How does your Garden grow? part 2

[Borg]

I have a security camera pointed at that area and there's an Asian woman who has been looking very carefully at the tree several times a day.

As expected, she and her friend made their move yesterday. I happened to see them arrive and begin to pull down fruit as fast as they could. I walked over to my neighbor's to tell her about it and as soon as they saw me, they quit and started walking away. My neighbor chased after them and gave them a good scolding.

 

[Astronuc]

My neighbor has a persimmon tree. Unfortunately, the tree sits near a cut-through sidewalk that gets a lot of foot traffic for the metro. A couple of years ago, I had to chase away a couple of Asian women who decided it was OK for them to bring a long stick and try to harvest all of the fruit. There wasn't any fruit last year but there is this year. I have a security camera pointed at that area and there's an Asian woman who has been looking very carefully at the tree several times a day.

Whatever happened to folks respectfully requesting something from the owner?

 

[Borg]

Whatever happened to folks respectfully requesting something from the owner?

She is willing to share after she has had a chance to harvest it and even told them that yesterday.

And these aren't the first ones that I've caught raiding the tree. On the first Saturday of the month, an older Chinese man and his wife showed up with a shopping bag and started harvesting everything they could reach. My neighbor wasn't home so I went out and asked if they had asked permission first. When he said no, I asked him "don't you think it would be polite to ask first?". He said "OK, I'll ask.", walked over to the front of the house and, when he thought I wasn't looking anymore, walked off.

Today, two more Asian women stopped to look and point. Same pattern - I expect that I will see them in a few days with a shopping bag in hand...

 

[Evo]

She is willing to share after she has had a chance to harvest it and even told them that yesterday.

And these aren't the first ones that I've caught raiding the tree. On the first Saturday of the month, an older Chinese man and his wife showed up with a shopping bag and started harvesting everything they could reach. My neighbor wasn't home so I went out and asked if they had asked permission first. When he said no, I asked him "don't you think it would be polite to ask first?". He said "OK, I'll ask.", walked over to the front of the house and, when he thought I wasn't looking anymore, walked off.

Today, two more Asian women stopped to look and point. Same pattern - I expect that I will see them in a few days with a shopping bag in hand...

That's just terrible, burns me up.

 

[Borg]

That's just terrible, burns me up.

I compare it to the squirrels that keep raiding your plants - with the main difference being that the squirrels don't know better.

 

[OmCheeto]

Whatever happened to folks respectfully requesting something from the owner?

It's quite possible, that where the two ladies are from, "ownership" is a foreign concept.

I'm having quite the opposite problem with my community gutter garden.
Although I've told my next door neighbor, that all the strawberries on his side of the fence are his, he refuses to pick them!
I purposely built the fence two feet on my side of the property line, as I had the feeling it would be very disrespectful to go walking into his yard, while checking for overly ripe fruit.

Front yard gutter gardens are fun though. A couple of weeks ago, I could see that my neighbors, two houses down, were getting ready to drive away. And having too many acorn squash already, I picked one off the vine, ran up to them as they were backing out of their driveway, and asked if they liked this particular brand of squash. Their eyes lit up, and said; "Yes!"

I've had similar experiences with about 5 different random groups of people.

hmmm... Where am I? Oh good! I thought this was random thoughts for a moment.

I'm quite happy that I started a new project this summer, as it distracted me from watering my gutter garden. As now, all of the baby strawberry plants appear to be dead.
Had I not, as I've determined that gutter gardens expand at a cubic rate, my entire property would be covered in gutters in less than 7 years.

ps. I discovered this summer, that Chuuks have no comprehension of tomatoes as being "food". So Evo was correct in being upset, that I gave those kids that tomato one day.

 

[edward]

I have been experimenting with composting leaves because they are the only thing I have. I have three African sumac trees. They drop dry leaves year round. twice a year they drop about 1/3 of their leaves. The dry leaves are easy to shred, that is good but the dry leaves are the carbon, and I need a carbon nitrogen mix. BTW they are safe to compost and use.

