What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Monique]

That takes indeed weeks. Don't despair yet, if the leaves are still nice and smooth, not wrinkled, it should be okay. Maybe take a picture every few days and compare them to see the changes.

You were right! A week ago I noticed the outer segments of the first bud started separating and now today it is starting to look like flower I think it is a big groggy though, but hopefully it will open further within the next few days (and hopefully the other buds will follow the example).

A break-through, it's the first time in many years that the bud has opened. Thanks everyone for the advice, I think it helped. I spray the plant now several times a day and I've added some fertilizer when watering. I'm still planning to put them in a glass container. What should I do with the dying leaf, cut it off or let nature take it's time?

 

[turbo]

Pulled all the garlic today. I'm taking a break in the AC with a beer. In many cases, the Russian garlic bulbs were bigger than the German (quite a reversal!). I have bunched and hung up the German garlic, then I'll have to tie up and hang the Russian stuff. Hope it gets cooler out there.

 

[Ms Music]

Speaking of garlic, I have been meaning to ask... My garlic turned out very mild. It is probably because I grew it in pots, and one was crowded, but I am not positive since I have never grown it before. The question though is for saving seed to plant. If ALL the bulbs are mild, by planting the bulb in fall, am I doomed to have mild garlic next year? Do I just eat all of the bulbs and order more? Or if grown properly this winter, will it be hot next year?

And for the reference, this is what I have: http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1299/26

 

[Evo]

You were right! A week ago I noticed the outer segments of the first bud started separating and now today it is starting to look like flower I think it is a big groggy though, but hopefully it will open further within the next few days (and hopefully the other buds will follow the example).

A break-through, it's the first time in many years that the bud has opened. Thanks everyone for the advice, I think it helped. I spray the plant now several times a day and I've added some fertilizer when watering. I'm still planning to put them in a glass container. What should I do with the dying leaf, cut it off or let nature take it's time?

That's wonderful Monique! I am afraid to try my hand at orchids. I also love gardenias, but every time I buy one, the blooms turn brown and fall off instead of opening, and I'm afraid it will be the same with orchids.

 

[turbo]

Speaking of garlic, I have been meaning to ask... My garlic turned out very mild. It is probably because I grew it in pots, and one was crowded, but I am not positive since I have never grown it before. The question though is for saving seed to plant. If ALL the bulbs are mild, by planting the bulb in fall, am I doomed to have mild garlic next year? Do I just eat all of the bulbs and order more? Or if grown properly this winter, will it be hot next year?

And for the reference, this is what I have: http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1299/26

I don't know if mild begets mild. My hardneck garlics are remarkably consistent in taste and quality, though. The German garlic has very large cloves, and is a bit milder than the Russsian, which has lots of smaller cloves and a slightly more pungent odor/flavor. If you can get 'hold of Russian hardneck garlic, I recommend that you try it. It yields well, and you don't have to reserve as many bulbs for replanting, because there a lot more cloves/bulb than the German garlic (for instance). I wish had information for you, but I only have experience with these two varieties.

You can buy cloves for planting from Johnny's Selected Seeds starting in early fall, but it will be quite expensive, so you'll have to save some of your bulbs to re-plant the next fall. I plant just before the ground starts getting frozen and mulch heavily with oat straw. It seems to work. Garlic needs no more attention than that, apart from removing the scapes when they curl over, and the central swelling has emerged. The tips of the scapes are tough and stringy, but the bases of the scapes are wonderful grilled or in stir-fries.

Good luck.

Nice graphic for the fair this year. Many people have no clue what scapes are, so some education is in order. At any rate, by the time this Fall fair arrives, scape season is months behind us.
http://www.mofga.org/TheFair/FairNews/tabid/634/Default.aspx

 

[Ms Music]

All right, I will replant the bulbs and try it, unless anyone else has experienced this. It is very possible that the large bulbs will be hotter, but I won't know until I try them! I am saving them for last though, probably for planting. I put one bulb into 3 pots (3/3/and 4) and the pot with 4 bulbs never had scapes, were small, and browned up EARLY. If they all come out mild again next year, I will buy more (or bribe one off the friend that gave me this one in trade of ghost seeds). But this time I think I will try putting them in the ground. I thought pots would work better in case we had a very wet summer, I could put the pots under the eaves to dry up. But we didn't get quite as much rain as the past few summers, so rot hasn't been an issue this year.

