texts: What is this red flowering plant in the background shown in one of the episodes of "better call saul"?

texts: To me, it kinda looks like a climbing rose but i dont see a trellis supporting the vine so it might aswell be a shrub of some kind. Any clue?


texts: Basil: Are these aphids, whiteflies or something else?

texts:
I have been seeing these tiny greenish-yellowish nodes on the stem of my basil plants. They don't appear on leaves just the stems. I can peel off the nodes and crush it. Does the photo below show an infestation of aphids, whiteflies or just something that happens naturally with basil?

Here's a photo of the node I peeled off the stem.


texts: We’ve bought a house and land in Bulgaria. The house has been empty and the grounds neglected for 10 years. Before that, it would have had lots of vegetables and fruits grown on it, with application of animal manure from the pig, chickens and goat/sheep who will also have lived here (evidence in the outhouses). My partner reckons the soil is so fertile it won’t need feeding for the foreseeable future. I’m not so sure. We’re not keeping any animals, yet, and I think the ground may be depleted by the 10 years of weeds, so I think we should get hold of some manure to apply over the winter. We’ve grown some vegetables this year, which have been ok. Any advice?


texts: This is a basil plant growing in a hydroponics kit in my kitchen. I'm not sure how it got there but it appears to be a pest that has gotten in somehow. The leaves started to wilt and die.


texts: Identification of garden insect with a red-edged green body and white spots

texts: Please can someone Identify this New Zealand Bug found on my lawn today, thank you.


texts:
Usually Basil is cut before it blooms in order to get a more bushy plant.
This is my first year in which I'm trying Cinnamon Basil (in Central Europe). I always wanted to try it as it's famous for it's lovely smelling flowers.
Does this rule apply to cinnamon basil as well?
If so, what are your recommendations at this point? Can there be a compromise between having the nice flowers without basically losing the plant?


texts: Need help identifying this yellow-flowering shrub/bush

texts:
Recently purchased a home in Denver, CO and this shrub/bush is in the front yard. It has smaller green leaves and yellow flowers that are currently blooming in the April-May time frame. It’s a woody bush about 4-5 feet tall and high.
Any help identifying is greatly appreciated!


texts: How do you grow a Lotus flower from seed?

texts:
I have a Lotus flower seed and have kept it in water for the last 5 or 6 days. I saw that it has started to open up. What should I do next?

I saw on the paper packaging that it is called "Nelumbo nucifera".

From Wikipedia:

  Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian lotus,
  sacred lotus, bean of India, or simply lotus


texts: What animal is eating my cherry tomatoes and strawberries?

texts:
My garden (first ever!) has been doing great. Yesterday I harvested my potatoes, which left half the garden open and bare. Some critter seemed to view this now-open landscape as an invitation to come and dine.

Whatever it was, it ate all my strawberries and sampled many of my tomatoes. Left lots of tomato halves, both green and nearly ripe ones lying on the ground.

It's not a deer, because we had that problem earlier in the season, and I built a 6' fence which seems to be working. I'd recognize deer prints if I saw them. This creature left no prints that I could see.

Any idea what it could be, and what I could do to discourage its dining? I've seen a rabbit flee the area once or twice in the evening, but he seemed to be on the outside of the fence. If it's a rabbit, I could in theory secure the fence (it's a Polypropylene mesh) to the ground a little better. But if it's a squirrel, I imagine they'd be able to scale any kind of fence I put in.


texts: Is this white fluff on my indoor grass bad for the plant, people, or pets?

texts:
For our cat, we have some grass in flower pots on the windowsill. I don't have the package with the seeds any more, it said something with cat grass.

On some of the blades, there is some white fluffy stuff:

The soil is flower soil from the hardware store. I try to water the “plants” every day but sometimes forget. Sometimes they had a little too much water and were sitting in a little puddle that got soaked up eventually. The pots are directly next to the convection heater.

Is this something to worry about? Does it cause any health problems to us or the cat? Is there something that one can do against this?


texts: How to stimulate growth on one side of a young dwarf cherry tree

texts: Last year I purchased a dwarf cherry tree, which came as a maiden tree that I planted in a container and has now started to develop branches. However, it seems that all the branches are developing on one side (Viewed from above, they don't cover more than a 180 degree angle). I don't think this will be ideal for long-term growth; what can I do?


texts:
I have a little monstera with an odd backstory. I found it, abandoned, bare-rooted and in very poor health on the ground in full sun. It had been there at least a week, and with no viable roots. I put it in a vase, thinking the leaves would look nice until it died. One of the two leaves died, but the other has hung on, although looking pretty limp.
To my surprise, it has now rooted vigorously, and put out a new leaf which is probably a couple of days from unfurling.
My question is: how long can it live in water? I suppose I should pot it, but I kind of don't want to disturb it now that it seems to be growing and looking healthier.


texts:
Our allotment has teamed up with a tree surgeon for a constant supply of fresh wood chippings from trees he trims/removes.

Having taken use of this to cover all the paths in my allotment I have dug my potatoe trenches (I usually go a spade and a half down and then cover as green appears) and am now wondering if instead of recovering with soil I could make use of the chippings to cover the potatoes making it easier for me later in the year to dig potatoes up. I can then dig this into the whole bed in winter to mix with the soil.

I have read of straw being used to cover potatoes are there any risks to using fresh wood chippings, are there types of trees that would be dangerous to grow food in due to natural toxins?


texts: For the last few months my lemon tree has been losing its leaves. I recently discovered a lot of citrus scale on the tree. I cleaned them all off. Im wondering if the leaf drop is due to the scale bugs or something else.  Here is a few pics of some of the leaves. Thanks.


texts:
I have a couple of raised veg beds. They're currently covered over with some weed control matting, as it's winter and I'm hoping to need to do a little less weeding come spring.

However I'm considering planting some winter varieties of onions - I don't think I've seen many examples of veg beds covered with weed control fabric. Should I remove it before planting, or should I just poke holes in it and sow there?

My major point of concern is that it makes uprooting things with big roots (onions, beetroot) more difficult. And of course, that I've never had much success with the seeds staying where I put them and them wandering over the bed.


texts: Difference between different forms of Potassium Sulfate

texts: What would be the differences between potassium sulfate in its granular form versus the water soluble almost-powder form. As it's the same chemical formula, I'm mostly interested in the release time, or delayed release...


texts: Need help with this weed. Can anyone identify and recommend treatment?

texts: I live in the northeast and just had new grass seed put down early spring.  The first one pulls out easily when it has matured, but when it’s small it grows between the lawn and is hard to pull out. It is literally taking over half of my lawn. Weed and feed has not worked.


texts: Will this propagated mulberry straighten out?

texts:
I've successfully propagated a mulberry through a hardwood cutting.

Now that my worries of it surviving winter have passed (I can see green buds slowly opening), my next challenge is to eventually prune it in to a half standard tree. However the tree thus far kind of zigzags. The leader looks more like a side branch.

My question:
Will this be allright, will it kind of straighten (it does not have to be completely straight)? Or do I have to be on the lookout or even encourage a new leader?


texts: Big Max pumpkin leaves shrivel/go limp in hot afternoon, even with frequent waterings; how to stop this?

texts:
I have a Big Max pumpkin plant that sprouted in late June and has since taken off, with a lot of leaves, flowers, and pumpkin buds.  I have been fertilizing it fairly often with a pretty balanced fertilizer (little less N than P or K, I don't remember the exact ratio).
I live in central New Mexico.  This plant did fine with the hot temperatures in early July, then we had two weeks of cooler temperatures with the monsoon, and now that highs are in the 90's (Fahrenheit) again, starting around 11 am the leaves get limp and shriveled as seen in the picture below.  It starts with the leaves at the end of the main vine, then leaves at the ends of the other vines, then the central leaves get a little droopy too.
With the leaves behaving this way, I now water in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.  The leaves return to normal in the evening and are normal throughout the night through the next morning.
With how many pumpkin buds and flowers my plant is producing (way more than I want; I pruned things a couple of days ago), and how large it has grown, I have very recently switched to a 0-10-10 fertilizer.
What can I do for my plant to keep the leaves from getting so droopy and limp in the afternoon?  The dirt around it is always at least slightly muddy with the watering schedule I give it.  I notice no difference in the leaves after the noon watering.  Is the plan just too large for the roots?  Should I prune some of the vines?


texts: What are these white sacs on the branch of Lilly Pilly?

texts:
There are many while sacs adhered to the branches of a Lilly Pilly.

Their sizes are between half a cm to one.

Here is the plant itself

What are these white sacs? I broke one of them and all I can see is some form of liquid.


texts: Why are the new leaves of my peace lily smaller than old ones?

texts: I’ve had my peace lily for about three years. It was doing fine and I repotted it about a month ago. The leaves were getting smaller before I repotted and now new ones are even smaller, but otherwise it seems to be flourishing.  Why has it such small leaves now? I don’t understand it.


texts: Can I grow a fruit bearing pistachio tree?

texts:
I live in Zone 7 in Northwest Texas.  It's pretty dry here and the soil is mostly hard clay.  I'm very interested in growing fruit bearing pistachio trees, but haven't been able to find any local nurseries that know anything about them (maybe that's a bad sign).  Lots of people grow Chinese Pistachios, but that's not the same tree.

Anyway, according to my reading, (Aggie Horticulture Extension, Wikipedia, California Rare Fruit Growers, and others), the pistachio will do well in arid climates and is hardy up to USDA Zone 8a.  So, it's in the zone, however, I'm more concerned about my soil.

The California Rare Fruit Growers website describes the soil requirements like this:

  The trees do best on soils that are deep, friable and well drained but moisture retaining. It can, however, survive in poor, stony, calcareous, highly alkaline or slightly acid, or even saline soils. The root is deeply penetrating.

Wikipedia has this to say:

  Pistachio is a desert plant, and is highly tolerant of saline soil. It has been reported to grow well when irrigated with water having 3,000–4,000 ppm of soluble salts. They need a sunny position and well-drained soil. Pistachio trees do poorly in conditions of high humidity, and are susceptible to root rot in winter if they get too much water and the soil is not sufficiently free draining.

