Homegrowmen (Farming and Gardening) Thread #42

>>654914
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

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anybody ever grown milkweed before? I want to plant some native varieties in my backyard, starting from seed

I'm considering building a garden in my backyard, just a simple square design probably. It will be used for tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, and other similar things. Maybe something for growing chili's too. Any suggestions are welcome.

>>654959
I live in the Midwest US. Property is my own.

(Repostin' from previous thread)
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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>>654967
To add, thyme is doing pretty good too under that light (seedlings from early October), slightly yellow leaves in some might be due to me overwatering a little, pic related, 11 days comparison
Hope to get them to some good sturdiness in order to plant outside in April

>>654929
Nobody grows ornamental plants here lad better off asking /an/ or something desu

>>654959
A vegetable patch or a garden?

>>654996
Probably more along the lines of a veggie patch. Maybe a garden later if everything manages well

>>655000
Go mad then m8 and just start shoving plants in willy nilly. Just take into account what type of soil you have, areas where you get the most sun, whether the plants are hardy and you need to worry about frost.

quick stupid question:
I have some lemon plants in small pots that i have been growing since late summer. I had them on my porch up until about a month ago cause its been to cold out for them, I have had them in the garage on cold days with the lights on and outside on warmer days so they get some light.

We are down to no more warm days so I have them in the house, is one 60 watt lamp enough for my small lemon plants, i have to 12 inch diameter pots with about four small sprouts in each pot.

tldr; will small lemon plants survive the winter in the house under a 60 watt lamp?

>>655007
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/citrus?type=f

Apparently they can tolerate temperatures down to 10C at night.

What temperature is it in the day where you are?

If you're bringing it in put it in a sunny well lit area, near a large window or w/e. Why do need a lamp?

>>655007
Never put them cold (constantly <13°C) and sunny/bright at the same time, or else they'll drop their leaves.
Best is putting them around 15-18°C and as bright as possible for winter (southern window or grow light), second best option is cool (5-10°C) and dark.
If you put them cool and light, the leaves have activity (photosynthesis, water evaporation) but the roots will be too cold to deliver water (inactive), and you'll get the much dreaded winter leaf drop

>>654956
That's a 65 watt bulb.

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>>654929
I took a few of the pods and played "baseball" with them, now the plants have been coming up on their own for years. I don't think you'll have any trouble.

You looking for monarchs? I recommend some red mexican sunflowers to go with it....and some dill for swallowtail caterpillars.

>>654995
Lies.

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>>654995
Don't listen to this guy.

>>654929
I do. Swamp milkweed is all I have right now. I think my butterfly milkweed died out or something. I spread the seed but nothing ever grows. So, I transplanted them instead.

Who /pumpkinsindoors/ here?

>>654959
You can grow chilis in a pot easy enough

Im legitimately poor and want a home in the country for my family.
How realistic is getting a rural home help loan as described in the links here?

>>655167
what does this have to do with gardening?

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Pumpkin guy here

Is this fucking stupid or is this a good way to maximize natural daylight ? The window is South facing

I won't get a lamp set up for a while so I thought maybe this would help until then

>>655185
at at 49N btw

>>655170
I want to be self sustainable and build my own mini ranch with crops includes. The question i asked would be the first step towards that goal.

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>>655196

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>>655167
>How realistic is getting a rural home help loan as described in the links here?

It all depends on you. If you are dependable and hardworking enough to get things setup and you do proper research it will be very doable.

Just remember that self-sustainability comes in different levels and phases. Choose what is best for you.

>>655185
The idea is perfectly sound. I use that for my own plants and starts.

Crinkle the foil into a loose ball then unfold it a few times. This will help reduce hot spots and better diffuse the light. Using cardboard helps a lot too. Just glue the foil to it.

>>654959
The most difficult part if gardening is learning how much to plant and what to thin out.

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>>655198
Don't associate people like that with threads like these. It is totally inappropriate and sends the wrong message.

>>655207
I'm not the one wanting to fall off the grid

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>>655209
>>655198
See, it is that social-mentality that is the problem. Some anon wants to be self-sustainable on his own farm with his family. That is completely not some crazy terrorist bomber type who was tortured in the military at all. But, no, as soon as someone mentions, "self-sustainability," people start throwing red flags all over the place.

>>655204
>>655207
Well homestly im a late 20s guy whos always loved the country. I made bad decisions and fucked up my credit. I dont have much except for mywife and my baby girl. I want to be able to show them the dream that so many others have acheived. I just want guidance and a dirt road to build on... Im researchin but i dead end. Img goong to have to call a state rep for the next step but i know i dont have everything planned and squared away yet. I just wanted to know sucess was possible.
Also i want to be able to sustain myself to the point where i have a few acres, and enough to make my family feel safe in the event of a collapse. Not a hundred percent self sustainability. Maybe 33 to 50 percent

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>>655215
>Not a hundred percent self sustainability. Maybe 33 to 50 percent

Easily doable.

>enough to make my family feel safe in the event of a collapse.

Also doable. Especially since there won't be any kind of sudden collapse, thankfully. IF anything happens it will be more of a slow transition than anything. In fact, people like you are part of that right now.

>Also i want to be able to sustain myself to the point where i have a few acres

Some of this will depend on your climate and location but anything from 3 to 5 acres will work for a small family. You need to use intensive methods that are not industrialize methods. Stuff like greenhouses, polytunnels, raised beds, maintaining biomass, raising the proper animals for the small ranch setting, and so on. There's just so much you can do that requires so little work, time, and money that I often wonder why most everyone doesn't have at least a small garden.

To get started you need to know what you need. Write down what your family eats. Find out which of those items can be farmed/raised with the least amount of output and with the highest yield and if it has multiple uses.

Take just 1 example. Chickens. These are super easy to raise free range, just lock them up at night. They eat most anything including your kitchen scraps and garden waste. If you are feeding them they normally produce enough eggs for your family and to sell enough to pay for all their feed. You can raise additional chickens all the time and eat the roosters. That alone can supply you with all the meat and eggs your family will ever need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDTiFkXgEE

>>655231
Im going to do my homework before fullt replying to you....
I seriouly do thank you for your positive words. I just se how its possible. My parents only have an acre. On that acre they have 6 chickens and a 40x 20 garden and they never need eggs or veggies. I know if i take my shit just a step further i can sustain more for me and mine

Chicago lemon bro, I asked in the old thread but maybe I missed it, what do you fertilize with? Or if any other indoor citrus growers want to answer I'd appreciate it.

>>655231
I do a lot of walking (thru-hike prep) around my city, yes city. And there's a lot of people raising chickens in their backyards. I believe the limit here is four, that's the most I've seen. There's no odor or noise that I noticed. This may be very doable even for people that don't have acreage. Logistically, you could have a large garden and a fruit tree in your yard, fence the chickens around the tree (they like shade and the bugs in fallen fruit) and produce a fair amount of food even on just a small lot. You may even be able to keep bees. Many cities allow them if you keep the hive at least ten feet off the ground.

I remember watching a video about a family of three that not only produced all of their own food, but sold excess to a restaurant, even going so far as producing their own fuel for their vehicle.

>>655207
>implying ted didn't have god-tier ideologies (apart from all the bombing stuff)

worth the time, skip in 3 mins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRo4SG8Pv2c

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>>655307
>>655267
I have a small farm pond, small orchard, under 30 chickens, and 3 garden spaces, 1 with raised beds that I use mainly. I tap maple trees for syrup. I had bees and have 1 bee hive left that is alive, but CCD has wrecked pretty much every apiary in the area. Then again I live in an area where a few neighbors use pesticides on literally everything.

The biggest hardship is harvesting and processing the food to preserve it and that really isn't a hardship.

I keep a rotation of 400 to 600 quarts of canned food. The equipment I have it the biggest help and I highly recommend this stuff for anyone wanting to do a small farm or be self-sustainable,

-Food Dehydrator ( http://www.yescomusa.com/collections/food-dehydrator/products/10-tray-stainless-steel-commercial-food-dehydrator-1200w )

-Grain Mill ( http://grainmaker.com/ or cheap course for cornmeal-type http://www.amazon.com/ABC-Cork-Victoria-Traditional-Grain/dp/B001D6KETC )

-Food Strainer ( http://www.squeezostrainer.com/ )

-Vacuum Jar Food Sealer Electric/Manual ( http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-wide-mouth-sealer-regular-accessory/dp/B00DVOBHAO http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/brakes/brake-bleeder-and-vacuum-pump-kit-69328.html http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kitchen-Dining-Vacuum-Sealers/zgbs/kitchen/1090768 )

-Alcohol Making Equipment/Large Capacity liquid containers ( http://www.midwestsupplies.com )

-Honey Extractor ( http://www.instructables.com/id/Honey-Extractor/ )

-Stainless Steel pans for reducing Maple Sap into Syrup ( http://www.webstaurantstore.com/4-deep-full-size-standard-weight-economy-stainless-steel-steam-table-hotel-pan/922STP1004.html ) - Fits across 2 stove caps and in oven. I use metal plates over the stove caps to prevent scorching. ( http://www.target.com/p/lodge-reversible-grid-iron-griddle/-/A-11992196 )

-100s of various sizes of canning jars ( Buy local in the fall when on sale. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001097551 )

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>>655349
...Continued

-Pressure Canner ( http://www.allamericancanner.com/allamericanpressurecanner.htm ) I have the "All American Pressure Canner 941 41 Quart" and a smaller "All American Pressure Canner 915 15 Quart"

-Water Bath Canner ( http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Including-Chrome-Plated-4-Piece-Utensil/dp/B00212IHBY )

-8" or larger granite mortar and pestle ( http://www.webstaurantstore.com/8-granite-mortar-and-pestle-set/672GMP8.html )

-Several Large Stainless Steel Stock Pots w/lids ( http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?&field-keywords=stainless+steel+stock+pots )

-Universal Food Chopper ( buy from local antique store http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_nkw=Universal+food+chopper ) These things are tanks.

