Gardening and Plant Thread

[femboy fart huffer]

However, I have a question for some of you bog plant enthusiasts. I have another older VFT that has never grown traps this small. Are these tiny traps functional? I can't imagine them catching anything.

They don't look that small to me? Maybe it's just hard to get a sense of scale but that just looks like a normal small vft.

 

[Ceaseless Discharge]

They don't look that small to me? Maybe it's just hard to get a sense of scale but that just looks like a normal small vft.

Much better picture included with a dime and grain of rice for scale. They really are tiny! Cute to look at, though.

 

[May I Please Have a Water]

I have woken up this morning to discover that some of my sunflowers have had all their leaves seemingly eaten off. Can someone in this thread please tell me what creature may be responsible for this as well as the best way to enact genocide upon them? I am in the Northeastern US, if that helps.

My sunflowers and basil keep getting eaten by that damn invasive Beatle

.

This fucker.
Makes me want to buy a flame thrower.

 

[Justsomecicada]

Much better picture included with a dime and grain of rice for scale. They really are tiny! Cute to look at, though.

View attachment 7635633

What do you have going for substrate?

I like a mix of peat, dead spagnum and pearlite with a top layer of live spagnum for nearly all my savage garden plants

 

[Spaced Outside Cargo]

Makes me want to buy a flame thrower.

Literally how do these things even exist? All they do is fly mach 1 into solid objects until their head caves in and then their corpses pile up and smell like a junkyard fire.

 

[femboy fart huffer]

Much better picture included with a dime and grain of rice for scale. They really are tiny! Cute to look at, though.

I mean yea they look small but I don't really see any problems, it looks perfectly fine and healthy. They're small but they'll grow. Also small plants only need small flies, if it's tiny then it won't be able to 'use' a giant fly properly. It looks fine, I'd just say sit back and don't worry.

My sunflowers and basil keep getting eaten by that damn invasive Beatle

I know how you feel, my fucking rhubarb had dockbug on it every time I went out to harvest some. Every single time they were fucking too. I'd throw them on a bug zapper but they'd just keep coming back.

 

[Ceaseless Discharge]

What do you have going for substrate?

I like a mix of peat, dead spagnum and pearlite with a top layer of live spagnum for nearly all my savage garden plants

The substrate is a mixture of peat, dead spaghnum, and (horticultural) sand. I love the look of the live spaghnum layer on top but I've never tried it myself. That may be my next project!

I mean yea they look small but I don't really see any problems, it looks perfectly fine and healthy. They're small but they'll grow. Also small plants only need small flies, if it's tiny then it won't be able to 'use' a giant fly properly. It looks fine, I'd just say sit back and don't worry.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Hateful Maggot]

I bought a small venus fly trap from a big box retailer earlier this year and after a few months, it's growing tiny cute traps.

View attachment 7632679

It's potted with a young sarracenia (you can see a new pitcher sprouting up for scale). The new growth definitely looks healthier than the older traps that died off earlier. However, I have a question for some of you bog plant enthusiasts. I have another older VFT that has never grown traps this small. Are these tiny traps functional? I can't imagine them catching anything.

There really are some beautiful plants ITT! Stay hydrated out there!

They seem fine to me.
These type of plants grow very slowly, so don't stress yourself too much about it. If they have enough humidity and sun they'll do well. Just don't try to "feed them" anything odd, if they can't catch any bugs you could feed them with mealworms from the pet store, but that's not really that necessary.
One thing to watch out for is the minerals in the water you are using to water these plants, tap water tends to have a few minerals, which these plants aren't very fond of.

 

[Space Faring Marsupial]

My black cherry tomato plants exceeded my own height and show no sign of stopping. There is no visible ground in my garden. I thought I had 20 corn plants but now I have at least 30. 37 bean plants are growing at once. The 6 cucumber plants have overtaken their trellis long before expected. The squash has only now started to noticeably vine. My celery needed me to bushwhack it out to be seen. Me and my dog could disappear in the garden with ease. The only way I can water my garden is with a sprayer or by using a creek like trench to run water through the garden. Tomatillo branches threaten to smother anything within two feet of the garden. I have a hearty fall colored sunflower. Finally after spending years trying to cross a wimpy store bought type with my tree sized wild sunflowers. The whole garden has a hum of bees, and I'm afraid if I go in too quickly I might get stung by an army of fuzzy pollen smugglers.