Is there anyway I can succeed with this venture?  What's the best way to go about it?  Should I amend my soil to make it more sandy or loamy?  If so, how deep and large of an area around each tree would be best?

Any other advice before I attempt this?


texts:
I just started composting a month back and have some basic questions.  I have been putting garden and kitchen waste in my compost bin every week.  I have been turning the pile every week to mix up the ingredients and to make sure flies and insects (which have started to appear) don't get a chance to lay eggs and multiply.

Typically how long does it take for compost to form so I can remove it and use it?
If I keep turning the ingredients, I will never get good compost because it will be a mix of fresh ingredients and compost.

I think I am doing something wrong and looking for guidance


texts: How should I increase the amount of water coming from my irrigation system?

texts:
Over the last weekend, I installed the irrigation system for our vegetable garden which is square-shaped. I used 1/2" poly tubing for the main water supply line and then used 1/4" drip line with built-in 1 GPH emitter (12" spacing) for each row. For the connectors between 1/2" and 1/4", I used 2 GPH emitters.

Two problems however:

a) Very little water comes out of the emitters. The size of the spots watered by the emitters are so small.

b) Many vegetables still do not receive the water because no hole exists on the 1/4" tubing around those vegetables.

I am wondering what would be the easiest solution to fix this. Would just punching more holes on the 1/4" drip lines solve the problem? Or, should I use a larger drip line than 1/4" to deliver more water?

Also, I ran the irrigation system for 10 minutes. Should I run more?


texts:
I planted some herbs (lavender, basil, cilantro) mid October, almost 6 weeks ago. I started them from seed in an egg carton, transferring them to their current planter box about 2 weeks later. The cilantro plants need immediate attention for obvious reasons but I think I’ll eventually have the same problem with the basil: too many plants and much too close together. But I’m not sure how to go about thinning them out.

I also should mention that they were planted in 4 “pods”. Either I waited too long to transplant and/or didn’t put enough soil but the roots were growing into the bottom of the egg carton. For fear of destroying the roots, I planted the seedlings with the bottom of the egg carton, thus the groups of plants. This goes for all the herbs.

So, what approach should I take in thinning out? How do I choose the stalks to remove? How should I remove them - pull them out of the soil (though they might still be intertwined beneath the soil because of the egg carton issue) or cut them off? If I should cut them down, where should I make the cut?


texts: I want to get my seeds from flowers Hoya but do not know how.


texts: This rose is blooming in my garden. Purchased this place six months ago, and it has lots of roses. This one has me stumped. Long stems without a lot of thorns. Dark pink and light pink stripes.


texts:
I moved her to this pot about a year ago and was really thriving for a while. I have noticed she doesn't like cold but does like light, but has made it through several different apartments with me despite the varied locations. Now she live in a room with indirect daylight for most of the day and I water heavily once a month or until the soil is dry.

There also seem to be tiny centipedes on the dirt, none of my other plants have them.  They freak me out.

She seems all droopy. Am I not fertilizing enough? What would be proper care?


texts: Why are my green bell peppers turning brown?

texts: For some reason my bell peppers are turning brown before full maturity. How do I avoid this?


texts: Is this a weed growing in my old tomato plant pot?

texts: Last year I had a tomato plant in this pot, which I cut back at end of the season when it died. In the pot now this is growing. Is this a weed?


texts: What is this weed and how can I get rid of it?

texts:
I have this stuff all through my lawn and garden.  Normal weed killer had no effect on it. I want it gone.

This is a section of the lawn:

This what it does in the garden when it's not mowed:


texts: I have an indoor Croton. It keeps growing vertically. Is it possible to trim to encourage horizontal bushier growth?


texts: What is a long-term solution to a goathead infestation?

texts:
I live in New Mexico and bought house with a yard that is absolutely and totally completely infested with goathead plants (For those unfamiliar, here's what their seedpods look like--should be pretty obvious why you don't want them in your yard!).

After a week of heavy rains, here's what sections of the yard look like:

Pretty grim. Thankfully, they die in the winter, but not before growing little stickers to reproduce with that fall off and nestle into the dirt. So I think I may be able to kill them all off in a few years by simply killing the larger plants before they grow any stickers. Without a new supply of stickers, eventually the ones already in the ground should stop sprouting--I hope. Then again, they are perennials, so that may take a loooong time.

Does this sound like it will work? Has anybody else defeated a goathead invasion? I'd like to avoid poisoning the yard if at all possible because there's a lot of nice wildlife in the area. I anticipate living here for a while and can be patient about it, so I'd like to avoid simply covering the whole yard in plastic and putting gravel over it as many in the area do.


texts: What is this creeper with serrated leaves and small white flowers growing in Mumbai, India?

texts:
What is this creeper?

Location: Mumbai, India (Tropics)

Conditions: Growing in the Monsoons from June-July onwards in heavy rains and waterlogged soil, overcast / full shade to full sun.

Other Details: Growing wild as ground cover. Looked like moss from afar, but has serrated leaves and is also sprouting tiny green buds which become lavender bulbs which turn into small white flowers with 4-6 pointed petals. Please refer images.

Long view below

Close up 1 below

Close up 2 below

Edit:

Close up of leaves and flowers below

One small plant sample below

Close up of flowers below:

Close up of flowers below... NOTE in the centre of the image the spiky leaf flower next to mild lavender colored one...i think the lavender flower becomes spiky when it gets older, not sure.


texts:
TLDR: what is wrong with this recently bought potted camellia? Is it one-time frost damage, a reaction to being relocated, or something permanent I should address?

At the end of March, I purchased a camellia with the intent of raising it in a pot on the patio. I ordered a 6 year old Nuccio's cameo plant from a specialized camellia-only nursery, and it arrived in great condition, full of flower buds. The nursery owner warned me not to repot it until the flowering season is over.
I placed the plant in the location where it will be permanently planted later. It has a wall to the north and to the west, and is exposed to sun and wind from the south and east. (I read that east is not optimal, but these are the conditions I have). I live in one of the warmest cities in Germany, USDA zone 8, and there are many thriving outdoor camellias here, some grown to tree size without protection around them.
I had tried to time the purchase after the last frost of the year, but we got surprised by arctic air masses lasting around 3 days. I added straw and fleece between the small nursery pot and the wall of the future pot, and when there was snow or sleet, covered the plant with a makeshift protection. Despite this, I measured -1.8 C surface temperature in the pot on the coldest morning. Else the daily maximal temperatures have been in the 10 to 15 C range. Current UV index is 5 to 6.
I am watering about twice per week until water flows freely out of the draining holes, a regime which seems to be well tolerated by other plants, including two roses which got planted in pots at the same time and location as the camellia, and are growing strong. I have not added fertilizer yet, assuming the soil in the original pot is still optimally fertilized.
Despite this, the camellia does not look healthy. The buds have gotten brown edges. The flowers survive a couple of days and wither and fall off before they have opened fully. Some of the leaves are yellowing.
Can somebody recognize the symptoms and suggest a way of getting the camellia back to health?


texts: what are effective, non-chemical, ways to control japanese beetles?

texts:
I'm beginning to see adult Japanese beetles on my dahlias and other flowers. It doesn't look like a heavy infestation but I am wondering what are some non-chemical control methods. I've read that nematodes are one option.
Are they effective? Are there others?


texts:
Landscaping our yard, I went a bit nuts for roses and got a lot of them before I realized how tough they are! Tough to keep happy I mean. My main problem has been rose slugs -- little caterpillars that are really sawfly larvae. They have been really doing a number chewing holes in the leaves, almost killing the plants. I have tried, on various occasions

-- Squishing by hand

-- Pesticides (Neem and imiclopramid I think--"rose spray")

-- Ladybugs

The ladybugs disappeared in 2 days. The squishing is effective but tricky -- once there are old holes it's hard to find where the caterpillars are. I'm not even worried about the ick factor. Pesticides seemed to work but I want to avoid them, and definitely don't want to use all the time.

Is there a secret trick I'm missing? What strikes me as strange is the rose books barely mention them, but they're my biggest problem. Is it a hot/dry place problem? (San Diego here) Do I have to give up on my roses? Are roses one of those things where people love them because they're practically impossible to succeed at? ;)


texts: Is it safe growing vegetables in a soil that has plastic fragments?

texts: I have started preparing a small piece of land for growing vegetables. To my disappointment, I quickly realised that it has been used in the past years as a dump site. Among other bigger pieces of rubbish there are several tiny pieces of plastic and nylon. It’s hard to estimate their quantity but I’d say there is one every 10 cubic cm. I am removing all the garbage and the smaller nylon pieces I can see, but I am wondering if it would be safe to grow vegetables there, or if the plastic has already polluted the soil and I should move to another place.


texts: What pest is this and how do I treat it?

texts: This pest appeared on the squash plants yesterday.  What is it? How do I treat it?  Zone 6 near Boston, Massachusetts.


texts: Hedera Helix leaves developing brown spots

texts:
My Hedera Helix from IKEA is developing brown spots off late. I am new to plant keeping and do not know how this can be stopped. I've owned this for 2 weeks tops.

Watering: 2x in a week, around 60ml or so.
Light: My window is generally closed with blinds but sometimes I might have left the blinds open.
Wind: I'm in Europe and we're experiencing a heat-wave so I've often slept with the fan on.


texts:
I have 2 semi dwarf cherry trees. One is a Rynbrandt and the other is a Blackyork. I've looked for information online about how far to space them and can't find a thing. My tags don't tell me either. Does anyone know how far apart these should be planted?

Also. would it be OK to plant them near apple trees or should they be put in a different area?


texts: I got these flowers from a Home Depot in Pennsylvania. The tag does not mention the name. Can anyone help me identify what kind of flowers these are?


texts: Help identifying two unique house plants

texts:
I was gifted two very unique houseplants and have no idea what they are or how to care for them. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!!!
1 is very woody stemed plant with both dark green, light green and clay red colored, arrow shaped leaves all with white spots on them (see photo)
2 is a large plant with very large leaves shaped in an oval with white lines from the center of the leaf to just shy of the outer edge of the leaf.
The stalk of the plant is about 1.5 inches in diameter and very bendable, in fact the stalks would just flop over if they weren’t staked upright. See photo
Another photo of plant 2 -


texts: What is the flower just above the groom's left breast?

texts:
I have this image

I am wondering what the flower is that's just above the groom's left breast (her left) and if the greenery with it is native to the flower (ie. if you cultivated the flower or found it in the wild, you'd see that greenery)

I'm also curious of the other flowers as at the moment i'm assuming the bride has roses on her dress and veil and the bouquet is made us of the same flower as what the groom has but i'm fine in just knowing the groom's flower


texts: Zamioculca with black roots just broke off easily

texts:
My zamioculca stem just broke off at the roots, the bottom is black but the rest of it looks healthy.

