Homegrowmen (Farming and Gardening) Thread #71

>>859424
>How do I properly overwinter capsicum chinense? I've grown annuum for the past couple of years by just leaving them outdoors but my chinense plants died when I did the same thing with them.

Bring them indoors or use a polytunnel.

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How do people support their heavy toms when laden with fruit? I use tights to tie them to the stakes and usually cut up a sock to support the trusses from above.

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>>859534
Spirals

>>859602
Very helpful anon thanks, what are those devils made of?

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Squash borers did quite a lot of damage. This is right in the middle of the main vine.

Do you guys think there could be any water/nutrients getting through this spot, or is it too rotted? The living part of the vine farther down put some small roots into the ground it's sitting on, so it might live if it's cut off from the base of the vine. But I didn't want to do that if there's any chance the main vine could still be useful to the plant.

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Pepper harvesting today!

I got quite a lot more peppers than I imagined I'd be getting this year. This is the second harvest and there's at least one more left in the season. The cherry tomatoes are producing like crazy too. I've planted asparagus seeds, cut the burnweed & lambs quarter down, and I'm about to rip up the unused beds to make way for more soil. I have more horse manure than I know what to do with and lots more on the way.

I'll be slicing the peppers up, freezing some and drying the rest.

(posting again with pic this time)

>>859534
Same, I just stake and tie. I've been neglectful about removing the dead bottom leaves this time around, but its been so dry thus far, it won't affect the plants negatively. Though, it is now getting cooler, so I should go do that soon.

>>859617
If the grubs are gone then the damage is all done. Just leave it be and hope it makes it. Cover leaf to stem connections with a bit of soil to help encourage root growth.

>>859622
Essentially my question was "is this section of vine rotted to the point at which the plant would be better off without it?"

I'll do what you said about the soil though, thanks.

>>859625
Leave it alone, if there is even one part connecting it, it will be sending nutrients up the line.

Trying my luck at grafting for the very first time (Quercus turneri on Quercus robur) .
Not using any special devices, just regular sharp kitchen knife (sterilised) with which I made the V-cuts, and medicinal tape.
Put it inside on the window sill to protect from wind as the connection is kinda delicate
Should I additionally wrap a plastic bag around to keep up humidity? It's getting autumn right now here, and indoor humidity is 57% right now (probably a bit higher where the plant sits)

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>>859876
Forgot pic

How to stop basil from bolting?

I pinch off the flower buds but they just grow back.

>>859967
Does it even change flavor when bolting? I know someone who lets them bolt and still takes leaves off for eating all summer long. Unlike spinach or Romain lettuce which taste like the ass end of a cow stuffed with batteries after bolting.

>>859987
Thai basil definitely doesn't change that I can detect, sweet basil I'm not entirely sure of.
Why not make a bunch of basil pesto or something and freeze it with most of the plants and let the rest go to seed or chop them up for cuttings?

I've heard that I should wait for the leaves of a sweet potato plant to die before harvesting.
How long does that usually take, from planting? My sweet potatoes are three months old already and the leaves still look fine.

>>860282
Wait longer. They take forever.

>>860282
>sweet potato
Wanna try those next year too on a small area
Can I just buy one from the store, chop it up in several pieces and then plant them?

>>859611
steel usually

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Hey guys I was told to post here. I live in Victoria, Australia and my landlord said I could do whatever the fuck I wanted to this long plot of land. What should I plant?

I'm thinking something tall enough to be at fence-height, have foliage the looks appealing, and have some sort of blossoming flower?

I know shit all about gardening and flowers and trees and bushes and shit. Halp.

I have gloves, a hoe, and some soil though. Woot.

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>>860588
So just ornamental plants?

Aloe

Like Aloe 'Capricorn' though, I'm not sure that spot would be wide enough...hmmm.

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4519898.htm

Other ideas,

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/plants.htm

>>860588
We usually plant some kind of Ligustrum here for such areas (or Prunus laurocerasus if it's a little wider), but don't know how they'd fare in your area

>>860588
I would be going with some $1 pots of seaside daisy in the foreground where the fence is short, and then maybe a creeper/ climber like Hardenbergia violoaceae or passionfruit to climb up the fence further on.

All you would need is to time some wire rows about a foot or so apart on the fence using eye hooks

>>860467
>Can I just buy one from the store
Yes.
>chop it up in several pieces and then plant them?
Personally I like to leave them in my pantry until the eyes start to sprout, then chop off the sprouted eyes and plant those.

>>860467
>>860683
Growing them from slips is generally considered to be a decent way to grow from existing sweet potatoes.
Get a jar full of water (or seaweed emulsion) and jam the sweet potato in the jar so that half or less of it is submerged. Roots will grow and the eyes will produce shoots, once those get to about 20cm/8" you can treat them as cuttings and plant them out.

>>860694
So do you cut the shoots off to plant them, and just trash the roots?

>>859506
I want to say thanks for being one of the best generals in the entirety of 4chan.

Bloody fucking hell. I have shitloads of garden work to do, but no, my cousins have to be fucking worthless. My aunt died 3 months ago, and I'm the one who has to get her property ready for sale. One cousin is schizophrenic, and I can't really fault him for that. The other is an alcoholic cripple who gets pissy when shit doesn't go his way, but he's going to help me get that property ready for fuck's sake! Problem is, it takes three times longer to do shit when he "helps" than when I am alone, and he's confrontational when people don't do shit the way he wants them to.

Thanks to this bullshit, I have melons rotting on the vine, I have no clue how many ripe tomatoes I have, and bean pods are starting to break open and drop the dry beans that I want on the fucking ground. The only things I've kept up with are corn and chile.

Fuck my aunt for being worthy of one of those hoarding reality tv shows and for fucking her kids up (really, she was a fucking shitty parent,) and fucking hell, I wish that a match was a viable solution to this shit. Her kids should be taking care of it, but nope. 300 years ago, the Schizo one might have survived (you don't want to know how good that crazy fucker is at raising/foraging food, especially for somebody who hears voices,) but the "sane" one would have been dead.

I'd rather be shelling beans and picking tomatoes tomorrow. Instead, I'll be building a deck, and quite possibly kicking my cousin's ass, because if he shows up, he's going to be an asshole and he's going to deserve it.

>>860697
I'm not sure about the sweet potato itself, but you will get at least 6-8 slips from one potato anyway.

>>860736
Sorry to hear your drama, probably keep it out of these threads. Buy a 12-pack and coffee for your alcoholic relative so his blood glucose and energy levels are properly maintained so he won't get pissy. Just make sure he's not drunk. Do the same for yourself using light snacks and have at least 1 beer as a symbolic gesture. Start the day right, and most of the drama won't happen. As for his control streak, it doesn't matter. If he has an idea and wants to use it, go ahead and do it, because there's really not much you can screw up building a deck. Just tell him you want to keep things simple and quick.

If you go into things thinking the worst, it will be the worst. You will draw that to yourself simply because that is how you will act towards others.

As for your other cousin, get a hold of them and tell them you need help with the veggies, because they are rotting on the vines. Ask if he will help with that while you build the deck. Don't ask for any more or less and let him do it however he likes without supervision.

The biggest thing you can do for yourself is realizing most of this shit really doesn't matter. What matters is building the relationship between the people around you, despite their differences. Otherwise, this will be how it is for the rest of your life.

>>860784
I normally get 1-2 slips from a sweet potato. It could be the variety, but they seem to be pretty stingy about producing slips when compared to most common potato varieties. Yukon Gold potatoes are also a bit stingy though.

>>860832
Strange, the variety that i get from the supermarket puts out a lot, especially if I use seasol in the water and put the jar in a well lit place out of direct sunlight. It's pretty warm here in spring and summer though so that might be a factor.

>>860736
There is far too much crossover from r9k and pol on this board now.

>>860961
That post wasn't particularly /pol/, and I guess it was kind of bloggy, though. The reason there's so much /pol/ and /r9k/ crossover on every board on this site, though, is because if you couldn't identify with either board, you'd probably be much better off browsing Reddit or something else that'd appeal to more mainstream tastes.

