Your houseplants and gardens - Yellow leaf means underwatered AND overwatered?! What a country!

[Slurms McCorgi]

My mom has this goth flower, and, well... What is it, and how do I propagate it to steal?

Looks like a petunia to me but I’m not positive

My phone's AI thing (when did that get there...?) says it's a petunia. Here's The Practical Planter's page on propagating em.

 

[MightyMorphin'Willbender]

Aaaand my pot of cilantro just bolted.
Weather is not even that hot outside!

It was in a very small pot, which most likely stressed the hell out of it.
There's probably still time for another attempt at it, if I can get a different container....

 

[Emo Supremo]

My phone's AI thing (when did that get there...?) says it's a petunia. Here's The Practical Planter's page on propagating em.

if you have an iphone then it's the google lens feature that's been recently integrated into the photos app. overall it's okay-ish at identification, but it seems to depend on what kind of organism you put in front of it because for some reason it's freakishly good at identifying insects while sucking major ass when it comes to plants. images are examples of how it responded to a picture of both the leaves and seeds from a chinese maple versus some random ass little bug (and not shown are the eight million times it thought practically any deciduous tree i took pictures of was a plum).

 

[FatalTater]

Don't know who needs to be reminded, but it's never too late to mulch your garden! (Unless the sun's already turned everything crispy I guess. In that case mulch anyway and replant some stuff or plan a fall garden.)

Protect your soil!

 

[glioblastoma multiforme]

After religiously going out at night to remove slugs and snails so my dahlias had a chance of living.... my fucking partner destroyed one of the ones that was finally making its way. i don't know if it would have been enough for it to achieve any decent flowers, but now it definitely isn't.

First he trampled them while removing the roots from the boxus that died. I understood that was physical work so forgave him. Then for literally no reason while I was planting out the Rowan that's taking its place he did it again then got pissy with me about being upset. 'I can just buy you a new one'- yeah and it won't be the one I put so much work into getting going.

This is my front garden from last year:



That was from August, but it looks sad now and I don't anticipate it being much better by August at this rate. Also, one of my Ambellas seems to have died, despite me getting it cos I see loads round here, and also the clematis I bought last week has just turned totally brown, so probably also died. No idea why, really not my year, the completely shite weather, constant rain and low temperatures, is probably not helping.

 

[Mother Gooseberry]

First of all I want to apologize for not having a picture of the entire plant at the moment, but I’ve come here in search of advice on how to keep my accidental pumpkin plant alive.

I actually planted zinnias and sunflowers in this spot but evidently some hidden pumpkin seeds in the soil took off instead lol My concern is not only keeping it alive long enough to see if it will bare fruit, but also to keep it in check so it doesn’t end up overtaking my small yard. Are you able to cut some of the vines back so it doesn’t get out of control? Or would this harm the plant as a whole?

I’m excited at the prospect of having my own little pumpkin patch but admit I have a black thumb and really don’t want to fuck this up by intervening when it’s not necessary.

 

[std::string]

Are you able to cut some of the vines back so it doesn’t get out of control? Or would this harm the plant as a whole?

Yeah. Basically, identify the main vine and all the runners coming off of it. Those are secondary vines. Any runners coming off the secondary vines should be trimmed off to stop your pumpkin plants from taking over your yard.

Since you probably wound up with a bunch of plants growing close together, you'll also want to try to arrange the vines so that they're not overlapping. Makes it easier to see what's going on.

The main vines can be trimmed to about 10 ft and the secondary vines can be trimmed to about 6 ft (bury the ends of the secondary vines in soil after you trim them so they root.) That's the bare minimum though and it won't fruit if you cut the vines too short. What we did back in the day was wait for it to produce its first batch of pumpkins and then assumed that was basically how small we could prune it and still have it continue fruiting.

Other than that they're pretty low maintenance unless you're trying to grow 300-lb pumpkins for some reason.

 

[Mother Gooseberry]

Yeah. Basically, identify the main vine and all the runners coming off of it. Those are secondary vines. Any runners coming off the secondary vines should be trimmed off to stop your pumpkin plants from taking over your yard.

Since you probably wound up with a bunch of plants growing close together, you'll also want to try to arrange the vines so that they're not overlapping. Makes it easier to see what's going on.

The main vines can be trimmed to about 10 ft and the secondary vines can be trimmed to about 6 ft (bury the ends of the secondary vines in soil after you trim them so they root.) That's the bare minimum though and it won't fruit if you cut the vines too short. What we did back in the day was wait for it to produce its first batch of pumpkins and then assumed that was basically how small we could prune it and still have it continue fruiting.

Other than that they're pretty low maintenance unless you're trying to grow 300-lb pumpkins for some reason.

Duly noted, thank you so much! It appears I have a decent amount of work ahead of me because she’s already decently spread out and the main section of the plant is packed together a fair amount.

I’ll post a full picture at a later date of her progress and hopefully the start of some lovely pumpkins!

