Daily Plant Drama

For a long time, I've really disliked centipedes... they creep me out. It doesn't help that I went most of my life never seeing one (not living in an area with many of them until I moved here). It all started with Indiana Jones as a child (you probably know the scene I'm talking about). Later it was reinforced with an awful story about a huge millipede. I realize there's a difference between a millipede and a centipede, but it still feeds the fire. As time went on my fear slowly morphed into something worse and worse.

A couple months ago at work there were centipedes in the bathroom. I had a panic attack. It was a month before I went back in that bathroom. I realized the centipede thing had reached phobia-level while I was carefully not paying attention to it. Even thinking about what one looks like makes my heart pound and my face screw up, and me want to cry. On a rational level I realize it's all in my head, should face my fears, yada yada... to be honest though, if being forced to physically hurt myself or forced to pick up a centipede, I think I'd react more strongly to the centipede.

So last weekend while moving around some pots I find a rather large centipede beneath one. I ran for the house and hid, and scared the heck out of my boyfriend with my gibbering.

An internal battle ensued. How can I play in the dirt knowing a centipede might touch me? When would it be safe to go outside again? I really wanted to finish what I was working on... wasn't that more important than the centipede? Was my love of gardening enough to overcome one little irrational bug phobia?

So far, the love of gardening is winning. I went back outside armed with a small trowel, moved the pot, and fell to attacking the centipede. It died, eventually, after I missed it about 10 times. I looked crazy, and felt a bit crazy too, but in the end I was even able to continue rearranging pots and planting things. I realize there might be a new centipede next time I go out, but I'll be prepared... and I'm not going to let fear of finding one reduce me to crying instead of moving the pot I want to move.

The tomatoes are here! The tomatoes are here!

My tomato/ground cherry transplants arrived from seed savers. They had the woebegone "I just got shipped cross country" look but should bounce right back. I'm super excited to fill up a couple of very large pots tonight, put the transplants out in the sun tomorrow, and probably stick them in the ground come saturday or sunday. A few of the tomatoes are going to Tony's mother to join the two she already planted.

Last week I bought some very cute sedum for the area around the ground cherry... I wanted to plant something to cover the "dirt" but not create a hassle for picking up ground cherries later. This was probably a horrible idea for a match, but we'll see.

I also bought a couple columbine flowers for pots on the front porch. So far, they both have sunburnt leaves, and some bugs from the nearby roses (aphids?) are moving in. Basically, they've made it one week, but I really doubt they'll make it three. They're gorgeous flowers though! A deep purple that's so dramatic it vaguely reminds me of corny goths from high school.

Also, hrrrm, planted another pot of tom thumb peas. Planted some snow peas in a large pot with big trellis (very worried the trellis is going to get the whole pot blown over... it'd be fine in that much real dirt, but potting mix is so light). Planted a sage seedling... some garlic, surrounded by silverbeet (that stuff seems to have a particularly awful germination rate, doesn't it?).

I noticed a couple radishes I put in my stir fry pot are forming stem bottoms. Combatting aphids on my chocolate mint... it wasn't a problem at all last year, but it's going nuts this year. I think it might be due to the proximity to the ants. Trying to kill off my ants! as usual.

With my ridiculous work schedule/commute, I've been ordering a lot of gardening supplies online lately. Gardens Alive! has been one big recipient of my money. I got this soilless mix from them a few months ago, and have started a few different rounds of seedlings in it and rather wish I hadn't.

The product: Natural Beginnings Seed-Starting Mix

Just like they claimed I would be, I was amazed by how quickly my seedlings started. I had gotten used to waiting a week or two, but they started coming up within a day or two and did so with a great germination rate.

The consistency of the mix turned out to be a major problem, though. I discovered early on that just adding water to the mix to moisten it didn't work. I had to actually stir the water and soil together, or the soil would just float on the water like oil. As the seedlings grew, I found it nearly impossible to keep the soil moist. It dried out much faster than other potting soils, then didn't want to absorb any water I added. I fell into a habit of adding a puddle of water on top of the mix and letting it sit, only to do the same again later that day. A few weeks of this turned the soil into perfect little mud pies.