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>>860976

idk - I always find DIY the most useful board, there's hardly any autism there. This one used to have some quality, but recently the containment boards aren't doing their job.

There is a place to post blogs about your retarded family, but that place is /r9k/

>>860976
>if you couldn't identify with either board, you'd probably be much better off browsing Reddit

Yeah, no. I can't identify with literal retards, like r9k and pol, but I've never enjoyed reddit. 4chan is pretty diverse, just keep the sperging to the sperg boards - simple.

>>860874
>supermarket

That would be a big difference. The variety they'd use would lend to easy propagation.

>>860736
>>860831
>>860961
>>860976
>>860979
>>860987
>>>/r9k/ or >>>/adv/ Please, stop replying.

>>860961
Maybe you are just an oversensitive cunt

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My cucumber plant is supposed to be a bush type, but it's starting to get pretty wide. Should I be staking it or something?

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What is it and are the fruits edible?

>>861219
Dogwood. That variety won't be palatable, just gritty and bleh, maybe even bitter. The other varieties are tastier though (Cornus mas).

Oh, and like black nightshades (not deadly nightshade), most online information is incorrect. Dogwood isn't poisonous, it is just that most are unpalatable.

>>861183
Bush type vines get about 3 feet long at most it seems. If you ever plant them again, always make sure to do it in pots, not open ground. Use the vine types for ground planting so you can raise them off the ground to keep them more free of squash bug pests. A short stake will work for yours, if you want it up and out of the way.

>>861234
Any medicinal properties?

>>861235
Just the usual babble of cure-alls, if you are into that. There's been some study on tumor cells with their fruits, but no trials that I know of. It isn't anything more than most fruits with red/purple color.

>>860979
homegrowmen used to be good until plont took over

>>861234
ok will do.
thanks friend.
My patio is rather small and space is limited so i will definitely try to stake it up

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>>861073
Could be, I think I just prefer to read sperg posts in the sperg threads on the sperg boards. retards are only fun for me when I'm looking and laughing, not when they're involving themselves in conversation.

I made a thread asking this and was directed here so let's see what happens.

How long do you let relatively hot soil cook for? I am planning a mix of peat moss, earth worm castings, cow manure, natural soil (very loamy), blood and bone meal, and dolomite lime, and I have heard answers of 2 months up to 8.

Halp.

>>860979
>She doesn't like autism

>>861357
Cow manure needs 1 year to ensure it is properly composted. Sure, there can be shorter times, but you need to be 100% sure. So, 1 year is that.

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This winter I will be babysitting some chickens. I have 5 Japanese Bantams which are not winter hardy. They need to survive a Wisconsin winter.

Should I provide some heating in the coop (outside of their heated water) or can Japanese Bantams grow decent winter feathers? Will a well insulated coop be enough?

>>861394
I'm talking about black kow compost, I would assume it is closer to ready than fresh moo dookie.

>>861404
Chickens in general don't mind the cold too much, but they'll probably be happier if you stick a heat lamp in there.

>>861427
Will a heat lamp prevent the winter molt?

>>861428
If you have it on constantly and the hutch/run is sized so they're always in it, probably. So avoid that.

>>861429
Do lights during night prevent winter molting? The people who own these chickens I am watching turn on lights at night inside the coop to scare predators.

I feel like this may take a toll on the chickens sleep and may not do much for predators.

>>861430
Light will keep them awake for sure, if it's on them. I don't know what it does to molting.

>>861432
Thanks man, I appreciate it.

>>861404
They need good fresh air flow, yet need some form of heat. Whatever you use, make sure the top of it is well guarded against flying chickens and crap. I use heat lamps (expensive electric bill!) for chicks and juveniles. For adults, an electric baseboard heater is what I use. Dust collects on top of these things so use compressed air to clean them out regularly. The temps are still really cool, but just warm enough to keep the water from freezing and the chickens from getting frostbite.

For their perches, wrap the perch with something that is a little bit insulating. Like thin, wide, foam tape used for weather stripping. Or, just some strips of old jeans, shirts, wash clothes, etc.

If they have a good bit of comb on their head, like single or buttercup, it may also need protected against frostbite. People actually knit chicken hats for that very thing.

>>861492
Maybe I will sew some tiny hats for the ones with bigger combs. Thanks.

>>861404
I use a greenhouse heater tube in the coup. Make sure to keep it ventilated though, dry / air it out during the day.

so I'm looking into to building a PVC growtent for the upcoming winter to grow some pepper planets all year round. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with the amount of wattage I would need for something like a 2'x2' grow tent.

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>>861492
>>861556
I rub a bit of vaseline on the combs to prevent frostbite, seems to work.

>>861559
Like chapstick, it prevents the tissue from evaporating moisture away. It has limited effect though and shouldn't be relied on in very cold areas.

Is it me or does the sticky have shitty sites for learning about plants? What are some good ones? Books?

>>861591
>learning about GROWING plants*

>>861591
Search for those torrents listed.

>>860588
Resevoir/Regent area ?

>>861676
is that where you are? sorry to hear, if so

>>861492
>For their perches, wrap the perch with something that is a little bit insulating
This depends on the material, doesn't it? For metal this is definitely true, but I've never done this for wood.

>>861677
Nah, but I go to La Trobe which is in the area, and I thought I recognised the house in the picture

>>861741
lol, whats your degree?

>>861757
I'm n-not STEM, pls dnt bully

You study?

>>861772
ex student, now staff. dw, if you network and can bullshit, any degree will get you a good job. Its mostly about either knowing someone or being able to sell yourself to employers

>>861734
It really depends on how cold it is. It will help though. Normally, their feathers cover everything. Wood is better than anything else. Also, using tree limbs instead of boards is best, for their feet, due to the irregularities.

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What's wrong with my pumpkin?

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How do I stop squirrels?

>>862005
Pellet gun.

>>862002
Are the fruits close to ripe? Most cucurbits are annual, and as soon as the fruits are ripe. the foliage will wither

>>862005

dog or shoot the squirrels and make squirrel stew

>>862016
Well there are still some pumpkins growing that are small

>>862017
My dogs are too stupid

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No one smashed it.

53lbs, I think I gave myself another hernia zzzz.

>>862002

Looks like powdery mildew.

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>>862022
all my pumpkins became this:
>>862005

>>859620
jelly

MANUALS OR INSTRUCTABLES ON PDF?

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>>862002
Fungi.

Hose it down twice a day, washing the mildew off. Good luck, that advanced an infection probably means it is doomed. I give it 2 weeks at best.

>>862005
Buy/make a live trap for squirrels or bait some rat traps that have been modified.

http://thetrapmaker.com/

>>862022
Very nice. What variety is it?

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>>862026
>>859620
I just finished dehydrating most of those peppers. The rest are in several bags of them diced up and frozen too. I'll pick a dry day to grind the dehydrated ones up for seasoning.

>>862002
Definitely powdery mildew. I had a random pumpkin sprout in my yard and it had the same thing.
Between trying to cut it away (accidently pulling roots up in the process) and the fungi I think mine is doomed. Cutting it away didnt seem to help anyways, its already covered again. I think its just doomed past a point. Im just seeing how much longer it will last at this point.

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>>862047
I used the spray hose with just water to prolong the life of my vines in the past. I had to do it at least twice a day. Thankfully, I didn't have too many vines with the problem. I did learn that you really need firebreaks in your gardens with plants that have similar pests. All the powdery mildew was confined to only 1 garden, while my other gardens were mildew free.

>repost pics

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>>862041
Big max pumpkin,a squash hybrid

>>862047
>>862051
I've found that spraying some dawn dish soap on mildew before hosing them off helps

No. 2 pumpkin, saw some highschoolers eyein it so we'll see if it makes it.

>>862056
your leaves look different than mine

>>862002

>>862060
Different varieties?

>>862056
Shoot them with pellet guns, make high schooler stew.

>>862056
>highschoolers eyein it

Hopefully they were just interested. You can just put a small fence up or just a small cage around the pumpkins themselves. A lot of times, something as simple as that will remove the idea from people's minds.

