Propagation efforts and results ( the basics)

Here is my last fresh tomato of the season , counter ripened ., I use to have shelves where the tomatoes would set wrapped all winter

I have a bunch of tomatoes ripening on my counter, brought in to keep the birds out of them. See a mockingbird, follow and find out what he's stealing. Cowbirds were helping.

I keep all of my seeds refrigerated btw. Just dry and in packets, they last longer that way

This message was edited Nov 15, 2017 6:25 PM

Well there is the the Tumbling tom I kept in a pot

Mingles (A fuzzy pic ) just brought me a mouse ,

The Fuzzy pic
I am trying to decide what flower to grow for this winter on the table ,
Several choices ,

Nice tomato, Ju. I ove your cat, Mingles. I just got all mine in last week. Huge ones. Still have a few green turning red on the counter, I use them so much they don't last long here. Been playing in the basement garden. I have to get it where I can walk around everything without having to stoop, move something or duck. *sigh* Poodle hibiscus is going to get a hair cut soon.
My Bilbergia Nuttans is throwing out some bloom buds. I am about to divide it when it is done blooming. I threw newspapers all around down there so my grandcat wouldn't step in bug spray drippings. She has killed about 25 crickets so far, she just leaves them after she kills them, I go behind her and sweep up the carcasses.
I don't think I have to worry about mice inside right now.

Debra Mingles ,came in the front door with that mouse , When they want a few minutes we let them , He came screaming to the door , After entering he dropped the mouse at my feet , I think he wanted me to bring it back to life , lol

Nice table of Tomatoes !!! Your Plants are as Beautiful as ever
I forgot , unusual a male mouser and a good one Mingles is

Debra I think your going to enjoy Oona a long while , Mine eat bugs also ,

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Very Nice maters all, I do miss good home grown tomatoes, summer gets too hot here, my winter cherry tomatoes are getting some blossoms now.

Debra, I should've figured you also have a bromeliad in that basement...you amaze me with all your tropical plants. ;-) Oona looks quite comfy on that pretty blanket, cats love to chase the bugs, I find dead palmetto bugs (huge roaches) on the porch all the time, luckily they don't make it into the house. A lizard lives a long time before the cats do it in, can entertain them for hours...they never eat them, just leave it there for me to dispose of it.
Kit Kat only once has brought me a dead mouse, left it on the back door stoop, I think her offering for me taking care of her. ☺
Pinecone ginger blooming, you can squeeze them and shampoo comes out, I've never tried washing my hair with it yet.

I've got a counter full of tomatoes, I guess stuffed tomatoes for lunch. I grew a bit of ginger this year, just pulled it up and cooked with a little last week

I have one of these I did years ago , like 2009 , makes good pots , no cracking stays together , etc Anyway it could look better , I will paint it with sealer ,
Thing is , If you used the colorful duct tape and a clear sealer , you could do any type of pot you like ,

I believe Debra and her youngsters were doing something similar sometime ago , duct tape craft pot decor .


This message was edited Nov 18, 2017 10:17 PM

Pretty neat!

Hi juhur7 are you using them as planters for flowers or vegetables? I do not think the paint will be safe for vegetables.

cytf Most I use for flowers , wild plants , , pine tar , sunflower gum linseed oil , can be used for edibles , (a little pricey these days )
The inside does not need to be painted at all though and their is using lights to bake paint (an option , as to the tray and so forth ,

Thank you Gypsi , Cold ,rainy weather usually has me doing similar ,

I might end up putting the Croton in it and using the croton tree pot for something else , Some cleaning needs to be done , (i'm getting to it ..
2 an inch plant (wandering Jew)
3 Amaryllis Daylily in bag , cuban Oregano starts ,
Jen I just got the Oregano to start over ,
Agave plants , from Sharon , years ...
One of many spider plants

Nice planting pot Ju and great plants. I have a spider plant in a hanging basket, found it all over the ground last week, apparently a squirrel got into it, so it doesn't look too good now.
Oregano is one herb that grows well here in the heat and cold, love the smell of it, I have a plant that is several years old, every time I think it is finished more pops up.

My Dad planted some ginger tubers from the store, they are growing well for him, so many great health benefits, just wish I liked the flavor more.

