texts: Will comfrey root sluff off too much growth if you mow it with grass?

texts:
I've heard that comfrey will sluff off layers when you cut it. Will the root of a comfrey plant die back too much if you mow it whenever you mow the grass?

I have an apple tree that's not producing yet, so I thought I would plant some comfrey plants a couple feet from the base to help it collect the nutrients.


texts:
We just moved into a house with a yard that's about 45'x80' with some pretty bad drainage issues. After large rain the whole yard is water logged for days, with a few square yards where it actually pools. I think we'll need to level the yard to get rid of the low spots but before doing that I want to resolve the drainage issue. I've been reading about french drains and dry wells, but I'm not sure what the best and most cost effective solution would be.

On a somewhat dryer day I tried digging a bit to see what the soil was like and it looks like the top 10" or so are very heavy clay. Would perhaps using a post hole auger or similar to make multiple paths through the clay be helpful? What are the steps I need to take to assess the situation?

Picture source.


texts: How should I fill and reseed shallow depressions in my lawn?

texts:
I want to level out a lawn that is roughly 4000 square feet. It has many low areas that vary in diameter and depth. Not sure what caused these holes; my guess is that they are from a previous owner gutting out bushes or trees. Some holes have a radius of about 2-3 feet or so and depth of a few inches. I dealt with some holes last summer (the large ones that had a radius of about 4 feet) using topsoil, grass seed and daily watering  but I'm thinking it will take too long to fill in everything piecemeal. My plan is probably to till and rake the whole lawn, add some grass seed, and then put down around 14 cubic yards of topsoil. Finally, rake the topsoil over the seed. I will then water it every day for a couple weeks.

Does anyone see any problem with doing the above? What is the most ideal times to do this? Is mid to late April in New Jersey too early (maybe the ground is still frozen)?


texts: Care for an indoor hyacinth after blooming

texts:
I have a hyacinth planted in a pot indoors. From what I have read, I should cut the stalk and let the leaves die naturally. So I cut the flower stalk but it seems now after about two months, the leaves are still alive.

I water it almost every day. Where I live the plant occasionally gets sunlight. This is due to most of the time the weather is overcast.

Should I continue to water it every day or let the plant dry?

Possibly I would like the bulb to flower next year.


texts: Should I use tap water for my Aloe and Lucky Bamboo?

texts:
I've had my Aloe for about 5 months now; it's doing a bit better than it was at the store (they had it in direct sunlight and it was getting damaged). I just got two stalks of Lucky Bamboo also and I was reading about the type of water to put with the rocks. Now I'm afraid I'm damaging my Aloe, here's why:

On the site that talked about Lucky Bamboo it said tap water is okay as long as it's not softened, but other plants might be sensitive to tap water. I looked up about Aloes and there was a post by a lady who's growing crazy healthy Aloes where she talks about how tap water will kill an Aloe over time. Her suggestion is rain water or snow water.

I can leave a bucket out to collect rain, but it hasn't been raining much recently. And my cats will keep getting in to the water. What do I do? Is it okay to use water straight from the tap? Or should I boil it and let it sit over night? HELP! I'm already late on watering my Aloe by a week or so and I'm paranoid to give it bad water :(


texts: It has been a couple months I have been working on my yard. Thank you all of your time and advice! My back yard was in bad condition. First I killed wild weeds cleaned and hired someone to trim my trees. I think I had more than 30 yard waste bags :) I live in Kansas city and I am planning on seeding and overseeding my yard. I talked to someone from home depot he that said I should rent one of their overseeder. I am adding some photos here. Do I need to aerate before I start?


texts: I clicked the picture of this insect near my plants. Can anyone help me in identifying this insect.


texts: Bringing pot-grown aubergines into the house for winter -- is it worth it?

texts:
I've got a few aubergines growing in pots in the greenhouse, and they were a bit slow to get going this year despite a warm summer.  One* has a couple of fruit that are swelling up nicely but the others have only just flowered and I'm thinking ahead to the first frosts.  I've brought the best one into the house already, inside a south-ish facing window, but are the others likely to do anything indoors? They're not small pots so I've got limited space for them.

* Strangely, the one that's doing best is in a pot with no drainage and was waterlogged for a couple of weeks.


texts: White color substance on the branch of hibiscus plant

texts: I have three hibiscus plants growing in our garden but for one hibiscus I could see some white color substance on the new leaves and branch. Can anyone please advise on how to get rid of this and save this plant as well as it should not spread to other plants.


texts: How can I keep birds away from seed onions?

texts:
I've just planted onions in garden and I've found little birds trying to steal the small onions today.

How can I keep birds from stealing the onions?


texts: How do I prevent basal shoots from bay laurel (Laurus nobilis)?

texts:
I had a hedge of bay trees (Laurus nobilis). I cut it out, as it was puffing out too much and I decided to keep only a single plant (see picture to get the idea).

My point is that very often a lot of basal shoots come out from the old hedge roots and I have to cut them every time, unsuccessfully.

Can I have some hints about how to effectively prevent basal shoots from proliferating?


texts: I have a very tall, leggy rose the blooms are in clusters but what is strange is that most are red but sometimes there are some yellow flowers on the same cluster. Any ideas what this rose is?


texts: How to properly remove Dead Banana tree leaves

texts:
Do I need to cut dead leaves by the trunk or I can just peel it all the way down?
Seems as when peeling to the ground there is a lot of water/moist there.


texts: Can someone help identify the white mildewy stuff growing on my indoor palms and how to possibly get rid of them? Tried wiping them down with mild soap water, but didn't seem to help much. Thank you.


texts: Do I have wood chips or mulch, and why do I want it?

texts:
I'm a first-time homeowner and pretty naive and often overwhelmed by home-related upkeep, especially related to gardening (see my very first question on this exchange for what still continues to vex me).

So, my question: from the picture above, do I have woodchips or mulch? (That's a quarter in the picture for scale reference) Either way, why is it used? It was all over the lawn in our front yard and the small pockets of exposed soil in our mostly hardscaped backyard. I was never a fan of it - I kind of prefer lawns with just soil. But before trying to get rid of it, I wanted to learn if there is an actual use for it - or is it just an aesthetic choice?

I live in Orange County, California, so summers are fairly hot (80s - 90s F) and will occasionally get humid, but is mostly dry, and winters are mildly cold with relatively little rain.


texts: Can woodpeckers damage a pecan tree enough that it won't produce?

texts: A couple of Red-bellied woodpeckers have been paying regular visitors to my pecan tree this winter. Is this an indication of possible insect infestation on the tree? Is it possible they could damage the tree themselves? I have bird feeders there too and they seem to spend a lot of time there as well.


texts:
I recently bought an oregano plant at the supermarket. Today I noticed that one stalk is brown (presumably dead) and covered with some kind of pest, see picture below. The white spots don't seem to move, and apart from this pest the plant looks quite healthy at first sight. What is this pest? Should I discard the plant?

The entire plant (I already chopped his head off for cooking):


texts: What are these white bugs that leave white stains on my cars and driveway?

texts:
I have these white bugs that seem to be falling down from the tree over where I park my cars. They have feathery tendrils and are staining our cars with white drops.

Any idea as to what these bugs are and how to get rid of them?

The first picture is what I originally saw. This had a larger body, with long white thread-like tendrils.

The next picture had what looks like a woolly aphid (on the left) and a variation of the first type I saw. This is the first time I saw one with wings. The one on the right has a very small body, but very similar tendrils to the first.


texts: Should I replant or leave bent leaves on my aloe plant?

texts: I tied a string to try and help the leaves gain strength again, all but one leaf are up on their own.


texts: What is this leafy weed, and how do I get rid of it without harming my vegetable garden?

texts:
I bought a house last winter. It has a good size garden in the back which I wanted to plant up. A few weeks ago I went out and dug out a bunch of the weeds pictured below. I dug as deep as possible to get as much of the roots as I could.

The weather started turning cold again, so I waited to plant. The garden is now full of this weed again. What is it and what can I use to kill it? I don't want to affect the growth of the vegetables I hope to plant in the next week or so.

If it helps, I am in Ohio.

Click on pictures for full size.


texts:
I'm super new to having plants/gardening. 4 days ago (as of writing), I purchased a set of herbs online from a seller just a city over. Here they are when they arrived:

Now though, they're starting to look unhappy, for lack of a better term. The stems are turning dark, although they're not squishy. Some leaves are also yellowing and/or getting brown spots. I haven't watered them since I got them, I just removed some of the yellowing/dried leaves. Kind of scared to do anything yet.

Lavender:

Parsley:

Peppermint:

Basil:

PS: apologies for the photos being screenshots, the original's file sizes were too big for upload.


texts: This plant has been alive for at least 25 years. I know this for sure, because it was here when my parents moved into this house when I was born. No one knows what it is. It has pink clusters of flowers when it blooms, not sure what time of year. Any ideas? From searching Google, I'm thinking some kind of Sedum?


texts:
I took a cutting from my hydrangea. I left two sets of leaves and plucked off the rest. I then stuck the plant into a blend of soil and perlite with two nodes under the soil. It has sprouted a few new leaves so I decided to transplant it, but when I took it out of the soil, It seems that instead of roots sprouting from the nodes, there were leaf buds there.

As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any roots growing anywhere else. Should I leave it alone? Can it still work? Will it grow roots on its own? Should I chop the bud off?

Edit:
I did this about two weeks ago, taking a cutting from a mostly dormant branch near the ground. I used the Schultz Take Root Rooting Hormone and dabbed it on the sides of the cutting, including the bud. I have no idea what kind of hydrangea it is, but it is this one. From the link it seems to be French Hydrangea.


texts: Pruning / restarting a birds of paradise tree

texts:
Hello I have several large birds of paradise trees (strelitzia nicolai), seen in the picture below.
Since I live in a a seasonal climate they need to be taken indoors over the winter. Unfortunately they have gotten too big this summer and can no longer fit indoors, so I am looking into options to prune and ideally restart them.
My idea is to cut each tree at the red lines shown in the picture. The hope is that after they are cut, eventually when new leaves emerge from the core they will start off smaller then they are currently. as you can notice in the picture the trees have started to sprout mini offshoots at the base of the core plant, my theory is that cutting the core plant will help stimulate more of these offshoots.
Ideally leading to a bushier/thicker but shorter plant.
If anyone has any experience with trimming these plant or similar tropicals like bananas, please share your experiences.


texts: Why do I have a lot of dead flies on my Euphorbia Tirucalli?

texts:
Last winter as I was taking what I assume is a Euphorbia Tirucalli (unsure) inside, I noticed a large amount of flies clinging to many of the sticks. They were difficult to dislodge and I realized they were all dead. Have I incorrectly identified my plant? What's going on with the flies?

