A pair of twins on the next bush over

Things are progressing fairly well since my last post. It rained for about a week straight, which made me fear for my plants--I've been warned heavily about over-watering. Some seem like they're doing great. Others not so much.

My "Whopper" tomato plant, the only one in a container, flowered and it's producing fruit:

I think we've been anticipating that this would be the first and best of the tomatoes. It's got the best starting medium (Miracle-Gro potting soil) and the most depth to grow. It's gotten tall, as you can see. The question is when I'll need to fertilize further. Miracle-Gro says it'll be good for six months. Should I add fertilizer before that, since it's fruiting and using so many resources from its soil? ![](https://lazysoci.al/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https

Planted Pink Ladies along with Red California Poppy to bring some life to my front yard. I've grown tired of the mono lawns I've seen and wanted to spruce things up.

It's been amazing seeing the flowers blossoming as well as fruits growing. Currently got blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, blueberries, and grapes looking healthy as heck and pushing flowers!

And that, right there, is why I garden.

I want to thank everyone who responded with advice for my last post.

Per the advice I received, I went ahead and found a 10-10-10 Scott's fertilizer. I tried to apply it or the instructions, mixing it into the soil, and watered it in. I'm hoping for good things. One thing I'm curious about: the instructions indicate this particular product should be applied every two months, which seems like a long interval. Shouldn't I be fertilizing more often? Did I choose the wrong kind?

Also, I finally got some straw and used it as mulch. It seems like it's keeping the soil wetter for longer.

As for my plants:

My potted tomato plant is taking off, more so than the ones I have in the actual bed. I installed a stake and a cage. I had primed of the first flower, but I believe it may be ready to bloom again. Do I need to keep tr

Raspberries are escaping their raised bed after two years :( I really don't want them to spread beyond it. what to do? Bury a tarp under the mulch? Dig a trench around the bed? Roundup?

Hello Earth Shepard's! Waiting patiently for some harvests to come in. So far I've been plucking away at my lemon trees to make lemonade (tried wine, but for health sake I'm sticking to lemonade) until everyone else catch up.

Invitees are: Blackberry (x2), Peach (x2), Raspberry(x2), Boysenberry(x3), Blueberry(x1), Strawberry (pulled a few and they're good, x8), Summer Crisp lettuce (still producing and tasty,x6), Tomatoes (Roma and Black Krim,x10), Apple (x1) Bell Peppers(x12) and Zucchini(x2).

As you can see, bell peppers and tomatoes make up a large part of my garden. I'm shifting more to a perrenial grow instead of annuals (peppers here are perrenials) hence the large amount of peppers. In hindsight, I should had bought more Blueberry bushes and at least another tray of strawberry starters.

Besides the strawberries and the trees, everything else has been grown from seed. Pictures are just a minor snippet of what's growing in my backyard.

[Click here](https://www.tiktok.com/t/Z

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind advice on my first post.

I've got my plants in the ground, and I figured I'd give updates on my progress so I can get more guidance and contribute to the content available here on Lemmy.

From the back of the bed by my chain link fence, I've got two pairs of two varieties of cucumber, with some lettuce planted in the back corner. I intend to train those cucumbers onto the fence to ensure they didn't take over the bed.

In the middle, I've got one each of rosemary, dill, African basil, sweet basil, and peppermint.

On the front, I've got some determinate and semi-determinate tomatoes to include one Celebrity, two Roma, and one Green Zebra plants.

I've lined the front and left side with Marigolds, transplanting six plants and seeding some more in the spaces in between.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21151049

TL;DR

You can buy shot dispensers, that dose a certain amount of liquid (usually 20 ml) with each pour, and then make your own stock solution for your fertilizer.

With that, you can create your nutrient solutions WAY quicker and don't have to measure anything.

I have made it that one shot per watering can equals the exact dosing recommendations for the final nutrient solution, with the extra benefit that the fertilizer doesn't spoil.

Why?

Measuring and dosing fertilizer can be a tedious task.

I for example use Masterblend for my hydroponic setups, including all of my houseplants, which is a 3-part fertilizer that comes in form of a highly concentrated powder and includes everything the plant needs.

