I have decided to start a fresh thread for this project because of the revisions I have made to my original plan , this will keep things organized, good thing I haven't done much yet! __________ So after a few months of growing some bag seed, I had quickly realized that I really enjoyed growing. I like being very involved with the plant during growth, so that the end product is the direct result of my effort. So I plan to be involved with this project on a regular bases, trying different things, looking for input, suggestions, even to teach a little to some as I have been doing my homework Im also going to be creating my garden from scratch, the place I want to put my garden has been overrun by weeds in recent years while there used to be a garden there yearrrrsss ago I think it will be a tremendous amount of work. xD So you will get to see the entire process of creating a garden from a patch of weeds! You can even help me do it, I have yet to decide on a layout and many manyyy other things. Keep in mind I'm going to be composting, but ill get into that more at an appropriate time. I have an incredible potential greenhouse plan! So there may be greenhouse growing in the works as well =D For now all I can do is grow things inside (ill explain my indoor growing set up in another post) as there is about 2-3 feet of snow on the ground at the moment.. Two days ago I started Peppermint, Yellow Strawberries, Leaf Lettuce, Blue Clemantis, Purple Shisho, Riverbank Grape, and Stevia (next post) indoors. Its nice that I already have some knowledge about indoor growing from growing my Cannabis plant as well I also love cool garden craft ideas as well ! I want my area to look awesome, as well as be effective! I think that cannabis is a very beautiful plant, in the same way that I like the look of so many other exotic plants that are just so incredibly beautiful and unique, whether for their imposing colorful foliage, or their alien looking mind boggling flowers. So some of the things I plan to grow will be for simple aesthetic pleasure. Most plants of this nature will have to be indoors, because many originate from a much warmer climate. Most of the things I plan to grow this year however, are edible. This is the part I am most excited about right now, because I also love to cook and bake I will be following the Companion Planting philosophy, as outlined in the book "Carrots Love Tomatoes" as much as I can, while also consulting many other resources such as the internet, books, people I know, and of course, this forum. I am also going to apply the concept of Hugelculture to making my garden (thanks oceansgreen!) and also try to make use of the 7 layers of food forests So to get right into it , I will post a list of the seeds I have ordered from seedrack.com . Taking note that I do NOT plan on doing all the seeds at once!! haha! And also that I have developed a deep interest in bonsai as well and I will be talking about that probably, and some of the seeds I ordered are indeed trees. So without further adieu, the seeds: Rainbow Carrots Assortment (Variety Pak) -Purple -Red -White -Yellow Cauliflower Purple Head (Brassica oleracea botrytis) Purple cauliflower tastes like broccoli Stevia rebaudiana (Stevia) Leaves can be x30 sweeter than sugar, virtually no calories . It is native to South America, where its use as a sweetener has been known for at least 1,500 years. In the U.S., due to pressure from the powerful sugar lobby, Stevia is regulated by the FDA and until recently could be offered only as a dietary supplement (or skin care product) but not as a food additive or sweetener. Strawberry Yellow Wonder (Strawberry Vesca) Said to be the sweetest strawberry Pepper Hot Bishop's Crown (Capsicum baccatum) Shaped like a bishops hat, hot pepper described as sweet by hot pepper lovers Tomato Blondkopfchen (Lycopersicon esculentum) German yellow cherry tomatoes Tomato Caspian Pink (Lycopersicon esculentum) The pink tomato Vitis riparia (Riverbank Grape) Cold hardy grape vine native to North America Zwolsche Krul (Par-Cel) Looks like parsley, tastes like celery! Gourmet Salad Mix (Leaf Lettuce) A variety of leaf lettuce, have yet to discover specifics Mentha x piperita (Peppermint) Your classic peppermint ! great for tea, cooking, candy, scent, etc Pepper Hot Caribbean Red (Capsicum chinense) Very! hot peppers! I will probably turn it into a powder. now some trees and flowers. ;D Bloodgood Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood') Deep red leaves gradually turn rich purple, foliage is the same shape as cannabis foliage. Matsumurae Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Matsumurae') Also has cannabis shaped foliage, which turns pink as well. Especially suited to bonsai. African Baobab (Adansonia digitata) The "upside down tree". I would love to have this in my snakes cage! Early Blue Clematis (Clematis macropetala) Vine with beautiful blue/purple bell shaped flowers, VERY cold hardy! Sacred Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) A beautiful, highly prized evergreen