I love that ginger bloom! Also love the pots, Ju. My sis in law gets blooms from hers that I gave her, mine never bloom. It is so confusing here, the mums are blooming, the mum starts I made are blooming, the violets are blooming, and a couple cone flowers just bloomed! *sigh*
Most the maters are salsa or sauce now. Saved three to take to sis in law for Thanksgiving. I have never had a cat, so all this is new to me, she loves the basement, I just worry that she might eat a poisoned something. None of my coleus are doing well, they all had mealy bugs on them ( again) so I threw them out in the trash. I do have good seeds, so I'll just start them again on good clean potting mix. I have three young tomato plants ready to go under their special light, but have to move a few things first. It looks like Spring except for we need rain so bad... dumping dish pans and shower tubs of used soapy water on all the shrubs and tree bases. Caught a few seeds from frost weed. It has not been cold enough to make it do the ribbon yet. Poor banana momma, all left out in the cold. :(

It is always sad when things freeze, but I'm not sure if we will have freezes this year, here. Not yet, haven't bothered to cover my greenhouse roof, with 70 plus degree days in the forecast, even without the cover it hits 100 in there.

everything has frozen icy several times here , The Gaillardia keeps coming back and blooming though ,
Nice blooms Debra , The cat you will learn about If your like several , the cat won't eat anything poison directly ,However they do get into things ,
I'm still cleaning and arranging things , slowly I go ,, putt , putt , sputter , putt ,,

Debra your second photo is very pretty fall pic. Mums are pretty. Kitties learn pretty fast if they eat something that makes them sick, usually don't eat it again....well most anyway.
I have many different gingers, some are going to sleep now for the winter, only pinecone has blooms now.
With the help of my DH got the fire pit and patio pavers pressured washed, what a job that was, uses a lot of water, bill will be high next month, but looks much better.
Before and after fire pit area

Looks very nice. Beautiful kitty too

When I stepped off the truck in July, one of my first priorities was pouring vinegar on the stepstones near my porch over the frenchtrench drain. Cleaned the rocks, reduced snails, no more slippery surfaces.

My oregano is coming back after it caught a bit of too much fertilizer. Volunteer dills are being munched by something- probably the over abundance of snails I keep crunching. Happy Holidays everyone! Bon Appetite!

sun , Love the fire pit and the pavers , I want to sit there and chill , Kitty makes the action in the pic ,lol

Nice the Herbs are Kitt ,,

Here the Gaillardia ,bloom froze again last night but the Leaves are as green as can be , still growing and running , Once an established crown happens ,this plant takes blazing heat , drought , a few weeks of too much water , and it has been blooming to freeze and has stayed green with temperatures to 25 degrees F
Started blooming in June ..

This message was edited Nov 22, 2017 3:53 PM

where did the beautiful agave and succulent garden by sunkissed go? I saw it a minute ago. It belongs in the photo contest

speaking of which, I don't see a link at the top Keith. How will I know if any of mine won?

Gypsi the link is temporarily gone, probably while they notify the winners. I got a sneak preview over night. I saw one of your bee pictures got a runner ùp status.
They will be back in a day or so. That is standard procedure. The same thing happened last year. You have to be really quick to catch the results before they remove it but it will be back.

Actually Gypsi you can see them right now. Click on "communities" then "contests"

My only photo that was picked was the the runner up Queen of hive 5. But I wasn't trying to take good photos this year, or any year. Composition counts, camera quality counts. I'm lucky if I get any pictures. You Keith, and SunKissed really put some time, effort and focus in there. and the winner in the bug category did too, thy move fast. I had one decent butterfly pic this year and I couldn't find it to enter

It was interesting. When I get a new phone I may look for one with a better camera. Congratutions to Keith and SunKissed, ya'll won a LOT.

Thanks Gypsi. Glad you were able to find the results. The contest is a lot of fun. When I got my first phone after I retired I told the sales people that a reslly good camera was my highest priority and they listened. The main guy i worked with was really into photography so he wss a great help. He set me up wuth a Samsung 5S or S5 however that goes. I got my second this summer and it is an S7or 7S. I have been very happy with them both.

P.S. I was a little disappointed that I didn't place with my butterfly picture. It was probably my once in a lifetime opportunity to place in that category with the monarch that the kids hatched out here and I guess I blew it

Probably wasnt you Keith, some entries were overwhelmed with too many good choices, I wanted to pick 4 or 5 best pics on several categories, chuckl.