Edit:

The plant minus the flies:


texts: How does the head of a garlic compare to its stem?

texts:
I'm shocked at how fast my garlic stems are growing (about 1 inch per day, and there has only been about 2 weeks of growing weather), so I was wondering how the size of the garlic bulb compares to the stem of the garlic.

If you're wondering how I picked it, I looked for the stuff they intended to throw out due to sprouting.


texts: Identification of red rose with mild fragrance

texts: This rose has a mild fragrance and this flower is the first bloom of this plant.


texts: Plants that attract butterflies and dragonflies

texts:
I am in Zone 9b and want to attract butterflies and dragonflies in my backyard.

What can I do and what plants do I need to grow to encourage them to stay around?


texts: Right now I am transporting a potted avocado (just potted the seed) from one state to another, and I am finding that I really enjoy carrying around this pot with life growing in it. Are there any species of plants that would readily lend themselves to being grown entirely when one is walking around with them? I assume that such a plant would be hardy, have shallow roots, not be very picky with climate, and be able to fit in a small pot that could be held with one hand, can anyone suggest such suitable species of plants?


texts: What is this succulent and is it savable?

texts: I found this succulent abandoned and I wanted to know what it is and if it is savable. It has some small bump on the brown base part which look like roots.


texts: Composting Equine Pine and Rabbit Manure

texts:
My wife raises show rabbits, and about a year ago we switched to stacking cages with trays instead of hanging cages. (We switched to an insulted building in order to run an AC window unit due to heat issues every summer)

In order to reduce on the ammonia and oder, we have been using, as litter in the trays, a product called Equine Pine which is "made of 100% pure Pine pellets". After use, the pine pellets seem to turn into something closer to a corse sawdust. My wife also sometimes sprays the litter with a product called Zaps It.

So we have a slowly growing pile of former pine pellets and rabbit manure. (All of which at one point was soaked in rabbit urine). There's also a little rabbit fur and a bit of straw.

The pile isn't really doing anything though. The parts of it that are a year old look about the same as parts that were only added last week.

Should I buy or make a compost bin for it? Do I need to add something else to it?

Would red wiggler worms help, or would this be a medium that you could raise them in?

I've read a little about it in the past, but I don't have any experience with composting.

Edit: The pile is about 8 foot by 5 foot, and is maybe 2 feet tall at the tallest point. With nothing to contain it, it's kind of a sprawling pile.


texts: How can I get rid of fungus on my pepper plants?

texts:
I have multiple Pepper Plants (Buhut Jolokia) and some of them had a little too much water.
Now there has grown a white mold on the dirt around the stem and I beleve that the plant is suffering from it.

How can I get rid of it?

Update

The white spots don't move. Some leaves and stems have black dots on them.


texts: How can I revive a tree that's been stripped of bark?

texts:
I've got what I think is a cedar tree in my backyard that is missing most of its bark on one side from the ground to about 4' up. (Thanks to my puppy who is a shredding machine.) The branches next to the bare area of the trunk are slowly turning brown and dying. Is there any way to revive the tree and minimize the damage? Should I prune off branches that appear to be mostly dead?

Also, on the topic of preventative action: Are there products that successfully keep animals (dogs in my case) away from trees and shrubs?


texts: Why does my sweet potato have stunted growth with wide, flattened stems and dense leaves?

texts: My sweet potato plant has a severely widened and flattened stem and grows like a band, with dense leaves and stunted growth. What is wrong with it?


texts:
California has three kinds of native needle grasses: Purple needlegrass, Foothill needlegrass, and Nodding needlegrass.

They all look pretty similar, even when fruiting, how can one tell them apart?


texts: How to protect apple pears from getting lot of bugs?

texts: Last year we had a decent produce of apple pears. But most of the fruits had at least one black spot on the surface. All of those fruits had some sort of bugs inside the fruit. The year before that when we bought the house the produce was not that great but the fruits were not infested with bugs. My question is, what are the common steps to protect the apple pears so that we can get good produce with no bug infestation?


texts: Is it worth treating non-germinating seeds, or should I just toss them? Watering new seeds?

texts:
I have some seeds of Sage and Parsley in two separate pots. I tried to plant them as the seed bag recommended, but nothing has come out of the dirt. In some other pots, I have Basil, Dill, Cilantro, and Oregano, all of which have come up and are about 2-3 inches tall at this point. I would estimate it's been 25-30 days since I planted them (all of them, at the same time).

I think the time has come to give up on the Sage and Parsley, but is there anything I can do for it? Should I pick the seeds out of the dirt and soak them in water or something?

Should I have been watering dirt with seeds in it? I gave all my seeds the same process. First, I soak the dirt that will go in the pot overnight so it's very saturated. The next morning I put the dirt in the pots and let it drip through the bottom hole. A few hours after that I sowed the seeds to a depth recommended by the particular seed bag. A few of the seeds were soaked in a cup of water beforehand, as recommended by the bag. After I did that, I covered the pots with plastic wrap, put them in the window, and left them alone until I saw shoots come up, then I removed the plastic wrap. This worked fine for most of my plants but for Sage and Parsley, nothing happened after a week or so, so I dripped a bit more water on to the top. Was that a bad idea? The top of the soil felt dry but I'm a bit of an amateur so I'm not sure...

Edit: I forgot to mention, my Rosemary (treated similarly) has also not sprouted yet.


texts: What is this tree? Forgot to record what I planted

texts:
I planted this tree three years ago and forget to record what type it was. The grower's tag has apparently fallen off some time ago.

It is 95% certain to be a fruit tree, but could be a nut. Likeliest candidates are a cherry or an apple, but could be something like a plum or apricot/peach/nectarine.

Any help would be appreciated! Alternatively, I could wait another two years until it produces mystery fruit!


texts:
I'd like to plant a plum tree (or two, if I need to have two varieties for pollination).

The goal would be to have some fruit for fresh eating, but there's only so many plums you can eat when they're in season. So I'd like to dry them so I can have some home-grown fruit out of season. I've read that there are varieties that are better for prunes (higher sugar content?) but nobody ever gives specific variety recommendations.

It gets cold here (Zone 5b, -10°F winters with lots of snow are typical), so it has to be hardy.

My questions:

What are good plum varieties for making prunes that are also hardy to -10°F?
Where can I find a reputable supplier?
Will my "prune tree" need a buddy for pollination?


texts: Is it too late to harvest aronia berries

texts:
I have these aronia shrubs and I wanted to ask if it is too late harvest them. Most of the fruits look like they were harvested a long time ago even though I just did it. Are they still safe to eat or should I just get rid of them

This is what a few of them look but almost all of the rest are wrinkly


texts: What tools are available to deal with fallen cacti and cactus pieces?

texts: After pruning cacti, I am left with many fallen pieces on the ground which, depending on the cactus type, have varying degrees of difficulty in picking up and disposing of.  Is there a standard tool that is recommended for this type of work?  I am told 'tongs' are often of us, but I'm not sure what type of tongs to purchase.  So far I have been jabbing them with a sharp tool, and using that, but depending on the size of the cactus piece, that has limited use.


texts: Hollyhock deteriorating immediately after blooming

texts: I live in Denver, CO and last year I planted 2 Hollyhock plants in my backyard.  The plants were about 1 foot tall when I put them in the ground and they are in a spot where they get full sun/plenty of water.  Unfortunately I lost one of them over the winter but the other survived and thrived.  It began to grow at a rapid rate in the Spring and then finally began to bloom.  However over the course of 7 days it began to deteriorate rapidly.  Leaves yellowing/falling off, the blooms started to shrivel up and die.  This particular Hollyhock is supposed to have pink flowers and it appears that it just got to that point, then died.  I actually removed most of the dead leaves/flowers and sprayed with fungicide because I noticed black spots all over the blooms.  Does anyone have any idea what could have happened?  Is there a way to save the plant?  I'm so disappointed that it got so close to being amazing and then died for no apparent reason.


texts: The cuttings just die. I have tried rooting in water, in soil, with rooting powder and without, woody stalks, soft stalks, with greenhouse and without, they just die in 1-2 weeks.


texts:
When I buy iron supplements for my plants, is there a difference between "chelated iron" and "fully chelated iron"?  I found one that doesn't say "fully", but it's half the price.  Is there even a difference?

If you look at this one, it says "chelated iron". (look at the picture of the label)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Western-States-1-Gal-Vitamin-B-1-Liquid-Fertilizer-100047058/100607914

But this one is "fully chelated". (top right of the label)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liquinox-1-Gal-Iron-and-Zinc-Fertilizer-100047053/202519329?MERCH=REC-_-rv_search_plp_rr--NA--202519329-_-N


texts: What is the white fungus growing on my Hibiscus and how do I treat it?

texts:
I want to ask the question regarding the white fungus I am seeing on my plant. I don't know what to do about it, it grows with the plant. I have used Neem oil to cure it but it doesn't help, rather it withered my plant.

I would like to know what I should do to get rid of that fungus.


texts: Should my healthy, flower-covered eggplant be producing fruit yet?

texts:
I have one eggplant plant that I planted about 2 months ago. It is about 4 feet tall and has a large number of flowers. Should it have started to bear fruit?

I live on the Gulf Coast in Texas.


texts:
I planted some fruit seeds last year, but I cannot recall whether they were mangosteen, pomelo, pomegranate, plum or something else.

I tried to compare the leaves of against some online images but I am still confused as what this seedling could be.

