What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

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Gardening is a cherished activity for many participants, with roots tracing back to childhood experiences and family traditions. Organic gardening methods are favored, emphasizing the use of natural techniques over chemicals. Current gardening efforts include cultivating perennials like blueberries and raspberries, alongside plans for vegetable and herb gardens. Participants express a desire for more space to garden, reflecting on the challenges of apartment living and the joy of nurturing plants. The discussion highlights cultural differences in gardening practices, particularly contrasting American and Spanish lifestyles regarding home and garden ownership.
  • #2,821
Ms Music said:
Evo, they look great!

Do you have any specific tips for starting from seed? I have been having fun with this jalapeno (its blooming for the 2nd time, and has many marble sized peppers) so I may save one pepper next time I go to the asian market. I don't use them often (only in the few asian recipes I cook), but something clicked inside my brain and said must... have...MORE pepper plants! And now I want a serrano, since that is what I make my tom kha gai with. Maybe a birds eye, also, because they look cool.

Geez, for a girl that rarely uses peppers, three plants sounds like too many. D'ya think? ... NAH!
I prefer to start them in jiffy 7 pellets. You can buy a little seed starter mini greenhouse like this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004RA48/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Just remove the pellets you don't need and save them for another time.

I've had 100% germination using the pellets. Once your seedling has 3-4 sets of real leaves (or when you notice roots starting to appear poking through to the outside of the pellet, it's time to transplant. All you do is plop the pellet into a pot or into the ground depending on your situation. No need to disturb the plant. The pellets contain all of the food the seedling needs and help keep the right amount of moisture and they're clean (no bugs or diseases).
 
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  • #2,822
turbo said:
Ms Music, you should consider getting a couple of Hungarian wax chili plants, too. These are the chilies that are used to make paprika. They are a little spicy, but not real hot, and they are large enough to stuff with hamburg, rice, sauce, cheese, etc. A real fan-favorite for back-deck BBQs.
Absolutely. These are my favorite and grow very well here. I didn't grow any this summer but I plan to next year, as I'll have more "good soil" then. I make salsa with them. Early Girl tomatoes, White Onions, Hungarian Wax peppers, and salt canned in pint jars.
 
  • #2,823
Oh yum... Okay four. Make that 4 pepper plants.

Those Jiffy pellets sound great, I will use that.

My back desk will be so crowded this winter! Or maybe I should get some grow lights at home...
 
  • #2,824
Hi Evo, Don, Ms Music,

Here are my plants about a foot tall, with tons of blossoms on them. You can only see two of the three plants I have, and the heat, a little miracle grow, and careful watering about every two days has done the trick.

Evo, I hate to burst your bubble, but your little plant still has about 60 or more days of growing to get to the size to produce peppers like mine, remember I started three of these plants back in Feb of this year. You may just make it in less if it stays hot like it has been however. I lost two of my three plants and had two that survived from last year. Yes these things are hard to keep alive, much less produce peppers.
They seem to succumb to all kinds of problems indoors, but hardly any outside.

No worry though, if your plant does not produce flowers or peppers, simply cut it back, strip the leaves leave it indoors and don't let the roots dry out, it will produce fruit next year like mine are doing now. Even if the leaves get infested with bugs, fungus, etc, strip them, and in the spring after Memorial day plant outside in the sun and water every two days. Mine basically started from sticks about a month and a half ago, and look at them now. Give them a shot of miracle grow too, that seemed to help a lot, but not until plants are mature (thick stems).

After being through this drama for two years I am beginning to wonder if these things could ever grow by themselves in the wild, the odds of getting the right amount of light and water seem very low. They appear to wilt and almost die on a whim.

If anyone following this thread wants some seeds from these little buggers I will dry some and send them to you. A PM (and a ton of patience to grow them) is all that is all that is necessary, along with about 45 days of 80 degree F or above weather. Once the stems are almost as round as a pencil you should be able to produce flowers and peppers. Good luck...

Rhody... :biggrin:

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8493/bj1.jpg

[PLAIN]http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/6818/bj2oj.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5062/bj3u.jpg
 
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  • #2,825
It's no problem Rhody, I have a room of all windows with western and southern exposure that is the perfect winter greenhouse. I've been gardening for over 40 years. I've also done landscaping and won awards. I know my way around plants.

Certainly it would have been nice to get my peppers started earlier, but I managed to winter all of my peppers over last winter and picked bumper crops indoors.

PlantsRme.
 
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  • #2,826
Evo said:
It's no problem Rhody, I have a room of all windows with western and southern exposure that is the perfect winter greenhouse. I've been gardening for over 40 years. I've also done landscaping and won awards. I know my way around plants.

Certainly it would have been nice to get my peppers started earlier, but I managed to winter all of my peppers over last winter and picked bumper crops indoors.

PlantsRme.
I know you know your way around plants Evo, that wasn't my intent with my comment. I get antsy every year wondering how many of mine will survive. I mentioned this previously, but I think I will try red habenero's (around 800,000 scovile) next year instead. If they prove much easier and faster to grow I will switch to them. The amount of work for the payoff with the ghost's is really not worth it. The novelty factor is enticing, but is has worn thin with me. I hope your ornamentals mature, and produce colorful tiny peppers. A pair of them makes for a great entry way decoration.