A small hedge row there would not only reduce pumpkin stomping but would also be good to help reduce tire dust and exhaust pollution from making its way into your vegetable patch. That stuff is pretty bad and plants uptake heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants from the soil which you will ultimately be eating. I personally don't have any of my gardens within 100 feet of a roadway.

FYI, lamb's quarter and related family plants are great for remediating soils by uptaking aforementioned pollutants and excess nitrates. Just plant, let grow, remove, dispose of properly, repeat cycle for a few couple years then retest soil. They are edible, like spinach, but don't eat them when remediating soils. Then again using raised beds & root barriers or containers with good unpolluted soil and rich compost will allow you to skip soil remediation steps.

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Watermelon time.

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redpill me on rockdust

>>862440
If you are making new soil mixes or need to amend an established plot that has far too much organic materials, rock dust or sand can be used to both cut and introduce nutrients/minerals to the soil. Rock dust is better at this than sand of course. Fungi "mine" rocks, pebbles, and the dust to give the nutrients to the plants.

Normally, there's no need for rock dust in typical home gardens. Intensive soil-based farming may need it, but only after soil testing has been done.

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>>862440

It's dusty as fuck. You will want to wear a respirator when working with it.

>>862300
Neat info, I don't think there is a point on my property 100 feet from the road tho.

In not going to eat the pumpkin cept for the seeds so I guess I'll yolo it.

I've been thinking about planting some comfrey as a berm but I don't think it's drought tolerant enough.

>>862440
It helps the little critters in the soil and give all the trace elements marijuana needs!

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I got a load of 5-year+ old horse manure today. It was just enough to cover the newer horse manure on 2 of the raised beds I have (bed 1 and 3 of >>859620 ). I'll be able to plant in those two beds next spring, for the first time. Though, this stuff is like ancient peat moss and needs some sand mixed into it. It is rather hydrophobic at the moment.

>>862450
>I've been thinking about planting some comfrey as a berm but I don't think it's drought tolerant enough.

A soaker hose will help with that, or a small trench on the yard-side.

>>862455
I forgot to say that you should pile on the mulch too.

>>862440
I had the good fortune to pick an agronomist's brain at a University earlier in the Summer, one of the questions I had for him was about rock dust. He said the amount of nutrients they add is minimal, so unless the soil is deficient in something, you'll likely not notice any results.

If you're going to amend your soil, get a soil test done and you'll know exactly what to add, instead of having to rely on a 40 dollar bag of tiny rocks.

>>862455
Anything I plant on that side has to survive 95+ days and months with little to no water.

My water bills too high

>>862470
Where I live, you select the place you buy/live according to water quality and availability. As in well water/free water. I can't imagine living someplace where I had to pay someone else and rely on them for water. We can catch rain water too, in containers or ponds. Then again I'm a farmer and everything starts with the water.

>>862470
>Anything I plant on that side has to survive 95+ days and months with little to no water
Cacti and yuccas?

>>862482
Noo such thing as free well water, where I'm at. Collecting rainwater is illegal. Collecting water in ponds is illegal.
Unless you own the water rights of course.

Probably some of the best water in America, one of the few states that no rivers flow into only out.

>>862495
>Collecting rainwater is illegal
Wow, even in our socialist, overregulated paradise of Germany this isn't the case
But we do have to pay for wastewater treatment even if said water never goes to the gutter, if we use pipe water (let's say 100 m^3 of pipe water used - 100 m^3 of wastewater treatment fees have to be paid, even if you use 80 m^3 of that in your garden)

>>862503
Interesting

water law and rights are very confusing and convoluted in America. It's kinda like a first dibs system so in times of drought junior claims have to wait in line for Senior claims and if the water runs out before your claim your field sits dry.

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Finally got a Salix integra (Harlekin/Flamingo willow) cutting to root directly in soil (got one to root in water glass last year but it died upon replanting to a pot), placed it there in early September so it went considerably fast
I know it was not the optimum time of the year to do it, so I wonder - should I plant it out in the garden still this autumn (I fear it's too weak to handle winter), or over winter it indoors the first year for a head start (here I fear it will get pests)?
Zone 8a, old ones planted out here do keep their leaves very long, into early December, and shoot again very early in late March

>>862495
No such thing as water rights where I live, thankfully.

>>862511
Another reason to not live in a desert climate. I'd probably just hand drill a well in my mud room, garden in a greenhouse with privacy glass, and call it a day.

>>862525
I had one of those I was trying to bonsai. I live in a Zone 5 area with -10F to -15F temps a week or so in winter. It did fine. The only pests it had was caterpillars.

Since yours is so small, and just starting, I'd overwinter it inside in a cold garage. So long as it doesn't freeze it should be fine, but it needs to lose its leaves and go dormant for a time for your area.

>>862528
The problem is it only now has started to root and shoot new leaves, so I fear having it drop them again in ~2 months could be too much of an additional stress it maybe won't survive
Thing is they're only sold here as very shittily grafted semi-trees (I guess S. alba as rootstock), but I want one growing in its natural shrub form, and cuttings are the only way to do so
I do have a cold garage which never reaches freezing but during warm winter periods may go up to 10-15°C (can happen in the middle of January), you think it'll keep its new leaves as long as it stays >0°C and just go semi-dormant?

>>861357
>>861421
Bumping my stupid question

>>862511

It's so confusing even a Google like you can explain it in one sentence


>water law and rights are very confusing and convoluted in America. It's kinda like a first dibs system so in times of drought junior claims have to wait in line for Senior claims and if the water runs out before your claim your field sits dry.

My dad's garden has a SHITLOAD of jalapenos and habaneros from his garden. Anyone have any recipes? My mom found one of cream cheese chicken enchiladas, but I'd rather, well, something not terrible.

>>862634
Don't knock it til you try it.

>>862637
I've disliked cheese since I was 4, man. I'm working on it. I like mozzarella, a small amount of cheddar, Romano, parmasean, and provolone, but I'm still working on most cheese products.

>>862639
Understandable, given that most people grow up eating processed plastic cheese product. I'm pretty picky about cheese myself as well, but I'll always at least try it.

>>862641
I ate a moldy piece of cheese when I was that age and ever since I just can't handle it. It's not that I dislike the taste. But in the back of my mind, I know it's cheese.

I'm trying. I'm trying real hard.

>>861421
>>862545
Wait another 4 months or plant pumpkins in it.

>>862534
2 months of growth for a willow will be a lot of growth, it won't be a problem. Mine was ungrafted, but yes they do have "weak" roots compared to the rootstocks, but nothing that is terrible.

>>862644
Like old cheese that went bad or just blue cheese? Because I love blue cheese.

>>862634
Dehydrate them, grind them up, add them to everything as a seasoning.

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>>862056
>>862022
>>862025
>SOON

>>862634
I like to put my peppers in chili. I'll write up a full recipe if you're into that.

>>862639
You should try an Iberico. They're pretty inoffensive whatever your tastes. Goes great with a cracker and a bit of dry sausage, if you want to look fancy, otherwise good on sandwiches.

>>862644
Wait, how much older than 4 are you now?

Alright, so I planted my first garden this year.

I admit, I planted a bit late in the season. Thankfully, the seeds sprouted quickly and out-grew their containers even more quickly. However, I wound up with a second job at the end of April which ate into all of my time and neglect ended up killing most of my plants. All I have left are three jalepeno plants, a tomato plant, and a butterscotch squash; only the last of which is in the ground, the rest of which are only just now fruiting. I'll probably bring the tomato and peppers in to winter as the grow-window there is closing, but I don't think the squash'll get there in time. I live in Zone 7a, and Squash's only got like three weeks here.

I guess I'll get to the point:

>What kind of grow-lights would homegrownmen recommend for an indoor set up?


>When would homegrownmen recommend starting next years plants?


>Which book would hgm recommend for a beginner? The list of 400 is a bit overwhelming.

>>862610
I dumbed it down for stupid niggers like you.

>>862781
>What kind of grow-lights would homegrownmen recommend for an indoor set up?

Cheap ass shop lights.

>When would homegrownmen recommend starting next years plants?

