All Purpose (from all over the world) Gardening Thread:

[PhoenixHope]

So, I've just sometimes talked about gardening in another thread, but decided this subject could probably use its own thread.

Anyway, right now not much to say, except NONE of the old Sunflower seeds I planted sprouted, but again they was a couple years old so I wasn't expecting much. However, from the same year I got ten red cherry tom plants and three yellow cherry tom plants. But to be fair, tom seeds will (in my experience) germanate after a long time anyway.

But the thing is in that other thread I mentioned that my pink rosebush was dead - turns out that was incorrect. Some of the old branches are dead, but apparently some of the plant has survived because I can see some pink flowers.
(So it looks like I still have two rose bushes after all.)

Alas, the gooseberry plant didn't even seem to consider putting out green leaves this year let alone anything else and the blueberry plants apparently rotted completely away over the winter - I cannot find any sign of them at all.

And sadly it looks like ONLY three strawberry plants are going to live - originally I thought at least six had made it through the winter alas that apparently isn't the case. Though directly between the house and the garage I seem to have a row of wild strawberries that have at least two dozen ripe ones on them. However, the berries are tiny and feel weird (haven't been brave enough to try and taste one yet) but they are strawberries just slightly weird ones as near as I can tell.

However, in the kinda almost pisses me off category is that out of completely fresh seed I only got one cuc. Seriously, I planted four year old squash seeds and got three plants. Planted six fresh cuc seeds and barely got one plant.

So, RJD how goes it with the Chia pet?

[huggle]

Congrats at rose #2 =) Great news!
Tomatos germinate under pretty much every circumstance. They are more a weed than a veggie.

Can you post a pic of your wild strawberries? You say they look odd - are they by any chance not tipped like normal strawberries but round as balls? In that case they are a sort that's bred for decorative purposes only. They are not poisonous but completely without taste.
If they are the tipped sort they are real strawberries and if they are anything like nour European wild strawberries they'll be even tastier than their big cousins =)
At any rate, if you can post a pic we'll be able to identify them.
All strawberries belong to the rose family (rosacea) and to my knowledge that family sports not a single poisonous species.

[PhoenixHope]

Tomatos germinate under pretty much every circumstance. They are more a weed than a veggie.

Don't I know it. In my area toms are supposed to be an annual (aka a plant that grows in our warm time but dies never to return during our cold time), but there's been several years that they've seeded themselves and come back in warm weather. Once it was a big red type tom and then last year (and I think the previous one, but yet no sign of any so far this season) it was more than a dozen little yellow cherry tom plants that appeared from no planting efforts of my own and in little cracks in my concrete front yard/driveway.
(And I'm almost certain this year I had a tom plant starting in one of the pots with my Cadiums - I picked it out and it looks like a tom plant so I babied it and have now put it in my garden so now it's wait and see.)

As for the rose I think it might be being choked to an extent by native weeds. There's one that is a grower/climber but doesn't generally grip tightly just lightly wraps around anything with its vine topped off by not ugly heart shaped leaves - its annoying when it gets in spaces you don't want it in but mostly harmless. However, there's some others that grab much tighter - one year said kind of plant killed some of my toms and cucs because of said tight grip. It kinda looks like poison ivy, but I don't think it is. Still since I'm highly allergic I don't tend to get to close and even my dad who's generally helpful while not allergic to ivy is afraid the rose bush (and the blackberry bushes right next to the rose) would scratch him to death if he got in there trying to cut out the "bad" annoying plant.

Can you post a pic of your wild strawberries?

Alas, I cannot, while I could take a pic of them with my cell phone I have no way to get said pic from my cell to my PC. Weirdly in this case I'd probably be better off with a regular camera because then I could take pics and scan them onto my PC.

However, while I opted against eating one I think you are correct that they are decorative strawberries. They are small but almost perfectly round and actually feel a bit like slightly hairy marbles.

Of course since I've never planted decorative strawberries (what the hell would I want with them - I want strawberries for eating purposes) I'm left with a bit of a mystery of how they seeded themselves in the nice little trench between my house and garage (and I mean trench not ditch, just a slightly sunk-in area to direct rainwater between the buildings rather than into them). For now I'm going to blame birds.

