Shall we start a Sticky Thread here for MGs?

After trying MGs for the first time ever this year, I am hooked on them! But I am still very new and very confused about all the information that I have read here. What I thought was a simple vine is far, far more complex that I could've ever imagined.

I would like to start a sticky thread for MGs, but I FIRST wanted to ask how many would like to see a sticky on this forum and if you would be willing to add information to it? This forum would always be the thread at the top of the forum. And it would be for information, not posting conversations or sharing photos unless it was pertinent to information about growing MGs. (Personal photos and conversations would be best posted on other threads here.)

One of the better sticky threads here on DG is the daylily sticky thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/623557/

I would love to have an informational thread similar on our MG forum. What do y'all think?

Ron is a wealth of knowledge as are several other folks here. I would love for folks to share websites, thread links, previous individual post links, or actually post important info about MGs to help educate all of us ..... newbies and oldies to MGs!

A sticky thread would be helpful to me personally in locating information with just a click or two in one thread. This is a busy forum and threads/posts quickly get lost in the massive archives!!

Yay or nay on a sticky thread?

This message was edited Oct 13, 2007 11:22 AM

Morning glory species ID 101 would be a great contribution. A section on how to tell the difference between purpureas, nils, tricolors,hederaceas and indicas with details in clear macro,close up and further away pictures and explanations complete with different cultivars of the same species to show variations within each specie of morning glory.

A little teaching manual like X came up with the photography series would be beautiful.

Karen

Definitely need a sticky on this forum. Something I would appreciate but rarely see, is bloom measurements.......a ruler beside them or something to give an idea of bloom size.

Some of us have been working on a sticky for some time, but as you say, this is a complex subject - plus, we would like to give such complex subject matter proper treatment. I'm not ready to submit what I've been doing yet for that reason. But life keeps slowing me down, so you may not want to wait for me.

You guys write it send pictures and I'll turn it into a web page.

X

Karen (blue) - The sticky thread can continue to have information (posts) added to it indefinitely. So if we start one now, it can be an evolving thread and can have information added as information becomes available or as topics are discussed on other MG threads where we can post a link to that thread on the sticky.

X - I was thinking that the sticky would just be a permanent thread at the top of this forum for MG information. I wasn't expecting you to make a web page about it. But that's cool if you do!

And if we don't like the sticky or things about the sticky, it can always be updated/changed. Starting one would just be so helpful to me and especially any newbies coming to this forum for the first or second time. There is just so much information on all the threads that I can NOT remember where I read what. And I can't always remember details which is why I want to go back re-read or reference info. I just don't have the time to go searching all the time on previous threads. I would much rather just go to the sticky for that information or to the links of the archived threads/posts.

This message was edited Oct 14, 2007 12:31 AM

What you could do, beckgardener, and I do this for threads related to my profession...I have a Word document called "to read later" or you could call your own "important MG information"...I copy the threads that I found very interesting into that file and give them a vary catch name that I can easily remember...With the find function I can then go back and read up on the information any time...

The problem with sticky threads is that they could get too long and cumbersome to handle...Also, sometimes, the threads I've posted in other forums get revived after ages...so I wish I had never posted them in the first place...I keep thinking: Oh surely it's been pushed out of view for good now...but there is always somebody to revive my ancient thread.

I don't favour long threads at all...Even the rare Japanese MG is getting too long now in my opinion I have to scroll for ever to see the end...



Martin

You almost need a sticky just giving the basics i'e how to identify nil and purp etc how to look after them and other usefull info. I see so many questions asked over and over simply because old threads get lost and new people come and go. Including myself!

After that the sticky should be closed to all other comments.

If people want something added it should be harder than just posting.

If you want to coment on the content then use another thread to do so.

Took the words right out of my mouth Mike .. put up the sticky but close it to posting.

X

EXACTLY!!!! It should be for information ONLY! (NO comments, questions, or conversations!)

Here was what I would "like" to see in the sticky for this forum:

How to discern and ID the different "species" (NOT cultivars) for Ipomoea nil, I.purpurea, I.hederacea and I. tricolor. Are there any others species of MGs? This could include seeds, leaves, hairiness, blooms, and especially sepals!!! I am learning more and more! Since I am starting to grow a wider variety of MGs, I can now see some of the differences with my own eyes. It's exciting to understand what many folks here already know! I am learning a great deal from this forum! But it would be so nice to have a link to that information in a sticky thread that I can readily find and go back to time and time again as a reference. The information IS already here in the many threads of this forum. It just needs to have the links compiled and accessible from one area (THREAD).

I like the way that Ron explains things using different links to photos to show his point. I am a visual person and reading something doesn't register like seeing it! A sticky thread can be nothing more than a thread with lots of links (to posts, threads, photos, and internet websites). Ron has already started numerous threads about wonderful topics related to MGs here on this forum. We just need to find all those threads and add a link to them in the sticky.