Click on photo for full size


texts: I’ve had this plant for almost a year as my first plant. A few days ago I saw that it was starting to wilt, having had this issue before, I watered more, since the it usually wilted when I forgot to water it for an extended period. The wilting did not subside so I repotted it and started researching potential causes for this. I am now fairly certain that it is root rot from overwatering but would love a second opinion. I don’t know if the plants can still be saved. If it is not too late, what is the best course of action? Thanks


texts: I have this shrub - during the season it has bright green leaves with a white outline and has red stalks


texts: Are there any bad effects in using nematodes in pest control?

texts:
I have a pest situation on my apricot tree caused by the beetle Capnodis tenebrionis (see this question). I am averse to using chemical pesticides, and I read that nematodes can be used to control C. tenebrionis:

http://nematodeinformation.com/tag/capnodis-tenebrionis
http://www.mendeley.com/research/efficacy-entomopathogenic-nematodes-against-neonate-larvae-capnodis-tenebrionis-l-coleoptera-buprestidae-laboratory-trials/

I'm considering using this method. My question is can the nematodes themselves become a problem? There are many plant diseases caused by nematodes.


texts: What are these galls in my peach leaves?

texts:
I have lesions that resemble gall on my peach leaves. I had this plant for about 2 years now, and it is growing in the ground, not in pots. I live in southern New England.

Other leaves seem to be curled with blotchy dark brown spots. Overall the plant just seems sick and not healthy as it should be.

What is causing this damage and how can I treat it?


texts: I have this large tree in my back yard that has about 20% dead branches. The tree is very tall, probably 40+ feet. Most of the branches have this scale on them, and many of the leaves have brown spots. Any idea what this is, or how I can help the tree?


texts: How can I stop a sycamore tree from sprouting new growth?

texts: How can I stop a pollarded sycamore from sprouting new growth?


texts: Why are my boxwood shrubs dropping yellow leaves?

texts:
The shrubs in front of our home look great. The ones in back were transplanted three years ago and have been doing fine and recovering. The only issue I've had is psyllids.

The leaves are in various stages; yellow, orange, yellow and orange, brown, and dead. I fertilized for the first time a month ago. I just sprinkled some 10-10-10 granules onto the mulch.


texts: Best way to run water away from house into the yard/landscape

texts:
I have some water that pools up and then runs off of the cement slab right into the paver that is removed. The water then finds its way into the basement. We aren't talking about a lot of water and there is only about 5 or 6 times per year that it rains hard enough that water leaks into the basement.

I am thinking of doing a channel drain along the cement and now I am trying to figure out the best solution to run the water from there. One option would be to run a solid PVC pipe to the other side of the fence and then switch into a perforated pipe into the yard. Like you see below in option 1.

In option 2 I would be to run a solid PVC back to the log pile along the fence, which is just past the back corner of the house. Then put an emitter on the end to let the water flow out there.

I don't have a way to get a french drain to run to a runoff point, so the only place would be to terminate the pipe underground somehow. The water amount is not tons, as if it was coming from the downspout. Would either of these options work?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

OPTION 1:

OPTION 2:


texts: When Will Radicchio Leaves Change Colour

texts: My plants have started to sprout! They are still short with 2 green leaves. When can I expect a colour change to red leaves?


texts: What kind of lawn grass doesn't spread and is exceptionally shade tolerant?

texts:
This grass is a very good lawn grass, showed mowed and unmowed, and I would like to buy seeds for it. Of course, I can't do that unless I know what it is. It does not spread, it doesn't turn brown during winter or during droughts, and it is exceptionally shade tolerant. What kind of grass is it?

Click below images to enlarge...


texts: Do peat pots slow down the development of seedlings?

texts: To prevent root disturbance when planting out, I usually sow my sweet corn in peat pots which I then put in the propagator. As soon as the seed germinates, I grow the seedlings on for two to three weeks and, once they are reasonably robust and have hardened off, I plant them out in the pots. This year, I ran out of peat pots and used plastic ones (same size) instead, and the seedlings seemed bigger and stronger than usual. They are now in the open ground and thriving, despite the slight root disturbance they suffered when I removed them from their pots. Is this year's improvement in the seedlings' growth attributable to the quality of the seed (I used a new brand), or do peat pots, perhaps, slow down their development; and are the problems associated with root disturbance a bit of a myth? I would be interested to know if anyone else has had a similar experience.


texts: My basils (six of them) were purchased growing very close together in a ½ quart (≈ 500 ml) pot and are at least 6 inches (ca. 15 cm) long already. They are very droopy.  I think it may be difficult to separate them.  Will they grow big if I just put the group in the ground as is?


texts:
Construction workers have cut a large section of roots from the base of the trunk of the tree in question and I'm trying to find ways to save it.

Some background information: It's a 50 foot tall, perhaps 40 year old tree in the polyalthia family.. Similar to the polyalthia longifolia in terms of leaves etc but just a bushier variety it seems. I live in bangladesh and it's winter now. below are wiki links to the different types etc.

variety.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyalthia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyalthia_longifolia

They were cut without my permission, to install a pillar and the roots are very big since it is from the base. I am watering it daily on the sides and at the base where they cut it every other day to prevent rot. I did however add an organic mix fertiliser by raising the ground level just a few inches, both of which I hear might not be a good idea. Though the tree is supposed to shed leaves this season and grow new ones at the same time, chunks of leaves are going yellow which is not normal and the baby leaves seemed to have stop growing.. I would have attached photos but could not find a way.

This tree has a lot of sentimental value and I'm trying ways to save it and would love to hear some expert advice. I'm also thinking of loosely tying the tree to a two storey building next to it in different directions to stop it from falling over when it gets windy since two very major roots were cut, which in my opinion were some of the most important ones as there is a brick sewer on the other side and I think the roots on that side would have had to go down instead of laterally making the severed lateral roots integral for structural stability.

Would greatly appreciate some advice to save this tree.


texts: Should I let brown snails in the garden?

texts:
I have a small garden and it is full of cactus, wild aloe vera and beautiful pink roses.

I buy vegetables from a organic farmer and some of them have brown garden snails. Instead of throwing them away or kill them, I simply put them in a big pot that contains half a meter of soil and full of grass. I thought that they will die because in my country it does not rain a lot. Surprisingly, I found six in this pot that were alive and I sprayed some water for them.

Given that my garden in cacti-based, is it an issue to let the snails live in my garden? After all, is there a beneficial use of snails in the garden? Perhaps, do they eat some pests or only leaves?


texts: What is this plant and how do I care for it?

texts: It's very fragrant. As you can hopefully see in the second photo, there are no thorns. The plant itself is looking a little out of control, like it could use some pruning. I'm just not sure how or when to go about it.


texts: I'm making some potash for my garlic plants, and have a lot left over, so I was wondering if it would be a good idea to share the potash wealth with my turmeric. Any ideas?


texts: What are the best ways to care for my new baby loblolly pine trees? Thank you!


texts: What is this shrub with clusters of bitter blue berries in southern NH?

texts:
I have some blue berries (I don't know any better, so maybe blueberries?) growing in my yard. The bush is around 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The berries are very bitter, and have a hard seed inside them.

I live in southern New Hampshire, and the bushes are directly next to a pond.

Any thoughts?


texts: What is the name of this low-growing plant with pink flowers?

texts: The plant is small, just about 4 inches tall, growing in my front yard, in Sydney, Australia. The leaves are grass like and the little flower is quite fragrant. I just can't recall the name, can someone identify it please?


texts:
Is it too late or too early to trim/prune a redbud tree?
The upper branches of our redbud tree have encroached on the house. We would like to prune the branches back so they don't touch the house and provide a path for crawling insects. We just purchased a pole pruner so we can reach the high branches.
We're in the US, Zone 6. The temperatures are at or below 0C (32F) at night and possibly 5-10C (40-50F) during the day.
We plan to cut the branches back by a couple feet. Is it safe to cut back the branches touching the house at this time, or should we wait for different weather conditions? If so, what conditions would be best?


texts: Getting rid of fruit flies on in-door pot with peas

texts:
I have a rectangular pot with soil where I have attempted to grow peas.

For some reason (I'm not fully certain, probably over-watering) that pot became a breeding ground for fruit flies.

I have read the posts about getting rid of the flies in general (traps etc..) but this isn't enough - I need to get rid of the flies breeding in the pot.

What can be done, that would hopefully not harm the soil or the pea plants?

I have tried:

Various traps around the pot. They attract and trap flies, but more breed
Drying out the pot and not watering. Didn't seem to help much
Covering soil with small aquarium gravel (as per advice of someone I know). I don't think that helped at all.


texts: Are these Dracaena Spikes? Should I prune them more?

texts:
Moved into a new place and not sure what these are.  I'm in Michigan.
I cut off the clearly dead leaves, but then there's a handful that are kind of spotty brown or half yellow which I left.  Also, you can see a fair amount of leaves are bent, but otherwise appear green and healthy.  How much more should I trim these guys up?
Also notice there's a 3rd plant by the bigger rocks that is kind of smashed down.  I'm not sure if it just lost the positional battle with the one next to it, or what.  Should I do anything special with that one?


texts: What is this six-petaled white flower with long narrow leaves?

texts:
Growing on the edge of my yard I have a small clump of perennial plants that produce small white flowers in late May or early June. The flower itself is white, with six petals, and they are produced at the tips of a small branching flower stalk. The plants they come from has long, narrow, hollow leaves, with a white-ish mid-rib.

It's currently in somewhat of a bad place, close enough to the lawn that it almost gets mowed and right where a roof down-spout empties. I'd like to move it somewhere better, but first I need to know what it is, and where is best for it. Growing in USDA Zone 6.


texts: Is this a pest moth or friendly butterfly?

texts:
I found this odd flying insect hanging out on our Zucchini plant. I couldn't make out if it was a moth or a butterfly, friend or foe. Looks like a friendly insect, anybody know what it is and how it can help out or hurt the garden?