-Apple peeler/corer ( http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Apple-Potato-Peeler/dp/B0000DE2SS )

-Oil Press ( http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Apple-Potato-Peeler/dp/B0000DE2SS ) Great for tree nuts.

-Deep Freezer/Upright Freezer ( http://www.walmart.com/c/ep/deep-freezers ) Some people freeze a lot of their stuff. I don't. I use vacuum + dehydrating and pressure/water bath canning for long term storage due to storm damage power outages.

*Egg Preservation ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUYgguMz1qI ) I've not done this yet. I'll be doing the hydrated lime version in a series of tests later on though. I use the fridge right now.

-Cider Press ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC49gETH0Bw )

-Apple Grinder ( http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/press/apple_grinder.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlkQly2T-Wc )

There's a bunch of miscellaneous items, but that is the bulk of the big much-needed items. Anything that helps you do bulk food processing is a must during harvest season.

>>655091
(Normandy guy?) Oh I already have a lemon twin (see >>653807 ) as well as 3 Canarian date palms (in pots) and 2 Chinese windmill palms (one planted out, one still in a pot to be planted out next spring), as well as several Yucca elephantipes, a lantana camara, 2 mandevillas, 2 bananas (latter ones always inside though) and probably something I'm forgetting, so I don't want much else right now that has to be brought inside over winter, garage space is getting limited, also potted plants have to be watered and fertilised all the time, bigger pots are needed every second to thrid year etc etc.
Rather want something that can survive outside, so only pomegrenate and maybe kaki could work, mangos and pineapples are definitely too sensitive for that here
Kiwi and fig seedlings are going slow but steady
Don't really feel for trying palms from seed (yet), apparently they need several months up to a year to sprout and very unreliably do so, and decades to grow to a small tree. Chilean honey palms sure are intriguing (nice-looking and quite cold resistant), but I probably wouldn't survive seeing a seedling get to flowering stage (can apparently take up to 80 years to do so)

>>655307
Just regular liquid fertiliser from the supermarket for €1/litre bottle, IMO "special fertilisers for plant X" are often ripoffs and only give you very slightly better results if at all (exception professional farming)

Winter storm for next 2 days
Not sure how my pumpkin will do with no direct sunlight

>>655361
are you on the east coast?

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>>655361
Dunno if watermelons differ much from pumpkins in their needs, mine is doing fine still
(my older posts for comparison:
>>648509
>>652507)
Also some "weed" has sprouted in there too (bottom in the pic), could it be a tomato (it's possible seeds may have found their way in the potting soil because I took it from outside near were they grew in summer), or just a regular black nightshade (solanum nigrum)? Latter one is a very common weed here

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>>655361
Add more artificial lighting. Pick up a cheap $10 house lamp and lean it over the plant.

>>655351
>Cider Press
>Apple Grinder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hbWIxffLbE

I love how simple this stuff is to make yourself.

>>655358
Whoops, fertiliser part meant for >>655300

>>655366
Southern Ontario

>>655358
Ah fantastic, I always worry about using the "wrong" fertilizer, that's good to know thanks

>>655300
I've been using General Hydroponics Flora series, just because I happen to have a surplus.

>>655396
Only thing you can do wrong is over fertilising, don't use more than it says on the label, and don't give the double dose if you forgot it once, also only apply on pre-wetted soil

>>655416
I over fertilized your mom

>>655517
it's ok none of it took purchase

>>655393
ottawa here think we are in the same storm, first one of year 25-30cm overnight.

>>655609
Toronto here
it's above freezing now, we got less than 10cm of snow then it rained so it's mostly gone

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I got my lamp set up now
Could it be closer? Also should I bother with a special bulb for growing?

Its my pumpkin plant btw

Days are about 35+C/100F at the moment and I have herb+veg seedlings that need to be hardened off soon.

How advanced should the plants be before I take them outside? I was thinking about putting them in full sun under a 75% blockout cloth and working down to a 50% over a week or 2.

Will it work, garden brahs?

>>655643
>pumpkin inside
>almost january

>>655655
Not him, but dunno if English has a word for it, but we call it "vorziehen" in German, i.e. germinating annual garden plants inside when it's still too cold outside, and then transplanting them into the garden by around April, so they have a head start, most often done with nightshades like tomatoes, paprika, chili..., or anything of the Cucurbitales family like pumpkins, melons, cucumbers...

>>655660
You harvest pumpkins in the fall though

>>655655
>>655674
dude, leave me be. I just want to try it.

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>>655676

>>655643
>Could it be closer?

Move it to about 2 inches from the seedling actually. If it is a hot bulb make it 4 inches. Place it like you are grilling it for information in a seedy police station..

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>>655687
RIP

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>>655643
This is cool, since putting the light on it it already bent toward it and the leaves moved

>>655688
>Place it like you are grilling it for information in a seedy police station
Don't anger it!

>>655660
It's called Winter Sowing in English. But it's too early unless you can maintain it with good quality indoor growing system (not a lamp). Otherwise you will have rootbound or leggy plant.

>>655794
OK, dunno about the exact times for pumpkins, but at least tomatoes mostly say "start inside mid-February and plant outside mid-May" on the package, and it's geared towards colder regions. Here it virtually never freezes after mid-April, so I'm usually doing things a month earlier, this way first ripe ones appear already in July

>>655718
You don't have bright enough lamp. That plant is gasping for light.

>>655794
That's not winter sowing. That's indoor starting. Winter sowing is planting stuff outside in the winter as seed or bulbs/tubers. Usually this is done at the end of fall/beginning of winter.

>>655718
Line the soil with aluminum foil. Allow the plant to peak out from a hole in the foil.

>>655894
The lamp isn't turned on in that picture

>>655913
I don't mean that. Your plant is literally not healthy, since it's trying to grow a long stem for more light.

>>655918
It sprouted like a week ago and we've had crummy weather and short days at my latitude so I set the light up to help it

>>655918
>>655913
It just needs to be closer and have more reflectivity in the area. But, it is a hot incandescent light it looks like so care must be taken not to burn the seedling.

>>655926
It's actually a curly fluorescent in a glass bulb so it won't get too hot

I'll put foil around the base of it tonight which should help

>>655918
good thing we have a green thumb genius here
>stem
pumpkins grow on vines

>>655942
The vine grows out from the stem of the seedling. Just like the "leaves" you see there are not called leaves, they are called "cotyledon", but for general purposes are called "seed leaves".

But >>655926 is correct. When there is enough light the cotyledon will be very close to or even still touching the ground when the vine starts growing from the stem. A super long stem like in >>655718 is a very clear indication of lack of light.

>>655929
Ah that is good. You'll be able to move it within 2 inches of the top of the plant without a problem.

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I like the enthusiasm, but growing pumpkins over the winter doesn't make much sense. You should have a bunch leftover from your fall harvest, the damn things last forever.

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I left the light off while I was at work and it moved toward the window. I took this pic, I just turned the light on I'll check back in a couple hours

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>>656115
It remember where the light was. It is becoming sentient.

It is already too late.

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Greetings from the southern hemisphere. This is my patch of veggies. Right now I have 2 giant sunflowers (biggest one is 3.4 meterse high), several plants of "criollo" pumpkin and 3 varieties of indian corn: catete (white), colorado (red) and guaraní mbyá (dark violet). Growing them for.the seeds only this year, luckily i'll have more the next year.

>>656155
Oh and cherry tomatoes, basil, mint, etc.

>>656155
Not him, but we actually have a weed that behaves in such a way:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryonia_dioica
It's the only pumpkin family species native to my region (SW Germany), but it represents the family too well when it comes to excessive growth. I have to remove countless seedlings from the garden every day during the summer months, and woe betide anyone who overlooks one of them for a couple days, let alone weeks, those fuckers entangle everything and what is worth they form huge turnip-like roots deep into the soil, weighing up to several kg, and which are near impossible to remove if they grow under ornamental hedges (of ligustrum, thuja...) etc like they preferably do.
And as a nice added bonus, all plant parts are toxic and also stink.
tl;dr - Most useless plant ever, should be extirpated desu

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>>656085

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>>656115
Yep it moved in about 2.5 hours

>>655653

It really depends on the kind of plant. Where I work, we generalize and guage readiness by plant height versus the size of the transplant flats.

Large plants are in 50 cell flats (largest cells), pepper, tomato, and head cabbage are a good example. We harden these off when they have about two sets of true leaves, at roughly 4 inches high.

Mid sized plants are in 72 cell flats, such as head lettuce or dill. We harden these off when they are roughly 2 to 3 inches tall - they tend to have six or more true leaves by this height.

Also, 100F? Where are you at anon?

>>655687
>>655700
>>656150
Is this a meme I'm missing out on?

>>654929
I got some "fancy" milkweed plant from an older woman and had it for a little over a year. It died recently, but there are dozens of babies popping up now.

They seem fairly resilient, though mine got sucked dry by aphids. I planted it in a pretty shitty place and they did pretty well (up until the very end...)

