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What A Difference A Day Makes...

Category: Hydroculture | Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 4:39 am

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...More appropriately a few weeks.


The tomatoes have grown. Wow, have they ever grown!





Aerogarden Mega Cherry Tomatoes 5 September 2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


There is one big tomato growing on the side and I don't know how big it will get. It is showing no signs of slowing down in its growth. Within reason, I mean this is a cherry tomato plant. Of that, I can be sure. However, the size of the cherry tomatoes has yet to be determined. They're far larger than the last cherry tomatoes I grew, that's for sure.


The Lesser Cherry Tomato plant is coming into its own finally. It is now growing flowers all over and will soon join its sibling in producing fruit for a hungry household. I can't wait until they're even with each other and I can finally back off of pruning the Elder Tomato for Height so much.


In other news, the weather has finally cooled off somewhat. Today was a sultry 85 as opposed to the mid to high nineties we'd been having a few weeks prior. It is a relief to be in such comparatively cooler weather. Yay for the coming of Autumn!


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The Omnipresent Torrid Nature of Summer

Category: Miscellaneous | Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:15 pm

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Pineapples are surprisingly resilient. Through migrations of insects escaping the oppressive heat outside my window, the inescapable domination of our Dear Star, and despite my feeble attempts at salvaging their fragile lives with the air conditioner and extra water, the Pineapples are seemingly fine while most of the rest of my plants have gone by the wayside.


A list of the destruction:

The Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers are gone.

Lemongrass is dead.

Both of the potted basils (Lettuce leaf and Mrs. Burns Lemon) are dead.

The Pelargonium looks to be following suit soon.

The Navel orange tree. Dead.


At this point, all I have left are the Snake Plant, the Pineapples, the Aloe Vera, and the Spider plant in the windows. I also have the Mega Cherry Tomato plants in the Aerogarden.


So, planning this out for the future, I'm going to utilize the Aerogarden much more for my fruit production. Once I've tired of growing Mega Cherry Tomatoes, I'm going to use the Grow Anything Kit I've bought from Aerogarden to grow more Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers in the Aerogarden itself rather than in soil and near it.



As to the tomatoes, they're growing flowers already. It's only been thirty-nine days. They started showing flowers at twenty-eight days but I cut them off along with the main stem, as the other seed pod hadn't grown and I needed to keep the larger plant short in order to keep from raising the light hood.



Aug 13 2016 Mega Cherry Tomato Plant One ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


I'll just be glad when this Summer heat gives way to the cooler blissful temperatures of Autumn and Winter. That's my favorite time of the year.



Thank you for reading. Have a fantastic day.




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Would Love To See This Up Close

Category: Outdoor Gardening | Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:36 pm

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While reading the News, I came across this great article on therapeutic gardening on the BBC.


It makes me long to have an outdoor garden of my own.


Speaking of. There's been no news on My Not So Secret Garden. In a way, that's good news because that means that the current holders of the plots are alive, well and functioning. I'd rather have them relinquish control of their plot(s?) of their own free will than be forced to due to death, injury or incapacity.


It's also good because I've only gotten the seeds thus far. I still have the other supplies and gear to get before I even think of gardening.


Even with all of this and the lateness of the season, I'm anxious to get started gardening outdoors.


On the Indoor front. I am getting a new Seed pod kit for the Aerogarden of Serendipity. This time, at the request of the Maternal Parental and on the occasion of her birthday, I'm growing Mega Cherry Tomatoes. They look pretty good in the pictures. Let's see how they turn out in the growing.


The Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers are growing very well under the artificial lighting. I saw flower buds prior to my docking the plants. I docked each pepper plant a few days ago in order to get them to branch out more. As of today, they're filling in quite nicely.



All the other plants are doing well too.


The Pelargonium is getting more and more leaves day by day. I expect it to flower within a few more weeks.


The Pineapples grown from seed are both doing very well. The Greater pineapple is big enough for a six inch pot while the Lesser pineapple is trying to play catch up via its growth habits. It's hard to believe that they were planted the same time.


The 'seedless' Navel orange tree has six true leaves on it.


The Aloe Vera has me worried it's going to come to life and start demanding a feeding.


The Lemongrass, despite being trimmed into obscurity, is rising once again to its former height of almost as tall as I am.


The Spider plant, newly placed in a larger pot a few weeks ago, is already starting to outgrow it.


The Snake plant is nearly my height and almost impossible to lift at this point. I have it on a rolling stand to move it around.


The Two Basils are doing alright. I think I need to get more water in both pots somehow, without spilling it all over my carpet.


That's about it for this update. Thank you for reading. Please, enjoy your day. :)




Last edited: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:39 pm

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Sweet Pickle Organic Peppers Update

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

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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.





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Threnody and Growth Updates

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

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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 )





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Sisters Are Growing It For Themselves

Category: Horticulture | Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 6:06 pm

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Say hello to my first soil grown basil of this season!