Just to help folks land on this question I'll make a verbal description of the lil guy: small flying insect, possibly a moth or some kind of butterfly, approximately 1/2-3/4 in long, 4 winged with two wings horizontal and two at an angle upright like a v-tail of a jet, brown with yellow splotches and spots, short antennae, fuzzyish head with large fly like dark brown eyes.


texts:
I found it like this in front of my door on the pavement. Most likely either dropped there by a bird.Is it a tree?
Location: South of Ireland


texts: Basically I have a bay tree in a pot and it will sprout new leaves but soon afterwards, (some weeks/months) the leaves will die and go brown. See attached photo. It gets ample sun. I have tried pruning it and keep up regular insect treatments. I am currently in winter in Australia when this photo is taken.


texts: What's the ideal pot size for seedlings that will be transplanted outdoors as soon as possible?

texts: I was wondering what is the ideal pot size for seedlings like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, that will be transplanted to an outdoors raised bed as soon as possible (is that when they have 2 sets of real leaves?).


texts:
What is this stuff on my leaves?
On the back:

On the front:


texts: Are there "air purifier" plants that can grow/survive in cars?

texts:
I'm aware of the NASA clean air study listing plants with air purification qualities. I'm interested if there are any "air purification" kind of plants that can survive a range of temperatures found in enclosed cars (-5 °C to +40 °C)?

Are there any air purification plants I can count on surviving in a car?


texts: Drought-tolerant grass for sunny, wet Texas clay

texts:
I live in Texas, and my back yard is on the bottom of a hill; thus it gets lots of run-off from other houses in the subdivision.  The run-off causes problems you'd normally expect:

Soft, boggy lawn especially in the shallow drainage swales that were put around the house to deflect downhill run-off
Tough to keep grass looking good because foot traffic easily flattens it (due to high moisture content in the clay).  We have a young child, and it would be nice to have BBQs / backyard kiddie-pool parties that didn't cause lawn damage.

I have considered planting St Augustine, which has a good reputation in hot, boggy soil, but there is another problem.  St Augustine requires a lot of water, and our area of Texas has had problems with drought.

Is there any other grass that will accomplish all of the following?

Tolerate drought without a lot of water
Stabilize persistently-damp clay soil

Our house faces south, so the lawn is on the north side of the property (if that matters).  We do have a mature Spanish Oak on one side of the lawn (the tree gives some shade to a corner).


texts: What does S1S4 (or similar) mean in the context of cherries?

texts:
I read about cherries, and each cultivar is associated to a mark like S1S4,  S3S6 - or similar.
I understand this is something related to genes, but could not find a comprehensive explanation on this topic.
I though do find explanations like this:

The fertility in sweet cherry is determined by a gametophytic self-incompatibility system, controlled by a multi-allelic S-locus who prevents self-pollination.

However, I have the hardest time figuring out the meaning of such sentences. :(
What do those marks mean? What is the practical value of that information to gardeners? How do I explain them to my neighbor? (I certainly would not like to tell him: "Your cherry's multi-allelic S-locus controls its gametophytic system".)


texts: Does anyone have experience with AeroGarden?

texts:
I got a new AeroGarden Bounty today. I am trying to figure out what these two thingies are. They came rattling around inside the bowl, now lying on the bottom. Did they fall loose from somewhere? Where should I put them before starting putting in the seed pods?

Edit:

A big thanks to both Graham Chiu and stormy. Graham Chiu's answer is right on the mark. I posted this question last evening, because by the time I took this monstrosity out of the box, customer service had already closed. I have just called today after following Graham Chiu's suggestion. The translucent object indeed is a float with a magnet sensor that indicates water level. I almost got it upside down. It's really annoying that they do not include these objects in their list of components or instructions.


texts:
Last summer I decided to grow a tomato plant but I didn't know how to take care of it properly. After 2 months, it had caught early blight fungus. Since I am an amateur gardener, it took me a while to realized that it was fungus and in the mean time other plants were infected as all pots (i grow plants in pots) were adjacent to each other. Some plants such as parsley turned brown (nor early blight) whereas curry plant started to dry out.

I read that one of the main reasons of fungus is overwatering. But winter is around the corner and this time I want to avoid fungus (lesson learnt). What measures should I take to avoid fungus? I can think of the following:

Separate pots from each other.
Do not overwater plants. Should I cover the plants when it rains for a whole week or more?
Seaweed to cover the soil?


texts: Pruning clippers covered in copper - curse, blessing, or neglibable for plant propagation?

texts:
How I got clippers covered in copper

"Dusting off" some pruning clippers I noticed much more rust than I expected. I usually maintain tools well but lost track of this pair for a bit, and I guess they suffered from wherever they spent that time. I let it sit in vinegar then scrubbed it with "steel wool" - worked great. The clippers have a bronze hue to them now though, which brought to my attention that the steel wool I used was copper coated and the copper had rubbed off on the clippers. I didn't think much of it and finished the job with that scrubber since that's what I had in stock at the time. Admiring the rust-proof, bronze-hued clippers, I'm happy to be rid of rust but am left wondering if the copper coating will have any significant affect on plants I use these clippers on for propagation activities.

Is this good, bad, or negligible?

At first I shrugged at the clippers now being coated in copper, but then I recalled how copper has great antimicrobical properties which makes it wonderful for doorknobs. Since I use these clippers for propagation purposes, them being coated in antimicrobial didn't necessarily seem like a good thing. Preventing infection - great; preventing growth of new plant tissue - very counter-productive.

On the other hand, copper is a micronutrient many plants use. Could minor doses help newly clipped plant stems?

Ultimately, it's probably negligible, and in the future I'll continue to use whatever "steel wool" variant I have on hand. Still, I want to ask and see if anyone has insight about this here.


texts: Chinese Elm Bonsai lost leaves apart from a few, tried everything

texts:
I have a Chinese elm that came in at spring time and placed it in the same location as the other Chinese Elms that came in on the same order.

This tree had lush growth on it and after a week or two the leaves started to curl up and turn brown / yellow until they fell off.

I have done the following and now struggling to understand the issue.

I placed it in a 5 litter pot with well drained soil.
Allowing the soil become almost dry between watering.
Treated the tree for fungi infections.
Checked roots for rotting
Checked for pests and insects
Tested the soils PH Levels
No fertiliser has been used
Contacted the supplier asking for information on where it was kept ie. temperature amount of sun and matched it.

Any chance during transit this tree got its dates wrong and think its winter?

I am not new to bonsai, I just think I might have missed something and if this tree dies least this question might help someone else.

Update

A few weeks ago we placed a few weeping willow cuttings around the tree as they give rooting hormone into the soil, just encase there was unseen root damage.
This morning when i went to take a photo for this question i noticed a green bud...


texts: What is this houseplant, and why has it been dropping leaves?

texts:
I bought this plant from Ikea about 1 year ago. Everything was fine until I decided to move it to a larger pot. I used soil for vegetables and I don't think the she likes it... the leafs started getting yellow (sorry, they don't show on the picture) and in the last week it lost 6-7 leafs.

I don't know what plant it is and what soil it needs. Can someone help? If you could suggest some soil from Amazon, that would be great.


texts: Can a coppiced manna gum with three trunks be turned back into a single-trunk tree?

texts: We have a coppiced Manna gum tree which is flourishing. It has three or so trunks. I'd really like to know if it's possible to turn this back into a single trunk tree.


texts: I have a young Dwarf Meyer lemon tree that I intend to keep in a pot on my deck.  Is it better to gradually increase the pot size to encourage a compact root ball or to plant straight into a large container that it will spend the rest of its life in?


texts: Murraya koenigii (Curry leaf plant) root system

texts:
I am planning to grow Curry leaf plant in my balcony space using a pot.I would like to know what kind of root system this plant has. I mean to ask is it straight deep inside soil or more branched one? Based on root system I want to choose the pot shape and size(like narrow-necked pots/broad and short pots etc.)

I searched few resources like researchgate, wikipedia, Plant finder (Missouri botanical garden), Purdue website. But, these sources didn't mention about root system in this particular plant.


texts: How do trees respond to solid, isolated, chunks of minerals such as iron, placed in the root zone?

texts:
Let's say you had a cast-iron pan and an apple tree that you were going to plant. Let's say you dug a large hole, threw the pan in and planted the tree near the pan.

One might imagine that the tree would use iron from the pan when it needed iron, and ignore the pan when it didn't. However, what is the truth of this matter? How would the tree treat the pan? Would it entirely ignore it, get too much iron from it, get the proper balance or what?

Let's say the pan and the tree were there for 20+ years and the soil was just slightly iron-deficient to begin with.

This is a hypothetical question. I don't have a tree I'm planning to plant any time soon. You can substitute apple with pear, peach or whatever. You can substitute the cast-iron pan with an unpolished brass (copper/zinc) turtle or some other mineral chunk. If the answer would differ based on the kind of tree and the mineral, go with an apple tree and iron.


texts:
In the rocky mountains Scrub Oak/Gambles Oak are ever present and provide a significant fire hazard when they grow right up to your house. We have cut them back a safe distance, but new shoots keep coming back up either from the roots of the old or new growth.

We have applied a significant amount of roundup to these sites in an attempt to keep them from coming back but it is a rather ineffective and expensive battle. Does anyone know of a good way of keeping these guys from sprouting back up that isn't to drastic.


texts: How much should I worry about these moldy-looking growths?

texts:
I have a raised garden bed that has started to show what looks like mold or moss on the soil:

This website seems to think it's harmless, while this one disagrees. And then there's the green stuff. How much should I worry about it?


texts: Does a Japanese maple require special care when a post-hole is dug in the root system?

texts:
I need to put a post down to support a carport. The post would be embedded in a concrete block approx. 60cm x 60cm. This is 3 metres from the trunk of a Japanese Maple about 5 metres tall.

Is there a likelihood of damage to the tree if we are careful in digging the hole, and how can I help it?


texts:
I am building a compost bin and it will be built right on the ground.

But is it better with or without a roof? and why?
Also does the location change the answer? Lot of rain, snow, etc

Thanks


texts: Is it normal that heat mats for plants do *not* have 3-prong, grounded plugs?

texts:
I'm searching for some 2-4ft long 1-2ft wide heat mats to start plant seeds and cuttings on. In shopping around on Amazon I see that most (or all so far) heat mats have polarized 2-prong plugs. Shouldn't an electrical device designed to generate heat and be near water have a third, grounding prong?

Oddly enough most (also all so far) thermostats I've found specifically designed for plant heating mats have 3-prong outlets built onto them for mats to plug into, and the thermostat devices themselves have 3-prong plugs to go into a 3-prong (ideally GFCI) outlet.

