Plant Propagation Discussions - Sept 2019

I LOVE my blankets. Didn't answer ya Gypsi, yes, I think those are solar light toppers- been too gray since they went up there to charge them, but I am waiting to see them glow, chuckl

The wind doesn't whistle UNDER my house, it goes through the attic. I used to get on the roof and put a bag over the turbine vent, but the risk of falling, and really strong winds stealing the bag, I invented a new system about 10 years ago. I go in the attic with plastic and a staple gun and I staple plastic over the opening that the turbine vent sits on top of. Hardware stapled there year round cut off the rat super highway in 2005, I just staple plastic over the hardware cloth. Then i cross the attic, and staple plastic over 90% of the western vent, leaving about a 2 inch by 2 inch opening for actual ventilation. I leave the east vent open, the cold wind comes from the west. I uncover these in the spring.

I lost some plants. but it will be ok, some lived. more are in the greenhouse.

They light up! chuckl, plant leaves and branches that got bit got chopped into small pieces around the plant bases or thrown on a building fire pile. Includes a TON of acorns that washed into the yard with that big rain. I am beginning to be able to get back into the raised beds, chuckl. Those basils grew so much and pleased me a great deal with the aromas.
Keith, when I put the beds together I wished a few times I had left larger walkways between a few of them. I am watching my winter stuff grow, but planning Spring items at the same time. I need a good red cherry tomato, since the ones I grew were orange it bothered my daughter for some reason.

Good to know Kitt

deer love those acorns, can you rake them up and make feeding stations away from your beds? (my goat loved them too)

there are so many oak trees here, and the acorns and sweetgum balls blanket the ground. The ones that floated up are probably the bad ones. I am raking, but the squirrels are burying as fast as they fall.
Daylite Savings- I think my sleeping habits have been adapting to winter hours anyway, so just felt like I was up at my usual time. Beautiful day, I spent just enjoying and recovering from yesterdays Spring cleaning.

My dogs are my alarm clock, nothing really changed here, lol. Fixed the roof. Had one or more grandchildren nonstop from Friday afternoon until 5 today. Took the bunny out in the backyard this afternoon to have a good hop when I got down to one today. And hop she did. go back in the house and my cat has occupied her cage. Had to get granddaughter to use the spray bottle to chase Cuchulainn out, he was enjoying bunny's fresh bermuda grass stems.

Spent Saturday morning, at least 2 hours of it, getting a guinea fowl, probably the rooster, out of the tree between my yard and my next door neighbor's husky. Had to pull all my dogs in. And now Bravo's prey drive is up, after seeing that bird up there and having a good bark before I figured out what was going on..... Good chicken coop locks are a good thing. Electric fence may go back on the pen.

Leaf footed bug on the hood of my truck. This is his obituary pic, just before he met his demise

so a clove of garlic big bulb of cloves of garlic, has been laying in my raised bed for a while, and is starting to sprout. Best place to grow the stuff - wet or dry? near broccoli or not? Near chard or not? Wait it likes a lot of nutrient, maybe in my hugelkultur?

Would be my first success if it is, these aren't feed store bulbs, just a grocery store bulb that got dropped outdoors and left out in the rain

Gypsi Garlic likes partial shade well drained soil here , A better worked type soil it seemed to grow in ,

Ok will give it a try. Partial shade I think I can swing but in winter it's pretty partial when the leaves fall off

Garlic and onions, chives are winter plants, summer sun makes them dormant. Drained, rich soil or the bulb rots, bone meal is good for them, high iron content in soil (like onions) is good for them, mine never grow as large as the store bought, but I use the green leaf to add to tater soups, chuckl. Am gonna have to figure out how to slow my onions from drowning tomorro...

I have to put mine in raised beds here. I put the garlic in a slightly raised hugelkultur that had too much nitrogen in spring, spring's aged horse manure has had time to age some more and weeds were growing so I think it's ready

what I don't know about is brussel sprouts, tolerate wet feet or not?

brassica, treat it like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, prob not wet feet

Brussel sprouts like clay enriched earth and mostly shade in hot weather
I have trouble finding a place to put them

I have heard to start it in winter. I think the hugelkultur the tomatoes tamed this summer. (started too rich). Its a lot thicker dirt than a raised bed would be

Hop over to Fireside Chat. I posted but I thought I was on Propagation.

Keith you are so creative, the three chicks sign and the pumpkins are amazing. I saw you won a lot of photos too, congrats. I'm reading though two pages here, but am I understanding you can walk a chicken on a leash, that I'd love to see. Oh and the hunting garb, wow. My nephew just got a huge buck and a bore last weekend. Did you hear about the hunter that just got killed by the buck he thought was dead but it wasn't yet when he walked up to it?

Keith and Gypsi the greenhouses look wonderful! Kitt I agree that trellis is great. I would love to have a small greenhouse for my orchids, I'm out of room.

Gypsi you sure have had to do a lot of repairs this year, but woman that french drain, did you do all that yourself?

Gotta love Amazon, they've come through for us on many things, including parts for the automobiles, and appliances.

I have so many acorns this year, gonna do that feeding station thing.

2 days working on the garden art, chuckl. Rails on, adding dirt to a few beds. I didn't get to stain and poly some things, but will when this nasty weather passes. Lucy interested in crawl spaces and lights near indoor plants. Basil cuttings rooting in a jar, in that Pothos too. Took some marigolds in house to put in water. It was a beautiful day after 11am. See how my dirt touches none of the wood?

Nice garden art Kitt - one day maybe I will have time. Today was pond fix. I paid a helper to come help this time. I set the first liner by myself in 2010, but I backed a truck right up to the pond and rolled it in, and didn't have bog trays on it. Easier to move those with 2 people. Still took a whole day, and I didn't get insulation board up in the greenhouse.

