texts: How do I fight off an aphid invasion on indoor peppers?

texts:
I have a row of (mini) sweet pepper plants grown from seed in a planter. The seeds are from peppers from the grocery store. They normally sit on the sill of a SE facing window.

So far they have been doing pretty well and are fruiting - but they have recently been invaded by aphids which seem especially attracted to the flowers.

I have tried covering the roots and blasting the aphids off in the shower - but that also knocks off the flowers and buds. I have also tried spraying it with a mixture of soap and water, which is not very effective.

I have also tried pruning off the most infected leaves and squashing any aphids I find.

I have considered some organic options:

Neem oil
Natria Pyrsol (pyrethrin)

Are they worth trying?


texts: Should I trim the fronds on a Queen palm?

texts: The fronds are very sturdy and bend almost to the ground. They are probably over 10ft. in length. Should I trim them? Their weight sometimes causes them to "crack" off.


texts: How long should I wait before watering my beheaded echeveria stem?

texts: I recently (yesterday) beheaded an echeveria plant that had grown leggy. The leafy upper part is currently set aside, forming a callous and (hopefully) roots. I can find plenty of information about how to replant and when to start watering that part of the plant, but if I want to give the beheaded stem a chance to form new blooms, how should I care for it? Should it be on essentially the same watering schedule that the plant was on before beheading?


texts: Avocado tree - multiple indications, not sure what is the issue

texts:
We have an avocado which used to produce fruits but last year it didn't produce any.

I tried to compare the leaf condition with other cases but there are similarities to different cases, leaves have brown ends, other are dark green, other yellowish.

Could you please advise.


texts: I believe this cactus is a cereus jamacaru but I am not 100% sure. I had it in relatively low light room but across from a south facing window in the sunniest spot of the room. I watered it once before I noticed something was wrong. It started out by turning yellow and a little brown at the top and now it is starting to turn white. I repotted it and used a soil that has better drainage and the pot it is in has a hole in the bottom too. I even transferred it to different levels of light (maybe too quickly from what I've read) I also believe it has scale insects. After researching how to remove them, I started the process this morning and I have also ordered a cacti insecticide just for future prevention. Are there any other diagnoses? I don't know if I'm correct and I am wondering if there is a way I can cut the bad parts off or if it will even recover. Any Ideas? The attached picture was last week- it looks worse now and has since been moved to a less sunny place- it was out in the sun for a day or two.


texts: I don't know what this bug is, but I'm sure it's why I have holes on my tomato plants leaves and raspberries plants leaves.


texts: Will dumping paint destroy a nearby tree?

texts:
One of my neighbors complained that another neighbor killed a tree in front of her home by dumping paint in the soil. (Never mind that his trees are fine and there seems no way the paint could be transported from in front of his house to the soil under her tree. She's one of those neighbors.)

At any rate, I've "dumped" leftover paint (from cleaning water-based paint off of brushes and such) near trees from time to time and this got me wondering what sort of damage I might be doing to my trees.

Q. I know it's probably a bad idea, but will it kill my trees over time?

Note: Normally I send the runoff down the drain. My solvents and oil-based waste go directly to the recycling center.


texts: White ring of pus forming around branches

texts:
I have attached a picture of white "pus" like growth at the base of branches on my redwood tree.

I looked through the posts talking about white fungus growth on trees. But I am not able to diagnose if this is the same thing. Can anyone please identify what this growth is and how to heal this? This plant is very dear to me and I really don't want to see such a magnificient tree dying.

Additional Facts on how I am growing the tree: The tree is about 3 years old and ~17 inches tall. It is planted in a 2 gallon pot. Should I repot into something bigger or wait till the tree gets a little bigger? I water it well every 2-3 days and I live in sunny Southern California. So it receives sufficient sunlight year-round. I used good potting soil and I supplement with fish fertilizer (which has strong nitrogen content), as redwood trees like nitrogen rich soil.


texts: Morning Glory turns brown inside but green outside

texts: The growth happened really fast and now we saw that it turned brown on the inside while spreading very fast outside. I want to remove the brown part they outer section is the extension of burnt section. Looks ugly if I cut too much.picture to describe the situation


texts: What is this tiny hitchhiker weed, and how can I kill it?

texts:
Can anyone identify this small, sticky weed?  The tips stick by the hundreds to shoes, socks, pets, or anything that goes through it.  My back yard got a small patch of it about a year or two ago, and now the entire back yard is practically covered with it!

If anyone can recommend a weed killer that will control this menace, I would appreciate it.


texts:
I have a well-established hemlock tree in my yard that has started producing large quantities of cones. This is apparently a result of it being "stressed" (according to a nursery worker and a tree-cutter). I have given it some tree spikes (fertilizer) in the beginning of spring for a couple years now, but it is still producing a prodigious quantity of cones.

How can I determine what is stressing it? How can I de-stress it?

Note this is in the pacific northwest, so it gets enough water. Also last year it had significant new growth--less so this year--so it does not seem to be dying.


texts: GREEN POWDER FALLING FROM HYDROPONIC HERBS

texts:
What's happening to my herbs? I keep them in the garage with the growing lights and they were doing great until a few weeks ago when I started noticing the green powder all over the lids and the leaves looked like this. I have not seen any bugs around them.I'd appreciate any ideas.
Thanks.
here is the link to the photos I took
https://goo.gl/photos/dZjrRjFNtiTg9ibp8


texts:
I live in the Nashville, TN area, and I've noticed a particular type of grassy weed starting to pop up in my lawn, now that it's March.  I'd like to identify it so that I can learn how to prevent it from spreading further.

It's a lighter green color than the rest of my lawn, and its leaf blades are flat and approximately double the width of my other grass.  The stem is round near the bottom, with multiple leaves branching from the sides as it goes up.  It has what looks like a small purple taproot with smaller roots coming out of it.

I apologize for the quality of these photos (especially the third one!), as I couldn't gauge how clear they were in the sunlight on my phone.  If they don't help, I'll try to get better photos to replace these.

A small patch of this weed:

A young plant with a single stem:

A mature clump of this weed (sorry for the blurriness):

We had a lot of dallisgrass last year, so I'm curious if this is young dallisgrass, which I understand is a bit easier to treat than after its been around for a few weeks.


texts: My raspberries have turned white.  They were red, but we had a frost and now are white, are they still okay to eat?


texts: Hi can you grow tomatoes on your windowsill to grow outside on 22nd March and beyond? I tried a few years back and got some tasty tawny tomatoes (Can't remember the date I planted) But have tried some different tomatoes this year late March but nothing seems to be growing! The windowsill is sunny everyday. Have i got the date wrong can anyone help me?


texts:
After doing some research around sub-irrigation I think I've come up with a cheap method of creating a SIP pot (the 20L pails are expensive in Aus)

9.3L Bucket
~40cm length of 2" Corrugated Drain Pipe
~30cm length of 13mm rigid hose

The rigid hose will be trimmed and a short section used to provide the overfill drain (level with the top of the corrugated pipe, through the bucket wall), the remaining long section will be used to feed water into the drain pipe in the bottom.

The space in the centre of the corrugated pipe will be filled with gravel (slightly lower height than the drain pipe) and shade cloth layered over this.

A mix of 5-1-1 Pine bark - peat - perlite (with some fertilizer and lime depending on the plant) will fill the space above the shade cloth. The surface will probably be covered in straw mulch

Before I go plant 20-30 of these, I'd be keen to know;

Recommended amount of gravel? level with overfill pipe? half the height of the corrugated pipe (to allow more moisture wicking)?
I'm also planning on using builder's plastic sheeting in the bottom of regular pots to block the drain holes, any recommendation as to whether just to line to above the water level, or the entire pot?


texts: Plant recommendations for tropical food forest shrub layer

texts:
This is a small area in the front yard in Jakarta.  What I have right now are three mango trees providing a rather dense and low canopy.  This is bordered to the south with the house and a fence/wall runs through it forming an effective boundary to the North.  Along the North and West we have lime and Jackfruit trees.  To the east things open up a bit and there is a Papaya tree which is tall enough.

There isn't much direct light at this point reaching in (I am considering pruning back the mangos a bit after the harvest) but this will change as the papayas get just a little taller too, so I am looking for shrubs I can plant between the papaya and the mangos.

For a food forest, what are the main recommendations? I can tell you there is insufficient sunlight for cassava to do well at present.


texts:
Inside of my compost which is only like five gallons I see hundreds of maggots or larvae. Is there a way I can dissect them and tell which species they are? I see some reports online that Black Soldier Flies are a good thing. My compost is still very anaerobic -- this is a problem I want to fix. I see a few options:

Put a bunch of paper in the nitrogen rich compost, hope it sucks up the moisture and the new balance is less hospitable to the maggots or larvae.
Dump vinegar or rubbing alcohol in the bucket -- hope that kills off the problem. (I'm open to other solutions, or input on why this is a bad idea).


texts: Reputable source of learning greenhouse practices, specifically for microgreens?

texts: I am allowed to use my school's greenhouse and have some space allotted to me. I want to start growing microgreens, but most of the videos and sources I read are always trying to "sell" me something. Is there any reputable site (free to access) that has this information on yielding microgreens or just general microgreen-like plant rearing in a greenhouse environment? I am a bit out of my element since I have not frequented the greenhouse much, and like to prime myself before asking friends / teachers.


texts: Why do I have brown "jelly" and rotten smell inside my healthy looking tomatoes?

texts:
I have about 30 tomato plants of several varieties, all hybrid except for one heirloom. Every single tomato plant is having the same issue but my peppers, eggplant, green beans, and cucumbers are fine even though they are planted in the same area.

The plants looking healthy and beautiful and are producing a ton of healthy looking fruit that seemed to ripen just fine until I cut one open and the smell was awful. Inside the liquid/goo you find in a normal tomato that is normally clear, is brown.  It's in every fruit I've cut open and doesn't matter if it's green or fully ripe.

Some of the fruit I let sit inside and ripen on the counter developed black rot spots that are soft and squishy and began growing mold.

