a fuck. That is until a red flag species is intercepted by USDA (noxious weeds).

>>653137
>>653130
Wait longer, but you can pick them any time you are ready.

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I'm not sure I'll have enough light for this to work

How long do orange seeds take to sprout?

>>653606
Where did you get them?

>>653576
Will something like this

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00WFQ5P34/ref=mp_s_a_1_2/184-2170460-2042967?qid=1451151935&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=led+grow+light&dpPl=1&dpID=51AVlKrEfVL&ref=plSrch
Be worth it?

Can anyone help me, I'm trying to find a database of plants/flowers, like a huge glossary type deal with drawings and photos and such. Anyone know of a decent website for this?

>>653633
Why? There's an app called Flower Checker you might like

>>653576
A regular shoplight will work when it gets larger. Right now ANY light bulb will work. Just get it about 2 inches from the plant. Remember, don't allow the plant to touch the bulb, especially if it is a hot incandescent. LEDs are best but I use fluorescent bulbs (CFLs and shop lights). If you have a lamp in your room, use it now. You'll figure out something better later.

you can also line the soil with reflective white paper or foil to allow better light to reach the plant. I make cardboard and foil reflectors for my plants. Just don't allow direct sunlight to cook your plants. The reflectors are best used when direct sunlight is no longer on the plant.

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Does anyone remember me from a few months back in May 2015? I found a flush of Chicken-of-the-woods shelf fungi (Laetiporus) on a black cherry tree. I took half of it and made a paste with it using a blender. The rest I ate, it was godly delicious. I put the paste in these oak logs. I cut the tree down right before applying the paste to the splits I made then tied the pieces back together.

Anyway, it has been 7 months or so since then and this is what they look like today. They are obviously inoculated with some form of shelf fungi, but it is not really like Laetiporus yet in many ways it is like it. Like a smaller version of it. We have Trametes versicolor and Stereum ostrea in this area but it looks nothing like those of course. But, these are dry and leathery like those. And, this is obviously orange. It just isn't large. These are only 1/2 inch x 1 inch or so. The undersides are smooth. I've not taken a spore print, done bruising, or anything else other than these photos.

What do the rest of the mycologist here think?

I guess time will tell. If it is Laetiporus, which I doubt, perhaps the species just needs a really big biomass to flush correctly. This is an 11 on the 1-10 scale of fungi growing after all. You can normally get them to spread easily into the medium but rarely get them to flush.

>>653687
Thanks for the advice

>>653613
Well that does seem like an okay price for grow lamp LEDs. You can always use other sources too, like in >>653687 until you get something you personally feel good with.

>>653690
I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know of any good books online one could use to learn more about edible mushrooms?

>>653606
It takes a few weeks, usually around 4-6 weeks in my experience. But they need to be fresh out of the fruit.
If it's been dried and sitting for a week, germination chances are very slim.

>>653690
I'm not sure. Those do look like laetiporus. I mean if they are, it should become more obvious come summer. What country are you in?

>>653696
You need to google them specifically for your region of the world. Anything anyone can recommend for you can't be very precise in terms of your individual area unless they guess correctly or it contains "all" the info for everything.

https://www.google.com/search?q=edible+mushrooms+North+America

https://www.google.com/search?q=edible+mushrooms+Texas

https://www.google.fr/search?q=edible+mushrooms+France

And so on.

However, anything on learning how to properly identify mushrooms of any kind can be easily recommended. This is because you use the same set of methods for identification for everything. Such methods are termed as "keys" and "taxonomy" and for fungi you should google, "mycokey" or "mushroom identification key." Also, "Mushroom Taxonomy".

Also, relying too heavily on books for up-to-date information shouldn't be done. The books should be only used as a supplement to what you can find online that is more up-to-date. Simply checking the citations of wikipedia articles on some fungi can render old books obsolete quickly. However, they may contain little-known-to-the-internet information and be rather valuable as a result. The older the internet gets the more complete its information becomes, so re-research things online every few months or in a year.

Now, as for suggestions, try the works of, "Paul Stamets". He has tons of books published for edible fungi, medical fungi, recreational fungi, fungi for bioremediation and gardening.

>>653758
Zone 5 of the USA. I'll be investigating them further tomorrow and will report back.

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>>653606
Lemon from seed guy here, mine took 2 months to sprout (early May to early July) though I even shelled them, and only 1 out of 5 made it to sprouting (became a twin plant though), I had put the seeds in a plastic bag on wetted paper towels, sunny on an outside south-facing window sill so local temps may have reached 60°C or more temporarily during the hottest days of summer, probably baking most of the seeds.
But the twin seedlings who survived seem to be doing pretty well, pic related (stems are 15 and 11cm "tall" right now, biggest leaf 11cm)

>>653807
You've kept them inside and they've been alright?