I touched the stem of the plant and carried it in my hand.  the base was rotten but the earth doesn't seem wet.

Here are some photos of how it looks:

How should I treat this? Are the other stems at risk?


texts: I'd like to plant a small silver birch forest in my little garden.  I'm going to plant two rows zigzagging the trees.  What is the closest spacing I can use between the silver birches.  Thank you


texts: Is it important to keep greenhouse glass thoroughly clean?

texts:
My greenhouse is near some fruit trees and every spring when I come to start off the growing season I find a certain amount of grime has settled across the glass over the preceding year.

Most years I give it a thorough clean and it looks much better for it. This year I didn't bother but how much does it matter?

To be more accurate about the extent of the grime ... it's certainly more than any normal houseproud person would tolerate on their kitchen windows, but it's not enough to feel as if any serious amount of sunlight is being screened out. But, maybe I'm mistaken about that, hence my question.


texts: How do I improve the growth of this Ficus?

texts:
I've had this Ficus tree for some time now. The growth is a bit meek. The leafs are small, the color is not as deep green and not every branch/limb has them. If you can see on the right the other Ficus tree next to this one has excellent leafs. They are lush and deep green color.

I suspect perhaps I am doing something wrong with this tree. May be the soil isn't what it needs to be or may be something else.

Can someone help diagnose what might be wrong this this Ficus tree?


texts:
Looks like Hens & Chicks on steroids.

I am in Baja California near Ensenada.


texts:
I live in the Caribbean and my house has a rooftop that receives sun approx 12hrs during the day. It's usually 80-95 degrees. There's no soil so any plant would grow in a pot. There's very little shade, mainly from the building next to me.

I would like to have several banana trees in this rooftop. I would prefer baby/dwarf bananas.

I've called several local places, and nobody sells seeds or plants that grow dwarf/baby bananas.

Where online can I buy high-quality seeds or plants that will grow dwarf/baby bananas in pots? I've seen many online stores that sell them, but I don't know if they have good reputation.

Thanks.


texts: Help is my cactus is dying, can it be saved

texts: I recently bought a golden barrel cactus (about two months ago), judging by its size I would say the plant is about a year old. Everything has been perfect with it until Saturday. I usually water or at least check to see if it needs water. On Saturday I noticed the bottom was limp, apon closer inspection the base of the cactus was soggy and googey. There are small bugs inside the cactus, which is now almost compleatly hollowed out. What could thuse be? Please help.


texts: Which disease could be turning the leaves on my tomato plants BLUE?

texts: The leaves are very dry (though the plants were watered regularly and consistenly), have this bluish tint and those brown spots. Googled, but found nothing, which is weird. What could this be?


texts: Can I propagate a new Campanula Adansa from a broken branch?

texts:
While putting soil in the pot, I accidentally broken two Capanula branches with many flowers.

Is it possible to propagate using them? If yes, can anyone please guide through it?

PS: here is the picture of the broken branches.


texts:
So in my new allotment, I have a large mound (approx 2.5m diameter, 1m high) of turf sods which has over time become a solid hill of dry, reasonably fine soil with grass and weeds covering it. It's taking up good space on the allotment, so I wanted to see if I can make it worthwhile otherwise I will just level it.

It's oval shaped, with oval aligned East/West facing so there is good slope exposed to sun. As it is so raised, it's quite dry from sun and wind. Since it's sunny and dry, I was thinking perhaps I could create a rockery (that and the allotment has more flint than soil) but I'm not sure what edible plants I could grow on it.

What kind of edible, and worth eating, plants (veg, fruit or herbs) would grow well in these conditions, or is any suggestion going to be a compromise and leveling it out always the better option? I'm guessing herbs like rosemary, lavender?

Thoughts?

EDIT: There is another hidden benefit in that the mound is also partially hollow (people stealing the good, sifted soil). The hollow section could be a great place to grow mushrooms.


texts: Compost with newspaper cuttings and orange peels

texts:
I have started composting since last week and there are some questions which I want to ask.
I have a small pot may be of 6 litres. I guess it's Bokashi composting.

I read that for composting, wet garbage and carbon sources are essential, of which carbon sources include newspaper, dry leaves, etc.  I have small potted plants so I could not get much dry leaves.  So I cut newspaper in approximate 2*2 cm squares and put that the compost.  Now after a week's time, when I was turning the compost, I saw that the newspaper had not broken down at all. What could be causing this? What do I do?
Here it is orange season so I am putting lots of orange peels in the compost.  Should I dry them before putting in or should I put them as they come?
How much time will it take for the compost to complete? How much water should I put?


texts:
I was building a nesting box to encourage birds in my garden. It worked, a week ago a family of Blue Tit moved out after a stressful time. I'm curious so I got up to box to check what they left. I was surprised by the size of the nest and would like to know:

1) To raise the chance of having another couple doing their business inside this year do I need to clean or better leave as much as possible of the material inside and do the cleaning in late autumn (or early spring next year)?

2) As it can be seen below 3 eggs "didn't work". Is that normal for blue tits or this an indicator for a buggy box or place?

3) I hope GL.SE is the right place for asking this question?!


texts: What's the best pot size for rose seeds germinated in the refrigerator?

texts:
I have taken rose seeds from my garden and put them in the fridge between moist paper towels.

Does anybody know what size pot I should put the rose seeds in that have germinated in the fridge?


texts:
I have bought a Caladium Plant last week. When I was potting her, I accidentally cut a few roots. When I saw some of her leaves wilting I associated it with my clumsy hands. But just today I noticed that some of her leaves are now turning yellow.

I water her,lightly, more like sprinkling for about half a minute, once everyday because I read that they like to be moist. The yellowing I assume is predominantly because of root-rot. I've gathered with a little research that over-watering aids root-rot

Misc:

I'm growing her as an indoor plant.
I place her outside my window (no direct sunlight) for a few hours (almost) everyday.
Most of online blogs suggest watering to keep her moist. That's what I'm doing (Am I overdoing that?).
Most of her leaves are quite healthy.
Some leaves though are just rotting partly (no yellowing though).
The partly suffering leaves suggest me that it's not over-watering. My diagnosis is that she has caught an infection.

I seek, as an amateur gardener, advice. Looking at her image, does it look like the yellowing is due to an infection, or over-watering?


texts: What's the best way to remove 2-6 inches of dirt from my yard?

texts:
I am landscaping my yard and need to remove from 2-6 inches of dirt from the entire yard (about 2,000 square feet) to get it level with the rest of the property. The dirt in the yard currently sits higher than the foundation of the house due to overgrowth & gophers.

What is the best piece of equipment to rent to help with this?

Do I need to have training/experience to rent/use a tractor (excavator, loader, etc)?

I have no experience using tractors, but am a quick learner. Should I attempt this task myself, or would it be more cost effective to hire someone?

EDIT: I am looking to rent from A Tool Shed

EDIT 2: Responses to a few of your answers:

I have called 811 (Call before you dig) and had the utilities marked. There are none in the yard.
I will be moving the dirt to my front yard in an effort to make the front yard level
I will be softscaping (adding sod, trees, bushes, irrigation)
After removing about 4 inches, the dirt becomes very clay-like, so I don't anticipate any settling. I will be tilling the clay with soft dirt and fertilizer before the sod


texts: Is this pest? Please help me get rid of it

texts: This is the leaf of my Poinsettia. I bought it just two days ago from a local nursery. It came with these tiny yellow, black, white spots which look like pest. The white ones are definitely some kind of pest. The plant has attracted many black ants onto itself too. There are many other infested leaves. Can you tell me how i can get rid of these? Are these gonna harm the plant? Please help.


texts:
The landscapers left us with this tree which is growing crooked. The trunk is still pretty supple and you can straighten it manually, but it returns to being bent as soon as you let go of it.

I have read many competing opinions on tree staking, and some sources recommend using some bamboo or something as a brace. What is the proper method for correcting the bend in this tree?


texts: I have some small emerald cedars that need to be relocated between now and the middle of May. The weather is just starting to get nice, so I'm not sure if I need to relocate them now, before they "wake up", or if they'll be OK if I relocate them in a few weeks.


texts: What is this tree and do I need a pollinating partner?

texts:
I recently moved and I found this tree/shrub in my backyard. It is about 1.2m tall

It produced a single fruit which looked a lot like a cherry, although it had plenty of flowers.

My main question is: what is this tree?

And in case it is an edible fruit tree:

why did it produce just one single fruit?
Is it that I need a pollinating partner?
If so what would be suitable pollinating partner?

Here are some more photographs:


texts: How long does it take for the compost to ripen?

texts:
I’ve got a compost bin (a big plastic box with air holes) that’s used by two or three families. We have been putting kitchen scraps and stuff into the composter for about a year now (mostly vegetables). The composter does not stink, it gives a nice earthy smell even when I turn it (which I do every two or three weeks). Today I even found earth worms in it, which I was very happy about. The only thing that troubles me is that the stuff inside does not look like it could be used for plants anytime soon, there’s a lot of small pieces of stuff, not everything is properly brown, in short it does not look much like soil, not even in the oldest layers.

