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

[Isabeau]

Lettuce, good idea. Maybe also green beans? I think I’ll skip cherry tomatoes and go for bigger ones this year, though I’ve never done that. On a small balcony, I found that a couple of the cherry plants weren’t enough (I’d eat them every time one was ripe). Like Sid, though, no flowers this year. I’m not sure how big or deep the pots will have to be. I guess I won’t have any room for my hammock.

Anyhow, I really want to do this seriously, this year. Maybe I’ll concentrate on only one or two vegetables and have friends/family concentrate their efforts on other vegetables and we can share the “crop” .

 

[eku zhong]

Tomatoes you can go vertical with on your balcony, same with beans.
Beans should go in about now but tomatoes can wait till april to start.

 

[Sid]

The date to start outdoors with tomatoes is very different in every region of the world I'm afraid. They totally can't survive nightfrost (0 C or lower)
Here in NL outdoor tomato season starts May 15 ish.
Most beans need a ground temperature of minimum 10 C otherwise they will not sprout. So it depends on the local climate as well.

 

[Isabeau]

Similar date here. I like to start mine (seeds) indoors a tad earlier, though. Obviously, that would depend on how much sunlight you have coming in and for some plants it’s different as they like cooler temps at night than your apartment but...

 

[Rose Karuna]

I posted some of the seedlings I started last Sunday in the Coronavirus survival thread. Here are the same seedlings after 7 days. The only thing a little slow in coming up seems to be the kale and the fennel.

seedlings-7-days hosted at ImgBB

Image seedlings-7-days hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

These are the Everglade tomatoes (little cherry tomatoes that grow wild in the Florida Everglades), small but very tasty.

Everglades-tomato hosted at ImgBB

Image Everglades-tomato hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

I love using the plastic berry holders from the supermarket for seed starters!

If you noticed that one square of the Calaloo was wilted in the big see tray, this is the reason: bear-cat

Bear Cat loves to eat grass, I grow her grass regularly. cat-grass

Fortunately I caught the little fuzzy bear before she tore up my whole seed tray.

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Rose Karuna]

So I'm looking at planting some trees on my property that bear fruit or something, maybe nuts, maybe ...


Happy April 1st.

 

[Free]

Oh found this infographic, thought some of y'all might like it.

 

[Isabeau]

For those who enjoy little tests.

I’m terrible when it comes to flowers. I got 12/18.

 

[Rose Karuna]

We're getting a thunderstorm right now and the seedlings I transplanted to my garden yesterday are LOVING it! Wish I could have gotten the carrots and radishes planted today but the rain is needed more.

Edited to say that the rain stopped and I did get my radishes and carrots planted and I also transplanted the papaya. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that it all lives.

 

[Clara D.]

Pothos is doing well, I had some concerns about the soil I got holding too much moisture.

Aloe is doing better, Black Magic's cactus mix was killing it, but I moved it to MiracleGrow and it's looking less bleah.

Still waiting on Ebay stuff so I can start with the indoor lettuce and spinach.

 

[Rose Karuna]

I'm curious about the indoor lettuce. I started mine in a seed starter but only four plants came up and I'm nursing them along all the time. First shade then sun then shade then sun, wash, rinse repeat. Still they look kind of wilted and peaked whereas the rest of my plants are flourishing.

 

[Clara D.]

I'm curious about the indoor lettuce. I started mine in a seed starter but only four plants came up and I'm nursing them along all the time. First shade then sun then shade then sun, wash, rinse repeat. Still they look kind of wilted and peaked whereas the rest of my plants are flourishing.

Will post results, tho I'm far from the best at growing things.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Here are some pictures of the seedlings that I posted a couple of weeks ago.

These are the everglade tomatoes.
Some more pics of the garden:

So to date I've planted tomatoes, squash, blue berries, sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, mustard greens, collard greens, cilantro, parsley, basil, sage, callaloo, Okinawa spinach, luffa, asian cucumber, rosemary, mint, oregano, radishes, carrots, red potatoes, onions, malanga, taro, papaya, 2 kiwi bushes, a loquat tree, turmeric, four fig bushes, a pomegranate tree, two olive trees and six banana trees. It's going to take a while for the trees to mature but I think they will do well. I will be planting a lemon tree from my other yard into this one next week.

Oh, and absolutely amazing, check out this San Pedro cactus that was already in the yard, there are four of them surrounding my garden. They must have hundreds of blooms which all will bear fruit. I will make cactus apple jam.

Imgur

The blooms only open at night. Between the blooming cactus and the jasmine and the plumeria our yard smells beautiful!

 

[Free]

Are you growing cats, or do you tie them to each post to ward off scavengers?

 

[Rose Karuna]

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Apologies if this has been posted here before. I'm losing track.
The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying

Are you growing cats, or do you tie them to each post to ward off scavengers?

They help to keep the squirrels from digging up my garden burying acorns and nuts. Something about a cat silhouette. I also have an owl in the garden.

 

[Isabeau]

Wow Rose!!!! So jealous. Beautiful yard in a beautiful part of your country. I close my eyes and can almost smell the flowers and hear the nighttime noises of a warm Florida evening.


My bell peppers sprouted (indoors) and are only about a few inches high, planted my green beans last week, and a whole bunch of different types of leaf lettuce and Senposai hybrid yesterday. I might add tomatoes. Not sure about the carrots.

Tonight is supposedly the last “frosty” night (FINALLY!) so will be putting everything out tomorrow. Well, maybe not the peppers. Can’t wait, I’m sleeping next to a bunch of containers right now, ha ha. It’s the sunniest room.

Anyhow, here goes my first attempt at container/balcony gardening... Wish me luck!

 

[Rose Karuna]

Wow Rose!!!! So jealous. Beautiful yard in a beautiful part of your country. I close my eyes and can almost smell the flowers and hear the nighttime noises of a warm Florida evening.


My bell peppers sprouted (indoors) and are only about a few inches high, planted my green beans last week, and a whole bunch of different types of leaf lettuce and Senposai hybrid yesterday. I might add tomatoes. Not sure about the carrots.

Tonight is supposedly the last “frosty” night (FINALLY!) so will be putting everything out tomorrow. Well, maybe not the peppers. Can’t wait, I’m sleeping next to a bunch of containers right now, ha ha. It’s the sunniest room.

Anyhow, here goes my first attempt at container/balcony gardening... Wish me luck!

Wishing you tons of luck. Gardening is one of the most interesting and relaxing things that I can find to do. A word of gardening advice, if you're planting catnip, plant it inside.

 

[Isabeau]

Yesterday looking at my green bean pots and somewhat frustrated that they hadn’t sprouted yet, I started digging a little. Then a lot. “Where the hell are my beans!”, I thought. Well, they were still in my bean packet, that’s where.

FFS I hadn’t planted them. I’ve been eagerly looking in on them every day, fussing about, making sure they were warm and in direct light so that they would emerge in bright sun, proud as a hen with eggs... on pots of nothin’ but dirt.

Anyway, I soaked them over night and planted them this morning. It’s already late because the weather has been too cold, and now this...

Good god. If we were living in a post-apocalyptic VV1 communal setting, I couldn’t even be Rose’s garden assistant. We’d all starve. Ha

 

[Isabeau]

My lettuce has begun though. Or maybe it’s only a blade of grass.