Your houseplants and gardens - Yellow leaf means underwatered AND overwatered?! What a country!

Oh god, I was wrong. My mother-in-law is good with outdoor plants, but she's unable to not water, unless she wills herself to forget.
If she uses the calendar on her phone, you could set up a watering day.

Actually, if she uses a wall calendar in the kitchen, you could set up a watering day with a cute sticker.
 
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Dracaena lemon lime.
These plants have thought me that I'm too lazy to maintain them, but too stubborn to let them die.
I'm in this limbo for 3 years.
 
Not rude. You can even make it cute like a little text-bubble that says "We aren't thirsty" or something.
If she uses the calendar on her phone, you could set up a watering day.

Actually, if she uses a wall calendar in the kitchen, you could set up a watering day with a cute sticker.
Thank you both, I'm going to do both! I just happened to bring some art supplies on our trip, so a nice sign is definitely in order.
And she's glued to her iPad, so my husband can set up a watering day calendar for her.
 
I put a spiderette into an empty kikkoman sesame oil bottle and it's rooting nicely. Looks adorable. I think I need to invest in some leca- I'm quite a fan of passive hydroponics.

A lot of people I know basically look down on ordamentals and think the only reasons to ever grow a plant is to eat it, smoke it, or turn it into alcohol. That, literally, it's somehow consooming to plant tulips in one's yard because why not potatoes? What do ya need tulips for?


Why do you have a toy dog breed instead of a working breed? Why do you watch comedy movies instead of documentaries? Why do you listen to music instead of algebra audiobooks? Why do you wear decorative clothing instead of a utilitarian smock? Why do you have wooden furniture instead of a brick for a seat and a milkcrate for a table?

I already get potatoes from the store, but good luck finding cut varieties of the flowers that I can grow yourself from seed!

Not to mention there's some big myths or misconceptions at play sometimes.

Fruit trees produce a giant mess and often require costly maintence: every park and street can't be lined with apple trees, sorry.

Every patch of dirt isn't capable of growing veggies, or anything fit for human consumption even. Lead and other heavy metals, things leached from paint from crumbling buildings, gas station runoff, etc... you can't just randomly plant veggies in an abandoned lot. Not even getting into soil quality. Just literal poisoned soil is common.

Finally, it makes little economic sense to grow potatoes unless you have a pretty substantial amount of land and equipment to do it en masse or incredibly cheap. Potatoes are cheap to buy, cheaper than all the labor and cost of water and everything else involved. You truly would make more money growing "useless" ordamental flowers and selling them for mother's day bouquets, which could buy you many more potatoes. The best things to grow for value are typically herbs and veggies like chard and bell peppers that don't keep well like onions and potatoes and garlic.

Finally, I think a lot of people underestimate how disturbed the ecosystems are in most places. They think the internationally invasive weeds that overtake the unmowed yard of an abandoned house is "nature healing." Truth is if you "let things go wild", the invasive stuff is going to pop up long before you're going to end up with a happy native flower forest.

I worked for a native praire restoration area. It wasn't magic. It had to be seeded heavily with the species that had been decimated, because how else are you going to bring back biodiversity when you're surrounded on all sides by farmland? It also had to be mowed heavily to replace what deer and bison would have done, hundreds and thousands of years ago. And sometimes BURNT!
 
Truth is if you "let things go wild", the invasive stuff is going to pop up long before you're going to end up with a happy native flower forest.
This realization has caused me so much mental anguish you have no idea. They always tell you in school "learning is fun!," but learning about this topic was nothing but depressing for me.

To find out that the plant some people brought over in 1800's can take over an entire area if given the chance is really upsetting, and depressing. I have to remind myself that I am only one person, and against a force of nature with over a 150 years of lead time I can only do so much, although things can still be managed, and slowly pushed back. Sometimes, after years of looking, depending on your locale, you can find native species that are able to exclude certain invasives. I try to combine manual removal, with seeding of these more aggressive native species in hopes that nature can fight nature. This doesn't really apply if you're trying to recreate a specific habitat with specific, sensitive native wildlife, but I think it's better than nothing, and may slow down/prevent certain areas from becoming a mess once I am dead. It gives me some hope that I may leave a few areas free from certain bastard plants that some kid can later enjoy. Also, reminding myself that a meteor could hit the planet, and "solve" the invasive species problem also gives me respite.