Does anyone know the reason for this, or have any tips on where to find grounded heat mats for plants?


texts: I have seen this from time to time   Where the color of the leaves is uneven. This year I purchased the plants from two sources. One batch is nice even color and the others somewhat splotchy. Just trying to understand what this is indicating since it doesn’t seem optimal.


texts: I've recently noticed some white spots growing on the branches of the shrub in my garden. May I ask what they are and what should I do about them? Thank you in advance.


texts: I'm trying to get rid of the tamarisk on my property

texts: Lately, many salt cedars (tamarisk) are growing on my property. I'm trying to get rid of them, but I don't want to hurt any of my other plants. It seems they're grown to a field in size. They are scattered all over, and I need ways to  dispose of them. There are too many to be killed  manually and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to get rid of them but not kill any of the other wild life. Thanks.


texts:
Please identify this flower.
Characteristics: (I don't have much info about it)

winter flowering species
flowers gradually have started closing
not much height


texts: What is the best species of grass to grow around a black walnut tree

texts:
I love my black walnut tree. I almost love it as much as I hate it, but it's beautiful.

However, grass refuses to grow around it even though my wife and I are adament about cleaning up leaves and fruit that drops from it.

I live in zone 4b and am wondering what is the best species of grass to grow in the yard that has the tree.

I have tried bluegrass and it started to grow, but maybe I didn't do it right.

Is bluegrass the right species to grow around black walnut trees?


texts: Is this cactus unhealthy, especially at the bottom?

texts: Our cactus is about 4 or 5 inches tall.  I think it's looking unhealthy in the lower half.  I also think it must receive a larger container.  Recommendations?   Thanks!


texts: Last month, I found in my kitchen a bag of chia seeds intended for human consumption, but the expiration date was in 2017. Instead of throwing them away, I sprinkled some in several cells of my seedling tray, and, guess what, some started growing. I have no idea about the plant that these chia seeds originate from though. Can you help me find some info on what plant could grow from these seeds. I only know (from the label) that the origin country of the seeds is Bolivia.


texts:
How long does a Miracle Fruit Tree (Synsepalum dulcificum) take to grow to (say) 2 feet?

I've just got one that's 5 inches tall and has 6 leaves and was wondering (1) how long it would take to grow to a reasonable size and (2) how long will it take before I see fruit.


texts: Can leaves absorb light from below as easily as from above?

texts:
I'm considering trying to improve my indoor herb growing.  It seems that under certain conditions, one could easily run strings of LED lights at the soil surface, which would allow for the plants to grow tall without the complexity of an overhead support structure.  Plus, I think it would look pretty cool.

My question is: can you grow small plants with the lighting coming from below the leaves? (assuming that the lighting is bright enough within the bands that chlorophyll will absorb).  I would think this would affect the plant's growth pattern; has anyone here tried this, or found records of those who have?


texts: Planting seeds before a rain to save a step

texts:
It hasn't rained here for nearly a month, but it's supposed to tonight.  I was thinking of doing some quick planting when I get home and let mother nature take care of the watering, is she usually sufficient for setting newly planted seeds?

How do I know if it's rained enough to equal what I would have wanted to put on the garden. Is rain water more effective at seed starting than tap water (even tap water stored in a barrel)?


texts: How should I take care of my new Areca Palm?

texts:
I just received my new Areca Palm. It was delivered to me in New York via UPS from Florida. Since Florida is more than a little warmer than here, my question is how to take care of this so it gets well established in my home with the least shock. Should I re-pot or wait for a couple of days for it to get over the climate change and the shipping? By the way I have no clue how healthy this plant is, as of now I’m still at work and my wife just told me it arrived. I'm so excited :)

As always I will update with Pic once I get home.

Update 1:

The plant came nicely packaged however, there is this black stuff all over the plant see pix(1,2,6) and this yellow looking (looks waxy) stuff in pic(3). Don’t know if it’s the way the plant grows normally, if it's a disease or if this is some kind of infestation?

Other than the snail in pic(7) I have also seen a Millipede worm in the dirt and gave it a lil spray of Bayer Advanced Natria Insect, Disease & Mite Control.
It then disappeared in the dirt hope this doesn’t infest this plant or my other plants in my home. I just got neem oil should I rather use that next time?
What should I do with the leafs as in pic(4,5)?
Also my home is 30% humid should I get a cool air humidifier for my plants?

Update 2:

24hr from when I got this palm some fronds started to get dry didn't turn yellow or brown just dried out and crisp.
My apartment is always been on the dry side and thought that this might be the cause of the problem. So I got a humidity tester. my apartment was 21% I got a 2 humidifiers and and now its a comfortable 45% however my palm is still in the same condition.
I added the last couple pix i took last night.
Please let me know whats wrong here?

click any image for full size


texts: Should I remove apples on my potted apple tree to allow the others to ripen?

texts:
I have a potted columnar apple tree that I bought last year. It is about 130cm high and in a pot of around 40-50L.
I have had the pleasant surprise to see it forming several dozens of small apples this spring (some of them are now the size of a cherry). However I am worried that this is too many, and that if I leave them be they will not be able to ripen properly.
Question: should I remove some of them, and if so, what is a reasonnable number to keep for a plant of this size?


texts: What type of tree is this that produces purple berries?

texts:
Mom said it produces purple berries.
can I eat it?


texts: Some bottom rotting is developing on my peppers. I've seen similar stuff on tomatoes, but not yet on peppers. Is this blossom end rot, pepper edition?


texts: Mixing Alcohol Solution for Paperwhites to Prevent Legginess

texts:
This year's order of Paperwhites came with the advice to make a 5% solution of alcohol (drinking and rubbing both work; the latter is much cheaper!) in water, and use that once the stems are 1-2" high to prevent legginess. I'm willing to try but want to be sure I'm mixing it right (since too much alcohol is bad for paperwhites as well as people).

I am using 70% rubbing alcohol and I want 16 oz. of 5% alcohol. I think I do the math like this:

.7x = .05 * 16
x = (.05 * 16) / .7 = 1.14

So I need a little over 1 oz of rubbing alcohol (approximately 2 Tablespoons plus another 1/4 teaspoon), plus enough water to make 16 oz.

Is that right? And has this worked for anyone else?

Here is the research link (thanks to @kevinsky): Ginning up a better paperwhite narcissus


texts: Are there cacti that don't rot when overwatered?

texts:
I've got yet another cactus rotten and this was most likely causes by overwatering. I'll try to rescue it but I'll likely need a new one anyway.

Are there perhaps cacti that don't rot when overwatered?


texts: Recommendations for Best Trimming/Edging Equipment

texts:
I am interested in Stihl equipment.

I want to string trim grass, edge grass and beds w/ a blade.

For complementary, existing lawn/garden equipment, I have an electric hedge trimmer, an electric and manual pole pruner, and a Stihl backpack blower. From my experience w/ the Stihl blower I want to continue w/ Stihl equipment.

Would the Stihl KombiSystem suit my needs and if so, which model - the homeowner or one of the four professional models? Which attachments are recommended w/ the KombiSystem head to string trim grass, edge grass and beds w/ a blade?


texts:
I'm constantly like a worried mother towards my worm bin, and I know that isn't right because the worms supposedly thrive off of neglect.

I had red wigglers in my bin before I had to get European night-crawlers after a suggestion that they are more hardy. Now, my 360 Worm Factory is seemingly full of both, so the population doesn't seem too bad.

I had some problems with moisture (way too dry for a long period of time), but recently I've fixed that. My worms have balled up recently and I'm trying to figure out why but I think it's a moisture thing again.

Anyways, my question is this: how long do worms take to eat things? I thought the general rule was every pound of worms can eat 0.5 pounds / day? If that's the case I probably have 200+ worms and they can't finish one fourth of a banana peel within multiple weeks! Could it be because of my environment issues?

Is there a chart I can look at that better describes the rates, or perhaps an online search engine where I can view nearby worm-keepers to maybe get help?

Thank you!


texts: How will indirect sunlight affect indoor tomatoes under grow lights?

texts:
I'm deciding where to put my indoor vegetable garden for the winter. I will use grow lights as the primary light source but part of my decision decision is based on the value of indirect sunlight.

Is a place that gets several hours of indirect sunlight of any value or should this not be a factor in deciding on a location?

The window faces exactly East.


texts: Is this pile of dirt in my grass a sign of a pest?

texts:
There is a strange-looking pile of dirt in my lawn that I'd never noticed before, so I'm wondering if it's a sign of a pest, say a mole or some kind of burrowing insect:

The patch of dirt is about 4 or 5 inches in diameter.  Because of the way it's not flat and instead composed of small particles of dirt, I'm wondering if something tried burrowing through there.  This is on a slight hill, and we just had strong rains two nights ago, so I wonder too if this could simply be due to the way the water pooled up and drained off my property.

Thanks!


texts: Should I compact topsoil before laying turf?

texts: We're about to order topsoil and turf.  Should topsoil be compacted first, or just leave it loose?


texts: Can my DIY grey water bio filter system be improved?

texts:
I have just finished building a grey water biological filter and would love to hear the different ideas and concepts others might have. I know there are other concepts that can be added such as a gravel/sand filter. But in my design, I did not want to increase the costs and preferred to let the Banana/plantains do the necessary work.

Factors to take into considerations

Tropical country (6 months rain / 6 months dry)
Appropriate technology = low tech
Gravity fed
Rural area
Grey water from the kitchen

My Setup

The grey water is coming from the kitchen. The kitchen is aware to limit the amounts of solids and grease/fats to throw in the kitchen sink. The grey water pvc pipe flows downwards to the first 3 plastic tanks (right to left) that act as grease traps. See picture below:

In the first grease trap the oils/grease float to the top and then flows to tank #2 and #3. You can see that there is less and less oil/grease.  First tank at the bottom of the picture is where the kitchen grey water enters. The 3 tanks at the top of the picture are the 3 plastic tanks that fill up with water that contains almost no grease/oils. This water will flow to the banana plants. The grease traps function in order to prevent the grease and oils to clog the soil. Note: The grease in the grease traps are removed on a daily basis. See picture below.

