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Darn Ants

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 8:03 am

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I just had to dispose of my long term baby over the dreaded Formicidae menace. Black garden ants had taken over my Spider plant. My beautiful baby that went back to 2007. I won though, because I just double bagged the little fiends. They went from a menace of hundreds to a pestering of tens.


This is the result of the three weeks late exterminator. He was supposed to be here nearly a month ago but, for some reason, didn't come. As I live in a housing community, I can't just spray chemicals myself per the lease agreement. So, I have to wait...and wait...and wait.


Meanwhile, my house is slowly being overrun by the Black garden ants from hell. Well, I'm fighting back the only way I know how. My destroying my babies as I find the ants. So far, I've only seen them infesting the one plant a lot. They had gotten to the point where they'd laid eggs and were about to swarm. I'm going to do another watering today. If I find more, I'll delete like a Cyberman, taking cuttings where I can, until the problem is diminished. :(

Last edited: Thu May 22, 2014 8:07 am

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My New Sickly Baby

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:17 am

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I found it on the bottom shelf, freezing, in the reduced price section of the outside plant display.



African Violet Rescue Plant ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


This is my new Saintpaulia baby. I fully intend on getting a large collection of African violets. What I didn't count on was getting them for pennies. Yep, this plant cost me the princely sum of 27 cents USD.


As soon as I get more money, I'm going back for the rest of them. That's a promise.


Not much else is happening. Things are shooting to the skies in my garden. The sweet potato, that I was going to give up on ever sprouting, looks insane right now. I have a compact florescent bulb (is it really a bulb?) and the sweet potato is pretty close to it. I tend to leave it on all night due to my not sleeping at night. So, all my plants grow towards it during the night time hours.


The twin tomatoes have more flower buds growing in, the nasturtiums are shooting out of the soil, and all the rest are growing vigorously.


Tomorrow (Friday) is the day I fertilize nearly everything. I'm hesitant to fertilize the seedlings. I don't want them to get overfed. They're in new soil, which has fertilizer already, so I'm probably going to hold back on them. Everything else, except for the fern, twin tomatoes, pineapples etc are getting dumped on.


I was looking at old pictures of some of my plants in my Picasa account. It's hard to believe they're the same as the scraggly scrawny plants I grew years ago. Here's to hoping they grow even better and stronger than they've ever grown. :)


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A Date with Some Pineapple Seeds

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:01 am

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I've struck again. Ghetto Gardening is in full force in the room of KTC.



After getting a plastic container of Matzoh Crunch! (a dessert of matzoh covered in sliced almonds and chocolate), I decided to plant the Pineapple seeds. Yay!


There were five pineapple seeds total. I planted them all in two rows in soil that's about an inch (2.5cm) deep. I saturated the potting mix with water, sprayed it down with more water for good measure and put the lid on it before putting it in my window between the Aloe Vera cutting (which is doing great) and the Orange tree/Nasturtium pot. Yo ho ho, hopefully, they'll grow.





Undaunted, I decided to really put my bravery at planting out there. Finding another upcycled carryout container, I cleaned it of its previous sewing contents before packing in the potting mix and poking a deep hole in the soil with my finger. Then, I placed the date palm seed inside, saturated it with water, and placed it on the Rolling Stand under my window. Hopefully, this one will grow too. Not too big but enough to make a lovely houseplant.




On Monday, I transplanted the tomato plants to a bigger pot and planted the majority of the Nasturtiums either in with the tomatoes, or in a carryout container of their own.


How are the tomatoes standing up on their own? Well may you ask. I, with much difficulty due to my thumb, untwisted a coathanger and plunged it into the soil. That's my stake. Told ya. Ghetto Gardening. :D

Last edited: Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:03 am

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The Great Potting Escapade

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:10 pm

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Today was a busy day. I planted the rest of the Lemongrass and Cinnamon Basil today. In addition to that, I planted Coleus, Geraniums and put three Aloe vera cuttings into new pots. Well, two new pots and a Carryout pint sized soup container.


I only bought six pots today and wasn't anticipating potting aloe cuttings. I'm getting some more pots come the 18th, so I can plant even more stuff. cRaZy. That's me.

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Didymochlaena truncatula FTW!

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:54 pm

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I finally placed the fern. Thanks to the label on my African Violet, I was able to find out what kind of fern I have. Apparently, it is called Didymochlaena truncatula or the Mahogany Fern.


When it isn't as overfed as mine is, it's really a lovely plant. The fern is still alive, so it's not too late to save it. I will just tone down on the feedings and up the light a bit. I was giving it the regular bi-monthly feedings I gave all my other plants. Not good. Now I know though, so hopefully, it will thrive. I pruned the dead leaves off of it to give it a bit more light, air and room to grow.


Other than that, more Cinnamon Basil and Lemongrass is coming up. I can't wait until it's big enough to eat. Between those two plants and the nasturtiums, I plan on doing a lot of my own herbal flavorings when I cook or make salads. That's if the tomatoes grow and if I get the peppers I want.


I'm also thinking of getting Shiso seeds. I can't make up my mind which one to get though. One is red leaved, another is green leaved and the third is bi-colored (red and green). They're almost $4.00USD a pack on Johnny's and I can't seem to catch them on the other sites for much cheaper at $1.00USD a pack. They're always sold out.