In Zone 7a? Shit, I can't even plant till after May day were I live. In 7a I'd be able to garden year round with a cheap ass, unheated, hoop greenhouse or some row covers. Anyway, start your seedlings about a month or more before the last frost. Plant outside after the last frost. If you use row covers, you can plant out a lot sooner and extend your season into the cooler months a lot further.

>Which book would hgm recommend for a beginner? The list of 400 is a bit overwhelming.

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long by Eliot Coleman
https://www.youtube.com/user/blockguru/videos

>>862781
I'm in 8a (cool summers though) and I started my tomatoes from seed indoors around mid-February and they got planted out around mid- to late April, bell peppers started same time but planted a bit later, early May. Watermelons started mid-March, planted late May
Most other stuff was direct sown
I did start several herbs such as thyme, oregano, lemon balm and rosemary cuttings already in autumn last year, and while they did get some head start it was a rather stupid idea in hindsight because the plants became somewhat leggy and attracted fungus gnats during the long time indoors
Won't have to do the same again as they're in the garden now so I can pick some also in winter, but I will do some basil on the window sill, 2-3 plants or so, good time to seed them now because soon those outside will die back. One of those I let go to flower has self-seeded a tiny seedling already which I'll dig out and continue indoors when it gets colder

>>862610

> very confusing and convoluted

>can be easily explained by Google's to dumb niggers like me

Pick one friendo

>>862040
lmfao, I had this post filtered because I filter the word "trap" so I didn't even see your suggestion until I checked on my phone

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>>862669

>>862880
>Using Google and nigger in the same sentence
Now I'm confuse.

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Hey, does anyone know what this is? I'm thinking about cutting a few of the older leaves to promote growth but I'd rather not do anything until I know exactly what it is.

>>862933
>filename
One thing I can tell you that it definitely isn't: Bamboo. It's not poaceae at all.

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What the hell are my pumpkins doing?

The pumpkins matured and are just about ready to harvest with full sized, healthy pumpkins. I am simply baffled by this and haven't found anything online or in person that told me what's happened and That has only made me more curious.

Here, the leaves are all curling up at the edges. It is uniformly turned up ~0.25in around the entire leaf. The plants are otherwise healthy and it seems that this is confined to this single variety, a powdery mildew resistant hybrid and the seeds were treated against seed diseases. (If it matters, the variety was called "Gladiator Hybrid" IIRC, with 115 days for maturation, growing pumpkins weigh around 20lbs.)

This is in the lower middle of New Jersey and the seeds were sown in early to mid June. I'll be the first to admit the soil is shit. Literally shit. It's clay and shale you can make bricks with it. No loam whatsoever. To supplement this lack of loam, horse manure aged for ~7-10yrs usually gets added in to the clay. It helps, but the plot where the pumpkins were sown didn't get any this year.

To protect against borers and squash beetles the plants were treated with Cavalry insecticide, and for fungus Bravo was applied initially then once a week after a mixture of Bravo+Tanos and a mixture of Bravo+Rally were alternated every week. Application was done with a backpack sprayer to ensure the fungicide was applied to the entire plant. The application was preformed at dusk.

The only fertilizer that was applied was miracle grow via the drip irrigation.

During the growth of the plants nothing was problematic, some lower leaf yellowing and then die off but it was not that concerning.

>>862946
Once the fruit ripen the foliage dies m8

>>862948
They were doing it prior to even having flowers

File: image.jpg (340KB, 1024x576px)

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Same variety different leaf problem

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Last picture, again same variety.

>>862963
could be vine borer

>>862946
>>862965
>>862966

Mine looked like that when they had trouble getting nutrients from the soil.

Options:
Fertilize and observe

If they don't get better, the roots aren't grabbing the available nutrients in the soil. This could be from uneven watering (too much, too little, or too long between watering) or it could be from root knot nematodes.

Mine looked like that, so I started heavily fertilizing them. It worked for a minute, then they kept curling and yellowing. When I yanked the plant up, there were nodules all over the roots.

What kind of climate do you live in?

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Anyone with experience growing an Avocado tree? This fella is about a year old, and I think its time I learned any specific care it might need.

>>862998
Did you post this last fall that you put bleach on the root?

>>862999

No? Why would anyone do that?

>>863002
he claimed there was mold on the roots and chlorine bleach would kill it. He then wondered why his root turned whitish/pink and wondered if it would survive. We never heard from him again.

>>863004

>We never heard from him again.
I wonder why.

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Who's excited for growing pumpkins indoors over the winter? Is it too soon to start now, or should I wait for the first snowfall?

>>863009
I want to do it "just because", but I also want to grow stuff I'll actually eat much sooner (greens.)

>>862011
this is fun but unpractical

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>>863011
>just because

>>862934
>>862933
Yeah, most likely something from the asparagus family, I'd guess either Yucca or Dracaena, tending towards the latter

>>863009
2015/16 indoor watermelon fag here, sorry, no cucurbit indoors this year (...at least none is planned right now)

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>>863093

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I harvested some purslane seeds today. Wow, these things are soooo tiny. I'm hoping to have some through the winter, providing I can trigger them into germinating.

>>863116
Doesn't a single plant produce up to several 100k of them? No wonder they have to be rather tiny
Still the tiniest ones and near-impossible to save manually have to be thyme and oregano, but they're seeding themselves so much around their mother plants already in the first year so it's simplest to just dig up and replant the randomly popping seedlings if you want more

>>862998
It looks healthy. If you need a stake, you could try to put it in a more windy place, and also simply top it so it get thicker (and won't need the stake anymore)

>>863198
>>862998
Most people chop/pinch them off and let them branch out.

>>863198
>>863203

How much shoud I top off though?

>>863206
Let the first 2/3, it will deal fine
Cut just above a leaf, letting 3-4mm above the leaf-stem junction. Ideally you give it a small angle so as the rain water doesn't drip on the bud at the junction...

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Thoughts on this? Is it legit? Also wouldn't this work just as well with regular plastic 2 liter bottles?

>>863230
Yes, it works. Yes, you can use plastic stuff. Keep in mind that permanent stuff needs to be sized accordingly to your pot. No, tomatoes for instance. If you are going to cut glass bottles, I highly suggest you us the method here,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXngPx3w3M

>>863233
>>863230

What kind of plants would be good for something that size?

>>863335
Chives, onion, scallion, & garlic for their greens, most herbs, mints, purslane, chickweed, "baby" greens like spinach, dandelion, arugula, and so on. Fruit would be limited to things like various strawberries types, lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), cascade blueberry (Vaccinium deliciosum), dewberry, lingonberry, dwarf bilberry (Vaccinium caespitosum), Bearberry (not very tasty), Bunchberry, and pretty much anything else smallish.

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some asshole anon told me my peppers would never yield because the pot was too small. well fuck you!!! 4 peppers are emerging.

>>863681
You'd have more than a measly four if your pot were bigger.

test

>>863681
>4 peppers
>yield
Pretty sure that's what he meant.

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Algae cultures doing OK. Nannochloropsis seeming to be a dead fish, though. Spirulina, Chlorella, isochrysis very good. Others who are also more interesting are progressing slower as expected.

>>863750
Nice mad scientist lab, Anon.

>>863750
Why are you growing algae?

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Is this a chestnut nut?

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>>863971
American chestnut?

>>863972
>>863971
Looks kinda like a buckeye

>>863972
As an additional note. The owners were not happy to find someone with a spot light taking pictures at 4:30 in the morning.

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>>863752

Thank you

>>863940

They have a lot of uses and/or are interesting in various ways. One of the slower strains is bioluminescent. Chlorella, spirulina, isochrysis and nanno can be used as food, among other things. The last one there produces a unique pigment.

Each one also has interesting properties and growing conditions. So it's fun trying to culture them and see how they do, and learning to adjust things as needed.


Plus no cabbage moths...

>>863972
>>863971
Looks like some sort of horse chestnut (Aesculus), not closely related with real chestnut, also toxic

>>859534
My buddy uses t-post and cow panels. Tomatoe bush worthy or Mordor.

>>860588
Grape vines?

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>>862449
Can confirm
Quarryfag here. Screenings is pretty similar to a bag of flower. Can't wait for my silicosis... or wtf ever that silica dust cancer is.