I would also like to see a hand pollinating link to Karen's instructions on one of the old threads.

Information about growing MGs. Information for containers and in-ground planting and growing. Ways to treat pests and diseases. Fertilizing information. Best time of year to plant. Pertinent temperature information such as which vines like really warm temps and which like the cooler temps. At what temps do they die in winter. We just had a huge discussion about this on one of the threads. (We could reference THAT thread by a link in the sticky.)

All this information does NOT have to be posted about in the sticky. It could be nothing more than a link to the old thread. That helps keep the sticky thread much, much shorter and more manageable. And you don't have to read through every post to find the particular information that you are currently looking for, You just need to find the sticky post with the topic and then go to the thread link to read the information.

An example of what I am talking about, go look at the following sticky:

I started the Butterfly and Hummingbird Sticky a while back. Many of the knowledgeable folks there added wonderful information and lots of links! See this thread to get an idea:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/744103/

The one drawback ..... there is ocassionally someone who will post a comment or question to it and I had to ask them to contact Dave to remove their post. They submitted their post to the wrong thread! Very time consuming for me or any others on the forum to keep the sticky cleaned up. I have such an issue right now which you will see if you go the bottom of the sticky. You will see where 2 people started a question/comment conversation which I need to have them remove. :-(

I noticed on the Daylily forum that a DG Admin person (Terry) is the only one who can write to the sticky. No one but her can leave a post on the sticky thread. I really like that. She can change it by request of a member if it is pertinent. That keeps it cleaned up to serve the purpose that it was intended for ..... INFORMATION ONLY!!!

This message was edited Oct 14, 2007 10:19 AM

Martin - Your idea is a good one for individually collecting information. But I have tons and tons of documents on my computer now and just trying to remember them all by name is very difficult for me. I have been using the DG "My Favorites" to tag threads and posts here on DG, but I would still much rather have a sticky. My computer crashes every so often, so I have also lost files because of that. I prefer to have pertinent info listed here on DG. (Which is why I used the DG garden diary for the first time ever. If my computer crashes, the info is still here on DG!)

And a sticky thread does NOT have to be a long, cumbersome thread. It could be a thread that has links for information about MGs. Not to actually post all that information, but instead to reference where to find that info.

I totally agree with Mike and X on the purpose of the sticky!

hey dudes..someone agrees with me....wow thats gota be a first! lol

Well I for one would love a sticky!! I have a lot of info save too but being able to access things right here would be great!!

Becky how did you get the sticky for the B&H Forum?

Ronnie - I simply let Dave know that we wanted a sticky on the B & H forum and started the thread and gave him the link that we (members of that forum) were going to use as the sticky and he made it permanent so that it is always the first thread on the forum. It was very easy to create the sticky and add to it. I think most of the information and posts for that thread were done within a week or so. Very quick and easy to do if you want to do something like it here on the MG forum. I have also had posts on the sticky thread removed because they were in the wrong thread or were replaced with a better post! :-) Nothing is permanent unless you want it to be .... and even then .....

Also, I just became informed that this idea was going around here on this forum before I joined it. I am not sure what some folks had in mind, but that was 3+ months ago. And I have read posts that some folks here are in the process of creating a website somewhere on the internet (?) with lots of photos and information to use as a reference. Which would be really awesome! But I don't consider that a "sticky" thread. I consider that a valuable website "link" that could be added to a post in the sticky thread. A sticky would be a permanent thread that is ALWAYS the very FIRST thread listed on a forum.

I agree that a sticky is in order but who is going to determine what goes in the sticky and what threads get linked to(?)

Who is willing to commit to long term management of the sticky...(?)

I'm willing to contribute a fair share...

TTY,...

Ron

Why don't we start one here .. let people add to it. When finished let Dave know and he can cut and paste into a sticky.

I suggest breaking it up into 3 parts .. first, how to grow, second identification and third pollinating and hybridization.

Once we get and agree on links for each category we are done! The danger though is too much information. I'd say no more than 4 or 5 links per category.

X

Sounds good to me... how about a sticky that tells fools like me how to write in bold!

Here ya go!

X

ehh? i'll try that! = flower

Hmm so that didn't work! lol told you i was a fool... i'll stick to normal text!

Make sure you are copying it EXACTLY as posted and don't for get the /.

X

I'll have a go when its not in such a serious thread .. but cheers loads.

Mike

X - I like your ideas for the sticky thread! So .... shall we start one or wait ?

I think it would be great with a thread for only fact about growing MG.

Hobby thats just teasing..lol

teasing?

I was reffering to me not being able to work out using bold in the posts above..heheh

Okay, I understand, you shall write as they tell abowe only it is easy it is HTML-program.
I write an example directly to you in a mail