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xantedeschia
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Recent Entries to this Blog Mark of Intention - Garden Plots
Posted: 16 Jan 2022
So, About Those Pitaya...
Posted: 28 Feb 2021
Pitaya Seedling Picture
Posted: 09 Jan 2021
Pitaya RISING!!!!!
Posted: 05 Jan 2021
It Has Been Some Time...Hi!
Posted: 27 Nov 2020

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Polycotyledon

The GardenStew Home of IchbineineTomate


So, About Those Pitaya...

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:48 pm

They are coming along pretty well considering they're in a pot and crowded all together.



Multiple Pitaya Seedlings ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


I am hoping to keep them for as long as I can. Years, if possible.





This blog entry has been viewed 303 times


Pitaya Seedling Picture

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:38 am

The promised picture of my Pitaya seedlings. I have four thus far with (hopefully) more on the way.






Four Pitaya Seedlings ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )





This blog entry has been viewed 295 times


Pitaya RISING!!!!!

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 4:08 am

It is night time here at the present, so I can't get a good picture but the Pitaya seeds are finally starting to germinate. Thus far, two have made their presence known. I planted at least twenty seeds. I'm hoping more will come up so I can hand out babies. :) :) :)

This blog entry has been viewed 278 times


It Has Been Some Time...Hi!

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:50 am

So, I haven't been up to much since the disappointment of losing out on the allotment. Like many people, I've been avoiding Covid-19 and just maintaining as much as I could under the circumstances.


Imagine my shock when I opened the door one day and found about 30 lbs worth of fruit sitting on my doorstep. Included in this gift from on high were plantains and Pitaya. Neither of which I've had the pleasure of exposure to before. So, of course, everything with seeds from pineapple to Pitaya is getting planted in soil.


This is the Pitaya fruit.



Pitaya ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


The thing is I've previously grown Pineapple. I might not grow those right away, if at all. Pitaya, on the other hand, looks like an interesting plant and it has been some time since I last had a cactus in my possession. The Pitaya is already in the soil and (hopefully) germinating. I'm still on the fence about the pineapple.





This blog entry has been viewed 276 times


Finally, Some Plant Related Stuff

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:57 am

Semi-recently, I ordered ten Crocus bulbs from a gardening catalog but had to wait for them to finish growing...I guess before they could be shipped to me late in September. Guess what just came in the mail yesterday.


Surprising my postal worker with my sickly chic pajama'd fashion sense, I awkwardly sashayed my way over to my mailbox and announced that I was expecting a package of Crocus bulbs from the given seed company. The Postal Workers on my route are so cool. Completely unperturbed by my get up, he handed me my box and wished me well.


From there the panic set in. I wasn't expecting the package until Friday and hadn't been to the local box store for potting mix yet. So I let my fingers do the walking on my keyboard and after much research, I put my newly acquired bulbs in the refrigerator away from any fruits and veggies until I could get to the aforementioned box store for the said potting mix.


Once I get the needed supplies, I'm planning on planting the bulbs in a couple of small containers before putting them in my window. They should add some nice color to my room.


In addition to this, I also have another third of the seed/bulb order growing up in the Aerogarden. The Patio Choice Tomatoes have been thinned and despite a partial power outage of four days, they are doing very well for themselves.


About the only other thing I need to get on top of is the epic saga repotting of my potted plants. The oldest of which is twenty-one years old and nearly as tall as I am.


I'll get it done. *determined*

This blog entry has been viewed 264 times


Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers Update

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:38 am

My thoughts go out to the victims, their families, Orlando and the LGBTQIA community.


I finally followed through on my promise to put this set of plants under the Aerogarden's light hood. It really has grown over the span of a few days too.



Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers Taken 11 June 2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


I first put them under the light hood on the eighth of June. Three days later, they were all growing tall and dark green. Their rate of growth also increased significantly.


This is what they're going to look like once they're fully grown.





This blog entry has been viewed 618 times


Threnody and Growth Updates

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sun May 22, 2016 10:43 pm

I recently got the news that my father died. Life has been pretty hectic since and I've been pulled into the nexus of responsibility with regard to the funeral arrangements. I'm still trying to figure out how to handle this. I'm the youngest of six. I never thought I'd have this on my plate but I'm accepting it as my own because it's the right thing to do.


Anyway, to the plants. They're not growing much due to the near constant shadow of clouds covering the Maryland area but they're doing alright considering there has been constant rain and almost no sunlight over the past few weeks.


If things don't get better by the end of this week, I'm dedicated to breaking my word and putting them under the light hood of the Aerogarden to give them all a boost until the sunlight returns.




Sweet Pickle Organic Pepper seedlings updated 5-22-2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )






Lettuce Leaf Basil updated 5-22-2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )






Mrs Burn's Lemon Basil updated 5-22-2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )





This blog entry has been viewed 548 times


Desperately Wanting To Grow Stuff

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 11:52 pm

Today, I got my seeds in the mail. Most of these seeds will be grown in the garden once I eventually get it. I'm keeping them in a cool, dark place until they're needed.


The only thing that didn't come, due to being back ordered, were the cucumber seeds. I don't know how big that package will be. I've never really noticed the size of cucumber seeds before. So, I don't know if I'm getting a little pouch or a big sack of seeds but the quantity will be 1,000 seeds. Regardless, I'm looking forward to growing them along with everything else.


