Gardening Forum

opabinia51

I've long been a strong advocate for leaf mold. Very good for the garden. Takes a bit longer to make but, really really good. Leaves hold between 300 and 500 times their mass in water as well.

opabinia51

Yes, there is absolutely no N in starch. Oxygen and carbon. So that would definitely be a brown. Your basic formula for simple carbohydrates including starch (as a monomer) is C6H12O6.

See what the structure looks like here:

https://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/547cellulose.html

opabinia51

I've never had luck growing sweet potatoes, what is your trick?

opabinia51

Yes, I've only heard of growing them on hardwoods via innoculating kits that you buy. I was told that it isn't tricky but, have not done it myself.

opabinia51

Yes, switch to the freezer. Are you sure you are collecting seeds and not insect larvae? Anyway, label the seeds and place them in the freezer. And be really careful with morning glory, it will get away from you in a heart beat.

opabinia51

It's amazing isn't it! Be sure and turn that regularly or it will smell and that is bad as it indicates that it has gone anaerbobic on you. This means that the secondary metabolites are not the beneficial ones normally found in compost and they can actually harm the plants.

Anyway, turn every day.

opabinia51

I've put fresh manure (chicken which is "hotter" than cow) in my garden in the fall and seeded rye over it and it germinated just fine. But, ere on the side of caution.

opabinia51

opabinia51

Oh yeah, the elephant manure would be good to add as well. Elephant manure can be treated similar to sheep or chicken manure as far as it's N content would be concerned.And thinking about their diet, I would assume that elephants are probably ruminants and therefore you won't have to worry about see...

opabinia51

Good topic! Well to start, there are two types of manure: A) Green Manures (which are just plants) and they include: I) Nitrogen fixers ii) Non Nitrogen fixers Examples of N fixers are Clover, vetch, legumes (lie peas and beans), elaegnus mulitflora (Goumi) and so on Examples on non N fixers are: Ry...

opabinia51

Yes, hydroponics are very finicky. If you get a fungal infection your entire crop will be lost. Also, you be stuck with using chemical fertilizers for the system which add very little flavour to the vegetables (in this case lettuce.) A better bet would be to set up some shelves with grow lights and ...

opabinia51

Good on you! Thanks so much for sharing! We hope to have a yearly update!

opabinia51

Here is a list for Canada of some of the invasive plants that you should NOT plant in your garden. Only plant invasives if you are an avid gardener who keeps up with his/her weeding. These plants can really get away from you and choke out local flora and fauna. Anyway, enough said: https://www.cws-s...

opabinia51

Welcome to the forum. Try [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724]posting some pictures[/url] as well. However, generally speaking I will say to water the plant only when it needs water and that is to test the soil by placing your fingers in the dirt and if the soil in damp, ...

opabinia51

If you want to plant any trees or shrubs, now is actually the time to do it. And as a gardening tip, I would advise planting some cover crops such as Rye and clover to over winter the beds. This will add carbon and Nitrogen as well as other nutrients to the soil. Also, to beef up the soil for spring...

opabinia51

Hi Earth, I hope your begonia does well!

opabinia51

Well in my opinion you should repot your begonias and probably into something a bit deeper. Don't use a commercial soil mix with "fertilizer" already in it as most likely it will be a slow release salt based fertilizer which can actually harm plants, not only that, it kills beneficial soil biota whi...

opabinia51

Good topic! I'm glad we have a good discussion going here.

opabinia51

I concur, looks like a fungal infection but, I wouldn't be to concerned. I had that happen to my mint before and it hasn't bothered the plant to much at all. What you can do to help the plants along is spray it with an aerated compost tea.

opabinia51

Good on you, that's exactly my point. I use fish emulsion and an algae emulsion as well! Good for you! So many gardeners go for that salt based stuff.