>>864096
That is what I'll be using next year. I've already been planning things out. Single panel wall for some stuff and some cut to make large cages.

I'm brainstorming some plants to grow in my garden for smoking/recreation. Any suggestions? For now my only certain want is Salvia Divinorum for hallucinogenic quid. Not really trying to get high, just something to do with my mouth when chilling.

>>862005
Shoot them.

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Finally got myself a dehydrator to make use of the left over winter onions before they all go bad. Will also do carrots, bell peppers and herbs

>>864790
What does a dehydrator do that an oven can't?

>>864795
Ovens are extremely inefficient and tend to make things too crispy. There are things like fruit leather and full meals that ovens can't properly dehydrate but dehydrators can.

>>864795
What >>864796
said, plus hard to control temperature locally (some corners are hotter than others), I know cause I previously dried stuff in the oven

>>864796
>>864798
Huh.
How much does a decent dehydrator cost?

>>864795
They use way more electricity than necessary. You can get by with less heat if you have more air movement, such as with a countertop dehydrator. I see the multi-tier round ones at the thrift store pretty often for $10USD and under. Just be aware that the countertop ones without a fan are strictly for dehydrating thinly sliced fruits and veggies; not for drying thick stuff or uncooked/wet meats. Those need at LEAST a dehydrator with a fan. The reviews on Amazon will give you some idea of the limitations the various types have.

>>864810
It really depends on the design and just how cheap it is. You can drop $300 for an all stainless steel model that makes your life so much easier doing massive batches of food or you can get a used cheap plastic model for $20 at a thrift shop and do small batches of stuff. You can also make your own using glue, cardboard, and an incandescent light bulb for ultra cheap. You can add a small fan or use natural convection.

Also see this thread: >>863651

File: Garden planning.png (159KB, 1920x1080px)

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>tfw starting to plan next year's crop placement and remembering you need to be like a lvl60 Druid

I have to remember up to 3 years ago where other stuff was planted so I can rotate crops properly and take into account companion planting schemes, tall plant shading, vine locations, soil/compost age and composition, what ones will be row covered, succession planting, etc.

>>864810
Mine (one previously pictured) is a small one (250W), just €45

>>864829
>remember
Shit like this is why basic literacy is taught in schools.

>>864847
What do you mean, kid?

>>864829
http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner

No need for memory antics. It does everything for you including correlating past gardens, crop rotation, and so on.

>>864850
Just get a ledger book and for each plot, write shit down. You don't have to remember jack shit if you actually keep a record. Alternately use a spreadsheet, and automate a lot of the math when you take nitrogen levels and etc. Or a specialized program like >>864851 though I can't speak to that.

>>864852
I seem to do fine without writing anything down. I make a map of it every year, but delete it once things are planted.

I'm thinking about planting garlic for winter, got any tips?

>>864104
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

>>864911
How many point is that in Scrabble?

>>864932
68 without any modifiers

I'm looking for a dwarf tree (medicinal/fruit a plus++) to replace this guy right here. Hopefully with a 4-5ft mature height. Zone 9, north facing wall.

>>864104
Anyone else see the squirrel?

>>864859
Maybe stop doing that.

>>864790
How much did you pay for it and how do you like it?

>>864977
If you don't use it you lose it, kid.

>>864979
As I said above, just €45 on amazon so it's a rather small model but for me that's sufficient
The onions weren't completely dry yet after 8 hours, but I still somehow ground them and now I'm drying the wet powder some more but need only 1 tray for that (with baking sheet), also started carrots, I'll just let it run overnight

>>859506
I live in south florida and have a little bit of land, I've dabbled a little bit in some gardening on it but I would like to know the general opinion of the best fragrant and flowering plants to incorporate for this area.

I like rare stuff, got some Malaysian grapes I just planted for butterfly's.

>>865108
Passiflora

https://www.google.com/search?q=Passiflora&tbm=isch

>>864994
Some of my stuff isn't dry after 2 days even with a 1200 watt model. It really has a lot to do with your area's humidity too. Winter is the best time to dehydrate in my area, but I don't have the crops to dehydrate at the time. Still great for bulk shopping though.

>>864994
what do you do with dry carrots?

>>865134
The flower is gorgeous and I also can eat the fruit? Sign me up.

What's the name for the bush/shrub kind?

>>865151
Passion Flower is a vine. You'll need a support structure to make it into a "bush".

>>865147
I'm not that anon, but I use my dehydrated carrots in anything that doesn't require fresh carrots. All you need to do is rehydrate them. I use them mostly in soups and stews.

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My tiny little bougainvillea bonsai started growing some little bracts the other day.

I need to get some bougie fertilizer for it apparently.

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>the fungus gnats came back

>>864911
I wont be able to pronounce that working day and night till my early death. But thanks. Lol

>>864183
Its the only way to fly. I have given up and will farmers market from now on.

>>865271
the wuts?

The leaves on my bean vines have a yellow tinge. I read that this could be from over or under-watering, or nutrient deficiency.
I planted them in potting soil, so I don't think they'd be short on nutrients.

I've been watering them every time the top of the soil felt dry, usually once every day or two. Is that too much? Should I be waiting longer?

>>865147
Well I still had quite a few in the ground since yesterday and they were getting more and more gnawed on by worms, plus storing them in a fridge is too space consuming and they only last a week or so like that
So I decided to dry and then powder them, plan on making my own vegetable broth powder for soups etc
>>865134
After 13 more hours, onion powder but also carrots are bone dry now

>>865330
>since yesterday
*until

>>865317
Depends on the pot size, but that may be too much. It's not only the top of the soil that must feel dry, it's a good 3-4cm when you test it with your finger

>>865271
But are they actually damaging things? Let it dry out a bit more.

>>865317
Stick your finger into the soil up to your 2nd knuckle. That is how you test how moist the soil it.

Yellow leaves can be caused by too much water, it will prevent the roots from taking in nutrients properly.

>>865375
It's a very small pot. The size of a drinking cup.

It was initially only intended to be temporary before they went in the ground, I just haven't found the time to move them out of their pots.

>>865502
Find the time now.

>>865502
I agree with the other person, change pot as soon as possible

>socal just had a heat wave
>at the send of september
almost lost my tomato and my cucumber plants

getting leafminers on my bell peppers, looked ways to kill them, guy recommends pinching along the damage till you feel it pop
something about that sensation is not comfy

Dudes, Something keeps eating the leaves off my bean seedlings and leaving the stems.
Could it be slugs or earwigs? If so, what do?

>>865836
If it IS slugs, I've read that placing something rough around the perimeter of your plants, like brick or sand, can discourage them from entering the area. Slugs don't like traversing rough surfaces.

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>>865876
Thanks man, I have lots of brick sand so I'll try that and some of pic related to trap the little guys, the new soil in my garden bed seems to have a few slugs and they're really elusive (I've only spotted them twice in the act.

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I thought I'd pass this along for those with large farms,

http://inhabitat.com/australian-farmer-fights-erosion-with-a-patchwork-of-geometric-designs/

>>865836
>>865882
Remove all mulch in the area, replace it with the sand. Make full use of beer traps. Use plastic cups with the bottoms cut out to put over your starts as a barrier. Get some copper tape and put it around the outsides of the cups. Reuse cups every year.

>>865916
>>865916

don't have problems with soil erosion luckily but appreciated

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>>859620
>>862043
I had some time to work with the dehydrated peppers from my garden today. Here's the results.

I first tried using the universal food chopper, but it only crushes the peppers to about what you find in shakers at a pizza place. That's great for that size, but I wanted it finer. So, I broke out my Corona-Victoria grain mill that I use for grinding corn. It was excellent for this job. Whole dried peppers were reducing to near powder with minimal effort.

Even though I wore breathing and eye protection, I've not coughed and sneezed that bad since the last time I ground up hot peppers. At least it wasn't the super hots this time.

What you see here is nearly 2 bushels of Hungarian wax peppers reduced to slightly more than 3 quarts of space. I still have tons left on the pepper plants and several bags in the freezer. This should last all the way until next year's pepper harvest. I vacuum sealed these jars to about 23inHg.