 

[Stan]

I am so happy! I went to water the veg garden at the church today and the asparagus is pushing up little new shoots. That means - I think - that the roots are starting to branch out and take advantage of the raised bed they’re in.

Yay it survived the transplant.

 

[Otterly]

My mom has this goth flower, and, well... What is it, and how do I propagate it to steal?

It does look rather like a petunia but it has taller stems so I’m not 100% sure.
If it is a petunia, then let the flowers stay on, and eventually they will form seed pods. When they’re totally brown, pull a few pods off gently. They will be full of tiny tiny black seeds. Save them for next year if you live somewhere cold.
Next year, plant the seeds by sprinkling them on potting compost and keeping them moist (in one of those cheap propagators will work.) they’re slow to get going and need constant humidity. I usually start mine in February to plant out May.
What is unfortunate is that petunias rarely breed true, so you may not get the flower colour you expect.
It could also be a callibrocha (million bells.)

 

[Snack Cracker]

Embarrassed because I have a huge collection of houseplants (everything from snake plants to monstera albos/thai constellations to cactus to orchids), but I cannot figure out growing tomatoes.

They’re not yellow or curled at the tips, the bottom of the stalk looks good, it’s definitely still alive and producing flowers/baby tomatoes, and there’s no pests.

But the lower leaves on all my plants are turning yellow and dying, which would be the oldest leaves.

We added soil and mulch to the beds, but the soil below that isn’t great because of geographic location and content here.

Have been using fertilizer in a watering can once a week, but it’s still happening!

What’s the secret to tomatoes?
It’s great that mine are still alive and producing, but those yellow dying leaves aren’t aesthetic.

 

[سلیمان عثمان]

They’re not yellow or curled at the tips, the bottom of the stalk looks good, it’s definitely still alive and producing flowers/baby tomatoes, and there’s no pests.

But the lower leaves on all my plants are turning yellow and dying, which would be the oldest leaves.

I am generally hesitant to offer advice but I have had very good luck with tomatoes over the years.

Are your plants determinate or indeterminate? I am guessing they are determinate and the simplest explanation for yellow / dying leaves at the base of the plant (if the rest of the leaves and the body appear healthy) is that those leaves are beginning to yellow from a lack of sunlight as the plant grows, it could also be early signs of fungal infection from moist conditions if water is pooling or not evaporating off of the plant. It should be perfectly safe to prune the yellowing leaves that are close to the base if you do not like the aesthetics, good for the health of the plant as well as it will help with moisture control and air circulation.

With tomatoes I find that it is best practice to allow sunlight to be able to reach the base of the plant, tomatoes are thirsty bastards but they like to keel over and die if the soil at their base is not able to fully dry out.

Several Edits: I can not fucking spell.

 

[Stan]

Pics of the asparagus shoots - the new little growths coming in straight up and down seem to be a good indicator to me that the roots are doing okay.

 

[Emo Supremo]

Pics of the asparagus shoots - the new little growths coming in straight up and down seem to be a good indicator to me that the roots are doing okay.

i can't believe baby asparagus just. looks like that. i'd mistake it for wild mustard or some shit if i didn't know differently.

 

[Swagstika]

I would also consider how you water it. Do you allow the excess water to drip out thoroughly? Ie not be reabsorbed by the plant causing mineral buildup. I have a pothos in a big vivarium where the water never gets to drip out, eventually causing small leaf defects (that look similar to yours) which I believe to be caused by mineral buildup on the roots.

Using systemic granules and insecticidal soap can’t hurt though as a general precaution.

ETA- looking more closely at your leaves in the photo, it does seem like you have some strange black dots. When I googled thrips this image came up which has similar looking black dots.
View attachment 6083980
View attachment 6083992

I have treated my pothos for thrips and it really seemed to make a difference! Thank you so much!

Also, Steven the stephania has finally gone flaccid and elegantly draped himself over his shelf, complete with an artistic little knot at the end of his longest tentacle.

 

[Snack Cracker]

I am generally hesitant to offer advice but I have had very good luck with tomatoes over the years.

Are your plants determinate or indeterminate? I am guessing they are determinate and the simplest explanation for yellow / dying leaves at the base of the plant (if the rest of the leaves and the body appear healthy) is that those leaves are beginning to yellow from a lack of sunlight as the plant grows, it could also be early signs of fungal infection from moist conditions if water is pooling or not evaporating off of the plant. It should be perfectly safe to prune the yellowing leaves that are close to the base if you do not like the aesthetics, good for the health of the plant as well as it will help with moisture control and air circulation.

With tomatoes I find that it is best practice to allow sunlight to be able to reach the base of the plant, tomatoes are thirsty bastards but they like to keel over and die if the soil at their base is not able to fully dry out.

Several Edits: I can not fucking spell.

The soil drainage is very good in the beds and with this summer heat, they dry out fully even though I water them early every morning.