So how long does it take for the contents to turn into soil? Is it possible for the process to somehow stop? (The winter is quite mild this year here, temperatures seldom dropping below 0°C (32ºF).) How do I know I’m on the right track? Are there some “milestones” that could be seen from how the stuff looks inside the composter?


texts: What should I do with buried garbage/construction debris I found in my new yard?

texts:
I recently bought a new row home with what I thought was an adorable back yard. I started digging a shallow hole to plant a tree and noticed that about a half inch to about a foot down is where the previous owner buried some garbage (literal trash bags with styrofoam containers, soda cans, hair ties, etc.) and construction debris (so far it just looks like bricks, tile, glass, and plastic mini blinds).
The yard itself is 10' x 10'. I've started digging it all up myself, but I'm really not sure what my plan is. I found a brick patio on the bottom, so it seems as if they literally through the dirt on top of all of this junk. I keep finding empty bags of Miracle-Gro, so I'm assuming as much.
Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this before? I'm not sure what steps I should take - does it make sense to dig the whole thing up, rent a dumpster to throw the garbage and dirt away and start over? Do landscapers do this sort of work (and is it super expensive)?


texts:
I'm growing some spinach this year. Compared to the baby spinach we get in the store, my plants already have leaves the same size. Yet there are only 6 leaves total.

My question is, can I pinch off these baby leaves, and will the plant keep producing new leaves? Can I keep doing this for a while, and keep getting baby leaves? Obviously I wouldn't take too much, wanting to keep the plant growing. Maybe just pinch off the two biggest leaves.


texts: 1 tomato plant out of 4 is stunted, light green, has brown dots on leaves + stem (no yellow)

texts:
Before I send this plant to the great farm in the sky, would anyone have any armchair suggestions on remedies I can try please? I think the soil / environment is OK based on the plant next to it being healthy.

These are a strain my great grandfather cultivated in northern England, so I'm trying to keep them going. I planted seeds I kept from last years crop. They create a vast amount of golf ball sized tomatoes, no shelter in central London.

This plant sprouted much after the others and generally looked a bit weak, like it didn't have good roots. I planted it deep and it appeared to recover and looked healthy for a few weeks. After the recent sun, the other 3 have shot ahead. I can't find evidence of bugs nomming it. All 4 plants have brown spots/streaks on their incredibly thick stems.

Many thank yous in advance!

Leaves have bumps, brownness, curling slightly.

Brown streaks on stem / leaves.

New leaves are pretty OK looking.


texts: When I was planting my blueberries today I thought it was strange to see that the blueberry plants were planted in some sort of matting (think the stuff for wire plant baskets). What was it planted in, and why?


texts: Is it okay to grow English ivy on the base of a tree trunk?

texts: In one place in the yard, there is a carpet of ivy under a black walnut. Would it harm the tree in any way to let the ivy up to the base of the branches? I would like to do this so that the whole scene is green.


texts: What are these small black winged insects in my lawn?

texts:
I noticed two or three small, black insects tonight while sitting in my lawn, which is presumably where they're coming from. It seems to have wings, and I think it has a sharp thing which resembles a stinger. It's a little black speck to my eyes, and this picture was maxing out the cell phone camera I had at the moment.

The grass doesn't show any obvious signs of stress; it's a nice green color, but I'm still concerned that this insect might damage my lawn. I'm in the Northwest USA. Three questions:

What is this insect?
Why is it in my lawn?
How can I kill them all?

The picture was taken while on my leg, not in the lawn.


texts:
What is this white plant growing from the tree? The host tree (not the white root) is about 30” tall.

I was checking the soil from this tree because it was deteriorating pretty fast and I wasn’t sure what the problem was.

So I remove it from the planter and I notice this white root growing. The tree is basically dead, but this white thing is growing.

I was about to throw it away when I noticed this.

Can anyone identify this plant and should I still throw it away? The trunk has small worms.

This is the tree:


texts: Can I use crushed stone instead of pea gravel for drainage?

texts:
In another question I was advised to use pea gravel for french drains.

Now, as it happens, a previous owner put down a lot of weed matting and covered it with perhaps 5cm of gravel.  My best guess, from looking at this page, is that the gravel is equivalent to 3/8" crushed stone.  Can I use that instead of pea gravel?


texts:
It's been a couple of weeks that I've started to recycle our kitchen scraps (vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, paper towels) in our garden. I've been reading various instructions over the internet and have tried two slightly different approaches so far. First I buried the scraps some 20cm deep and covered with soil and second I just put the pile on the soil (just a few centimetres into the soil) and covered with some hay. I noticed today that the pile which was not buried, after around 5 days, got some white worms (see red circles in the image).

Just for the record: the weather here is pretty dry and ~30C during day time. The soil is dry as well. The pile is sufficiently exposed to air.

I'm wondering what type of worms these are and if the small white worms are OK in a compost pile? (the tutorials I've seen, all advertise red bigger worms).
Also, the pile is a bit smelly, and I feel the thing is rotting rather than going through the (relatively) odourless process of composting as described at various online resources. So, I'm not sure if the process is going in the right direction.


texts: Are there any tips for helping unhealthy trees?

texts: My new yard has a lot of trees, probably 20-30.  There are apple, pear, peach, pine, plum, and a few others.  Most of them are fairly old (50+ years).  Some of them don't seem to be very healthy (dead branches, withering/yellow leaves, etc.).  Are there any tips or tricks for helping an unhealthy tree?  How do I figure out what is wrong with them?


texts: How do I prevent critters from chewing my sprinkler system?

texts:
I have a lot of trees in my yard...and squirrels.  I'm not 100% sure the squirrels are the critters doing the damage, but it seems the most likely.  My neighbor says he's seen a possum in his yard before...and I'm not ruling out rats or mice.

Anyway, this is the third time this has happened. I hate to start killing squirrels to prevent it;  it's kind of fun looking at them scamper up and down my trees.  Plus, they might not be the offender anyway.

Here's what the damage looks like:


texts:
I have received a cactus that is a bit curvy. Here's some pictures to give you an idea:

It's doing well right now but I'm concerned that the curve will eventually break it. Is it possible to cut this into segments and pot them separately?


texts: What kind of insect is this on my green chilli?

texts:
I have a green chilli plant that I bought a couple of weeks back. It seems to have some sort of insect over several of its leaves (see pics below). I am wondering if this is  scale or spider or mite? If so, should I treat it by rubbing alcohol? (that seems to be the suggestion in a few places)

Any advice/help is appreciated. Please let me know if I can provide any more details.


texts:
This is a picture inside Montreal's botanical garden at the entrance of the Japanese garden. In this picture we can see 5 small pine like trees along with thyme and rocks.

I would like to recreate something inspired from this. How can I keep pine-like trees small like in this picture ?

What are the best way(s) to achieve this effect ?


texts:
I have a really nice tree in my front yard which unfortunately needs to be removed (and cannot be relocated). As I am going to be very sad to lose it and may wish to obtain another, I would really like to know what it is. Can anyone help identify it?
The tree is about 25'-30' tall and roughly 'Y'-shaped (i.e. not a huge spreading crown) with foliage starting from nearly ground level. The leaves are shorter than some other trees near me that I know to be sumac; I'm guessing this is either a black locust or honey locust?
Here's a photo:


texts: How to seal board gaps in raised bed garden?

texts:
I just put together a 10x4 raised bed garden using cedar boards stacked 2 high.

I am a little concerned that the small gap between the stacked boards will let water seep out.

Could you provide any recommendations for sealing this gap? It would have to be soil/food safe.

My initial thought was to use 100% silicone caulk along the inside of the gap. Do you think this is a good choice or are there better options?


texts:
My beefsteak tomato is setting lots of fruit, but the larger leaves are curling, and have fine black spots.

The pot is 24x24 inches, and the soil is miracle gro. It's new in this pot this year. The temperatures have been 75-80F degrees and windy, but it is pretty protected from the wind (? It is a sunken patio). I've sprayed it twice with epsom salts and water, only have tap water, and water it about a gallon every two days if really hot and sunny. Every two weeks will give it a good deep soaking. There's no smoking anywhere near it.


texts: Are these two different types of seed germinating?

texts:
I planted hulled Bermuda seed from a local seeding company. It’s a good company it was $180 for 27 pounds. Currently on day 11 of watering the seed every 2-3 hours for 10 minutes to keep moist and around day 8 I noticed these sprouting up.

They’re bright green and thin and it appears to be a single grass blade. I THOUGHT this was the Bermuda germinating? But today I noticed this grass starting to germinate.

It’s almost purplish and it seems to have 3 grass blades coming from one system. Are these two different types of grass?
If you can’t really tell what’s what I can try and upload a better picture.


texts: I have heard that tennis lawns are salted to kill the weeds. So I was wondering why doesn't the salt kill the grass also ?


texts: Will a potted pomegranate tree grow in Zone 6?

texts:
Is it possible to grow a potted pomegranate tree in southern Ohio? I'm in zone 6, which means the lowest temperatures in the winter are generally in the range of −5 °F (−20.6 °C). I have a shed, but not a garage to move it inside during the winter. My backyard faces West and gets full sun.

Will it survive the winter? If so, will it produce fruit eventually?


texts: I've planted too many potatoes in 1 container

texts: I'm a very novice gardener.  In one potato sack I planted about 10 seed potatoes which I have since learnt is far too many.  Is my potato harvest doomed?   Can I remove some of the plants?


texts:
Friend gave me some seeds that she had stored for a while. I planted them and they grew into this beautiful chili plant. We have no idea what kind of pepper it is exactly.

The fruit is relatively small, and as of late it's been turning from green to purple'ish.

Thank you!


texts: Accidentally mowed poison ivy plant. Can I clean the grass?

texts: So we forgot one small PI plant in the backyard and it got mown over. I see plenty of info on washing equipment with dawn soap and water, but what can I do about the contaminated yard?? I ask because we have a toddler who plays back there, so this is pretty important to me. If I sprayed water/soap mix on the grass to get the oils to wash down into the dirt, would that work? Would it kill the grass?


texts: Our Aspen are weep brown sap. A web site from Colorado said this condition is terminal for Aspen. Can you help?

texts: Our Aspen are weeping a brown sap.  A web site said the condition is terminal.  A local weed and feed company said the condition can be treated with an antibiotic for pigs.  Do you have information on the best treatment?


texts: What is this almost spherical red flower with thin, hair-like, petals?

texts: I saw this flower at the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center in Callaway Gardens. Please help me identify it.


texts: What are the best practices for growing cherry tomatoes from a sprout?

texts: I did a small quarantine experiment with some overripe grape tomatoes that I need some tips on. I managed to harvest the seeds and plant them and voila! Over 50 tomato sprouts. Now the question is...what is the next step with these spouts? Texas summer is coming and I hope they can survive. I am not sure if I should be repotting them so they aren't clustered together or start planting them directly into the soil. Tips appreciated!


texts: Growing Cape Gooseberries in Brisbane, Australia

texts:
For entirely irrational reasons (maybe because gooseberries hard to get here), I bought a Cape gooseberry seedling today.