The good news is that those trees grow like weeds. I trim a lot of branches loaded with green leaves. The bad news is that I don't want to spend the money to buy a chipper shredder just for the green leaves. The green leaves are really tough. I loaded up a basket full of them and went at them with a hedge trimmer (yes I really did that) it worked but it took well over half an hour to reduces the basket full of green leaves to 1/4 basket of shredded green leaves. A weed eater turns to fast and tosses the green leaves out of the basket.

The link below shows the leaves I am working with. They trees are drought resistant and grow like a small willow tree. they are perfect for the desert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_lancea#/media/File:Rhus_lancea,_foliage_detail.jpg

As I mentioned I have been experimenting. During the summer I filled a large plastic container with dry leaves and soaked them. I put the lid on and let the container set out in the sun. It got really hot and not just from the sun. This of course was much like an anaerobic sewage treatment system and when I opened it up after a month it smelled like one. it was a homemade methane generator.

The leaves had really broken down into a mass of smaller pieces. I put the (smelly yuck) them in an old washing machine basket (the part with all of the small holes in it) and let the yuck set for another month. with a regular sprinkle of water and occasional stirring . By the end of the month it wasn't yuck, much to my surprise the composting process was nearly done. It takes a full year for a pile of those leaves to reach that state when lying on the ground.

Now I am wondering what the green leaves would do in an anaerobic situation. Does anyone know if the greens will break down like the browns did? I have a lot of limbs loaded with green leaves that I need to trim. (Most likely I should have just asked this first) :) I know that the nitrogen is not going to make methane like the carbon did. What is it going to make? I don't want to create a mass of bacteria that will cause a plague.

 

[Evo]

So Evo was correct in being upset, that I gave those kids that tomato one day.

Ahahaha! IIRC, that tomato was rotten with large black squishy areas!

 

[OmCheeto]

Ahahaha! IIRC, that tomato was rotten with large black squishy areas!

Being that this is only the second time in my life that I've grown a tomato that large, the last time being the year I tried to drown that mole, I was quite overwhelmed by this years crop.

And I put tomatoes in much worse condition to use this year, than that one.

ps. Have I mentioned that I may be investing in an indoor gutter garden this year? It's been in the "mental" works for years. And given the rapid advancement of technology lately, I'm kind of glad I waited until now. My initial design, involved a full spectrum fluorescent tube. Ha! Amazing how naive I was, just 4 years ago.

 

[lisab]

mmm-hmmm...vegetable porn publications...they arrive in my mailbox daily now...oooh baby...companies I've never heard of--how did they find me, how did they know?!

They tempt me with sassy green beans, velvety potatoes, luscious berries, and tomatoes...oh tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes! My soft white underbelly--how do they know my inner desires?! My dog how can I resist...?

What I mean to say is: seed catalogs for Spring planting are available now.

 

[Evo]

mmm-hmmm...vegetable porn publications...they arrive in my mailbox daily now...oooh baby...companies I've never heard of--how did they find me, how did they know?!

They tempt me with sassy green beans, velvety potatoes, luscious berries, and tomatoes...oh tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes! My soft white underbelly--how do they know my inner desires?! My dog how can I resist...?

What I mean to say is: seed catalogs for Spring planting are available now.

I already ordered my whopper begonias.

I think i am giving up on Vegetables again, between the cold wet springs and cool summer, just not getting out of containers

I am blown away by the meyer lemon tree i bought last year at walmart, it's given me pounds of the largest, sweetest lemons, And the lemons have a very thin sweet rind, you can just cut the entire lemon up, sprinkle it with sugar and eat the entire thing. i absolutely recommend them.

 

[lisab]

I am blown away by the meyer lemon tree i bought last year at walmart, it's given me pounds of the largest, sweetest lemons, And the lemons have a very thin sweet rind, you can just cut the entire lemon up, sprinkle it with sugar and eat the entire thing. i absolutely recommend them.

Wow, reading that actually made my mouth water (that's the closest smiley I could find!).