A neighborhood farmer told me to try adding epsom salt to the soil because it could be a magnesium deficiency but he wasn't sure what it was. I haven't added anything to the soil except for lime back in December. This is also the first year I am growing in this soil, I put down wood chips last year and covered it with a tarp to kill back the grass and allow some of the chips to break down. When I had the soil tested everything was fine as far as PH and NPK (part of why I didn't add anything).

Could this be a type of mold or fungus?
If this can't be identified here should I send a sample to a lab for testing?

I just added epsom salt and some fertilizer and a bit of calcium nitrate. If it is a deficiency that is causing the issue the fruit that is currently on the plant can't be corrected, right? I just want to know before I go pulling all the fruit off and tossing it.

Thank you in advance for any help you guys can provide!


texts:
I have read over-watering can be a problem however i haven't been able to find much of any info on bottom watering. I bottom water and things seem to be going just fine but I'm in search of a how-to wiki to know if I'm actually doing it right.
Thx


texts: Can I recover my lawn from fertilizer burn?

texts:
I was hoping to improve my lawn.

I used Scott's Weed & Feed with a little GrubX in hopes of killing weeds and  improving the look of my lawn.  (Fig A)

I didn't think I over did it, but obviously I burnt my lawn in these long strips.

(Fig B)

Can I recover from this (this season)?  If so, how?


texts: Is September a good time to sow chili pepper seeds in Hong Kong?

texts:
I want to grow some habanero chili and jalapeño chili, but it is already September in Hong Kong. Although people said that chilis can't stand winter, I suspect the recent winter of Hong Kong is relatively warm (due to global warming) that the chili can withstand it. Should I sow it now or even in early October?

Here's the weather information for Hong Kong in 2010.

Because chili tends to love warm temperature for germination, I can use a raptile warm pad to heat it up. But can a young seedling or adult plant withstand the temperature in winter?


texts: Repotting diseased chilli plants - possibly rust

texts:
My chilli plants appear to have developed rust after a bad attack from aphids! See photo below

The leaves have also gone curly:

My plan is to repot the plants, washing away the old soil and replacing it with compost I bought. Would this help the plants? Or would the new compost just be infected with the disease?

Thanks for any help.


texts:
I would like to learn and compare the different methods to grow trees from seeds. I found a good website (http://treegrowing.tcv.org.uk/grow), and one book, but the latter seems to be good for American species mainly (I live in UK).

Could anyone suggest some references?
I am also very interested in learning and compare the different species of trees and shrubs that can be propagated from cuttings.

A detailed guide on the propagation of trees and shrubs, in general, with all the different ways (water propagation, air layering, from seed with stratification, etc.) would be perfect.

Thanks a lot


texts: I over watered my July purchased Meyer lemon tree when I brought it in from outdoors in the fall.  It bloomed and began to make lemons when all of a sudden every leaf fell off. I think it had root rot.   I repotted in new  soil and I have kept it fed all winter and under watered it and now it looks like it’s starting to grow a lot of new blooms.  But there are no leaves?  How can it bloom with no leaves?  What is my next course of action?  Thank you for any help


texts: I dumped my french press on this potted fig tree a few times, perhaps that was a mistake. Today I noticed this this green stuff on top of the soil. What is this?


texts: Just a couple of hours ago my marigold was fine, the next time I saw it.... It had its leaves dropping, soil dry but the flowers were fine. The two leaves at the beginning of the stem are starting to yellow and just watered it.. will it be ok?


texts: What is the radius of a red wriggler earthworm for worm tubes?

texts:
I'm researching putting a worm tube in my fruit-tree orchard as per this article but before I do so I'm trying to find out what radius the red wrigglers (the worm type I plan on using) will travel from the tube to calculate if nearby trees will receive any benefit from it.

Does anybody know the radius from the tube that red wrigglers will travel and spread their castings? (I'm guessing that the real question that I'm trying to get an answer to is: "Where does the worm tube need to be (proximity) for a fruit-tree to derive benefit from it?")


texts: Would a tomato plant being shaded out cause smaller tomatoes?

texts: I'm getting sweet 100s the size of my pinkey mail, when they often get the size of my first thumb joint. Could square foot gardening, and being shaded too much by the cultivars Big Zac/Mushroom Basket be causing this?


texts:
My anthem dill was doing well and now it's not. I cut a lot away but feel like I need to cut more. Also I read that it could be powdery mildew. What is wrong with my dill?
[![enter image description here][1]][1]
[1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/G7XLZ.jpg![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jrm39.jpg)


texts:
This question asks about using corrugated cardboard for mulch. In the comments and the answer there are some questions about glues and inks possibly having "bad stuff" that you might not want in the vegetable garden.

I'm wondering about cereal boxes (this type of cardboard in general). They're printed with glossy inks, which from what I read probably have heavy metals? Does anyone know of literature about what's in these boxes/inks and whether it would be safe for mulching around vegetables?


texts: When to water a garden based on soil moisture monitoring?

texts:
I have a network of soil moisture monitors set up in my flower garden.  I've been collecting data for about a month now, and don't quite know how to interpret the information I have.
All of the flowers and plants seem to be green and healthy - that's the most important thing.
I am trying to figure out how to relate the moisture data to when to give the plants some water.
I have not watered the garden at all in the last month - I don't think it has been necessary, and the green and blossoming flowers seem to say I'm right.
The garden is a rectangle about 5 meters by 11 meters (15 by 35 feet) and is covered about 10 centimeters (4 inches) deep with bark. The bark keeps the soil (mostly) from drying out.
I have some information that says that, for example, roses need between 17 and 60 percent soil moisture.  That's useful, but not enough.
Here's the soil moisture chart for one monitor for the last couple of days:

The moisture dips drastically from about noon until mid-afternoon.  The dips are below what my information says is adequate - but the information I have doesn't mention whether to go by the daily average or the lowest level during the day.  The dips have been getting wider and deeper the last few days.
This is the soil moisture distribution in the garden at about noon time today:

Red shading to black is under 20 percent.
Do plants need a soil moisture level that is always above some limit, or should I look at the daily averages to decide when it's too dry?

The soil moisture monitoring is a sort of experiment I'm carrying out.  I'm trying to see how the soil moisture changes with the time of day and the temperature. I'm also trying to gather enough information to make use of what the sensors tell me.
Right now I'm mostly just collecting loads of data and trying to make sense of it.

Further information for alephzero:
Plots made last year using data from the manufacturer's software:

The moisture drops as much or more on the red day (2020-05-26) as on the purple day (2020-05-20) despite the purple day being hotter.
This is a plot from a sensor in a part of the garden that stays moister than the average:

That starts at the end of March.  The last few days of March show the daily "dips" around noon time.  We got a little rain on 1 April, and since then the moisture in that part of the garden has stayed above about 60 percent.  We got more rain around 12-13 April, causing the moisture to rise a bit.  Note that the last few days have had small "dips" of a few percent around noon time.
I don't know what is going on.  I do know that there's no error in the data transmission (the "dips" show up when using my software and when using the manufacturer's software) and that the sensors work properly even when it is hot because the other values from the sensors (temperature, light, soil conductivity) continue delivering reasonable values.  As well, the soil moisture doesn't show dips on hot days - if it rained the day before.
The only conclusion I can draw is that the soil moisture changes drastically around noon time because the water is evaporating faster than it can be transported from deeper down.

A larger portion of the garden dropped below 20 percent today:


texts: What food crops grow well in a shady area?

texts:
I have very big trees in my garden that covers 85% of the sunlight. I'm in Asia with temperatures around 30 °C. It's dry most of the year and the soil is pretty hard.

What food crops should I plant under the shelter?


texts: How do I work with soil that has a high clay content?

texts:
The clay content in my garden soil is rather high. Tilling it is a royal pain,
especially if there is even the slightest hint of moisture in the soil. It just
turns into big sticky clumps instead of nice fine dirt. Needless to say, this
is less than ideal for planting.

Is there anything I can do to the soil to improve this situation? Any treatments
or substances I should be tilling into it to make it easier to work with and more
accommodating to my plants? Any special equipment that would make tilling easier?


texts: White fungus with honey like globules seeping from it (https://i.stack.imgur.com/KpyxD.jpg)


texts: How can I stop paperwhite bulbs from developing mold when forcing them inside?

texts:
I recently planted a few paperwhite bulbs in river rock with water. They've started to root and sprout, but I noticed one of them is developing mold. What's the best way to fix this problem?  Should I scrape the mold off of the bulb and hope it doesn't come back?  I would need to move the bulb to do so, and I'm afraid I could damage the delicate roots in the process.

Other notes:

I had been trying to keep the water level covering the bottom 1/4" to 1/2" of the bulbs, but now that they're putting down roots, I'm aiming for just up to the bottom of the bulbs.
The bulbs are in a fairly sunny spot on our dining room table. The room has two walls of windows (South and West facing) that we usually keep the blinds open on.
The temperature in the house has been between 70°-75°F for the most part. Possible a bit lower at night, since we really haven't started running the heat here yet.

Click below images to enlarge...


texts: My husband is noticing that the tips of our blueberry plants are turning brown, it’s not the leaves, but rather the stems. They are in barrels, would that be the cause. They’ve been in barrels about 4 years. Last year they did pretty good. This year they look like they might die. HELP!


texts:
This is the picture (large) we took the first summer we moved here.

My wife trimmed and cut quite a bit in this area and this year it looks like this (large).

What are these shrubs? Can the two pictures actually be the same thing? I suspect my wife may have killed another plant, but based on the spacing between the shrubs this year, if the first picture were another plant, it would be a really large weed plant.


texts: What are some tips on planting large plants?

texts:
When planting large plants, like trees or large shrubs, I've always dug a hole larger than the root ball, filled it with water, and then suspended the root ball in the water and used my hand to separate the roots as much as I could. I always thought that this encouraged the roots to push into the surrounding soil and get a good hold rather than the roots circling round and round the ball formed when the plant was in the pot.

Are there other tips on how to ensure the survival of plants when they are being planted or transplanted?


texts: How do I prune blackberries that fruit twice?

texts:
So I purchased a few "Prime Ark Freedom" blackberries. They are a primocane fruiting variety BUT they fruit twice (once early on then once in the fall if temps/weather is right)

Right now I have about 4-5 plants in a corner (they are going a bit crazy but are still fruiting) but are VERY tall. Most of them seem to have 3 canes that go very high up and then droop over. I honestly have never pruned plants much in general but these seem like they need it.