Where I live in Brisbane, however, is not your typical cool climate for gooseberries!  Instead, it's a humid subtropical climate, with about 10-20°C in winter and 20-30°C in summer. No frost or snow in Winter and up to 40°C in Summer.

With this in mind, what sort of strategy should I employ to get the best out of this plant? Anyone grown one in a similar climate elsewhere?


texts: English name of “Marmalin” (Spanish) tomato cultivar

texts: Ten days ago I've seen in a fruit shop some tomatoes named "Tomate Marmalin" in Spanish. The "Marmalin" word might be Catalan though. I can't find anything on internet about this variety, not even in Spanish. Does anyone know anything about this variety? I wonder if it has a name in English.


texts: Chinese evergreen with clear droplet secretions on leaves

texts:
Is my Chinese evergreen plant here in my office ok? I noticed some water droplet type secretions on the new leaves and on the undersides of some other leaves. Is this normal? An officemate said it could be from a bug.
It's hug and my favorite plant, please help!


texts: Reddish brown edges on the leaves of the curry sapling. How to mitigate the damage?

texts:
I accidentally kept my curry leaf plant out in 6 hours of direct sun without hardening off. After that, I started seeing brownish dry edges in many leaves. It was kept in 2~3 hour direct sunlight area. It is planted in a 10 inch pot.  I have brought it back to the previous area. How should I proceed, and make sure the plant does not die (if it can). Should I keep it in indirect sunlight for some days?  Or is this some other issue altogether?
Location- Delhi, India.
Temperatures- 27 degrees celsius to 41 degrees celsiu.
Weather- Hot and dry, somewhat humid.


texts:
I planted asparagus this year, and I have used a water permeable weed barrier to control weeds.  But this does not seem like a good idea going forward, as I don't want to discourage the spread of the asparagus to other areas of the bed.

My father used to sprinkle salt water on his asparagus, but that is not considered a good idea by many experts.  The reasons are listed here

Hoeing seems like it would disturb the roots and possibly damage the crowns.

What methods or techniques are best for controlling weeds in an asparagus bed?


texts: Should I wait for cotyledons to show before exposing seedling to light?

texts:
I used to exclusively use the paper towel method for germinating seeds. Now I am trying soil blocks (I found some seeds germinate better if I don't cover them).

And I was wondering when should I take the cube out of my "incubator", transplant them and start exposing them to light.

With the paper towel method, as soon as I see the radicle, I move them to a little 330c pot, cover them just enough, and leave them under lights/sun. But with the soil blocks, I am not sure what would be better.

Should I wait until cotyledons show up (or the seed completely "emerge"), or should I do it as soon as I see the radicle digging into the cube (covering with soil before doing it to protect the roots)?


texts: Should I remove fruits afflicted with blossom end rot?

texts:
A few of my peppers are, it seems, suffering blossom end rot - first identified a week or two ago - this is based on the descriptions on the condition elsewhere on the site, but here's a few pics to help confirm:

From what I read on here, and in other locations on the web, the afflicted fruits can't be "cured" of this state; any damage done is permanent. So:

Is an afflicted fruit ever salvageable (for the purposes of being eaten)?
Should I be removing afflicted fruit from the plant as soon as the condition is noticed?
Or should I wait for a certain level of severity before acting?
Or maybe there is some obscure benefit to leaving the fruit on the plant?


texts:
I know that I shouldn't plant kaki persimmons or seedling or female American persimmons near sidewalks and driveways, because the fruit will fall off and make a mess on the concrete.

What about a grafted male American persimmon? I've read that male persimmons often do have a few female or perfect flowers (leading, presumably, to a few fruits). How many such fruits? How much of a mess is it?


texts:
My plant (Lemon Drop, sitting in a pot on my balcony) is making huge amounts of leaves, flowers and new chilis but the ones it already has seem to stagnate both in size and ripeness.

What should I do? Should I just be patient and wait. Fertilize more/less (currently once per week 1 liter of fertilized water)? Cut some flowers?

Edit: Fertilizer I use (10ml / Week):
NPK 7-5-6 with micronutrients (Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Zinc)

Yes. Used potting soil. No, no compost.

I'm reasonably sure the oldest fruits are there longer than 80 days. I've had this plant since last spring. Last year it only managed to make 3 small chilis so this is essentially my first year...

Edit 2: I didn't have time to care for the plant the last few days and the leaves got really flabby in the hot weather. Watered it last night and this morning there were two yellow chilis on the bush. Some of the newer smaller ones. I guess we did have a bit of a cold spell around here.

Also I'm going to make more of an effort to let the soil dry out before watering again (It's a pot with reservoir at the bottom so I always just filled that up and let the plant draw the water it needed)


texts:
We planted a new row of cypress trees, approx a month ago. They are about 1.5 m tall and stand in direct sunlight for most of the day. We water them regularly with DIY.
At first they were doing well, but then yellow spots appeared which quickly turned brown.
As of now, many of them now look completely yellow-brown and even those which remained green have yellow spots inside.
I don't see any sign of canker, the bark seems completely healthy.
What should i do to save the remaining green cyprus trees?
Is there anything to do for the yellow ones?
climate: mediterraenan (tel aviv)
photo


texts: How do I eradicate Devll's walking stick (Aralia spinosa)?

texts:
I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  and my backyard has been invaded by Devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa). I've been told by landscapers that the only way to eradicate it is to cut it and to spray the stem with a certain chemical, or so they heard.

Would someone have more details about this chemical, and explain how to apply it?


texts: Would you know what species does this tiny "Christmas tree" belong to? No info on the label.


texts: Is this black spot on roselle leaf fungal?

texts:
I have had one leaf which had two of these black spots. Now this is the second one where I have one blackish spot (Pic 1).
Is this due to fungi? It seems to be embedded in the leaf.
Otherwise, in two other leaves there were yellowish black spots. I have cut away these ones. (Pic 2)
Please suggest remedies too since we have an essentials-only lockdown here so can't get any fungicide.


texts:
We have been caring for an orchid and trying to rehabilitate it. We are not orchid experts. It arrived almost a year ago, with only 2 leaves, no aerial roots, and was a bit wobbly in its pot, so we suspected the roots structure underground was weak. It's doing better now (see picture below), but my girlfriend just noticed this week that it has NO underground roots - I didn't see it but she said it was just a stump that the leaves came out of, nothing below to hold it in the mulch. The mulch at the top of the pot was bone dry, and the mulch at the bottom was very soggy. So we "repotted" it in a cereal bowl, temporarily. The pot it came in was tall and narrow, but I'm not sure that's a good idea if it has no roots. How can I properly rehabilitate this orchid?

Here's what it looks like now:


texts: What's wrong with this dwarf white pine?

texts:
This  pinus strobus nana is about four years old and has done very poorly this year. Alkaline clay base soil with a full sun, south exposure and a mulch of pine needles.

The soil has a ph of a little over 7. There are no signs of fungal/bacterial disease

The tree was planted four years ago.  There was a lot of dieback this spring but this is the first year the needles have been so yellow.

I can add more organic soil and use acid fertilizer but changing the ph of the soil radically is a daunting prospect.  Sulfur might do the job.

Symptoms: The mealy bug problems referred to here seem to be gone but the colour is chlorotic and the interior branches are black rather than the usual brown bark colour. USDA zone 4 with lows to -30 Deg C.


texts: Why does my gardenia have brown patches on it's leaves?

texts: This plant has been growing normally for a while but I woke up this morning to discover brown patches and some shriveled leaves. I had previously sprayed it down with fungicide and then with insect-repellent, so what now?


texts:
I had a small pot with three sunflowers in it (firecracker). They went down one by one, each with the same thing. See the image below, it looks like a tiny beaver chewed on the stem, just above the soil level.

Eventually the flower gets weak at that point and falls over.

Other than that the flower looks healthy and I don't notice any persistent pests. I see ants crawling around, but not a ton, and I don't think it's the ants doing this.

Any idea what would cause this and how I can address it organically?


texts: Mulch + raised garden for a desert water saving Vegetable Garden?

texts: I am planning a raised bed vegetable garden in dry Southern California. I wish to produce food in my dry climate, and am concerned for possible future water restrictions. Besides the water savings from a raised bed garden, I understand that a layer of mulch can prevent water evaporation as well. Has anyone had luck with a vegetable garden in a raised bed garden with much, such as I am planning?


texts: A good substitute for perlite to be used in potted plants soil mix?

texts:
I would really like to make a soil mix with some perlite, so it becomes really light and has good drainage and won't hold up too much water.
This is to use on potted plants.
But I couldn't find any perlite to buy near me. What can I use as a substitute?
I was thinking of maybe some crushed expanded clay pellets. Could it work?
Does anybody have a better suggestion?


texts:
I recently planted a few Asian hot chilies. It is completely indoor and beside the window. They got morning sunlight. I watering them every other day.

In the last couple of days, I noticed a few leaves have this problem, the front site has a tiny white dot, and the backside has a kind of whitish spot.

I've no idea what it is, I tried to look at other solutions but none of them is similar to mine. Because of COVID19 I'm staying home and can't go to the store. If possible homemade solutions are welcome!


texts:
I've been researching to buy plants for my rooftop. We live in the Caribbean, so the plants will receive at least 6 hours of direct sun. The heat is also unbearable.

With that said, I saw an ad where the owner is selling several Areca Palms for USD $10 each. Here's a picture in the ad:

The palms are 3-4ft high, and they're in 1.5-gallon pots.

Will this outgrow their pot?

Also, how large will these grow?

Will this plant survive in hot, humid weather with lots of sun? It's been raining a lot lately, but you can really feel the heat and humidity when it stops and there's full sun at noon. When it's not raining, the temperature mid-afternoon, on a sunny day, can reach over 90°F.

