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

[Honored guest]

is it truly that bad? compared to, let's say, bradford pear cum blossoms, is it worse than that?

As a little kid I found it unbearable, now as an adult its still pretty unpleasant. If there is only one ginko in the nearby area even if you have a female you should be fine as it takes a male to pollinate and produce fruit.

You're in luck:

That's from the gardenmyths.com people. Whose content is generally more reliable than most gardening sites/blogs/influencers because they are either academics or hard core growers with decades of experience. They do, however, seem to have an anti organic bias which is baffling and seems outdated. But that can be explained by the fact that there's been very little academic research in organic production compared to conventional. And they like real research over there.

So you have time. And there's a 50/50 chance that you got a male. Maybe even better odds than that, since males are more desirable and prevalent. At any rate, 20-30 years from now if you're still at that location and it turns out to be a female ginko... well, it's been nice, but it's time for her to go. Or not. Ginko stank is a product of the fallen rotting balls and is a temporary/seasonal thing. If you're really motivated, you could collect and pitch the balls before they rot and get stinky. Or just live with it for a few weeks.

While I can't talk for the people at gardenmyths about their anti organic bias I can guess that a large part of it comes from the sheer amount of gobbity gook, feels before reals, I saw it on the Internet so it has to be true bullshit that infests the gardening community. It spreads like a wildfire through a Californian forest during a drought, and trying to correct or disprove wrong or bad info is an uphill battle, so I can't blame them if they look down at anything claiming to be organic.

 

[Emo Supremo]

As a little kid I found it unbearable, now as an adult its still pretty unpleasant. If there is only one ginko in the nearby area even if you have a female you should be fine as it takes a male to pollinate and produce fruit.

this tree is the only ginkgo around for miles as far as i can tell. you got me wondering now though: is the fruit so stinky that it can be used as an animal deterrent?

While I can't talk for the people at gardenmyths about their anti organic bias I can guess that a large part of it comes from the sheer amount of gobbity gook, feels before reals, I saw it on the Internet so it has to be true bullshit that infests the gardening community. It spreads like a wildfire through a Californian forest during a drought, and trying to correct or disprove wrong or bad info is an uphill battle, so I can't blame them if they look down at anything claiming to be organic.

it took a long time before i read scientific evidence suggesting that organic practices are better in the long term and became less cynical about them as a result -- any conversation about organic products is going to be mired in crunchy hippy junk science, which makes it more difficult to find hard data that'll convince more people it's not just a scam to upcharge well-meaning idiots.

 

[Honored guest]

this tree is the only ginkgo around for miles as far as i can tell. you got me wondering now though: is the fruit so stinky that it can be used as an animal deterrent?

You should be fine then

It actually ended up doing the opposite, for whatever reason some critters like raccoons liked eating them so they end up attracting animals.

 

[Swagstika]

I tried to get an idea of if my massive new monstera will need to acclimatize before I repot, but the sources all disagree.
I have ordered an office sized new pot of the self watering kind, spagnum moss and a really cool modular moss pole system with a slow water feed system, size XXL. I plan to zip tie everything together to make absolutely sure it stays in place.
On one hand, I would like to let the soil and moss settle a little in the pole before moving the plant over.
But it would be way easier for me to do it something like the day after I get it delivered because we don't go to the new house that much yet.
What say the experienced plant owners?

 

[suspended animation]

I tried to get an idea of if my massive new monstera will need to acclimatize before I repot, but the sources all disagree.

Whenever I've received plants through mail, I've repotted them the same day or the day after. At least 95% have survived for several months afterwards, so I think you'll be fine repotting the next day. Just be gentle and make sure the watering system doesn't leave the soil too moist. (I've lost a monstera due to excess moisture before.)

 

[a hapless toad]

We sent this giant alocacia (almost 6 feet tall now) to a family member a few months ago, I think it was repotted two days after it was delivered. Seems to be doing well enough, new leaves and overall growth etc, but the leaf yellowing is a bit worrisome. That's not down to the repotting though.

 

[anliteralidiot]

I have a very long Mother of Thousands growing in my front yard. It's so large, infact, that it fell over...
And started going at a 45° angle.
And then I fell again!
.....
And kept growing!
What do I need to do to get a cube?
It currently looks like this.

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

Girls will see pictures like this and go “hell yeah”

 

[Swagstika]

Spoiler: mild spergy life story

My boyfriend is an avid gardener- me not so much. I love nature but would rather sit and observe how the plants and bugs grow and behave through the season than do any sort of manipulation to them. BUT, a while ago I was gifted a string of hearts. I have a couple plants I somehow keep alive in my room, but for some reason this string of hearts really grew on me. I put craft sticks in the pot so it could climb them, and turns out it prefers the yellow ones the most, orange ones if it cant reach yellow, and HATES the purple ones. Like wtf it has preferences? Now I feel like this plant is an actual being and I want it to live with me forever. It grew so quickly and got really long, and idk I just feel kin to this houseplant now, like I kinda 'get' it. I care deeply for this string of hearts.

I rent a house with dreary gray paint inside and windows that are smallish and cloudy due to failed double pane seals. I want my newfound house plant love to form a little indoor garden to help liven up the place some. Any tips for getting enough light in a dim space with less than ideal natural light, in a way that doesnt take up tons of room? I dont have a lot of space/outlets for grow lights everywhere but I am sure they are necessary. Ive thought about maybe some kind of strip light hung from the ceiling as long as it wasnt heavy, but im not sure what the best options are. I am obsessed with propogating my string of hearts right now and kind of want all the different 'strings of' plants to make a living curtain in the future. I have a couple teeny cacti and an aloe plant too, I dont know how I havent killed them.

