I decided to build some real benches for my greenhouse. It only took me 8 years to figure out I needed to. These benches will have a bottom shelf to store things like peat moss, bags of potting soil, pots and anything else I can find.
The whole thing only cost me $12. I had the 2×2 and 2×4 laying around. I only had to buy the cedar fencing for the top.
Seaweed is rich in trace elements. Some say it will release over 70 nutrients into your soil. It can be one of the most beneficial things you can do for your plants.
Collection is fairly easy. I just grab a 10 gallon bucket, walk down to the beach at low tide and scoop up handfuls of it.
Be aware though, in most places seaweed collection is highly regulated. It is considered a marine plant. In some places it is even necessary to obtain a license. So be sure to check your local laws before gathering.
One five gallon bucket for me will produce enough fertilizer for the summer to cover at least 100 square feet.
How To Make
Fill a five gallon bucket half way with seaweed.
Add water to the top of the bucket.
Let it sit for about a week, stirring it once a day.
To fertilize
Feed your plants about one cup of the liquid per plant twice per week.
When the liquid is gone, refill the bucket again. The seaweed will be weaker the next time around. But this is perfectly fine.
It’s wise to cut back on the fertilizer as the season progresses. Flowering should start to occur after the second bucket is gone anyways and that’s the time to slow down on feeding.
When the season is over, just toss the remaining seaweed into the compost pile.
I have been de-hybridizing a jalapeno pepper for about 4 years now. Every year I have saved the seeds and replanted. The first year I was very careful when handling the seeds. I wore gloves and carefully placed the seeds in plastic envelopes. I did however test the seeds for heat the first year and to my surprise, they were not hot at all. In fact, for some reason unknown to me, I could put a handful of the seeds in my mouth and chew on them without burning.
So, for the past 3 years I have been saving the seeds without any skin protection. And every year the seeds were almost heatless.
Until this year
When collecting the seeds this year, I followed the same procedure as before. No gloves, just cut the pepper open and scraped the seeds out.
I laid them on a paper plate to dry for a few days and sat down at the computer to check my email.
You can imagine what happened next. My eyes started burning, and my lips actually became numb. I thought I was going into shock.
Then I remembered. I just cut open the jalapenos.
I quickly went out to the kitchen where my seeds had been cut and picked up a piece of the flesh and ate it.
Wholly Moley, that sucker was scorching.
I swiftly ran into the bathroom and scrubbed down. It was however a little too late at this point. The damage had been done.
The moral of the story
Never assume that your hybrid plants are going to produce consistent results year after year. One year no heat.. then HEAT.
Of course it’s my fault for being careless.
So until this plant stabilizes, I’m not going to take it for granted.
Even if it may be another 5 years or so.
As one reader said to me GLOVE UP!
Yes I did. In my previous post, I showed how to do it. Even though I started this project on a hybrid, I finally got the results I wanted. You may be wondering why I did this on a cherry variety. Well, I wanted to do this inside so I could keep an eye on it.
It is no surprise to my subscribers how much I love the tree collard. Not just for its looks but for its usefulness.
One thing that people will tell you though, is that it almost never goes to seed. This is true.
However, I planted a few cuttings from one of my largest plants. I put it into a small 6″ pot and waited for it to grow.
I was pleasantly surprised at how fast it starting producing shoots.
I was not, however, expecting it to start producing flowers. After just 1 month, I am seeing shoots forming and this thing is going to go to seed on me.
Of course I do not plan on saving the seeds as I believe genetically they are probably inferior.
I have to say, that the purple tree collard always seems to amaze me.
I am testing the three most popular all natural weed killers from the internet.
Many people swear by these.
I will say that the methods did kill the grass to a certain extent.
Although it’s a good thing to want to use natural methods to kill weeds, we have to remember that if we kill weeds, we are also killing natural microbes and fungi in the soil and that will inhibit growth of vegetables and flowers.
Now if you’re doing this on a sidewalk or somewhere you never plan on growing anything then this could work.
But my suggestion is to use cardboard.
It will not only smother the weeds, but as it breaks down, it will add nutrients to the soil.
if you find any errors or would like us to add to this database, please contact us. check back often as we continually update
|
Plant |
Problem |
Possible Cause |
| All Plants | Seedling Dying | soil disease, temperature, bug damage, no air circulation, irregular watering |
| All Plants | Slow Seedling Growth | compacted soil, no aeration, root bound, too low temps, soil disease, bad nutrients in soil |
| Broccoli | Bolting | temps too hot, temps too extreme in either direction varying days (hot then cold, etc), root bound, too much nitrogen, any kind of stress, end of life cycle |
| Broccoli | Holes in Leaves | bug damage (possibly cabbage butterfly larva or slugs) |
| Cabbage | Holes in Leaves | bug damage (possibly cabbage butterfly larva or slugs), |
| Carrot | Tops Disappear | slugs, birds, or bugs bunny (rabbit) |
| Carrot | Tops Falling Over | stepped on by humans or animals, storm damage, voles, weevils. heat, insufficient water |
| Kale | Holes in Leaves | bug damage (possibly cabbage butterfly larva or slugs), |
| Pepper | Blossom (flower) Drop | too cool temp (especially with hot peppers), too much nitrogen, low moisture, lack of pollination, uneven watering |
| Not flowering | Lack of pollination, Temps below 50 or over 80 at night. Daytime temps below 60 deg f. | |
| Curled or wrinkled Leaves | Pests (aphids, thrips, whiteflies, mites), Environmental stress, Virus, Root bound | |
| Tomato | Blossom (flower) Drop | too much nitrogen, too warm or too cold nights, high temps during day, lack of pollination, high humidity (pollen too sticky to fall), low humidity (pollen to dry to stick to female part of plant) |
| White Spots (not on fruit) | Powdery mildew, leaf miners, septoria leaf spots | |
| White Spots On Fruit | white flies, grubs, stinkbug damage (fruit damage has starburst pattern), sun scald, bacterial canker | |
| Yellowing Leaves | early blight, late blight, bug damage, nutrient deficiency, end of season, fungus or bacteria, irregular watering | |
| Lower leaves dying | fungal infection like Fusarium wilt, early blight, late blight or Septoria leaf spot | |
How to make compost in my Lifetime 80 gallon compost tumbler. The biggest challenge is finding the right combo with greens (nitrogen) and browns (carbon).
The life expectancy of a strawberry plant is usually only a few years. The plant knowing this is aware that it most have offspring. I’m not suggesting that plants are self aware, but this mechanism is built into its genetic code. That’s the way the plant works.
Container grown plants are unable to propagate themselves so they rely on us to help them.
Strawberries replicate by shoots, also called runners. It sends out these shoots looking for soil to plant itself. Once the runner takes root, it severs its ties to the parent plant. Leaving a separate independent plant.
To propagate the plant, just lay the runner on top of soil in another contain (or on the ground). Within a couple of weeks it should have taken root. You can then cut the runner away from the parent plant. You now have a new plant.
I love to read. I specifically love to read gardening books. But my appetite for knowledge can get quite expensive.
Well, I’ve found a way around that. Ebooks.
No longer do I have to shell out $20 every time I’m hungry for a good book.
The past is full of great authors free for the asking. Just surf through the list I’ve compiled here. All free. Some dating back over 100 years. The best thing about them? They can be downloaded to your ipad, iphone, android phone etc. Take them with you everywhere you go.