>>649524
Its based off the boiling point of mercury you idiot

>>653807
There's something so satisfying looking at that.

>>648401
>Organic fruit doesn't use grafting

Completely untrue. Grafting is a technique for growing one variety on the rootstock of another. If your scion and rootstock are both organic, and its cultivated with organic practices, the apples are organic.

>>653830
Yeah, normally on a south facing window though (just took them to the table for the pic), keeping them at around 15-18°C, and being at 50°N there isn't too much daylight here, let alone sunshine this time of the year (8 hours), but apparently it's enough, no leaves dropped so far

>>653830
>>654081
Oh and of course they've been out until mid-October

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>>653758
>>653762
>>653690
Well, I took more pics and did more investigating. From the texture, size, color, and sporepinrt, these seem to be one of the more orange-colour variants of "Stereum ostrea". Especially, since the mycelium is white instead of orange like Laetiporus has. Oh well. I can always chuck these into the bottom of a raised bed.

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Hi, anyone know what plant is this?

>50F
>days getting longer
I think I'll try planting a little winter garden.
Some arugula, hakurei turnips, tatsoi and spinach.

Raised beds and row cover should do the trick, right? Will I need two layers?

>>654256
Night time temps are what are the problem. What are the lowest night time temps? If it is freezing or slightly below that, 1 layer will work. ten degrees lower and you'll need 2 layers. You may need to germinate them inside and grow them so they have a few leaves then slowly harden them off for outside planting.

>tfw all my chickweed is sprouting in every bed already and my chard is doing well all uncovered

It was 74F today. This is a 4-6 feet of snow and -15F area around this time.

>>654194
Looks like a second year chard plant in full bloom.

Diatomaceous Earth for pest control: Myth or Fact?

>>654680
It's recommended by agricultural colleges/universities. But there are alternative ways to control pest.

For example: Earwigs are really attracted to used cooking oil in a tin can. They will drown in them by the dozens if not hundreds over the course of a few weeks. The only issue is cats and other creatures will get to the can and lick it up or knock it over.

>>654680
Works for soft bodied insects but tends to wash away if used outdoors and washed into the soil if applied directly to it. If you apply too much to the plant itself it can also interfere with its ability to catch light. I've used it to successfully kill a bedbug infestation in my home but found there are more effective ways to deal with plant pests.

>>653633
University extension websites usually have pretty good databases. Honestly though I'd go to a book store and pick up some good plant reference books. I personally find it easier to flip through a book with good pictures than to find a plant I don't know online. Online sources arnt always the most reliable as far as information either.

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I recently removed the conifer hedge from my garden and now I have more space for my fern wall, so this is a new section of it.

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>>654748
it looks like shit right now, but don't worry, the other parts looked like that as well and they're pretty nice right now.

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>>654749
this is where it connects to the older part of the wall, you can see the plants in there are already established.

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>>654750
this is the old part like a year ago.

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>>654751
too bad you can't really see my A. trichomanes due to the C. muralis being everywhere.

I removed some of it around my Aspleniums recently though.

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>>654752
here's a bunch of them.

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>>654753
I put some garbage around it so the C. muralis doesn't crawl over it again next year.

>>654748
to
>>654754
These are always pretty neat.

>>654714
>The only issue is cats and other creatures will get to the can and lick it up or knock it over.

Get a cinder block and set the can into one of the holes. Place some hardware cloth over it.

>>654734
FYI, you can also help get rid of bedbug by placing a board with lots of various bedbug-sized holes in it on your couch, bed, or where ever near a corner/wall. The bedbugs will crawl into the holes during the day and you can simply whack the board to knock them out then kill them. It is highly effective. Coupling that with other methods you already use eliminates them in short order.

>>653807
how much direct/indirect sunlight do you average?

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>>654762
>tfw there's no fern-wall forum.
why live?

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As days grow longer it's only getting stronger.

How long do I have sc/out/s?

>>654777
see
>>654081
Days are ~8 hours long right now.
Plus according to my nearest station, only 59h of sunshine on average in December (darkest month), in other words barely 2h/day. But one might not see the sun for several days in a row too sometimes
I've now put the smaller of the two under the grow light with my other stuff though (have it on about 15 hours/day), let's see if it does better and/or catches up to the taller one

I got some cannabis growing in my backyard, I've mostly just let it grow free but lately there's been sort of scorchy looking marks on the tips of the leaves on one of my plants. Anyone know what it is? The calyxes are getting nice and full but I want to make sure my plants are healthy. Can't post any images for reasons.