Thank You Gypsi, I just went and looked at the photos. I didn't vote for categories I had entries in, except the bird photos, I had to vote for that Eagle.
Keith, your butterfly photo is beautiful, I like the bee in there also, now I read the caption, how nice to capture a newly hatched monarch. I agree with Kitt, sometimes hard to pick, so many great shots, I found myself saying a few times, I think they're all first place.
Gypsi I know your bees were in my top three picks, I love it. After I look at the bugs I feel things crawling all over me...LOL

I got my first Iphone a 6s two years ago and was amazed at the photo quality it takes. I capture many photos with it, you don't have to worry about focus or lighting, just take the shot, sometimes the color is better on it than my expensive Nikon DSLR. My husband can't see anything close up and he has taken some great pics with my phone. :-))

And Ju, you and anyone can come have a sit by the fireside anytime.

wow! you are energetic! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with family. It's going to be an outside day for me with temps in the hig 60's and no wind. more clean up to do out there. Especially cutting down dead flower stalks and re-doing to compost pile. No rain for a month now. we are still using our gray water with sink tubs and shower water collecting tubs to water with during this drought.

Congrats Keith and Gypsi on your pictures . I was so happy to place with 19 points in the Tropicals and Houseplant catergory with my Bouganvillea . I have been trying for year so I am pleased with it.

Found rust on one of the mg's that was wuthering away, have discovered mg's as well as wheatfields are susceptible here in the south. Keeping an eye on some crimson clover that has white spots on the petals- could turn into rust as well. Here pics of those white spots...gonna go see what I can see on those contest results

Looks like a little pine tree seedling in the middle of that clump of clover Kitt. Us that common there ?
Thanks Cytf. I noticed your bouganvilla there as being someone I knew but then thinking back couldn't remember who. Another senior moment. They still don't have those contest results up where you can see them without digging. I haven't even received an Email yet to officilly advise me of my winnings.

Hi Keith I have those Senior moments too. Lol . Will be 70 next year so I am there too. Hope we all do good again next year.

Not a pine, thats either dill weed or a sticker weed we have that imitates dill. Pines are everywhere here, they don't usually sprout without fire or dry prolonged drouth. After that really bad drouth and fores a few years back there were pine sprouts thick enough to yank out by handfuls everywhere you looked.

I have seen those white spots here. I also found mites and whitefly spots here too.
Congrats to you, Kieth and Cytf.

Had the neighbor girls over for some fun times, Wednesday... we made more seed bombs and some seed hearts to paint up...heart shaped clay/soil with seeds embedded.. Hadley was painting a rock with her nose, and she promised me she was just using the paint and not the nail polish her sister was using. Her sister painted a whole flat limestone rock with old fingernail polish. Fun day! She( Hadley in the red shirt) has been Cancer free for a year now, she just turned 6. Her sister,Kaylynn just turned 8 on Thanksgiving.
Then we ate the last of the lichee jellies, they never had those before. My youngest and I used to eat them all the time. I wish I had Grandchildren, but until then, these two fill that void and love to garden with me.

Debra how sweet, they sure are having a good time, and painting a rock with your nose...children crack me up. Your basement looks like a fun place to spend the winter.

Kitt, Unfortunately I do think the white spots are the first sign of rust since they're on the top of the leaves.

Yah, we've had a strange summer. Not every plant, but that bed... if I keep up the energy, it will get dismantled.

I am tired of purple sweet potatoes, dug up another bucketful yesterday. I think all dug out. They were much more successful than the orange. I have the grandkids cold, lots of leftovers and milkweed seeds, and a dog that has suddenly developed separation anxiety. (which he is recovering from with the assistance of a bit of water and or a light vinegar mist well above his head out the bathroom window.) i will not have my house eaten and his kidneys go if he stays inside too much. He is a 7 year old shar pei mix.

I have 3 pounds of turkey and a bunch of brown rice to make wet dog food with and freeze. and I need to tend the bees and check for queens and change the valve cover gaskets on my truck. All I want is a cup of tea.

and my onions and swiss chard in the ground. I might get there.

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This message was edited Nov 27, 2017 1:36 PM