for bonsai. It is fast-growing and fairly easy to train but does not well abide pollution, salt sea air and harsh winds. Dragon's Blood Tree (Dracaena draco) The name comes from the red sap of this tree that was sold as Dragon's Blood and was said to be used by the ancient Egyptians during the embalment process. It was considered part of any witchcraft toolkit. Alpine Sea Holly (Eryngium alpinum) Stunning eye catching flower that is soft to the touch, fine-laced and plume-like Sea Holly (Eryngium planum) A profusion of steel blue flowers adorn this graceful sea holly, so different then the above. Purple Shiso (Perilla frutescens nankinensis) delightful, ornamental herb, The leaves have a strong, pungent flavor suggestive of cilantro or cloves. Italian Stone Pine (Pinus pinea) This is the pine of Rome and of Renaissance paintings. It is also the source of pignolias (pine nuts), eaten worldwide as a flavorful, protein-rich food Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) perhaps the most popular evergreen for bonsai use and is easily recognized by its rugged, purplish black trunk and short, fine needles. Dwarf Pomegranate (Punica granatum nana) Great for bonsai. Popular as a pot plant. Showy, orange-red fruits are edible and last for months. Easy to grow. Black Bat Plant (Tacca chantrieri) Outlandish and bizarre looking. Foot-long filaments or "whiskers" dangle from large, purple-brown, nearly-black bracts that form part of the flower. The foliage is handsome in its own right, consisting of large textured, glossy green leaves. Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) This massive evergreen conifer makes an interesting specimen to train as a bonsai. Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) No other flowering vines are quite like the Wisteria. Among Wisteria's attributes are hardiness, vigor, longevity and the ability to climb high. An exquisite bonsai selection. That is a LOT of plants, and a lot more seeds, so now you see what I mean about not all at once. Not to mention I would also like to grow some.. more generic veggies this year in the outside garden. Things like potatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkin who knows, it mostly depends on space and time. Those are seeds that I can pick up from a store around here when the time comes This journal is as much a way of recording for my own personal use, as a resource for myself and others. I hope some people who will appreciate this will find this ! and Im so excited to start growing more things!
Two days ago on December 27th I planted some of the seeds I received in the mail. I made a humidome for the black tray planter out of cellophane and packing tape Its really awesome because its so easy, cheap, effective, and changeable. The other white tray humidome is premade obviously and has a small heating pad under it. The First pic is of the humidome I made, then of the inside. In the black tray I planted: - 3 peppermint seeds (left) - 2 Lettuce seeds (middle) - 3 Yellow Strawberry seeds (right) I might take out the Lettuce, I dont care about it as much as the strawberries or even the peppermint, I may eventually put a divider between berry and mint and just let them grow out at will In the white humidome there are: (starting from left side) - 2 Clemantis (might be hard to germinate) - 3 Purple Shisho (all in one pot for now) - 6 Riverbank grapes (after 24 hr soak) - 6 Stevia (sporadic germination) The three seeds in the other container are some bag seed from what is supposed to be Purple OG. It might also be worth mentioning I just received an Iranian G13 Cannabis plant grown from seed ordered from Dr Greenthumb, so that may be taking some priority as well That is the last picture <3 future mother I may scrap the "Purple OG" if im running out of room anyway, no point in risking pollination of a feminised known awesome strain ... If you want to see the bag seed I've been growing for the last 7 months as well here is the link to the journal I have been keeping for it. (my set up has changed since then also. It is about to be put into flowering, but i think it's been stressed out so much that its hermed at the very least..... http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1064169-first-indoor-grow.html
Some seeds require a "winter" to have better chances of germinating. The way we do this (in most cases) is sealing the seed with some slightly moist peat moss in the fridge for a certain length of time. This is called cold stratification, it is an artificial winter. Some seeds call for a month two of cold, while others might do better with 3+ months of cold. Right now in my fridge drawer I have: - 2 Japanese Black Pine , 60 days cold - 4 Grapes (going to compare germination rate and time with and without cold stratification because it said you "can" stratify) - 3 Sea Holly , 3-4 weeks cold - 3 Alpine Sea Holly , 3-4 weeks cold - 3 Dwarf Pomegranate , 90 days cold I apparently forgot to put in the maple seeds .. but I will as soon as I have a chance. Each seed is in its own container.