 

[Sophia]

Has anyone got any idea why my orchid doesn't have flowers anymore? I got this flower as a present and it had beautiful pink flowers, which faded after like 2 months (don't remember exactly). I was told to cut the whole stem so that it would have flowers again. I have done that half a year ago and nothing. It still has got nice big green leaves but no flowers.
It was in the middle of room on the table in half-shade, it's been on window sill for a month now as an experiment (it's winter and cloudy) and still nothing. I water it once a week using general purpose fertilizer for room plants from time to time.

 

[Borek]

Orchids are tricky, but - from what I have seen - as long as they have nice, green, healthy looking leaves, it is just a matter of time. Can be a year though before they decide to try again. I don't think cutting the stem matters much, one of our (or should I write "Marzena's"?) orchids "reused" the stem, the other lost it completely (it dried out) and started growing a new one.

 

[JorisL]

My mom gets them to bloom again by putting them in the bathroom.
The steam from showers makes for a humid environment which seems to do the trick.
She doesn't cut the living stem though. Only the dried out ones get cut off.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Has anyone got any idea why my orchid doesn't have flowers anymore?...

You can also reference https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/my-orchid-wont-bloom/ .

 

[Sophia]

Thanks, I'll replant it to new pot, mist with water and see what happens

 

[Borg]

Today's Google doodle has a tribute to James Scoville with a game to test your ability to cool off the peppers.

 

[JorisL]

So I germinated some chilli and bell pepper seeds.
Today I migrated the first 9 that developed a set of leaves to earth.

Wish me luck!

 

[Sophia]

So I germinated some chilli and bell pepper seeds.
Today I migrated the first 9 that developed a set of leaves to earth.

Wish me luck!

It's always great to have your own veggies and fruit :-)
This year, I've planted new tayberries https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayberry and sour cherry tree.

I'm so glad that we have a garden only about 1 km from the apartment. Though having a house would be better :-)

 

[ZapperZ]

This season, I planted 3 different types of basil. And I did it not just for decorative purposes. I decided to choose the 3 that I will be using in my food.

The first one is, of course, the Italian sweet basil, which I use frequently with pasta and my caprese salad.

I actually have 3 different pots growing this basil, since I use it quite a lot throughout the summer.

The second one is the Thai basil. You normally find this, of course, in Thai cuisine, and also as one of the leaves that you can use as a garnish if you have Vietnamese Pho.

I use this in Thai curries a lot.

Lastly, this is Vietnamese basil. This is the first time I've planted this plant, since I don't recall finding it before. But when I saw it at a nursery this past Spring, I decided to grow one, and it is doing unbelievably well.

This basil is not as common as the Thai basil. In many Southeast Asia cuisine, it is often used to accompany tamarind-based dishes or dishes with a slightly sour flavor. I use this basil in my Tom Yum soups.

I actually used the Thai basil, Vietnamese basil, and mint leaves when I made some Vietnamese spring rolls a few weeks ago. I placed Thai basil at one end, the mint in the middle, and the Vietnamese basil at the other end of the rolls. It went pretty well with the dipping sauces. Everyone was commenting on the range of flavor they were getting as they bite along the roll, because the flavor and aroma of each of the herbs were quite distinctive.

Wish we have smell-vision. If you rub each of the basil, the aroma is quite interesting.

Zz.

 

[Hoophy]

Hello, I recently noticed that my bonsai tree has a lot of little silver springtails living in the soil, does anybody know if they are harmful? I read on the Internet that they eat rotting material which should be good for me, but I am still skeptical. (do they eat root hairs?) If they are harmful how should I remove them without putting my tree at risk? Thanks for your time and consideration! :)

 

[Sophia]

Hello, I recently noticed that my bonsai tree has a lot of little silver springtails living in the soil, does anybody know if they are harmful? I read on the Internet that they eat rotting material which should be good for me, but I am still skeptical. (do they eat root hairs?) If they are harmful how should I remove them without putting my tree at risk? Thanks for your time and consideration! :)

First option would be to ask for specific chemical product in your gardening shop or eshop. I've used one for aphids and it worked without harming my Chinese pepper tree.
I'm not sure about springtails, but you can get rid of aphids by sprinkling the tree and soil with tobacco water. You would need 10-15g of tobacco (cca one packet of cigarettes) and cook it in 3dl of boiling water for 10min. After it cools down, water the plant with it and cover with plastic bag for few hours.
Another option is to just light the tobacco and let it smoke in the plastic bag with the plant. But I'm not sure if that would be effective for insects in the soil. Many of our customers buy tobacco specifically for this purpose and claim it works.
There's also an excellent bonsai forum called Bonsai empire where you can ask professionals!

