Plant Propagation - the Basics, February 2017

I bought a soil test kit to use this evening, once I've fed the fish and got the dogs settled down, Interestingly enough I tested a friend's soil in arlington and the phosphorus tube blew its top off 3 times

I do not do testing like I use to do , I know what grows and why from files , This here place is not the best I have ever been for growing , not bad though ,
I will try some more later There are a couple more freezes coming here , the ground was not frozen yesterday where I planted ) the remainder around that ground ) was frozen solid still ,
I trying to make mulch for some of the plantings , flowers mostly ,
Cabbages and choy up next ..

I had never tested soil before, although I have been gardening for years, but my peonies also never bloomed, and I put some orphaned peonies in the bed I tested.

Interestingly there appears to be NO phosphorus in the bed those peonies are in, so I will follow the directions on the super phosphate and add some. Wanted to be sure.

My friend in arlington definitely does not need phosphate

From testing water when I had aquariums, I got used to testing soil for my plants too. I just never did it for plants in the garden. Only for containers.

Gypsi be sure to let us know if this makes them bloom!

Gypsi, are you sure you didn't plant the peonies too deep? That will keep them from blooming. jen

I get a few peonies that bloom nicely , and a few that rarely do ,,

I did some mulch a few minutes ago , It rained me out ,,
Sunflower stalks

Hey guys, time for one of Keith's "off the wall" topics. Gypsi, I suspect this one is for you since you seem to be the one to go to for fish and pond questions. But any feedback that anyone has would be welcome.
I have one goldfish that was hatched in my pond about a year and a half ago and it has never changed from its more or less minnow colour that they start out life as. The length of time that change takes really seems to vary. Some change before they are even taken out for their first winter inside, most have changed before they are put back out in the spring and always before they are a year old. But not this one. It spent its first winter in my granddaughters good care and then came back last spring. This summer was a weird summer for my pond. It got innundated by forest tent caterpillars committing suicide by drowning in the spring and it took me until late summer to get the water to not look like pea soup. We were barely able to see the fish all summer but they multiplied like crazy and the young ones grew phenomally. So I guess pea soup is good for fish! This guy is about 6-7" long, quite plump but still is baby coloured.
I have had the pond a long time (probably about 25 years) and I have always had fish but after the initial few I have only ever bought 3 new ones and they were very different so I don't know if they could breed with the others or not. A couple of times I have been given a few new ones that people no longer wanted. Do you suppose this is a sign that I have inbreeding issues? Other than colour it is a very healthy looking fish.
It was very difficult but I did get a couple pictures but for some reason I am unable to get them to download. All I get is a blue question mark in the box. Seems I have had this problem before but can't remember the solution. If I figure it out I will add pictures later.

Keith, in comet or common goldfish, a black or dark gold, baby colored adult is maybe a one in oh 100 fish phenomenon, probably less often.

In shubunkin goldfish it is a 3rd generation 50% of the offspring trait, to revert to the wild and protectively colored dark brown/gold/black on top.

Do you know what kind of goldfish you have?

I couldn't get pictures to upload this morning but my kaspersky on the laptop declared daves gardens pictures to be unsafe, I am gonna have to uninstall that antivirus.

Yay Gypsi, thanks for the info (for Keith of course)! I just happen to like those 'off the wall' questions.

GYPSI TO THE RESCUE!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Tried loading those pictures again this morning with no luck, but it's obviously not necessary because you understood exactly what I was talking about. My immediate answer to your question about what kind of fish did I have was "Duh, I don't know but given the 3 choices you gave me and a little time spent on google I can now tell you I have all 3 of those plus fan tails and 1 Black Telescope! I would say that the originals that I bought approx. 25 years ago were probably a combination of common and Comet. The 3 that Kira and I bought at Walmart much later when she was maybe about 3 years old were Shubunkins. Only 1 of those lived to be reproducing age and I would say the first time we ever had a baby from that line was in 2015 and that was probably because the winter before someone gifted me an adult that may have been of the opposite sex but a different colour. The original was calico with a whitish background and orange and black spots. The one I was given was much larger with a bluish background and black spots. Kira still has that first expected offspring in her tank so I haven't seen it for a long time. In 2016 there were a few offspring that I suspect were Shubunkins. Kira has one that was very tiny and grandpa bought a new 20 gallon aquarium and kept the rest here. Huge mistake! Grandpa has now learned that Kira is a much better provider for baby fish so all special ones will spend the first winter in her tank in the future. My water got really fowl and I lost all the Shubunkins babies that I kept here!
Again, thanks Gypsi for all the info. I knew you were the one to ask.
Keith