The 3 nutrient filled water tanks without grease look clean a significantly cleaner than the 3 grease traps. These 3 water tanks also equalise and fill up at the same time. At the bottom of the middle blue coloured tank is where the water flows to the banana plants as soon as I open a pvc valve. As a way to prevent overflow in these 3 tanks I have added on top an overflow that runs to some ornamental tubers.

When the tanks are full we open the valves that we need. See picture below:

This water flows through perforated 1/2 inch pvc pipes to water the banana/plantain trees.

Note: the banana plants have just been planted but this is not shown on the current pictures. I'll update those with time and growth.

Any conceptual and practical ideas or errors that may be suggested?


texts: This tree on my property is foaming. What is the reason for this and should I be worried?


texts: Song of India(Dracaena Reflexa) getting yellow-brown leaves

texts:
Water Regime: When the top soil feels dry to the touch. 1 litre of water every 7th day(cause they can do well with dry condition, right?).

Placement & Light: Sitting right against the Northern window. Bright indirect light for all day long. Fluorescent light for 3-4 hour after dusk.

Soil: Good, well-drained soil.

Plant Condition:

I removed a dead leaf(the one on the floor) 2-3 days back. Now there are some more leaves getting brown-yellow.

What's the case? Overwatering, or underwatering, or insufficient light, or too much light?


texts: How long should I leave after spraying a glyphosate weed killer before I cut back the weeds?

texts:
I have applied a glyphosate weed killer and I can see that over the course of a few days the leaves will wither and after a couple of weeks most are completely dry and shrivelled.  When I am clearning some areas I would like to get on with cutting back the surface growth and digging out some of the root as soon as practical.  How long should I wait after applying a glyphosate weed killer before I cut back?

In my limited understanding the chemicals are absorbed though the leaves and make their way through the plant to kill or at least weaken the roots.  My assumption is that his may take some time to happen.

I understand that different plants and conditions will require different times.  That being the case I am happy to go by indicators for when is a good time such as; the leaves start to shrivel, brown patches on the leaves have appeared, the plant has completely died back and decomposed via natural processes (although I hope to not need to wait that long).

Bonus points for suggestions of when to reapply too.  I usually go by when most stuff has started dying but some things have not they get another dose.

The specific product I am applying at the moment is Weedol Rootkill Plus which seems to be doing a good job if applied librally to the leaves during a warm still day as the instructions suggest.


texts: Do these kalanchoes look normal or healthy?

texts:
I have several kalanchoes and am having different problems with them.

They are two different plants. I planted them a month ago. Do the leaves of the plant look normal or healthy? I ask because I think they are folded(?). If so, then what is the problem? Is it under-watered or over-watered?
The pots have drainage holes. They are under 38-40 degrees full sun as I have been said that they can handle it. I water each one everyday once as the soil gets cracked up from drying.


texts: How do I know it's time to transfer my citrus (kumquat) to a bigger flowerpot?

texts: I've sprouted kumquat from seed and planted it a small flowerpot. Now I have a stem and two pretty leaves. When do I transfer it to a bigger flowerpot? How big is big enough to have a flourishing tree? Thanks!


texts: How to kill the long grass in an established lawn?

texts:
How to kill long grass in an establish lawn?

I went to Home Depot, a stuff said there is no way to kill long grass. The way is to mow the lawn often.


texts: What are these spots under the leaves in my cut flowers?

texts: I have got a bunch of flowers, and under the leaves I noticed that there are  a lot of spots. I do not know  what type of leaves they are and I am not sure if the spots are eggs. Should I be worried about them?


texts: What is the cause of these round holes in my yard, potentially snakes?

texts: I noticed round holes in my lawn over the last few days. My neighbor thinks they are snake holes. He is just taking a wild guess per his own admission. I am in Maryland and we have had a lot of rain in the last few days.


texts: White map-like tomato leaves (hydroponic) manifesting

texts:
I am growing cherry tomato using kratky hydroponic method and ive seen these map-like lines manifesting on a number of leaves. I had to remove the infected leaves to control the infection if you will.

How can I effectively control this disease?
Not that it is quite hot here in manila but the tomatoes are only exposed in morning sunlight and I havent done any nutrient replacement since day one.

Thanks


texts: Getting rid of mealybugs in geranium/citronella?

texts:
I have a small citronella plant that used to look very leafy and green. All of a sudden, the plant started turning brown, and the leaves were dying.

So I looked at it today, and found some white stuff in the roots. I've included some pictures. I assume it's mealybugs.

I had another citronella plants many months ago that died from this stuff. Here's the thread. I tried washing it but it ended up dying anyways.

I would like to try another solution besides removing the mealybugs with soap and water since it didn't work the first time. Maybe I can spray some home-made & safe solution?

What do you guys suggest?


texts: Help with weed identification - how can I get rid of them for good?

texts: What are these weeds? I've been hitting them with 3 way (2,4-D, Quinclorac, and Dicambia by Bayer) a few times now but they seem to persist. I'm using the "home owner strength" of the 3-way so the %'s are lower than the professional kinds.


texts: Herbs - Help with transplantation of dill seedling to slightly bigger pot

texts:
I had some seeds of the dill herb which I planted in a tray with dimensions 6.5 cm x 8 cm. They sprouted successfully within 4-5 days, but started growing slanted as the sunlight was incident at an angle.
Transplantation

After a couple of days, some of these seedlings (at the edge of the tray) started to fall out of it (probably due to the weight of the other seedlings).
At this point, I transplanted the seedlings to a slightly bigger pot (with holes for drainage, used potting soil to fill the pot and watered the soil before moving the seedlings).
While moving the seedlings, some of them were clumped together and were planted in the new pot in the same way (i.e., they were not separated before replanting). There were a few others which were transplanted individually (with roots and soil attached).
After all the seedlings were moved, I placed some soil (from the original plant) on top and watered it a bit.
It has now been 2 days and these seedlings have not become completely erect yet. I am not sure if that is okay, or do I need to fix something in the pot (either more soil or separation of seedlings, etc). I have attached a picture of how they look currently.

Growing conditions
They are being grown indoors, placed near a window sill where the sun is direct during the morning hours.
Any advise on what the next steps should be will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!


texts: I have had my plum tree for 4yrs now, it has never bared fruit, i do have weak looking young branches that are shooting out all over. I had them last year so cut them off but they have grown again this year, so far i have left them but are growing very fast, I am wondering if this is why i am not getting any fruit or i am not pruning properly.


texts: Why does the fig tree (about 10x10x10feet in size) leaves have light green spots like this?


texts: Pumpkin sprout and pepper plants have holes in leaves

texts: I have a pumpkin sprout that sprouted very nicely, but I woke up this morning and the sprout had two holes in it. The holes were yellowish and had scabbing around the outside. The pepper plant is riddled with holes. I'm not sure what the problem is and wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue.


texts:
I am not able to kill these weeds in my garden.

Click on any image for full size


texts: Can anyone tell me what kind plant this is. The flowers are light pink

texts: I live in Bossier City Louisiana. I haven't found this plant anywhere else in my neighborhood.


texts: Pine tree spitting something when I get close

texts:
I was walking in the woods behind my house yesterday. It had rained in the morning but was pretty dry when I went out. I put my hand up to a large pine tree (without touching it) and to my surprise, it "spit" something out at me. It looked like lots of small bubbles. I repeated this with a stick (moving it close to the tree) and the same thing happened. Lots of tiny bubble-looking things.

Do you have any idea what this could have been?


texts: An indoor Meyer lemon with almost no leaves (in S England)

texts:
I've had this tree for about 7 months.  I watered it according to the nursery
instructions...water until it runs into the tray then wait until it is dry for about 6 inches on the top.  I also fertilized with winter mix (from the nursery) until Spring, then with growth mix (also from the nursery).  Until recently there was good growth and quite a few flowers (although as soon as they started to become lemons they dropped off).  In the past month plus it's started dropping leaves and when I used a moisture probe it showed very moist even though it felt dry to the touch more than six inches down.  I tried mixing some orchid mulch into the area around the roots and haven't watered for quite a long time.  Nothing works so far and I think there may be mold mites infesting it.  I'm really discouraged.  I've done everything I was supposed to do (according to the nursery) and even some suggestions from this site.  I'm afraid I'm going to lose the tree.


texts: What flowers require a period of time after blooming before pruning the leaves?

texts:
The author of this answer explains that the leaves of daffodils and tulips should not be cut down or otherwise disturbed for six weeks after the flower has gone by, as they are providing the necessary nutrients for the following year's blooms. Also, feeding the plant is important during that period. It is, however, fine to cut down the stems.

I had planned to ask if this rule applies to other bulbs, but I came across the same instructions for bearded iris, which have
rhizomes, rather than bulbs.

In light of this, are there other flowers I should treat the same way?


texts: What is this plant with thin leaves and a swollen woody stem?

texts: I would like to know what is the name of this plant with long thin strap-shaped leaves which grow in clusters from a swollen stem that looks like a large woody bulb.  The "bulb" is halfway out of the soil in the pot.


texts: Is there something wrong with my Rainer cherry tree?

texts: I just noticed this sap at the base of the Rainer Cherry tree (I think, I didn’t plant it I just noticed the cherries). I don’t believe I hit it with anything but it’s possible the weedwacker hit it. Is this bad? Is it diseased? Can I save it and how?


texts: Why are large sections of bark peeling off these birch trees? Is it contagious?

texts:
I'm seeking information about what appears to be a severe problem affecting the bark of three trees, which I think are birches. They were found in July by my husband in a state park, about ten miles from my home in Central Massachusetts, USA. It's heavily wooded, with many different types and sizes of trees.

The main purpose of the question is that my friend and I have birches in our yards which, although much younger and smaller, have begun peeling in a similar way. (We took some of ours down last year, in response to advice received in other questions on this site.)

My husband doesn't remember exactly where they were, and isn't likely to go back, so I understand if the details aren't enough to provide answers. He did take a few pictures, and I'm hoping a look at them will be enough to get at least some information, including:

identification and diagnosis of the problem
the likelihood of the same issue affecting trees in neighborhood landscapes, whether birch or not
direct contagion to nearby trees, again whether birch or not
potential preventative measures
recommendations and availability of treatment if caught early

If the only answer is an explanation of what's happening to those trees and nothing else, I'd still be interested, to satisfy my curiousity. Also, another friend said that, no matter what type they are, they're just going through a natural process of "shedding" the outer bark layers, and nothing is wrong at all. If that's the case, I'd like to know that too.

