OMG, I posted to the wrong thread! LOL! What a maroon!
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #10
LOL Wrightie. Seriously. You have me laughing out loud. THANK YOU!
Me too. I liked going to the thread and seeing your post there too! LOL! Hi everyone-too tired to post much! Been busy busy busy!!!!!!!!!!!!
La, I got some yarrow seeds one time and I had a tree out of it didn't know at the time and I planted it thinking it was a flower, well as time went by this thing got huge and I had it planted in a bed by the garage, too small for a tree lol, I finally figured it out it was a tree so I dug and dug and finally got it out, a friend came by and told me it was a cherry tree! By then it was to late I mulated it so bad it wouldn't come back it took me a long time to get it out too! I hated that LOL I thought they said a weeping cherry, do the have to be grafted you think? Anyway I don't have it any more :(
Well I'm trying the 'Monty's Joy Juice' anyone tried it? It's enough for 200 gal. jugs this should hold me until I get my compost tea going :) I'm going to try this stuff on my seedlings of tomatoes and peppers downstairs tonite I didn't use the full 1/2 tsp. in a gal. But would love to hear if anyone has had good results with it. I'm so used to using my seedling food and ran out and the miracle grow, no more mrical grow for me :)
That serpentine weeping cherry is lovely! Personally, I don't understand people who can spend big bucks on shoes or purses bags (I get corrected on that one all the time by my fashion conscious friends)... I'd rather have a tree that won't be out of fashion next season!
Lala, I think you had some other seeds in that tray before you sowed the peppers! I haven't seen any "volunteers" like that among my seedlings. :-)
My big news -- DH told me this morning that the pepper seedling eating mouse is no more! *victory dance* He is in charge of the seedlings shelves this week while I'm visiting my folks. Had to remind him to use hydrogen peroxide on the little ones, but other than that I think he remembers how to water them... it's not exactly rocket science! Hmm, maybe i'd better not stay away too long? LOL
Critter, if you can if you don't have any critters walking around and really mine don't bother it, put one of those little packs of decon that you can pick up at wally world by your peppers they will go for that instead of your peppers, I tried it out in the garage and it worked! Those little pests will go for that before anything it's like a treat to them I guess lol I have cats and dogs around and they don't bother them I would just watch the kids if there are any young ones around :)
Hi all,
I did my first transplants into the garden today! yay! Red Rocket Snaps, Yvonne's red salvia and Jubilee Gem Bachelor buttons.
They are almost all sown heavily in a 3" square pot that is 4" deep. Here are some babies.
Then they look like this
Then they grow to this
Then I either transplant them to their own 3" pot, or I take them to the garden to be planted. This is a 6" pot of Bachelor Buttons. I up end it, and get the whole thing in my hand and just break off a chunck and put the rest back in the pot.
Then from that chuck, I keep pulling them off one plant at a time.
And when I finish, it looks like this
(And then I water)
Suzy, If you go outside and the Yvonnes is missing tomorrow, it's cause they are on their way to FL. lol : )
All your plants look really nice. : )
Okay, am back -- Critter, great news about the mouse!
Lala, That's a nifty looking tree! And from what I've seen at the stores, the retail price on it is 2x the price of a purse! (Okay, a mid-range designer one, but still...)
Lea, Why are you counting your plants? Or are you counting your pots, to get an idea of the number of different things you started? Or are you selling to your garden center?
Lea and Wrightie, Thanks for the posts in the Peony forum -- hey! Half price on peonies is not to be sneezed at! :))
Fairy, Obviously none of us knows what would happen if we stepped on the seedlings, ahem, but I think a lot depends on how ruffled up the soil is. If it's hard on top they/it will be more damaged than if if is all soft and fluffy from being recently dug.
I got some lily bulbs planted today and think I am caught up, at least until I plant the next phase: the bulbs & tubers that like the warmer soil. Most all of the dahlias have woken up, but I have a lot of blind tubers (no eyes). When I cut tubers in the fall, I really don't have the hang of it at all, despite lots and lots of help from the dahlia people in the dahlia forum, but they always show photos of beautiful tubers with an obvious eye, and I have ugly tubers with nuttin that looks like an eye showing. So I just cut a piece of stem with each tuber and hope for the best. Ah, well, as long as I have one from all the ones I grow, I am happy.
