Gardening: (2016– )

[KennethT]

Going to germinate and plant a bunch of this this weekend... Fresh greens in a few weeks! The only problem is that I'm running out of space under the lights!!!

[heidih]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

I've decided that I'm going to keep the old curry tree - I'm going to replant in a small cup and prune all of the branches off. Maybe it'll reset itself that way.

 

No patience huh

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

 

No patience huh

well, I'll have my new curry tree to keep me busy while I see if I can revive the "old" one.

 

BTW - I know you have experience growing lemongrass - mine isn't doing so well.  The foliage is kind yellowish, but the stalks are green, and it's not putting out new shoots...  I don't know whether the yellowish foliage is being caused by photo bleaching (the light above it is really powerful) or if it's a nutrient (namely nitrogen) deficiency.  I'm using a well balanced nutrient formula, but most grasses are strong N feeders, so I just changed my nutrient balance to give it more nitrogen... if that doesn't help, maybe I'll move it so it doesn't get as strong of a light - but from all I've read, it loves full sun (even in the tropics)... although this is contrary to what I saw in Indonesia - one of our hotels had a whole herb garden on their roof and it seemed like they kept their lemongrass in the shade and it looked nice and healthy... so I'm kind of at a loss.  Thoughts?

[heidih]

35 minutes ago, KennethT said:

well, I'll have my new curry tree to keep me busy while I see if I can revive the "old" one.

 

BTW - I know you have experience growing lemongrass - mine isn't doing so well.  The foliage is kind yellowish, but the stalks are green, and it's not putting out new shoots...  I don't know whether the yellowish foliage is being caused by photo bleaching (the light above it is really powerful) or if it's a nutrient (namely nitrogen) deficiency.  I'm using a well balanced nutrient formula, but most grasses are strong N feeders, so I just changed my nutrient balance to give it more nitrogen... if that doesn't help, maybe I'll move it so it doesn't get as strong of a light - but from all I've read, it loves full sun (even in the tropics)... although this is contrary to what I saw in Indonesia - one of our hotels had a whole herb garden on their roof and it seemed like they kept their lemongrass in the shade and it looked nice and healthy... so I'm kind of at a loss.  Thoughts?

 

 

I propagated it from grocery store  lemongrass in a green house with no artificial light and our glass panels are lightly white-washed so bit lower light might be an easy variable to play with. No feeding other than some Osmocote we put in the gallon pots .when we stuck it. It was for sale to Botanic Garden guests. Never vibrant green in the small pot. . The greenhouse was not humid or very hot - no sweat on the brow. When I had it at my cottage in the ground it got more grassy looking but that was at a more mature stage. I do not coddle grasses and they do like a bit of leg-room. - they are "free spirits". I realize your situation is quite different in a NYC apartment!  Oh and Indonesia - full sun in a tropical climate is a different set of variables.

[KennethT]

@heidih Actually I have 3 variables I can adjust: nutrient formula/concentration, light intensity and watering frequency (aka how dry do the roots get between waterings).  Lately, I've been treating lemongrass like most other plants - when you grow them in coco coir you let the pot get to half the weight between full saturation weight and the wilting point.  But, maybe it is like my soon-to-be housemate, morning glory (aka water spinach) which you want to keep wet... obviously not puddles wet, but wet for coco coir - which is already very free draining.

[dcarch]

8 hours ago, KennethT said:

 

------------------------------------------- The only problem is that I'm running out of space under the lights!!!

 

Shame on you. You lazy bum!

You know how to build more lights , multi-layer farm, and high-rise interior gardening.

 

dcarch  

[heidih]

26 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@heidih Actually I have 3 variables I can adjust: nutrient formula/concentration, light intensity and watering frequency (aka how dry do the roots get between waterings).  Lately, I've been treating lemongrass like most other plants - when you grow them in coco coir you let the pot get to half the weight between full saturation weight and the wilting point.  But, maybe it is like my soon-to-be housemate, morning glory (aka water spinach) which you want to keep wet... obviously not puddles wet, but wet for coco coir - which is already very free draining.

 

My inclination is not water spinach wet. Not familiar with growing in coir so that is a more draining substrate it seems.  I did it in mass purchased garden soil with perlite. Some plants like wet feet for bit. No nursing appreciated. But different conditions - different results. Let us know how it goes. Your efforts and results are appreciated.

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

 

Shame on you. You lazy bum!

You know how to build more lights , multi-layer farm, and high-rise interior gardening.

 

dcarch  

My tent is only 5x5 and I'll be moving in a few months (hopefully). Once I move I'll have a lot more space to spread.... And have another type of garden in the works once we're settled!