I apologize for the lack of quality of the pictures. He was able to get a wider perspective as well as a few close-ups of certain areas. Clicking on some will enable you to zoom in a bit.

Note that I've seen some other questions about trees with missing bark. They don't look like exact duplicates, unless experts here think so!

@Kevinsky, although he didn't get a picture of the tops, he believes the trees looked healthy all the way up. From his vantage point, he saw no evidence of die-back or other damage, and only remarked that the higher sections were much smoother. Whether that means they already lost the curling/peeling layer, or it hadn't happened yet, he wasn't sure, although he thinks it was the former.

Also, I had forgotten to add a picture of mine. Upon further inspection, though, it looks different than the others, and is probably sick!


texts:
On the left side of my garden I have a lot growing and it is all mixed and messed up.

I'm not sure which of these is a weed and which isn't.

I just went out into the garden, and taken some close shots of each. I've put them all here.

What do I remove and what do I keep? Or do I start over and remove all?


texts: Do tomatoes really need support to grow?

texts: I am new to gardening and I am starting out with tomatoes. I keep reading that tomatoes need support like a stake or a cage. However is there a reason why they can't just grow on the ground like pumpkins or watermelons? Do wild tomatoes grow with support as well?


texts: Does chemical fertiliser have an effect on growing newly germinated seeds in darkness using the "Petri Dish" method?

texts:
The situation is as follows.

I am using the "petri dish" method of germinating chilli (pepper) seeds. It is just a takeout container + paper towel + water. The seed is sitting on the paper, not covered by paper. The lid is also used.

The container is left in darkness. Temperature is already controlled.

Once the seed germinates, I wait (while the container is still in darkness) until the shoot is standing with its cotyledons. It is at this point I remove the plant with tweezers and carefully plant it in to soil, in the greenhouse.

My question is: Will wetting the paper towel with chemical fertiliser instead of water, have any effect on the plant while it is in darkness?

I ask because I think the plant needs light to use the nutrients in the chemical-liquid fertiliser.

Secondary question despite the answer of the previous; Is there something to promote growth which works in darkness other than water or fertiliser.

I wanted to ask before actually going through some tests of my own in case someone can answer it, saving me the effort. Google searching did not reveal much to me either.

Additional

I am aware of the chamomile tea soak method


texts: What does coffee grounds do to plants like tomatoes?

texts: I've heard about using coffee grounds on tomato plants, and was wondering what it does to the plant.


texts:
This has been growing in my vegetable patch and I am not sure what it is.

This structure is growing at the end of a 30cm stem and there are a few of them growing quite close together.


texts: Is there any Tyvac like moisture permeable greenhouse film available?

texts:
I don't know if this is the right forum to ask this but this seemed most related.

So is there a breathable (allows moisture escape but doesn't allow water, CO2 or air to pass through) fabric-film available to use as greenhouse cover?

Humidity is huge problem for greenhouses, especially in Hot climates, which are cooled by evaporative cooling. If a breathable material with high transparency is available, it will solve the humidity problem due to high partial pressure of vapor inside than outside.

Tyvac is breathable, but has just 6-8% light transmittance and won't withstand direct sunlight for very long. Also, moisture permeability should be very high (about 500 ml/ hour x square meter) and I don't think even Tyvac can handle that.


texts: Is it safe to put dead (non brown) leaves as fertilizer?

texts:
I did some cuttings of my rosemary to propagate them.  The bottom leaves were trimmed off from the stems.  Instead of throwing those green leaves away after having a good smell off them, I decided to put them back above the soil of the original plant.
Is there any side effects of doing so?


texts: Database/API for vegetable growing seasons?

texts:
I'm looking for a database, (ideally an API!) that has information on the growing season of vegetables in various places. For example, what months can onions be harvested in Minneapolis? When are tomatoes in season in Atlanta?

Does such a thing exist?

Thanks!


texts:
I have a very tall pine tree in front of my house. I am about to start work digging up my downstairs floor and re-doing it. I'm just wandering if before I start I should look further into the roots of my pine tree, because it is very close to the house, in case they will soon become a problem. Has anyone else had a problem with a pine tree wrapping its roots around their houses' foundations? Or (I'm very new to this as you may tell) are they the type to grow around obstacles?

The last thing I want to do is take down this beautiful tree, which is why I am trying to find out about it now. I would like to keep the tree and my house in one piece for as long as possible.


texts: Can foliar feeding immobile nutrients benefit new growth

texts: In many articles that I read about correcting nutrient deficiencies, I noticed that very often foliar feeding is suggested as an option, even for immobile nutrients deficiencies. How does that help the new growth if those nutrients will not move.


texts: What caused this yellow speckles and shrinking?

texts:
The plant is Arabian Jasmine Sambac.

Is this caused by too much heat? Ambient temp in Delhi these days is 43C

This was growing all fine. It developed numerous green buds and was growing just like a perfect plant. It also bloomed 2-3 times. But for the past two weeks, the leaves are browning (old and new) and yellow spots have taken over. Also, some leaves are like drying. So I suspect it is the high temps and heat that is causing this.

This was placed in the south part of home with direct lighting (for a few minutes) and bright indirect lighting.

I am watering this plant when the soil gets dry to touch. I will rule out the soil because of m history here and for the fact that this plant is in this soil for months and it has grown from a tiny plant to this giant plant in the same pot. Also, no root issues :)

Same thing is happening with my Lemon Plant. Leaves are becoming crunchy.


texts:
I have some large trees in my yard with surface roots. In some cases the roots are not a problem, but in others they create a trip hazard and make mowing problematic so I am considering cutting them out. I have heard that removing surface roots does not harm the tree and I can believe it because I have read that the amount of roots below the ground is the same as the amount of stuff above the ground. So, if that is true, there are a helluva a lot of roots down there for a hundred foot tree, so cutting a few roots on the surface should not make a difference...

but anyway I thought I would ask to make sure before take irreversible action.


texts: Re-sodding to solve weed problem without use of herbicides

texts: Our lawn is overridden with weeds (mostly dandelions and clover).  Part of the problem is we have not done much to maintain it over the years and also we don't use any herbicides.  I wanted to tear up the current lawn and put in new sod.  The company I spoke to said they would dig out about 3 to 4 inches and put in a fertilizer (I made it clear no herbicide) and put in about 2 inches of triple mix and resod. They think this should solve the weed problem. Another landscaper I spoke to seemed to think this is a waste and they will just grow back if we don't use a herbicide first to kill them, as the roots can go deeper than the 3 to 4 inches.  Can somebody please advise? (We live in Mississauga, Canada)


texts:
I purchased this mini plant in GA over the weekend in a Pikes Nursery. It is only labeled as a Peperomia species pixie plant. I have looked ALL over the internet and cannot seem to identify this cutie.
It has very, very soft, velvety foliage with red coloring on the bottoms. It's so pretty and seems to move/bend towards light source fairly quickly.
Please help if you're able.


texts: What variety of Hibiscus grows best in Northern Kentucky?

texts: I've come upon a serious love for Hibiscus tea. We want to plant several Hibiscus plants for our own use. So many types to choose from and not sure which ones to choose for this purpose. Anyone with experience with this?


texts: Anyone know what’s happening with this otherwise healthy looking shrub?


texts: How should I plant Calathea Medallion seeds?

texts: I have a nice Calathea Medallion in my living room, and it has flowered, and now I'd like to try and plant the seeds. However the flower is a little... funny looking, so to speak, and I wouldn't know what part to plant and under what conditions. So please, how to plant Calathea Medallion seeds?


texts: What should I do if the soil shrinks and separates from the flowerpot walls?

texts:
Recently we relocated a cactus into a new flowerpot. When it was planted the soil would evenly occupy the flowerpot and adjoin the flowerpot side walls. The soil isn't cactus soil, but just regular soil that we bought from a local shop.

Now the soil shrank, formed a stiff cylinder and that cylinder no longer adjoins the flowerpot side walls - there's about 10 millimeters of air on one side of the soil cylinder and the other side seems to have slanted onto the pot side wall.

The cactus looks just fine.

Is that a problem? How do I address it? Do I loosen the soil or should I just leave it untouched?


texts: We want to get rid of a flame vine.  It's been cut to the ground every few years, but always comes back with a vengeance.  How do we kill it or get rid of it forever?  Thank you.


texts: What is a good stone fruit tree for northeast Indiana?

texts: Is there a stone fruit tree someone could recommend for northeast Indiana? I have a half acre backyard and want to cut down on space and maybe grow something for the farmer's market.


texts: Do rye or oats make a better winter cover for a poor soil vegetable garden?

texts: One of my vegetable garden areas has low organic matter. I would like to help it with a grass winter cover. The two I am looking at are oats and rye, both of which grow all winter and get plowed under in spring. My question is, which one is better for poor soil? I know they both grow well in my area.


texts: Removing crumpled leaves from over exposure to light

texts:
I am currently preparing the seedlings for next springs growing in my garden. I have created my own green house - in theory with ideal conditions (full spectrum lights, high humidity, 30+°C all the time). However I initially misread that more light is better for plants and for the first 3 weeks essentially gave them light 24/7. This did not go well and after a while the leaves started to crumple from the outer edge. Doing some research I realized that this could be from over exposure to light.
After going on a 12/12 schedule with light/darkness all the new leaves developed perfectly fine and no crumpling happened anymore, so this really was the reason for the crumpling.
Now to my question: Those crumpled leaves are still green and look fine on the seedlings after more than one week. They dont turn yellow or brown, they are just like a badly crumpled up piece of paper. I was wondering: Should I remove those leaves or keep them on the seedlings until they fall off on their own?


texts: What's a good variety of decorative grass for indoors and balcony?

texts:
I'm looking for the right variety of grass which would thrive in a pot in a well lit living room and in an open balcony. Two different types, one indoor and one outdoor will be fine, too.