Little surprise, between the water issues and the hard soil, my seedlings never really established roots. Many of them withered and died. For those that lived, it took just as long for them to start putting out true leaves as it does with other soil brands.

I'm recently got a little self-watering setup for seedlings that should try to wick water up from the bottom automatically. I'm hoping that will be good for this soil. I'm very hopeful that if I can just find the trick to watering it well, I can come to love it. If I can't, though, I'm going to have to throw the rest of the bag out.

I planted a big mess of seedlings last night, including basil (purple ruffles and italian pesto), a couple bianca di maggio onions, a couple bunching onions, 5 mini pak choi plants, a couple mignonette alpine strawberries (remember the last ones getting chucked after a spider mite infestation?), naranjilla... There was more, but I can't remember it now. I even wrote down what went into which slots then promptly lost the paper.

I also thought to move my pots the other day. Every one of them got moved by a few inches, and nearly every one of them had a couple slugs or earwigs under it. Ewww, I doubt I'll forget to move them weekly again.

My seedlings are getting a bit too leggy, so this weekend I went by Home Depot and bought two more light fixtures. I've put them together, but haven't put them on the rack yet.

I also bought a pitcher plant! Everyone take a moment to mourn the pour thing, cause we all know it's going to be dead within the month.

My greens in the back yard are looking huge and gorgeous. I can't remember if I"m supposed to cut them and let them keep growing or just pull them up when I eat them... but the eating is coming soon (tonight?).

Oh, and I bought more garlic, since I think it'd be nice to grow for greens in the stir-fry container.

I added a couple radishes to the stir-fry container too, though I have no clue if it's time to grow them yet and I'm pretty sure I hate radishes (but I"ll give them a taste when they're done just in case).

I need to go around cleaning up dead strawberry plant leaves. Unfortunately, they never quite stopped growing through the winter... a few times freeze killed the leaves but little ones appeared again within the week. I doubt that was good for them.

Okay, I suppose spring is a distant dream for most parts of the country, but here in Cali it's getting excitingly close.

Seedlings started:
Leeks
Silverbeet
Various stir-fry greens
He-Shi-ko bunching onions
kohlrabi (more! still not convinced it isn't cucumber seed either)


Notice a yummy yummy stir fry trend? It's not quite warm enough yet for peas, but they will be the final addition.

I also have a few plantings in mind.

1. a tomato (one of the transplants on the way, I'll decide when they get here) surrounded by purple frilly basil, cinnamon basil, lettuce leaf basil, and italian pesto basil, and some tom thumb peas at the edges.

2. ground cherry (transplant otw), with some sort of flat mint underneath. Now I just need to figure out what mint grows flat, besides chocolate... I'll have to check the garden centers for transplants.

3. a container of carrots, beans and peas

4. A hanging container with miniature white cucumbers in it. It's about time to inform my boyfriend he gets to hang this from the ceiling on the front porch for me.

The basil needs to be started from seed in the next few days. Everything else needs warmer weather. Mmmmm warm weather.

I set myself up a little grow-up in anticipation of the many seedlings I"m going to want this year. I love the grow-op, though I think I need to kill all of my little strawberries... they are infested with black flies, white flies, and spider mites. I've already thrown out the basil seedling I had going and half of my strawberries. I've also ordered some various pest killers from Gardens Alive! I just need to get the infestations under control before spring hits...

My plans for this spring have me very excited. I ordered some tomato transplants from Seed Savers, which will arrive in late March. I bought a couple huge pots and I already have one picked out for whatever tomato I decide to keep (I ordered 6, but my boyfriend's mother is getting maybe 4 of them... no way I can grow 6 tomato/ground cherry plants). My loose plan for that planting is tomato in the center, tom thumb peas on the outer edge, a couple basil closer to the tomato. As the peas start to die off, I'll remove them and possibly pesto-ize the basil and add in some dragon-tongue beans I got from Seed Savers (love that place).