>>654862
>asking about growing drugs in a gardening thread on a Chinese cartoon forum

>>654865

>Asking about growing a plant in a thread about growing plants

Nothing wrong here

Besides, I'm a 'medicinal' patient in my country, I can grow, but my phone camera is broken, I didn't mean I can't post pictures because it's illegal or anything

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>>654869

check your plant and match it to closest picture here

you have a deficiency most likely

happy growing

>>654869
>I didn't mean I can't post pictures because it's illegal or anything
I assumed this

>>650508
I had one for a few years, but had to give up because of my hayfever (was ok for the first couple of years but this year I couldn't stay for longer than half an hour).
Just keep on top of the weeds and when your plants grow they'll usually stop weeds from growing, any bare ground cover with mulch.
Make a cage from chicken wire and gather as many leaves as you can in the autumn and after a while it'll turn into leaf mould you can use as a mulch.

>>654835
nice, isaw a guy on YT doing this and tried it myself here is what i have so far:
> started them DEC 14 - 2015
> avocado and lemon seeds both from fruit
lemon 6 /20
avocado 1 / 7
>
also planted some rosemary(from package) wanted to try the peroxide trick because i can never get these to germ

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>>654835
>>654081
here is my light 300w cfl, not sure if its the best but it seems to work

I'm on my third try now to get pomegranate seeds to sprout. First ones were from a supermarket fruit from South America (May), second ones directly from a tree in Croatia (August), current ones from the supermarket, originating somewhere in the Middle East.
I've tried everything, putting them shady, sunny, temperate (15-18°C), changeably warm (20-35°C), constantly warm (~30°C), 1cm deep in the compost, only slightly covered, not covered at all, very moist, only slightly moist,... always sterilised the soil prior to use by spreading it on a sheet in the oven at 150°C for several hours, and soaked the seeds with lukewarm water for several hours before sowing, like I do with all my other indoor seedlings.
I'm getting almost everything else to sprout easily (except for lavender giving me trouble, but this is supposed to be very difficult anyway), but for some reason this one just doesn't want to, so what am I doing wrong? I doubt they need stratification, coming from a subtropical climate, or do they? This time I even lightly sanded some of the seeds, but now after 5 days, of course nothing has happened yet (I waited several months for the previous 2 tries, but eventually the seeds just molded away)
Do they just have a very shitty germination rate? Considering one fruit alone contains hundreds of seeds. First try I only planted 6, second and current try around 50, can't really be arsed to manually clean significantly more seeds off their pulp

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>>654956
I'm using this one:
http://www.amazon.de/TaoTronics-Pflanzenlampe-Zimmerpflanzen-Blumen-Gem%C3%BCse/dp/B00OZF129O
(24W model)
Dedicated growing lights have their wavelengths optimised better to photosynthesis than broad-spectrum ones, but as I said earlier ITT, if you're from 'Murrica you only pay 1/6 our electricity price, so even a CFL (if strong enough) should work and not be too expensive
Pic related is what I currently have under the grow light, most significantly the fig seedlings have profited from it, lemon balm is rampant too

>>654967
nice setup

I'm seeing these tiny little white bugs crawling around in my indoor potted plants, maybe knatt larvae?
Should I be worried?

>>654963
No idea what you could be doing wrong as I planted a bunch of seeds in a pot with no special care and probably all of them sprouted. That said pomegranates are, at least to me, really not a very satisfying kind of plant to grow. Even in optimal conditions they're spindly things that can't support their own weight (it never fails to amaze me that they produce such huge fruits), they get hit by every possible disease or bug, for half of the year you're looking at a bunch of sticks and the other half you're still looking at sticks with some tiny leaves on them. At least the leaves are kind of cute, I suppose.

>>655053
Well for me it somehow has the exotic appeal (German Rhineland at 50°N), plus they supposedly have nice flowers, so it could double as an ornamental. Also since they're not native here, I suppose most subtropical bugs, diseases etc won't affect them here (die off in winter)

Dunno what keeps them from sprouting though, I put the the second batch (of fresh fruit from Croatia) in the same pot as figs I also got from there, and while nearly all the fig seeds sprouted, not a single one of the pomegranate ones did (and yeah the fruit I took them from was ripe, already "exploded")

>>655076
I live just a few 100km from you at the same latitude actually. If you want to maybe try some other stuff which is pretty easy to grow for us and is/looks 'tropical', give mangos, dates, lemons (or oranges but I like lemon leaves more, and they seem to grow a lot faster), pineapples, desert roses (you'll need to get some seeds online but it's worth it) and especially passion fruit a try. Except for the desert rose (because they aren't fruit) you can just take the seeds from any store bought fruit, or the top of the pineapple, and put them in the ground. Young mangos are really cute and grow extremely fast, whereas dates grow very slow but it's cool to see what palm trees look like when they're young - although after almost three years I'm still waiting for the first leaf that actually looks like a palm leaf and not just a really big grass leaf. All the things I mentioned require only minimal care and will endure for some time if left to their own devices, but of course the more you care for them, the greater the reward.

This thread is no longer bumping. Continue in the new thread.

NEW THREAD: >>654914

>>655091
see new thread
>>655358