Glad I could help. back on the laptop while running updates on the brand new system. And. I can't upload pictures

Well you managed to upload a picture but what is it. Looks related to a sea urchin??

actually those are rose anemones. I bought one, and it split and made actually 3. It also let me know I was allergic to anemones so it was my last. gave tank away a couple of years ago.

I didn't know it worked, it displayed as if it hadn't.

Beautiful to look at those are Gypsi , Here and the other ,, and hello ,, lol

Cool that Anemones split, being allergic...not so much. Cool you had a salt water tank though.

testing 1 2 3 will these pictures upload. Another Anemone shot and a dog I adopted wrestling with the dog who said get this puppy out of here. (the brown one is my Camelo, Champ is the lighter colored Giant who went to keep my computer guy company after Camelo evicted him.) 3. Camelo's shelter picture, that got me to send an email promising to pick him up and got him a home. These are old, sorting out the computers and the web stuff. I also received a notice to update my windows 10 bios, and tried to do it, and almost killed the computer, but HP support was able to help me bypass the bios install and bring the system back up. It's been exciting.

Look at that mug...adorable. Is it Camelo in pic #3? Is he part Shar-Pei? Got more pics? Lol

Puppy play .. !!! lol

Hoping it will be warmer today , feels better outside this morning ,

DG tells me my pix are unsafe half the time, I tell it to load em anyway. My phone isn't allowed to remember my auto sign in anymore- not my doins, and I always get a blue question mark, but they load when I post. Not much goin on down here in the south, but this temp range from -10 to 60* every other day is tiring. Something was in bloom when I got close to Atlanta- pink bloom on bare small tree limbs...full moon came up as I hit the southwest side of Atlanta at sunset too

Thanks for input Kitt. Going on your comment, I am going to try loading those goldfish pics for Gypsi again to see what happens. Blue question mark is still there so here goes

Wonderbar! Thank you Kitt, I never thought those would go through.
Anyway, Gypsi it was obvious that you understood me without pictures but the fish I was referring to is in the middle of both these pictures.
Keith

Thanks for the pics Kitt and Keith, I always enjoy them.

Nashville small trees in bloom- not sure if its cornus or morus, and Ky shrubs pushing leaves out... Hope they dont get ice bit. Keith, thats a lot of fish per sq inch of water! Later guys

can't tell if their smoke trees either Katt ,
64 degrees here today , I planted more Beets , round and cylindrical , a couple cabbages Made mulch , much more to go or to come ,
Choy shortly ,,

Love the fish , none here though

Nope, not smoke trees, that last bush may even be a nandina of some flavor...I do suspect a pink dogwood, couldnt get close...

Today Sprouts , Daffodil , Tulip , Red Poppy

Are you sure you're not zone 7 Ju? Look at the stuff you've got sprouting already!

redbud if they have them there, mine is budding still very close to the trunk

Might be one of those years here Robin , Sometimes 7b the temperatures
One Map says I am still zone 5 , But a colder 6 I am here ,
Some years though ,

1 A drama Queen Annual Poppy sprout outside
Remainder inside sprouts ,,

well it may freeze midweek. and we are expecting 3 inches of rain

Indiana has blustery winds and it feels March...Pa has blustery winds with snowflakes traveling to somewhere else. I sat down on my phone yesterday when it started screamung alarms at my eardrum. Added a Defender app, went to my other apps, moved one to the SD card, then told Google Store to Force stop and uninstalled it. It was sending ads to my phone and claiming I had a virus because I had visited 'adult sites - DG, Pinterest, etc. ' Not a problem, nothing I do is from the Google Store and Google Play Services anyway. Phone works much better, then I uninstalled after using, the Defender app. About drove me crazy...an app does not tell me it has a right to advertise on my phone, and scream in my ear. Pictures no longer have blue query mark either