I've heard it's a good idea to "top" them at maybe 4 feet? Does it matter where I cut?

Also when do I prune the cane back down to the ground? During winter I guess? Is there any point in letting the cane stay around another year.

Some of the canes look sorta dead but halfway up the cane (starting from the top back) I guess I should just cut these off to the ground I assume?)

Thanks!  (Also do I need to worry about staking or tying these off? if they were trimmed down to 4 foot or so they would stand up on their own)

edit: Apologies, apparently these plants ALSO fruit on the floricanes too.


texts: Identification and Removal of Rogue Plant

texts:
I have been trying to take over a completely overgrown lawn at a house I purchased since the beginning of April. We removed several trees, bushes and shrubs to the best of our ability and sodded the entire yard with St. Augustine grass. For the most part, the St. Augustine has been thick enough to choke out the other plants from coming back. It's also worth mentioning, that any of the overgrowth that had a root or stump larger than about 1/2" I drilled and poured RoundUp into the hole to hopefully kill off.

However, the plant picture below is popping up in the most random places in my yard. I don't actually remember removing anything that looked like this, so I'm guessing it was dormant back in April. I live in the Dallas, TX area so it's a hot, dry climate right now. These plants have started coming up in the cracks in my concrete, around my pool equipment and along my deck drains. They grow at insanely fast rates, the one pictured was cut down last time I mowed which was less than 2 weeks back.

The ones along my deck drain get just as big and ugly, I even removed my deck drains about a week and half ago and dug out as much dirt and roots as I could in an attempt to kill them and they're already back. Roundup knocks them out for a few days, but they always come right back.

Can anyone identify this plant and help come up with a plan to kill them off for good?


texts: Hose timer on outdoor spigots with built-in anti-siphon valve

texts:
Not knowing any better, I bought an Orbit watering timer, connected one side to the frost-free spigot and the other to a soaker irrigation hose. The spigot side of the timer was always turned on, and the timer turns the hose on for half an hour each day. After a couple weeks the anti-siphon valve failed spectacularly. It turns out that the anti-siphon valve is not intended to be under pressure for more than 12 hours or so. It will either leak; or it will stick open permanently, no longer performing its anti-siphon function. Is there any way to properly install this watering timer short of installing a new spigot without the anti-siphon? I went to the Big Box store and they didn't have any advice. They agreed you weren't supposed to attach a constant-pressure timer like this after a anti-siphon device, but said everyone does it. And if I wanted a sillcock without an anti-siphon device I'd have to order it online.

I have two "zones" set up which are actually two hoses attached to a dual timer. One is for arbor vitae and huckleberry bushes which I water one hour every four days because they have bigger, deeper root balls. The other is for the vegetable-and-strawberry garden which I had watered for 20 minutes every evening around dusk. I am no plantologist but the veggies are doing better this year than they were last year.


texts: What are some reasons why a blueberry bush's leaves turn yellow?

texts:
I have two types of Southern Highbush blueberry bushes, Misty and O'Neal. This spring, I noticed that their leaves are yellowing as shown in the photos below:

Misty:

O'Neal:

They are in 100% peat moss with pine bark mulch on the surface. What typically causes their leaves to turn yellow?


texts: Replacing a strimmer's nylon fibre line?

texts:
I bought a Bosch strimmer a couple of years ago - it is a Bosch 3600H78G71 "EasyTrim".  There is now no nylon fibre line (which is the bit used for cutting grass) protruding from the spinning part at the bottom.  I presume this is because it has all been worn off (please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that these lines are designed to wear off after a while and be replaced by more of the nylon fibre line inside).

The thing is, I can't seem to find much on the web about replacing this nylon fibre line.  Do I really have to buy a whole new strimmer because of this?  Apart from this, the thing works fine.  What I want is just to install a new nylon fibre line for cutting.

I have tried taking the mechanism apart, and the housing for the fibre line has this notch in it:

Does this look broken?  I have tried feeding the wire through as the instruction booklet says:

But every time I try to use the strimmer, the thread seems to break inside the spool; there is no thread coming out of the hole, so it looks like it is being cut at that notch in the white housing (weird, because it's not sharp; I tried pulling the thread against it hard and it didn't break).

The insturction manual obviously shows this as a horizontal slit so the vertical slit that is there, could that be something that has developed over time with use?  And could that be what is causing the thread to snap internally each time I use the strimmer (it happens almost immediately when I try to cut some grass)?

UPDATE: I tried again and the thread didn't break at the spool this time, but interestingly, the thread seems to be breaking very easily.  Although I can't break it just by pulling it with my hands, almost every time I cut some grass or something with it, I hear the pitch of the motor change up, indicating that the thread has snapped and sure enough, it is significantly shorter than it was when it had been cut by the blade; about half the length, usually.  I'm wondering whether the thread material has become "brittle" or weak in some way that makes it unable to withstand cutting things without snapping.


texts:
Our back fence (an iron bar fence) borders a golf course, and between us and the fairway is about 50 feet of "native" landscaping.  This mostly means long, native grass (some type of crab grass?).

Unfortunately, next to one section of my backyard, a large patch of thistle grew up very tall a few years ago.  While thistle can turn out very pretty...

image source

... it's also terrible when even small growth appears in my lawn. Given how spiky it is, bare feet is not a good idea.

I ended up spraying weed-killer on this patch and got it mostly knocked down.  However, the bits that had already spread to my lawn have come back year after year.  They don't go away when I  spray with lawn-safe weed killer, and I even had Tru-Green service for a while and nothing they did was successful either.

I have tried pulling them out by hand, but our lawn, unique soil (solid clay), and the toughness of the root system makes most of them simply break off at the soil, leaving them to come back in just a few weeks.

Is there anything I haven't tried?  Or should I just keep trying to dig them out by hand?

Note: since I've been more attentive to the patch on the other side of my fence, and it hasn't gone to seed in a couple years, the weeds have stayed confined to about 200 sq. feet of my lawn.

Lawn type: Kentucky Bluegrass
Climate: Semi-arid (grass growing season is about March/April to October/November)


texts: Diagnosing white fuzz on kale. Is this powdery mildew?

texts:
I think I'm dealing with powdery mildew, but I want to confirm that diagnosis.
Context:
I'm in Portland, OR. I've got several raised beds with a couple kinds of kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, some beans, cucumbers, and few other things. The soil is a combination of high quality store-bought and my own home-cooked compost. I'm not using any chemical pesticides. Only OMRI products and Cornell spray, etc. I'm struggling with aphids on many of the brassicas these days. I'm keeping them under control, but it's a daily struggle. Meanwhile...
My Russian kale started looking unhappy. The main symptom is a white, dusty, hazy complexion.

If I rub with my finger, the white haze wipes off to reveal a shinier, greener leaf surface.

In addition to this symptom, I also see brown splotches along the stems. Usually worse on the outermost leaves.

Interestingly, it only seems to be effecting the Russian kale. I am also growing Portuguese kale in the same beds, and they look pretty darn happy...

I do see a slightly different kind of brownish flecks along these stems of the Portuguese kale, but I don't know this variety well enough to know whether that's normal. The leaves seem totally fine.
I think I'm dealing with powdery mildew. So I sprayed the leaves with Cornell formula (mostly water + a little baking soda). After a short amount of time, I do see a change. The dusty white is gone and the leaves look greener and healthier.

The before/after effect is a bit exaggerated in these photos because the light was different when I took the photos.
In some cases, the treated leaves look sort of brown. It's usually more pronounced underneath and the texture feels a bit "crispy".

What are your thoughts? Is this powdery mildew? Am I handling this correctly?


texts: Unusual tree identification needed in eastern WA - white-backed leaves!

texts: These leaf samples are from a very large tree in Palouse Falls State Park in eastern Washington state. There are several of these trees scattered throughout the visitors parking and camping areas there. The leaves are reminiscent of maple or sycamore, but thick and glossy. And I've never encountered leaves with furry white backs! Can you identify this species?


texts:
I just tried starting my lawnmower (Lawnboy EasyMulch) after it had been sitting in my garage all winter. I pulled it out, cleaned it off (a lot of oil had spilled out), and gave it a basic maintenance (nothing fancy, just what I always do every spring):

Change oil
Add gas
Change spark plug
Change air filter
Scrape off any grass that is caked on to the blade or around the chamber where the blade spins in

I went to give it a start and the cord will not pull. It won't even budge. When I flip it on its side I am able to wiggle the blade back and forth a little bit, but not able to spin it. Any ideas as to what is going on, or how to diagnose? Again, I scraped off a small amount of hardened grass clipping from underneath the mower, but there's nothing that is blocking the blade from spinning...

Thanks in advance!


texts: What's this fairly generic looking plant (probable weed)

texts:
Garden Context:
Sunny South-facing Garden in North London, UK. Appers not hugely cared-for in the last decade.

Border Context:
This photo is taken facing about North-North-East:

My experience:
Almost None! This is my First garden and I'm just learning the ropes.

I've started weeding through the over grown borders of the garden and left behind some plants I didn't recognise.

I vaguely reminds me of etoilated Pelargonia? But beyond that it looks like a pretty generic small plant.

What is it?

(No idea what sort of search terms to try.)


texts: What are the best garden uses for 5 gallons of used coffee beans?

texts:
I asked a local coffee shop to save up their used coffee beans for my garden, and was wondering what the best uses for all the beans would be.

In my garden I have:
Apple tree
4 blueberry bushes
Sunchokes
Garlic
Turmeric (experimental for zone 4a)
2 Tomato Plants
Some flowers


texts: Should I let Echinodorus Tenellus flower?

texts:
I have a very new aquarium and planted two specimen of Echinodorus Tenellus in the fresh dirt/gravel substrate.  I bought the plants without paying too much attention to the stems they were developing but now I'm beginning to get a little worried about them. My main goal is to get the plant to propagate in order to get a nice bed of grass, and from what I read Echinodorus is supposed to generate runners. However, I don't see any runners yet. What I do see is the stems on both of the plants growing like crazy and developing a large number of buds.