You can still use liquid nutrients if you prefer, especially if you need smaller amounts. I personally like to mix it myself, because it's way cheaper than having someone else dissol

I've just put together a 4x8 raised bed in central South Carolina, USA. It's about 12 in deep. I filled it first with branches and larger limbs, then a layer of dead leaves, and finally a mixture of compost, manure, topsoil, and garden soil. I'm planning to start planting this next weekend. I'm trying to put together a plan for what to plant. The picture above shows kind of a first shot at putting it all together on the veg plotter tool.

I've got marigolds on the corners with tomatoes in the back, alternating with lettuce, cucumbers on either side. I'm thinking I'll have some carrots interspersed with some dill, garlic and basil. The rest is rounded out with yellow squash and zucchini.

So I know this is probably way too crowded, but these are all plants I'd be interested in potentially cultivating. The tomatoes and cucumbers are de

It ain't much, but it's honest work.

I’m in the midst of getting my planning done, 8 week starts need to get started next week for last frost at end of May.

This way I’ll know approximately how many seedlings to start and I can keep track of which ones we enjoy. With the layouts, it will allow me to keep track of crop rotations to minimize nutrient depletion. I most likely won’t do a round of cover crops though, I can always just throw some of my other nutrients to top up when needed.

Edit Link to the Libreoffice and Excel doc the file was just saved as excel format, so there is likely formatting issues. If the link reaches its limit send me a msg and I’ll make another.

When I asked this community two weeks ago if I should prune or pinch my avocado tree, I was expecting maybe one or two of the meristem bits to start growing. Instead I got five.

I have a feeling this plant is going to outgrow the ring light I have above it before the year is over.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/17801651

Hey all,

I've been using my fertilizer now for a year, and it's the only one I've used up until now, because I alway was satisfied with it, because it's both very inexpensive and well formulated imo.

I'm using the Masterblend set, with the solutions pre-mixed for short term use.

I have mixed two "stock solution" bottles, which last me a few months in winter (only for houseplants and my small indoor grow tent) and a few weeks in summer (balcony gardening + house plants).

You can see the ingredients on the bottles on the picture:

They are always stored in complete darkness.

And then I have a diluted solution, with an EC of about 3-4 mS and a low pH, which I adapted to exac

pic 2:

This is actually "Pimentão Cascadura"; it's an "improved" green bell pepper variety here in Brazil, i think it's more resistant to plagues, sickness and all that

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23224596

More pix first. Then explanation.

So this is going on the fifth year I'll be farming Vanilla. My operation is microscopic but it's a work in progress. I've got maybe 300 vines all in. I got some Vanilla off this planting 2 years ago, and this was the first vines I planted. Which is some what typical for Vanilla. Usually 3-5 years before they really become productive.

I f

Over there at [email protected] I already posted a few updates concerning my saffron.

I originally planned to plant a few bulbs of saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) into my hydroponic setups, but also placed the other half or so into soil outside.

One of the bulbs, and probably the only one this year, started flowering just a few weeks after planting them.

Funnily, it started blooming just when the very first snow hit!

I harvested the only three strands, which is typical, and ate one right away. It tasted like nothing. Maybe they need drying and curing first, I don't know 🤷

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/15197450

This is another appreciation-post on how awesome semi-hydro/ LECA can be.

Today, I want to show you how my propagator dome works and how to build one for yourself very easily!

TL;DR

• It uses inorganic media like expanded clay pebbles, Seramis, pon, perlite, or whatever you choose.
• You fill small modified cups with the media and then place your seeds or cuttings in them.
• The media is completely inert and can be sterilized, so you don't have to worry about mold, fungus gnats, or whatever!
• You can't over- or underwater it, it's always moist, but very well aerated.
• This is my personal aerocloner-killer!
  

Why I build it (backstory)

I've always had trouble getting seeds started, especially for soil plants. They almost always got moldy and the success rate was low, especially due to waterlogging

Pretty gutted, had just started to harvest this year's crop. Just the cherry on top of an already shit day. Even managed to snap the half inch metal stake I put there when I first planted it in February 2021.

[Image description: view of a row of five young fruit trees planted in half wine barrels in a home garden.]