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rainbowgardener
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random thoughts about new things I'm growing

So let's see... Being in a new climate, there are several new things I am growing now.

I have a baby dwarf banana in a pot. Doing pretty well, but still only about five inches tall. I'm not sure whether it is hardy or not. Have two fig trees in large pots. I think they will be hardy, especially since they are in front of a south facing wall. I have ginger root in a pot that is growing slowly and will need to come in.

I have one elderberry bush and one serviceberry bush. Both are new this spring, small and struggling a bit. But I now realize neither one of them may be self-fertile. I need one more of each? Does it have to be a different variety?

I grew Roma tomatoes for the first time. I'm kind of ambivalent about them. The plant is VERY productive. But they don't seem all that flavorful. And I thought the idea was that they would be more "meaty" than regular tomatoes. They do have thick solid walls. But they also have more of the hard white stuff inside than I expected. They also don't keep on the windowsill very well. They get bad spots quickly and sometimes even when they look ok, they have mold inside when I open them up :( Not sure if I will grow them again.

I have one artichoke plant growing in the ground. I think it will be hardy. I'm not sure what it will look like if/when it comes back next year and what to expect in terms of production (it was planted this spring and hasn't flowered so far).

ButterflyLady29
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Plants in pots don't survive cold temperatures as well as plants in the ground. Your figs would probably do better in the ground than pots. I've got a Chicago hardy fig that dies to the ground and comes back every year and a Black Mission fig that is in a pot that has to be kept indoors through the winter.

How big is your banana pot, what kind of potting mix are you using and have you fertilized it? My banana is over 3 feet tall already but I have no idea what kind it is. It has produced several pups and the smallest is now over a foot tall. They need a large pot and a lot of water. I mixed a bunch of coffee grounds in the pots when I potted them. Must have been what they needed because they are growing much bigger than the ones I planted in the ground last year. I don't know how I am going to get them into the basement in the fall.

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pinksand
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Regarding the serviceberry... although I ended up losing both of mine (same variety), they flowered and produced fruit before their deaths. From what I read they are self-fertile but will have better fruit production with a second plant.

Mine were tiny twigs and unfortunately couldn't withstand a number of problems I had with them. One ultimately succumbed to cedar rust and the other got moved to a more ideal location, which ended up not being so ideal since it got killed by the mower despite me pointing it out to my husband in advance. We had a stunning serviceberry outside my old office (unbeatable fall color) and it also had issues with cedar rust, the fruit was always covered in it. I noticed last year that the tree had been removed :(

I hope you have better luck with yours!

ButterflyLady29
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So sorry to hear about your serviceberrys fatal encounter with the lawn mower. Every gardener I know has lost plants, sometimes rare and expensive ones, to another person wielding a mower.

My elderberries also didn't produce berries. They were loaded with flowers but not one berry on them. And according to the cooperative extension service in Kentucky they do need to have a different pollinator. I don't know where I can squeeze in another plant since the tag said they didn't need a pollinator plant but I guess I'll have to get one.
https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/elderberry.pdf
My elderberries are the nigra cultivar, they are so pretty.

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rainbowgardener
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Yup, I'm thinking in the fall I will get one more serviceberry and one more elderberry.



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