>>866079
>3 quarts of space

Oops. Pints not quarts.

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I have a question for a pepper expert. I've been growing african bird peppers, they first started fruiting months ago and honestly, I never picked them. The same fruits have been on the vine for at least half a year now I'm starting to wonder... do peppers simply stay on the vine forever? The plant is in my greenhouse and I've kinda left it alone. I didnt do much gardening this year and I was wondering just what was up with these peppers. Will they eventually die off on their own and rot away? Do they get better with age? This is the first time Ive witnessed a fruit stay on a plant for so long with very little change.

>>866098
They can remain on the vine for a very long time, but as soon as they turn their final color you can pick them. Eventually, that part of the plant's stem will turn yellow and drop the pepper off. The pepper will either mildew and rot or dry up, depending on the humidity.

Some pepper plants are better at keeping them on the plant longer. Like green bell peppers are not really a green pepper variety. They eventually turn red, but they are so terrible at actually turning red and maturing that it is better to pick them green so they are not rotten.

Hot peppers, with thin walls, seem to do well staying on the plant until cracker crisp.

>>866107
thanks mate.

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Finally harvested all my stuff from the veg patch this year.

Pic related, the biggest pumpkin, and 2 pumpkin pies made from the smallest - boxes and boxes of pumpkin puree in the freezer. Also some corn and other bits.

What do I do now? I've chopped the pumpkin vines and pea vines, and spread them over the patch hoping to rot down... I guess that's it for the year yeah?b

>>866151
>I guess that's it for the year yeah?

You don't put on row covers or grow cold season crops? With row covers you can extend the seasons up to a month on both ends without trouble. A double layer with air gap between can extend it even further for colder areas.

What variety of pumpkin is that? It looks great.

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>>866160
Nah this is my first year and I didn't plan that far ahead. Maybe next year. I want to do some construction work on my garden this winter to increase my growable area. My entire patch is just from some slabs I ripped up, and did my best with the nasty clay soil underneath. (Pic related, was from end of june when I'd just transplanted the pumpkins)

>>866167
>>866160
oh and sorry... pumpkin variety is hundredweight apparently. I hear they're not too good to eat but it went well in a pumpkin pie (which I've never made or eaten before. I think it tasted ok).

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>>866167
Depending on your area, you can now still seed stuff such as corn salad or set winter onion bulbs (they'll be ready to pick much earlier than spring sown ones, around mid-May, but can't be stored too long) - here a pic of early January (yeah I did a shoddy weeding job, but I just didn't feel like doing shit in ~5°C weather, also I need a pause from weeding at least between November to February)

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>>866196
When I finally got around to removing the weeds mid-March, things looked better temporarily...

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>>866199
...but a mere 10 days later, weeds were quickly reconquering the place

Hi, what's the easiest, most tard-proof and low maintenance edible crop you can grow? Thanks.

>>866459
Roquette/arugula

>>866481
wrong

>>866459
dandelions

>>866459
Chickweed

>>866526
>>866485
both partly wrong. Because it would depend largely on the soil, aspect, shading, etc etc. Dandelions would be effort for me, because I' need to cultivate the soil to get them growing big enough. You also want Dandelions in a shady spot so they grow large, not in a very harsh sunny spot where they remain quite small. Chickweed again, has similar problems.

>>866459
Depends on a lot of factors, a number of things are exceptionally easy. Theres a big chance your yard already has several species (dandelion, plantains, chickweeds, fat hen) that are already foods you can be utilising.

An easy, beginners first crop imo is either beans or tomatoes, or even better, both.

They require a little bit of research and a little bit of effort (in tying up the growth). But you can get bush varieties of both if space/ typing up is an issue, because bush varieties are often between 50cm-1m making them easy to tie up.
They require just enough effort to make the return of fruits and legumes very rewarding.

>>866536
>tomatoes
Well at least for a rather beginner like myself, and on top of that in cool temperate climate, they're at least mid-tier
>Have to start indoors
>Transplant several times (consecutively bury more of the stem in seedling stage)
>Have to put the pots in/out several times in early/mid spring to avoid later sunburn
>Unless you build a shelter or it never rains, potato blight WILL be an issue

>>866554
To add, a real easy and quick (just a few weeks) thing is radish

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Anyone got experience with wintering bell peppers?
Started mine from seed in spring and while the plants did produce, they're still rather small, I've seen much larger ones in pics and videos of them in their 2nd year much bigger
They're planted in the ground right now, and I'd plan on digging 3 or so out once the first frost comes (which may be anywhere between Oct and Dec), prune them back quite a bit and place them in a cool but frost-free garage like that, to replant them back in the ground late April to get a massive head start over new seedlings.
Can they survive in a sort of hibernation that way? Or is that period to long?
What I definitely do not want to do is have them in the heated house for so long, because I'm short on southern window space anyway plus don't like to have to deal with pests and extra illumination

>>866595
Oh and tunnels aren't an option as they rely on a snow cover and/or sunshine, both of which are rare here in winter, instead there's often dry and cloudy frosts

>>866171
>hundredweight

That's a UK variety I think. Those are good eating, not sure who would say they are not.

>>866200
Weeding garlic and onion is a loveless job. Do it early and often. Otherwise, the weeding process harms the garlic and onion roots.

>>866599
Yeah, shit that's close to the bulbs has to be pulled by hand which is annoying as fuck
For this winter's batch I started a few weeks ago I used some mulch, which should at least retard the weed growth a little

>>866595
>>866598
You can still overwinter them in polytunnels, just use up to two layers and later on use a small electric space heater with a small fan to blow it around. However, you can just dig them up and bring them inside. That is less work and money.

They don't "hibernate". For light you can just use cheap shop lights. For pests, just take the plant into the shower and hose it down, if there is a problem.

>>866602
Meh, maybe I'll just leave two in the garage, one on the window inside (it has to do with a WSW-facing one then and a bit cooler like 17°C though)
I really don't want heating outside though, way too expensive here, definitely not worth it (already have a Yucca elephantipes planted out which I may have to heat)

>>866614
Also I do have a dedicated LED plant lamp but that one will be pre-occupied too

a good standard CFL per lamp can do the trick, given it has enough lumens

>>866746
I mean a CFL for each plant, not for each lamp...

>>866751
Meh, assuming 10W, 14 hours/day and 120 days as well as €0.30/kWh (yay socialism!), that'd be about €5 per plant.
At that rate I might as well buy new plants directly from the hardware store next spring, they're like €2 max each
That's why I'd prefer a cool wintering instead if possible, because in general for most plants, cool placement = less light needed as growth is reduced

>>866762
Indeed, that wouldn't be very interesting if for a profitability objective. Plus, 10W would really be a minimum.
What is the minimum temperature in your garage?

>>866762
You pay more than for times what I do in the USA for electricity. Is all that extra to pay for solar or wind or some other environmental scam?

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>>866776
Yeah, doesn't freeze in the garage. If during some stronger winter cold spell it goes towards zero in there, I always temporarily put on some heater (it's just for 2-3 days or so per year on average, sometimes I don't need to at all, so the cost is acceptable in that case) because I have other stuff there over winter as well, mostly palms and yuccas (last "winter" for only 1 week in January)
>>866787
Yes, German eco-nazism knows no bounds, best thing is that big businesses are of course exempted from paying the subsidy tax, so it is even higher for middle class Average Joe
>tfw no cheap nuclear like the frogs have

>>866792
In that case 10°C wouldn't be too bad, after some good pruning. I wouldn't really trust much less below this temperature

>>866802
Well, I planted them out in the garden in late April, and in the early days of them sitting outside it sometimes dipped to +3 in nights
Also it sometimes dips below +10 even in July and August nights (not this year though)
No signs of damage though. Maybe it's the cultivar? "California Wonder" IIRC (the name admittedly doesn't suggest lots of cold tolerance)

>>866792
>nuclear
>cheap
Keep paying off that cartel with your grandchildren.