Hahahahaa, xD This morning when I was checking on my stuff, I noticed the little bright green lettuce sprout ! I have a "variety pack" of leaf lettuce, and it didnt say what kinds where in there. So i planted a white seed and a brown seed, and I believed this sprout to be the white seed if my markers are correct. I looked at the area the other lettuce seed was panted and there was nothing there yet, but upon closer inspection, I noticed another sprout of a second kind, RIGHT BESIDE THE FIRST ! So I think the second lettuce seed must have stuck on my finger or something and dropped in the wrong spot, so I will have to move one once they are just a little bit more established . at least more then a day old AWEE I think teeny tiny sprouts are just so cuteee !!! ^_^ hehe
i wouldnt personally bother moving it, lettuce doesnt really do much of anything to shade other plants out and can grow right next to just about anything, besides a bit of randomness looks a lot prettier imho than neat little rows or perfectly palced plants
Welllll I was wrong It wasnt two types of lettuce beside each other, because the other lettuce sprouted exactly where it was supposed to The newest sprout is marked in the pictures with a blue rock, So I now think the misplaced sprout is going to be strawberries, but there hasnt been any other strawberry sprouts.. then after reading your comment oceansgreen I started to think about how much space Im really wasting with uniform planting spots, So I took around 6-10 strawberry seeds and scattered them on the strawberry side, and then did the same with the peppermint on the peppermint side Its much more exciting waiting for many random sprouts rather then 3 that might not even germinate ! I do also think it will look way better grown in many random places .
Today(January 1st) I started germinating : -Sacred Japanese Cedar (3) -Dragon's Blood Tree (3) -Italian Stone Pine(3) -Bloodgood Maple (7) -Matsumurae Maple(5) -Chinese Wisteria(4) I expect there wont be many updates anytime soon for these, seeing as they are trees . Some are future bonsais !! =D Well I guess all of them are to the extent that im going to be manipulating their growth, even if they do go outside . Im also going to use willow to create living structures and art, as there is an abundance of varieties of willow around Today I also started germinating: -Bishops Crown Peppers (1) -Caribbean Red Hot Peppers (1) These will have sooner updates, but I will probably end up giving these pepper plants to a friend who really likes peppers , I will start more peppers closer to growing season
WOW, another interesting development ! I was reading the thread on the Organic Growing forum about mycorrhizal fungi, http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/976433-mycorrhizal-fungi;-myths-truths.html and I noticed a referance to the brand "Myke", essentially store bought mycorhize spores . and I immediately realized, I HAVE THAT ! It was from a late relatives gardening things that came to me. I had used it on my first pot plant without knowing what it really was or did though So anyway, after discovering this I went and sprinkled this dirt like fungal substance over the dirt of all of my future and current plants , so when I water they will be washed down throughout the soil, hopefully , since Im already past the point of putting it directly into the soil this is all I figure I can do for it until transplanting. So there is one more aspect covered now at least ! =D
So I found a few more baby sprouts todayy ! ^_^ The 1st attachment is the most recent lettuce sprout, It is much bigger then the first lettuce that sprouted The second attachment are the first sprouts I reported (Lettuce and Strawberry) The third picture is of two teeny strawberry sprouts As of now Ive spotted 7 strawberry sprouts!! There are 3-4 peppermint sprouts as of now as well , even smaller then the strawberries! lol I also had a Caribbean Red Hot pepper break surface today! (I dont think i mentioned I also started a Caribbean hot pepper and a Bishops Crown hot pepper the other day) The last picture is of a Purple Shisho sprout! One out of three up so far, and I would be happy with that ! I already see purple ! I can't wait for these Yellow Wonder Alpine Strawberries to start producing ! They are supposed to be ever bearing, meaning they always produce fruit (once mature and conditions are right) rather then one big batch of fruit at the end (like Cannabis for example). The berries wont be to tasty right away though.. not until the plant establishes itself, so I'll pick off the first berry formations for a while so they can focus on that, but I think it will be worth the wait!
Woo hoo! So we are up to I think 12 Yellow Strawberry sprouts , I can see 9 of them in this picture alone Then we have the Purple Shisho ! I hope the other ones dont sprout now.. so that she can have the pot all to herself * And the fourth pic is of the Caribbean Red Hot Pepper And last , but surely not least, is Iggy topped her a few days ago, now Im waiting for her to fill out so i can take some cloness and start some flowering ! =D
omg! i just figured out im the only one thats subscribed to this thread... shame! lol ill see if we can at least get mattbo in here for osme variety of blades... lol
Yea it would be great if there were a few more people chiming in. But im still having fun, as it just so happens I am fresh out of high school, and this girl thinks she has found her niche in life So this is essentially a chance to witness the start of something beautiful hehe , I very interested in growing, especially organic growing Im still waiting on the season, but soon i am going to start building ! I will start with a worm bin and compost bin, trellises, etc as soon as it starts to get warmer im turning an old porch into a greenhouse, which I could heat during the winter nights so I could start growing and vermicomposting in there sooner! Is there a significant difference in the end product of composting and vermicomposting? nutrient wise, i know vermi is faster ahh I cant wait to do all this !
