Gardening

[bintyonekenobi]

that's cause them mangy cats kept the bloody birds off them!  Same freaking plants as mine and mine had next to nothing by the time them birdies got at them (and the plants just seemed to grow and grow and grow and not have much fruit instead!)

   (Go Lisa!!!!)  homey your soil must have had too much nitrogen and not enough potash... save the ashes from your fire to dump into your strawberry patch next time.  and literally enjoy the difference.

[homey]

well it was just pure hose doodies!  Have been emptied the ashes from the fire into and HUGE pile of composting horse crap, must remember to make sure I get some of that stuff to top the gardens up then...

[Lisa]

I fleeced some covers from my vineyard boss so my matoes are gonna be right.

[Lisa]

Did you know ashes are good for cleaning glass. Just thought I'd throw that handy hint in. 

[bintyonekenobi]

    Yep, use it to clean the big glass door of the fireplace, does an excellent job.... no wonder ashes and fat, clean so well (the original soap receipe)

[Lisa]

I never actually tried it,just heard it. Hate cleaning windows 

[Bored]

i used wet newspaper. actually that's a lie i try to ignore the windows. can't remember the last time i cleaned them. have a cleaner at the mo so must get her to do them!

[zilees]

i try to ignore my windows to as even when i clean them they still look dirty   mainly from wet wee nosies
you are lucky having a cleaner to get to do them Talia

[Lisa]

I had a cleaner and a gardener when I lived in Akld. Damm good it was too.

I've got a gadget that cleans both sides of the window at the same time. Works great if I can be bothered using it.

[Mickey]

Why have I not seen the gardening thread before - maybe someone can give me some ideas what to do with my blank canvas I will take some pics over the weekend. Any ideas will be gratefully received

[bintyonekenobi]

oh yes please - I love land scaping!!

(horticulture used to be my thing, got a piece of paper with my name on it somewhere that tells me that)

But filling in a blank canvas is the best fun of all.

[bintyonekenobi]

oh and it is new Mickey, i decided we (I) needed a thread in here and it is spring now... new beginning in the plant world.


Lisa - a cleaner AND a gardener!!    Wow.

[Mickey]

I used to have a beautiful 1/4 acre paradise Collie and am now reduced to 630sm and am totally without inspiriation so any help would be appreicated

[Lisa]

I used to have a cleaner and gardener 

[bintyonekenobi]

I used to have a beautiful 1/4 acre paradise Collie and am now reduced to 630sm and am totally without inspiriation so any help would be appreicated

so send me some photos - I'll throw some ideas at you and then if there is anything you like the look of ,you can build upon it?

[bintyonekenobi]

I used to have a cleaner and gardener 

Bit of a come down.     ok, I'm nosey, so why don't you have any now? 

[Lisa]

Don't earn nearly as much as I used to. Sad state of affairs. Up there I was working 10 1nd 12 hour days 6 days a week so that justified it for me.

[bintyonekenobi]

It would certainly justify it for me too!

[Lisa]

I've just planted my tomato plants. Got some strawberry plants too but can't be bothered planting them right now. Thought you'd want to know that.

[bintyonekenobi]

indeed we do!  Well done, you are ahead of me, I haven't planted out my tomatoes yet they are still nice and warm and safe in the swimming pool shed.... hmmm.... probably ought to water them, but not with the swimming pool water, did that last year and killed them, had to start again     

I just planted some flower plants so I'll have atleast 2 very colourful garden beds until about christmas time (as long as I keep the weeds from running rampant... and the chooks ).  Also the one at the front of the house is now planted out with petunias so I expect that should look pretty ALL summer long.  As long as I can keep the dogs from digging in it, the chooks from scratching in it and the slugs and snails away too


......    something tells me I'm   for trying

[Lisa]

May the force be with you.    Sounds like you'll be busy. Mine might survive if the neighbours cats don't dig them up. I usually throw petunia's in too. They last for ages and look nice. I've got some carnation's to throw in tomorrow as well.