Suzy
This message was edited Apr 22, 2008 12:08 AM
I wouldn't suggest putting decon or any other rodent bait out if you've got pets -- or even if your neighbors have pets. nasty stuff. did you see palmbob's recent article about rodenticides? (he's a vet.) We've got 2 cats, and I'm not taking any chances of their eating a mouse that's eaten poison... I don't care what the box says; I think there's a danger with secondary poisoning.
The glue trap with a dab of peanut butter in the center is what finally did the trick. DH rebaited the snap traps in case the mouse has friends. (the mouse disabled the other glue traps by dragging them up into the insulation before we got smarter and duct-taped the last trap to the floor.) I do not normally use glue traps, but this mouse eluded all other traps for 2 weeks and continued to behead seedlings, so I became merciless. I think it's important to check glue traps regularly so you can kill a trapped mouse humanely rather than leaving it to slowly die in the trap.
Sorry... probably TMI about the mouse situation... but I did want to caution against using the poison baits.
Love your way of planting Suzy! Do you plant all of your seeds in the bigger pots? Just some? I'm gonna have to talk to you about this when you get here lol Looks like an idea that I could use.
No I'm not selling to the nursery, they give me such a good deal on dirt just thought I would share with them. I'm counting plants cause I want to know what I have of each one they never make it to the spread sheet lol I have three books with notes on sowing, germinating and transplanting and don't think I'm ever going to get all of the info. on the excel lol Maybe in the middle of summer when it's too hot to go outside lol I don't have all of the plants together outside or in the house they are spread out because of the different sizes and some are in 2" pots and some in 3" pots, some of the same thing are outside in different trays some in the house because they came up later, you'll see LOL And everytime I water one of them they never get back in the same tray they came from, I have a bad habit of giving plants away without having a count of what I have too thinking I have four of something give two away then only have two left and always wishing I would have kept one more lol This way I know what I have and what I can get rid of without going thru all of the plants, hope this makes sense lol
I haven't started cleaning out any beds yet and I'm freaking lol Guess I'll just concentrate on cleaning the yard then the beds for next week, did get all of the sticks picked up and cut the grass two jobs I really didn't want to do and I cleaned the dog pen up so I could put my dog outside to scare the deer away lol Just hope it works for the back yard and not just my herb garden, I'm wanting to plant morning glories and not too sure if I should right now it may cool off again and all of them aren't up yet anyway, I wonder f deer eat daturas? lol That is worrying me I have a lot of those to put in the back yard, none of the WS seedlings are ready to be planted yet but it's still early and I do need to do the beds but I really want to get my tithona (sp) out there this week so have to work on the edges of the beds where I want them to go, but I do have the grass done so maybe tomorrow if Bev. doesn't call I can get out there and work on them.
Lucy, my yellow skullcap is up :) I'm dying to see this one bloom so you can send the other one anytime, bless your heart! My purple one isn't though? It always takes a long time!
Critter thanks for saying you kill those poor things after they get stuck in your glue trap, I just can't bring myself to use those. I know I worry too about the cats eating the dead mice but these cats are well fed and they don't even eat the ones they catch I just find them laying around, they watch the bird feeders but don't even bother the birds lol One sleeps right by the finch feeder and I freaked the first few times I saw him do it last year, in a patch of wild sunflowers, but he has never went for the finches or the doves that feed on the ground, yes these are the neighbors cats lol But I have them all of the time lol
Good to know about my babies and all the soil is moist and soft, so hopefully if I stepped on them they would be OK....I am having no luck w/ WS-I think it is because I forget to water them and they dry out in like a day!!
LOL, Fairy! I wondered why you would cover columbine with soil! Pansies, that makes sense. Last year I made a lot of my potting compost from leaf mold and my seedlings loved it. I was thinking this year when I start pansies and violas I may at least top the seeds with that because it will mimic the mechanism nature uses to provide them darkness.