Opabinia

opabinia51

Welcome to the site. We had a post similar to this one a few years ago. Well, you can start buy cutting all the branches off the tree and subsequently lop off parts of the trunk if you can find room. Another option would be to drill a hole in the side of the tree and fill it with cotton batton that ...

opabinia51

When I see leaves on the ground, I start to drool and think: "Black Gold!"

opabinia51

I would assume that they would be a brown, starches don't have much nitrogen in them. They also have plastic spoons now that are made from corn starch which are compostable.

opabinia51

And there is an excellent reason to water during the day!! Also, a good fence and some cayenne pepper could help that problem as well.

By the way, if you have an ant problem Cinnamon seems to do the trick.

Opabinia51

opabinia51

What I have done for the past ten years in my gardens is laboriously raked up all the fallen leaves from the yard (and neighbours yards) and layered them up with manure, coffee grounds and grass clippings to create a sheet compost and it works great. It is a complete waste of a finite carbon source ...

opabinia51

What are you using for soil? How often are you watering? How long have the plants been in their pots? And yes, if you can get a picture up, it would help.

opabinia51

Yay! Congratulations or as the Japanese would say: Omedatoo gozaimasu.

opabinia51

A little advice; it looks like you have a bottle of some sort of fertilizer there, from the green label it could be something organic but, I would surmise that it is a commercial chemical fertilizer. Even with indoor gardening it is better to keep things organic because you won't burn your plants an...

opabinia51

Jalapenos have been inbred so much over the millenia that a lot of the heat heat has been bread out of a lot of the varieties.

opabinia51

I'm glad we've diagnosed your problem. Okay, to keep slugs away from your plants place copper strips or copper mesh around them, the electrostatic charge will irritate their membranes and they won't cross them.

opabinia51

I have used dirt from outside but always add some soil amendments to it as well including some manure, some compost, a few rocks at the bottom of the pot to insure good drainage. NOTE: If you have have a clay based soil, then it will compact to much and the plants will drown so, if you are going to ...

opabinia51

Well, if you ask ten different gardeners and biologists that question you will get ten different answers. I happen to be both a gardener and a biologist who has investigated this topic quite extensively. A)As far as watering in the afternoon is concerned I don't really think it is an issue but, the ...

opabinia51

Great Thread!

opabinia51

A warning on Neem Oil, it is considered a moderately safe insecticides but, the active ingredient: Azadiractin interferes with pupal development of insects and North Americas Bee population is under enough stress as it is, so, only use once a week and not anymore than that, the use of beneficial ins...

opabinia51

It sounds to me like you may have Deer, where exactly do you have your plants? For the ones in the garden place some netting over them and prop the netting up so the deer can't chew through it.

opabinia51

The Nitrogen in the Ammonia will burn the plants so, it should be combined with some browns (leaves, wood chips, cocoa bean hulls and so on) if added to a garden directly. And if left to sit on it's own, it will composted anaerobically if not turned everyday without a brown added to it and subsequen...

opabinia51

Coffee grounds have a very low C:N ratio and will compost very hot. You should be able to feel the heat. Be careful to add a lot of browns to your compost (leaves, cocoa bean hulls, straw, etc.) to balance off all that nitrogen and turn regularly or your compost will smell.

opabinia51

Keep in mind that you have a clay based soil which has very little porosity and the water will pool forming anoxic zones. So, with your soil it sounds to me like you are overwatering your plants. Don't water on a schedule, check the soil and if it is still damp, you don't need to water. You can also...

opabinia51

Well, looking at both your soil and your plants, I would say that you have a nitrogen deficiency problem. But, don't rush out and buy a bunch of NPK tomatoe fertilizer from a chemical store. Looking at your soil, it looks to be clay based which, is a bit more difficult to ammend. For the short term,...

opabinia51

Here's another question; is there a benefit to using compost tea in conjunction with chemical fertilizers? Is anyone doing this and if so how's it going? Put plain and simply; No. Chemical fertilizers which are normally made from salt or other compounds tend to kill beneficial soil organisms becaus...

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