[bintyonekenobi]

mmmm,    carnations smell so nice they make me want to eat them

[Lisa]

   I'll send you a food parcel if you ever get that desperate. (I'd have used the shocked emoticon but it's gone)

[Lisa]

I got to say, isn't it satisfying to have the outside of your place looking nice. Give's me fuzzies to see the lawn done and the garden weeded and the new plants in. It's cold fuzzies though cos I dropped the hose to get the kink out of it then got squirted as it untwisted itself 

[bintyonekenobi]

    oops, I think I should have read this sooner.
And yes it is, and if I could just string together two fine days I might manage to get the same satisfaction     but minus the cold shower thanks   

[Lisa]

I won't have to worry about watering it today with this sucky weather 

[Zephrine]

Begonias. I got given one a couple of xmas's ago from my mother. She usually has them in hanging baskets outside. I had it in a pot outside. It flowered and did everything right, and then when it got cold, it died back, and I stopped watering it. Then when the weather warmed up again (spring) it started growing again, like they should. (ok, I know you're supposed to take the bulb out of the dirt to dry out etc, but thats too much hard work    )

Anyway, when we moved here (feb), it ended up inside on the kitchen window sill where it gets pretty warm. (nowhere to put it outside and in hindsight glad I didn't cause someone stole our crappy solar lights  ) The thing is, it hasn't died back yet! Its died back abit but still growing sort of thing. Not as huge as it gets in summer, but still alive. Is that bad for it? Should I stop watering and try to "kill" it? Or just let it carry on growing? will it affect the bulbs flowering?

[bintyonekenobi]

begonias, very pretty.
not ideal but it really doesn't matter, I certainly would not try to make it go dormant now, I'd water it well and feed it up and enjoy.  Be a good idea to put it somewhere cold next winter though so it can have a rest.

[Lisa]

personally I don't like them but I have a few in my garden that keep growing despite the fact I don't water them for months.  

[bintyonekenobi]

hows this for an interesting little snippit:  Plants need Vitamin C.
It helps them to grow, it could lead to improved crop yields.
Scientists already knew that Vit C's powerful antioxident properties protect plants from ultra violet rays and other stresses.  But new research has shown for the first time that plants cannot grow without it.

so how about that then....Along with all the ordinary s**t (literally) I chuck in all the trace elements every few years,  including extra magnesium in the form of ebsom salts because the plants just adore the stuff but perhaps I'll go get some ordinary Vit C powder and sprinkle that over half the garden and see if I can notice the difference.

Could be interesting.

[Lisa]

That is interesting. Let us know what happens.

[♦ snoopy ♥]

Vit C huh??  Just remember that if your soil is producing/making available enuf nutrients to allow the plants to already uptake maximum Vit C, then but putting it on your garden - you wont see a response.

I havent put any veges in yet, may start after this cold snap. 

[bintyonekenobi]

until sun down, I would have said "What cold snap?"

planting time October for me.  The amount of times I've jumped the gun, after a few lovely days and then it has tunred cold again, the plants sat and sulked.  Then when the weather warms up honestly, planted another lot - the second lot have grown faster and produced sooner than the first sulky lot did.

good point about the Vit c, but if some is good... more might be better 

Just thinkig about 'the limiting factor' in plant growth.   

[♦ snoopy ♥]

good point about the Vit c, but if some is good... more might be better 

   

Depends on how full the cup is in the first place.  More is not better unless you know what the level of the cup is.  IMO that applies not only to gardening, but to every living thing.

[♦ snoopy ♥]

hey collie... what 'limiting factor' are you talking about??

[bintyonekenobi]

same as for calves or any thing else.  anything can be a limiting factor, Any factor influencing growth.

Ie Environmental: light/ day length /temp/ rain /wind /competition.
&  the soil - ph /nutrient availability / disease.... etc etc

A plant will only grow up to the speed of which ever next limiting factor, stops it.


which reminds me, while digging around in the office I came across my old trade cert papers.. man I'd forgotten a ton of stuff!  Fancy learning all that stuff, just to foget most of it.   

[♦ snoopy ♥]

cheers for that Collie 

Its just like sunshade is a limiting factor but physical appearance is in 'reverse'.  Grass growing  that is next to a line of trees will look way longer than the rest of the grass.  It gives a false impression that there is more grass there, but in fact there isnt, if you go on nutrient/mineral availability.

Also adding in extra stuff to try and influence growth  may throw the whole table out of 'sync' and thus limit growth.

Dont know why I got on this tangent!!!!  sorry peoples...

Trade Cert papers!  Way back BC, I used to write in shorthand, the one the journalists use, crikey, cant do that now.....