BTW. I have already gotten a PM for seeds and will send them to all of you when I dry out some peppers this year. If you do ask for some, and produce peppers, promise me you won't unleash them on others until you have victimized yourself first. Depending on how sensitive your taste buds are you may find them at the limit of what you can take, for others they are only mildly uncomfortable. Those people have a history of using hot stuff tolerate the heat pretty well.

Rhody... o:)

P.S. What is up with PlantsRme ? I googled it, but couldn't connect the dots, so to speak.
 
  • #2,827
rhody said:
I get antsy every year wondering how many of mine will survive. I mentioned this previously, but I think I will try red habenero's (around 800,000 scovile) next year instead. If they prove much easier and faster to grow I will switch to them. The amount of work for the payoff with the ghost's is really not worth it.

I had two Red Savinas growing in my apartment a few years ago. The plants lasted for around 2 years each, and produced a couple decent crops of peppers. This was all with only a west facing window and balcony. You should have no trouble with them.
 
  • #2,828
Rhody, your plants are so bushy! I'm jelly bean! (jealous)

I should have asked you this yesterday, but I completely flaked on this VITAL half of my question. Evo did a fantastic job at sprouting the seed, but you also had to do something right in collecting and saving the seed. Since my serrano seed will be coming from grocery store peppers, I will need all the help I can get. What is the best way to collect and save pepper seed?

Evo: I just now noticed your "degree" line says gardening. How cool! (I am just a LITTLE slow...)
 
  • #2,829
Ms Music said:
Rhody, your plants are so bushy! I'm jelly bean! (jealous)

I should have asked you this yesterday, but I completely flaked on this VITAL half of my question. Evo did a fantastic job at sprouting the seed, but you also had to do something right in collecting and saving the seed. Since my serrano seed will be coming from grocery store peppers, I will need all the help I can get. What is the best way to collect and save pepper seed?

Evo: I just now noticed your "degree" line says gardening. How cool! (I am just a LITTLE slow...)
Ms Music,

Nothing special actually, just carefully separate the seed from the inside pepper pulp (remember wear gloves for all hot pepper varieties), let dry on a paper towel for awhile, then store in a cool dry place, I usually stick them labeled in small zip locks. I have been told they will keep for a couple of years this way. The seeds I sent Evo were over a year old I believe and the came up just fine. Once my hot peppers get branches about the thickness of a pencil, they are pretty hardy. NeoDevin reported he got two crops out of his variety, it will be the same for me too this year. I will try to keep them for as long as they survive and continue to produce flowers and peppers. I expect these will be hotter than last year because it has been a warmer summer. Only time will tell though.

Rhody...
 
  • #2,830
I should add that I would likely have gotten more, but they died of neglect when I was way too busy. Two weeks of 4th year undergrad exams, combined with extremely dry +40C weather does a number on one's potted plants.
 
  • #2,831
I have to make a garden confession: I kind of like junipers.
 
  • #2,832
lisab said:
I have to make a garden confession: I kind of like junipers.
Are you collecting the berries to make gin? Just askin'
 
  • #2,833
turbo said:
Are you collecting the berries to make gin? Just askin'
I had no idea how gin was made. But this got my attention.
The minimum bottled alcoholic strength for gin is 37.5% ABV in the E.U., and 40% ABV in the U.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin"

However I think I'll stick to my wheat beer.
 
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  • #2,834
turbo said:
Are you collecting the berries to make gin? Just askin'

Nope, not a big fan of gin.

dlgoff said:
I had no idea how gin was made. But this got my attention.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin"

However I think I'll stick to my wheat beer.

40% alcohol?! No wonder it made me so sick that one time I tried it :redface:!
 
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  • #2,835
So if it isn't for the gin, is it so that you can yell Monty Python quotes at it?

(Of COURSE the bush brought forth juniper berries, its a JUNIPER BUSH!)

Or do you think it is just a nice shrub? ;)
 
  • #2,836
Ms Music said:
So if it isn't for the gin, is it so that you can yell Monty Python quotes at it?

(Of COURSE the bush brought forth juniper berries, its a JUNIPER BUSH!)

Or do you think it is just a nice shrub? ;)

:smile:

I just like their texture...kind of pokey and sharp, and the colors can be beautiful. I'd say a juniper is a very nice shrub, indeed :wink:.

Why do such nice-looking, well-behaved plants get no respect from the gardening establishment :confused:?
 
  • #2,837
lisab said:
:smile:

I just like their texture...kind of pokey and sharp, and the colors can be beautiful. I'd say a juniper is a very nice shrub, indeed :wink:.

Why do such nice-looking, well-behaved plants get no respect from the gardening establishment :confused:?
At one of my homes I added lovely variegated prostrate junipers as a landscaping accent in my large beds. I may have pictures stored away somewhere. The only thing I miss about owning a home is the landscaping.