Sadly in other news it looks like the sweat peas will not be the answer I need for my full sun and drought likely front flower bed, because the ones I planted seem to be climbers instead of spreaders. And the seedlings keep grabbing on to each other - I have had to unwind them several times already so I suspect if I put them out and if they could handle the sun and the drought (note I'm not in a drought, but the garden is on a hillside so it doesn't retain rainwater like a flat bed will) they would still likely die from choking each other to death. *sigh*

I guess it's back to trying sweet William again, or buying a whole bunch of phlox - shockingly years ago I purchased (locally) two big pots of phlox (one purple and the other lightly blue) and one has done really well (the blue) and the other (purple) is still hanging in there but hasn't been as prosperous. And the sweet William I started from seeds one year and even left in pots to somewhat coddle through their first winter died almost instantly when placed in said garden. Of that batch of thirteen (thirteen was all of two dozen that survived the first winter) only one lasted most of the summer before it too gave up and died. *sigh*
(And honestly while the phlox is pretty in spring it is only really pretty in spring - plus buying the big pots wasn't exactly cheap.)

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Can you email the pic to yourself from the phone? I do that a lot.

And this thread reminds me that I completely forgot to start my Kermit Chia Pet. When my computer died, I had to substitute my old laptop-- in doing that, I moved Kermit out of the way and forgot about him. This weekend for sure!

[PhoenixHope]

^^ Can you email the pic to yourself from the phone? I do that a lot.

Good idea, but alas no. I don't have the internet on my phone - so the best I could do would be to text the image.

But it matters not anyway - the other day the yard was mowed and while the plants are still there (I think) the little red berries was not.

[PhoenixHope]

GRR-ARG!

Well, I lost all three teeny tiny yellow tom plants - one clearly had it's little leaves eaten away by bugs and no leaves means no plant. So I put some bug dust on the rest - hell, I put the bug dust on just about everything after that. Alas, the other two yellows got knocked over by something, and I know they was knocked over and not eaten because the dead brown leaves was still attached to the knocked over stem.
(I suppose ultimately this is my fault, because some of the toms including on the yellows was not big enough to really be put in the garden, but it also seemed cleared they'd done as much as they was going to in the starter pots. Still most of my reds are doing fine it's just the poor yellows that got screwed.)

Also, one of the red ones (in a completely different area) has been knocked over by something and is to far gone to save. Another was bent, but is very clearly still alive so it wasn't bent badly. On the plus side here, one of my big giant red cherry plants had lost a limb that I've been trying to save. Perhaps it's not worth it, because by the time I found the limb the leaves was wilty and brown-y, but I couldn't not try because in the time that poor limb had just been laying there it had already been trying to sprout roots, so I gathered it up and planted it. Good news is that it looks like it's perking up, but most of the present leaves are shot, so the only real hope here is that it'll put out new leaves and continue on.

And it looks like once again there will be no cabbage and lettuce for me. DAMN BUGS!
(Seriously, I tried dusting them, but they was probably too far gone by the time I did so.)

And alas one of my white cadiums is apparently not going to return this year.

PS - I was wrong, even after a good mowing over them the plants and little round berries was still there.

[RJDiogenes]

Aw, I'm sorry your plants got so beat up. What's been knocking them over? Some kind of animal, I presume. Maybe you can save the yellows by putting them back in pots for a while.

[huggle]

tomatos are pretty tough. There's a chance that even if the tips dry off they might still grow new twigs from further down.

What bugs do you have in your garden? Over here in Bavaria there's nothing that eats tomato leaves. The only insects interested in them are white flies.
We often have problems with brown fruit and leaves (caused by the same fungus that causes potato blight) and sometimes when they are kept too dry the fruit get brown and parchment-like at the blossom end.

[RJDiogenes]

I can't believe I forgot Kermit again. I'll have to leave myself a Post-It.

[PhoenixHope]

What's been knocking them over? Some kind of animal, I presume. Maybe you can save the yellows by putting them back in pots for a while.

Unsure, but it was probably the wind - these toms was planted up off the ground so it wouldn't have been normal wildlife walking on/around them, and being up higher does might wind the likely source.

