The Plant Thread

[BlackCurtains]

I may have been too quick to call Original Ben toast. He's hanging in there and even has some new leaves sprouting. Most of the stems have gone brown and hard though. I cut off the majority.

Here's a family pic

Ben is a little wilted but I'll water him today.

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[Beldarna]

Beth3346 The story about the heatwave in the US has been on the news here. How are you coping? Is there any posibility to water the plants at night when the sun has gone down to make it easier for them to absorb the water?


We on the other hand has had too much water so my pallet has been drowning. The plants are still coping though, my mint is crazy big and I'm drinking virgin mojitos almost every day. My strawberry plant is not giving any more berries. I only got like five berries in total. The others burnt away. My neighbour is away on holliday so I tend to her pallet now and she has a lot of strawberries. I've filled her freezer with them and more are coming. She's gonna be so happy. She only got a handfull last year. I've not told her, though, it's gonna be a surprise .

[Ponyfan]

I'm glad the cutttings you took from Ben BC sprouted roots.

Here's pics of the plants.  It looks like part of Mint 1 has died.  My mom has been watering the outside plants for me since I can't (see WYP post for me details) and she doesn't water them as often I'd like.  I watered them just about every day, but she waters them every other day.  I hate to complain about it though and most of them still look pretty healthy.  Maybe when I'm able, I'll be able to cut some of the dead leaves and stems away.  With the high heat we've been having it's probably hard for most plants to survive anyway, even if they're watered everyday.


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Mint 1


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Mint 2

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Strawberry



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Lavender.  Has anyone grown lavender?  This is my first time.  I only had one purple flower. It looks healthy though.



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Sage  I think it's really grown in the short time I've had him. 


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Ficus tree

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mom's aloe


Ponyfan

[Ponyfan]

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Mint 2 is starting to flower.  Is this good or bad?  What should I do?



Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

Flowering saps all the strength away. It's best to stop it. Ben is flowering again too. Look up how to 'pinch back' flowers. You can't just cut them off you have to do it a certain way.

[Ponyfan]

Thanks BC.    I'm going to get rid of the flowers soon. 

Here's pics this week.

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Mint 1


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Mint 2


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Strawberry top down

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Strawberry



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Sage

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Lavender

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Ficus tree

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mom's aloe

I feel like all of the plants are going to die in the 100 F + heat.


Ponyfan

[Ponyfan]

I know I posted yesterday, but my mom was helping me water plants today and I asked her to tip Mint 2 forward to get rid of the water that was in the saucer.  When I do it, I pull the pot forward as far as I can.  My mom accidently pulled Mint 2's pot forward so far, it fell off the bench Neither one of use was able to lift the pot back up so she had to get my dad.

My dad decided to put Mint 2 on this old chair that you see in the pic.  It's different, but that's okay.  I like the way it looks on the chair.

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Also, a pic of how the other plants are arranged on the bench now.

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Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

Mint 2 is huge!

[Lady Frostbite]

I trimmed my tomatos as they were so tall they toppled over. My hands  S . T . I. N. K.!!!!!!!! I'm so paranoid I've washed my hands 7-10 times before giving my birds medicine but there is still a smell. As far as I can tell from Googling it's nothing bad, just compounds that the tomatoes use to keep themselves safe.

WHY DOES IT STINK SO BAD?! I'm only growing chillies next year

[BlackCurtains]

I know that smell. I don't think it's bad, just earthy and kind of prickly.

My spider plant doesn't seem to be growing anymore. I might move it back by the window, maybe it's not getting enough light.

[Taffeta]

This may sound weird, but my spider plants grow better when they're around other plants. One of them in particular went into a crisis last summer when I put it on its own outside...as soon as I put it back with the other spider plants it was fine. It may just be coincidence but I feel like they like being around other plants. Maybe they can sense them or maybe other plants keep pests away? I don't know. Maybe I'm just being weird.

I need to repot my dragon tree again. I'm concerned about its stressed leaves and it's really bothering me. For the first three years it was fine, but now it's not happy.

Poinsettia is doing well, though. I took off some of her branches to give her better balance and she's busily trying to grow them back.

In garden news, pots and baskets are all doing fine, and the rescued tomatoes are both now huge and flowering. In weirder news, Dad found a tomato plant growing in the ribes pot. We have no idea how it got there. But eh. There it is. The only thing we can think of is that one of the plants we thought had died hadn't, and somehow the soil got into the Ribes pot.

Our other main tomato plants are now huge. And even though it isn't going to fruit this year, my sawfly and caterpillar savaged gooseberry plant now looks a lot more green and leafy.

Ponyfan, Mint 2 looks amazing. I think the chair is a great place for it - it seems happy there!

[BlackCurtains]

There have been studies about that, plants liking to be around others. I'm just hesitant to move it back to the window because Aster wants to eat it. Maybe I can hide it behind Ben II - who are growing like crazy btw.

[Ponyfan]

Thank you BC and Taffeta.  Mint 2 seems happy in the chair.    

I'm starting to worry about the other plants.  I think the extreme heat is getting to them.


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Mint 1. The second pic is from the side.  It looks like part of it has died off.  I will eventually cut the dead parts away.  Some of the brown stems still have green leaves growing on them though. 


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Mint 2


These next two are the ones I'm most worried about.

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This is the lavender.  Is it normal to have so many partially dead stems?  Some of the brown stems are not completely dead because they have green leaves growing from the top.

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Strawberries

The leaves keep turning brown/red and dying. Am I doing something wrong?



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Sage looks happy.


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Ficus also looks happy.  I wonder about it though as some leaves have black spots.


Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

Hmm. Maybe it is the heat getting to them. Remember to water at dusk. If you water them during the day, they'll burn.


Just a quick pic from my desk. Ben II are growing so fast!

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(why does it look so hazy in my house? )

And guess what I bought A snake plant and a ponytail palm! They haven't arrived yet but I got some tropical soil and finally some plant food.

[Heart Of Midnight]

Ponyfan, Your mints are of a really great size! Mine are really small, but the place where they grow is quite shady.

BC, Wow! Ben II catches up with others in growth! Great!