 

[Stan]

the power line cut is yielding TONS of wild raspberries this year. I got like a quart of berries within 30 minutes of picking. (Don’t mind the pile of herbs that’s from my cultivated gardens.)

There’s gonna be blackberries later in the summer too, so we got stuff to look forward to.

There are wild blueberries around here but the season is ending and the birds usually eat them up before you can get to them. Also yellow jackets like them and I don’t want to bother with yellow jackets they sting like fucking hell.


I might make scones with this delicious bounty if it isn’t eaten tonight.

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

Too-much-space gardening woes/ update: I am in Week 6 of clearing leaves and laying down fresh mulch - 250 bags/ 170 cu. ft.* - across the planted part of my property, and compost around plantings. Been clearing out Virginia Creeper, buckthorn and assorted small trees that have been sprouting where not welcome. Moving and fertilizing ferns in the hope of getting the coverage back from the lily of the valley I let go ham. Removed a bunch of old landscape fabric in the lawn-to-woods transitional hill area. Dividing and transplanting hostas (I know it's late/ early, but my timing is what it is), removing spent lilies, trimming (wanted) trees - and got an electric reciprocating saw to get to roots, which was delivered today. Hoping it will also help with some low branch pruning as well, but we'll see. My peonies, lilies, and most hydrangeas bloomed better this year (except the one hydrangea the deer munched, the bastards, but elsewhere the deer/rabbit repellent seems to be working). Got a big barrel of compost that the heat is moving along nicely.

*I do bags because my house is on a hill and bc my path stones are spaced out and wheelbarrow-unfriendly, plus the main one to the back of the house needs resetting.

Still can't get a set of 4 hydrangea to bloom. They're in total shade, so maybe that's the ish, but I'm irritated.

There is SO much more to do, augh. I'm hoping that the catch-up work this summer will yield really good results next year. If not, I will have sacrificed my body to mosquitoes for nothing. Can't even count how many bites I've had, even with multiple & repeated layers of repellent. Working most evenings next to deep woods and in deep leaves is going to kill me.

 

[grimacefetishist]

I had six monarch caterpillars on my milkweed and something at them all

That's literally the whole point of monarch butterflies tbf. That's why the most important part of their conservation is brute forcing as many nurseries as possible.

As long as it was a wild animal that ate them and not like, a human person

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

Too-much-space gardening woes/ update: I am in Week 6 of clearing leaves and laying down fresh mulch - 250 bags/ 170 cu. ft.* - across the planted part of my property, and compost around plantings. Been clearing out Virginia Creeper, buckthorn and assorted small trees that have been sprouting where not welcome. Moving and fertilizing ferns in the hope of getting the coverage back from the lily of the valley I let go ham. Removed a bunch of old landscape fabric in the lawn-to-woods transitional hill area. Dividing and transplanting hostas (I know it's late/ early, but my timing is what it is), removing spent lilies, trimming (wanted) trees - and got an electric reciprocating saw to get to roots, which was delivered today. Hoping it will also help with some low branch pruning as well, but we'll see. My peonies, lilies, and most hydrangeas bloomed better this year (except the one hydrangea the deer munched, the bastards, but elsewhere the deer/rabbit repellent seems to be working). Got a big barrel of compost that the heat is moving along nicely.

*I do bags because my house is on a hill and bc my path stones are spaced out and wheelbarrow-unfriendly, plus the main one to the back of the house needs resetting.

Still can't get a set of 4 hydrangea to bloom. They're in total shade, so maybe that's the ish, but I'm irritated.

There is SO much more to do, augh. I'm hoping that the catch-up work this summer will yield really good results next year. If not, I will have sacrificed my body to mosquitoes for nothing. Can't even count how many bites I've had, even with multiple & repeated layers of repellent. Working most evenings next to deep woods and in deep leaves is going to kill me.

Lol bent the saw blade for the new saw on the first tree. But I course-corrected (aka figured it tf out) and was able to bring down a few trees before battery died (I was also using an underpowered battery, bc that's the first one I charged & I am impatient when trying out new things). Good thing I have extra blades coming this week. I think the basic blade was too short for the size trunks I was working on. But live and learn. But I'm soaked in sweat now, and that always feels good.

And semi-on-board-topic: trials & errors, and inefficiencies, aside, there is definitely something to being capable of handling your own stuff. There are things I will always need pros for, but being able to add or remove or repair some stuff in my world without having to call, wait, and pay is satisfying.