>>656155
What's your latitude?

>>656198
Started here: >>648003

>>656200
>though mine got sucked dry by aphids.

Totally the same with my swamp milkweed. They are these golden yellow aphids (Aphis nerii) with jet black legs and antennae. They mostly attack the seed pods. Though it doesn't seem to impair the plants all that much.

>>656214
32.32 northern Uruguay.

It seems like I got a new years gift.
One of my yuzu seeds has started sprouting! Here's hoping I can nurse it to good health.

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figured id post my own

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>>656440

ROWS LEFT -> RIGHT:

>>656441
lemon ------ 2
lavender --- 1
rosemary -- 3

>>656440
2 avocado: these have started to crack and the germ is slowly leaving the seed, ive heard up to 2 months until leaves!
>
20ish lemon seeds (as backups)
5 extra avocado... backup aswell

>>656181
>>656407
>>656440
>>656441
>>656447
Dang it, now I need to get my seeds out and start figuring up what needs to be started indoors.

I'll not be left out.

>>656186
South Australia lad, it's pretty hot here and won't let up for a couple of weeks unless we get some storms or something.

UV rating is insane, so that's why I was thinking about using ag cloth to blockout most of the direct sun to start the hardening.

Will post some pics, but gotta find my camera charger so gimme an hour or 2.

>>654975
Pomegranate seeds take a fairly long time to germinate. Last time I tried it took about 2 weeks for them to sprout (they finally came up while I was away for Christmas vacation so they dried up and died). I didn't do anything special for them, bagged potting soil that had been sitting in the garage in a cup at room temperature is what I did. Warmer temperatures (27 C or so) will likely result in faster germination.

Sorry you're having a hard time with them.

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>>656565
Here we go, some of the outdoor grown seedlings that I'm slowly edging into having a little bit more direct sunlight every few days.

A good few of the plants aren't ready for hardening yet but I want to get the lettuce and pak choi out under full sun as soon as possible.

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>>656598
Another pic of basil, sage and thyme starts in my indoor seed setup.
Nowhere near ready yet, but just thinned them out so it looks like a massacre went down, but this setup is the best i've used yet for seedlings, it's just a hydroponic tub with about 75mm of propagation sand and a drain bung so all I need to do is fill up the dug out area of sand to the right every couple of days and it takes care of itself.

Have a spare fish tank heater lying around soI'll will set up a heated water reservoir that feeds the bed via a drip hose for some sweet hands-off winter seed starting when the temps drop.

>>656601

I've never seen a system like this. What you're saying is that you fill it with water and use the sand as a medium to store it? Does the wet sand then water the plants via wicking?

Anyone else here grow tree onion (Allium x proliferum)? Is it typical for their leaves to be so fragile? On mine, the leaves fall over and crimp themselves, which is followed by yellowing and eventual leaf loss. The majority of my plants have crimped leaves like this.

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>>656612
This crappy drawing will hopefully explain it, although i do mine a little differently by having a slightly proud-sitting drain bung so that the tub can only hold a few mm of water in the bottom and the rest goes into the sand (I do have the option of blocking the bung off at any time)

To answer simply though, yeah it's just a capillary action bed really, except you can also root cuttings and such straight into the sand as well which is a plus, and since the roots can easily be taken out of the sand when the seedlings get too big for the cells; you get a lot less transplant shock.

>>656521
i plan on keeping these inside

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>>656447
>Lavender, rosemary
Those are real bitches to get to sprout, also did you stratify the lavender (put a couple weeks into the fridge, slightly above freezing) beforehand?
Also both have very low germination rates, so you should sow lots of seed
Or propagate by cuttings, rosemary does so very easily and quickly (roots formed after just 10 days for me, no hormones and not even that high temps)
>>656574
Now that I had my third try sitting directly on the heating radiator for a week (constantly about 32°C), at least one of the pomegranate seeds finally sprouted

>>656762
stratification pretty neat first ive ever heard of it. i used hydrogen peroxide, first time i got lavender to germ

I've got a lot of fruit flies laying eggs inside the pots of my indoor plants.
Is there anything I can do, and is it harmful to the plants at all?

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>>656848
you have gnats

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>>656848

Are you sure they're fruit flies and not fungus gnats?

>Is there anything I can do,
Yes in both cases.

>and is it harmful to the plants at all?
It depends on the condition of the plant. They're generally just a nuisance.

>>656848
You mean those?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciaridae
Discovered them too lately, the larvae can eat away the roots of young seedlings. Got myself an emulsion of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis_israelensis
which I'm adding a drop of to the plant water (supposed to kill the larvae), in addition to some yellow stickers around the plants. We'll see how that does

>>656851
>>656854
>>656855
In that case, I'm fairly sure they're fungus knats then.
Since I'm growing seedlings at the moment, it's no good at all. So aside from the fly paper I should also get some pest solution?

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>>656857

I use predatory mites and nematodes. Works good.

>>656857
Either the bacillus I mentioned, or - much more expensive though but works more quickly if the pest is already intense - Steinernema feltiae nematodes as biological control.
If all else fails and the plants are still small, you might consider excavating them completely, washing away the soil from the roots and put them in water for a day, then replant into fresh soil, or sterilise the infested one by spreading on a sheet in the oven and heat to 150°C for an hour or two
I'd only go chemical warfare if ornamentals not used for food are attacked, but it's your choice

>>656857
the eggs stay dormant in the soil?

>>656521
Try pumpkins

>>656762
Congrats

I just bought a bonsai(ulmus parvifolia to be exact) after a few years of admiring those beautiful plants. Not looking for any advice or anything, just wanted to express my happiness.

>>656934
Congrats.

I only have 1 left (Salix amygdaloides) in negari style that needs the top devolved now and transplanted again. Basically it is going to be nightmare mode for bonsai work. The limbs can grow 4 to 6 feet in 1 growing season. lol

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In case anyone still remembers from 2 threads ago - I had troubles getting olive cuttings to grow root and someone recommended me adding willow cuttings to the water glass.
This was back in late November. I went ahead and added Salix integra cuttings to the glass, by mid-December they had grown visible roots.
And just look at that fucker now, pic related.
Needless to say the olive cuttings (put into the glass in late September) still haven't done shit, other than dropping all their leaves in the last 2 weeks...

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>>656991
... but said olive cuttings are still very flexible, is there any hope they eventually will decide to grow roots? I mean it's been 3 months now.
I also could take new olive cuttings from trees a guy I know grows in his garden around here (I'm at 50°N - he usually builds a large wood/fleece contraption around them, but this season is the first time they've gone largely unprotected into the new year, even carrying true black olives - the ones you buy in the mall are 99% of the time green ones coloured with iron gluconate - right now, pic related). Maybe it's an extra frost hardy cultivar (survived the -16°C in Feb 2012) which would make it even more interesting, AFAIK he got them gifted from continental Spain back in 2006, and they seem to have some slight freezes over there every now and then too

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Will this light be adequate for growing saplings inside? I'm working on germinating an avocado and lemon seeds but I don't get much natural daylight in the winter

http://www.amazon.ca/LED-Greenhouse-Hydroponic-Cultivation-Install/dp/B00KGCY0UI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451691202&sr=8-2&keywords=indoor+plant+lights

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>>657004
or could this light work just as well?

http://www.amazon.ca/TOMTOP-Plant-Hydroponic-Garden-Greenhouse/dp/B00ASISF0G/ref=pd_rhf_cr_s_cp_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51HPxfJu6tL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR135%2C135_&refRID=0WKTXCMV0ZF7VK7QAZAY

>>657001
>I mean it's been 3 months now.

Jesus. Probably not then. Got a pic of the tips you are using? Maybe you cut them incorrectly or have them too long? They should be 10 inches or less and only be the tips of the limbs where there is new growth and lots of nodes. Also temps should be at least 70F.

Willows root like crazy of course. The fact yours have not taken over everything with roots and new growth after 1-2 months is actually kind of odd. What is the source of the water you are using?

>>657007
I'd go with this one. Remember though, you can use any light you have on hand until you are able to replace it with something else. You just need to keep any light source about 2 inches/5cm from the leaves.

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I have questions

1.) I notice this from time to time. There are people who place rocks all around their trees and/or bushes to create this really clean look. However, it's ruined as soon as grass or weeds grow between the rocks. I snapped this picture (see "(1)") of where grass has grown between the rocks and it looks fucking ugly.

How do you do this right? How do you stop shit from growing under your rocks? If you owned the property from the picture 1 and you had grass growing between your rocks, what would do you?

2.) My dad stopped tending to his backyard. During the dry California summer we had, most of his back lawn was just barren dirt. However, within the past few months almost all of the barren dirt had grown this lush clover plant all over. (see "(2)")

I'm actually a fan of this look. I think the clovers look nice and it's super low maintenance since the clovers grow so slowly. I think it might be a cool idea to INTENTIONALLY grow a lawn that looks like this. It basically serves the same purpose as grass. It's green and you can walk all over it, but unlike grass this doesn't need a ton of water and I don't imagine you have to mow it more than once or twice a year.

How did his lawn get like this on its own? He didn't spread any seeds, it just happened on its own. Also, do you see any disadvantages to it? Convince me why having a clover lawn would be a bad idea. Oh, also, I'm not sure if they even are clovers. I don't know what kind of plants it is. Just that they have three leaves. Based on a small amount of google searching, there are over 300 types of clover plants.