Today, I also found out what kind of African Violet I have. It's apparently called "Maine II" variety. In celebration of finding out what kind it is, I took a cutting, dipped it in some rooting hormone and immersed it in some water to make an attempt to root it. Thank goodness for my medication bottles. They're the perfect size for the leaves.

Last edited: Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:51 pm

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Yay! Cinnamon Basil Mania

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:31 pm

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I planted this cinnamon basil on the 16th of this month and it's finally coming up today. I'm so excited!!!! :)


Cinnamon Basil - First Seedlings ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


The funny irony is, I just planted some more cinnamon basil today. I put this batch of twelve seeds in with the Lemongrass, ginger, and radishes, since there was room for them. I thought the other seeds weren't going to germinate given the coarseness of the soil. I'm glad I was wrong.


Everything else is growing to perfection...except that fern and some of the radishes.


Today is Friday and, in addition to the normal gardening shows, it means Maryland Farm and Harvest comes on tonight. Well, right now actually.


So, have fun and later!


Have a great weekend!


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Resistance is Futile - Lemongrass and Cinnamon Basil Test

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:49 pm

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I couldn't resist temptation.


So, I planted a few of the Lemongrass and Cinnamon basil seeds in with established plants. I planted the cinnamon basil in with the Spider plant and the Lemongrass in with the Ginger and radishes.


I'm a total loony.


I do hope they grow, but this is really a test to check the viability of the seeds. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

This blog entry has been viewed 490 times

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Yay! Pineapple Seeds and Other Tidbits

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:28 pm

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I was nibbling away on a freshly cut pineapple this morning when I came across five seeds. Yes, seeds. In a Pineapple! I mean, I knew, as a fruit, that Pineapples should have seeds somewhere along the way but it was an abstract thought like Banana seeds. You know they must exist but you never think of them in the same context as the fruit due to the commercialized habit of offering some produce without seeds.


So, you can imagine my shock when I saw those little brown pips this morning.


I am so going to grow some pineapple!


According to the New Crop Resource Online Program's info on Pineapples, it is suggested the seeds be immersed in sulfuric acid for a brief period to eat away at the seed case, thus increasing the speed and probability of germination. Ain't nobody got time (or money) for that. :-D


Instead, I'm going to experiment. Two seeds, I'm going to take a nail file to. One seed I'm going to grow as normal. The remaining two seeds will be grown after being kept moist. This is going to be so much fun.


I'm hoping all the seeds grow to maturity. I'm also going to have another look at the skin of that pineapple to see if I can find more seeds.


My reason for buying the pineapple was to grow the crown and, it's currently sitting in a pint container in an inch (4cm-ish) of water with my fervent hopes that it'll root and grow to its full potential.


In other news, I finally got a sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and I plan on sprouting that as much as possible considering how small it is. I'm hoping to take my very large container and grow a few different things in it, sweet potatoes being one of those things.


I previously grew Sweet potatoes successfully via a container in 2002/2003, planting in April of 2002 and harvesting in February of 2003. The reason for the late harvest was because I didn't expect it to be more than an ornamental plant given I was growing it in my window. Imagine my shock when, on watering it, I saw the telltale salmon colored root popping up from the dark potting soil.


It was most delicious. :)


My Nasturtiums and Radishes are growing. The Nasturtiums look great with multiple true leaves. The radishes, don't look as well but they're getting leaves finally. Somehow, I don't think this cultivar's twenty two day harvest expectation is going to be met though. Instead, I will grow it for beauty's sake.


My Spider plants, Orange trees, Snake Plant, and Aloe Vera are growing very well. I don't know what my fern is doing. I'm at a loss for words on its growing behavior. The center is growing just fine with vibrant green leaves. The outer part of the plant looks like WWXVI hit it hard. If I only knew what kind of fern it is, I could remedy this with appropriate pruning, watering, fertilizing or howling at the moon.


My evil...erm I mean future plant plans involve planting a good number of seeds in currently existing plant pots as well as newly purchased pots. I have Cinnamon Basil, Coleus, Lemongrass and Geranium seeds as well as a lot of ambition in my hopes that I can somehow grow them all.


The Cinnamon Basil, I've had a lot of success with in the past but this is my first time buying it from a new grower. Previously, I bought it from Seeds of Change but this year, they didn't have it, so I got it from Park Seed Company instead. I had so much good production with this variety that I'm sure, regardless of merchant, it'll grow true and produce a bountiful crop.


The Coleus I grew four years ago grew very well. I got that from the local Box store's garden department. It was Burpee's brand but I forgot the varieties except that it was a mix. I'm looking for equal to greater success now that I've grown them at least once. This time around, I am growing Rainbow Mixed Colors.


I haven't grown Lemongrass since High school, nearly sixteen years ago. Like with Nasturtiums, I ate it before it could reach it's full potential. Much to my shame. This time around, I'm hoping to grow a full pot of it. These seeds are Burpee also.


The Geraniums I'm planning on growing are Border Mix and they're also produced by Burpee. This is another plant I grew in High school Horticulture shop but I grew mine from greenhouse cuttings rather than seed. This is my first attempt at growing them via seed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will reach their full potential.

Last edited: Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:08 pm

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