I saw the neatest thing on Gardening by the Yard-he said if you boil veggies, to pour that water once it cools on your plants as long as you didn't put salt in it-he said w/ the vitamins it is wonderful!! I thought it was real simple and why I never thought of it I don't know!!
Yes, I saw that too, Fairy - I thought it was brilliant. We never add salt . . . but can I train DH to not throw the water out?
Of course you can, you managed to train him to cook too! Quite an accomplishment!
Actually, I married DH because I presumed I would have a non-traditional marriage - I would work and he would be the homemaker. Imagine my surprise when, 4 days after we married, he suggested we get into our "traditional roles!"
That meant that I had to learn to cook and clean! Yikes! Well, it turns out I can follow a cookbook very well; I can even bake bread!
Finally, after 25 years of marriage and relocating into a different country, I am the breadwinner and DH is the homemaker - but I am now the better cook ^_^
Oh, have you been tricked! Fortunately mine has learned that if HE doesn't cook nobody will. I'm so preoccupied I forget to do it all the time.....
Well, I seldom cook now . . . but the stuff DH cooks. . . well, it's kinda boring. . .
Fairy, I saw that episode of Gardening by the Yard but I always forget to do it lol I hate to cook would much rather be outside and always forget to start dinner for dad lol Sometimes in the summer when I'm planting I go a couple of days without even eating cause it takes too much time, I have to make myself eat most of the time in the summer I never have been much on food lol
I could be one of those women that go to work and let the man stay home and clean and cook, that sounds good to me! I've never found a man like that though, my son is like that, he does more cooking and cleaning than his DW.
Good afternoon everyone! Sorry for disappearing for so long - I got so swamped I've not even been able to check emails. Three more potential clients, last year's clients, another family emergency - and that video surveillance system for the veterinarian friend of my sis. Suzy, that vet is just outside of Austin, IN, on Slab Road.
Starlight - darlin' - I haven't forgotten I owe you some peonies!!!
Here's a pic I took this morning of the petunias that are about to start going into yards and pots:
Hi Everyone!
Sorry it I've been gone for so long - things have just got so wild and woolly for me here I've not had time to think straight - three more potential new clients, existing clients wanting to "get going", another family crisis, a doctor who thinks I need every test in the world since I turned 50 last year, and working on that video surveillance setup for the veterinarian friend of my sis (the vet, by the way Suzy, is just outside Austin, IN on Slab Road...). At least most of the taxes got done and filed! Mine are on extension, so I've still got to face those sometime soon just to get them out of the way.
I felt an aftershock of that earthquake, but slept right through it. Growing up in California, you sorta know what they feel like...give you a bit of an adrenaline boost!
Tuink - I can't believe your weather is so dry!! That's just plain unfair.
As for tracking seeds from others that didn't germinate - I place the blame on myself. I specifically held onto them and then put them in those square peat pots, and they didn't germinate because I couldn't keep the water right. A couple actually did germinate that surprised me - like the Wallflowers - but not much else. I'm going to give them another try in a couple days.
Here's a pic of the inside of the GH - everything you see on the shelf is from seeds from the Piggie Swap - poppies, violas, canna, tansy, petunias, you-name-it. I've got to put up some shade cloth today or tomorrow to cut down on the heat in there.
Lea - I'm afraid I have very bad news for our planned get-together this weekend, I have to bag on you and the rest of the girls. I'm so swamped I forgot to take care of some sales tax issues with the state and actually had a warrant out for my arrest - got that cleared up Monday morning so I can at least not worry about going out in public! I really do want to make it down to see you though, and to help with what I can in moving and replanting stuff, but I'm afraid the next couple of weeks are going to be just as wild and crazy as the last few. Mea culpa my dear friend - I'll make it up to you and Lou and Suzy the best I can!!! (Veronica had to take a rain check, she had double-booked herself.)
Feel free to nail me for being a poor planner!!!!!
I'm really sorry you and Veronica can't make it but there is always another day :) I know a few 'jailbirds' they are nice people lol They know how to dig LOL I never plan events because if I plan them they never work out it's better for me to just to it on the spurt of the moment :)
My lavender petunias are blooming but a purple one hasn't yet, I want to see the color! They have been outside though so guess that's why they aren't blooming like they would be under lights.