Alas, by the time I saw the yellows they was too far gone to save.

tomatos are pretty tough. There's a chance that even if the tips dry off they might still grow new twigs from further down.

Alas, no. When I checked (and saw that I'd lost the other two as well) even the stem of that plant was completely gone.

What bugs do you have in your garden? Over here in Bavaria there's nothing that eats tomato leaves. The only insects interested in them are white flies.

The biggie (for toms) is what I think is called a tobacco worm - it's basically a big green alien looking worm that eats tomato leaves like it's manna from heaven.

But there are others maybe that don't bother my toms, but ants are a big problem for some of my flowers.

Then there's lady bugs, though they tend to only "bug" elephant ears of which I have none this year.

Oh and (of course) lets not forget slugs, though they ain't as big a problem for me as some around these parts.

As for what's eating my cabbage/lettuce - I'm not sure, but they leave big ol' holes in the leaves and completely eat anything that tries to get going in the center.

We often have problems with brown fruit and leaves (caused by the same fungus that causes potato blight) and sometimes when they are kept too dry the fruit get brown and parchment-like at the blossom end.

So far (*crosses fingers and toes*) the only problem of that nature I've ever had was blossom end rot on several toms one year.
(Though that was probably my fault, because that year it was a bit rainier that summer than normal and yet I kept watering plants that year as I do every year, and some plants (possibly the toms too) simply didn't like that much water.)

[Chatty]

Cutworms are bad on tomatoes too. They'll cut them right down. I've heard that putting a large nail in the ground next to the plant will reduce that. And as for the big alien caterpillars, we also call them tomato worms.

I haven't had a garden in years, too lazy to keep one up, but we used to grow some veggies in summer.

Could be cabbage worms getting after your cabbage and lettuce.

[ghost07]

If you've any rabbits or skunks in the area, they'll go for your cabbages and lettuce, too...to get rid of those cutworms and other wormy invaders,(aphids, too) I spray the leaves with soapy water (dish liquid works best), and to get rid of the slugs, place a tin in the garden with beer in it...it seems slugs are alcoholics and they go straight to the beer and drown themselves in it. I use an aluminum pie tin for that.

[PhoenixHope]

Okay, I think something may be eating them after all.

*sigh* So I started with three yellow tom plants and ten red and now all the yellow are gone and somehow I'm down to five red. Seriously, at least on three of the red I'm as lost as to what happened to them as I am one of the yellows. Two of the reds (well, three) got snapped at the base, which was probably wind (but two was too far gone by the time I checked to try and save the other I tried to fix - read buried deeper) the other three have simply vanished.

At least of the five left three are big enough to withstand wind and are also probably too big for something to disappear with a quick bite. And I'm hopeful the other will recover because it wasn't exactly tiny itself.

PS - The one I'd previously tried to save where the limb had broken off the plant is probably not gonna make it, because the leaves have all turned brown now. On the other hand, the stem is still a rather bright green.

Could be cabbage worms getting after your cabbage and lettuce.

That sounds about right, because the holes and bites are honestly too small for it to be rabbits and/or skunks, which alas we do have 'round these parts. Also, deer - damn deer tracks was in my garden before I'd planted anything in said garden. I'm think electric fence, though alas it's unlikely they'd wiz on it, and be a bit expensive, but between the bugs and the damn deer I'm starting to get a wee bit ticked the hell off!

and to get rid of the slugs, place a tin in the garden with beer in it...it seems slugs are alcoholics and they go straight to the beer and drown themselves in it. I use an aluminum pie tin for that.

I'd never heard that, but if the slugs ever get in my hosta garden, which was wrecked recently anyway, because there was a bit of a leak coming from under my house and the men who fixed it... Well, I'm not mad at them, because they fixed it for free and even I can admit the place where my hosta garden is was the closet place to the leak. But I was upset enough when one of my hostas peaked out from the ground and then died at the beginning of the season anyway. Now I'm pretty sure three more are dead - on the other hand, two have already recovered and it looks like at least two others still might recover. So perhaps I can simply divide two or three of the healthy ones to replace the trampled ones.

ANYWAY, I know slugs like hostas so ever since planting I've tried to keep an eye out for slugs. Though my plan was to sprinkle cig ash all over the hostas, I've heard that keeps slugs away.