So my question is, should I just let the plants grow flowers or would it be better to cut the stems, hopefully letting the plant create runners instead?

Attached is a picture of the plants. As you can see there's one runner already there but that was already there when I bought it and it's not doing very well I think.


texts:
I bought a Clematis triternata rubromarginata. It was unusual and scented.
It put on some growth and I was pleased. However, new shoots always seemed to grow away and then 'fall' back. I examined the roots, [which I should have done before purchase], and found the roots circling due to being pot-bound.
After repotting into a slightly bigger pot, I got some re-growth but then the slugs and snails attacked it. I then placed a layer of sharp sand over the surface of the pot to stop this and it seemed to be effective.
I got some more regrowth, just a few inches but then the new shoot developed a dark/black patch halfway up and the shoot crumpled. Not sure if a slug would have gone up the stem to attack it rather than just eat the base of the shoot. I appreciate this Clematis has faced a few challenges since purchase but unsure if this variety is going to ever thrive and should be regarded as too difficult or; whether it is just a poor specimen of this variety.
Location - sheltered position in Northern Scotland. Sorry no picture but there is so little of it make it worthwhile.


texts: Young avocados drying out despite water?

texts:
I recently purchased 2 Fuerte - 1 possibly Hass- avocados. For 2 weeks they lived on the porch receiving late afternoon sun. I watered them with rain water. They seemed happy. Then I moved them to a different town and they sat outside receiving sun from mid day to evening. I suspected it was too hot and started bringing them in at mid day. They've been here for 1 week. In which time I have watered them twice. The area's water is very rich in minerals.

My trees are drying out really badly despite watering and keeping the worst of the heat away. I looked closely and observed mealybugs. Just a few. I removed them and sprayed a neem oil solution today. I have new growth but the stems seem stressed. I don't know if they'll be able to support the new growth.
It's happened very rapidly. I pinched the first few dry leaves but felt I shouldn't pinch all of them. My trees are about a foot high and the trunks were just starting to lignify, they are also grafted. drying out

What could the problem be and what should I do?


texts:
I was reading this article on Extending the Life of Cut Flowers and had a couple of questions.

As was also pointed out on How to keep my roses fresh?, you should cut the stems at an angle under running water to prevent air from getting in the stem.  Alternatively, some sites actually suggest cutting them under water.

Q1: Isn't the stem exposed to oxygen when transferring it from the running water to the vase? Are you supposed to mitigate this somehow?

Also, the article lists some additives to help extend flower life.
Here's a recipe to add to the water in your vase:

1 tsp. Sugar - Feeds the plant which helps buds open and last longer
1/4 tsp. Bleach - Reduces growth of Bacteria and Fungi
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice - Adds acidity which improves water flow to the stems

Q2: Using this recipe, can I premix a whole bottle and then add it as needed, or will the ingredients neutralize themselves over time?
Q3: Should this be done in conjunction with replacing the water every couple days?  If so, should each fresh batch of water get it's own plant food cocktail?


texts: Leaves on barbeque rosemary turning yellowish

texts:
A barbeque rosemary plant I bought last year was doing fairly well until a week ago when I noticed some of the leaves were discolored. Then today I saw that the plant was really looking poorly.

I live in California near San Francisco and we have had a lot of rain this spring. Could that have caused the problem? The plant is in a container with potting soil that drains fast and doesn't keep very much water.

An oregano plant next to the rosemary also has a patch of leaves that are not doing well. But at least part of that oregano is growing well. That makes me worry about the rosemary.

UPDATE 1: I see from another person's question that it may be spider mites: Best way to combat Rosemary Mites?

UPDATE 2: I thought the problem might be insects so I used a detergent spray on the plants. That spray brought out in view a bunch of fine webs I had not seen before. They look like spider webs rather than spider mite webs -- too big.

UPDATE 3: I found this link to a site about rosemary pests. My problem seems to be something else. The discoloration on the oregano and the rosemary seems similar. But the problem started long ago on the oregano and just recently on the rosemary.


texts:
I bought a Magnolia grandiflora in a 100 Litre container. It needs to sit tightly next to a fence, with intent to block a neighbouring property. Now, here is the problem... The tree is 2m tall, but blocking the neighbour requires closer to 3m.

This is a slow growing tree, and I want my privacy sooner rather than later.

What problem would I have if I plant the tree just a tad high -- i.e. I put it into a hole in the ground, which is, say, only 1.5m deep? Does anything change if I put a 0.5m frame around it (it's next to a deck, so I don't want lots of additional dirt in the area).

------ Additional info ------

The Magnolia is a 'Kay Paris'. To add complication, I have clay soil, which I believe isn't ideal for this tree (happy to be corrected). I still want it very close to the fence, a bit less than a foot. I am happy to water it regularly, and I suspect it may even work despite a 'rain shadow', as clay tends to hold moisture. But at such short distance from fence, the rear branches will be squashed a bit tightly, at least for a year until I cut them. So... will this work?


texts:
I have some mint plants that suffer from some kind of tumor disease or parasite. I have not found any helpful information about what this is. I searched for images of mint pathogens, but nothing similar was found. Google Lens did not help either.

We just touched one of those tumors, and it suddenly released some kind of spores.

What am I looking at?


texts:
My lawn is progressively getting worse every year.

I've got large bare patches that just won't take seed, and in the spring and fall I've got racoons and skunks digging up grubs.  There is also a large Norway Maple that isn't helping matters.

My plan is to completely redo the lawn in a couple of weeks by roto-tilling a truckload of soil in, and regrading.  However, I figure that anything I do is useless if I don't get rid of the grubs first.  What's the best way to do this?

Region: Toronto, Ontario (Etobicoke)  Clay soil


texts: Why do pink rain lillies flower after rains, but not from being watered? How to make them flower?

texts:
We have pink rain lilies (Zephyranthes Carinata) in the garden. In my personal experience, I've found that they always flower, without exception, shortly after rains. However, there are roughly ten totally dry months each year. During this time, even though I water them regularly with well-water, I've never seen them flower. I've tried copious amounts of water, and frequent watering, but to no avail. They seem to depend on rain.

The rains here come at different times each year. We just had a totally unexpected rainstorm in May, causing them to flower. We are inland in southern India. It's very hot here, and the climate is quite dry in the periods when it's not raining.

What is it about the rain that makes this plant flower? (No need for excessive details on this.)
How can I utilize the answer to #1 to make them flower even when there is no rain?


texts:
I have had this snake plant for over 6 years now and just recently repotted it with a mix of soil, orchid mix and perlite as I noticed it was going yellow. I'm not sure if half of it wasn't getting enough light, the roots didn't have enough room due to being in the same space for a while or if I messed up Watering it. Since I repotted it over a month ago, I have watered about twice and took the inside pot out so the water goes all the way through now(which I never did before oops). What can I do with the old/yellow leaves to help them? Some of them are very yellow at the top and one of them is completely bright yellow.
I appreciate anyone's input on this! Thanks


texts: Why are the leaves of my areca palm (indoor) turning yellow? HELP!

texts:
Dear all since last week I noticed that entire leaves of my areca palm are turning yellow? In addition to the previous problem I have been having of the yellow and brown tips. I have the plant next to a window, try to moisturise the leaves everyday or every other day as it is not very humid, I water every 10 days or so when the soil gets dry.

I got the plant 6 months ago, and this is the first time this has happened.

I attach a pic showing the yellow leaves


texts: Do roots normally need air around them to grow better?

texts: Do plants use their stems to breathe for the whole plant, or do plants need to usually have slightly dry so they can grow better?


texts: So I'm not sure of the species of this shrub but as you can see in the images a good portion of it has become brown and appears dead. Do I prune off the brown parts or do I leave it and hope they come back? I'm just concerned the shrub will die and admittedly do not possess the best green thumb so seeking advice from someone more knowledgeable.


texts: How can I attach three oscillating sprinklers to one hose?

texts:
Is there a way I can plug three oscillating sprinklers into one hose? I have a big backyard and I don't want to stand there and water it every morning. I have one sprinkler because I only have one tap/hose in the backyard. I was wondering if there is a way to add multiple sprinklers to it.

This is the kind of sprinkler I have currently:


texts: How do I improve the growth of my basil plant?

texts:
About a year ago, I bought a couple of basil plants that come in small pots at the supermarket. They grew fine for a while but now a year later it has become quite stemmy and if I do anything with it, it threatens to die. I water it about once a week, and spray on some liquid fertiliser. It is kept indoors, temperature is about 20-22 degrees centigrade outdoors at the moment. I was watering it more frequently but I think it started to rot the root structure. It is planted in peaty soil. I really thought the warm weather would give it a boost but it is not doing much better than it was during the winter.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated


texts: Is the fragrant substance in chopped Thuja leaves harmful to human skin?

texts: I did some pruning of a couple of thujas for the first time in my life, and I noticed that the chopped thuja leaves have a strong scent that is different than the scent of leaves of other conifers. The scent remained to some extent even after washing my hands. Is that fragrant substance harmful to human skin?


texts:
I am a really novice gardener have never grown anything. Being novice I ended up growing seeds directly into 100% compost without knowing that it needs to be mixed with soil.
The roots grew pretty quick but now leaves at very young age are wilting, see attached. what should I do? I have taken long pots but not very wide.


texts: What’s a reasonable number of succulents to plant in this dish?

texts:
I have a good few small succulents that are growing well. They were initially planted in small seashells, then moved to small planter pots and now I’d like to have them merged to save space and have them visually nicer.
This is how I’ve planted them now. A thin layer of pebbles at the bottom, then succulent soil and then the plants as you can see (I’m usually careful with watering and I only spray enough water to the soil avoiding the leaves):

In addition to the online suggestions, a friend –agricultural engineer– is suggesting that there’s too much space in the soil and since plants start with expanding the roots before working on the leaves/flowers, I should add more plants to make it tight and snug for the roots.

Ok, that makes sense but then there are articles like this one that suggest they shouldn’t be planted tightly or they’ll be growing slowly. So two opposing suggestions and I’m not sure which one to follow.

I have some other succulents that are doing well as they are but I wonder if I should repot any of them and/or add any more to this dish.