Look at those beautiful babies, I couldn't even tell you if I sowed all of the seeds from the sotkes swap I know there are a bunch from the last swap lol I still don't have everything planted, a lot to sow yet! I'm gonna wait on Suzy to get here and get her to help me move a picnick table out of the garage, my other one is falling apart, Suzy I hope your back is ok when you get here LOL Robin, is that darker petunia from Tuink by any chance, I'm wondering if mine is going to be that dark :)
So good to hear from you Robin!
Well, I clearly screwed up on marking those petunias, or I've lost my mind. One of them (the far back left) is the Supercascade Lilac, but it's darker than the other two S.Lilacs that are blooming. The darkest one (to the right) is supposed to be a Dark Blue Trailing from Weez. hmmmm.......well, at least they're alive!!
Well they are alive and blooming! That's a good thing lol I like the darker one I hope I get some of those :) I'm waiting for Suzy to get here to tell me what to plant with my geraniums lol She's gonna shoot me lol
La, two more of your Helenium have come up :) I guess I'd better start making another bed close to the bird garden!
fairy and seandor, great tip to save the veggie water, but use that veggie water for YOUR OWN cooked food not the plants silly! It is full of water soluble vitamins that YOU can benefit from much more so than your plants!
you can use it in any cooked foods you need to add water too, like grain dishes such as rice or soups ~ or even use it to moisten dog food ;)
fairy, sorry about your ws jugs...I have had a problem only with the ones I tried in cups. The cups do tend to dry out too fast. What size containers did you use and what exposure did you set your containers out in sun, shade, part sun...?
I have mine in full sun and I used the 6 packs, 3" and 4" pots left from things I got at nurseries last year....I guess I need a new plan next year-the thing that really makes me mad is that I did ALL of my coumbine it them and now don't have any left:( I want to cry a little now!!
Morning all! had to see what everybody up to before i get two work on two powerpoint presnetations which gonan take me all day since i have to look at a manual step by step : (
two years ago I started some beared red tongue from seed. They was some pretty poor looking plants after I transplanted the seedlings. They grew a few leaves but mostly sat there and didn't do anything. Last year they was a bit bigger but by the time th eheat kicke din and drought they was the sorriest looking things i had ever seen. They just didn't like me. I almost pitched them time and time again but somehow never got aroudnto it, just ignored them and watered like the other plants.
Well, finally after all this time, I happened to take a look at them and this what I got now. : )
I sure they might need to go into a bigger pot, but I almost afraid to touch them for fear they gonan turn back into a tiny bit of sgraggly plant matter. I hope I get to se them flower.
Hi everyone, I have been super busy. It is finally spring in these parts! The weather here has been nonstop warm, sunny and clear skies, for days! It already feels like 90F here right now! I have been getting the yard raked up and put mulch down on my giant butterfly & hummer garden. It took almost 3 yards so you can imagine it's rather large! It's starting to take a long time to water my seedlings now. I still need to do alot of transplanting that I just can't find time for! Plus I still have stuff to start. Next week I have some time off from working and hopefully I can get more done and check in to show off some of the babies from the piggy swap! Everyone have a good day now :)
Hi everyone, I know I have posted this else where but I am so happy, I can't help myself . . . we have finally been approved for permanent residency! No more worrying about the work visa ending in August! Hurray!
Seandor, I'm soo happy for you it has got to be a relief on your part, oh happy day!!!!
Fairy, I hear you on the columbine and the pots, the last two years I have been growing columbines from seed and they take like a thousand pots lol That's one reason I get giving plants away happy lol Try planting them in cups :) I may go to more cups next year just depends...maybe just on WS things since there are so many of them, one of these days I'll learn to cut down on my seeds in my jugs, I thought I did this year but doesn't look like it in the jugs lol
Lea-you didn't have any columbine germinate either???
Fairy, Keep watering those pots...Columbine doesn't germinate all at one time, by a long shot!
Seandor!!!!! Fantastic news!
Meredith, that is one big butterfly garden! But how do the plants reseed if you have all that mulch down?
Suzy
OK-I won't toss them yet....I will keep em watered and watch!!