BTE, hugelkulture, hydroponics and other unconventional gardening

[Lazy Gardener]

My understanding is that the allopathic chemical in Walnut breaks down with composting.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm not really sure whether it's too strong for the plants or not. I used it b/c it's what I had immediately available, and it was already in a spray bottle. I added more water to dilute it down even more.

 

[Hinotori]

I've always used dawn dish soap and water in a spray bottle on spider mites and aphids. Do have to know which plants are sensitive to having their natural oily coating removed. After 5-10 minutes I usually wash the plants in a water spray.

Spider mites have caused me much grief on house plants over the years.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I've placed Neem Oil on my Amazon wish list. Will order some the next time we have the "minimum for free shipping" to go. Thank you.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I like your adventurous-ness! I'm very interested in this and will probably experiment a little with it - but I already know I won't follow the "rules" so success may be limited... but at least I'll learn what doesn't work!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Still working on the learning curve.

I think I'm putting my net pots too deep in the water. Had an invasion of spider mites in a lemon balm seedling (in an individual jar). Dumped the solution, pulled the seedling and soaked it for several hours in a castile soap solution, washed jar and hydroton in HOT HOT water, and set it back up. That seedling is looking perky now. One Egg Plant succumbed to the spider mites. The other, which was grossly infested got multiple soap baths, followed by permethrin powder. No signs of mites since the latter. So, hoping that plant is bug free. Bell pepper got a huge pruning, with hopes that the cuttings will take root. Those were also soaked in castile. The 2 potted plants received liberal applications of castile. No signs of mites since last "baths".

I want to be totally mite free before I start my seedlings. Those need to be started next month.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I had the first harvest from my HP plantings today. Some lettuce and kale in a sandwich. It is producing well enough that I should be able to garnish all of my sandwiches from here on out, until the greenhouse is producing.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm always asking WHY??? I've been trying to get cuttings to root from a failing Pineapple Sage and a pot of basil seedlings from the grocer for a good part of the winter. Very poor results with cuttings rotting before they send out roots. However, my last attempt was successful even when using extremely poor cutting material.

The only difference I can come up with is this: Some time before I took the cuttings, I did a foliar spray with Epsom Salts. There is a cutting technique referred to as Nitrogen Leaching. Don't ask me for any details, because I'm just starting to make a tiny little brain cramp nick into this topic.

These cuttings were so successful that a tiny single leaf that fell off the PS was dropped into the water along with the cuttings, and developed a nice long root.

So, it's time to sit up and take notice: experiment with foliar spray with water or epsom salt prior to taking more cuttings. As well as doing a deep non nutrient watering a day or two before taking cuttings.

I've copied a paragraph from the following article:

http://www.simplyhydro.com/asexual_reproduction_cloning.htm

Prepare the mother plant prior to taking cuttings. Leaching will remove any excess nitrogen from the plant. Nitrogen will cause the cuttings to concentrate on producing foliage rather than roots. Leach the day before taking cuttings by rinsing the root zone with straight pH balanced water. Reduce stress by foliar feeding the mother plant with a B hormone three days prior to taking cuttings. The mother plant will recover and be ready to for another round of cuttings in about six weeks.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Post # 37 edited to show a small scale HK that would work in an urban setting. If the HOA has rules against "raised beds" the entire thing could be buried, and the home owner could add 6" of top soil on the top so the top would be slightly raised above surface of surrounding ground.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Checked the SP soaked seeds last night. And a few of the onions, both the new and the 4 year old seed had already sprouted (JUST OVER 24 HOURS!). The Hibiscus is sprouted this morning. (appears to be 100%, where the previous seeds planted were only 60%, and took forever to sprout. At >50 cents/seed, that's a huge improvement.)

The pepper seeds that were sowed normally are slowly sending up new seedlings. I sowed them 18 days ago.