[bintyonekenobi]

cheers for that Collie 

Its just like sunshade is a limiting factor but physical appearance is in 'reverse'.  Grass growing  that is next to a line of trees will look way longer than the rest of the grass.  It gives a false impression that there is more grass there, but in fact there isnt, if you go on nutrient/mineral availability.

Also adding in extra stuff to try and influence growth  may throw the whole table out of 'sync' and thus limit growth.

Dont know why I got on this tangent!!!!  sorry peoples...

Trade Cert papers!  Way back BC, I used to write in shorthand, the one the journalists use, crikey, cant do that now.....   

my fault - I mentioned limiting factors, kinda nice knowing we understand each other though      (we could confound the rest by using hort /agri key words/sayings that we've picked up along the way and they would wonder what language we are speaking  but we aren't that mean)


To quote:  Also adding in extra stuff to try and influence growth  may throw the whole table out of 'sync' and thus limit growth.

Yep, in the vege garden I am way to mean with my money to soil/foliage test so it is just a guessing game, a wait and see game.

back in the good ol school days - I failed shorthand typing!     I think I was the only one in the class to do so 

[♦ snoopy ♥]

I'll chill out now....   yeah who tests on a vege garden anyways... 'cept perhaps market gardeners. 

Collie, I got 100% in shorthand up to a speed of 100 words a minute but I couldnt write a single sentence now..

[bintyonekenobi]

I just pulled out about 1/2 a ton of waist high puha from my raspberry patch, even though it was freezing I worked up a sweat glow and covered myself in dirt (as you do when the plant finally gives and you go flying backwards!     ) Something got up my nose as I sneezed and sneezed and sneezed and sneezed and ... get the idea?  But my Raspberrys will appreciate the removal of their over winter shelter (I hope... thinking about that wind) 

And Snails!  MONSTER Snails!!! are over running my garden, I lost count of how many I stood on, and some were so hard shelled that simply standing on it wasn't enough - I had to stomp!!!  (And I aint light)  Must go back out there and sprinkle slug bait around.. my veges won't stand a chance otherwise.   

[Mickey]

My lillies are all poking their heads up , today I gave them a good coating of compost. The soil is very dry here, hope that was the right thing to do. I read somewhere that they don't like manure.

[bintyonekenobi]

Id soak the soil under the compost first, that way it will stay dampish.  The compost on top of dry will make it stay dry.  But otherwise, a layer of compost is ALWAYS a good thing.   
(if you were asking me that is )

[Mickey]

Thanks Collie we did give them a good soak first, so should be all good

[bintyonekenobi]

   Then they ought to be happy little campers   

[bintyonekenobi]

in my vege garden, today I planted in seeds of Peas, Carrots, Sweetcorn and parsnip. Plants: green beans & butter beans;.  tomatoes (finally pulled them out of the swimming pool shed / greenhouse where I started them off), celery and the pumpkins and cucumbers (to go with the brassicas and lettuces already planted out).

The raspberries are starting to bud up some flowers and the strawberries are smothered in flowers as are the blueberries... altogether very pleasing to see.

We had sunshine almost all day today, it clouded over about 6 pm, it was such a nice day, a bit breezy but not bad...... roll on summer! 

[Mickey]

Sounds Awesome Collie, we have been having frosts an 8 degree one last week and 4 degrees yesterday and they are prediciting more frost Sunday. Its not on !! doesn't the weather man know its almost November!!! Our grape vine has been frosted, all the new growth on my new rhodo.

I splashed out and brought myself a beautiful clematis a bell shaped pink, used to have a mauve one in my old garden. Went to plant it and I can't believe I did this  snapped it off at ground level trying to get it out of the pot. I am gutted  Any hope of it shooting again???

[bintyonekenobi]

oh no, that sounds so beautiful too!!

There is only one way to find out - plant it. put in a stick or two around it to keep it safe and hope for the best.  Some plants will, some wont, being deciduos it will all depend on how much stored energy it has in the root ball.

[♦ snoopy ♥]

bah!  my garden got nothing in it yet!!!

oh except calf bedding from last year and cowmuck mountains from the 'shed inspection' cleanup!!!
Last cow calved today...
so hoping now to get cracking on the garden...

compulsory will be peas and strawberries, tomatoes, spuds and lettuce, carrots.

[bytey]

Ive go tlots in my garden...weeds and dog poos

[bintyonekenobi]

  well you'll have a fine time eating them!!