I think if we (we in a general sense) ever manage to get some good machine learning into a humanoid-type robot, and it's mass produced, something like Musk's Optimus robot we may have access to a labor force that could assist in restoring natural native habitats. I know, a bit of a pipe dream, but it helps me sleep easier knowing, if we had more manpower (or robots that can navigate the world) we could fix some of these things. I know that finding enough labor is always a problem for restoration efforts, and this shortage can lead to herbicide use to make up for this deficit, which I don't agree with. Robots with machine vision give me some hope that we can fix things eventually.

It can really humble you when you go up against some of these plants, and you start to get a grasp of the force you're pushing back on.
 
"A weed is just a plant growing where WE think it shouldn't! It's just vain human preference!"

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Human action fucked things up; human action will be required in the un-fucking.

It's interesting to see the waves of different weed species take over the area and then be supplanted by the next weed, though. Last year this fake Queen Anne's lace really gained ground and now it's absolutely everywhere, beside the highways and in vacant lots.

I don't know what it is exactly; the taproot smells like a carrot when you pull it, the bloom is like Queen Anne's lace, and the seeds are awful burrs. Pulls up really easily, but I wear gloves in case it's one of the toxic members of the parsley family.

But the year before last, it was thistles everywhere, and now there are barely any. I'm keeping an eye out for new weeds to see if I can guess what'll be the next conqueror, but this is complicated by my being dumb as hell and not great at telling plants apart.
 
My area is too hot to grow many of the plants I would like too outside, so I decided to get a hydroponics growing thing off amazon. Honestly I'm pretty impressed with how good these are for growing herbs. If anyone wants fresh or homegrown dried herbs I would really recommend trying a hydroponics kit. I got two kits, one expensive one that actually circulates the water directly onto the growing medium, and one cheaper one that just has the growing medium absorb the water upwards to the plant. I noticed that seeds take several days longer to germinate on the cheaper one because they are not actively kept wet, but asside from that I think the cheaper ones are just as good. Also these things are great for starting plants that may be hard to start. I am starting some Edelweiss from seed in one and it is growing really nicely, while they failed to start twice in a peat/soil starting mix that I kept watered very consistantly. The only downside of the hydroponic bay setup is all the plants in one bay need to be about the same height but for me some grew a lot faster than others so the ones on the bottom have a bit of trouble getting light. I ended up just keeping them near a window and they seemd to be doing fine despite being shorter.
If anyone has any experience or advice growing Edelweiss it would be appreciated by the way! This start is doing pretty good though I think, and its already getting its characteristic white fuzzy leaves. I don't know why all the ones in the starting soil mix died after 3 weeks though. Happened twice, though I think one time was due to insects but the second definately wasn't.
baby-edelweiss.jpg hydroponics.jpg
 
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So after 3 weeks of 100+ temps every single day, my tomatoes decided they are hellspawn and now is the time to have huge growth and they are fucking thriving in the heat.

Meanwhile I'm dealing with a squash bug infestion that's killed 1.5 cucumber plants counting. I scrapped their eggs off my pumpkin leaves yesterday but those dumb fucks haven't noticed my gourds yet.
 
I now have an enormous lawn with trees on the farthest end where the compost is. Unfortunately, there is a wildly prolific vining thing coming over from the neighbor's on the other side of the fence. In my head I would like to cut back all of the vining and plant native wildflower seeds on the back 1/4 of the yard. The grass is very very happy and healthy so I don't know that I could do that by myself? I can get rid of the vining but I don't think I am capable of turning that much yard into no grass in order to get the wildflower seeds to touch the ground 😕.

Has anyone started a wildflower field? do I really have to 'turn' that entire area to dirt first?
 
Don't put mint in an aerogarden (tabletop hydroponics thingy.) At least not with any other type of plant. The roots will overtake the entire machine and kill everything else. Ask me how I know.

