WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD JUNE 9, 2017

freerepublic | June 9, 2017 | greeneyes

[greeneyes]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds.

From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[greeneyes]

Greetings from Missouri. Great weather we are having. Sunny moderate temps. Night time temps are finally in the 60s for at least the next 5 days.

Still waiting on the garlic to finish. Hubby just planted a bunch of cukes today. The lemons are about the size of olives.

Hope you are all doing well. Prayers up for all. Have a great weekend. God Bless.

[greeneyes]

Pinging the list.

[lee martell]

A few related questions I’ve had for a while;
1. What flowers would you suggest to attract Hummingbirds?
2. Would these same flowers also attract bees, and does that put the birds in any danger?
Or have they learned to share the resources?

By the way, Morning Glory vines are coming on strong around here in the Bay Area after that nice wet winter we just had.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*BUMP* for Morning Coffee. :)

[greeneyes]

I don’t know the answers to your questions. I’ve never thought about bees vs birds. I’ve always just assumed that things co-exist.

We have a bunch of wild morning glory type vines going crazy here too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m talking Beau into giving me an outside south-facing wall of the barn where I can run string from the ground UP to the roof to grow Morning Glories. ‘Grandpa Ott’s’ is my favorite! I would imagine they’d be doing great by you after a super-wet spring - it takes a while for the hard seed shell to break down and germinate, so ‘wet’ speeds up the process, for sure!

I don’t plant for the Hummers here, because our growing season is too short, but I have Hummers because I put up feeders and go broke all summer making them sugar water, LOL! They are SO worth it! (1 cup sugar, 4 cups water - heat in a pan until it’s dissolved; cool and fill the feeders. Repeat Daily, all Summer long!)

Pretty sure these people know what to do as far as nectar-producing plants go:

http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/hummingbird-flowers/

Bees are after dusty, yellow Pollen, versus the Hummers who are after liquid Nectar, so no, they don’t compete for food.

[Jamestown1630]

Does anyone have experience with the Aerogarden? I bought one recently to grow culinary herbs indoors, especially mint and basil, right now; perhaps dill later. It looks like a fun thing to try, and there was a big sale; but we have no experience with indoor hydroponics.

[pigsmith]

Pulled my very first radishes. Big and radish-y. Yum. Same for the carrots. This was an experiment in gardening in pots since my soil is overgrown with every weed one can imagine, it seems. I'm going to try a little bit of everything as the season moves along, and see what doesn't grow in pots!

[greeneyes]

I look at those every year, and think that it would be nifty to have, but I’ve no experience with them. I hope you’ll keep us updated with your experiences.

[Jamestown1630]

We’re going to set it up tomorrow, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

[pigsmith]

I’m going to give a go with hydroponics. I have all the equipment together (buckets, net cups, something to hold the cups, and nutrient for the water); just need to wait for the seedlings to be sprouted. I found this method on YouTube called Kratky hydroponics. Looks pretty straightforward. Can be in or outdoors, but indoors needs a good light. Looking forward to seeing what happens.

[lee martell]

Thank you anyway. I like that you give us a chance to talk about and think about plants. Makes me feel better after picturing a yard full of gladiolas , cosmos and peonies.
Happy planting.

[Jayster]

Have you guys discussed BioChar at all?

[greeneyes]

Growing in pots has a wide diversity. Even corn. Deck corn can be grown in about 2 sq. ft. I planted some one year, and it was quite tasty.

[MtnClimber]

I grew some plants inside for a while when it was still snowing. I looked at the weather forecast and planted them outside last weekend. I put in 5 tomatoes two eggplants and put in seeds for mustard greens collard greens rutabagas, turnips, three varieties of peppers and several rows of beans. Keeping fingers crossed that no more freezes happen and the 10-day forecast looks good. I have some crookneck yellow squash I bought today that I will plant tomorrow. I am missing pole beans to plant, I am planning to plant around the perimeter of my two fenced garden areas and plan for them to climb the fence. Got to find some bean to plant, looked today and did not find any.

[greeneyes]

Thank you for participating.

[greeneyes]

Seems like there was a discussion years ago, but I don’t recall much about it. What can you tell us about the subject?

[greeneyes]

IIRC, we planted top crop bush beans several years ago. Once we have more than enough green beans canned, we let them go and harvest the dry beans.

Some of those we eat, and some we plant the next year for more bush beans. We tried pole beans one year, but they did poorly compared to the bush beans.

[Daffynition]

I've had great success with the Gartenmeister Fuchsia

Almost any *trumpet* shaped red flower might do.

Over time, I did some experimenting with going to a garden center, taking along a little black light [works better on overcast day]; shine the black light on the red blossoms of various flowers and what *you* see will be close to what a hummie sees ...as they are sensitive to a long-wavelength.

There is a lot of reading matter on the subject out there. :)

https://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/do-we-see-what-bees-see/

I also like the test tube style feeders; they are a bit fussy to clean and fragile; it's fun to see their tongues slurping up the nectar [in the tube]

Good luck and have great FUN observing God's little miracle.!

[Jamestown1630]

The Aerogarden has LED lights, to simulate natural light.

I’ve wondered if things grown this way have the same taste and nutrition. I think I read one article that indicated that hydroponics just don’t have the same taste as plants grown in soil...

I guess we’ll see. My husband likes Tabbouleh, and lately I’ve made it with cut herbs from the grocery store (don’t know how they were grown) and again with leaves taken from a live plant. He said that the leaves taken fresh from the plant had much more flavor, while the bunch from the grocery was almost tasteless..and that’s why we decided to buy the Aerogarden, and try it out for the herbs we routinely use in cooking.