Any tips would be appreciated.


texts: Woody stemmed plant with variegated palmate leaves

texts: Please help me to identify this plant that I bought


texts: No idea what is causing this but it has been very rapid!   I suspect a boring beetle infestation of some sort but how to treat?


texts:
This tree seems like a good addition to a garden/landscaping project, but I've never seen it before. Leaves are turned down. I don't know if that's an aberration for this particular plant or characteristic of the species.

Any ideas what this is?


texts:
I saw these two small trees in my university campus and would like to know what they are so I can find out more about them.

If it will help, I can say that these are planted in Miami, FL. The pictures were taken in March. These are about 8 ft in height. I think they grow slowly because I've seen them at about the same size for a few years. They don't look like young trees to me, but that's really not saying much.

Identifying them would be a BIG help, but my next step would be to start learning about them online so any information on them will be very welcome as well.

EDIT:

Based on the answers, I realized I needed to post some more details. So I went back and got these closeups of the flowers and leaves. These are pictures of new and mature leaves and also the back of mature leaves.
I removed the redundant pictures of the entire tree.


texts: What is the name of this houseplant, and how can I prevent it from drying out?

texts: One of my friends gave me this plant as present about two weeks ago. Now it`s starting to dry out, while retaining green leaves (without yellowing). At first I watered it every day, but now water it every two days. What is the name of this plant and how can I save it?


texts: While weeding my garden I found a bunch of ant nests (red ants and small black ants).  My first inclination was to destroy the nest and send them packing, but I didn't know if they might aerate the soil, or keep worse pests at bay. Are they of any benefit to the garden?


texts: How can I convert a mulched bed to dirt, and should I?

texts:
We have several flower beds that are mulched. The problem with mulch is that if you buy it every year, it's quite expensive ($300-$500/year for us). And if you don't buy it every year, you get a lot of weeds and the weeds are quite hard to remove - they form sort of a surface-level web of roots that cannot be simply picked out without disrupting the bed (usually with a small digging tool).

It occurred to me it would be easier and/or cheaper to have dirt and just run a hoe over it once a week to remove young weeds. But I think to do that I'd have to remove all the mulch and also cut out the landscaping paper. Does anyone have experience doing this? Will I regret doing this and be going back to mulch or stone in a couple years?


texts:
I have a pile of small wood chips from felled trees.
I want to create black mulch.
Can I do it and how?


texts:
Also known more properly as Nippon Daisies, I have a planting of this stuff. I hadn't noticed it flowering last year and had planned on ripping it out this fall not knowing what it was other than being an undesirable (for me at the time), but it bloomed this fall and I rather like it and learned a bit more about it.

I know that this plant is recommended to be divided in the spring, and also that the plant does well from being pruned apparently around June in the northern hemisphere, but I don't really know the proper way to handle this for this plant.

The question is how do I properly divide this plant?

In the answer I am interested in information about cutting back when I am doing so, and to how thinly I can divide this plant without weakening it.

Thank you


texts: My lawn is full of wild strawberries. What else can thrive in my soil?

texts:
My lawn seems to have more wild strawberries than grass (especially in the shady areas), which means it needs some work.  But if it can support strawberries, there must be some great fruits/vegetables/flowers that will grow great in the soil.

What does this indicate chemically about my soil?  What else will thrive?  (Zone 5B)


texts: Why did my carrots split in a way that looks like legs?

texts:
This is the first year I've grown carrots. What gave them legs?

I have a theory that the seedlings merged together. I don't know if that is just silly or if carrots just naturally grow like this.


texts: What is this plant with small red bell shaped flowers?

texts: Could you please identify this plant. All I know is that it is blooming with small red "bells".


texts: Is this an elder or what is the shrub with red berries?

texts:
I have this shrub (of 3 meters height) in my garden and only realized now that its berry might be an elder. I saw some images when searching the internet and the leave and the fruit resembles but it might be a false friend.

Is this an elder? If not, what is it and is it edible? (click of a larger version of the images)


texts: I know that Oleander ( Nerium oleander ) is poisonous. Almost every book and webpage about this plant warns the readers. But how poisonous is this plant? I can touch the leaves without any skin irritation. I can prune it without using gloves. What happens if somebody ( a small child, a dog ) starts chewing a leaf?


texts: A question about the minimum blossom temperature of fruit trees and shrubs

texts:
I am making a webapplication for gardeneres that comes with a few tools. One of which is to be able to automatically create a planting calendar that is based on the monthly average temperature curve of the user who is requesting the planting calendar.

To create this personalized planting calendar the application takes in account 3 things.
1. Minimum germination temperature
2. Days until maturity (harvest)
3. minimum required chill hours for the plant to bear fruit (if applicable).

During the creation of the planting calendar the application retrieves all the plant rows in the database
that can be grown in a particular month and it also checks if the temperatures in the months after the start month are high enough to let the plant develop to maturity.

This works fine for annuals that require sowing seed or planting bulbs, but it does not work well for plants that might require multiple years to develop from seed to plant, like shrubs and trees.

So instead of the minimum germination temperature i want to use the minimum blossom temperature of the tree/shrub and the amount of days it takes for a flower to go to a fruit/vegetable. If the plant does not flower then it should be the minimum temperature for fruit setting.

My question is: How can i best define minimum blossom or fruitset temperature? Should it be equal to the temperature on the day the first flowerbud blossoms, or the first fruit start is setting or should it be more like the average temperature of the days before the flower started blossoming? If so, on how many days should the average temperature be based on?

Thank you


texts: What is this low, leathery serrated leaved plant from the Piedmont region of Maryland?

texts:
I found this plant growing in semi-shade along with the garlic mustard and grape vine. It has five elongated leaflets to each leaf. It is not evergreen, as it came up this spring. At first I thought it was Mayapple, but then I found some Mayapple further into the woods and this isn't it. Then I thought maybe ginseng, but I'm having doubts about that. I'm trying to remove invasive plants from this property, and encourage natives.

Which is this please?

source


texts: Can anyone help me identify the problem with my Areca Palm

texts:
I got this plant some 2 months ago from a local nursery and recently I noticed dark brown and yellow spots and now It started dying as you can see int the second image. I am watering it when the upper side of soils feels dry.
[1
[2


texts:
Found this growing in my garden in the back.

Growing Location/Conditions:
semi-shady area, Pennsylvania, USA with regular amount of yearly rain

Photos:

Thank you!


texts:
Indoor tree wasn't properly watered and now it seems the top is dead, what should I do?
Couldn't attach photos so I created a google photo album. Any help would be great thanks. I was advised to cut off the top and/or the dead foliage.  But I was hoping it would save itself.
The tree is in an office, so due to aesthetics they want a change asap, I"m trying to save the tree.
Thanks any help is much appreicated.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FBKSZtXkBNTWb7KL8


texts: Small orange blobs on surface of compost

texts:
This is my first time making compost and after a month or so I've been starting to see these small orange blobs on the surface of my compost about a week after the first couple fairies' bonnets started growing (I assume that's what the mushrooms I have are).

At first I thought they were insect eggs, but after doing some research I found that they could be blobs of slime mold. I'm fine with anything harmless helping with the compost, but if they turn out to be eggs of some flying insect...that would be a problem.

Any help in identifying what they are are much appreciated. Thanks!


texts: Why are my houseplants dying off one by one? (Peace Lilly, Dracaena, English Ivy)

texts:
What is going on with the plants below? I can't post pictures of them all as I don't have enough rep on this particular site.

I use a hygrometer -which I thought was working fine- to time watering, and I've purposefully left them dry for days between watering. They are in a sunroom (bright, indirect light). It is still a forced air condition (heat, for the winter), but I've put them outside for the day after this started to see what would happen.

How can I diagnose? What other variables are needed? Will do anything!

Possibles, according to my thought process:

Pots are too small (time to repot)
Noticed some tiny blue-ish bigs on the Dracaena.. hanging around the base of the stem..
Over watered
Forced air somehow interferes with the balance of water between plant and soil.

Thanks for your help.


texts: How do I tell when an eggplant is ready to be picked?

texts: In the past I've had eggplant in my garden but my parents had always taken care of harvesting them since I don't eat it. This year I'm growing a couple for them and have some fairly large fruit on the plants. The problem though is they look the same now as when they first came out on the plants. How do you tell when an eggplant is ripe and ready to be picked? The variety I'm growing is Listada de Gandia if it helps.


texts:
This laurel was dying, leaves going brown. Soil a bit dry, watered it loads, a week and a half later still dying. Googled it, some results said probably drought and some said waterlogged roots!

So I would continue to water it lots as that's what it looks like it needs, but am I at risk of "drowning" it???

Location Bognor Regis, UK (south coast) https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bognor+Regis/

Age of hedge - planted 1 month ago by a landscaper


texts: I have some yellow spots on my Dracaena, see the first picture. The plant is getting a lot of light and looks really happy, exept these spots, there is also a little bit of sticky substance on the underside of the leaves near the stem, but I don’t see any scale. What is wrong?


texts: How are weeds controlled in a butterfly garden?

texts:
I have a large packet of a large assortment of seeds growing in a prepared bed.  Probably 20 different varieties of flower for a "Butterfly Garden" which I have scattered in the plot.

I don't mind weeding it, although I would like to know that I am pulling out weeds.

For instance, it has some sort of clover in the bag, and I have clover growing all over my lawn, but not usually in the garden, should I pull out half the clover in the garden?

The packet also says to make sure the plot is weed free, but how can I tell if a plot is going to be weed free before the weeds grow?

So far the only thing I know to pull is grass...


texts:
I have a bunch of these flowers - I don't know their names, but they're planted all around Israel alongside traffic circles and in public places. They're very hardy, but just recently I noticed this whitish powder on their leaves, which are dropping off. In general the plants started looking pretty bad,

Is this powdery mildew? Should I spray them with 1 part milk, 9 parts water solution?