My resolve to do many mixed containers this summer still leaves me confuzzled. I was thinking ground cherry and bee balm.. until I got a look at bee balm and realized it looks nothing like I thought and it would be fighting it out with the ground cherry.

So what goes well under ground cherry? Eventually the ground cherry will get pretty big and bush-like. It needs to be easy for me to grab the ground cherries when they fall. I'd like something carpet-like, so they don't lay on earth too long and the squirrels don't go too nuts.

If my leek survives the fly infestation, I'm still thinking leek surrounded by stir fry greens.

Over the last couple weeks I've had a bad habit of forgetting to water my tiny windowsill strawberries. Some of them have gotten decidedly crunchy, though others are doing okay. I think they might all bounce back... eventually.

Outside the strawberries are also dying. They are very colorful when frost damaged... It reached 26 degrees a couple nights last week, and the frost was heavy. My rosemary seems a bit worse for wear but alive, amazingly. Oregano, no problems... My chinese greens container actually has seedlings! The evil squirrels have been digging them up in their haste to bury nuts though. Very annoying.

I got to see it this morning... frost on the ground. Just a light coating, and probably not the first--but the first I was up in time to see.

My outside strawberries are looking decidedly red-tinged. The red-tinged leaves mean cold damage. I hope they're going to be okay. I can't seem to remember if I should cut them off, if I should have cut them off in the first place, or I should just leave them. I've reached the conclusion that as much as i love strawberries, I'm not willing to carry them into the garage every night and back out every morning. If they were planted in the ground I wouldn't bat an eye, but a pot is a lot less root insulation...

So, anyway, I haven't posted in ages. Work picked up quite a bit, and I've been playing a bit too much Zoo Tycoon. I have faith that I'll be drawn irresistably back to posting about plants come spring though.

Speaking of Spring... In the bay area, apparently, if I want to plant long-season plants like tomatoes and eggplants, I need to start the seeds indoors around CHRISTMAS. I sure picked a good place to get addicted to gardening. I suppose there's a reason so much food is grown within a few hundred miles of here.

The indoor strawberries continue to go a bit nuts. THey're putting out plenty of blooms, and my hand-pollinating seems to be working. Rubbing two flowers against each other seems to work best, but picking up and fiddling with the pots to do it is inconvenient. Using a makeup brush seems to work too, though I've had a few imperfectly pollinated fruit coming in. Still haven't sold my boyfriend on the bumblebees in the house idea.

I tried to start another kohlrabi, but it didn't sprout. I started a leek, which is just a thin thin thread of a plant but seems to be doing good under the light. I also started a couple random greens from the "siamese dragon" collection.

Oh also, I got a Seed Savers Exchange catalog the other day and they're offering ground cherry transplants. I think I'll get one... I have seeds, but eh a head start is probably a good thing right? Of course, that means the other 5 spots in the shipping container need to be filled. I'm hoping my boyfriends mother would like some of the crazy tomato varieties they offer as transplants. I just don't know if I want to try to do a tomatoe in a container... seems like an endeavor destined to cause heartache.

Well, I'm really pretty sure that that plant I was hoping was a kohlrabi is actually a cucumber... even though my cucumber seed package is unopened. Somehow I was sent the wrong seeds? And what will I do with a cucumber in the middle of the winter? I guess it's time for that grow op setup. :P

In other news, my leek and other kohlrabi (or cucumber?) haven't germinated yet. I'm going to go ahead with the plan to plant the greens outside asap, and dig out the ones in the way when (if?) the time comes to put in the leek. I'm wondering which is worse for the kohlrabi... with the seed heating mat or without.

My strawberries are looking pretty weird right now. Many of the leaves are tinged with red. Wet feet? Cold damage? Inset problems? Insecticidal soap side effect?

My broccoli is looking hole-riddled and worse for wear, but lives.

The rosemary and oregano both look fine. I've been trying to keep an eye on the weather, so I can bring them into the garage if the temperature is going to dip by too much.

I've been fertilizing the african violet for the last three weeks, but no sign of a bloom. Not enough light, I'm thinking.

