How-to Drainage

Container gardening is super mega awesome, but there's one thing I've learned in the years I've been doing it....you need appropriate drainage.  Between the holes in the bottom and the soil mix you use inside.  Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely the same person that couldn't figure out what was yellowing my basil last year- only to realize I had left all the holes in the bottom of the container unpunched, but some big losses in the past few years have taught me to keep a better eye on what I'm doing.

Always always always poke plenty of holes.  Biggish holes. Most pots have them ready to be punched out....but it's always easier said than done. 

For planters sitting on the dirt ground where water would likely have trouble draining quickly, it's a good idea to put drainage rocks in the bottom- or you can sit the pot up on the deck or patio and the rocks won't be necessary. Since both of these pots are going on the dirt, rocks for them both! 

Then, for the dirt- you'll want to use a potting mix that allows better drainage.  Garden soil can pack down in a pot and make it tough to drain adequately.  Potting mix has mulch mixed in to thin it out and prevent too much "packing". this pot is all done!

The barrel for the beets did not get done and now it's rained for three days.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate....we're coming up on the "last frost date"!

Last indoor sowing of 2013

Today was a great yet sad day in my gardening world.  The long awaiting indoor growing of 2013 had its first last today.  The last few things to be sown, were sown. While I'm getting excited it's close to "outdoor time", I'm sad "indoor time" is quickly coming to a close.

I don't have room for a 36 cell greenhouse on my table anymore, and I'm not using the mesh covered pellets...so I had to improvise.  I cut up one of my 36 cell-ers so that I had two rows of five cells...which fit perfectly in the mini greenhouse!

Getting ready to sow!  Jelly Melon, Sweet Gherkin, Pepperchini (I know, I know, but I didn't have space for the big container with the greenhouse there....and some digging revealed nothing had happened), Petunia and Zinnias.

Like I said- never gets old rehydrating the pellets!

All sown and ready to go under the light.  Here's to a great year of greenhousing...and hopefully next year I can go bigger and better!

 

Leaves, for me?

So while hovering over the rosemary plant....I found....gnat fly larvae  ::shudder::  The crazy part?  The soil was nearly completely dry!  So....it went outside.  It's getting warmer out there and it's an evergreen, it will be fine.  I swear it's never-ending, though. So to cheer myself up, I went and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at all the wonderfully different leaves in my little indoor garden.

The black truffle tomato has a potato leaf!

Regular leaf on the white queen tomato.

Pepper leaves!

Dill leaf!  Looks like carrot leaves.

Brain flower leaves!

I especially like the Komachi balloon flower leaves...they have ridges all around the edge!

Primrose have been a neat shade of green/pink

I love how the pansy leaves have a little curl to them!

I just love the snapdragons I got- such a variety! You can tell they're going to be awesome by how different the leaves all are.

Some overhead shots of things just for poops and giggles.

And the obligatory "forest of snapdragons" picture!

Lemon tree!

So, in passing (okay hovering) of my lemon tree, I notice a gnat flying around.  Upon further investigation, some tiny bugs in the soil. Ahhhhhhh. After I calmed my initial reaction to throw it off the side of the deck, I began my research.  Pretty much everything I found suggested the dishsoap/cooking oil insecticide.  So there you have it.  I pulled out a spray bottle, but a few drops of dishsoap and a few drops of cooking oil and filled it with water- and started spraying the soil. I didn't take any pictures, because, well....I couldn't focus enough on the bugs.

I know the bugs are no big deal because a) there is no leaf or stem damage and b) anything it could be dwells in soil...so in there they will stay and c) there really weren't that many.  Nevertheless, it needed to be controlled.  Can I just say I'm counting down the days until the trees go outside for the warm weather.  And the lime tree needs to be fertilized but I need to let the soil dry out. Grr.

The lesson to be taken from this?  When the plants are ready to come back inside after the summer, they are getting some drainage rocks at the bottom, fresh soil and sand on the top of the soil.  This is once again proof how gardening is a whole slew of trial and error and no matter how good you feel about something, you're always thrown a curveball. Hopefully, I'll be rewarded with some lovely ripe lemons and limes relatively soon.

My friend Lindsay had sent me a picture of some really cool fake wood barrel looking pots.  Such a cool idea.  So while Kile stopped at Lowe's today, I insisted he grab me one.  It.is.fabulous.  Seriously cute as a button.  I think I'm going to put the beets in it.  Hopefully I'll be making some borscht this summer!

Sunny day...chasing the clouds away!

What a beautiful weekend.  And how lucky am I to have finally figured out where to buy cups smaller than the 18 ouncers- Party City.  So I took the opportunity today to pot up my tomatoes and peppers...and pot down the snapdragons.  As suspected- their roots didn't need 18 ounces of space...and they will be able to fit under the light better in the smaller cups.

Here are the 50+ plants ready to go into the 12 ounce cups!

The peppers and tomatoes.....

And the snapdragons! Check out that one crazy long root!

I'm not going to lie, it was a grueling two-ish hours, but it got done! I gave away a few tomatoes and snapdragons, and I tossed a rough looking Hazelfield.  I'm not sure what was up with it- it just looked like shock that had never really gone away.  Here's the crew! Fitting much better under the light (although I rearranged later).

And while I was putting all the cups under the light, I checked on the petunias....two out of the three "cells" are up! Also, I planted a pepperchini plant for Kile this evening too! Productive weekend...and exhausting.  

And for your gardening amusement: 

Apparently, it's an annual...that blooms the second year....hmmm.....

Bleeding Heart

So after a lovely morning of patronage mobbing with the RVA Local Patronage Mob, the kids and I took an exciting trip to Lowes!

Kids are excited about their new safari grass planters!  Oddly enough, Zack had the hippo and Arielle had the elephant...they both ended up with lions by the end of our trip.

And...being the bleeding heart gardener that I am, I saw this poor, hurtin', aloe plant...had some fungus rot or something on a few of the leaves.  Google told me it was fine after I pulled off the affected leaves.  We'll see.  It's staying outside, though.  Can't risk it spreading something to anything.  Hopefully this experiment will end up in a healthy aloe plant!

And then we went to Target and got some more stuff for the garden! I haven't decided whether I'll do beets or radishes in the grow bag, but I got beet seeds just in case.  I also came upon an insanely cool seed called lumeria.  It produces opaque seed pods that look like frosted glass.  I can't wait to plant it! Come one last frost, get out of the way!! Also, (at Lowes) I bought pepperchini seeds for my husband, Kile. He loves them, so I figured I'd start one, now that I have an empty pot where the spoon tomato would've been. The little pots are for the coleus for preschool crew to plant for Mother's Day gifts!

I like to hover.

So nothing got transplanted or repotted or sown today, so I had time to just walk around and look at everything and take pictures of teeny tiny first leaves!

While I was looking over the lime tree I found two of these- I don't know what they are, even after intense googling.  Leaves were promptly ripped off and flung outside.

Look how big this purple jalapeno is!  I need to get the small solo cups ASAP!

Snapdragon jungle!

Go chives, go!!

Intense googling on this too...no answer.  Just a curvy leave on a Santa Fe pepper. Neat!

Pansy's first true leaf!

First true leaves on brain flowers coming in!

Komachi's looking swell!

Primrose getting a first true leaf!

Tiny first leaves on the spearmint!

Grow bags ordered!  This weekend is supposed to be beautiful, so hopefully I can do some wedding and take pictures of where everything is supposed to go!  Need to hit Lowes for some gravel, sand, dirt, and maybe anything else that piques my interest!