I am thinking next year I may branch out into two varieties, there is one called Music that sounds good. Guess why? Oh, it happens to produce well in the Pacific Northwest. Also the long storage. http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1302

 

[turbo]

When I pull garlic, I hang it in a shaded place by the fronds. There are still nutrients in those green leaves which can be absorbed as the fronds dry out. If your winters are not cold, you can wait until late December or so to get those cloves in the ground, and cover with a good layer of oat straw. I try to keep the cloves separated by about 6" or so, so when the bulbs develop, they won't be crowded. That might be tough, depending on what kind of pots you have. Window-boxes might work out OK, if you don't have any garden-plot. Another wrinkle - the soil in my garden-spot was rocky with lots of clay, so I tilled in composted manure from a dairy farm. The next year, I tilled in coarse sand, too, and the yields went up (sizes of the bulbs). Still learning... Another tip: as you are separating the gloves in preparation for planting, keep an eye on any cloves that seem misshapen and reserve those for cooking. It is not uncommon to have double-cloves in one skin and if you plant them, you'll end up with one bulb for each half, and they crowd each other.

Good luck

 

[ZapperZ]

You were right! A week ago I noticed the outer segments of the first bud started separating and now today it is starting to look like flower I think it is a big groggy though, but hopefully it will open further within the next few days (and hopefully the other buds will follow the example).

A break-through, it's the first time in many years that the bud has opened. Thanks everyone for the advice, I think it helped. I spray the plant now several times a day and I've added some fertilizer when watering. I'm still planning to put them in a glass container. What should I do with the dying leaf, cut it off or let nature take it's time?

Congratulations!

As for the dying leaf, don't do anything to it until after it has done with its flowers. After that, you should cut off the dying/drying leafs. Make sure you use a sharp, clean scissors prevent transferring any diseases to the plant.

You may also cut back on fertilizing after the flowering is done, such as every other week or so.

Zz.

 

[Ms Music]

My garlic turned out very mild.

I take that back! I had a part last weekend, and they were all garlic lovers. I took out a bulb, complaining about how mild it was. Well, this small bulb wound up only having 4 cloves, and they were nice and fat. AND HOT AND SPICY. Everyone raved about how amazing my garlic was! The only problem is that after 3 days of eating delicious garlicky food, my stomach decided to burn a hole to China. It is actually TOO spicy for me. But OHHH SO delicious!

I will be expanding my garlic plot this winter.

Turbo, I now see what you mean. Nothing compares to home grown garlic. The mild ones were probably the ones that never threw scapes.

 

[turbo]

Turbo, I now see what you mean. Nothing compares to home grown garlic. The mild ones were probably the ones that never threw scapes.

Home-grown is the only way. I didn't grow enough this year, and there are too many people wanting some for themselves. If I double up next year (intended) I will have to save more for planting this fall, and the people clamoring for more will have to buy their own.

 

[turbo]

People keep wanting me to "start" them growing garlic, but that takes a lot of cloves, and the lady who runs the local artisan butcher shop wants more and more. She can't keep it in stock, now that her customers want it. I'll have to double up (at least) this fall, and even at $5/#, she will take all we can deliver. She is selling single bulbs of garlic for a dollar, and it disappears out of her cooler.

 

[Ms Music]

Hey, my friend just gave me one bulb last year. 10 cloves. I will have to rely on the grocery store for winter use, but in a couple years I will have surplus for giving away to family and friends. Hoping to plant 3 bulbs this year. Have them try it out and expand every year. They can do it if they want to. And in the mean time, you can get more $$ per bulb for seed than food. :)

Actually, I also had planted 3 cloves from a grocery store bulb that had sprouted, and I just cracked into one of those. Pretty darned tasty there too, so they have options.