This is where my crazy plan comes into play. It's completely loony. Then again, so am I. I'm going to restart the back patio garden with the hopes that, this time, it'll grow something meaningful. This will require me to invest in some patio furniture so that the management doesn't clear my garden out this time but, I'm hoping anyway, that the extra money spent will be worth it in peppers, basil and tomatoes.


I'll also be growing some in my room, utilizing the grow light of the Aerogarden of Serendipity. Forty-five watts is a lot of brightness to have shining only on an herb garden. I'm hoping that some of the excess light might aid the growth of a few plants in pots. I'm going to be very cautious and ensure that there are no little critters making a home in the soil I use.


To that end, I refuse to buy the Potting Mix That Must Not Be Named due to their perennial issue with Fungus Gnats. I'm going to try Pro-Mix instead and hope for the best.


I'm still up in the air as far as what to grow but my mind is starting to settle on the following three:


Organic Roma Tomatoes
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Sweet Pickle Organic Pepper


This should be enough to tide me over while I wait for growing space. Once I get that space, the sky's the limit. :)

This blog entry has been viewed 472 times


100% Germination Rates!

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 8:29 pm




The Aerogarden of Hope (as I've taken to calling it) has finally experienced a 100% germination rate. The Curly parsley is just visible in the middle front pod. Everything is now growing like crazy. Yay!


On the soil baby side of things, I've snapped all the old leaves off of my scented pelargoniums in an effort to make them shoot off more side branches before Mid-June. A few of them already have good side branches with signs of flowers but I'm hoping for really bushy plants.


Still no signs of life in the seed experiments. I've got until next month for the end of it to come but some sign of life would be nice. Especially in the Cinnamon Basil. I'm honestly not expecting the celery to grow. The Cinnamon basil, on the other hand, has surprised me quite a bit in the past. I'm hoping for one more surprise for old time's sake.


So, I also cut back my Lemongrass this morning and made tea with the clippings and one of the stalks. It was so delicious! I highly recommend growing lemongrass even if you only use it to make tea. It really does taste like lemonade or lemons or something lemon-y. Even the Maternal Parental loved it when she tried it and she likes nothing natural. She specifically begged me to give her another cup as soon as the lemongrass has grown out again. I'll do my best to keep that promise.


The African Violets are okay...I think. The plants look fine. I just watered them for the first time in a week. However, I'm not sure how the cuttings are doing. I don't have X-Ray vision to see into the potting mix they're sitting in to know whether or not their roots have taken. They still look alive though. So, I'm hopeful.


The Pineapples look fantastic. I give them a spritz of water from my spray bottle every morning to ensure they don't dry out. Other than that, I water the soil about once a week. They were dry today, so I watered them a bit along with all the other plants.


The Aloes, Spider Plant, Nasturtiums, and Snake plant are all doing well too. The orange trees look so good, I'm considering experimenting with making tea out of the leaves. The Tangelo is growing strong too.


I think that's about it. :)

This blog entry has been viewed 512 times


Who Could Ask For Anything More?

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 6:39 am

I've got Basil,
I've got Cilantro.
My seeds are growing,
Who could ask for anything more?




The seed pods in my Aerogarden are sprouting like you wouldn't believe. After only two days, there are signs of life in some of the pods despite a sprouting estimate of four days to eight days minimum. In a day or two, the grow domes will be ready to come off of the basil. The other seeds are still in the process of sprouting.



All my plants that I previously meticulously watered/fertilized every other day depending on the week have been going without. They're thriving. The Orange trees are growing new branches. While the Aloe Vera is deepening in color and contrast. The African violets are perking up quite nicely and the scented Pelargoniums are branching off. Everything is doing fantastic.



I've even planted ancient seeds I've had for a minimum of five and a maximum of twelve years. In the case of the five year old seeds, I sprinkled some celery seed I have as seasoning into some potting soil, somewhat lightly covered it, watered it and hoped for the best.



In the case of the twelve year old seeds, it gets a little more complicated. Back in 2003, I bought some seeds from Seeds of Change. Specifically, I bought Cinnamon Basil seeds and grew them to maturity. Man, did they ever grow too! When I lived in the crackhouse, I had a SSE facing window and got ALL THE SUNLIGHT!!!! This meant that a lot of plants did very well in my room, when I didn't eat them.



Except for Coleus.



One of the plants that did incredibly well was the Cinnamon basil. I must have sowed that Basil into every pot I had. It grew up to twenty four inches tall in most pots before setting seed. I had so much seed, that I was going to send some to my friends but, being poor, I didn't have the means to ship it all.



Fast forward to a few days ago when I was cleaning out my sorely neglected computer desk. I came across a folded and stapled bit of tissue paper which contained some of those seeds I'd collected.



At first, I was going to throw them away but then I thought about it. They should be given the chance to grow just like any other seed. So, I planted them in a four inch pot of soil. It must have been about twenty or thirty seeds in the packet. After all this time, I'm highly doubtful of anything coming up but...you never know.


As I know more, you'll know more. :)

This blog entry has been viewed 565 times




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