🧑‍🌾 Gardening 🧑‍🌾 Gardening in General

[CFC]

That does make so much sense, dammit well it's my first go at overwintering so I'll know not to prune if I overwinter one again, I quite like growing from seed though, I get excited when they start to sprout, it took so long this year as we had a very cold start to spring

They'll be less pests now I've pruned it right back though, the only pests I had this year was them tiny little flys that love the soil, I put some small yellow fly traps made for plants on thete that helped alot, other years I had allsorts of bugs and small green caterpillars, that creeped me out so I put them plants outside and didn't grow anymore for a few years, till this year actually if it happened again I'd of quit as I hate bugs lol, the flys was bad enough lol

A little tip for controlling fungus gnats is to put a thin layer of sand/grit on top of the soil, and to water from beneath. They don't like dry soil so will generally avoid a pot treated like that.

FWIW 90% of the time they're completely harmless, especially if you add a little fresh biomatter/compost to the soil every year for them to feed on - that way they won't want to eat the plant roots.

 

[LittleSeagull]

A little tip for controlling fungus gnats is to put a thin layer of sand/grit on top of the soil, and to water from beneath. They don't like dry soil so will generally avoid a pot treated like that

That's them yes fungus gnats, and such a good tip I never knew that, I'll get some sand if they don't go once the soil has dried out, apparently I should only water once a month or so, only when completely dry, I was giving them tomato feed from beneath them but once or twice a week I'd also give water from the top but not the tomato feed as it can damage the stem etc so I poured that on a plate that the plants sat on

Thanks, I'll be doing that from now on

 

[CFC]

That's them yes fungus gnats, and such a good tip I never knew that, I'll get some sand if they don't go once the soil has dried out, apparently I should only water once a month or so, only when completely dry, I was giving them tomato feed from beneath them but once or twice a week I'd also give water from the top but not the tomato feed as it can damage the stem etc so I poured that on a plate that the plants sat on

Thanks, I'll be doing that from now on

If you're growing your chillis indoors in the warm and by a bright window, then just water them normally (a cheap water meter can help you avoid over-watering). You don't need to hibernate them - that's really only for those keeping them in cold/dark conditions or outdoors in cold climates, as they'll rot in soggy cold soils.

They should refoliate fairly quickly over the next few months, and be in tip top form for when the days grow longer and flowering's triggered again. If you're lucky, they'll start flowering even over winter and you can harvest chillis all year long.

 

[LittleSeagull]

They should refoliate fairly quickly over the next few months, and be in tip top form for when the days grow longer and flowering's triggered again

Really, I didn't think it would get leaves and start growing again now it's a twig, I took it out the windowsill and put it on the top of a mini fridge I'm storing in the living room, I'll put it back in the windowsill then but it does get cold in there as I'm mostly in my bedroom so if and when we put heating on when its winter, which ain't often as it costs to much we don't put heating on in there, will it still grow leaves back if it's not warm but it's in the window?

 

[CFC]

Really, I didn't think it would get leaves and start growing again now it's a twig, I took it out the windowsill and put it on the top of a mini fridge I'm storing in the living room, I'll put it back in the windowsill then but it does get cold in there as I'm mostly in my bedroom so if and when we put heating on when its winter, which ain't often as it costs to much we don't put heating on in there, will it still grow leaves back if it's not warm but it's in the window?

As long as you can keep the temperature in the teens and above (at night) it should be fine. Here's a (slightly wonky) shot of mine atm - it gets down to about 14-16C at night in the conservatory, but still over 20C in daytime (especially if there's even a splash of sun on the glass):

 

[LittleSeagull]

As long as you can keep the temperature in the teens and above (at night) it should be fine. Here's a (slightly wonky) shot of mine atm - it gets down to about 14-16C at night in the conservatory, but still over 20C in daytime (especially if there's even a splash of sun on the glass):

Yeah mine gets down to about the same temperature are you in the UK too?

 

[CFC]

I am indeed

 

[PtahTek]

Do you guys not have conservatories out there? It's kinda like having a greenhouse, but attached to the house as a spare room. Gets insanely hot in summer and freezing cold in winter lol.

Oh, I see.
Yes I just never heard of it called conservator.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Time to clock in y'all have a great day.
One

 

[paltatomate]

Any plant identification app you can recommend?
After the first heavy rain and the sunny weather those last two days, a lot of new stuff is growing in my yard. I would like to see what it is before pulling it out.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Any plant identification app you can recommend?
After the first heavy rain and the sunny weather those last two days, a lot of new stuff is growing in my yard. I would like to see what it is before pulling it out.

You could try 'Seek', available from your favourite app store.