Edit: I've just tried to access the forum on my mobile and it appears to be lost/can't connect . I'm not sure whether you can still access it on desktop.

 

[Hoophy]

Sophia, thank you for your detailed post, if the problem persists or if I notice damage I will try the things you said. Should I take action immediately instead? Thanks again! :)

 

[Sophia]

Sophia, thank you for your detailed post, if the problem persists or if I notice damage I will try the things you said. Should I take action immediately instead? Thanks again! :)

According to this site, they are not particularly dangerous, but they suggest getting rid of them. You may want to repot the plant first. They might be a sign of over-watering and lack of drainage as well http://www.houseplantsguru.com/springtails-and-how-they-damage-plants
Is your tree new? Please check that the soil is porous enough. Sometimes bonsai bought at stores are potted in very bad substrate. Akadama (or akadama mixed with other substrates) is best for bonsai.

 

[Hoophy]

According to this site, they are not particularly dangerous, but they suggest getting rid of them. You may want to repot the plant first. They might be a sign of over-watering and lack of drainage as well http://www.houseplantsguru.com/springtails-and-how-they-damage-plants
Is your tree new? Please check that the soil is porous enough. Sometimes bonsai bought at stores are potted in very bad substrate. Akadama (or akadama mixed with other substrates) is best for bonsai.

Ok I will take action soon, the tree is about two years old and is potted in small rocks, as a rough estimate I would say it's 20% soil and 80% rock. It has (annoyingly so) amazingly good drainage. I used to water it every other day (it would always be dry when I watered it) but recently I have been watering every day because it is especially hot here right now and it has been drying out faster. I will try holding back on the watering like you said, now that you mention it I believe it could be a major part in the problem. I would prefer the drying out of leaves to root rot because at least I can see dry leaves! Thanks for your feedback, I really do appreciate the help! :)

 

[Sophia]

OK, than let me know if it worked :-)

 

[Hoophy]

Here is my tree, this is the only picture I have of my bonsai, I am away from home so I can't take a better picture of it right now without the wild Pokémon Go character in the photo. Just ignore it. :)

 

[Sophia]

Your tree's got a potential to become a nice bonsai. ("tree needs to become a bonsai" is something I learned on the forums where older members scold beginners for using the term bonsai inappropriately :p)
You said you've had it for 2 years but do you know how old it is?

 

[Hoophy]

Your tree's got a potential to become a nice bonsai. ("tree needs to become a bonsai" is something I learned on the forums where older members scold beginners for using the term bonsai inappropriately :p)
You said you've had it for 2 years but do you know how old it is?

I'm not sure how old it is, my guess is 3 years but that's really just a guess.

 

[Sophia]

Oh, i thought it had to be older because mine are roughly the same size and 6-8 years old.
I'll need to study how to prune them. I was yet not courageous enough to cut them :-/
I also had an opposite problem than you with one of them - i didn't water it enough and the leaves dried. At the time, I had two of them and watered them every other day which was fine for one but not enough for buxus.

I got Chinese pepper later and found out it's extremely sensitive to cold and draft. In the spring, when the temperature at night was above 0, I was sleeping with a slightly open window (the opening might have been 5-10cm) and put the pepper on the table about 3m from the window. These conditions were always OK with other trees and plants I had in the room for years. But the pepper? Yellow leaves immediately! Even now, in the summer, when it is outside, I noticed that stronger wind harms its leaves. It's the most sensitive plant I've had.
I didn't want to experiment with wiring and cutting before I learn to keep them alive and healthy during all seasons.

