The Plant Thread

[BlackCurtains]

Is he more of a pet now than a herb? Cos you could give him a haircut 

I keep telling myself I need to look up recipes that use basil.

[Ponyfan]

I think some unwanted guests have decided to make Mint 1 their new home.  They don't seem to be on the plant itsel,f but in the soil.  I made up some fresh dish soap spray today and sprayed both mints. I'm not sure what kind of bugs they are but I saw a white thing with a lot of legs and something that looked like a fly but had too many legs.


Ponyfan

[Taffeta]

Water is a big issue in our garden at the moment, trying to balance between conserving it for the heatwave coming and making sure all the plants stay alive. Mostly hanging on but this weekend might be brutal.

In my room, Poinsettia is living her best life in her new pot. She has a beautiful array of big new summer green leaves, with which she is soaking up the rays.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Same here, worried about water. I planted roses in March, so a bit late. Their root systems are not well developed enough yet to survive without the occasional watering. And the veg is just thirsty anyway. We have water butts but they are long since empty.

[BlackCurtains]

I think some unwanted guests have decided to make Mint 1 their new home.  They don't seem to be on the plant itsel,f but in the soil.  I made up some fresh dish soap spray today and sprayed both mints. I'm not sure what kind of bugs they are but I saw a white thing with a lot of legs and something that looked like a fly but had too many legs.


Ponyfan

If the white thing was very small it could be a springtail. They're beneficial. They eat mold and decaying matter and help aerate the soil. When I kept carnivorous plants in my window sill, silver springtails would always get into the soil. They never bothered my plants.


Ben is very fragrant today. When I walked into the living room all I could smell was basil. His soil is dry again. I think he needs a bigger pot.

[Beth3346]

i'm still adjusting to having to maintain a lawn. yesterday i noticed that there is a large week choking my crepe myrtle! need to borrow some hedge clippers from my parents and take care of that.

we're under water restrictions so i can only water once per week. i really hope we get some rain soon. there was some rain nearby a few days ago. but no rain at the house

[BlackCurtains]

I gave Ben a shower last night. Here you can see how big he's gotten.

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And here is the catnip just so it doesn't feel left out

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[Artemesia's Garden]

I took my orchid into the (cold) shower yesterday, and now one of it's flowers has opened 

[pinkkittywinks]

Ben looks great, so do the catmint seedlings

One of my new succulents has died and I think my Venus Flytrap isn't feeling well again.

My Butterwort is living its best life and is now covered in compost nats that were living in the conservatory. Mum has nicknamed it "the fly paper pant", which is a pretty accurate description.

Love pkw xxx

[Ponyfan]

I think some unwanted guests have decided to make Mint 1 their new home.  They don't seem to be on the plant itsel,f but in the soil.  I made up some fresh dish soap spray today and sprayed both mints. I'm not sure what kind of bugs they are but I saw a white thing with a lot of legs and something that looked like a fly but had too many legs.


Ponyfan

If the white thing was very small it could be a springtail. They're beneficial. They eat mold and decaying matter and help aerate the soil. When I kept carnivorous plants in my window sill, silver springtails would always get into the soil. They never bothered my plants.

I looked at pictures of springtails and I think it might have been one. I hope I didn't kill it when I sprayed the plants with the dish soap spray.  I had never seen one before.

Here's a pic of the mint plants 5 weeks after repotting.  They're both growing nicely. The heat is so intense where I live I have to water them every day.

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Mint 1

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Mint 2

Ben is looking great.


Ponyfan

[Lady Frostbite]

I culled my chilli plants down to give 4 plants room, didn't feel good  I have one Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion, one White Naga, one Chocolate Naga and one Pink Tiger. The Peach and White Naga are hard at work making lots of fruits, the Chocolate Naga has started making fruits and the Pink Tiger is making flowers!

Next year, one seed, one variety!!

[Artemesia's Garden]

@ponyfan, your mint plants look great! They look all happy and bushy now.

I re-did my front garden bed a few days ago and I've been protecting the plants in troughs from the heat with a white sheet. They are all heat loving things like cayenne chilies, rosemary and thyme, however I just re-potted them so I decided to be careful. They were fine yesterday evening and hopefully they will survive today as well. The micro-forest next to my husband's bed got taken into a cool shower with me yesterday and it's looking very glossy and happy today.

@ Lady Frostbite your chillies sound amazing! My husband loves fancy chillies but I dont' have much luck with them. How about, next year send the spares to me 

[Lady Frostbite]

@ Lady Frostbite your chillies sound amazing! My husband loves fancy chillies but I dont' have much luck with them. How about, next year send the spares to me 

Can do!  Chillies are honestly so easy, you just sow them on New Years day, put the seedling tray on the radiator as they need heat to germinate, get a little cheap UV light to help the seedlings grow in the dark days of winter, and they'll take it from there! I find the hotter varieties tend to be more aggressive about growing; my Jays burst out of the soil in something like 10 days!! For soil I just use a John Innes mix with a good amount of perlite mixed in for drainage - I love good drainage in a plant, especially for tropicals - and they soon grow very well in my kitchen window. I get amazing sunlight coverage in the summer, and they're protected from the slugs. Just be sure to water from the bottom to avoid scariad flies!!

[Artemesia's Garden]

@ Lady Frostbite your chillies sound amazing! My husband loves fancy chillies but I dont' have much luck with them. How about, next year send the spares to me 

Can do!  Chillies are honestly so easy, you just sow them on New Years day, put the seedling tray on the radiator as they need heat to germinate, get a little cheap UV light to help the seedlings grow in the dark days of winter, and they'll take it from there! I find the hotter varieties tend to be more aggressive about growing; my Jays burst out of the soil in something like 10 days!! For soil I just use a John Innes mix with a good amount of perlite mixed in for drainage - I love good drainage in a plant, especially for tropicals - and they soon grow very well in my kitchen window. I get amazing sunlight coverage in the summer, and they're protected from the slugs. Just be sure to water from the bottom to avoid scariad flies!!

  that is quite a bit of technical knowledge!! Thank you I'll try those things. It will be easier to make a proper space for them now we've moved house. I just have a pair of cayenne's this year, but I probably sowed them too late.

[Taffeta]

Mint 1 and Mint 2 are both looking good, Ponyfan!

I love the photo of Ben after his 'shower' I brought the spider plants in on Saturday, in advance of our heat warning, and I've been misting my dragon tree and Mum's orchid in the heat. They seem fine. I think my Poinsettia is probably cross I shut the curtains 2 days running and she didn't get the sun, but it's tough. She's fine though.

The outside plants have been watered twice each day, using the water butt and whatever we have to water them with. We moved all of the patio ones into shade. My delphiniums really like it under the apple tree, as one has now put up a flower spike (after about 3 months refusing to do so). We've still had no rain here, although it's a lot cooler. I put a bottle into the soil on my garden and filled it with water each day to try and prevent it just evaporating away. I need to do something more permanent to irrigate.

The spider plants may go back outside tomorrow.

The pigeons are very confused as to why they now can't get under the apple tree. They keep looking at the pots as though trying to work out where they came from.