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

 

My inclination is not water spinach wet. Not familiar with growing in coir so that is a more draining substrate it seems.  I did it in mass purchased garden soil with perlite. Some plants like wet feet for bit. No nursing appreciated. But different conditions - different results. Let us know how it goes. Your efforts and results are appreciated.

Coir is fascinating. It's free draining but like a sponge - the surface of each coir particle dries fast so it promotes good aeration, but holds onto a huge amount of water in its core which roots can access.

 

[heidih]

Roots do  like oxygen - they are the life of the above ground party. Why we like all those worms and bugs critters that aerate soil.  

[TicTac]

10 hours ago, KennethT said:

My tent is only 5x5 and I'll be moving in a few months (hopefully). Once I move I'll have a lot more space to spread.... And have another type of garden in the works once we're settled!

You just can't wait to start your living wall garden, eh!?

 

My lemon grass this year was fucked from the get go (excuse my french).  The nursery I ordered from (first - and last time, ever) - Richter's - sent me what literally appeared to be a lemon grass stalk purchased at a grocery store, stuck into a tiny pot.

 

Now months later it has 'fanned' out and basically looks to be about 6-7 stalked all growing in a very straight fan type shape.  Never seen anything like it.  I have always been used to clumps of lemon grass stalks (like 30+ stalks in a large plant 'clump') so I find this beast quite odd.

 

On the flip side, the little shit (literally, a single twig of curry leaf plant) has flourished, as pictured above. 

[KennethT]

20 minutes ago, TicTac said:

You just can't wait to start your living wall garden, eh!?

 

My lemon grass this year was fucked from the get go (excuse my french).  The nursery I ordered from (first - and last time, ever) - Richter's - sent me what literally appeared to be a lemon grass stalk purchased at a grocery store, stuck into a tiny pot.

 

Now months later it has 'fanned' out and basically looks to be about 6-7 stalked all growing in a very straight fan type shape.  Never seen anything like it.  I have always been used to clumps of lemon grass stalks (like 30+ stalks in a large plant 'clump') so I find this beast quite odd.

 

On the flip side, the little shit (literally, a single twig of curry leaf plant) has flourished, as pictured above. 

No, I can't wait!!!  I've watched more Patrick Blanc videos on YouTube than I care to admit....  I've also been researching the idea of putting a few orchids in there... but I need to undistract myself.... first focus on getting the renovation done and moving.  Then think about vertical garden... damn.

 

That's surprising to hear about Richters... they usually have a good reputation.

 

I did a little more virtual digging into lemongrass in its native habitat.  According to nurseries selling lemongrass plants in Singapore, lemongrass likes full sun (even down there) and moist, but not wet soil.  So maybe photobleaching is not my problem.  I just changed the nutrient solution to provide a bit more nitrogen - hopefully that will help... I should know more in a few days.

[TicTac]

Too funny.  I agree, orchids would certainly add an extra wow factor.  Especially some of the more exotic 'dangley' varieties.

 

I too had heard good things about Richters.  Unfortunately I think they were quite overwhelmed with the order volume due to the pandemic and were foolishly sending out sub-par specimens.  After a painful back and forth with multiple CS agents, I finally tracked down someone who was able to help me (and ended up refunding half the order - which was less than ideal as I still had to resource some items, but better than nothing).

[chromedome]

Although my garden was late getting started this year, I have over 12 lbs of greens blanched and frozen for winter as of tonight's batch. That's fair-to-middling for a relatively small plot (we've been eating them too, of course), and I still have chard, kale, turnip tops and beet tops going flat-out. With a bit of luck, I'll be able to nearly double that before I put my garden to bed for the winter.

Getting lots of pattypans now, and I might see a few ripe tomatoes over the next week or two. Getting some kind of clear cover over them to act as a bit of a cold frame will be a priority at some point in the next couple of weeks. Yellow beans are doing okay now that they're established, but they were also late getting in and slugs ate pretty much the entire first planting. My late planting of peas is shaping up nicely, and I should get 4-5 weeks' harvest from them before the cold kills 'em.

[heidih]

16 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Yellow beans are doing okay now that they're established, but they were also late getting in and slugs ate pretty much the entire first planting. My late planting of peas is shaping up nicely, and I should get 4-5 weeks' harvest from them before the cold kills 'em.

 

Great harvest. So you are not out at night with a flashlight plucking slugs and salting them in a bucket. My friend Majella used to delight in that. Her vegan daughters shudder 

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, heidih said:

 

Great harvest. So you are not out at night with a flashlight plucking slugs and salting them in a bucket. My friend Majella used to delight in that. Her vegan daughters shudder 

I simply haven't had the time; I've been working long hours to keep the wheels on. My GF starts her new job on Tuesday (what would formerly have been a call center position, now it's work-from-home) which will ease things somewhat. I do manage to get up to my community plot most days for at least an hour, and do slug patrol whenever it has rained (not often, this summer) but when the plants are still just seedlings the slugs can demolish an entire row in one night.