Sun, I design virtually all of the repairs. The attic I did myself I'm light enough and know what I wanted and it's a rig job. The french drain I paid 2 helpers to help me dig it and position the pipes on the passive one. I did the one with the sump pump all by myself as no digging, except for the box I put the pump in. It's active, plugged in all the time with a float switch.

I love designing solutions. The muscle, I don't have as much as I used to.

ya'll stay warm

I get that Gypsi, digging is not easy, even getting hard for my husband now too. We did pay young bucks to remove our huge azaleas, I enjoyed watching them out the window, ((grinning)).

Kitt, love that artsy area, very creative.

My pothos is all over the place, climbing up everything, all started over two decades ago from potted plant that fell down into the garden.

I'm tired Sun. Racing around in the cold tending ponds, I'm worn out. Have a pump to change tomorrow, and a net to put on another one, an aquarium to check. I'm ready to be home and weather is supposed to be nice this weekend.

Have a pond tentatively set for Saturday but 50/50 she cancels now that I drew up a plan, she wants people to work for very very cheap and I don't. But I did plan it for free, for old times sake. (I told her not to call me anymore a couple of years ago but she does this to everyone so smart people don't show up, lol) Guess I'm not smart, she said her son paid her back so she could afford work on the phone. yeah. Then I get there and she wants $2500 worth of work for $500. I don't have to do that.

I stayed in her budget, planned a workaround and left the bottom pond for someone cheaper to fill in

Ugh, some people just not worth the time.

Cleaned out coat closet and my closet yesterday, got lots for homeless. Next week gonna be really nice, I need to do a super cleaning of the Florida room, and garage...bout time we get some cooler weather. Some seeds to sow on east garden of wildflowers.

And today when she said she was going to check with her handyman and a construction guy (to implement my plan cheaper) I suggested she should mail me a check for $50. If my helper does as he said and show up, we're going to change some drafty old windows

DFW full of those folks Gypsi- I remember from working with dad in the late 80"s. Most of them are so lonesome they are calling simply to have somebody who will talk to them, chuckl. Ya gotta be careful and either date everything or just remember really well.
Back to 2nd poly coat since the weather was cooperating, pulling the winter bit plants and piling them on top of the brushpile, I may burn tomorro after another poly coat on some of those boards. The spearmint and peppermint survived, the root beer plant, salvias, lantanas, zinnias and marigolds are touched by the burn. Too sad, but expected.

I remember them pretty well, have picture and quickbooks documentation and notes. There are some sharks out there, lots of them. In my first year in business I learned not to do free estimates, cuz people just wanted to know how to fix the pond themselves. I charge a service call and teach them, no problem. This lady has more money than I will ever have, and wants all done on a cheap bargain, and that pond is not my responsibility. I don't have to do it.

My garden is looking better than those so far north right now, onions didn't drown and are looking better, but I am taking a bit of a break and letting the stuff grow. Succulents I do not grow, but then, they wouldn't like these conditions and I have little patience with forcing a plant to survive where it doesn't wish to. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to those enjoying over stuffing themselves into contentment tomorro!

alright - I've joined the succulent forum on the other site, I can tell when I'm over my head. Need life jacket.

Dinner with family tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Dinner with family today ,,lol Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in another land!
Sorry to hear you are having succulent woes Gypsi. That will likely squash the addiction. Lower leaves rotting sounds like too much water. I really can't explain how mine do so well here. We had such a wet summer here it is a wonder anything survived. The home brew soil mix I make has super good drainage. 2 parts peat based Pro Mix and one part Cherry Stone poultry grit

Succulents are alive, Cactus has had surgery and is on the counter with cut side coated in cinnamon. Big community pot empty except for dirt, and I went and got cactus soil and mixed with perlite. When I checked them before intervening on wednesday, the cactus was laying on its side. Apparently you only lightly bury that half inch of roots and everything else stays on top of the soil and you don't water in winter.

I pretty much give up on most succulents here in FL, only a handful can take the humidity, even under cover out of the rain they'll eventually die of rot.

I've been able to keep some sedums alive, and these were cheap so I gave a try. I think the cactus is doomed, checked it yesterday, more soggy sad looking tissue above my cut, recut and redo cinnamon I guess. The rest look like they will live. We aren't that humid here

I spent today clearing on a storage shed. I 'planted' my eggshells, leftover veggie fertilizer and banana peels, poured sulphur dust around the edges of a raised bed and watered. I got oak leaves sprayed along with a large wire hanger I am hoping to wrap pine needles around. I know they use cardboard cutouts and fancy wire flat hangers, but I am going to try a single wire. Youtube gave me a few ideas, I don't see me using a cardboard base in humidity central down here. Now I just need to find my twine and go to assembling this experiment.

Before, and After. Last week.

Looks much brighter

a lot bigger too. went from 3 ft wide to 8 ft wide. Real biofalls, fish hide, decent pump

Looks great Gypsi.

Had to put up little greenhouse two weeks ago, but now record high temps. FL winter weather like a yo yo.

We are all about that yoyo in North Texas, high today of 45, cold and wet. Greenhouse is warm, I should go work in it. And take pictures. And upload later.\

I rescued an orphaned soft leaf yucca from where the brush and tree pile from a cleared lot had been picked up. It had a root, nice chunk of root and some fine ones, so maybe it will live. putting it on my no mow corner, surrounded by limestone I think. They are pretty sharp. For now it is in a pot.

I'd like to see pics of he greenhouse. Neighbors have a nice Yucca up against my fence, I get to admire the flowers, tough plant.

We're actually getting some pretty fall colors right now, temps have been down in the upper 40's enough to slowly turn the leaves. Usually we go from 85 to 35 and they just turn brown, but every few years it's just right.