The Gardening Thread

[Nenuphar]

Testing, testing, 1 2 3...


The garlic patch.

[Patient]

Posted by Rosemarie (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Picture of my garden. No snow nor frost to worry about, as I live in the mountains of tropical Costa Rica.


Getting started:
Compost tumbler could be the most practical way to go. Here is a small version. $60
https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-S...SIN=B0785GSKJ1

Ulli. Your garden is beautiful. What more can you ask than having a river run through your property/ back garden. So lucky. The sound of the river one of the most soothing noises ever. You know, that is my dream.....a little piece of land with a river near it in Cuenca.

Ok, I need to learn more about Costa Rica. What a beautiful spot you have there. And I didn't notice the river when I first looked at the pic.

[Bubu]

Posted by peterpam (here)

Posted by Bubu (here)
gardeners also need to realize that plants behave much like any bio specie. they share/ give nutrients to one another through the soil internet, fungi, parent plants also take care of their youngs, like a breasfeedig mom. plants that grew under the care of parent plant are healthier. therefore grow the youngs beside the parents and dont kill the parents while the youngs are not yet weaned.

I have a garden but no camera. just sharing what Ive learned.

Bubu, this is so interesting. We could do a thread on the symbiosis and cooperation of plants. It shows us how the intelligence that permeates all things is alive and well in the plant world.

Dr Suzanne Simard; HOW TREES TALK TO EACH OTHER

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_si...pt?language=en

[ulli]

Posted by Patient (here)

Posted by Rosemarie (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Picture of my garden. No snow nor frost to worry about, as I live in the mountains of tropical Costa Rica.


Getting started:
Compost tumbler could be the most practical way to go. Here is a small version. $60
https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-S...SIN=B0785GSKJ1

Ulli. Your garden is beautiful. What more can you ask than having a river run through your property/ back garden. So lucky. The sound of the river one of the most soothing noises ever. You know, that is my dream.....a little piece of land with a river near it in Cuenca. Knocking on my neighbors wnlight and BR for some sugar. Jaja, just kidding you guys.

Ok, I need to learn more about Costa Rica. What a beautiful spot you have there. And I didn't notice the river when I first looked at the pic.

The land of four acres was given to us by my father-in-law ten years ago. He used it for his cows to graze there. I honestly could not see us ever doing much with it. Overwhelming challenge. There was no water, no electricity, no proper enclosure other than a barbed wire fence to keep the cows in. It has been a slow process.

We also did not notice that the land on the other side of the river was an island, until our house was built, and I looked at our property on Google maps. The island stretches a little more than the length of our property. The river front is about 180 feet. No one can ever build there. The garden will always be surrounded by nature.

[Brigantia]

What an interesting and informative thread! I moved back to the UK almost 2 years ago and ended up with a garden that had been badly neglected, so that is a huge work in progress. I'll post a pic when it's looking a bit better than it does right now! Before then I was in Italy, I knew a bit about planting by the moon already but over there, it's huge. All the old farmers do it, and garden centres give away calendars at the end of the year with a lot of info about moon planting.

In a nutshell, plant things that grow above ground when the moon is waxing, and things that grow below ground (bulbs, onions, potatoes etc) when the moon is waning. With a couple of exceptions, when the moon is in an Air or Fire sign, don't plant or pot on anything and don't do anything on the day of the New or Full moon. I was convinced when I planted 12 French bean seeds on a random day and only 4 germinated. I later planted another 12 according to moon planting principles - all 12 came up.

It sounds a bit woo woo I know, but the moon exerts an influence on Earth - tides, for instance. My mum was a nurse and she told me that back in the 1950s, surgeons would never operate on the Full Moon (unless an emergency) as they said that blood flows faster.

[Strat]

I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

[ulli]

Posted by Strat (here)
I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

Pee on it once in a while.

[Rosemarie]

Posted by Strat (here)
I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

Gardenias Are my favorite flowers and I cannot grow them in Guayaquil because of the weather. I don’t think they like heat or humidity or I don’t know what. In Cuenca o Quito , cities on the Andes , no problem. Weather is cooler. Even in San Salvador , El Salvador where I lived 18 years I had bushes and bushes of gardenias. But The city is also 2, 162 above sea level. Maybe they like a little height ?

[Strat]

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by Strat (here)
I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

Pee on it once in a while.

My 4 pawed friend damn near killed my oregano doing this. Said oregano is currently in the plant ICU.

[ulli]

Posted by Strat (here)

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by Strat (here)
I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

Pee on it once in a while.

My 4 pawed friend damn near killed my oregano doing this. Said oregano is currently in the plant ICU.

Can’t trust doggies to get the dosage right. Plus they sometimes return to the same spot over and over. Poor Oregano.

[Strat]

Only happened once. I can't be mad at him, I mean look at this face:

[Bubu]

Posted by Strat (here)
I need advice for a gardenia: I planted it about 2 years ago. It never grew, it just kinda hung in there. It does bloom every year but not much. It looks really shoddy right now. The soil definitely sucks. Can I use compost as a side dressing, or should I do something else? I'll take a pic when it's not raining.

I used 10-10-10 in the past, and it did create new growth, but I'm curious what yall think.

is it isolated from other plants?
you need to encourage bacteria growth around. put some food scraps or even poo since its not food plant, along with some cut weeds, wood chips and cover with cardboard. the soil needs to be moist all the time. If you see a gardenia that is healthy get some soil not more then a foot from its trunk and place it on you gardenia and cover with mulch or cardboard. this will inoculate bacteria and fungi that favors gardenia.