 

[paltatomate]

I was potting a plant and while looking for a spot with good soil, I found this avocado and imediatlty felt the urge to brag. Two huge trees, and this is the second one they produced since I moved here 4 months ago. It's hard to get the trees to bear fruit.

 

[paltatomate]

anyone growing their own potatoes?
i discovered a potato plant in my yard, unfortunately in a spot where it has little chance to survive long-term.
but it gave me the idea of burying some yummy ones in a better spot and grow my own.

 

[Bleaney]

I love ferns and have several varieties of fully mature plants growing to the front and back of my house.

Over the last few years I've noticed that the ferns to the front develop a lot of brown patches as the spring turns to summer, which spoils their appearance. At first I put it down to poor soil or underwatering, but this year has been so wet here, I've been able to rule out underwatering.

I've finally discovered that the problem is spider mites. And I have a huge infestation. I've been experimenting with buying and introducing spider mite predators. Very early days yet, but I'm going to continue with this method, and hopefully in time, it should at least control the numbers of damaging spider mites that have now reached an incredibly bad stage.

Has anyone else had problems with spider mites, and have you been able to control the problem, at least to some extent?

 

[Blowmonkey]

anyone growing their own potatoes?

occasionally, but it takes up a lot of space, it's easy though, I usually go for things that you can't find easily in the supermarket, like truffle potatoes, love it when they're purple or pink or whatever, some disease resistance is good to look out for as well, new strains usually are bred for blight and phytopthora resistance and whatnot, so you won't have the plants dying prematurely or have to dig up mushy taters. you can just put store bought ones in the ground as well, works fine, never had trouble doing that really

Has anyone else had problems with spider mites, and have you been able to control the problem, at least to some extent?

spidermites, thrips and fungus gnats are my worst enemies, I usually just kill them with pyrethrins, but only indoors. they stay clear of the allium or mint family, could just interplant a bunch of allium ursinum and peppermint inbetween the ferns as a sort of barrier, both do well in shade. btw, what kind of ferns are they, full shade or sun? mites like the sun, they go for the most succulent leaves first, just spray the top of the ferns with a little water every other day, mites hate water. Might just be too hot regardless of mites, it's been wet here too but the ferns that get a little too much sun get dry leaves very easily.

 

[paltatomate]

occasionally, but it takes up a lot of space, it's easy though, I usually go for things that you can't find easily in the supermarket, like truffle potatoes, love it when they're purple or pink or whatever, some disease resistance is good to look out for as well, new strains usually are bred for blight and phytopthora resistance and whatnot, so you won't have the plants dying prematurely or have to dig up mushy taters. you can just put store bought ones in the ground as well, works fine, never had trouble doing that really

The space is an issue to take into consideration. Though a neighbor told me the other day he grows his potatoes in a barrel. I would have asked him more about that, but we both were in a hurry. Good point about the disease resistance, thanks! And just planting bough ones is what I did once, and it worked. Unfortunately it was only one potato that delivered 5 new ones, then we had to move to an apartment.

 

[Blowmonkey]

a neighbor told me the other day he grows his potatoes in a barrel.

I've always wanted to do this too, the tire method, just keep stacking on top of new growth, but seen conflicting reports, never got around to doing it yet. Some say it works great, others say it just grows a whole bunch of smaller potatoes, which is nice too actually if you're going for that. This year I couldn't even plant anything it was so wet, I did found a forgotten potato plant too btw, was from 3-4 season ago even? pretty much a weed, easiest stuff ever to grow really, doesn't need much attention

 

[paltatomate]

I think I had a little potato plant, too. At least the gardener told me it was potato. No idea, he mistook an orange tree for a mandarin tree, so I don't trust his botanical knowledge 100%. But he comes with the house.
Anyway, the heavy winter rain killed the poor potato (onion) and also the cherry tomatoes. But now that spring is in the air I want to get serious with veggie planting.

 

[MedicinalUser247]

Just don't eat the potato fruit. It's fruit are mildly hallucinogenic, but not not in a good way.

 

[paltatomate]

Just don't eat the potato fruit. It's fruit are mildly hallucinogenic, but not not in a good way.

Whats the fruit. there's the plant and the poptato, and okay, the plant is really something you shouldn't eat.
Or even eat potatoes that are green.

 

[Blowmonkey]

he mistook an orange tree for a mandarin tree, so I don't trust his botanical knowledge 100%

Hehe, I mean, they do look alike.

spring is in the air

ohh you're on the other side of the equator, yeah it's time to start preparing now, I usually get so excited the first couple of warm days of spring, but I really need to make a sowing calendar, because I always mess it up throughout the season. Usually start my tomatoes and chilis way too late, should preferably start those inside like 2-3 months before spring even, they germinate and grow so slow in the beginning, chilis anyways, tomatoes depends on the variety, but a headstart makes all the difference with them, extends the growing and fruting season.