Oh, and the mignonette strawberries have about 5 blooms between the lot of them right now! I brought the outside ones in to share the windowsill, impressed by how those ones are doing. I'm not sure how pollinating them is going to go though...

Well, it's offically that time of the year where I leave for work before the sun comes up and get home after it's well down. That's always a bit depressing for me.

I am so smitten with the Mignonette strawberries lately. I think one of the ones in my windowsill might be forming a flower... If I have strawberries for Christmas, I'm going to dedicate every window in the house to them. I didn't think they'd do so well inside. I'm thrilled that they have.

I'm working on a mixed planting of a leek, a couple early purple vienna kohlrabi, a few radishes, and a bunch of greens from the siamese dragon stir-fry mix I ordered. I plan to plant the greens soon, and just pull out the ones in the way when I go to plant the leek. It'll be weeks until the leek is ready to go outdoors. Mostly, this is an experiment with whether or not it's possible to grow vegetables right through the winter for me. Not to break any Canadian hearts, but apparently there isn't even a light freeze here some years.

I also spent a while spraying down my one remaining broccoli plant and all of my outdoor broccoli plants with insecticidal soap yesterday. I know the broccoli is having bug problems, but I was surprised to find some aphids on one of the strawberries. I was alarmed, but relieved when I didn't find many more while spraying the other ones.

Random flower in the landscaping at my workplace.

Currently growing:
Strawberries, mignonette and erm some larger one
garlic

Currently growing but not sure that it'll survive the winter:
Variegated Thyme
Greek Oregano
Rosemary

I have the seeds, and want to grow:
Carrots - Round Romeo
Carrots - Scarlet Nantes
Leeks - Giant Musselbourg
Basil - Both Italian Pesto and Lettuce Leaf
Quinoa
e-Shi-Ko Long White Bunching Onion
Bush Beans (variety pack)
Miniature White Cucumbers
Melon, asian, sakatas (containerseeds.com, not sure on handwriting)
Ground Cherry, Aunt Molly's
Kohlrabi, early purple vienna
Fernleaf Dill
Marjoram
Sage
Salad Burnet
Corn Salad - Dutch
French Summer Thyme
Naranjilla
Lemon Cucumber (free gift! how did they sense I was wanting this?)
Siamese Dragon Stir-Fry Mix (various greens)
Easter Egg Radish
Bianca Di Maggio (it's an onion)

Seeds I still need:
Endive
mint (good traily ones... chocolate? something else fun too)

I think I should go to a store for these... when I order seeds online I end up with so many seeds I really shouldn't have thrown in.

Just ordered:
Stevia
Dragon's Tongue Bean
Royalty Purple Pod Bean
Tom Thumb Pea
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Historic Pansies Mixture Viola

Seeing how incredibly long the list is, I think I'm going to avoid the sunflowers or other question mark ones.

I wish when I first started this container gardening endeavor that someone had warned me how much plant pots from the store suck. They're expensive, they're often now in the ideal shape or size, and I always find myself running out of them. Here are some cheap container ideas I've compiled in the back of my mind from reading various frugal gardening guides:

• Plastic and paper bags


• Giant food cans (like restaurants use)


• Cheap plastic storage containers (the kind people store stuff under their bed or in the closet with)


• Buckets (they're much cheaper from a construction-oriented place like Home Depot than a cleaning oriented place like Target)


• Any sort of takeout food container (for seedlings at least)


• Those black tray/tubs that restaurants bus tables with (for greens)


• Old colanders and metal bowls from yard sales


• Cardboard boxes - paint them on the outside and inside with a latex based outdoor paint, then line the inside with plastic. They'll still only last a couple years but oh well.

Well, as of this morning it's raining. I wonder if it's here to stay? This area has an odd habit of not raining at all during the spring, summer and fall, then raining the entire winter. Last year it rained for at least a while 90 days in a row...

It's about time for me to start bringing my mignonette strawberries off of the front porch and set them up somewhere in the house. Unfortunately, they're currently full of ants, while I will need to deal with...