[Brigantia]

Funnily enough, I've just taken a few photos of my garden. My cat was on the windowsill, chattering as they do when they see birds, and I looked out and there were two greater spotted woodpeckers on the fence. My American friends may think that is no big deal, I went to California once and saw loads of them there, they seemed to be quite fearless. In Britain, they seem to be a lot more shy and timid and I've never seen any in a garden before.

Can you spot one on the top left hand side of the trellis? They're not great photos as I only have a point and shoot camera and was taking them through the window. I only have a small garden, long and narrow, but two years ago it had 2 foot high grass on the lawn and the borders full of weeds. My next project is to get the trees and shrubs tidied up, there is also an 8 foot high elder that is just a giant weed!

[Brigantia]

Posted by Strat (here)
Only happened once. I can't be mad at him, I mean look at this face:

With pets that adorable, you can forgive them anything!

[Strat]

Posted by Bubu (here)
is it isolated from other plants?
you need to encourage bacteria growth around. put some food scraps or even poo since its not food plant, along with some cut weeds, wood chips and cover with cardboard. the soil needs to be moist all the time. If you see a gardenia that is healthy get some soil not more then a foot from its trunk and place it on you gardenia and cover with mulch or cardboard. this will inoculate bacteria and fungi that favors gardenia.

It is isolated. Plants closest to it are about 2' away (one rosemary and one mint).

Can I place all the things you said directly on top of the current soil, or do I need to sorta dig it in?

[Omi]

I absolutely love gardening! Thank you Strat, for starting such a wonderful thread!

It feels to me that plants, flowers, and trees can talk when observing them more carefully.
Taking care of them and connecting with nature is a very soothing and healing experience.

Posted by HikerChick (here)
It sounds a bit woo woo I know, but the moon exerts an influence on Earth - tides, for instance. My mum was a nurse and she told me that back in the 1950s, surgeons would never operate on the Full Moon (unless an emergency) as they said that blood flows faster.

I don't think it's woo-woo at all how the moon gives its influence on earth, perhaps when we think about the effects that the sun has on all living organisms on earth.

I used to work at a place called the Goetheanum where they had biodynamic agriculture. Their farming method is largely based on cosmic activities. Each day of the week, each hour of the day has a connection to the sun, moon, planets, and stars.

They also had a few cows in their grounds. I loved 'em cows, they were so gentle and sweet!
Their horns were never cut off, unlike most farms that would dehorn their cows due to the lack of space they have for keeping many of them in a confined area and the risk of those poor crammed up cows hurting each other with their horns.
Those lucky cows at the Goetheanum had tons of space to graze and freely roam around. The mothers' milk was for the calves to be fed and not for humans to consume. And their poo was an important part of farming.
So again, as a few here seem to have already mentioned, poo is a great fertilizer.


Here's a bit about biodynamic farming:

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture very similar to organic farming, but it includes various esoteric concepts drawn from the ideas of Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).[1][2] Initially developed in 1924, it was the first of the organic agriculture movements.[3] It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks,[4][5][6] emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture

[Rosemarie]

The value of one single tree.

[Bubu]

Posted by Strat (here)

Posted by Bubu (here)
is it isolated from other plants?
you need to encourage bacteria growth around. put some food scraps or even poo since its not food plant, along with some cut weeds, wood chips and cover with cardboard. the soil needs to be moist all the time. If you see a gardenia that is healthy get some soil not more then a foot from its trunk and place it on you gardenia and cover with mulch or cardboard. this will inoculate bacteria and fungi that favors gardenia.

It is isolated. Plants closest to it are about 2' away (one rosemary and one mint).

Can I place all the things you said directly on top of the current soil, or do I need to sorta dig it in?

just put everything on top of the soil.
If you have a garden at the edge of the forest, you will notice that the plants closest to the forest are healthier. This is because after the weeds are remove , (die of of soil ecosystem), the first ones to be colonize by the helpful soil ecosystem are the area closest to the undisturbed patch (forest). I ask if its isolated because if it is then there is a very good chance that the soil in your gardenia patch is dead, meaning it has no ecosystem. That is why isolated patch should be avoided. You have to connect your garden to the forest ecosystem, each plant/weed serves as connecting nodes for fungi and bacteria, because they only go where there is organic matter to support them. This is the reason I suggest "Bit Gardening" to leave undisturbed patch so the disturb patch will be colonize soonest. Its like a small wound heals quickly. Anyways if you are serious about gardening you should learn about soil. Soil contains all the minerals that is needed by plants to grow, except nitrogen and oxygen, in a form that is non bioavailable to plants. the soil critters make it so. This means that we dont need to add minerals aka fertilizer but rather make those minerals bioavailable. only soil ecosystem can accomplish it. That is why my advice on encouraging bacterial growth.
Here is a link to another forum for serious gardener. Although I very seldom participate I just go there to read. Its a forum that is the worst moderated. I can not even say "I disagree" because its not nice hahaha. And the owner loves to say "I am the only one who decides" lol. Just so you have an idea where you might go. This forum is also a wealth of knowledge for gardener. https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil#637639. Dr. Bryant Redhawk is a soil scientist that generously shares his discoveries on this forum.

[Strat]

Here's the gardenia, along with the area I want to clean up. As I said before, the soil is just sand. Fine grain sand like at the beach. If you grabbed a handful of it, it would run through your fingers like water. It gets exposed to brutal heat so keeping it wet is difficult. It's wet now cause we've been having rain lately.

EDIT: Just realized you can't really see it in the pic unless you have a sharp eye. It's above the rosemary and to the right of the mint.

[Bubu]

I think you have to build the soil. Put organic matter ( grass clippings, leaves ,wood chips etc.)and cover with cardboard or even use carpet. Also read the threads of Bryant Redhawk.