Close up:


texts: dying leaves on Japanese maple: water damage, drought, or disease?

texts:
we had this Japanese maple placed last year by our landscaper, and it did well.  this year it seemed to be doing well, but we just noticed these scattered branches with a bunch of curled leaves, and what looks to be dead branches.  the branches affected may be the new growth, but i'm not positive.

we live in Chicago. tree faces south with partial shade. we've been using drip irrigation set to a timer.  we turned the water off during our wet and cool june, but restarted it every 3 days for 90min in july, and then bumped it to every 2 days right before we left for vacation after forecast of a dry warm week.  truthfully, we didn't notice the problem until we got back.

we sent this pic to our landscaper, who later looked at it through the gate and thought it looked like "drought damage".   recommended to just keep watering it.

i'm not much of a gardener, but it didn't make much sense to me.  we have a silhouette sweetgum tree a few yards away that's doing well, and none of the surrounding plants look like they're wilting or damaged.

i was originally worried that maybe we were overwatering, but i now understand 90min of drip irrigation should be okay (true?).

so, i guess i'm looking for a diagnosis and advice.

could it be drought damaged? should we worry about irrigation problem?
could it be sun damage?
could we be overwatering it?
is it diseased?  if so, should we prune these branches before is spreads?

i'm hoping someone might be able to figure this out on sight.  and since a picture is worth a thousand words...

(note the faded dry leaves and branches at the top of the tree, as well as the branch with red curled leaves to the left.)

thanks in advance, everyone!


texts:
My Ficus Elastica looks in great health with the exception of two newish leaves that are curled a little and one leaf that has this strange pattern. It almost looks like something has eaten it but I can't see any visible evidence of pests and strange that it is only this one leaf. Any ideas what could have caused this?

Thanks


texts: What are colors other than clear suitable for avoiding the heat inside a greenhouse?

texts:
I am in Kuwait where it gets very hot in summer (up to 50C).
I plan to build my greenhouse using polyCarbonite. Can I use another color than clear to avoid the heat inside the greenhouse?


texts: Why is anti-siphon leaking with just one zone?

texts: About a month ago I started to notice that the anti-siphon leaks or seems like it is trying to pressurize like it would when turning the system on in the spring. As far as I can tell this only happens with one zone. It only lasts a second or two until it seals. Any idea why this happens and what is my solution?


texts: Are there any common allelopathic plants suitable as a pre-lawn winter cover crop?

texts:
Being March in the Southern hemisphere, winter is approaching. I have just had my very-weedy front yard levelled. Most of the weeds have been removed, but I don't want to sow grass until I've given some of the remaining weed stalks a chance to show themselves so I can dig them out.

I'm thinking about sowing lupins to cover the ground in the meantime. I think lupins would have the added advantage of growing relative quickly (as the seeds are large).

Are there any alternative winter cover crops that have allelopathic properties (so would prevent or slow growth of at least some of the weeds).

I'm in New Zealand, with a moderate climate. Temperatures will range roughly between -5 (overnight) and 15 C over the winter.


texts: Automatic Watering System for VERY small pots and seedlings?

texts:
As the title suggests, I'm currently germinating a bunch of lemon balm seeds in an egg carton. I heard they grew better uncovered so I didn't cover them, however, they seem to dry out rather quickly, so I was wondering if I could make a simple DIY self-watering system for such tender plants. I searched for hours on Youtube but found nothing that was suitable for small containers and plants.
I'd prefer:
-It doesn't drown and overwhelm the seeds
-It doesn't require a lot of materials.

If possible, I'd want:
-A Video Tutorial perhaps?
-A step by step tutorial in words?
Thanks


texts: Can a black pine be dug in late May during candle growth?

texts:
We need to have 15 black pines in the 12 - 14' range dug for a client. The nursery says they'd like to wait 3 weeks or more until the candles harden off more. Due to construction and staging constraints we can't wait more than a week.

Can these trees be dug successfully, and what steps should be taken before, during, and after the move to mitigate the harm from moving them at an ill advised time.


texts:
I'm not sure what kind of plant I have (if someone knows please tell me!)

But I had two of them. One of them started getting these tiny little white blobs all over it's leaves. The leaves also started to get a little bit sticky.

I thought white mold at first, but the white blobs just stay ontop of the leaves.

I also thought white flies but they never hatch or anything.

The blobs have killed one plant, and have now moved onto the other. I've been wiping them off with a dry paper towel but they keep coming back. I've reduced the amount I water it too in case it is a type of mold. And finally I've been removing any particularly bad leaves or stems.


texts: How bad is it to use colour newsprint for paper pots?

texts:
Discussions here and here talk about making these frugal paper pots to ease the shock when transplanting seedlings.

I've heard though that you should only use black and white newsprint, as the colour ink may contain heavy metals. But with the rise of cheaper colour printing over that past decade, I can't think of many pages of the newspapers that I have (rarely) read recently that don't have a colour element in them.

My question is, how much of a risk is it to use colour newsprint? The seedlings that I will be growing will be crops.


texts:
I excavated the yard to build a stepping stone walkway. There's water collecting at the intersection of the walkway and the city's sidewalk.

I'm planning to back-fill and compact with crushed gravel before laying the stones.

Will the drainage problem persist after I back-fill? (most of the exposed dirt is clay) If so, is there a way to remedy this?

Pics of the problem :


texts: I am trying to identify the mint variety that I have

texts: I have a mint from my grandmother's garden that has wide leaves with a whitish fuzz on them. I only know it as Lebanese mint because she brought it over from the old country. Can you tell me what variety I have?


texts: Weird things found in Alocasia plant soil

texts:
Today I wanted to change the soil in my Alocasia plant, but I found these things in the soil, around the roots. They weren't attachments, they where just laying in the soil. I bought in in an IKEA store.
Does any of you know what this is?


texts: What is this plant with trumpet-shaped flowers seen in Queens, New York?

texts: I am very curious about this plant. It has beautiful flowers in shades of pink, yellow, white, etc. The flowers are sort of trumpet shaped. It blooms in the summer. I have seen it in people's front yards.


texts: can you use blight spray on all edible and ornamental trees, shrubs and bushes

texts: At first, it was just my pear trees, then it seems everything has it.  It looks like brown spots that turn the leaves yellow.  But there are holes and half eaten leaves also.  Some leaves such as my hibiscus look like the chlorofil has been sucked out of part of the leaf..  Some look like leafrollers but no worms inside.  It is confusing.  What can I do about it?  I have tried Diematious Earth, neem oil and dishwashing soap, and am about to try fire blight spray for pears.  Any sugesstions?


texts:
I have a man made pond that I'd like to get rid of.
It's approximate 8 ft in diameter and about 1 ft deep.
What are the typical steps to fill the pond and get grass growing on it again?

Here's what I have in mind, but I have my doubts.

Drain the water to somewhere (public drain?)
Remove rubber tarp that's likely containing the water
Fill the hole with the huge rocks from the edge and alternate rock source (link below)
Drop clay/soil over the rocks to fill in the gaps
Seed with grass and water

Pond overall:

Alternate source for rocks:

Should that do it?


texts:
I planted a raspberry cane this spring, and it appears to be doing well, having put out a new cane that is now 5 ft tall (and curving under its own weight.)  There is also old growth at the bottom that bore fruit this year.  What do I do to this plant to promote new canes and to maximize fruit production.  I would also like to keep it somewhat under control, as I have seen raspberries take over a garden.

Should I stake it or trellis it?
How should I prune it?
How should it be fertilized?


texts: What plant looks like a Peace Lily but has no flowers?

texts:
I've been helping my grandmother dig up a plant from her garden in North Carolina, and I'm trying to identify it. I've been looking at plant ID sites and the closest one in leaves is the Peace Lily, but this has no blooms. It spreads easily and the roots resemble something that might be tubers. Or how ginseng looks. It's thick. They don't go too deep in the ground.

The leaves are pretty close to Peace Lily, but they don't round out as much. These shoot up in like a roll and slowly unroll. They're a solid deep green. They're not really shiny or waxy. They're smooth but sturdy.

During the summer, they were growing in a big clump in the sun. Since winter has come she's moved all the plants she could to the basement, so they're not getting much sun at the moment.

She's dividing them up to give to people as houseplants, so we'd really like to know what they are.

I'll try to add pics soon!

EDIT:
So, I have some new info and pictures! My grandmother told me that the original plant that she transplanted bits of to the garden outside...That she's had it for 50 years! She said that her mother gave it to her and she's been caring for that and a few others since then. I have no idea what kind of plant this could be! XD


texts: Cabbage, Eggplant, and Cauliflower with white-ish dry spots

texts:
I've got eggplant, cabbage and cauliflower seedlings growing inside in peat moss with some all-around fertilizer (24-8-6). However, the edges of their leaves are drying and curling up, and some of them have dry, beige spots in the middle. I thought it might have been a calcium deficiency, so I boiled some eggshells and added it to each of them. I've attached an image of the cabbage seedlings. It's been 2 days now, and their condition is deteriorating. First of all, is this indeed a calcium deficiency? And if so, what should I do to rapidly restore the leaves?
Thank you in advance.


texts: What is this plant with woody stems and scalloped leaves

texts: I Received this plant in a rented apartment. I have no idea what it is or how to care for it, and the owner neither. Please help.


texts:
I harvested these seeds from an indigenous garden, so this plant is likely indigenous to South Africa, potentially Cape Town.

It was a bushy plant with an abundance of these seeds in clumps all over the foliage, mostly at a height of 1 to 2 meters high. Inside the papery seed covering there is a tiny seed less than a mm in diameter.

Do you know what tree or bush it belongs to?


texts:
It would seem that bees around the world are in trouble, partly as a result of what appears to be the widespread use of pesticides in agriculture. If greenhouses naturally inhibit the spread of garden or agricultural pests to the extent where less and fewer pesticides are needed, then is there any chance that they could pave the way to a more bee-friendly future? I'd be especially curious to hear what those with greenhouses have to say about pest management.

To clarify, I'm mainly interested in ways of reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture and elsewhere, and this may not involve greenhouses at all. The ideal use for greenhouses may in fact have nothing to do with pest management, and everything to do with the responsible management of GMO's, or of enhancing the genetic diversity of cultivars or what not. But whatever this ideal use may be (if everyone around the world were utilizing greenhouse technology, directly or indirectly) would it likely require more or fewer pesticides, and could it be beneficial or harmful to pollinators like bees?


texts:
I put down some spray Ortho concentrate weed killer almost 2 weeks ago. Now many of my weedy areas are turning brown and look like they are drying up (grass still looks ok).