>>657034
thanks, i'll order it now

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>>657033
Here a pic of the cuttings (took them out of the water glass to take the pic), as you can see they're only about 15cm in length which should be in acceptable range, and no root development at all. Had them standing mostly at 15-20°C, maybe too cold for a subtropical plant?
Water is regular tap stuff (very hard in my region, lots of Ca and Mg ions), could I fare better with distilled water? (Have enough of that)
There's no visible mold or so in the water though
Should I try placing my next batch of olive cuttings on the radiator, where it's constantly about 32°C? Because my bay laurel cuttings didn't work either (treated the same way as the olives, with no results after 3 months either), so I guess maybe subtropical stuff needs more heat?

>>657033
Also I shall add that this is the less rooty ones of the willow cuttings, the other one had already much more but I've already transplanted it to a pot.
Furthermore I collected those cuttings ~6 weeks after I pruned them from the tree, so they had been lying around that long in the garden, a wonder to me they even rooted and sprouted at all

>>657035
Looks like chickweed, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaria_media
be glad if you like it, I hate that piece of shit, quickly spreads all over holes in the lawn in autumn and warm winter months here

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>>657046
Willow is amazing like that.

>>657044
See pic. These red lines are the proper places to cut and place into wet sand or willow water. If you still have access to the tree, I suggest getting new cuttings.

>15-20°C

Yes, try at least 22C.

>distilled water

No. Rainwater, well water, or river/stream water, but not distilled water or tap water. Tap water can have all sorts of crap in it that plants hate especially if it is city municple water. Hard water usually isn't a problem but salinity is. If you are using a water softener for your tap water that can be a big problem.

>32c

That should work too.

>>657050
>>657035
Oh and I'm from the German Rhineland, so a very cold and wet area compared to California, but even here this weed limits itself to the winter half of the year (October to March) when the soil is mostly moist (in the other, drier half I have to combat knotweed and bryony)
>>657054
OK, will try again with new cuttings the way you suggest - but really so short? (Then again my rosemary cuttings were even shorter, only placed at 15-20°C but despite also being subtropical, grew new roots in 10 days.)
Should I enclose the cuttings in a plastic bag though? Because local humidity levels may go down to 10% if I place it on the radiator, so I fear the leaves and upper parts of the "new stem" might dry out
Got a rainwater tank, but since rain picks up CO2 (and to a smaller extent NO2, SO2... but it's not that big of an issue here any more as it was in the 50s to 70s) it is slightly acidic, don't olives rather prefer alkaline conditions? I do have Na2CO3 as well as CaCO3 powder, should I add some to neutralise?

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>>657035
1: Use mulch and/or landscaping cloth under the rocks. Plant other ground cover.

2: Looks like Chickweed (Stellaria media). It sprouts and grows best in the cooler months. It is edible and delicious. It has saponins in it so if you use it as a pot herb it can make the water appear sudsy, but don't worry about it. Just don't consume massive quantities of it. Sometimes as a salad green you can taste a hint of soap because of the saponins.

Wait for it to flower and seed. You can tap it and brush its seeds into a container or pick a bunch and shake into a container. It will grow readily. I have a big vial of seeds for my garden. I grow it for ground cover in my garden and as food.

This is what it looks like when it blooms. The leaves on these flowering sections will be more lance-shaped than the ones that look more like a spade-shape when not flowering.

>>657050
>hating free food

Oh, anon.

>>657057
>but really so short?

Yes. Some people take even smaller cuttings, just the tip area and root them. A bag over them will help to protect them from fast temperature and humidity swings but let them breath a little bit or fungi/mold may start growing.

Test the pH of your tap water and compare it with the rainwater. Also, what is "slightly acidic"? Like the exact pH level. There are products called "pH Up" and "pH Down" you can use to raise and lower the pH. Fyi, hydroponics forums/blogs are great sources for pH level adjusting,

http://www.rollitup.org/t/ph-and-other-plant-problems-and-solutions-awesome-read.103677/

I suggest googling more info using the various terms in the link above. Keep in mind that with hard water, calcium levels are quantified.

>>657062
>>hating free food
Well, I need muh ordnung in my garden, it's genetic I guess.
Sure, stuff like chickweed but also black nightshade and stinging nettles are edible, but they need to know their place, and that place is not muh lawn!
>>657062
Rainwater naturally soaks up CO2 from the atmosphere, so it has a pH of 5-6 (in pre-environmentalist times here or in China nowadays where there's loads od sulphur and nitrogen oxides in the air, it might go down to 2-3, google "acid rain")
Also, meh, maybe some day I'll get myself an electronic pH-meter, but those things are around €150, until then I'll continue with DIY "measuring" (i.e. if you add vinegar to the soil and it bubbles, then it was alkaline, if you add lime and it bubbles, it was acidic)

>>657069
Use a cheap pool pH test kit with the colored paper tabs and eye dropper. They are $3 to $10 normally.

>>657069
http://www.pipingrock.com/overcounter-pharmacy/ph-test-strips-for-saliva-and-urine-40045

>>657072
Yeah, I've actually got some for the pool, but their range is only 6 to 8.
But eh, as a chemistry student I should probably own an electric one sooner or later anyway, so I'll probably save up for it (also a good thing to have for the pond I guess)

>>657058
>>657050
>chickweed

I'm amazed that you guys were able to identify it. How did you know what it was? Also, It's nice to know that it is edible. I might try it sometime.

Where did the chickweed come from? How did it reach this yard?

>>657058
>landscaping cloth

I've seen weeds work their way through landscaping cloth before. What else could you do?

>>657035
>How do you stop shit from growing under your rocks?
Spray it with Glyphosate (Roundup) and it'll die. You can plant round that in about 48 hours or after rain, but this also means any seeds that come away will need spraying again to keep them down.

If you mix some metsulphron-methyl with it, nothing will grow there again for at least 3-6 months. Any seeds that sprout will die immediately. Just a warning though, some species, such as flaxes, can't be planted there for about 2 years. It's good stuff, but watch your over-spray zone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metsulfuron-methyl

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>>657087
>Spray it with Glyphosate (Roundup) and it'll die

Use boiling water if you must use something.

>>657081
>I've seen weeds work their way through landscaping cloth before. What else could you do?

You put mulch over it.

>Where did the chickweed come from? How did it reach this yard?

Anyone in the area have a bird feeder or has someone tossed out their budgerigar/cockatiel's litter? Those sometimes have chickweed seeds/pods in them. In fact, all the chickweed I have originally came in the soil I got from a friend who has a single cockatiel, whose outdoor cage was right near her garden. It constantly flipped bird seed all over the place from its cage. Everything from hemp to chickweed to millet popped up near that cage, all from commercial birdseed.

>How did you know what it was?

That blue barrel in >>657058 is right outside my door and I pass it several times a day and eat it a few times a week. Spotting it in those images was pretty easy. Here's some I was growing indoors. It came up as a volunteer with the spinach and lambs quarters.

>>657124
>Use boiling water if you must use something.
this is good advice

Hi /out/.

I cut my peppermint plant which is absolutely crazy. I accidentally cut a really nice, dark green and densely leaved stem (about 5cm in length, 4 typical two sized leaves)

I put it in a plastic and another similar cut into a plastic thing I freeze food in, and gave them water.

Can anyone explain why:
1. The first one I described did not grow itself, but grew some roots double it's own length

2. The second grew longer and became thinner but did not grow any roots?

Thanks!

>>656440
>>656441
hey /out/ this guy again, i noticed that there are some gnats appearing(last 24-48 hours) how?

>>655124
I have a 3 week old vine.

>>657405
God speed anon

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>>657405
Forgot pic

>>657374
Are they sharing the same water?

>>657429
I don't even have leaves yet

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Hello HGM. First post here. I just moved into a new apartment and I've got a small outdoor fenced-in patio to myself. Floridafag here. It's roughly 10'x12', but only the rear half gets good sun because of an overhead deck (and tall fences.) Pic related.

I'm trying to figure out how best to utilize this space. First, I'll sweep up all the goddamn pine needles. The dirt is covered with concrete pavers, but I may leave them like that as I don't think grass will grow properly in this area.

Plan is to use these plastic grow bins in the center of the sunlight, maybe 2 rows, 3 bins each. I want to do edibles in these: tomatoes, chard, herbs, bell peppers & jalapenos, squash.. maybe other stuff. Each bin is roughly 2'x3' and a foot deep, giving me ~36 cubic feet of soil. Will post pic[s] of the grow bins next.

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>>655124
>>657420
>>657429
Update on my watermelon (last one >>655368)
We haven't seen the sun here since Dec 29 (50°N latitude with oceanic climate, plant stands on the East-North-East window sill), so all it got was some diffuse, cloudy daylight. Still remarkably no etiolation, but very slow growth continues.
Wrapped some aluminium foil around the room-facing side of the pot though a few days ago to maximise the light exposure
Also the two "weeds" growing in there indeed seem to be tomatoes, at least they smell like it, will replant them into an extra put soon.

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>>657623
These are the bins I got. I'm thinking of using the smaller grow bins for nonedibles, vines and/or flowers. I would like to companion plant in the big grow bins if possible... I don't know enough about plant pests here because I have zero experience growing, but I know we have a lot of shit in FL.

Any general advice?

>>657181
Yeah, waste energy, contribute to global warming, aid and abet the electro-industrial complex.
>This is why we can't have nice things.

>>657629
One of the weeds looks like a tomato, the other kind of like a pepper.