 

[Hoophy]

Oh, i thought it had to be older because mine are roughly the same size and 6-8 years old.
I'll need to study how to prune them. I was yet not courageous enough to cut them :-/
I also had an opposite problem than you with one of them - i didn't water it enough and the leaves dried. At the time, I had two of them and watered them every other day which was fine for one but not enough for buxus.

I got Chinese pepper later and found out it's extremely sensitive to cold and draft. In the spring, when the temperature at night was above 0, I was sleeping with a slightly open window (the opening might have been 5-10cm) and put the pepper on the table about 3m from the window. These conditions were always OK with other trees and plants I had in the room for years. But the pepper? Yellow leaves immediately! Even now, in the summer, when it is outside, I noticed that stronger wind harms its leaves. It's the most sensitive plant I've had.
I didn't want to experiment with wiring and cutting before I learn to keep them alive and healthy during all seasons.

Maybe mine is older than I originally thought... I have never wired and don't prune to a 'bonsai' style, I just cut what I think should go, after all it's for my appreciation alone. My tree grows exceptionally fast, new leaves can grow from literally nothing to full sized leaves in 3 days! I once recorded (on a graph) the growth of a specific branch, at its best rate it grew 1.27 cm/day (0.5 inches/day). You sound like you know a lot about the topic, I do not. I am very curious about bonsai and I have recently considered growing a lemon tree (indoors, winters are to cold for lemons where I live) from seeds for fun. Are your trees indoor or outdoor? Also, do you have pictures of your trees that you are willing to share?

 

[Sophia]

Wow that's a fast growing tree! What species is it? I wish mine grew so fast :-) it's cool because in case you mess up, the tree will recover fast.
Growing a tree from seed is a very interesting project and you could learn a lot in the process. It would create a special bond with the tree, too.
I don't know a lot about bonsai at all! I've only had them since January. I learn in the process from my mistakes. For example, I didn't cut off the branches where the buxus had dry leaves hoping they would regrow. But they didn't for 4 months. Finally, I cut them off a month ago and new leaves started growing on other places soon after that.
So far, my trees were inside in the winter, than I moved them on the window from the outside side and after that, they went on terrace in the garden. There was too strong sun on the south - east window as summer approached.
I will post pictures tomorrow or on Monday because I'm at our garden (1km from home) and I only have mobile here and I have no idea how to insert pictures here on tapatalk

 

[Hoophy]

Wow that's a fast growing tree! What species is it? I wish mine grew so fast :-) it's cool because in case you mess up, the tree will recover fast.
Growing a tree from seed is a very interesting project and you could learn a lot in the process. It would create a special bond with the tree, too.
I don't know a lot about bonsai at all! I've only had them since January. I learn in the process from my mistakes. For example, I didn't cut off the branches where the buxus had dry leaves hoping they would regrow. But they didn't for 4 months. Finally, I cut them off a month ago and new leaves started growing on other places soon after that.
So far, my trees were inside in the winter, than I moved them on the window from the outside side and after that, they went on terrace in the garden. There was too strong sun on the south - east window as summer approached.
I will post pictures tomorrow or on Monday because I'm at our garden (1km from home) and I only have mobile here and I have no idea how to insert pictures here on tapatalk

Very cool! I can't wait to see your trees. While my tree grows super fast it also drops most of its leaves readily, this is not a problem though because of how fast it grows, the only problem is cleaning them up. The tree is called Campeche and it is from the Yucatán Peninsula therefore because it is tropical it is an indoor tree for where I live. It needs a lot of sun. Also, do you use the mobile Physics Forum app?

 

[Sophia]

As I promised, here are the pics.
I will definitely need to learn how to trim and shape them. They are still only a raw material. especially the buxus. I thought it was going to die and it still hasn't recovered, but the new leaves at the bottom give me some hope. I saw many posts about dry buxuses on the internet. It seems it's a common beginner mistake or maybe these trees are not suitable for growing in pots. I don't know.
I'm happy that moss started to grow there a bit. That will help with moisture.
They are so wet because it had been raining just before taking the photos.