What do I do now? Will the weeds simply disappear? Should I rake them out or pull them up?

Also, the weed killer doesn't seem to have gotten all the weeds in the first round: what is the best course of action for getting rid of the remaining weeds?
If the best option is more weed killer or different weed killer, when will it be ok to apply that?


texts: I was wondering if my Chocolate Mint plant had some type of disease?

texts:
So, I've had this Chocolate Mint plant for about a month now and some/most of the stems are brown. Some leaves on this plant also have brown spots on them, but not all are affected! So my question is: does my mint plant have a disease, too much sunshine, or something else?? Thanks in advance!!

Edit: Here are the bottom of the leaves!!


texts: The test came back pH a tiny bit to low but the sodium, sulfur, potassium and phosphorus are way to high. Manganese to low. We are square foot gardening. Raised beds. Made. Mel's. Mix with 1/3 Vermiculite 1/3 peat and 1/3 Eko compost(which comes from yard waste through the city. ANY ONE  have any ideas on how to get things a little  more balanced?  Would lime help at all?


texts: What best practices should I follow when using a manual reel lawn mower?

texts:
I have a small lawn and no outside storage, so I have recently acquired a manual reel lawn mower.  I suspect that this mower is more sensitive to poor mowing practices that a typical gas mower but I am not experienced enough to know what best practices I should follow or if there are different things to pay attention to than when using a gas mower.

What best practices should I follow when using this mower?


texts: How to protect your grass in the winter months

texts:
We have a small lawn and very active in the children. In the winter when it is wet the grass is completely destroyed mostly from games of soccer.  What can we do to protect the grass other than telling our children not to go outdoors?

I noticed online something called "grass reinforcement mesh". Is this the best method?


texts: Why did a section of leaves on my Holly bush turn brown?

texts:
We have two East Malatka Holly bushes in our flowerbed, which were only planted 5 months ago (they were in 15 gal pots, so already pretty large).

They have been doing well, until just the last week or two, when one of them has developed a large brown patch of dead leaves.

I'm in Houston, Texas, and we've had temps north of 100 degrees for the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure if this is the cause, or something else.

I'm watering about 5 times a week. These beds have a drip system. The rest of the plants seems healthy and happy so it doesn't seem like it's over or under-watering.

We've had issues in these spots, though. We've gone through two sets of pyramid boxwoods in the same spots which exhibited similar issues.

Can anyone point me to what I should do, or look for, to diagnose the issue?

LOTS OF UPDATES:

Ok, I've done more investigation and watched how it's changing over time.

Yesterday, I noticed a section of leaves just starting to turn black:

Today, it looks worse:

And I also looked on the backside of the dying leaves and see small white spots. The stem by the leaves has also turned black:

Also, in another spot I noticed a healthy branch that had a dead black branch attached to it:

Hopefully these will be enough to help diagnose. I think the small white spots and black branch must be evidence of something - I just have no knowledge in this area.

UPDATE 2:
I just pruned off the dead branches. I noticed the other bush has a brown patch as well. I pruned it off and noticed the green leaves remaining on that branch had a TON of the small white things on it, with some slight cottony webbing/tent-like stuff on the leaves. It looks to me like some sort of larvae.

I was actually planning to spray the house perimeter for bugs tonight, so I've gone ahead and given the plants a good dousing with a Suspend SC suspension. We will see if that helps!

I just realized I never posted pictures of the latest discovery. Here:

And zoomed in:

The pattern appears to be that these bugs (whatever they are) appear on the backs of the leaves. The leaf begins to turn brown/black around the eggs (or whatever they are). Next the whole leaf, then the stem and turns brown/black.


texts: Is it safe to handle soil with our bare hands?

texts: Is it 100% safe to handle the soil by bare hands? Would any toxic insect hide inside the soils?


texts: Hot pepper hybrids: are the seeds of the same fruit the same?

texts:
When chilies are cross pollinated amongst different cultivars, it's unclear whether the seeds will be true to the parent generations or something new entirely as I understand it as it depends on if the dominant or recessive genes were expressed.

Is it the case though that all seeds coming from the same pepper fruit exhibit the same characteristics?  Ie, are the seeds of that fruit copies of each other ignoring the possibilities of mutations?


texts: I have plenty of periwinkle (probably Vinca minor, or possibly V. major) in my back yard. I will soon attend to building a storage shed there. I would have to clear periwinkle for the shed ground. I would like to transplant that periwinkle to a sloping part of my front grassy/weedy yard that causes me headaches when moving. How do I perform this operation and when is the best time to do that? I am talking about western Pennsylvania.


texts: What are good evergreens for a windbreak on heavy clay soil?

texts:
Looking for an evergreen variety or two to establish windbreaks in an exposed position on heavy clay soil that can get very dry in summer. Temperate climate in the UK, the site gets plenty of sun.
I can find dozens of evergreens advertised, but many need acid/peaty soil and nobody mentions clay.


texts: There are black spots on my leaves, black lesions, black tips, and yellowing younger leaves. The younger leaves are most effected while the older leaves have black tips. One stem has a few black spots. What do i do?


texts: Why did my pepper plants suddenly shrivel?

texts:
I've been growing pepper and chili plants in a greenhouse on my balcony since March and they have been growing strong. However, I started a new job last week and have not had the time to tend to them. Now the leaves have curled lengthwise, some have turned yellow and some have grown a green moss on the soil. The soil near the plants is quite dry. Only the lower leaves are turning yellow on one plant. I have pruned some stems and found no discolouration within the stems.

Since starting the new job, I haven't watered or fed them, but the greenhouse has a fairly damp environment, with the walls and roof covered in drops of water. I've watered them with a little liquid food and left them out of the greenhouse in sun and light wind for 12 hours now and most of the leaves are starting to perk up. The yellow leaves on one plant have fallen but the upper leaves on the same plant have perked up.

Any ideas what might have happened to them?  Could it just have been lack of food and water?


texts: Tips to start a siphon without getting a mouthful of water

texts:
I have spent the week setting up my water storage system including a1000L ICB, I am lucky that my allotment is next to one of the large communal water capture and storage areas and with heavy rain predicted for the next week our chairman has told me to feel free to siphon off as much water as I can rather then waste it as the pretty much full communal tanks overflow.
Any tips to starting a siphon off without sucking and ending up with a mouth full of water? I know you can submerge the pipe fully and hold one end sealed as you transfer it but struggling to get this to work consistently and the communal tank has a very narrow opening that I can’t get the whole hose pipe in.


texts: my chilli plants have spots and holes appearing on them

texts: I have white spots which turn brown and in some cases holes form and the leaf withers and falls off eventually. I haven’t had any issue with fruiting, there has been plenty. I water once every one or two days depending on weather. I have fertilized twice with miracle grow in the 10 weeks I have been growing the plants. Do you have any idea what causes this?


texts: What is the proper technique to hand pollinate an eggplant?

texts:
I have an eggplant that has thus far produced several flowers, but no fruit yet. I have read that hand pollination is often necessary for eggplant to produce fruit.

How do I go about hand pollinating the plant? Do I need any special equipment?


texts: Last summer I found that boiling water will kill weeds, and kills them quick.  However boiling water takes time and a large individual crabgrass would take a whole pot of boiling water to kill the weed.  My question asks if anyone knows of any other home remedies for weeds.  Spot treatment for crabgrass is all I need.  Small yard.


texts: Why is Japanese Aucuba Struggling/Not Thriving?

texts:
This guy was planted per instructions/best practices about 3 months ago.  It's about 1 foot in diameter, it's in a decent partial-shade/partial-sun location, and I have supplemented with liquid plant food twice (every ~4 weeks) during this time.  I am in North Texas where it is pretty hot and humid at this point.
It was healthy for a while, but over the last 4-6 weeks it began struggling and now looks like this: (broken link - file has been deleted).
There were some heavier rains for a while and ground may have been too wet/over-watered for several days (maybe a week?), but that's all I can think of that would have upset it.  Are the blackened leaves indicative of fungus or pests?


texts: How can I remove a lily pollen stain from a hard surface?

texts:
First, I apologize if this seems a bit off topic but since I can't find a StackExchange site where this fits, I imagine experienced gardeners would probably know how to solve this problem.   So, I figured I'd ask here and take a chance.

This past Easter I bought my wife some flowers which contained Easter lilies.  After the lilies bloomed, pollen fell onto a enamel-painted, white charger that the vase was sitting on.

When my wife went to clean off the pollen, and wash the charger, the pollen stained the charger and she cannot get the pollen off.

Are there any old, tried-and-true tricks that we can use to get the pollen stain off of a hard, painted surface?


texts: Should I cut off the weaker of 2 cucumber seedlings in the same hill?

texts:
I planted 3 cucumber seeds in each of 6 hills and only 6 of the 18 cucumbers came up. Of the 6, only 4 seem strong enough to survive and 2 of those are in the same hill (as shown below in the first two pictures).

I've read that the best thing to do is to cut off the weaker seedling at ground level to let the stronger seedling take over. Is transplanting out of the question? I would assume so since there is so little space between them but would hate to be down to just 3 out of 6 hills with plants.

I gave transplanting a shot and moved the smaller plant to a hill a foot away (as shown in the last picture). It's only been a few hours but so far it survived. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


texts:
I'm looking at growing some aquarium grass to entertain my fish. The instructions that I read keep talking about CO2 injection.

Will my aquarium plants grow with out adding CO2? How do I add it?


texts: How long does a re-planted tree have to be established before it can receive grafts?

texts:
I have bought a young apple and cherry tree, they are in about 5 litre tubs at the moment but will be re-planted into permanent homes in deep soil.
I would like to graft more varieties onto these trees. How long should I wait for them to become established? Or can they receive grafts immediately?


texts: What is this carefree succulent flowering potted plant?

texts:
Anyone know what plant this is?

