Posted on 11/18/2016 5:44:05 PM PST by 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.
LOL. I haven’t been waiting. I’ve been so lazy all week - actually spending too much time reading all the news, which I had been avoiding for about 4 years.
She bloomed until November 18th. She made it past Veterans Day!
Good genes. Cut her back and keep her in the cold - not freezing. She will bless you with more blooms in 2017.
Thank you! Looks like they’re heading home a day early. The hunting has been really bad because of no snow in the mountains as of now.
Hoping he’s home by Sunday, maybe Monday, depending on the roads. :)
Mine was an 8’ wide, and the addition goes the 50’ length of the trailer which widens the Living room and the master bedroom to 16’ and adds a small bedroom. The leaves were on the addition’s flat rubber roof which was collecting water because of the leaves. I brushed off as much water as I could and hope that the sun would dry out the rest.
No leaks inside though, thank God!
You betcha! I’ve got two Geraniums, one Coral and one pale Pink that I’ve had for at least 10 years. I remember my Grandma taking them out of the pots, shaking off the dirt from the roots and hanging the plants in the basement rafters, then replanting them again in the spring.
Geraniums are the easiest plants to root from cuttings and to save over winter. I’m no longer, ‘in the biz’ so I can share that little ‘trade’ secret now, LOL!
Now that will be nice.
My sister had a trailer with an addition all along the side which expanded the living area quite a bit.
It’s ALMOST a “double-Wide”, but not quite.
We’re basking in the glow of a Donald Trump win and the melt down of most of the press so we haven’t done much cleanup in the garden. I hope our grandson can empty the 50 flower pots on the deck this weekend. Lady Bender will do a traditional Thanksgiving early dinner Thursday.
Sending prayers for Beau’s travels and your warmth!
Tomatoes Peppers, and potatoes are all solanacious (need sunlight) plants; 8-10 hours of sunlight to stay alive, 12-15 hours to keep blooms and set fruit.
The light needs to be "Full Spectrum" which includes blue light wavelength, which is necessary for photosynthesis (converting light energy to sugars).
If plants become spindley, the plants are telling you that they need more light, they are 'reaching' for more light,
and will grow towards the light (advantage of an adjustable overhead full spectrum lighting system).
When plants come indoors, they will go through a period of 'shock', but should recover with a week or so.
Reduce the amount of water when plants are brought indoors, unless they are still fruiting; throughout the winter, keep the reduced amount of water,
or manually mist, or increase humidity by placing pots over small rocks set in shallow water (sorta a humidity blanket).
Flowering plants are more adaptive to bringing indoors; fruiting plants are 'more pickey' about environment, and need pollination by insects, or by hand.
A closed environment is more susceptible to insect invasion and fungal diseases; close monitoring is advised as is an elevated position,
since cold drafts occur closer to the ground as is accidental ambient air currents.
Light (full spectrum) and stable temperature is necessary for overwintering plants indoors.
My experience with geraniums is that overwintered geraniums last longer and are more frost hardy, than those from cuttings.
Cuttings blooms tend to shatter earlier
Is that your experience too ?
HAhaha - how do you “just find” a tiller? We have one of those teensy ones that basically just scratches up the top inch of dirt, but we will run it out this weekend and mix the mulched leaves into the beds just to get it all started.
I wish we had a better tiller, but maybe next year we will splash out on one.
If you see my garage - before and after - it would be obvious.
All remaining peppers were picked Friday afternoon. I’ll pull the plants and turn over the ground when it warms a bit. 34 degrees Saturday morning.
Hello..pinging back at ya!Pretty mild fall so far here in Waterville Maine. I am taking advantage of it also doing yard prep and setting everything up for the snow season...Hope all is well with everyone else.
I suppose it depends upon how ‘heirloom’ the original plant is. Geraniums have been so hybridized to get different colors, fancy leaves, longer bloom periods, etc. that the more hybrid varieties would be weaker to begin with.
Thanks!
I broke down this morning and turned the heat up to 62 in the house. Last night it dropped down to 57 inside, but I had a space heater in the bedroom AND the heat-producing Beagle! ;)
Pretty soon I’ll be LIVING in the Family Room, next to the fireplace, all set up with magazines, crochet, a laptop, Netflix movies, etc.
Life Is Good! See you in the Spring, LOL!
I believe that is exactly true; hybridizing removes some of the 'heirloom' quality when the plant is grown for something other than bloom endurance and variety of climate.
I seasonally worked in a commercial greenhouse where all types of geraniums were grown from seed, cuttings, and some infrequent grafting.
Geraniums grown from seed were slower to start blooming, but lasted later into the cold season, and blooms lasted longer.
Geraniums from cuttings seem to flower more frequently, but the blooms seemed to 'shatter'(break) more easily; the number of blooms overwhelmed their fragility.
A complete 'table' of "mother plants" were kept growing, overwintered with just enough heat and full spectrum lights,
and kept just dry enough, and fertilized with no nitrogen so that they didn't bloom nor grow too large.
These 'mother plants' were the source for mid-winter cuttings, in time for early spring commercial sale to wholesalers.
The idea of homeowners having an unheated area of the basement, and storing inverted plants with dry roots is how our ancestors overwintered their geraniums.
Currently 57 here in Western NY, opening day of deer season (gun), and the front moving through later today with a significant drop in temperature, with snow tonight.
Weatherman says expect high winds, and snow for tonight/tomorrow of anywhere from 4 inches to 1 1/2 feet, depending on location.
Since we are still in 'severe drought' conditions, any water in any form, for ground water, is gratefully appreciated.
Break out the wool socks !
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