Now it seems there’s some sort of pests that are making tiny holes in the leaves, going to have to deal with it somehow.

There’s a small wast nest outside near the plants that I’ve been toying with killing with pyrethrum, could do a healthy amount on the plants too since it’s harmless to wild life and the water table.
But I don’t want to kill all the beneficial bugs too.

Was at my local nursery and was eyeing their mini tubs of praying mantis and ladybugs, maybe buying 2 mini tubs of mantis would be best?
Then of course the wasps get to live their best lives because can’t use pyrethrum after releasing mantis babies, but that’s natural pest control right?

 

[NoReturn]

Was at my local nursery and was eyeing their mini tubs of praying mantis and ladybugs, maybe buying 2 mini tubs of mantis would be best?

Try ladybugs first

 

[Swagstika]

I could use an opinion so, powerlevelling ahead I guess?

Spoiler: Powerleveling?

I recently finished up the paperwork on a new house. The swaglings are getting to the age where they have to change schools anyways, and there is a city with better options I've had my eyes on for ages. I found the perfect-with-some-work house. Large 50'es original villa in a large and quiet 50'es villa area. Structurally sound but needs a lot of walls knocked down and generally updated for everything inside. Slightly smaller garden than what we have now, but since the swaglings no longer have any interest in running amok outside, they would love to trade in a smaller garden for bigger rooms and more bathrooms.
All in all, pretty awesome.
Now the part I could use some input about is this weird greenhouse thing on the side of the house. The house is L-shaped and has this large greenhouse thing nestled "inside" it with access to it from two large livingrooms and a door to the outside. Our contractor says the foundation under it is pretty solid, but the greenhouse itself is the definition of kludge and was probably done by the old guy who lived there before. The foundation is laid out in a large x so you have a wide walkpath and soil available.
Our constractor suggests tearing it down to free up some more garden space. A fine idea.
Husbando suggests tearing down the greenhouse but keeping the foundation and add a tile floor for a grill area with a fancy outdoors kitchen with all the trimmings and a half-covering roof or something similar. Also a fine idea, but we would only get any use out of it in the summer. But damn, would it be nice in the summer!
I'm considering throwing some serious cash at it to keep the idea, but have it built up really nicely. As in good, tall timber frame, quality glass, growth lights maybe, maybe dig the foundation up in places to get better acces to dirt inside, heating, an automated curtain system etc. I think we could get a lot of use out of it all year round if it was made really nicely. I could see it with some solar powered string lights, a little fountain, some lounging sofas and maybe a mediterranean theme with olive trees, lavendar and lemons trees and lots of spices. It would be a outdoors-indoors area we could grow stuff in and use year round for relaxing in.

What would you guys do?

 

[Anasa Tristis]

The soil drainage is very good in the beds and with this summer heat, they dry out fully even though I water them early every morning.

Now it seems there’s some sort of pests that are making tiny holes in the leaves, going to have to deal with it somehow.

There’s a small wast nest outside near the plants that I’ve been toying with killing with pyrethrum, could do a healthy amount on the plants too since it’s harmless to wild life and the water table.
But I don’t want to kill all the beneficial bugs too.

Was at my local nursery and was eyeing their mini tubs of praying mantis and ladybugs, maybe buying 2 mini tubs of mantis would be best?
Then of course the wasps get to live their best lives because can’t use pyrethrum after releasing mantis babies, but that’s natural pest control right?

Wasps eat aphids and assorted pest eggs. (And sadly monarch and other butterfly eggs.). They also catch caterpillars to feed their babies. If they’re in an ok location, I’d say let them stay. But that’s me.

As to the mantids, they are cool bugs but their beneficial status is debatable. Especially for the store bought Chinese ones that eventually get huge. They’re not interested in caterpillars. Or Japanese beetles or other standard garden pests really. They have incredible vision and they will travel to where the most prey action is, like your ornamental flower beds and butterfly/pollinator gardens. Or grassy areas that have grasshoppers and spiders. Anywhere but the veggie garden. I have seen them catch and eat baby snakes and even hummingbirds. Which was gross and heartbreaking. They wiped out my big yellow Argirope spider population too. I used to be a big fan (I even raised a few generations myself years ago from an ootheca I bought off eBay) but after observing them closely I’d say they’re marginally beneficial when they’re small and they’re a real threat to the native bugs (and hummingbirds) when they get big.

 

[Snack Cracker]

The ladybugs are sounding mighty appealing now, did not know any of this about praying mantids.

Normally I wouldn’t care about the wasps, but the wood wasps have taken up residence in the corner post of our fence that’s behind the tomatoes and berries.
And the little crackers do not care how many times I tell them to stay calm, because wasps can hear elevated heartbeats and noise and motion makes them angry.
Lil crackers are starting to not want to come out to water with me, which is sad.

Bees of course are friends, truly don’t even care about yellowjackets because they’re not around like wasps are.