My main requirement is considerable height when full grown - something between 50 and 80 cm (20" to 35"). A big and deep pot is no problem, it would even be welcome. I'd love if the indoor variety would keep its greens all year round. There would be no problem moving the outdoor pots indoors off season.

In the house we keep the temperature around 22°C, we live in central Europe, so the summer temperatures outdoors oscillate between 10°C on cold nights and sometimes more than 30°C on hot summer afternoons. Winter gets us sometimes well below zero. The balcony is exposed to some wind, but there are plenty of possibilites to limit its impact through various screens.

Something like this, but in a pot:

If there is anything to add, I'll happiy edit that in, just drop a comment.


texts: Why is my bermuda grass dying in the sides of the house, but doing great in the middle?

texts:
My Bermuda grass keeps declining in the sides of my yard but is growing great in the center of the front & back. The same pattern of growth is occurring to all of my neighbors as well.

I live in a new construction in central Texas that is six months old.  Neighboring houses were built slightly before ours.  All houses have sprinkler systems which operate.  During construction, our ground was graded and a layer of topsoil & manure was laid before squares of Bermuda.

For example, the house nextdoor was built before ours and still vacant.  The builder has the sprinkler active and maintains the yard.  The same pattern of death on the side yards is occurring.


texts:
I have two rather large thorny purple bushes in the front of my house. The thorns are deadly and I have a small son, so I have cut them down to the stumps. I would like to build planter boxes over the stumps.
Can I simply cover the stumps with heavy duty plastic and build the flower boxes over them? Will they try and grow back? Or should I destroy the roots with salt / chemicals?


texts: What rose would be best for hip production?

texts: I am looking for a rose that produces a good crop of large hips. It has to be winter hardy and relatively carefree , but I will be able to prune, mulch, and, water it. It also will have to be disease resistant as I don't use chemicals. I found a hopeful looking rose, 'Jubilee'. This has good production and growth habit but disease resistance wasn't mentioned. What rose would be good for this?


texts:
I have  a question about my rose flowers.
I have two rose flowers which are planted in the garden, one of them is in the sun and another is in shadow during the day.

The following  problem is ocuured  for both annually .

the petals of Both flowers are burned or get browned  as you see in the taken photo.

The question is what's the reason of this issue?


texts:
Helly guys! These little dots (touch like spikes) appear on my chili leaves, it looks healthy but I want to prevent the risk to lose my chili, do you have any idea what is the problem and how can I solve it?
https://i.stack.imgur.com/MkCZN.jpg


texts:
According to the Arizona Master Gardener Manual:

  The best time to plant bare root fruit trees is during the dormant period. In general, trees should be planted as early as possible or about 30 days prior to expected bud break or average bud break in the geographical area.

Is it okay to plant fruit trees months after bud break? Would I just need to water them more?


texts: Why does my hardiness zone not match the historical weather?

texts: I looked up my town on this website and it says that I'm in zone 9b (25F - 30F average minimum temperature). However, the historical data shows that the temperature never dropped below 41F in the winter. I can also attest from living here for a year that it has never dropped to freezing temperatures. I live a block away from the bay, so the water should keep the weather more temperate. So why does my zone not match the historical weather?


texts: What plant is this? Not sure whether this is a weed or a ground cover plant

texts: Any idea what this plant is? I started seeing these growing only this year in one part of our yard.


texts: Why is my grass doing better in the shade?

texts:
Supposedly there is "no such thing" as a grass that does better in the shade, only shade tolerant grasses according to one horticulture site I read.

However, my grass is doing better in the shade. Under the trees and shrubs the grass is growing well but in the open areas it has brown spots. I have an irrigation system that waters frequently. The lawn is located in the northeast United States. Why is it doing better in the shade?


texts: What is killing my rose and what is the antidote?

texts:
Below is what the dead leaves look like
The still alive ones are all green and those grey spots on them


texts: What is the effectiveness of using companion plants for pest control?

texts: How effective is basil as a companion plant for pest control? Would the benefits outweigh the ease of mono-cropping, such as being able to use cat's cradle trellis for tomatoes?


texts: Young cherry tree features brown, curled, holed and loss of leaves

texts:
I've noticed a significant deterioration in the health of my relatively young (~2 years) cherry tree. The leaves are turning brown, some are curled, some have holes and a number have also entirely dropped off the leading trunk.

The photo below highlights some issues with the leaves. I note there is a leaf miner on it, but I don't know if that's a significant issue.

Previously the tree had aphids (around three months ago) but I treated it with a spray and the tree recovered quite quickly. I can't see any insects on the tree this time around.

Is there anything I can do now in August to treat or reinvigorate this tree?


texts:
I am currently growing some tomato and chili seeds under a commercial grow light and I’ve recently bought some LEDs which I intend to use to build bigger grow lights. After some consideration of how exactly I’m going to set everything up and photographing the plants every day I’ve come to a rather obvious conclusion. 99% of the light is not hitting the little seedlings but rather the dirt around them.

After this profound insight I started looking around for grow light system which only illuminates the plants by using LEDs very close to the plants and automatically adjust both light level and the height of the fixture but I have been unable to find any such thing (probably searching for the wrong terms).
Does anyone here know of such a system/project or do I have to design everything from scratch? Feels like something which should exist since the majority of the cost of running many grow lights is the electricity bill and not the cost of the light itself.


texts: Can I propagate a Jasminum sambac from an already growing plant?

texts: I already have a nicely flourishing Jasminum sambac outside my home. Its fragrance is so wonderful that I plan on growing it inside, near my room. Is there any way that I can grow it in a pot?


texts: How long can I continue to pinch flowers from a basil plant

texts:
I have 10-15 50cm tall lettuce basil plants hanging in large flower pots over my balcony.  They are approx. 14 weeks old.  I have for about 4 weeks now been cutting the tops of the plants or pinching whenever flowers have developed.

Assuming optimal environmental conditions, is there a limit to the amount of times I can continue to do this before the plant will die?

I am very happy with these plants and would like to produce and conserve seeds for next year but would like to delay this as long as possible.


texts:
I am pretty new to keeping plants, and I have a Euphorbia Milii as a houseplant now sitting in a terracotta pot. I planted it in cactus soil, and I generally water it well, waiting for the soil to dry out. I test this by poking my finger into the soil a couple of inches. There is about an inch of volcanic gravel at the bottom, and only one drainage hole. The plant is about 10 inches tall, and hasn't grown in the year I've had it.

Basically, since I got it, it's been steadily losing leaves. It also doesn't seem to be growing any new ones, and so the result is a sparse - looking plant. The weird thing is that it's continuously blossoming, and I see more flowers on the way.

This is nice and all, but I really would like the plant to grow, and look a little fuller.

Does anyone know what might cause such a plant to grow not leaves, but flowers only, and not increase in size? The pot seems a little large for the plant, but I figure it doesn't really matter as long as the soil drains well. After doing some reading on the matter, I think I should ditch the gravel and put in some more soil, and possibly drill some more holes in the pot. Do these sound like a good idea?

Thanks!


texts: My garlic tops were dying off, butI have tiny garlic to sho for it what did I do wrong?

texts: I put garlic between the hostas, and lilies my mom grows, and the leaves died back, what did I do wrong?


texts: What is causing irregular brown sunken spots on my tomatoes?

texts:
I have been growing tomatoes in the same spot in my garden for years. This year most of my tomatoes seem to be affected by a disease which only affects the tomatoes. I prune, water & fertilize the plants regularly and they seem quite healthy otherwise.

I usually import soil from other locations or buy bagged stuff at Home Depot each spring - I suspect that I got some bad soil, but I'm not sure.

What is this disease and can it be stopped?


texts: How do I restore my lawn without having to re-sod the property?

texts:
We've been in our home for roughly three years. The previous owners did a less than stellar job at maintaing the lawn, so I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get it back into fair condition without having to actually re-sod our entire property.

Among other things, I've spent time mowing, weeding (by hand and by using weed killer), watering, planting seed, and more. For a while, I made progress - the lawn looked good.

Unfortunately this winter, Atlanta has been relatively warm with quite a bit of rain. So much so that the yard has returned to a state that I've not seen it since we originally purchased the property.

For reference, I've provided a small gallery of photos for you to see with what I have to work. Specifically, I'm looking for advice on how to:

reduce the weeds
leverage the existing foundation of the lawn to serve as a basis for improvement
prepare the lawn to properly handle inclement months
generally improve the overall appearance

I'm relatively handy and comfortable with working outside so I'm open to all practical steps, tools, and chemicals that you suggest and recommend.


texts: My plan is to keep garden fabric on my vegetable garden year round to keep the weeds down (especially in the spring before planting) but my in-laws claimed it's bad for the soil. I would put the new garden fabric down covering the whole garden in the spring, then cut holes where I plant. Then after harvesting I'd leave the fabric in place over the winter. Then in the spring throw away the old fabric and repeat. This would allow me to avoid rototilling also.


texts: I have young mayday trees 11 ft tall that appear to have a black fungus growing on them and they look sickly what will happen if I trim them right down. Will this get rid of the fungus.


texts: Can I take the seeds of the plant Strychnos nux vomica out of its packet with bare hands and sow them in my farm with bare hands? Or they(i. e., the seeds) would cause me a poisonous effect due to touching with bare hands? Or if the gardening gloves are to be used, then which type of gardening gloves should I use to sow them?


texts: What happens when a scion from an older tree is grafted to a younger rootstock?

texts: I recently grafted a cutting of an older mango tree to a younger root stock (1-2 years old). I am curious what's going to happen. Will the tree fruit earlier?


texts: What is happening to the leaves of my avocado?

texts:
I have an avocado plant in my outdoors balcony. It's been growing nicely, but there are small brown dots/holes in the leaves for some time now. I don't see anything in the underside of the leaves, and up until now new, healthy looking leaves have continued to sprout, but I'm concerned that it will not stay healthy.

What does it have? What can I do?

UPDATE:

It's been months since I asked this question. The avocado's leaves continue to look bad, but it continues to put out new ones. I've attached a new picture of the current state as well as the trunk, in case the brown things on the trunk aren't harmless or natural (I hadn't noticed them before, because I was preoccupied with the leaves)

This is the trunk, April 2014.