Sort of necroing to reply to this specific post. I'm very tempted by the mythos3design modular and stackable moss poles in the fun colours. I automatically want the discrete green and brown ones to look natural, but would there be a point to pick a colour plants like? Say, if it matches the wallpaper or window frames in the room or something?

 

[Emo Supremo]

the one good thing about cold weather's approach is that it's when most plants start producing seeds. a chance to possibly grow bald cypress, goldenrod, meadowbeauty, bee blossom, mouse-eared coreopsis, sourwood, sneezeweed, indian grass, southern catalpa, and/or buttonbush for free? sign me up, faggot.

 

[Swagstika]

Dippy the monstera did not survive repotting. Not due to any changes in climate or water or soil or anything, nope. The modular moss pole system snapped clean through and took Dippy with it. To add insult to injury, it broke just above soil level, so two 10+ year old vines snapped clean off. I'm so beyond pissed that I feel calm. Serene. Just cleaned up the mess, chopped the vines in pieces and have prepared for propogation. I got it for the fantastic long vines and now I'm left with ugly little stubs that will take years and years to grow into vines again.

 

[Bassomatic]

Got a second aloe. It's about all mrs can keep alive. I prepped everything for winter. It's wild this year my passion fruit was going insane in the "cool" where I live everything is dead now. We don't really do house plants. So bring on spring plant frenz.

 

[a hapless toad]

I live in zone 6 and I still haven't planted the bulbs I bought on a whim last month.

Note to self: do that this week while temps are warmer...or else.

 

[Pickman's Modeling Agency]

I live in zone 6 and I still haven't planted the bulbs I bought on a whim last month.

Note to self: do that this week while temps are warmer...or else.

I'm in the same boat. Snagged a bunch of bulbs and rhizomes on an end-of-season sale and they arrived a week ago... need to plant them soon.

The worm bin is still doing well. We have mild winters, so I'm only pulling them inside when we have a particularly chilly night. They've just been fed the last of the jack-o-lantern pieces I stuck in the freezer, but I have plenty of plums in storage. I have a big ol' bag of kitchen scraps growing for their next feeding, though the cold weather seems to be slowing them down. I've also finally figured out the proper layering method to ensure I don't have fruit flies in the bin.

In other news, stuck my peony aster seeds in the freezer and seeded a small planter with coleus. Probably will seed some kale and spinach as well. I always want to grow shit through winter.

My gardening goal this year is to start things a little earlier than last year. I waited too long to get cutting flowers going in 2024 and regretted it.

ETA: Someone must be feeding the local birds sunflower seeds, because I have caught sunflowers sprouting up all over the place where I DEFINITELY did not plant them.

 

[April the Not-So-Hotwife]

When your home becomes a jungle of all sorts of plants, cuttings, survival and death, you know you’ve made it. I have just watered all 37 of my houseplants. It takes quite awhile but the joy they give me knows no bounds.

 

[Swagstika]

FFS. Just when I was beginning to feel slightly less butthurt over the Dippy the Monstera-failure, I find another disaster.
My much smaller monstera which survived multiple rounds of pest treatments, gas, therapeutic boilings by the swaglings and being cut down to below soil levels to go scorched earth on the thrips has thrips again.
I have had it with these motherfuckin' thrips on this motherfuckin' monstera.
There must be some sort of re-infecting reservoir on some other plant in the household. One that is less tasty to the thrips, so the thrips hop over on the monstera when they can. But otherwise don't really make the reservoir plant their home, because I only ever find thrips on the monstera.
I dug the small monstera out of its pot and have drowned it in a sink with a metal plate over to keep it under. I plan to keep it there for 48 hours minimum now. Argh.

 

[Major]

Should I plant roots straight out in the spring or start them under glass in the winter? I'm worried they won't take well if I plant later.

 

[high and tired]

I had to bring the plants inside because it dropped well below freezing a bit ago and most of them were frost bitten, so unfortunately my collection dwindled. I went out and purchased IKEA’s Rudsta cabinet to keep the plants safely indoors since I’ve got a few cats who love to chew on leaves and are generally stinky (but cute) pests.
They don’t get direct sunlight while being indoors, so I used some magnets to stick a handful of grow lights onto the glass shelves and set an automatic timer for the lights. The maidenhair ferns are coming back to life - snipping off the crispy and brown leaves definitely helped. The monstera deliciosa’s a lot more hardy than expected, and the string of pearls is pushing out new beads. I’m still dealing with fungus gnats coming out of the soil, but I believe I can dunk and drown the plants into soapy water and it kills them off? Haven’t looked into this solution much since the gnats are contained in the cabinet.
Here’s my cabinet set up:

Oh, and if you have any fern favorites or recommendations (aside from rabbit foot ferns), please let me know!

 

[Pickman's Modeling Agency]

Oh, and if you have any fern favorites or recommendations

What climate are you in and how large are you looking for? Ferns are fantastic because they have a ton of variety and are low-maintenance. I've always been partial to those gigantic prehistoric-sized ferns, but have never had any room for them.

 

[CalderaScar]

Blue Star ferns are interesting and hardy.