>>866811
Or maybe your plants are accustomed to these temperatures? Anyway, mines also deal with temperatures under 10°C regularly, I was just thinking it wasn't so good when it is like 15 days in a row (usually mines begin to get yellow/soft tips)

>>866792
Dude, nukular is highly subsidized and will cost money for hundreds of years.

>>866829
>>866861
I know it has its shortcomings too (waste storage and shit), but still infinitely better than pushing photovolcrapics in a subarctic oceanic climate

>>866880
Yeah, and that whole INVISIBLY KILLS EVERYONE FOR MILLENNIA thing, you know.

There isn't enough organizational responsibility in our society to even just see that waste transported to storage securely. Imagine what will happen if there's an economic collapse, or global warming or something.

Anyone who endorses nuclear is mentally stuck in the 50s and still believes in to-cheap-to-meter. The nuclear power industry is an attempt to monetize nuclear weapons in a civilian market. As a power concept it is utterly unsustainable.

And you're already paying for it, just not on the bill but in your taxes.

>>866890
You know we can reprocess spent fuel and burn it in other reactors, but aren't allowed to build those reactors because "muh weapons proliferation".

Of course market forces are driving solar costs down so fast that it's likely going to be the cheaper option in the long run, but still.
Nuclear isn't all the boosters claim it is, but it's not some kill-your-family existential risk either.

File: Fukushima-Daiichi-nuclear-012.jpg (3MB, 2000x1200px)

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>>866898
Sure, there's people who take things too far. Doesn't change that it's incredibly high risk and not even remotely economical. And changing the fuel disposal doesn't change that. The whole reactor building is hazardous waste, and often the ground below as well. Add to that the weekly reports of safety lapses, I all that remains is a utopian wish from another era. Get over it and get real.

The power of the future is local and diverse. Ferment your waste, put a windmill on the roof, and yes, solar panels. You're trying to cover a demand, not optimize world wide power generation. I mean that would be nice, but for now act local.

>>866792
>>866829
>>866861
>>866880
>>866890
>>866898
>>866903
Keep this shit out of Homegrowmen threads. You have the whole internet you can shitpost on.

>>866903
>Ferment your waste, put a windmill on the roof, and yes, solar panels

There are economies of scale to consider. Solar is on a trajectory to be economical for the average homeowner to mount panels on their roof and either use the grid for load balancing or put a battery bank in the garage.

Wind power scales with blade length - rooftop micromills are horrendously inefficient and can't pay for themselves. Wind is best at utility scale, and even then only in areas that get consistent strong wind.

Waste fermentation gets you cooking and heating, but it's only worthwhile for African villages and crunchy granola hippies. Or, possibly, utility-scale at the sewage treatment plant.

>>866906
Whoops, got baited. Sorry.

>>866907
There's bioreactors all over the countryside. Any farmer who doesn't process waste is throwing away money.

And yeah, master baiter, YOU were being baited, totally.

>>866906
What do you do with your garden trash?
And why not precompost in a tank? It's much faster. You can use a far wider range of organic refuse. And you get gas for heat, power, or to bottle and sell.

>>866912
It costs money and energy to recycle. Farmers don't waste money

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>>866912
>What do you do with your garden trash?

It gets put back on the garden or fed to the chickens who then poop in the orchard or in their coop. The coop poop goes on the garden. There is no trash or need for anything else to be done. The only viable biogas digesting that can be done here would be blackwater, but even that doesn't have the biomass needed to make up for the extra cost of equipment and maintenance. This is because heating and energy needs are ultra low.

I've gone round and round the issue and I can't make it economical or workonomical and I even have most of the equipment needed to make a biogas digester. Maybe if I had livestock or more people living here then it'd be highly viable to do so.

>>866929
You hacked it already. You have bioreactors with automatic process balancing and they also lay eggs.

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>>866944
lol Yeah, that is true. There's always more that can be done. The problem of leading a simple life with a high level of efficiency is that you don't produce enough wastes to do cool things with.

>>866903
Nuclear is literally safer than wind you hmong.
>B-but when something goes wrong it makes the news!
That means fucking nothing. When it comes to Nuclear, you Germans make the USA look politically intelligent.

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Hey everyone,
I want to grow some herbs and want to fix my clay soil so that it drains well enough for them, I'm going to dig and sift the soil as normal but does anyone have any suggestions of what to add?

if it matters, I'll be trying to grow licorice root, thyme, oregano, chamomile tarragon, basil and sage.

I've got plenty of coarse sand around the place and can get loam very easily if that helps.

>>867081
Sand and organic materials. However, it is better to just build your own soil and use raised beds or trenches filled with good soil. Clay is the worst of the worst for gardening and farming.

>>866979
GTFO of this thread you massive tard. GB2/sci/ or /b/.

>>866599
I was doing some more reading, apparently hundredweights are competition varieties, but also have good flavour. So I guess best of both worlds. Which is good because I've got a lot of the stuff. And yeah it's a UK variety (I'm in the UK)

>mfw just found out you can eat pumpkin leaves, and I shredded & composted mine last week
FUUUUUUCK

>>867098
Here's a huge list:

>Secondary Edible Parts of Vegetables
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/hortupdate_archives/2005/may05/SecVeget.html

>>867099
oh nice, thanks! added to the ever-growing list of gardening bookmarks

>tfw uni student
>don't own the garden connecting to the flat below
>completely overgrown with weeds
>absolute state
>neighbours are an old couple, beautiful garden, plenty of flowers and food
>can only grow shitty window boxes

Why must I suffer so?

>>867107
Who owns the garden? Maybe you can offer to help out with it and they'll share some produce.

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My black nightshade has been producing really well. I learned a trick to increase their sweet flavor. When you pick then, leave them in a bowl for several days. They will ripen even more and start smelling really good.

I just made some black nightshade cookies with them. They taste like an exotic blueberry in these. I'll be growing more next year for sure.

>>867267
I hope you boiled those suckers really well. There's more poisons in them than I care to list. They're also full of alkaloids. So if you experience a burning in your skin, dry mouth, shortness of breath, or liquefying eyeballs you should probably call emergency services.

And be polite, offer the paramedics a cookie.

>>867274
You need to google up a bit first. People make jam and jelly out of them. They have solanine in them just like potatoes and tomatoes. Like both the unripe fruits are also full of solanine. The ripe fruits of all these are non-toxic. Allowing the fruit to ripen further off the vine reduces solanine content even more, just like tomatoes. You are much more likely to be poisoned by green tomatoes and especially green potatoes.

http://foragersharvest.com/black-nightshade-2/
http://www.eattheweeds.com/american-nightshade-a-much-maligned-edible/
http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/black-nightshade-deliciously-dangerous/

>>867276
>The ripe fruits of all these are non-toxic.

I didn't mean to include potato fruit in that, they are still toxic.

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>>867274
S. nigrum ripe fruits aren't toxic at all, only the unripe ones have solanine, but so do unripe green tomatoes. Same for leaves, but that holds true for those of tomato as well, yet nobody ever warns against tomatoes
It's pretty much the "pre-Columbian European tomato", just with smaller fruit, but then again the wild form of tomato has tiny fruit too, for some reason no one ever bothered to cultivate S. nigrum to have bigger fruit like it was done with the tomato. And judging from their black colour and also taste (I'm now eating lots of S. nigrum fruits when gardening as a snack upon encountering the plants and never got ill from them - it's a really unique taste I'd describe as some sort of mix of tomato, vine grape and blackberry, definitely needs some acquiring but once you get to like it it's super tasty), they're likely full of healthy antioxidants such as polyphenols
And those stupid enough to confuse S. nigrum with Atropa belladonna (a truly toxic fruit) have no place in any garden whatsoever and need to go back to school

>>867390
>yet nobody ever warns against tomatoes

They did originally when first introduced to Europe, but that doesn't matter now. Some myths are just really hard to die, but the internet has really been helping kill them off.

The black nightshade used in >>867267 was Eastern Black Nightshade (solanum ptycanthum).

I've actually had solanine poisoning before from green potatoes. The cook didn't know about green potatoes and simply shaved off the skin. I was sick for about 2 hours and everything wanted out in a hurry. Which started about 30 mins after eating the potatoes.