Finally, assuming I decide to buy a few of them, is there anything I would need to look for in the plant to make sure it's healthy?


texts: What to do about cut feeder roots when moving bush

texts:
I moved 2year old black currant day ago, having cut feeder roots.  It occurred to me that perhaps i should have capped or disinfected root ends?  Soil is sandy, well drained, temperature is around 15c day, 0-2c night time (quebec).
Bush seems to be ok after move but i am worried about infection.  Should i do something about root ends?


texts:
I decided to start a vegetable garden so I started clearing my backyard after several years of bramble colonising it. I realize some roots go beyond 40cm deep.
Instead of digging further to reach the end of all the roots is there a way to perhaps kill them with some product?


texts: What are these white/yellowish spots on my mexican fence post cactus?

texts:
My mexican fence post cactus has developed some sort of white/yellowish fungus(?) on it. Anyone know what it is? I hope it's not a goner!!!

Looking for some help to save this guy!


texts: How can large Sassafras trees be dug and transplanted?

texts:
We have a client who would like to plant a number of large-ish (5"+ caliper) sassafras trees on his property on eastern Long Island, NY. Planting small container trees and waiting for them to grow in is not an option.

Can Sassafras this large be dug? When is the best time to do so? Are there any tricks to maximizing success rate beyond the standard practices?


texts: What is this vine (with purple flowers), and can I transplant/spread it?

texts:
Can anyone help identify this climbing vine with purple flowers in our backyard? It was there when we moved in, and started blooming when it got nice out (and we gave it a little water).

Someone said it might be a Rose of Sharon, but I looked at some pictures and I'm not convinced.

We love the look of it, and would like to get a matching one for the other side of the trellis, or maybe get a cutting to grow it elsewhere too. Is this a good idea?

Here is a close-up shot of a flower:


texts: Is it possible to grow nepenthes without a terrarium?

texts: Is it possible or recommended to grow nepenthes outside of terrariums? Aren't nepenthes tropical plants needing constant high humidity?


texts: House plant recommendations for disabled elderly gardener

texts:
I friend has recently become unable to live independently and moved into a care home. She was interested in her former garden, though other people have been doing most of the actual gardening for several years.

Her current physical disabilities are poor vision, confined to a wheelchair, and one hand almost paralysed. Her mental capacity hasn't been affected and she needs "something to do" to keep her mind occupied. Looking after some house plants could be one way to help with that.

She has her own relatively large room, though the window is rather small and most of the room is therefore quite dark apart from artificial light.

I'm looking for plants that would meet the following criteria:

Relatively fast growing - the care home has an outdoor garden which is designed to be low maintenance (mainly lawns and rather uninteresting trees) and after 6 months in the home she has commented that "nothing ever changes" in it.
Big enough so that visual impairment isn't an issue - or possibly tactile and/or scented foliage
Tolerates low light levels well.
Flowers (preferably big and bold colours) would be a bonus.
Not necessarily perennial plants - bulbs or annuals would be fine.

Assume she can get some help looking after the plants from visiting friends say once a month, but will be looking after them on her own in between those visits.


texts: What do I do with this pile of branches, collected from pruning?

texts:
After pruning my trees I piled up branches and I was thinking of shredding these with some wood shredder and using them as mulch. But unfortunately there is no  shredder nearby this village and I can't do it. My options are:

Get rid of them (Burn them).
leave them until I find a shredder or chipper to hire.(But maybe these pile will bring infections or other things to my garden).
You tell me please.


texts: What's the best way to take care of my potted orchid?

texts: I have a phalaenopsis orchid at home.  I have not done much to it in terms of taking care other than watering it. The base looks healthy but the top stem has dried up. What care do I need to take to get it healthy and flowering?


texts:
I took a clipping from a friend's very healthy mature aloe and have allowed it to grow roots for two weeks in water.

I have not grown aloe before but I'm assuming it's now ready to pot so wanted to get guidance. I was going to use some alpine compost in a small (6" by 6" pot)

Does that sound reasonable? I'm happy to be corrected if not.


texts: What is this houseplant with dark green linear leaves?

texts: I can't seem to identify this little guy.


texts: How long does it take for spearmint leaves to regrow?

texts:
I just took a bunch of spearmint leaves, so when will they grow back?
I did some research and a timeframe wasn’t given.


texts:
I was digging to see what kind of soil I have and I found this gray rust brown layer.
It's like clay when compressed but kind of crumbles in chunks.
It's around 6" from the top.

I'm curious how this affects planting as I want to grow some veggies and a mini fruit orchard.

Also is this the reason for the slow drainage in my yard.


texts: How do I know when winter rye seed is ready to harvest?

texts:
I planted some winter rye last fall to hold a patch of soil over the winter. Planned to mow it, but spring came, summer came, and I still haven't cut it down. It's got beautiful fat seed heads on it now.

How do I know when these are ready to harvest (as viable seed) so I can use them for future cover crops?


texts: How to take care of an avocado plant in the chihuahuan desert?

texts: A friend of mine gave me an avocado plant that she grew from seed.  She kept it primarily in a well-shaded patio.  I don't have such a patio... in fact, I have a non-shaded house with frequent strong winds.  I really want to keep this plant outside without resorting to constructing a green house.  How can I best accomplish this?


texts:
We moved into our new house in late March and started with mud. The builder put down seed with a hand spreader and put straw down on the sloped parts of the yard. He then told me to only water it every few days but not if it rains. I moved from a condo so I took him at his word.

My lawn is a wreck now, and despite doing a ton of research, I don't feel 100% confident in a good plan on how to deal with it.

The parts of the yard that did not have the straw down are seemingly 98% crabgrass. It's horrible. There are also lots of weeds, which I think are categorized as "broadleaf weeds" all over. From what I understand, weeds are common when you have soil brought in, and crabgrass when there's a low density of good grass and high heat and/or no shade. I've been cutting the grass at 3" for the last few months to give the grass a chance to survive, but it means I only have a non-embarrassing yard for 3 or 4 days and I've been mowing weekly throughout the summer just to keep the crabgrass length down.

My yard has zero trees, is pretty flat in the front and back, and slopes down maybe a total of 8-10 feet as it goes from the front of the house to the back.

After I bury some irrigation pipe for drainage from my downspouts next weekend, here's my plan:

[power]rake to clear up debris (straw is everywhere!) from the soil
rent an aerator and run it over the yard and dump in new seed
water aggressively for a few days, then daily for a couple weeks
fertilize in mid to late September
continue watering regularly
fertilize in November

I have no idea if this will be effective. I also don't know if I should aerate and seed again in the spring or if that would just damage the new seedlings.

What advice would you give to me?

TL;DR - new lawn is a mess of crabgrass an broadleaf weeds. What's the best strategy heading into the fall and next spring?


texts:
I got two tiny grapefruit seedlings for free and I don't know how to care for them. They are in very small pots and all the care they are getting is watering. They are 2" tall. I don't live in the right zone for these, and I don't have any idea how to care for them. How do I grow these indoors under artificial light?
Edit: I need an answer fast. Two of three trees are now dead.


texts: How long will my basil plants live inside?

texts:
I have 2 basil plants that are in 8 inch diam. pots.  They were outside but were doing poorly so around the middle of the summer I moved them inside.  They are now thriving! I generally harvest a few leaves at a time while cooking and I cut back any branches that get too tall. The lower stems are starting to turn woody but the plants are still growing well.

How long can I continue to do this?  Will a be able to harvest a consistent small amount of basil forever or should I take all the leaves and make pesto at some point (like I would have done if they were planted outside)?


texts: Blueberry leaves that curl and then brown

texts:
I live in Sunset zone 17. I purchased a pair of blueberries in February. I transplanted them into five gallon pots, and used a mix of potting soil and coconut coir that drains pretty well. I also amended with sulfur to make the soil more acidic, and have given them an E.B. Stone fruit tree/bush fertilizer once every couple of months.

One, a sunshine blue, has been doing great the whole time. It is still producing nice healthy growth. The other is an earliblue, and it has been getting steadily sicker. Initially, the leaves curled down, but were mostly still a nice green. They started browning (and becoming brittle) from the center of the leaves. Some of the newer growth is also looking chlorotic.

I thought the bush might be getting root bound, so I transplanted both blueberries into a single large oak barrel with roughly the same soil mix. The sunshine blue is still looking happy, but the earliblue symptoms continue to get worse. The picture shows some of the worst leaves on the bush (I've been removed leaves as I notice them).

I think my watering is not the problem. I have not let the soil dry out completely, but it is never soggy either. I would appreciate any help figuring out what is going on.


texts: How to treat diseases and bugs on peach tree?

texts:
I have a young peach tree (18 months old, never gave fruits) in my yard in Florida that recently lost all its leaves. The leaves are eaten but also covered with brown spots. I'm wondering if the issue is caused by bugs, or a disease, or both, and how I should treat them.

Thanks for the help!


texts: Instead of using 54W 6500K T5's, can I use 54W 5000K T5's?

texts:
I want to buy some T5's for indoor planting. The specifications I found until now are 54W and 6500K. In a nearby shop, I found 54W with 5000K. I've been reading this and there is the following graphic:

It seems that 5000K lamps have ~71% of the total blue of 6400K lamps (taking the measurement from 430nm, the rest of the measurements in the blue zone seems to be roughly at the same ratio). The difference for reds doesn't seems to be big. But I don't know if it makes a big impact on the plants. I've been searching for YT videos on people planting with 5000K lamps but it seems everybody uses only 6500K.


texts:
I have a new long garden raised path that has been built up both sides with concrete.
What happens if I just lay top soil on this & then turf. How much topsoil & should it be fertilised?
Will the turf survive with good watering - the border areas turfed are well sloped underneath for drainage?
Many thanks


texts: 3 Mango Trees (6 months old); Grayish-Orange Spots heavily progressed; Blackening/brown curling leaf tips; 1 Mango Plant losing all its leaves!

texts:
Mango #1 Picture Gallery

Mango #2 Picture Gallery

Mango #3 Picture Gallery

I have had previous problems with Mango #1 and posted here a while ago, link here

I have 3 mango trees I am growing from seed that are approximately 6 months old now. They all have the same watering schedule of approximately 5-7 days per watering. They've only been in 68F (20C) - 74F (24C) their entire life in a grow tent with a 2000W grow light approximately 38-44 inches away from foliage. There are 2 auto-rotating fans in the tent. The soil composition has been 6 parts Miracle-Gro soil for Trees, Shrubs, and Bushes to 1 part coarse sand.

