Hello. My name is Isabeau and I'm a Plantaholic.

[detrius]

Anyone else here into indoor plants, gardens, flowers, etc?

What are your tricks to keeping them healthy and pest-free during the winter, especially in regards to light. I'm thinking of adding a large mirror on the side wall next to the window.

What are your plant-obsessions?
What type of plants do you prefer? Flowers, leafy, or edible?
Or just share pictures of what you have or what you wish you could have....

I got an epipremnum aureum a few years ago, it's incredibly sturdy and doesn't need much light due to it being a jungle plant. It just doesn't like the cold.

I keep it in a pot filled with clay pellets, which keeps it pest-free. And when the vines get too long, I take cuttings and put them in glasses filled with water until they grow roots - then I give those away to friends and relatives.

 

[detrius]

I started putting some dirt in mortar buckets, using them as planters in the yard of the apartment building I'm living in. The soil is pretty poor in this area, so I had to get some from a local waste management service that sells compost and garden soil. For drainage, I simply threw in some of the WW2 rubble that was in the ground and put a piece of cloth over it before filling the planters.

In the front, you can see two Scotch Bonnet chili plants in the adobe-colored pots. Unfortunately, they don't get as much light as they should.

The two mortar buckets in the center and on the left side contain tomato plants ("Minibel") and some basil. Here you can see them from the other side:

The third bucket contains six strawberry plants ("Ostara"). They started sprouting some runners which I'll have to cut soon.
The dirt on the sides of the buckets comes from the occassional downpour that is common in Berlin's summer months.

 

[detrius]

For comparison, this is what the vegetable garden of my parents looks like:

(The potatoes are on the other side of the tool shed, behind the apple trees and blackberries.)

The stuff on the lawn are runners from the strawberry plants that I had to cut.

Here are two close-ups of the mortar buckets I set up at my parents place:

You almost can't see the bucket on this one:

I put five strawberry plants in each mortar bucket - but also some carrots, onions, parsley etc. to show my father the advantages of raised bed gardening.

Some strawberry plants have already escaped the confinement of their buckets:

I also planted six strawberry plants in some concrete planters in my parents' front yard in June.

When I asked my mom how they were doing, she said they weren't growing much fruit at all and accused me of putting too many plants in those planters.

Apparently, she and my father didn't know that strawberries are capable of propagating by growing runners and that you have to cut those to encourage fruit production. So when I came back to visit a few days ago, I had to sort out the all the new plants that were growing everywhere:

That's just the survivors. I removed and threw away about another two dozen runners.

It's not so bad, though. When the potatoes have been harvested, I'll put the extra plants there so my parents can enter the next strawberry season with 50-60 plants instead of 16.

 

[detrius]

Last but not least, the tomatoes at my parents' place ("Rose de Berne"):

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

For drainage, I simply threw in some of the WW2 rubble that was in the ground and put a piece of cloth over it before filling the planters.

The way you just casually mentioned the rubble hit me hard. over 70 years later, and there's still rubble in the ground.

I'm glad you kept some of the runners, more strawberries!

We never did have much luck with potatoes or tomatoes (too many tomato eating bugs/animals) when I was young. The carrots, beans, corn and onions were all right though. I look forward to seeing how your plants turn out. The tomato plants look like they're in REALLY good shape.

 

[detrius]

The way you just casually mentioned the rubble hit me hard. over 70 years later, and there's still rubble in the ground."

Most of the debris ended up in landfills (like the Teufelsberg in West Berlin), but cellars and basements were just filled in, which is what happened in this case.

I'm glad you kept some of the runners, more strawberries!

I kept almost all of the more mature ones - but when you have a runner with three or four plants in a line, then you need to cut off the end so the plants put their energy into growing roots.

We never did have much luck with potatoes or tomatoes (too many tomato eating bugs/animals) when I was young. The carrots, beans, corn and onions were all right though.

Using planters like those 90l buckets really helps. Also, some plants - like onions or certain flowers - will keep pests away.

I look forward to seeing how your plants turn out. The tomato plants look like they're in REALLY good shape.

I'll be back in a month to check again.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Most of the debris ended up in landfills (like the Teufelsberg in West Berlin), but cellars and basements were just filled in, which is what happened in this case.


I kept almost all of the more mature ones - but when you have a runner with three or four plants in a line, then you need to cut off the end so the plants put their energy into growing roots.


Using planters like those 90l buckets really helps. Also, some plants - like onions or certain flowers - will keep pests away.


I'll be back in a month to check again.

I loved seeing your garden and your parents garden. Also, I had no idea about the strawberry runners and indeed, I have had the same problem of the strawberry plants doing great and growing runners but not bearing fruit. When I read your post I was like DOH!

I did learn that you have to keep trimming your tomato plants and cutting off the sprouts that start on the lower stems. You will get a lot more tomatoes if you do, so what you said about strawberries makes perfect sense!

Except for the tropical stuff, my garden is now in the throughs of dying from the extreme heat. I need to start tearing out the tomato and bean plants and preparing the soil to plant the Seminole Pumpkin so that I can harvest it in November.

Using planters like those 90l buckets really helps. Also, some plants - like onions or certain flowers - will keep pests away.

This year I planted flowers (Marigolds, Zinnias and Nasturtiums) inter-dispersed within my vegetable garden and WOW what a difference in the abundance of vegetables and also in how much healthier the plants were. Not only that, the flowers brought in a bunch of carpenter bees that took up residence in my work bench. Very gentle bees that did a super pollination job! I also inter-dispersed my herbs (Rosemary, Basil, etc.) within the vegetable beds, which again, helped keep pests away.

The soil here in Central Florida is very sandy and poor so all of my gardening is in containers and raised beds. This really helps me keep the weeds down to a minimum too.

 

[Free]

Another find for the gardeners.

 

[detrius]

Except for the tropical stuff, my garden is now in the throughs of dying from the extreme heat. I need to start tearing out the tomato and bean plants and preparing the soil to plant the Seminole Pumpkin so that I can harvest it in November.

I'm using water-filled terracotta pots that are buried in the soil for irrigation (so-called ollas). It works quite well.

This year I planted flowers (Marigolds, Zinnias and Nasturtiums) inter-dispersed within my vegetable garden and WOW what a difference in the abundance of vegetables and also in how much healthier the plants were. Not only that, the flowers brought in a bunch of carpenter bees that took up residence in my work bench. Very gentle bees that did a super pollination job! I also inter-dispersed my herbs (Rosemary, Basil, etc.) within the vegetable beds, which again, helped keep pests away.

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Isabeau]

The USDA’s gardening zones shifted. This map shows you what’s changed in vivid detail

There's a good chance your zone shifted when the USDA updated its plant hardiness map in 2023. Zoom in on what that means for your garden.

apps.npr.org

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Kokoro Fasching]

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I used to absolutely hate zucchini growing up. Now I like it, especially fried.

PS: No, that's not an invitation to send me all your zucchini.

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Isabeau]

Yipyipyip Yop Yipyip

 

[Isabeau]

A New Yorker Cartoon

“This is the exact moment I asked you to water my plant.”

www.newyorker.com

 

[Free]

I thought this thread might find this amusing.

Or enraging.

Or both.

 

[Isabeau]

This is pretty cool