I got these seeds a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to grow them. I actually got them for the Not So Secret Garden I'm hoping to eventually get but got an extra pack of a few varieties to grow in my windowsill to tide me over until I could get my growing space. The varieties I am attempting to grow are:


1. Mrs Burn's Lemon Basil
2. Lettuce Leaf Basil
3. Sweet Pickle Organic Pepper


In this picture below are seedlings of Mrs Burn's Lemon Basil.



Mrs Burns Lemon Basil 27 April 2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )



On the Aerogarden front, it has been sixty days since I first started the herbs. I've cut them back several times and they're growing just as strong as ever. I have, thanks to replacements from Aerogrow, 100% germination rates and even an extra pod of Curly Parsley growing off on the side in a medication bottle.




Aerogarden Day Sixty 27 April 2016 ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


The forecast for the Summer is one of long range high temperatures for my region. Hopefully, the peppers and basil will thrive with all the excess sunlight promised.


We'll see.


Last edited: Wed Apr 27, 2016 6:08 pm

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Little Aerogarden of Horrors and Other Things

Category: Hydroculture | Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 3:04 pm

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At thirty three days growing, the Aerogarden of Serendipity is a partial success. A little over half of the herbs have sprouted and I am presently waiting for the other half to start taking their rightful places next to their fellow gourmet herbs.


I am beginning to think that the Genovese Basil are becoming sentient though. I cut them back to stems less than ten days ago and look at them now. All lush and green. I think inter-species communication is the next stage of development for them both. o_O



Aerogarden of Serendipity at 33 Days Growth ( photo / image / picture from xantedeschia's Garden )


Spring hasn't so much sprung here as oscillated. We have day time highs in the 60s and 70s with night time lows in the 20s and 30s. Plants are so resilient and cool to be able to take such temperature swings.


Oh, speaking of new plants, I have Navel Orange trees growing in with my sickly Pineapple plant. Which has caused it to grow stronger...weird.


I also have one surviving cutting from the Twin Tomatoes in a cup of water which is producing a tomato right now.


Also, my Spider plant bloomed a little bit and is sending out little babies. So cool.


Finally, my Lemongrass and Snake plant are almost as tall as I am.



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I Want To Grow Mushrooms

Category: Mycoculture | Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:03 pm

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I think I want to grow these mushrooms in particular.


Regardless of my goals, they'll have to wait until my availability of finances and their availability of mushroom kits coincides.

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Desperately Wanting To Grow Stuff

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

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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. :)

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Two Years

Category: Miscellaneous | Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:26 am

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Time really does fly when you're having fun. It's been two years since I first signed up on this site.


In that time, I've really grown as a gardener. I've acquired two Aerogardens and successfully grown three gardens from them. I've maintained seven container plants from my original windowsill garden. This is despite invasions of ants and fungus gnats.


I've even expanded my territory, so to speak. I am selling my old Aerogarden to a friend and I've given The Maternal Parental four aloe vera for her windowsill which I maintain. On top of this, I've put two Snakeplants and the remains of the tomato in the downstairs window.


My plants for the coming growing season are:


Obtain an Ornithogalum (False Sea Onion)
Crassula Ovuta (Jade Plant)
Two Epipremnum (Devil's Ivy/Golden Pothos)
Setcreasea (Purple Heart Plant)
Two Plectranthus (Swedish Ivy Plant)
Maranta (Red Prayer Plant)
Stapelia Grandiflora (Carrion Cactus)
Codiaeum Variegatum (Croton)


In addition to this, I just bought $25USD worth of seeds in anticipation of getting My Not So Secret Garden started.


Included in this list are:

Chocolate Cherry Tomato
Big Rainbow Tomato
Spacemaster 80 Cucumber
Red Giant Mustard
Lacinato Kale
Clemson Spineless Okra
Roma Tomato
Sweet Pickle Organic Pepper
Hale's Best Organic Melon (Cantelope)
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil
Fresno Pepper
Giganteus Sunflower
Prarie Sunflower
Summer Savory
Caballero Hybrid Peppers
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Park's Beauty Blend Radish Seeds


I have very high hopes that I'll get the Roma Tomatoes, Lettuce Leaf Basil, Lemon Basil, Sweet Pickle Organic Pepper and Park's Beauty Blend Radish to grow in containers.


I am also hopeful for the Bright Lights Swiss Chard to grow in a container but less so. In the past, I've had very little luck growing it without greenhouse conditions. I'm unsure as to why. Perhaps trial and error will give me some insight into why that is.


With regard to the new Aerogarden, five seedlings are sprouting already. The Genovese Basil, Thai Basil, Mint and Dill are all coming up strong. I've got the domes off of the Genovese Basil and Dill due to the fact that they've gotten so big.


The rest usually take some time in growing.


Meanwhile, I've been snacking on the last of the semi-ripe tomatoes from the previous garden. I have them in a 32oz soup container on the top of my desk Hutch and, despite my initial misgivings about doing this, they're turning colors. Even the small ones.


Hopefully, my Windowsill Roma tomatoes will grow as strong as these have. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until I get my hands on the Outdoor Plot.






Last edited: Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:27 am

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