 

[Ceaseless Discharge]

They seem fine to me.
These type of plants grow very slowly, so don't stress yourself too much about it. If they have enough humidity and sun they'll do well. Just don't try to "feed them" anything odd, if they can't catch any bugs you could feed them with mealworms from the pet store, but that's not really that necessary.
One thing to watch out for is the minerals in the water you are using to water these plants, tap water tends to have a few minerals, which these plants aren't very fond of.

My location is very similar to the VFT's natural habitat, so they definitely get enough light, humidity, and dormancy time without much extra effort on my part. My bigger VFT seems to have no problem catching insects, so I know this little one will get there with time and care.

I only water my carnivorous plants with 0 TDS water. The ZeroWater pitcher has been a very useful investment on that front.

 

[Space Faring Marsupial]

the power line cut is yielding TONS of wild raspberries this year. I got like a quart of berries within 30 minutes of picking. (Don’t mind the pile of herbs that’s from my cultivated gardens.)

There’s gonna be blackberries later in the summer too, so we got stuff to look forward to.

There are wild blueberries around here but the season is ending and the birds usually eat them up before you can get to them. Also yellow jackets like them and I don’t want to bother with yellow jackets they sting like fucking hell.


I might make scones with this delicious bounty if it isn’t eaten tonight.

I could eat that whole bowl as is.

 

[Just_A_guy]

My Monnierara Millennium Magic 'Witchcraft' orchid finally showed up. It is near bloom rather than in bloom so I don't think I'll get it to flower this year given summer is halfway over.

I got it some fresh water and tropical fertilizer. If it isn't distilled water I boil it to get all the chlorine gone.
I've since gently unfolded its leaves to allow it the best sun coverage in a south facing window and I'm growing it as advised from the AOS Cattleya care sheet which was reccomended by the nursery.

For those curious its a Catasetum hybrid which are grown with Cattleyas.

 

[Bassomatic]

Global warming is great (it's the farms, take a joke) had my first batch of cherry tomatoes. Sweeter than Audrey Plaza kisses.

Also our mint has thought volunteering is good, lets start breaking your deck.. its taking over.

 

[Stan]

I could eat that whole bowl as is.

That is what ended up happening actually. Even I ate some (not much for fruit but I like raspberries.)

 

[Just_A_guy]

Did more research before getting too far along in care for my newest orchid. I believe the nursery when it suggested the Cattleya care sheet they only intended for the lighting requirements to be followed. This particular orchid is a Catasetum hybrid and strongly demonstrates characteristics of this alliance with its growth and dormancy cycles.

So for those interested I would suggest following the Sunset Valley Orchids care guide for them as it is very detailed and also corroborates the Cattleya lighting conditions suggested by the nursery and AOS.

 

[femboy fart huffer]

Rained pretty heavy over here yesterday, when it stopped there was this faint tapping sound. House is pretty old so it's always a bit of an oh shit feeling hearing that after rain, gutters get blocked quite often too though. Went around trying to find what it was and while I was looking out the back door to see if it was the gutters overflowing again I saw it was some bird pecking away at I assume insects hidden in the nooks on a metal ladder sat outside and it was the bird's beak tapping against the metal I was hearing. Little coal/marsh/willow tit larping as a steampunk woodpecker. Honestly I hardly use my phone anymore, old as shit and about dead but I've got no reason to bother with a new one, the only reason why I would is so I can take photos of birds to upload to inaturalist from more than a meter away. Though even then I don't know if I would be able to tell the difference.

Also noticed that some of the wild strawberries that sprouted seem to be missing the strawberries so I think the rabbits have been back. Which is fair considering they probably planted them in the first place. Just a shame I didn't get to see them, it's been fucking ages since I last saw rabbits in the garden, even before we got a dog.

Did more research before getting too far along in care for my newest orchid.

Honestly I've never had much luck with the niche orchids I've really wanted. So many of them are just stupidly awkward. I love stanhopeas but fuck me if they aren't hard to look after, at least over here. Normally my philosophy is 'I'll try it once if it dies then that's the universe saying it's just not something I can grow' but honestly I've bought several tigrinis and they have all died despite my best attempts. There's a really nice orchid greenhouse in Jersey/Guernsey and when I went a couple years ago they had loads of stans in flower which was really pretty. Though bit of a cunt to get to without a car if I remember correctly.