Mango #1 has displayed these grayish-orange spots for about 2 months already and have been getting worse over time. I've thought to this day that it is a fungal issue so I bought "Serenade Garden AGRSER32 Disease Control Effective Organic Fungicide" and been applying to foliage with a sprayer as directed by the bottle for about a month and a half. I haven't noticed much happening but at the same time I don't know what I should expect to see to know "the disease has been controlled" as I wouldn't expect the affected foliage spots to recover.

A month and a half ago, I gave 2 tablespoons of "BGI CitrusFood" fertilizer to all three of my mango trees. For some stupid reason I thought it would be a good idea to give an extra tablespoon to each of my mangoes 2 weeks after the first fertilization. I noticed a few weeks later that on mango #1 and #3 some of the tips started to blacken and it slowly grew. From some research online it looked like it was salt toxicity (or so I think). To try to solve the issue I tried to heavily water them when it came time to water them on their schedule to drain the soil so salt wouldn't sit. That wasn't working. I then tried to give a distilled water flush but that didn't seem to change the problem either as the problem kept progressing as the days went on.

A few days ago I decided I had enough and I transplanted only #1 and #3 into brand new soil which is 6 parts "Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix", 6 parts "Kellogg Organic Plus Plating Soil for Trees, Shrubs, and Roses", and 1.5 parts desert sand.

As of a few days ago #2 has started to show one little black tip on a leaf and another leaf indicated by the red circle showing a larger blackening effect. I'm thinking of transplanting #2 into new soil as well as I don't want to increase the severity of what I believe is a salt toxicity problem in the soil.

Mango tree #3 had 5 leaves prior to the second fertilizing round in the old soil and 2 brand new leaves. (Sorry I don't have pictures for this) Typically when new foliage grows, it starts off as a deep purplish-red color and slowly progresses into a mature green foliage however these two new leaves didn't have any purple and grew into a similar sized foliage as the remaining two on the stem in the picture album. The tips started to curl and brown/blacken until the two new grown leaves fell off the stem. The entire leaf was a very light greenish yellow with all the veins of the leaf having a healthy green color. There were no abnormalities with the vein sizes. The leaves prior to the new foliage falling off was starting with the oldest leaves first if that helps. I believe it is the same "salt toxicity" problem in the soil but would really like some reassurance that I'm on the right path with saving #3 since it is in the most vulnerable position.

~Does #1 have a fungal disease besides the blackening tip problem or do I have it completely wrong and it is a nutritional problem instead?

~Are the blackening tip/curling leaves problem with all three of my mango trees a salt toxicity problem or is it another problem after all?

~Anything I can do to increase the chance of Mango #3's survival?


texts: My basil had a shock after transplanting. What did I do wrong?

texts:
First a little backstory: I bought the basil at a supermarket, where it came in a small plastic vase. I kept it in this vase for three weeks. During these three weeks, I did the following:

kept it at the window, with an additional timer lamp to provide more light during the evening (here the sun goes down very early)
watered from the bottom, with a reversed coke to always keep some water around. The result was a humid soil on the top.
on top of a heat radiator. There's a space of 15 cm between the radiator and the actual board where the vase is sitting. I am not using an aggressive temperature.

In these conditions, the basil appeared to grow well. Got good leaves and new sprouting leaves were well established. I got a couple of slightly yellow leaves in the lower parts of some plants. This may hint at excessive watering, as I read around.

Two days ago I realized the roots were coming out the drain holes, so I decided to transplant the plants into three vases. It is the first time I attempt this procedure, so I am quite sure I did it wrong: I took the plants out of the old vase. I found out that it was basically a lump of roots. I tried to pull, and I clearly felt the roots breaking. I tried to put the lump in water to release some soil but it remained a (now wet) lump. Ok. I just pulled it into three pieces, moved each of them into a vase, where I put some new soil, the lump, and soil all around and to cover it. The new soil is pH 5-6.5, with NPK 14-16-18 fertilizer in slow release coated granules.

After the transplant (which I did at around 15:00, which means that after the transplant, the plants got only three hours of indirect light), I put the three vases (which have drainage as well) in basically the previous situation: a water buffer in a larger container, with the vases inside. The only difference is that I haven't provided artificial light, since I am using the lamp for some sprouts.

After only one day, some plants are clearly stressed and on the brink of death.

This is one of the three vases. Note how some plants appear healthy, while one is clearly dying. This happened within 24 hours.

What did I do wrong ?


texts: What is this plant and how should I be taking care of it?

texts: I'm not sure how to even google this, so I'm hoping someone can identify it here.  It's probably a very common house plant, I'm just not too familiar with this one.  Watering it too much seems to be bad, but watering it too little isnt good but is also not killing it


texts: What should I do with a secondary shoot on my lemon plant?

texts:
I’m growing a lemon plant indoors. After I planted the seed, two shoots came out of the seed. At first I thought the larger one would overwhelm the smaller and the smaller one would die. Growing it in England I didn’t want to run the risk of killing both plants by trying to untangle the roots.

Now I wish I had, as I think it’s way too late. I now think the smaller one is stifling the growth of the larger. Is it safe just to pull the smaller shoot out? Or might that potentially harm the larger one? Any advice people have would be much appreciated.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How can I protect a peach tree from cold?

Popcorn is popping on my apricot tree, but there's supposed to be a frost tomorrow. The trees are marginal for the valley I live in as some years the frost damages the blossoms and makes for a year without a harvest.

Is there anything I can do to protect the blossoms?


texts: Why has my evergreen gone brown in spring?

texts:
I have a row of tall evergreen trees, I guess 25-30 feet tall. Don't know what they are but we've thought perhaps some sort of tree laurel due to the waxy, oval leaves - though much more delicate than normal laurel leaves.

The last week after all the snow in the UK, the leaves have gone limp and brown... What could cause this sudden affliction to all the trees?


texts: What kind of green apple is this, and is it safe to eat it?

texts:
Can anyone tell me what kind of apple tree this is and if it’s safe to eat the apples?
It’s a shame to see these go to waste but I’m afraid to eat them without knowing.


texts: Are 3601 trays big enough to transplant vegetables to?

texts:
This is the first year I'm growing my vegetable seeds in standard greenhouse trays and inserts. As a result I wound up getting some inserts I thought were something else and I'm trying to figure out if I should use them or not.

Instead of getting deep 606 or 32 deep inserts I wound up getting 3601 inserts which have measurements of 2.23" L x 1.94" W X 2.23" D and can hold 7.32 cubic inches of soil. The amount of soil is similar to a 806 deep cell which is what's commonly sold in nurseries around here.

I'm starting my seeds in 98 cell trays. I have 3" sheet pots that I plan to transplant most of my tomatoes to but wondering what, if anything, I can use the 3601 inserts for so I don't have to buy additional inserts this season.

Some of the things I'm starting from seeds include:

another batch of tomatoes that will grow for 2 weeks less than my main ones
peppers
eggplants
zucchini
melons
cucumbers

Can I get away with using these wide shallow inserts or should I just get something deeper? What are good uses for these inserts?


texts: The leaves of my chilly plant is drying inspite of water in them daily

texts: I water my plants daily, yet the chilly plat is drying off, all the leaves are almost dead, plz help me, all suggestions accepted.


texts: Help identifying a weed/unwanted plant that pops up all over and unchecked, grows into a tree!

texts:
Per the title really.

It seems to be quite invasive and pops up all over the place, often entangled into the centre of an existing shrub
It's a pain to dig out but it can be done
It's quite (but not completely) resistant to home-use weedkillers
The bark strips off the stem quite easily when you try to pull it up
The stem feels somewhat like a eucalyptus - fast growing wood - when cut with secateurs
It's very fast-growing
It happily regrows when cut near the base, from just below the cut
It seems to be quite widespread locally (Berkshire, UK)
In other people's gardens, there are unchecked examples, and it's well over 10 feet tall - looking a lot like an established tree

I'm wondering:

what it is
what, if anything, can I do about it, that I'm not doing already.


texts: Why is my avocado plant dying with brown, decaying leaves?

texts:
A few years ago I grew an avacado plant from some seed and some time later leaves started turning brown and fell from the plant. I tried a lot, but landed on the thought that perhaps since it has never been fertilized, it was dying.

So after repotting it for better drainage and what not, I bought some fertilizer, and things started to slow down. But Nancy the avacado plant is back at its favourite things to do, dying, being dramatic, and making me worried. I honestly have no idea what could be causing this. I water it once every two days (usually every day), with a cup or two of water. I hope the pictures provided can help you help me decide what to do to prevent its death.


texts: Unhealthy plant with dark spots on leaves

texts: See attached plant. Leaves seem to have some issue as identified by dark spots. Any idea what could be wrong?


texts: Why are my avocado leaves burning at the end?

texts:
I have about 5 avocado plants grown from seed stage in containers. 2 are close to 2.5 years old and 3 are about a year or 1.5 years old.

The 2 oldest ones are not doing so well but the youngest ones have grown fairly tall and so I was thinking they're healthy. However, one of them shows some sort of burning marks. Any idea what may be going on?

On the other one they look brown and so half the leaves dry off. But they don't look like in the picture below.


texts: What bugs are these that are infesting my pieris and what do I do about it?

texts: These bugs are all over my Pieris. What are they? The plant is close to my house. Can they cause damage to the house or the plant? I don't see them on my other plants, but all three pierises are covered with them.


texts: why do the leaves of my papaya tree twist and dry

texts: I have papaya and mango saplings. But there are such problems on their leaves. Could you please help me ??I wanted to send a photo but I could not upload it.


texts:
I moved into a new house recently with a row of 10 Italian Cypress bordering one side of the property for privacy.

They are mature (about 20-25 ft tall), and water regularly by the pop up sprinkler system.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to be doing very well.

They have large areas of missing foliage, brown spots in places, and some drooping branches.

What can I do to make these trees thrive?