:cry:

http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Juniper_VarProstrata.html
 
  • #2,838
  • #2,839
lisab said:
Although I feel weird about plants with "prostrate" in the name, I do like that one.
Around here, we call the wild varieties "ground hemlock" because they really hug the ground and spread out. They are great cover for partridges (ruffed grouse) in the winter, at least until the snow crusts over.
 
  • #2,840
My garden is doing terribly, with all the rain and humidity. Late blight has hit my tomato plants and is decimating them. A similar disease is badly damaging my cucumber plants, meaning that my pickling season will be slim-to-none. We escaped late blight last year, though my neighbors garden was badly damaged. There's nothing to do except harvest as many tomatoes as possible and sauce them, then pull up the diseased plants and burn them, to minimize the chances of reinfection.
 
  • #2,841
turbo said:
My garden is doing terribly, with all the rain and humidity. Late blight has hit my tomato plants and is decimating them. A similar disease is badly damaging my cucumber plants, meaning that my pickling season will be slim-to-none. We escaped late blight last year, though my neighbors garden was badly damaged. There's nothing to do except harvest as many tomatoes as possible and sauce them, then pull up the diseased plants and burn them, to minimize the chances of reinfection.
Oh no, did you get enough tomatoes earlier to can sauces and salsas?
 
  • #2,842
Evo said:
Oh no, did you get enough tomatoes earlier to can sauces and salsas?
We have had a few batches of fresh (raw) salsa, and I am doing my best to sauce the rest. I won't get gallons of marinara, like last year, but we'll get by. It's just sad to have to resort to store-bought stuff over the winter instead of produce from our garden. It's not a matter of cost, but of quality.
 
  • #2,843
I'm a Newbie here but just thought I should drop by and say "Hi" as gardening is one of my passions... bit abnormal considering my age Hahaha... My "Garden" if you could call it that (more just hundreds of pots of assorted sizes containing various plants I have found interesting) Is doing quite well, I am from sydney Australia, and we are just entering spring, thus a lot of the seeds and tubers (as well as dormant trees) I planted in middle-late winter are finally peeping through, I am trying to select my apples (all grown from seed) to see which saplings can survive our summers here... those are the ones I will rootstock!

Wondering as well if any of you guys have had any luck at root-stocking a tree on the main stem... and having the rootstock create some lateral branches?

Ouch Turbo... Same thing happened to my bananas... but instead of sauce, I made banana bread!
 
  • #2,844
Gardens are usually their own reward with the healthy workout they provide, you don't notice how much of a workout you get when you're doing something you enjoy.

Of course when you see those first blooms, then the first set fruit, not to mention the excitement of finding full grown vehetables to pick.

I was a really weird child, my mother would take me to visit the elderly couple that had a small farm at least once a week during the summer, and when Pa Tingle would take me out into the fields, and I'd move leaves back and find a squash, you'd think I'd just found a ticket to Disneyland!
 
  • #2,845
My two habanero plants just started producing fruit in the last couple of weeks. Now that the season is more or less over - we're having cool days and nights - I don't see that many will ripen. This time about 4 years ago, I had a couple of hundred peppers on one plant.
 
  • #2,846
Look at my gigantic fig! This may not be impressive in hotter areas of the world, but this IS Seattle, where figs don't grow well due to lack of long hot summers. We also had the coldest summer in about 50 years. So I am impressed.

398465011.jpg


It tasted absolutely fantastic. :biggrin:
 
  • #2,847
Ms Music said:
Look at my gigantic fig! This may not be impressive in hotter areas of the world, but this IS Seattle, where figs don't grow well due to lack of long hot summers. We also had the coldest summer in about 50 years. So I am impressed.

398465011.jpg


It tasted absolutely fantastic. :biggrin:
Those are awesome! I grew up in Houston, TX, and we had a large fig tree in our backyard. I miss fresh figs so much! All you can get here are dried or old, moldy, shriveled "fresh" ones that cost a fortune and have no taste.
 
  • #2,848
Ew. Anyone that sells figs like that should be shot on site!

Well, at least reprimanded...

I didn't know what a fresh fig was most of my life. I thought they were nasty, vile dried things in fig Newtons. About 5 or so years ago, my brother got a huge crop and shared some. Not long after that I bought my own tree. They must have splits in them, and/or have honey dripping from the flower. Then you had better have a bigger stick than me, because guaranteed I will be fighting you off. I don't share much when they are this good! (and so few)
 
  • #2,849
I've never had real fresh tree-ripened figs. Judging from the difference between fresh tree-ripened peaches and store-bought peaches, I expect that I would love fresh figs. I managed to get a couple of tiny plums off one of my 2-year-old trees on the weekend, and they were incredible. Very sweet and rich, with just a touch of tartness. I want more!
 
  • #2,850
Ms Music said:
Look at my gigantic fig! This may not be impressive in hotter areas of the world, but this IS Seattle, where figs don't grow well due to lack of long hot summers. We also had the coldest summer in about 50 years. So I am impressed.

398465011.jpg


It tasted absolutely fantastic. :biggrin:
Impressive! I've seen figs on trees, but not 3 inches diameter - not even in Houston.
 

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