But it is more fun to be the garlic man and provide the store and have her brag about you.

 

[turbo]

But it is more fun to be the garlic man and provide the store and have her brag about you.

Tracy is a monster in that regard. She wants all our extra garlic, and I'm thinking that we should at least double our output this year. She can sell it all, no problem.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/madison-kniffins-new-menu-to-feature-serious-pizza_2010-10-02.html

A couple of years ago, I stopped into the local elementary school where the "community garden" is, to give a friend some garlic. There was another woman there that I had had known for years, and I gave her "starter" garlic, too, and a very pretty young lady came running up to me saying "you're the garlic-man"! so she cleaned me out of my extra garlic. I hope those 3 ladies made wise use of those cloves. I can't afford to keep supplying them over and over.

 

[turbo]

The cabbage whites have been out in force for a couple of weeks now, so we have to be very diligent about soaking the broccoli in salt water for an hour or two or be resigned to getting some extra protein with our vegetables.

 

[Evo]

Finally, my tomatoes have put out little green tomatoes that have not yet been eaten by squirrels. Unfortunately, the squirrels seems to be able to levitate.

I have not had one single bell pepper set. After almost being killed by squirrels several times earlier in the summer, then the heat wave, it's been a bust. It's about to bloom again, we'll see. The eggplants put out blooms, but not one has set. I have never had a year where bell peppers and eggplant didn't set.

So far the only success is the jalapenos. They've been putting out all year.

Hopefully we get an Indian Summer and I get something.

 

[Monique]

I have recently acquired such weird plants... a few days ago I came back from a vacation and found one of my zebraplants had rolled up all its leaves into bizarre cigar rolls: apparently it was thirsty. After a thorough watering all the leaves unrolled again.

The last few days I noticed another plant, a Calla Lily, whose leaves were dripping with pure water. I inspected the ceiling, but it was dry. Now Google tells me the plant expels excess water through guttation.

Another plant, a prayer plant, folds up it's leaves every night to go to sleep (someone else's timelapse: ).

What's next?

 

[Andre]

. After a thorough watering all the leaves unrolled again.

Now Google tells me the plant expels excess water through guttation.

Another plant, a prayer plant, folds up it's leaves every night to go to sleep (someone else's timelapse: ).

What's next?

Kruidje roer mij niet

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

Venus vliegenvanger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjKmqcQi-Q

 

[Monique]

Kruidje roer mij niet

You're reading my mind, because that was on it I remember seeing it in a botanical garden once, but had forgotten its name. I find it a really clever plant, it's on my list now.

I'm not sure about the insect-eating plants, I feel it's creepy if it would be eating my spiders.. although mosquitos or craneflies would be welcome prey.

 

[turbo]

Sundews are wonderful plants. They attract bugs with their juicy-looking leaves, trap them and eat them. Look for them in poor soils and atop wood.

 

[Evo]

We're due for a hard freeze. After a summer of no produce, my plants are full of babies. Figures.

Here is the ghost pepper I grew from a seed Rhody gave me summer before last. The plant is gorgeous. I had cut it way back because last year it had started to grow weird stunted leaves. Now it even has baby ghosts. I dedicate this plant to Borek and Marzena.

The next is a Giant marconi pepper bush. Those peppers are babies, can't imagine how big they'll get, given the chance.

The last is my bell pepper bush.

 

[Astronuc]

We're not near freezing yet, but the temperature was 40 F this morning. The blueberry bushes and maple tree are changing colour from green to red.

I'll have to pick the remaining peppers soon.

 

[turbo]

We have brought in almost all the peppers, and my grand-niece and grand-nephew are here picking pumpkins. She is 3 and he is 2. The back of the 4x4 is filled with pumpkins.

It's about time to bring in the butternut squash, too. Kale and broccoli are doing well, though the cucumbers are on their last hurrah.