Are you gonna hit the plant with some serious nitrogen once it starts putting out some runners? I think it could do well, looks pretty healthy so far.

>>657623
>>657631
To ensure more light, I'd paint the fence white on the inside. Also, a grow table will help since it can raise the plant up into more light.

The biggest advice is to not overplant.

>>657664
How do you think Roundup is made? It is made in a factory and trucked all over the place. The water can be heated in various ways which a carbon footprint far far lower than something trucked in from somewhere else. You can even preheat the water using the sun by putting it into a black bucket. Then less energy is needed to raise it to boiling temp.

I only use boiling water once a year. It costs about $1.50USD max using non-renewable energy to heat it.

You can even use your garden compost to preheat water.

>>657679
Will do on the fences and table. Our overhead sunlight is sorta blocked by some pines, but decent light gets through. I want to eventually get into hydroponics but this raised bed garden will give me some experience beforehand.

>>657679
>$1.50USD
So, it the electricity is probably made by burning coal, oil or nuclear?
All the compost in the world won't save us from people like you.

>>657699
Offer better alternatives then, because at the moment you're just shitposting.

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>>657757

>>657757
I did. Glyphosate and MSM. Do it once, do it right.

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I'm extremely new to gardening, and today I bought some soil to pot my herbs and chili. I didn't realise until I had potted them that it was in fact soil conditioner 'organic compost mix'.

Did I goof hard? Will I need to repot.them with regular potting soil?

Pic related, the entire pots are filled with it.

I'm extremely new to gardening, and today I bought some soil to pot my herbs and chili. I didn't realise until I had potted them that it was in fact soil conditioner 'organic compost mix'.

Did I goof hard? Will I need to repot.them with regular potting soil?

>>657791
>>657790
Sorry for the double post, I can't delete them on my phone.

>>657792
Best bet would be to post a pic of the bag so we can see what you mean.

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>>657794

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>>657794
2/2

>>657801
>>657797
Since it's an organic soil booster you're less likely to burn any of the plants with it; i wouldn't sweat it that much as long as the chilli plant and thyme have enough drainage in the stuff.

You might want to test the PH of your soil though, gypsum is ph 9.4 and will make the soil really tough for the plants to grow in/kill them if there's too much of it and the soil additive is out of balance.

>>657797
>>657801
Doesn't look to be anything dangerous. Just compost, might have a bit of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) in it. Could be a little too much 'goodness' in it.
The stuff you're looking for ideally for that job will be potting mix. You can either pot straight into that ot dig a hole and put some in as a starter.

That said, I don't know what Australians are allowed to put into compost, so keep watching the thread and see if anyone else has any other ideas. At this stage I wouldn't panic, just make sure you keep the water up to them the next few days.

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>>657673
I'm just using cheap (€1/litre bottle) regular all-round liquid fertiliser for all my room plants so far (pic related, I hope you can read the element symbols) once to twice a week or so (depending on how fast things are growing) because I'm kinda reluctant to pay top dollar for "special X plant fertilisers", will that do?
I know Cucurbitaceae (pumpkin family) are in general drawing lots of nutrients, so once I'm planting them out into the garden I will previously mix in fermented compost from the pile, and then plan to add fermented stinging nettle extract (high nitrogen) when watering them weekly or so
Pepper? Can you really tell when it hasn't formed real leaves yet? Because we hadn't had any in the garden for many years, so no idea how seeds could have ended up there

>>657769
Boiling water effects lasts as long as Roundup. It even kills the seeds before they sprout.

>>657699
Take it back to /pol/ and /x/ please.

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indoor grower here, wondering about air pruning anyone tried it.
>claims better air flow and drainage

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update pic related isnt mine but this morning the sprout actually broke through the seed, just barely maybe 2mm

>>658016
How long did yours take? Did you keep it warm? I've been trying for 2 or 3 weeks now

>>658021

They can take months.

>>658021
3 weeks (less 1 day)
>
kept them around 22c (19c - 24c) NEVER close to window at night because canada and eskimos might get them.

>>658045
>because canada
I'm in southern Ontario around 43°N
I keep mine in a glass behind my laptop so it gets some heat from the power supply

>>658049
what type and brand? ive heard some are duds and wont ever germinate, not sure how this is accomplished

>>658052
>what type and brand?
avocado type mexican brand

idfk, i got it at the grocery store

>>658062
mine are hass avocados from costco dont know the brand either

>>658062
but has your seed split yet?

>>658067
no not yet. Is that bad?

>>658052

I've had very high germination rates from grocery store hass avocados.

>>658069
both mine split within 1-2 weeks. the sprout takes a while to come out though
>>658070
for me its 100% so far !!

>>657986
It is "Air Layering" and depends on the methods you use as to whether or not it is better than anything else. I've done it a few times with trees with limited success. I've had far better success with vegetable, herb, and berry.type plants.

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I have a question about some mushroom cultivation. I am barely doing my first experiments and jars and I was wondering if there would be any way to take these wooden dowels and convert them into liquid culture I can put into some syringes. What i'm guessing is place some of them in a jar with liquid agar and let it grow out and then put that in a syringe or am I going about this all wrong?

>>658098
air layering is to grow roots

>>658103
>Take wooden dowel
>Soak in solution of molasses and distilled water
>Take steps to avoid contamination
>Agitate solution
>Fill syringe inoculated solution
>????
>Mushrooms

>>658103
Only have experience with cubensis, but as long as your mycellium are floating around in a sterile solution and your refridgerate it, shake it up, you'll be aight.

>>658115
Ive heard about the distilled water but what is the molasses for and how much per part would you need to use with the water,

>>658070
I got one going right now. Any idea how many years it takes to fruit? Do they self pollinate?

>>658140
i've heard over 3 years to flower

>>658114
Thought it was a typo.

>>658122
Molasses is a source of sugar that gives the spores suspended in solution enough nourishment to grow. Most recipes call for 10 ml of molasses per gallon of non-tap water, but that might vary for the species you're growing. A small quantity of salt is also recommended to control competitor microbes.

Here's a more detailed recipe for mushroom solution. They call for mature mushrooms so as to get spores, but I suspect simply soaking and shaking a dowel in solution will yield a some results.

http://madbioneer.blogspot.com/2011/02/spore-mass-slurry.html

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You know those statistics that tell you how many insects you eat on average in your sleep?
Well I've most likely had 3 years worth of flies during the past week. I've kept this little growing pad of mine close to my room, and as you can see one yuzu seedling has finally popped through.

What you may not notice are the tiny white specs in the soil, most of them being gnats larvae. That is the second generation of the bastards, there are dozens swarming around the pot as we speak. As you can see I've put down a few vinegar traps, and unfortunately had to toss my two other pots since the rot got to the seeds and was just a breeding ground for the gnats. I'm not all that happy with the traps however, I've yet to see any of them at the bottom.

I probably should have bought some bacillus like you guys had mentioned earlier, but I wasn't able to find it in any stores near me. For now, I'm just going to see if I can keep the soil not too wet for the gnats to feed, and not too dry for the yuzu seedling.

On a more positive note, I'm glad I was able to get one plant started. That bulb is working wonders, big thanks to the anon who recommended it before.
Even if this little project fails, I think the light will come in handy for what I want to grow this summer.

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Anyone able to help me identify this cone? Unfortunately didn't take a pic of the whole plant, but wouldn't help much either. Pretty sure it's some species out of the Cupressoideae subfamily, also the trees grow very narrowly.
From comparing pics on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupressus_sempervirens (var 'stricta') fits best superficially, but I can hardly believe that since I'm at 50°N and they're not supposed to be able to survive here, but I've seen the same-looking cones on shittons of same-looking trees in gardens around here, so is there something similar looking of a different genus which might be it?

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>>658312
Pic of opened cone (BTW is it ripe or not?)

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>>658312
That's not a cone m8. That's a spider egg sack! Get rid of it before they hatch!

>>658315
Oh I'd love me some spiders that could eat away the fucking fungus gnats I've been getting recently which are killing my seedlings ;_;
Have about 3 spiders in my room right now but in different corners

>>658321
>Oh I'd love me some spiders that could eat away the fucking fungus gnats I've been getting recently which are killing my seedlings ;_;
are they in small pots?

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>>658327
Worst infestation happened in another room to my parsley which I keep in a pretty large long pot (60x20x20cm, weighs several kg), they gradually killed 5 of my 27 plants in there over the course of the last couple days (leaves got limp and when I checked, all the roots had been eaten away)
Upon closer inspection there were lots of tiny larvae creeping on the soil, watering with Bti didn't help at that stage any more (it did help with the many plants in my living room though), so I excavated all the plants, rinsed the roots of the plants, had them sitz in water for several hours, and sterilised the soil in the oven in several turns (fucking hassle that took several hours), refilled the pot and replanted them in, watering again with Bti.
Hope this got rid of most of the plague and constant Bti watering will keep those shits off in the future

>>658301
Make a vinegar/wine/beer trap for them. It is just a paper funnel in a tall glass with vinegar/wine/beer in the bottom of the glass. You can even use a bit of sugar/honey with a sprinkle of baking yeast mixed in water.

As for the larva and such, poke a hole in some foil or sheet of plastic and place the seedling through the hole and layer the covering over all the soil. Tape it down well on all sides. Then poke 1-3 holes in the covering and stick some watering tube into these, tape the holes where the tubing meets the covering. You can weight down the covering so there are no air spaces between it and the soil.

You can also use an inch layer of sand over the soil.