Bay Area, CA (usda zone 9a/b)


texts: What is this cactus with smooth round spineless stems?

texts: Does anyone know the name of this plant? I have been searching everywhere for its name, but failed terribly.


texts: What type of Central Arkansas weed is this?

texts: I live in Central Arkansas near Little Rock and have this weed I would like to identify.  The veins in the leaves stand out more than the picture shows.


texts:
My kumquat tree has recently developed shriveled leaves with what looks to be trails of some sort on the leaves also. I am very new to citrus plants so really need some assistance.

My lemon tree is also exhibiting some similar conditions. They are about 20 ft apart in a full sun space.


texts: Fungi by a passiflora plant - identification

texts:
These little mushrooms appeared overnight in my garden (located in the Mediterranean region). I was wondering if anyone could help identify what they are. Closest species I got to was Mycena pelianthina but I'm almost certain it isn't it. Stalk is about 5mm wide, 3-5cm long, cap about 3.5cm wide. Gills barely apparent and are the same colour as the cap.

Thanks


texts: What kind of cactus is this, and why is it drooping?

texts: Why is this cactus drooping? I tied the top so it would stay upright and not droop, but now it’s starting to droop anyway over a period of two months. The plant belonged to my deceased fiancé and I don’t want to lose it!


texts:
I've seen this on several squash plants, where the  vine seems to stop growing but the growth tip  is still trying to produce fruit.  Not sure what this is called - internode shortening or something?

I've seen possibly unrelated behavior on some peppers as well, not the fruiting behavior but the distance between successive leaves near the growth tip gets shorter and shorter until it's just like a tiny bush of smaller and smaller leaves near the tip..

The leaves don't appear to be yellowing (although they are getting much smaller closer to the tip) and I haven't seen any significant infestations.  Is there a nutrient deficiency that would cause this kind of behavior?


texts: What are these insects on my iris and is it bad?

texts:
I have many plants in pots at my windows, and only my irises are affected (I have other parasites on other plants, but I usually don't really care as long as the plants are OK, as I am for bio-diversity, I let wild things like grass develop too).

They don't seem to be moving, but it's spreading on the plant. There is no sign of the leaves being eaten and the plants seem to be allright, but it's spreading quite fast and I fear the iris would suffer if it covers all the plant).

What is it? Should I get rid of it and if yes, how?

If needed, I live in France.


texts: What is the name of this plant orange/yellow flower?

texts:
At first, not knowing how it looks, I thought it is yellow poppy.

But then seeing pictures of it I now know that it is something else. But what?

I especially like the flame-formed orange to yellow color gradient on the petals.

Found in France on a meadow. It was quite wet during this spring and relatively warm as well.


texts: Growing plant (e.g. date palm) from the seed of the dried fruit?

texts:
I would like to grow date palm from the seed as a house plant in my flat. I have no access to the fresh date fruit, I have access to the dried date fruit only with the seede (core). Can I use the seed from the dried date to grow plant? Does the fruit/date drying process inactivates/kills the seed or does the seeds growth ability stays inact?

Of course, I have searched Google, but it has some standard answers (possible yes) but they give no explanation of process of producing dried date and they don't have impression of credibility or understanding.


texts: Another Tiny cute seedling growing in my houseplant soil

texts: What is this? It was outside for a while, but that's not the concern. What plant is this? And should it better rest here or bad for the Jade plant?


texts: Identify this plant and suggestions for how to propagate it?

texts:
(Sorry for the less than clear photo)

A co-worker was just given this great plant and I want one!

Leaves are green with spots on top and a bright burgundy underneath. The leaf stems are very thin which make me doubt that I can just clip a few and root them in water – but what do I know!?

Any information on what type of plant this is and how to propagate it will be greatly appreciated!


texts: Is this Osage Silk Thorn - x Macludrania hybrida?

texts:
Anybody know what this species/family of thorny bush this is or how to propagate it?  it was about 10' wide and high and very thorny.  I saw this in Lake Placid Florida, just north of Okeechobee lake in very sandy soil.

I'd like to propagate from cuttings.

Leaves look very similar to this:
http://www.cirrusimage.com/tree_Osage_Silk_Thorn.htm


texts: What are these brown ladybug-like bugs with yellow and white spots on the back side?

texts:
They are about half the size of a ladybug, I found them on my runner beans.

Location: London, England, UK


texts:
Looking for some advice on my Areca Palm. I've had it about 18months, and it's been growing upright quite happily. I needed to move it while I did some renovation work on my house, and since it has started to "droop" or splay out.

What could cause this? And how could I go about rectifying it? Thanks!!


texts: I've noticed fire ants crawling on my okra plants, particularly where new okra are starting to grow. However, the okra does not seem to be harmed. Is this something I should be concerned about?


texts:
I have a septic tank with multiple chambers, the output of which is then pushed into a field (by design).   As I'm new to living rurally, I asked a whole bunch of questions to the people who came to service the tank.  I'm not sure there answers make sense, and I'm still a bit confused.

Can anyone advise how it is appropriate to use the output of the septic system - I was told that its great for fruit trees, but bad for things like tomatoes, zucchini etc - even if applied only to the roots - a claim I'm a bit skeptical of. (The reason for my skepticism stems in part from reading I did relating to "The Martian", and apparently growing potatoes in human waste is viable).

I was also told that it is toxic to people (which makes sense), but would not affect my goats or sheep (which doesn't make much sense to me, but I believe is probably correct) - Does anyone know the ins-and-outs here ?

I'm contemplating laying a new line parallel to the existing one and using it to continuously feed a line of trees - Apples, Lemons, Figs, fejoas and stone fruit.  Is this a good idea ?


texts: Practical identification of suckers on a cumquat tree

texts:
I have a small cumquat tree, and sometimes it grows new, low branches, which I suspect are suckers. But how can I be sure, how can I decide whether to prune them or not?

Here is a picture of the latest suspect on my tree:

It seems to me that the graft was made very low - you can see (what I think it is) here:

So the question is, do I cut the lowest branch? Is it a sucker?

(I've referenced this question, but I can't make up my mind whether to cut it or not)


texts:
I live in London and am about to have the beds planted (late I know). I'm thinking about watering...
I currently have an oscillating sprinkler (and a timer) that I place in the middle of the garden and drape the hose around the garden. The sprinkler has the positive side effect of watering the beds and grass.
Garden is 12m long, 7m wide and the tap is past the patio and down the side of the house (bottom right).

!

I am trying to work out what to do about watering (as automated as possible without lots of hose hanging about) :

Bury a hose in the bed to avoid the hose spralling across the garden (purple), add connectors and plug in the sprinkler on a 3m hose in the summer
Or bury the hose all the way to the middle of the garden (purple and blue), have a connector (like  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardena-8250-U-Pipeline-Water-Connector/dp/B0035WQMR0) burried in the grass (red) and connect the sprinkler on a 1ft hose.
As 2 but try and find a popup sprinkler that will water the entire space.
Install 2 sprinklers (black spots).

Never had a garden before so I'm clueless! Thanks for your advice!


texts:
My dog is hesitant to walk on this crunchy, dead "grass". I didn't notice it much when the lawn was greener, but when this stuff started dying, it stays VERY rigid, and would be painful to walk on.

In North Texas, if it helps.

Bonus: Treatment ideas?


texts: What is this white stuff growing on this cacao tree's new leaves?

texts:
This cacao tree has been growing new leaves. White stuff started appearing on the new leaves today:

I have absolutely no knowledge of gardening and am asking this on behalf of my girlfriend - what is this stuff, and if it is a problem, how does one remedy it?


texts: Please help me identify this plant that i saw.


texts:
I really hope someone will be able to help.

My Kent (probably) mango tree is mature, if small, and for years has yielded delicious fruit. For the last 3 years, we see an increasing occurrence of what what I assume to be mango internal decomposition - AKA jelly seed (note that this is a bit of a misnomer, as the damage is to the pulp around the seed, not the seed itself).
The fruit pulp in the center develop a jelly like texture, but even worse, a sour, fermented flavor. The fruit outermost side is tasty as always. This seems to develop before picking the fruit, and the sourness increases with time if is is left after harvest. The more colorful side of the fruits (they are mostly green when ripe) tends to be in a worse state.

As said, this has started about 3 years ago in a few fruits, and now I rarely find un infected fruits. We have a very warm mediterranean climate, with this summer being quite harsh. There was also an incredible amount of fruit flies this year, but we sprayed the fruits and had none infected with maggots.

The tree suffers a little from leaf rust, I will spray it with copper based antifungal soon after harvest.

Can it be the effect of extreme heat, or perhaps the fruit is infected with fungi? Can fruit fly "stinging" (I know that's laying and not stinging) transfer pathogens?

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Shai

EDIT: Made it more clear that the damage is to the pulp, not the seed.


texts:
I live in Bromley (southern England) and was given a gorgeous amaryllis a few years ago. It is a Hippeastrum Monte Carlo.

Unfortunately my wife seems to be allergic to the pollen but loves the flowers. Last year I tried to trim off the stamen which helped, but not enough.

We have a semi-sheltered, semi-shaded balcony. I was wondering if it is viable to place outside whilst in flower? It has just started sending up its first flower this week, so I expect it to open soon (mid April).


texts: Gaillardia seeds - when should they be emergening?

texts:
I bought some seeds, and planted them 2 weeks ago but still haven’t seen anything developing yet. Is this normal? Also, how often should I be watering these seedlings?

Some are in small plastic pots and others are in an egg carton with plastic coverings. (Very very novice gardener!)


texts: Can I kill brambles directly by injection?

texts: Our lovely Hedge is laced with brambles. I cannot access their roots. What is the ideal tool / product to perhaps inject.


texts: Identify fruit from climbing plant, similar to a mix of soursop, carambola and passionfruit

texts:
My father uses our small backyard to plant some vegetables and tea. We have a fence that houses some climbing trees.

One of the climbing trees bore these strange (to us) fruits. I would appreciate if someone could identify it.

Photo of the young fruit, which is a pale green-yellow color and lumpy:

Photo of the small yellow flower:

Photo of the tree:

More information: We are in South Brazil. People give him seeds and seedling or he brings them from the wild, so we do not remember the origin. The fence once had a passion-fruit (Maracuja) that grew in a similar fashion. It's summer in the time of the photos (same day of the question), the fruits are still young and not mature.