 

[NeoDevin]

Pumpkin pie anyone?

 

[Evo]

Nice pumpkin!

 

[Astronuc]

Gardening season is over in our area. We had a hard freeze last night, and my pepper plants have come to their end.

 

[turbo]

Still gardening here. Today, my wife and I planted 3 wide beds of garlic. 35' long each. We planted 2 beds of really fat German garlic and another of Russian garlic. These are hard-neck varieties and they keep really well. Tomorrow, Duke and I will trundle down there with oat-straw, so I can mulch those beds. This is Duke's ATV, and it has a nice cargo bed. When I cart the straw down to the garden, he will happily sit on "his" seat until I coax him to join me. He doesn't like getting off his buggy.

 

[dlgoff]

Still gardening here. ...

Same here; sort of. Here's my strawberry bed yesterday before the hard freeze last night.

http://imageshack.us/a/img31/421/img0045fh.jpg

I felt sorry for the little crowns.

http://imageshack.us/a/img687/9505/img0047iw.jpg

So I clipped them off to save them.

http://imageshack.us/a/img203/5579/img0049ef.jpg

Now what?

 

[Evo]

Nice strawberry bed!

Here are hints for wintering over both ground and container strawberries.

http://strawberryplants.org/2011/11/overwintering-strawberries/

 

[turbo]

My neighbor had his daughter splitting garlic bulbs for planting, and she filled a 5 gallon pail with cloves. Unfortunately, she worked inside where it was warm, and when he wanted to plant the cloves today, almost all of them had sprouted. Not good.

I haven't mulched my garlic yet because I want to get some seriously cold weather to chill the soil. I'll mulch after a few ~20 deg nights. Snow might be even better. Garlic needs to be kept cold and dark to prevent sprouting. I'll have to check my stocks. I have more Russian red than I need, and that propagates very quickly, since each bulb can contain 8-10 cloves. In contrast, many of the German white bulbs only have 4 (or even 3) large cloves.

All that sprouting will set him back probably 2-3 years. I might be able to save a season for him with my spare Russian garlic.

 

[dlgoff]

Nice strawberry bed!

Here are hints for wintering over both ground and container strawberries.

http://strawberryplants.org/2011/11/overwintering-strawberries/

Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I needed. In the first picture you can see I have straw waiting to overwinter the bed but I have never tried to keep potted crowns over the winter.

 

[turbo]

but I have never tried to keep potted crowns over the winter.

Good luck with that, dlg. Some plants keep well if you have heat and light, though I have not had great luck with that. Our last house was dark and cold, and this one is no better.

 

[trueo]

Pumpkin pie anyone?

How can that squash be too big ? Seems like the bigger the less tastier it becomes. In my area, the biggest one's diameter is only around 15-17cm, this is sort of long enough.

 

[jim mcnamara]

We froze - -7C last night. Al that is left is some sad thyme, droopy sage and ratty spearmint. They persist on into December usually.

 

[NeoDevin]

Orchid Help!

I've been way too busy over the past couple months, and haven't been taking very good care of my orchids. I've pretty much neglected them completely, until I looked at them today and saw how poorly they were doing. Any advice on how to save them? See the attached photo, from left to right they are:
Paph. St. Swithin
Some variety of Phal that I got in the discount bin at home depot
Cattleya Aurantiaca 'Orange'

Since the photo I've removed the dead leaves, and watered them (the plants, not the dead leaves). What else should I do?

Thanks.

 

[Astronuc]

I've been way too busy over the past couple months, and haven't been taking very good care of my orchids. I've pretty much neglected them completely, until I looked at them today and saw how poorly they were doing. Any advice on how to save them? See the attached photo, from left to right they are:
Paph. St. Swithin
Some variety of Phal that I got in the discount bin at home depot
Cattleya Aurantiaca 'Orange'

Since the photo I've removed the dead leaves, and watered them (the plants, not the dead leaves). What else should I do?

Thanks.

May Zz have mercy on your soul.