You can also transplant the seedling into a new pot of soil. All soil can be put into the freezer for 24 hours. This will help kill off eggs and larva prior to transplanting.

>>658312
>>658314
When it is ripe the seeds are darker and the cone starts to open up. Also as far as I know cypress cones are not specifically edible.

As for nailing down the exact species then you'll probably need more than just the cone to look at. But, probably Italian cypress.

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I just got aloe vera plant. It's now winter and I havnt watered it.

There are dark hard callouse type things developing on it and the area underneath them seems to lack any soft feel.

PIC related but mine has Way more.

What is it ? What do?

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>>658339
I've used this method to kill spider mites before. First application didn't eradicate them but it greatly reduced the number. I tried it again a week later and left the bag sealed around the plant for 5 or 10 minutes. Didn't notice any mites after that

>>658301
As long as the seedling is still small, you can do what I did here >>658339
Excavate it, rinse the soil off the roots, place seedling in water for several hours up to a day, thoroughly clean your pot then get some new soil or sterilise the old one, then replant it gently (make a big whole slightly larger than the root ball, put the seedling in, fill with completely dry and sieved fine granular soil, water it, press on gently)
Around here, Bti emulsion is sold as this: http://www.rakuten.de/produkt/neudorff-stechmueckenfrei-20-ml-rein-biologisch-gartenteich-regenfaesser-1398049515.html
>>658360
Well I wasn't intending to eat it, but seed it out for my own garden.
However we have cool oceanic climate here not Mediterranean (in very extreme cases winters may go down to -18°C/0°F once every 20 years, but usually zone 8a), so C. sempervirens is not supposed to make it here, yet those trees are all around here in gardens and judging by their height must all have survived the down to -16°C/3°F cold wave of Feb 2012 - is it that hardy?
>>658370
CO2 kills them? Nice to know, I can easily set up a sugar water fermenter anywhere

>>658376
>I can easily set up a sugar water fermenter anywhere
with yeast? This works too

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>>658360
>>658376
I'll probably take a pic of the whole plant tomorrow while walking the dogs, I mean there's dozens to choose from and I'll surely walk by one of them
>>658377
Yep, did a similar setup to check for bed bugs some months ago (pic related), luckily I apparently have none

>>658378
are you the Rhineland anon?

>>658380
Oui

>>658381
How does that test work? The C02 attracts the bedbugs out of your sock into the bowl? Enough C02 will kill them

>>658382
The sock is just a "help" for them to crawl up into their carbonocaust (because they can't crawl up smooth surfaces like the bowl - so it gives them a way in, but once they've dropped down no way out).
They're attracted to CO2 (to spot humans, other mammals...) but such high levels being present there kill them

>>658376
Are you sure it wont hurt the seedling by excavating it?
It's the only one that I have so far that's sprouted, although I suppose if I leave it like this there's a big chance it will die anyways.

Could it also be the soil that I'm using that's the problem? What I used was an unfinished bag of gardening soil I had in the garage from the summer. Not sure if it could hold dormant larvae or anything.

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>>658396
You always have to weigh down dangers like this.
At least in my case the pest infestation was so bad that a root flush was the lesser evil, so you'll have to judge for yourself what is worse.
Also as long as you're very gentle in replanting (holding the naked plant with its roots in one hand, filling up the hole with the other using very fine, completely dry soil - easy to produce with an oven and a sieve, pic related is my "replanting filling substrate" made this way, it's always good to have some of that stuff on backup anyway - maybe get a friend around to assist you) such an action shouldn't pose too much stress to most plants

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Anyone from N. Texas here? I got several varieties of seeds to grow some herbs and flowers today but I'm not sure if I can follow the planting charts due to Texas weather's volatility.

Also, any general advice on the specific plants below would be greatly appreciated!

Seeds I have currently are:
Rosemary
"True" Lavender
Forget-me-not
Morning Glory
Onion (Allium cepa)
Spicy Green Mustard (Brassica juncea [hybrid])
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum)
Dill (Anthem graveolens)

>>658453
When in doubt, keep them indoors or covered outside.

Most bulbs and lily family plants are okay with cold and frosty mornings if they were planted in the fall/winter as a bulb and not a full plant.

I advise staggering your planting dates so you are not planting everything at once.

>>658363
OMG nobody gonna help with me AloeVera ?

>>658486
I would if I knew how, sweet child.

>>658363
>winter

Is it outside, how cold has it been, any morning frost? Also, you have to water your plants even in winter even when outside. However, brown spots usually indicate overwatering and fungal growth.

Remove the worst leaves if it looks like it is spreading. Give the plant warmth and full sun.

Hi /out/, I have a small armyworm outbreak that has been chewing on my geraniums and a few tomato leaves (southern hemisphere, so summer here). I don't think there's a ton of them because I haven't seen any widespread destruction, but I've mostly been out these past few nights picking one or two at a time from the leaves.

The question is, does anyone know how to make a trap for them? I'm not too worried since I don't really think there's a ton of them and my garden is quite small, but I'm sure it wouldn't do any harm to cover myself a little.

>>658634
It's kept indoor in my cold bedroom but it does get below 10C and I havnt watered it since I purchased it according to instruction on succulents, they can survive it.

The fungal infection ive read about for AV is soft and brow whereas these are hard and brown and have the juice from beneath then gone, so it like a hard flake / callouse

>>658665
Never let it get below 15c for your plants.

It can still be fungal. That can happen after the fungal spots are no longer a problem and dried out. It can also happen from physical damage.

Just note how large the spots are, how many there are, and if they get larger or more appear. If it doesn't get worse, don't worry about it.

>>658339
Sounds like fungus gnat larva. What you can do is cut pieces if potato and place them on the soil. Press them in abit. This will distract them from your plants roots and capture some. Wait a day and dispose of the potatoes pieces which probably be full of the larva. Keep doing this until the population drops. Also you may be watering too much. The adult gnats eat fungi that grow on soil that's damp all the time usually. If you want to bring in the big guns, find a greenhouse supply store that sells biological controls. What you want is a Nematode that will eat the fungus gnat larva. Nematodes are small predatory worm like things. Fight nature with nature. It's a pretty cool way to deal with them actually. Also through some sticky traps around to catch the adults.

>>658638
>small armyworm outbreak

That's an oxymoronic statement. You are only seeing the early hatchers. There's probably 100,000 more ready to hatch.

A multi-tiered system is needed for better pest control.

1: Prevention (Attract/raise/buy predatory wildlife)

A: Make/buy bird houses for flycatcher birds and bat houses for bats.
B: Raise chickens and have them enter your garden for about 15-30 minutes at a time while supervised (let them roam outside the garden area as much as they want.)
C: Make/buy insect hotels specifically for ladybugs, paper wasps, bald-faced hornets, yellow jackets, and solitary/parasitic wasps.
D: Purchase parasitic wasp packets (Trichogramma) to put up in your garden area.
E: Purchase/attract and release Ladybugs, Lacewings, and Minute Pirate Bugs.
F: Purchase beneficial nematodes and integrate them into your garden and yard soil.
G: Encourage non-aphid-farming ant colonies to patrol your garden.

2: Barriers & Traps

A: Put up Pheromone Traps specifically for Armyworm Moths according to their instructions. Identify the armyworms properly. There are Fall Armyworms and True Armyworms.
B: Put netting over your gardens that is too small for the adult moths to get through.

3: Manual removal

A: Grab any you see, squish their eggs, use a mirror on a stick to more easily look under leaves.
B: Blast the plants with water spray that is hard enough to remove dust, dirt, and insects, but isn't so hard it harms the plants.

>>658671
Well yeah as I said I'm currently using a bacillus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis_israelensis) in combination with yellow stickers, heard about nematodes and them being quicker but they're a) expensive and b) cannot be delivered in winter and it would take several days for arrival either way
And yes the pot wasn't draining too well, I know drilled some extra holes

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>>658400
I'm glad I went along with it, even now there are still quite a lot of gnats in the area, so I'll need some new soil and a clean workplace. At least now I can get a clean start.
So far I've had them soaking for a few hours, but I'm a little confused on what you have there. It looks like sand, does it work as some sort of barrier for the seedlings? Can I simply replant without the dry soil if I don't have any on hand?

Here are what the seeds looked like. Only one had sprouted, but the few that hadn't grown a root when I planted them already have!
It's good to know that all of them have progressed at least. Now I'm wondering if I should give them all a different pot.

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>>658747
Yeah on that pic it looks like dry sand, but is actually a screened garden soil + sand mixture
Made a crappy drawing to explain it better.
Advantages here over using the wet and/or clumpy soil of the pot is that a) because of the powdery structure, any holes fill up more easily b) you're not as likely to damage the roots as if you dropped heavy clumps on them directly and c) the roots are spread out a bit more already from the beginning and not squished together as when you press from the side to refill up the hole

Also rinse the infested roots as good as you can to get rid of as much contaminated soil still sticking there as possible, but of course not too high water pressure

If you're going to use the same pot, clean it with some bleach beforehand, then wash it away well and let it completely dry, as for the soil consider sterilising it in an oven (the inside should reach 80°C for at least half an hour)

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Alright lads? Got a couple of questions here.
Planted these apple tree two cocksuckers back in September as seeds. But now it's January and they have green leaves I've realised I fucked up.

I want to move them outside in Spring, but jesus I haven't got pots big enough for the rate their roots grow.

Will they be able to survive the outdoors? Or are they fucked?