>it's a really unique taste

I didn't like them at all until I left them to ripen like you would leaving a tomato out to ripen even more and deepen in flavor. They lose a lot of that tomato-like flavor after that. It took about 6-7 days.

>>867390
I thought people ate green tomatoes all the time? I've got an aunt that really loves fried green tomatoes.

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Muh great beans muhfugga muh beans

>>867410
They do, that is the point. The main toxicity issues with black nightshade are with livestock. They can eat a bushel of the plant and get extremely sick, but no human would ever remotely eat that much. With tomatoes, the green ones have lots of solanine in them too, but it isn't nearly as much as a green potato. You can eat a plateful of green tomatoes and normally be fine, but 1 green potato and you're not having a good time. Cooking doesn't destroy it very much at all. Microwaving can reduce it up to 15% but boiling is like 3-5% reduction. Frying is near 0%. Ripe black nightshade fruit isn't even a concern.

FYI, solanine increase if the plants have late blight and are stressed. It is their defensive mechanism.

>>867408
Well I always eat them right off the plant but only when they're really ripe (very soft in that stage and tend to burst if you're not careful), in that stage they're not bitter at all any more.
I theorise that solanine in leaves and unripe fruit is produced so that animals don't eat those parts, and that the disappearance of solanine in ripe fruit is so that animals will only eat it then (as the seeds become viable), helping the spread of the plant
>>867410
It's not recommended to eat a lot of green tomato (unless it's varieties that stay green even when ripe, those exist - I'm strictly talking about truly unripe tomatoes) exactly because of the solanine content - according to some sources, unripe tomatoes contain even more solanine than potato fruits

>>867418
Mine fall off the plant before they are "really ripe". They are still delicate then, they actually toughened up after being off the plant for almost a week. When removing the stems they didn't tear at all, unlike when right off the plant. They are not bitter at either point, just more "tomato-like" before letting them ripen on the counter.

>so that animals don't eat those parts

You are correct on both parts. That is why potatoes get it when exposed to the sun. To prevent insects from eating the exposed tubers.

>according to some sources, unripe tomatoes contain even more solanine than potato fruits

I've not read that yet, but I think it comes down to the variety. Though, I'd never eat potato fruit regardless. It'd be nice to have a chart of all this stuff and their solanine content, but it varies so widely due to plant stresses.

Any idea when capsicum annuum will start flowering?
I'm into the 2nd month of spring and I can see buds on the plant but I don't know if they are just leftovers from last autumn.
>>867410
Are you sure that you aren't confusing them with tomatillos?

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>>867448
People eat both.

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Finally, the last one of my 5 tomato test seeds from saving sprouted, making it 100%! So the rest of the ~40 seeds of that variety should be good for next spring.
Weird though how it took the first one just 6 days but the last one 4 weeks.
Too bad they're out of season now and I'll have to throw them away, guess I'll continue one indoors under light

>>867719
It's so small, just keep it by the window. No need for lamps.

>>867731
Yeah not yet now, but by November/December I think I'll have to

>>867411
Are you farming beans or snails?

>>867818
Mot likely Bean Leaf Beetle (Cerotoma trifurcata).

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just constructed this guy last night for my pepper plants to thrive in the winter. hopefully it's large enough for my 2 medium sized cayenne and jalapeno plants

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>>868095
moved a few plants in to make sure it's warm enough and they have enough light before i move everything in

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>>868097
2 75w CFLs and 1 24w LED should be plenty of light i hope. I'm not so sure about how far to hang the lights above the plants but i'll have two plants that are 2 feet tall so they cant get much lower for the small plants.

>>868098
>>868097
Nice, but shouldn't those lights be very close tot he plants, with enough space to prevent burning of course? I kept my stuff about 1 inch from the plant leaves and sometimes they grew up so fast they'd touch a bit before I moved the lights up.

>>868112
problem is i have 2 mature plants already that are about 2 feet tall that i planned on putting in there

>>868121
Oh, well that may be a problem if they overshadow the smaller ones. do you have any normal shop lights? Those work really well.

>>868126
no, only have the CFLs. i figured it would be cheaper than a tube fluorescent fixture

>>868098
Oh you got that TaoTronics one too?
Mine is officially 24W, but only really delivers 15W when measuered

>>868135
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GFWK69Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

not taotronics but a similar one. have you had good results with it? i'm pretty new to this so idk how far the light goes before losing its energy that is usable for the plants.

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>>868141
Well it looks exactly the same as mine, maybe rolled from the same factory line in China and just got a different branding slapped on.
Only did herbs and shit over last winter with it, and 80cm away the plants did become somewhat leggy (but very light hungry ones such as oregano and thyme), while the rosemary and lemon balm, as well as the fig seedlings, did fine (pic from last December).
It worked better placed more closely (~50cm) especially with sage, but this of course makes the area you can illuminate smaller (did when moving the other stuff to the window again as it became brighter in February)

>>868133
In my area you can get a 2-bulb, 4 feet long shop light for $24 at Ace and Lowe's; not sure about Walmart. That includes the bulbs. Home Depot has them for like $18 I think without bulbs. If you get them in-store, just check to see which ones have bulbs already installed and which don't. They are normally 40 watts and will need some heat ventilation but no fan.

>>865271
Neem oil, my friend.

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Gave the crab apple tree its annual shake and pruning today. I had my brother's 17 foot step ladder so I was able to do some long overdue trimming higher up in the tree. Another couple growing seasons of filling out and I'll chop off the last two big branches coming out of the trunk at goofy angles.

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My twin lemon seedlings have become huge 15 months after germination, still debating if I should winter them cold/dark or bright/warm. Former method will lead to some leaf drop and stress, latter one will attract insects

>>868208
Those apples are kinda big for crab apple aren't they?

>>868274
I find that scales are the only real problem indoors but weekly hosing off in the shower keeps all pests at bay.

>>864790
Reckon you can do jerky in that thing?

>>868588
Not really my thing but yeah should be doable

>>868588
Yes, you can.

>>868274

what are you waiting to graft those?

>>868651
Not messing with that, they're seedlings anyway so neither a "good" top part nor root part. Not doing this commercially, just as ornamental, so I don't care if they take 10 years to flower

Absolute noob here. So you really should rotate your crops, right? I still feel weird about destroying the summer squash plant that I grew. I just want to make sure I'm not messing up.

>>868830

i have been cultivating fields since childhood with my family, actually i think you don't need to rotate the crops if you manure the field

but take that with a grain of salt, we mostly do fruit trees and not so much crops and vegetables

>>868676

meh, i think the thorns are not so much ornamental (and pretty fucking uncomfortable if you have to work on those plants) but that's my personal opinion

>>868830
>>868833
Rotating the crops isn't just for soil building and maintaining. It is also for breaking pest cycles. Which is pretty important.

>>868959
So I should go ahead and remove my summer squash, eggplants, and so forth. It's probably way overdue at this point

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Guys, can any type of tree be bansai'd? Like, I want to propagate a cutting from a spruce or cedar tree in my yard and bonsai it. Is this possible?

>>869016
You can do anything if you try, Anon.

>>868478
>Those apples are kinda big for crab apple aren't they?
Biggest apples off that tree are about 2.5 " tall. If you shake the tree just right, the apples fall in 3 neat piles.

>>868959
>>868959

true, never thought of that

>>869016
>can any type of tree be bansai'd?

Yes.

However, very large leaf'd trees can't have their leaves be micro-sized nearly as well as those that already have medium to small sized leaves. Instead what you do, is to use each large leaf as a stylistic impression of a leaf grouping.

>>868971
If the plants are done and the fruit is ripe, yes, remove them and start the next cycle of that plot. Remember to research what pests those removed plants can have then prepare the plot to ensure they do not overwinter. Example, squash plants have vine borers and squash bugs as a pest. The squash bugs overwinter in mulch and plant debris. The best course of action is to either till in the organic matter or compost it separately (I do the latter.) Remember tilling in organic material that isn't fully composted will rob the soil of nitrogen as it breaks down (the microbes do the robbing).

>>869067
>If you shake the tree just right, the apples fall in 3 neat piles.

Wizardry!