[heidih]

56 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I simply haven't had the time; I've been working long hours to keep the wheels on. My GF starts her new job on Tuesday (what would formerly have been a call center position, now it's work-from-home) which will ease things somewhat. I do manage to get up to my community plot most days for at least an hour, and do slug patrol whenever it has rained (not often, this summer) but when the plants are still just seedlings the slugs can demolish an entire row in one night.

 

At my cottage which was on a huge lot, I never had a snail or slug unless imported on the bottom of a purchased plant. The guy before me was a massive gardener-talkin 40+ rose varieties etc. He used the carnivorous snails and whatever they did I stil years later reaped the rewards. Amazing.

[gfweb]

Tomato hornworm with parasitic wasp eggs on its back.

Cool.

[chromedome]

This was my first year on this particular plot. My bit is right up against the fence so there's slug habitat there and immediately outside, which I'll find ways to deal with by next year. I'm confirmed for the same plot (actually three contiguous plots) for next year, so I can do some prep this fall to improve the soil, minimize pests and weeds, etc.

 

This year was brutal at what's normally my main garden out in the country, where my stepdaughter and her family live. It was a perfect storm, garden-wise...a heavy rainstorm that lasted a whole weekend and washed away/drowned most of my first planting, a late frost that killed most of the survivors, and then the coronavirus lockdown that prevented me from replanting at the optimal time. Add in a shortage of gas money through the summer that minimized my ability to weed and re-plant, a persistent drought that prevented them from watering the plot (their well went dry, and there's not as yet a rain-catchment system in place)...you get the picture. Not a good year out there.

 

So pretty much everything I've harvested this year came from my community garden plot, which has better soil and a catchment system for watering. We'll see what next year brings. 

[heidih]

Truly cool.  Thos caterpillars grow at an astonishing rate. 

[heidih]

@chromedome a hard taste of what farmers constantly deal with - life and weather happen outside our control. Does increase one's respect.

[chromedome]

2 minutes ago, heidih said:

@chromedome a hard taste of what farmers constantly deal with - life and weather happen outside our control. Does increase one's respect.

Oh, I know. My ex's (maternal) family were farmers, and I've known many over the years. My father also homesteaded during my teen years, so I have an admittedly modest first-hand taste of it. I'm sure you've heard the popular joke about the farmer who won millions in the lottery:

TV Reporter: What do you plan to do with all that money?
Farmer: (scratches head) I dunno....keep farming till it's gone, I guess...

 

 

[heidih]

1 minute ago, chromedome said:

Oh, I know. My ex's (maternal) family were farmers, and I've known many over the years. My father also homesteaded during my teen years, so I have an admittedly modest first-hand taste of it. I'm sure you've heard the popular joke about the farmer who won millions in the lottery:

TV Reporter: What do you plan to do with all that money?
Farmer: (scratches head) I dunno....keep farming till it's gone, I guess...

 

 

Yes grandparents on both sides were farmers in Europe before the war. Paternal side was solo female as husband died young. She had to lease out most and tend the remainder herself. 

[chromedome]

My ex's family on both sides were Mennonites who'd been in Russia for the previous couple of centuries. Catherine had brought in the Mennonites, mostly from Germany, as a sneaky way to speed the pace of agricultural reform. She had tried and failed to get the peasants to adopt more modern farming techniques, but trying to coerce them was not working well.

 

So instead she brought in foreign farmers who already used the latest techniques. It was a win-win...she got an immediate boost in productivity from the new arrivals, and the stubborn mouzhiks got to see first-hand what an impact updated methods could bring. I don't care how stubborn you are, no farmer worth his salt can watch a neighbour take a bigger crop off the same land for more than a few years without following suit.

 

Of course they mostly remained in their own German-speaking enclaves, and their German-speaking churches, which made them an easy target after both World Wars (and especially the Revolution). Like the Jews who shared many of the same stretches of countryside (mostly in modern-day Ukraine and Belarus) a large percentage were slaughtered or driven out in the course of that turbulent 30 years beginning with the Revolution. A few hardy souls, including one branch of my ex's family, persisted. She has distant cousins in Siberia to this day, though most of the survivors emigrated to Germany when that became an option in the 90s.

[heidih]

Mine (maternal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube_Swabians Fields outside of town. Big spreads. Language and culture retained. They def knew how to farm and gardened madly when they emigrated to the US. .Propagating plants and dividing plants, seed collection - it was just how I grew up. Every spare bit of space in an urban setting was used for plants. Conscription and camps - it was not pretty.