Give it to me straight /out/, how fucked are they?

>>658784
How cold does it get where you live?

>>658784
Don't worry about it. Keep them in the same pots and they will become root bound and stop growing so much. Then when it is warm spring time, harden them off and plant them outside and they will go nuts.

>>658784
pinch the tops? they wont grow tall though

>>658789
I live in Kent in England. This winter has been very warm. Usually around 10 degrees in day to about 4 at night. It's been frosty maybe 2 nights this winter? This is why I might move them outside. Is there any way of keeping a plant outside warm?
>>658805
Harden them off?
>>658831
I would, but I don't think it's worth it. I'll find bigger pots somehow.

>>658921
Oh, so a very mild oceanic place. Adult apple trees are hardy to like -30°C, so even younger ones shouldn't give in at -5. It's definitely not a plant that's keepable in the room constantly, it needs cold temps every now and then
Also hardening off means gradually getting them used to cooler temperatures. Put them out for one hour per day first and increase that amount day by day and eventually plant it out. Doesn't matter if they drop the leaves, that's what deciduous trees do. As long as the majority of the roots don't freeze over (soil probably never freezes down to more than 5cm, it rarely does here in the German Rhineland and we're more continental than you), they should be fine

>>658921
Also you'll eventually want to prune them here and there anyway if you plan on harvesting from them - for reaching the fruits without ladder, and you should also remove half or more of the tiny fruits in late spring/early summer so that the tree can concentrate on making the existing fruits bigger and ripe instead of having to distribute all its energy over lots of tiny fruits
For cheap pots, consider buying mason's buckets. They're not as super stable and sturdy as dedicated planting pots, but at least here they go for €5-10 for 80cm diameter ones, while the planting pots that size are sold for €60-70, even in the same DIY stores! As long as you don't have severe storms and shit, they should hold up well enough

>>658949
M8
We get 30cm frost here in Canada

I'm planning on growing onions this year from seed for the first time (only tried sets before) and I was told that I should be starting them indoors sometime this month for transplant sometime in apri. I am in zone 6 in michigan, does this advice sound about right?

>>659038
Was talking about England though

Will all of the seeds of one flower have been fertilised by the same? Or could they have different fathers? I mean, can a flower only breed with a single other flower at a time or multiples?

>>659242
I thought you were speaking in general terms

>>659254
1 seed = 1 "father"
multiple seeds = Baltimore family reunion

Hey guys, I've been browsing off and on for a year or so but I didn't bother to visit your threads until recently. Anyways, pumpkin anon got me tempted to just go for it and I've got two dinky pots. I was always under the impression that indoor plants not near windows needed special bulbs that better emulated sunlight, but I've looked online and see back and forth on the matter.

Does the sort of lightbulb I put over indoor plants really matter?

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Is there any benefit to promoting sexual pollination between my Serrano pepper plants? Take the pollen from one plant and apply it to the other I mean

Right now I just vibrate the flower and it self pollinated

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Guys
I only planted one seed. What is happening?

>>659579
Twin? Happened with my lemon, and apparently for them it's normal

>>659579
Pumpkins? We warned you guy

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>>659567
like this

>>659638

lewd

>>659638
work safe board m8

>>659638
thanks a lot anon my boss just walked by when i was watching that. prolly getting fired now.

>>659566
You can use most anything, but the best grow bulds/LEDs will be marginally better. I'm sure some are terrible, like those that block or don't emit much of the spectrum. But, ANY light is better than no light..

>>659579
You are already dead. We warned you.

>>659567
In order to do that you'd need to cut the immature stamen off one flower that will receive the pollen from the other plant. You have to do that before the stamens produce their own pollen or it will self-pollinate.

Yes, you can do this and yes there is a benefit, if you want to save the resulting seeds and grow new plants from them. There won't be much benefit in the fruit you'll get from that pairing that 1 time. Ensuring cross-plant pollination can help them genetically in the long run.

>>659638
>senpai! :#).jpg

>>659639
>>659643
>>659644
i dont get it. Stop with these weird gardening memes

>>657790
Potted plants need:
Nutrients
Water-retaining particulate matter
Aeration

Your compost mix will surely do the first two, but you may end up suffocating or water-logging your plants due to poor aeration of the soil.

They should be fine for a while. Let them recover from being repotted, but in like 3-6 months, gently pop them out and check on them-- sooner if they start failing.

You'll either get a solid block of wet organic matter too congealed for your plant to thrive in, or you won't. If your plant is fine, put it back in a pot or transplant it to a bigger one (with more soil). If it's a dense block, gently break up the edges with your fingers and introduce some perlite or even straw to the mix.

Placing some "non compactable" medium on the bottoms of pots can help with overall aeration and water retention. You can buy plastic mesh inserts, or just use a few sticks and rocks.

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Okay so the first actual leaves are emerging
I'll be eating pumpkin pie by February!

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>>659784
>I'll be eating pumpkin pie by February!

It may be the other way around, anon.

>>659805
fuck, is it actually dangerous?

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>>659821
Well, don't turn your back on it and don't leave your girl alone with it.

>>659205


anyone ?

>>657431
Yes, they are.

>>659205
Seems a bit early
Even april seems a bit early
Idk about zones, are you on the peninsula?

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all my plants are covered in ice and shit right now.

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>>659989

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>>659990

>>659989
>>659990
>>659991
Oh wow. My stuff is in a similar situation, but normal for this time of year. Looks pretty at least.

>>659205
That's about right. I'm in zone 5 and about to start indoor seedlings for transplanting in the spring. For me it means lighting uses $20 extra on my electric bill that I have to off set with less computer time. Otherwise I'll exceed my $35/mo limit on my electric bill.

>>660060

>For me it means lighting uses $20 extra on my electric bill that I have to off set with less computer time

Are you saying your computer uses more than $20 a month for electricity you fucking retard?

>>660081
I have a gaming PC(600watt) that uses around 300-350kWh a month. It is the majority of my electric bill (98-99%). Right now, I'm using my netbook (35watt) which uses only 15-30kWh a month.

I use the gaming PC for games and movies while the netbook will now be used for general internet and music. the netbook isn't nearly as nice but at least I won't be paying more than $35/mo for electric. I just need to find the right balance between the devices. I'm opting for use of the netbook instead of less computer time so I can still shitpost on 4chan.

>>660119
LED growing lights aren't that much of a drain, and have a much better energy usage ratio than incandescents or CFLs, because a) LED has the best light/heat ratio of them all and b) you can get ones with the wavelengths just geared right towards photosynthesis (in combination the red, orange and blue which gives a purplish mix needs some getting used too, also neighbours might think you're growing weed).
Mine is 24W, so at 14h/day that makes about 10kWh/month or €3/month, and our electricity is hella expensive

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>update on tray grow, by row
3x rosemary -> 9/20
1x lavender -> 3/7
2x lemon -----> 3/14
>
big white/beige thing -> avocado
in small red vase ------> rosemary(growing much faster than others?)

>>660191
left to right btw

>>660191
Got so much of the rosemary and lavender to sprout, and those are total rates? Not bad

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>>660193

>>660193
i tried the peroxide method, almost doubled my germ ratio! but... since ive put them in the soil some are slower than others to come to the surface, buried them about a 1/4 inch.

>>660197
Thing is that all my other seeds have worked so far rather easily (figs, watermelon, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, lemon balm, tomato, strawberry, kiwi, lemon), even the pomegranates are now sprouting like crazy on my third try.
But lavender? Seeded 30 or so, even did the stratification for a couple weeks (fridge just a little above 0°C), but only a single one sprouted but even that one eventually died for some reason
Currently trying again, been stratifying for around 5 days now but this time by letting them sit outside at 4-6°C, getting them inside to the warm again a bit earlier this time (tomorrow), maybe this works better

>>660205
>>660197
And to add, rosemary is said to be even harder to get to sprout than lavender, so I'm not even bothering but doing with cuttings instead - or I'll see if I'll get some natural seedlings next spring from under the shrub in the garden which has been flowering like crazy since September and I've seen lots of honey- and bumblebees on it

>>660207
for me lavender has been harder, about 30% germination and they all took 2-3 weeks
>
20 ~ish seeds (so tiny impossible to count)
7 germed
3 have come up so far...

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Guys can we get a new OP pic for these threads?

Person's image they posted with the most replies is new OP pic?

>>660207
and rosemary
>
20 seeds, maybe 1 extra or 2
14 were good
9 have survived to date

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>>660231
Here's the shrub in the garden. Really acted strange, bought it in early May last year, then it stood totally overwatered, basically swimming in a pot without drainage holes for about 6 weeks, resulting in yellow needles starting to pop up (probably the most part of the roots rotted away), that's when I emergency-planted it out and the yellowing/browning of leaves combined without any growth wouldn't stop until around August, thought it'd be done for. But then, new yellowing finally stopped and tons of flowers started appearing in late September totally out of season (to my knowledge they only start in around February), so I think it has regained enough roots. Even now 4 months later it still stands in full flower (pic is from December but looks the same now), so I hope to get a lot of seedlings in spring to transplant to the front part of the garden where I want to grow a rosemary hedge, needing around 15 plants

>>655215
If you want to be safe in the event of a collapse you should learn wilderness/primitive survival skills and bushcraft first imo.