Dwarf tomatoes do really well in aerogardens. It takes a bit for them to get established, but my family member's small aerogarden produces a large handful of very good little cherry tomatoes a week. If I had young kids it would be a very cool project.
The lettuces aren't really worth it in my opinion. You just get so little lettuce and it's not really special lettuce or anything. Watching all the tomatoes ripen one by one, finding new ones every morning, that's been fun.


I now have an enormous lawn with trees on the farthest end where the compost is. Unfortunately, there is a wildly prolific vining thing coming over from the neighbor's on the other side of the fence. In my head I would like to cut back all of the vining and plant native wildflower seeds on the back 1/4 of the yard. The grass is very very happy and healthy so I don't know that I could do that by myself? I can get rid of the vining but I don't think I am capable of turning that much yard into no grass in order to get the wildflower seeds to touch the ground 😕.

Has anyone started a wildflower field? do I really have to 'turn' that entire area to dirt first?

Kinda depends how much you want results/how much you'll be upset if the vining thingy just comes back. Also what methods you are okay with.

Besides digging up all the grass, you have two main options: smothering or solarization.

I will tell you there also are grass-specific herbicides like glyphosate, but you can imagine how the "i want my yard to be wildflowers!" crowd feels about chemical herbicides.

The biggest issue in my head would just be both the grass and viney thing outcompeting the wildflowers. So that's kinda the decision. If you don't really kill the vines and grass, you can probably still get some flowers to grow if you just cut it all back and chuck seeds in there.... but don't expect much. And next year? Probably less than 1/5th of what was there the first year.

Also the wildflower mix you pick will make a big difference. You want to get the most robust stuff and you want to seed heavily if you want to get it established and not get overtaken by grass. It's important to either get a seed mix that includes a filler, or to add sand yourself. This really makes a difference in getting the seed to spread.

https://www.highcountrygardens.com/content/gardening/wildflower-seed-planting-in-fall

https://meadowlarkjournal.com/blog/...#can-i-just-throw-wildflower-seeds-on-my-lawn

https://meadowlarkjournal.com/blog/how-to-remove-grass-for-garden

my personal recommendation:
cut back vines
mow yard very short (two inches)
water yard
cover entire area with heavyweight black tarps, weight down with bricks etc. Leave it for 6-8 weeks.
Remove tarps, rake and drag up the surface as much as possible. Add whatever soil admendments you want.
Scatter seed. Seed heavily and remember to use a filler product, A little bit of playground sand is fine.
Get a big piece of cardboard or plywood and walk all over it in sections across the entire area, in order to press the seeds into the earth. (or use a sod roller etc.)
enjoy in a few months' time. make sure to weed.
 
@bliblblblbbllb that is a fantastic idea- I have done that on a smaller scale and didn't consider doing it large scale but yes, that's definitely the way!

I will run this by my landlord but he has previously told me he is not attached to the grass in any way (I put wood squares down elsewhere) AND that he is as passionate about the pollinators as I am so I think it's fine.
 
Meanwhile I'm dealing with a squash bug infestion that's killed 1.5 cucumber plants counting. I scrapped their eggs off my pumpkin leaves yesterday but those dumb fucks haven't noticed my gourds yet.
Plant a big patch of buckwheat nearby. And keep it going all season with replanting. (Or letting it go to seed and scratching them in to help germination.) It's blooms attract a parasitoid tachinid fly (Trichopoda pennipes) that lays their eggs on the squash bug and its larvae burrows into their bodies and kills them. Not a quick fix, but over a few seasons with other methods (plastic fabric mulch, hemostats for grabbing adults and a bucket for drowning them, blue painter's tape for egg removal) you can reduce populations.
Adult squash bugs overwinter in garden debris and nooks & crannies so end o season clean up and reducing those near your garden (and seek & destroy missions in early spring) helps. And when you kill an adult SB bury it: the stink attracts others.

