Gardening time!

Discussion in 'Make It So' started by LilacMercenary, Feb 14, 2016.

  1. jacktrash

    jacktrash spherical sockbox

    fabulous! sadly they don't have the thing i've been looking for for ages, which is hopi dye sunflower. they have a 'russian black seed sunflower' but it doesn't say whether the seed can be used for dye.

    but they have a lot of really cool stuff and i'm excited, thank you!
     
  2. keltka

    keltka the green and brown one

    I know these have a high oil content, but there's a botany person I could defs ask about this one
     
  3. jacktrash

    jacktrash spherical sockbox

    the hopi dye sunflower, the hulls of the seeds have purple pigment in them that can be used for purple, gray, or black dye. but lots of sunflowers have black or partly black seeds where the color doesn't come off, so idk.
     
  4. jacktrash

    jacktrash spherical sockbox

    • Informative x 3
  5. keltka

    keltka the green and brown one

    would these work? my partner is thinking about getting into dyeing so I wanted to go find some options ^ ^
    http://www.southernexposure.com/hopi-dye-sunflower-3-g-p-95.html
    https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-hopi-black-dye-sunflower-a.html
    https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/...helianthus-annuus-packet-of-30-seeds-organic/
     
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  6. idiomie

    idiomie I, A Shark Apologist

    so, lebesgue and i recently moved into an apartment, and part of settling in is plants for me. i have a general idea of what plants i plan on growing in the apartment, but i need help with creative space uses for ... decorating the apartment with them, for lack of a better term.

    i'm thinking of installing a bunch of floating shelves, maybe? but plants and planters can get heavy, so help trouble shooting this before i make any commitments would help

    current plants planned on are: chard, spinach, beets, strawberries, tomatoes, various peppers, mints

    halp?
     
    • Like x 2
  7. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    A tomato plant will grow pretty well in a five-gallon bucket full of dirt ime, though there's no drainage so you have to be careful about overwatering. Mint is okay in a standard 6-9 inch flowerpot or a rectangular planter with a similar capacity, and I think most herbs are the same. Never grown peppers indoors but I feel like they need a slightly bigger pot, and might be too heavy for shelves? For the greens, if it were me I'd get a broad, flat plastic storage container and use it as a planting bed (though drainage would be an issue again).

    In my apartment we put our herbs on a backless standing shelf in front of a window and we have a couple buckets of dirt that are currently empty but have held tomatoes and potatoes in the past. It blocks a bit of the light to the room but the plants do very well there, and the light coming through the leaves looks pretty!
     
    • Like x 1
  8. idiomie

    idiomie I, A Shark Apologist

    hmm i might have asked for help in the wrong thread? i've grown all of these plants in containers before, but in my bedroom, where i just put them on my desk/windowsill, or a special cart i had in my dorm in college

    that's not really an option here, so i'm looking for ways to create places to put plants (the counter space in the kitchen is Not An Option, full stop. i have like... three square feet of counter space right now. even the kitchen in college had more counter space)

    my go to solution for this would to be to get a cart like i had in college, only ... there really just isn't a good footprint spot on the floor to stick it? so i was thinking of building up, and installing like floating shelves or something, but dirt gets heavy and i'm trying to find the best way to go about installing shelving that would be able to support that kind of weight or, if it ends up not being feasible, what a good alternative might be (i might just use the smaller plants as ~kitchen table decoration~ or something!)

    (which is to say, i think this is really a hardware question atm and not really a question about plants per se. sorry. thanks though!)
     
    • Like x 1
  9. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    oh lol whoops

    in that case i guess I’d just reiterate my recommendation for a narrow standing shelf in front of a window, if you’ve got a suitable window for that. Or maybe you could get one of those windowbox planters that you can hook over the windowsill? That would depend on your climate, though.
     
    • Like x 1
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  10. Lizardlicks

    Lizardlicks Friendly Neighborhood Lizard

    If you have outdoor space (a lot of apartments have small patios/decks) utilizing planting boxes and trellises can get you a lot of space to grow things with a smaller foot print. If you're worried about the weight of plants on shelves, just make sure A) you're secured to the stud and B) use additional brackets. You can also try hanging planters. DIY gutter boxes are neat, and they go really well in windows.

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Lizardlicks

    Lizardlicks Friendly Neighborhood Lizard

    Good news everyone! The rosemary sprig has rooted quite well and will be potted up in a nice little terracotta pot this weekend.
     
    • Winner x 6
    • Like x 1
  12. Lizardlicks

    Lizardlicks Friendly Neighborhood Lizard

    Hope no one minds I'm taking over the thread currently.

    Went with a glazed pot for the rosemary because I miiiiight be taking it to work with me and a nicer pot is always better for sitting in a window. Trimmed it down since it was looking a little leggy and put it on the dresser next to a south facing window in my bedroom for now (then stuck the trimmings back in water to see if they root too lmao).

    [​IMG]

    This year's start of the veggie garden has gone into seed trays. Jordan also started some flowers for spring planting. We'll see what happens with them because neither of us have grown either of these flower varieties. Cypress vine and Livingstone daisies. Pretty little annuals (if we do it right).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2019
    • Winner x 4
  13. Misty Pond

    Misty Pond Well-Known Member

    figured this topic is the best place to ask...I'm thinking of getting a little potted plant to try taking care of. main problem is that my bedroom, because of how it's positioned, doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight until very late evening, so I'd have to get a plant that could deal with living in shade or else low levels of sunlight. the second problem is I have no idea what plants fall under that description

    preferably I'd like a small 'clean' plant that keeps to itself and doesn't grow very wild--kind of like a cactus (though I'm not sure about what light levels cacti need to survive. they're desert plants so I assume they like lots of light?). since this is my first time caring for a plant and all, I just want to start small, with a plant that's easy to nurture

    so does anyone here have any ideas what plants might be a good fit for me?
     
  14. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    Spider plant? I’ve kept one of those in a pretty low-light area and it did well. They do send out shoots and try to escape the planter a bit, but it’s not too difficult to trim them back.

    Google also says those little lucky bamboo plants are good with indirect sunlight only.
     
    • Informative x 1
  15. Lizardlicks

    Lizardlicks Friendly Neighborhood Lizard

    I've found spider plants will go hog wild when they take off and can send a ridiculous amount of cloning shoots out. You may want to look at snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata). Low light, low water requirements, they can take a bit of neglect and thrive.

    ETA: Snake plants are however mildly toxic so if you have any curious pets or tinies about keep them away.
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2019
    • Informative x 1
  16. jacktrash

    jacktrash spherical sockbox

    ferns are a classic. low light, tidy, nontoxic, hardy.
     
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  17. theprettiestboy

    theprettiestboy wombatman

    check fedco seeds for hopi dye sunflower! they usually still have some this time of year
     
    • Informative x 1
  18. theprettiestboy

    theprettiestboy wombatman

    anyone have any idea what to do with potting soil that's been infected with cucumber mosaic virus? it seems wasteful just to throw it out
     
  19. Lizardlicks

    Lizardlicks Friendly Neighborhood Lizard

    Hot compost and use only on plants not susceptible to it (no cucubrits).
     
  20. Raire

    Raire Turquoise Helicoid

    Google has some "heat treatment" suggestions for sterilizing soil
     
    • Informative x 1
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