>>660237
where is this? they dont grow like that here

>>660243
I bought it like that from the gardening store, it's not a natural growth but guided into a tree-like stature (called "Hochstamm" here), normally their habit also here like pic related (ca. 7 year old plant in a nearby front yard), but there's also the 'prostratus' variety which has a more creeping growth
I'm the German Rhineland anon, so we're around the northern edge of them being able to grow outside (WHZ 8a)

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>>660248
Aaand I forgot the pic
Took in October, but I walked past it with the dogs a couple days ago and there's now some flowers on those ones too (but much less than on the one in my garden)

This may be a silly question but can aquaponics be done with amphibians or crustaceans? At that what of a possibly self sustaining ecosystem with fish, aquatic plants, crustaceans, amphibians, insects and fish? Would that mess with the plants? Granted the medium would be giant and the beds would be even bigger, I'm just curious.

>>660256
>self sustaining ecosystem with fish, aquatic plants, crustaceans, amphibians, insects and fish?
>self sustaining ecosystem
Good fucking luck

>>660194
anyone here done avocado before? i opened the seed up a little to peek in where it was split and it separated. is it going to die? the root is only a 1/2 inch

>>660277

They can take a while to get going.

>>660277
Murderer desu senpai

>>654959
If you like spicy peppers like jalapeño or habanero, when first planting them apply a very small amount of Epsom salts to the spray bottle it increases their yield size and taste

Source:http://www.harvesttotable.com/2012/08/epsom-salt-tomato-and-pepper-growing/

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>>660190
All I have are few 4 feet long, double bulb, fluorescent, shop lights and a few 2 and 2.5 feet long, fluorescent, grow lights. That's about 370watts total once I round all of them up and get them going. It costs a little over $0.10USD/kWh (€0.09/kWh) here.

I wish I had enough LED lights to replace all these fluorescent light....but then I'd just have both LED and fluorescent going at the same time. lol

>>660228
Who ever is making those is purposely messing up the image for some reason. Not sure why though. This is one of the originals, circa 2014 (Thread #10), and I still have the original Homegrowmen ones of the farmer spy meme from as far back as when Homegrowmen were on /ck/.

>>660256
>This may be a silly question but can aquaponics be done with amphibians or crustaceans?

Yes, crayfish "yabbies" are a typical animal used for aquaponics.

>At that what of a possibly self sustaining ecosystem with fish, aquatic plants, crustaceans, amphibians, insects and fish?

It is an ultra delicate balance on a small scales. Too many outside forces can easily upset that balance. In order to have a proper system, it'd need to be massive. At the very least, city sized.

>>660277
>i opened the seed up a little to peek in where it was split and it separated. is it going to die? the root is only a 1/2 inch

Quite possibly. Start another and be more patient, but don't toss out the injured one. Report back in 2-3 months.

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Hey, I'm the anon who posted about using compost instead of potting soil by accident.

My chili and basil have been growing very well, except today when I checked on my oregano it was wilted as fuck. I thought that oregano was supposed to enjoy full sun, but after one afternoon and half a day of full sun it looked like they were ready to commit sodoku. This was after 3 days of continuous rain. After watering them at about midday and placing them in the shade, they were revitalised.

Is oregano really sun sun-sensitive? I live in Queensland, mind you, where the UV index today is 14 [Extreme].

>>660430
Also, I just checked on my chili, and even it seems to have gotten a little sunburnt. The fuck?

>>660430
What is your latitude?

>>660440
-27.48

>>660430
Fertiliser burn it looks like
I think you fucked up

>>660454
Can you explain a bit further? If its a fertiliser problem why does it revitalise once watered?

Also can I save them if I repot them?

>>660458
Diluting the phosphates
Its like diluting poison
There's no reason if well watered those plants should brown like that. It doesn't even look like normal drying out
Test it, pinch a small branch off and see how the leaves look when they dry out

>>660460
Yeah that would be fine

I'm thinking about trying to grow hops this year. I live where it's hot and dry. Got any ideas on a good variety? I like cascade and Amarillo hops best. Growing tips would also be appreciated.

>>660430
I'd had a similar problem, random weird dead spots on the leaves and it turned out to be this shitty bug, but seeing as i'm in America, i doubt it's the same bug.

>>660430
-Too much fertilizer = root burn, all manner of odd leaf problems, usually yellowing
-Too much sun too fast without hardening them off = leaf scalding (bit white splotches that later decay)
-Too hot = temporary wilting to make their leaves have less sun on them, will be fine when temps lower, watering doesn't really help this
-Random dead splotches, not evenly distributed = physical damage, insect damage
-Randomly dead splotches in circular patterns = insect damage, virus/bacteria/fungi problem, the latter if they keep getting larger and the former can help spread it

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>>660430
Lyl, at least yours actually look like oregano, let me show you one of my failures
Yeah I know I know, it probably was not the brightest idea to start them in October at 50°N and having them go through weeks without barely any sun, but you know, the impatience...
I've now put them in the somewhat cooler sleeping room (also press-on the window like it was in the other room, but with around 15 instead of 20°C - my fig and lemon balm seedlings seem to do well there for the season - slow, but no etiolated growth) and wrapped some alu foil around the room-facing side for at least a little bit of extra light.
Pruning the tops (like I had to do with my thyme before it went under the grow light - no more extra space there though) isn't an option ATM, because no side shoots at all yet, so I'm hoping they'll at least make it into the brighter season

Guys
Growing a corn stock in a pot inside
Yay or nay

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>>661142

It can only end well.

>>661142
Unless you have the Sun inside good luck getting enough light

>>660775
Compost won't cause burn

>>660434
Just because a plant likes full sun doesn't mean it will take high uv and heat all day

>>661142
I've seen it done and producing. You need lots of light and a decent size pot

>>661149
is growing everything inside deadly?

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>>661171

Some are more deadly than others.

>>661178
I haven't heard from pumpkin anon today

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Guys, this is the pH of some potting soil fresh out of the bag (the sample on the bottom). What the absolute fuck? Am I missing something? Why is it alkaline as shit?? The top is compost, and its much more acidic, and much more suitable for plants. how? Why?

>>661374
What are you showing us? Where is the test strip?

Also compost PH is highly dependent on what it's from
Leaves typically make compost more acidic

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>>661379
The soil is basically a 9. Also sorry, I thought that the colours were universal.

>>660823
What kind of soil are you using? It looks like it contains a lot of sand and the is some moss growing in the bottom rightish corner. I think moss usually means too much moisture, that might also be a problem.
gl ond them figs and lemon balms

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>>661142
It is fine, there are varieties of corn that are made for this and for small apartment porch growing. The only one I can remember right now is a hybrid known as "On Deck Sweet Corn"

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/corn/corn-on-deck-hybrid-prod003168.html

Another variety that could lend itself to this should be "Painted Mountain Corn" which is easy enough to find. It grows rather short and does well with short growing seasons. It grow multiple stalks (tillers) and will have more than 3 ears of corn per plant. It is a field/flint corn and is best use for grinding into cornmeal, making into hominy/nixtamal, and using as traditional masa. You don't just grab one off the plant and start eating it like you do sweet corn

>>661165
Compost can cause burn if the organic matter is not properly composted. Nitrogen root burn is what normally causes it with semi-immature compost. Very immature, composting material can cause heat damage. I don't use compost until it is at least 3 years old and looks like it doesn't have activity left

Compost you buy in bags at a store is a bit different and won't cause root burn or thermal cooking. It is usually in the 2 to 5 year range of composting. It can have other problems though

>>661374
Store bought stuff is always highly suspect. I've found plastic trash and smashed aluminum soda cans in bags of store bought compost and potting soil. Wood chips are a large portion of most store bought compost and potting soil. The level of decay is a wide range from dark soil to nearly mulch. pH levels vary from bag to bag of store bought stuff

This machine is what is used to process everything. Compost made from this will sit in giant piles for a few years until it is broken down x amount. Then it is sold to another company usually, bagged and sold in stores. Some companies will use heavy equipment to turn the compost and some don't. Those that don't result in stratified compost that will have all manner of pH ranges and levels of decay

>>661389
>. I think moss usually means too much moisture

Correct, you can also see evaporation build up around the edges. It is usually white and/or brown stuff is from water laying too long and evaporating, leaving behind salts and all manner of stuff (depending on the water composition). I'd wager that tub didn't have proper drain holes. With proper drainage, these evaporated particulates don't build up.

>>661389
Thing is we got very heavy clay-like soil in the garden, so I always mix it a little with sand before using in pots. I don't really like to use that black potting soil stuff you can buy for starting anything because it has too many big chunk-like particles in it, like not completely rotted twigs and shit which makes watering and getting seeds to sprout harder.
And yeah at times it might have been too moist.

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>>661391
>>661389
No I didn't drill holes in it - I don't want to use it permanently anyway for them, only until spring comes around and they're getting planted outside around the garden
I think I may have mixed some lime in too back then because I remember reading somewhere it prefers higher pH, that's where the white stuff probably comes from

Also pic related the lemon balm which sprouted in late September, grows like a weed, even had pruned it a few times inbetween

>>661418
>No I didn't drill holes in it - I don't want to use it permanently anyway for them, only until spring comes around and they're getting planted

What I do in that situation is put a couple inches of course gravel in the bottom covered with some newspaper. That can get it through a few months of watering without too much problem of salt build up.

This thread is falling off the board and can't be bumped anymore!

NEW THREAD: >>661534

>>661498
Good thing you mentioned the salt, totally forgot this could become a problem, especially with our super hard tap water. Will either try to replant into something better (I learned from experience that oregano absolutely hates that though), or using distilled water for further watering.