Katt the wind here awful , temps are sort of The week up coming looks nice ,

Electronics are crazy ..Almost like adds tracking me sometimes

Keith I see what appears to be a black moor, the googley eyed kind, and I do see what looks like a shubunkin that has morphed back to their native color. fancy colored fish are often bred UP from native fish that aren't fancy.

feeder guppies are fancy guppies that have reverted to their natural appearance, and yes shubunkins fall down that evolutionary ladder faster than regular goldfish.

I am tired. messed with the bees in one of the forklift tanks after several hours paying bills and straightening out computer. I have to get to work, didn't want late charges anywhere because I wasn't in office to pay the bills. I think it's more tiring than pond work. I did load the truck for tomorrow's small pond.

Didn't get my crimson clover seeds in the ground, had 3 grandkids last weekend, didn't even get the underlayment and mulch lifted, then we had a lovely 2 inch rain that would have germinated seeds. I did get wildflower seed scattered and seed-bombed on some local overgrown empty lots. as much as I had time to do.

Have to fix a bit on the website and get me and the dogs ready for an early bed. will empty the camera on the phone eventually. DG emailed me back, there is something wrong with the code and they are working on it.

Yes Gypsi, I guess that black one is also called a black moor. I had identified it as a black telescope on Google but when I went back to verify those are two names for the same thing. So you feel that "natural " coloured one came from the Shubunkins rather than a one in 100 or so common or comet? I may have more of those in this years crop. These 2 photos are from my new 20 gallon tank which has been giving me a lot of grief. The picture of just 3 are all from this year and are getting a fair size already and no colour change as of yet. The 4th fish in the other picture that has turned a light orange is from 2015 and spent last summer in a small oak barrel pond at my daughters so it isn't much bigger. All the babies that I had in this tank that had changed colour died due to grandpas inferior care. On a rare occasion on the weekend I was at my daughters and luckily Kira has about 4 pretty Shubunkins developing so I guess I didn't kill them all. We are going to make sure they spend this summer in my pond so they put on some good growth. We have never had a baby fantail however there is one baby from 2015 the has the noticeable shorter stubby body but a regular tail. Would it be possible that it is crossed with a fantail?
I did a total makeover of this tank this week. Had some discussions with my daughter about why I am having so many issues and one thing we came up with is that I cheaped out on putting any gravel on the bottom. Also it is in front of the widow in that room and even though I keep the blind closed some sun leaks through. I added the lime green bristleboard with kiddie artwork to try to block the sun. Looks way better right now but if it goes green again I'll have a lot bigger mess to clean up with all the rocks, beads and vases. LOL

Keith, do you also have a water filter in the tank? You can buy a siphon gravel cleaner for your gravel and the trick to cleaning is to keep beneficial bacteria in the tank. You do this by not replacing both filters at the same time and also not vacuuming the gravel at the same time you clean your filters. You can also get a Plecostomus to keep the glass clean. You should also be doing a 1/3 water change once a month.

We just have the one black submersible filter pump that you see hanging in the back of the tank. I don't think anyone sells fish in Dryden to buy an algae eater. Walmart used to but stopped. We are just a rinky dinky hick town. I have some stuff from Walmart that is supposed to take care of the beneficial bacteria.
My big fish are in a 30-40 gallon barrel with 2 filters and the water is clear as a bell even though as Kitt pointed out it is a little over populated.
Just like with my plants, I can't wait for spring to get them outside. My coleus are taking over the downstairs bedroom. And spring is a long ways off here yet.

I loved my fish tanks when I had them , Now I am mooching off of all your conversation and pic's here ,
Tomorrow should be warmer here , who knows for sure though , Today not much more than putting together small tiller parts , spending too much , and generally being excited about spring coming ,
Slow to start , I do have several seedlings and more to start ,

I loved my fish tanks too Ju, I had a 6-8 inch Plecostomus, he was huge!