It was planted in a large pot a long time ago by a friend. The dirt in the pot has not been changed for years! It blooms around the summer time and stays till mid winter. It is located in New York. It also has a poke berry vine
growing on the side of it.

click the images for full size


texts: How many spears of asparagus do I get the first 2 years?

texts: I have 3 asparagus plants of about 2 years and I'm not getting a whole lots of spears. I don't know why? I only got about 5 spears the whole years.


texts: What is this tree with pointed bumps on its bark?

texts:
This tree was found on a nature path in the Fort Myers area in Florida. The leaves are compound, most are 5 compound but some are 7.  They are similar to a buckeye tree.

This is a picture of the tree's bark.


texts: I wanted to sprinkle rock salt around pool to kill weeds. Then put decorative stone on top. Will the rock salt affect my pool liner. I don't want to have the rock salt kill the weeds and destroy my pool liner at the same time.


texts: Should I prune all the rootstock's suckers from the Cherry plant (Brooks)


texts: Indoor plant leaves blackening- help! It may take over second plant

texts: One leaf is almost completely curled and black and the others have started progressing with the same thing. It’s been sitting with direct sunlight by the window during our winter in Maryland. Is it the cold? Watering, direct sunlight? Not sure if this is even a white birds of paradise, it was gifted to us. Help please!


texts:
My Meyer lemon previously had a problem with some spotty yellowing of its leaves shortly after purchase as per this question but seems to have largely recovered. However, the stem is on a serious lean on account of the heavy fruit on its branches.

And the main stem has a split in it as well which can't be helping

And there appears to be some mild early magnesium deficiency with tip chlorosis

So, should I just cut the stem below the split to alleviate both problems and let it bush out below the prune?  Or just remove the fruit?


texts: What is the best way to sprout extracted seeds from fresh Driscolls Maravilla raspberries?

texts:
On a recent trip to a pick-your-own fruit and vegetables farm, I was fascinated how they had columns of fresh raspberries. They tasted lovely and sweet. I was inspired and wanted to figure out how to obtain raspberry seeds. I came across a video which involves food processing the raspberries and then squeezing the puree into a sieve leaving behind the seeds. The video explains that I would need to dry the seeds overnight. And he mentioned something about stratifying them.

What I want to do is ensure stratification either by leaving it in small pots outside and let nature take it's course, or to put the seeds in the freezer. I would prefer either as they both seem easy to do.

Can someone guide me please.


texts: What is this large tree with long leaves and no smell?

texts:
Could you please help me identify this plant?
 It looks like a wild tree on some vacant land I visited.
This tree has lanceolate leaves, and is about 6-8 meters tall.
I did not see any flowers at that time, and it's odorless. It has a lush canopy and a hard leaf texture.
I live in Indonesia and I found this tree on Java Island.

Thank you so much for your attention
Firgita


texts: Is my neighbor's tree infected with something that could spread to my tree?

texts: I’m wondering if there is an infection on my neighbor’s tree (scale?). I’m concerned that it’s something that could spread to my adjoining tree.


texts: Is a 3 foot wide raised bed versatile enough?

texts: I have a small area of 15 feet by 10 feet and am thinking of doing three 3 foot by 8 foot beds with about 2 feet in between each.  But I could also do two large beds instead like two 5 foot by 8 foot beds.  Are there any advantages to either?  I just want to make sure that the space is usable.


texts: What is the technical (latin and common) name for the perfumed roses used to make Indian rose drinks? Is there one type our several ? I would like to get a few and plant them in my garden. Thanks.


texts: What is wrong with these evergreen trees?

texts: Can anyone identify what kind of evergreen trees are these and what is wrong with them


texts: how to best take care of a xanthosoma sagittifolium?

texts:
A few months ago I bought a big beautiful xanthosoma sagittifolium. I have it situated by a northern facing window because I read it does not like full sun.

I'm very confused by this plant because it lost its big leaves a few weeks after I got it. It continuously grows new leaves which either turn yellow and die before opening, or die a few weeks after opening.

I've tried moving it around and varying how much water I give it. So my questions are: what does this plant like and how is its health? The original instructions I got with it don't seem to be working. Thanks!!


texts: Looks like flat leaf parsley, has small purple flowers.


texts: What is the most efficient way to remove a row of bushes?

texts:
I have a row of bushes, probably 200 feet long, that have become unsightly.  Mixed in with the bushes are many other weeds, trees, etc that also need to be removed - hundreds in total.  Trunks probably range from < 1/2 inch to 6 inches in diameter.  I was thinking of cutting them down, as close to the ground as possible, then removing the roots at a later time.  To cut them down, I was thinking of using a pole saw and walking alongside the row of bushes to cut them down.

Is this a viable tree/bush removal option?  What is the most efficient way to remove these bushes?  Any help is appreciated.


texts: What is this ground-cover flower which survives in the Sonoran Desert naturally?

texts:
Plants native to the Sonoran Desert require watering every 6 months. The following plant, which I am not sure is native to the Sonoran Desert or not, was found to thrive in the Sonoran Desert solely off rain. What is this flower?

This one is like a ground-cover:

This closeup shows it has cross-pollinated with a similar, but yellow, flower >100' away:


texts:
I’ve been caring for 2 avocado plants grown from a seed for the past 2 years. They’ve survived transplanting and my flatmates not caring for them when I went on holiday. The biggest one has a lot of new growth this month and the smaller one is producing new leaves too.

This past week Britain had a nice bit of sun so I placed them outside as they were in the summer. After a week I have now checked on them and the smaller one has very bronzed leaves. I don’t think this is to do with the water as that’s just the tips, correct? Was the shock of window sun to full sun too much for the little guy?

It’s going to be cloudy and rainy this whole week so I figured I could leave them outside still. What do you advise? I wanna make sure they’re properly cared for! :)


texts: How to get proper drainage in a pot with a built-in saucer?

texts:
I bought a 16'' wide plastic pot with a built-in saucer. The saucer is removable. On the inside of the pot, there are 4 holes where the saucer connects with the pot and 4 other tiny holes that appear to be drainage holes. How should I prepare this pot for proper drainage for a tropical fruit tree?

My first concern is the proper size of drainage holes - the 4 tiny ones seem like they can clog up easily. How much should I widen each hole?

My second concern is that the drainage holes are currently not at the lowest point of the pot. The center of the pot is the lowest point, but it sits directly on the saucer, so drilling a hole there would not help. My limited understanding of physics is that water will try to flow to the lowest point of any container, so holes that are slightly elevated don't help.


texts: Plant identification please of tree growing on my verge, and looks like an egg plant

texts: I think it's a noxious plant but I can't recall the name. Growing Wellington, New Zealand.


texts: What is this plant with red/green leaves and yellow flowers?

texts:
I noticed this plant at an open house, and this particular specimen was one of the smaller ones there. I'm wondering if I can plant one of these in a partially shaded spot next to the walkway.

Thanks in advance for your help.


texts: What is this compost ingredient that looks like light colored pellets and crushes easily?

texts:
I and my colleague faced an unexpected problem during the mixing of a new compost ingredient today. We found an unexpected and unknown material left by a previous farm intern. We recognize the ingredient by the type of bag holding it, but apparently someone filled this bag with something other than what it normally holds.
 Please see the photo:

Another close-up image after spending half-day in a compost bin (slightly dissolved and contaminated with other compost ingredients)

Does anyone recognize what is it? It looks like some kind of hamster bedding to me, but I am not sure. Also, it does not have the smell of cat litter from my olfactory memory. It is easily crushed into a powdery substance.


texts: During a heat wave, is it good to use an atomizer during daylight to spread water on the leaves of my Acer Palmatum?

texts:
I couldn't resist, I offered myself an Acer Palmatum one week ago. And now we face one of the hottest heat wave nowadays in Europe.

I noticed some leaves are already dry, some of them are burnt.
I water one day on two... and yesterday night I used an atomizer for the leaves.

But I wonder if I could also use the atomizer during the hot daylight. I fear that the droplets may act like magnifiers and burn the leaves all the more... I don't know. Is it a rationnal fear or is it completely unaccurate ? Will a little mist do any good to my Japanese Maple?


texts: What is this wiry plant with thin leaves and white flowers that turn pink in spring?

texts: I think it’s a type of shrub, but I was told it’s a white poinsettia plant. It’s very wiry and has green leaves all year round except for winter and spring. The white flowers come in during the winter and the leaves begin to fall off. When spring comes the white flowers turn pink. Some people keep them as bushes, but I’ve seen people grow them as trees that are 15-20 feet high.


texts: Ficus lost 80% of leaves over the course of November

texts:
I've had a 3-foot variegated indoor Ficus tree (F. Benjamina to be exact) for two months now. The first month was uneventful, but over the course of the last month (November) it has lost most of it's leaves (about 80%). Is this normal? Is it dead? I understand that Ficus is very sensitive to change and it's normal to lose a few leaves, but this seems extreme.

Here are the conditions:

I water it once every two weeks, until water flows through the bottom--about two cups.
The indoor temperature has been somewhat stable, dropping from 23C to 21C over the course of November.
The plant is not near any radiator or drafts, except for the balcony door that is only ever opened momentarily and quite infrequently (0C outside)
The plant gets some partial direct sunlight, but only during a short period: about 4 hours in October, closer to 2 in November. That being said we've only had maybe 5 sunny days all November.
There are no signs of yellow leaves. About half that fell off still looked green and healthy. Furthermore, I didn't find any signs of disease or pests. The leaves are fully intact. Some where a bit dried out, but these were mostly leaves that got caught in branches and hadn't been cleaned up.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?


texts: What can I do for Newly Potted Jap. Maples Have Leaves Drying up After One Day in the Sun?

texts: I just planted six volunteer Japaneses maples. I did throw a couple rocks in the bottom, but not many. The spoil was a potting mixture that has been sitting in a healthy spot (worms and looks very rich). I left them in a early shade - later sun location and all of the leaves have started shriveling up. I put them in a greenhouse box with the doors nearly closed. Should I bring them inside until they are strong enough?


texts: What are my options for securing my fenced back yard against rabbits?

texts:
I want to plant a vegetable garden in my backyard, but there are a ton of rabbits in the neighborhood. Instead of enclosing my entire raised bed(s), it seems like it could be simpler to just make the entire backyard impregnable to bunnies.

Is this feasible? What are my options to accomplish this? If I staple some chicken wire or nail some plywood in the areas with gaps between the wood and the ground will that be enough?