She got the itch. She got the itch. Nature kicks ass! But gardening in general is a cheap (after the initial capitol) and it's done around the home (mostly). I'm sure more people will come. Just tell'm your a chick. Might bring the wrong ones though. Keep it up. EDIT: Beautiful!
from my understanding there is some differences in composts, but there are three basic composts that i know of and that is 1) basic, microbial, thermophilic compost 2) vermi-compost 3) and fungal compost been a while since i last learned anything about vermicompost and it was just kinda basics so it covered stuff i'd already heard and rapidly forgot but i THINK (and im honestly not too certain about this next bit im jsut going off of vague memory) that though its generally going to have less nitrogen now vermicompost IS better as a seed starter (seeds that are covered in or resting on pure vermicompost tend to have amazing germination rates and healthier seedlings) but other composts work better as an overall soil base or large scale amendment i think there is also normally a pH difference between "professionaly" balance microbial compost and fungal compost (which i THINK is always completely neutral pH wise) and adding too much can move your soil in one direction or the other (though i dont view that as a terrible thing, just not good for every single plant, better for some than others) and vermi composting has a few benfits to it in that you can run it almost entirely off of paper waste or entirely carbonaceous materials so it can be made with some very cheap inputs, you can add red wigglers to an aquaponics system to really help it along, the leachate thats not technically supposed to happen in an ideal vermicomposting setup, though it almost always does, can be used to fertilize with liquid fertilizer and used to make some good compost teas i dont know much about the nutrient levels and the difference between the three comosts but each one is going to vary according to what originally went into the compost so i dont know if you can find a definitive answer also, ive heard that worms absolutely love rabbit poo, so if you find any around or raise rabbits for meat/fur, the worms find it to be candy on the trellis's dont be afraid to be creative, the most intact buffalo gourds ive ever seen were growing UP a cholla cactus and native americans often grew a polyculture called "the three sisters" (though they often had a fourth or more) in which they grew corn until it was a few inches high, then planted peas/pole beans (or sometimes morning glory's with edible tubers)at the base of the corn and then grew squash and such at the base to shade the ground and help prevent "weeds" thus the peas would bring in nitrogen through fixing it, and the corn would act as a living trellis for the beans, the squash helped retain moisture better than either of the two couldve done on their onw, the fourth plant was often rocky mountain beeplant (cleome serrulata) which would encourage insect pollination and increase yields as well as attract predators of said insects, adding nitrogen rich fertiliser upon visiting some trellising plants evolved (or were created to do, whichever) to climb taller plants such as trees and such and growign them up such plants can help to stack functions and save space quite well also a nice trellis will cause the plants to grow where they will provide shade/increase humidity in the summer and still allow heat to enter in the winter, some people trellis grapes over their porch so they have grapes to munch on in the late summer grapes are also great over chicken housing because they attract a certain type of beetle that upon being dead will clench up and act dead, meaning that if you shake the trellis you'll drop a bunch of beetles down for chickens to happily munch on and greenhouse placement can do a great deal to help reduce witner heating costs, open up the home, or perform other money saving functions if properly placed... so while youre waiting for the warmth, design and dreaming are always fun ways to take up the time anyway, imma bit of a nerd in this walk of life myself so im out before i fill the thread with a book on random half related shit
I have a bit of reading to catch up on the two pages but it looks like a wealth of information! I too plan on using my tent not only for my arthritic pain reliever, but some veggies too! I only have green onions in a solo cup to see how they do, my wife had them cut near the root from the grocery store so i threw them in my mix and off they went!
Subscribed ! Another girl here and I'm a newbie at this veggie /fruit growing. I will be using hydroponics to grow my plants. Currently doing research on LEDs..It will be a DIY project. I'll start a thread when I'm all set up . It's fun watching other threads so I'm here and so looking forward to your results. Goodluck and keep the pics coming !
I cant wait for it to start getting cheap xD yea im still at the buying and building stage so its meant a little bit of investment, worth it 100% though! Ive decided Im going to make at least two compost boxes, one of which im going to pack full of potassium for the mj babies and anything else when they flower. I want to do this by making the one compost with lots of bananas and wood ash and of course the base of regular compost material I wish I had a tent so I could get more things started now! ^_^ its too soon weather wise outside though .. The greenhouse will be my tent,, but its still too cold and snowy to make that too Awesome =D The more the merrier I really want to try growing blueberries with hydroponics! and I would like to experiment with organic hydroponics when i get the green house up More pics to follow !