I battled those bugs for years and got their population down to practically nothing. Then a pumpkin operation in town closed half its fields and their SBs traveled to my place. They were so outrageously bad I had to skip a year of squash and pumpkin growing to break their life cycle and make them find some other pumpkin patch. So there's that too, if they get the upper hand.
 
I think if we (we in a general sense) ever manage to get some good machine learning into a humanoid-type robot, and it's mass produced, something like Musk's Optimus robot we may have access to a labor force that could assist in restoring natural native habitats
Good news, everyone! We have the tech. we just need the drone.

I worked for a native praire restoration area. It wasn't magic. It had to be seeded heavily with the species that had been decimated, because how else are you going to bring back biodiversity when you're surrounded on all sides by farmland? It also had to be mowed heavily to replace what deer and bison would have done, hundreds and thousands of years ago. And sometimes BURNT!
 
Honestly I'm pretty impressed with how good these are for growing herbs. If anyone wants fresh or homegrown dried herbs I would really recommend trying a hydroponics kit
Hmmm nice, I am also thinking on how to get some year-round herbs in my life. Cilantro stop bolting pls.
What's the upkeep on these?

I am trying to find some good DYI project (because I am serious about getting a decent amount of herbs) but everything I find online is some gay-ass mason jar at your window BS. Maybe I should just copy whatever the indoor plant maniacs are putting up and showcasing on their social medias... at least those look like they will actually work.
 
I've never tried hydroponics because I grow all my crops during the summer, outside, with potting mix in pots or dirt in raised beds. This season has been terrible because of the transition from la niña to el niño. All the wet weather has caused a lot of problems with disease and pests, so I might start a little hydro garden inside during the fall/winter. Anyways, I looked up some stuff on YouTube and found a guy with a cheap and easy DIY hydro setup. Forewarning: this video has some loud dubstep music at the beginning and end, and he has some edits where his wife shows up scattered throughout which makes the video loud again, but otherwise it's useful info to get started, imo.
Doing this inside might require more planning/mitigating because of pests and light sources. I figure, if I can use a window sill for some natural sunlight and a grow light for the rest of the hours needed, then I might be able to grow some herbs or maybe even some little pepper plants indoors. I'll have to do a lot more research for this, but I have a while until my crops are fully harvested and processed. BTW, I have a Spider Farmer sf-2000 if anyone was wondering. They're expensive now, compared to when I got this one, so one might be able to compensate with a fluorescent tube workshop light set-up, especially with smaller herbs that will be cycled out and replaced more frequently.
 
What's the upkeep on these?
Pretty easy. I use them in autumn and winter and I only have the basic one that doesn’t have a pump. You literally just set it up (fill tank, pop plugs in, add seed to plug) and leave it. Once a week I check the liquid level and top up as needed. Once every 6 weeks or so I scrub out the tank. They’re easy enough. I think if you’ve got a pump and filter you don’t even need that level of cleaning.
Best for herbs and small things but I know someone who has full on cucumber vines going and they look fine (in a simple no pump setup.)
 
God! Damn! It!
My mom was supposed to water my plants, and generally take care of them while I was on vacation. Unfortunately, I think she didn't turn off the plant light, or didn't water my lemon balm, or something because my lemon balm is dead. One of my little succulent sprouts is gone, too, but I keep reminding myself that I have over ten of those, so it's okay.

I got one of those cute Ikea cabinets to make into a mini greenhouse, and I might look into sculpting my own planters from clay, but damnit I'm mad!!

My husband got me a hoya succulent to make me feel better. And it did.
So that's a bonus.
 
my friend brought me a bankers box lid full of cuttings and cacti and is going to drop off dirt and maybe some more cuttings and another pink princess philodendron (I have one). 😍
 
I am trying to find some good DYI project (because I am serious about getting a decent amount of herbs) but everything I find online is some gay-ass mason jar at your window BS. Maybe I should just copy whatever the indoor plant maniacs are putting up and showcasing on their social medias... at least those look like they will actually work.
Kratky method's the cheapest way I think.

Plus with herbs you'll figure out if you fucked up very quickly since they grow so fast anyway. You really have to get the nutrient blend right.
 
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