Also, my poor pink rose keeps trying, but that damn windy weed is starting to seriously choke it out and I cannot get that damn windy weed completely gone, because of thorns not on the windy weed but on the rose itself. *sigh*

[RJDiogenes]

One of my Mother's neighbors uses some kind of ultrasonic device to keep animals away from his garden. I'm not sure if it also works on bugs, though, and I have no idea how expensive it is.

[huggle]

Wow! looks like we Europeans are lucky. We don't have tobacco worms or any other pests that eat tomatos. Perhaps that is because we have hardly any plants of the nightshade family.
In WW2, potato beetles were introduced to Germany - it's uncertain if that was accidentially or deliberately - and in the 70s they were a real problem. Here in the country, school children were sent into the fields with buckets to collect beetles. We rather liked it: no school =) But we also pitied the pretty beetles.
They have almost gotten extinct now, but these last years they seem to have recovered a little, propably thanks to organic farming. Quite a lot of native birds eat them, though.

We have rather a big problem with a special sort of butterfly whos caterpillar specializes in cabbage, though. From white cabbage to Brussels sprouts, nothing remotely cabbage-y is safe from them. The caterpillars are really pretty: green with a yellow stripe and tiny black dots. The butterfly is quite plain: a dirty-white with one small black dot on the back wing.


Against slugs we use beer traps. German ber is a good deal stronger than American one. It has about twice as much alcohol. This makes the traps rather effective. If you have a big garden, you can also keep ducks: they eat slugs. Unfortunately, they also eat young lettuce, parsley and strawberries...

[RJDiogenes]

Kind of funny that the caterpillars are prettier than the butterflies.

[huggle]

poetic justice

[RJDiogenes]

There might be a kind of inverse "Ugly Duckling" fairy tale in there.

[PhoenixHope]

Well, I also forgot to mention caterpillars, though while they eat a bit they aren't really a big problem. Another biggie that I didn't mention is spider mites and there's probably more than a few others I'm still forgetting.

So, yeah, you guys are lucky.

[huggle]

ah, spider mites. We have these, too, but they are only a threat when it's a hot and dry summer. We have 2 sorts: red ones that are quite harmless but leave bad stains on your clothes if you accidentially sit on them, and brown ones that cover plants in webs and suck out all the juice. The latter are almost impossible to get rid of.

There are little cardboard sticks you put around the plants. They are treated with a chemical that's supposed to enter the juice of the plant and poison the spider mites. It's possible that a few mites laugh themselves to death but that's pretty much the only effect these sticks have...

[PhoenixHope]

There are little cardboard sticks you put around the plants. They are treated with a chemical that's supposed to enter the juice of the plant and poison the spider mites. It's possible that a few mites laugh themselves to death but that's pretty much the only effect these sticks have...

I don't know about the mites, but that made me laugh my ass off.

Though, yeah, it does suck ass!

I also didn't mention Centipedes though while we do have some I'm not sure they alone eat enough to be noticed in my garden. But that's the whole thing - other than the tobacco/tomato worms (which can eat a whole plant by themselves) most wouldn't eat enough to be noticed, but put them all together...

Basically though my point is we gots all kinds of pesky buggies that raid our gardens here in the US and sometimes *looks around* I think they work together to kill our potential food. Though I'm starting to attract (I think) some preying mantis's to my little area, though they'll eat too I think from what I've heard they prey on some of the others, so...

[Chatty]

Oh yeah, the praying mantis eats anything it can get its front pincers on.

[huggle]

Over here we have 2 sorts of centipedes. The flat ones are useful for gardeners: they are either predators or eat dead plants.
We also have a round sort that looks like a bit of wire. These are not popular with gardeners as they gnaw holes into beets, potatos and carrots. But usually there are only so few of them that they don't cause major damage.

My orchids suffer from cochineals Unfortunately, there's no native insect that eats those. So twice a week I have to wipe them off and kill them.

[PhoenixHope]

I don't know about "good" centipedes all I know is that we have lots of centipedes and at least a few millipedes (I'm not sure if spelling is correct).

I just know every time I see one they just creep me out because they look so weird.

[Chatty]

You're spelling is correct. Centipedes are the flat ones and millipedes are the round ones.