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What Are You Growing? 2020


ben 10

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Thanks Yeasty.  I didn't know the Lost Seed Company so thanks for that reference but it seems they are selling out fast.  It is the same across the board but it might not matter anyhow...

The Covid19 crisis caught up with the community garden yesterday.  Not only are supplies getting hard to get but our monthly 'food swap' has been cancelled.  In previous years if I needed planting garlic (or anything else) I would rattle the network and the universe would provide but the food swap was the hub of that network and it has been shut down.  

Secondly the council has dropped a whole range of restrictive measures on the garden yesterday including a maximum of 2 people in the shed at one time limit, and whole bunch of hygiene and social distancing measures that are going to make the garden group unviable.  We cant even hold a meeting to discuss it.  The numbers at yesterday's working bee were significantly reduced (understandable)  and council wants to restrict our numbers to a maximum of five.  It seems only a matter of time before the decree to close the garden is made and that will involve changing the locks on the shed so we cant get at the tools.  Basically the garden will revert to the wilderness it was three years ago and all my good work will be undone.  

So it looks like my gardening will be restricted to home again for the duration of the lock down.  I am not happy about it but what can you do.  I am not going to bust a gut trying to keep the garden running if the powers are going shut us down at any moment.  I am better off putting my energies into my own patch which is generally neglected because of the amount of work I put into the community garden.   

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The good news is I scored a couple of bulbs of Austral garlic for planting  and a four seedlings of Early Purple from Diggers.  The rest of the shop was cleared out.  I have never seen anything like it.  As soon as new stock hit the shelves it was snapped up.  I'll plant that lot at home.  I just don't have a lot of confidence that the community garden will be accessible in the not to distant future.  

My plans for the community garden are simple :  I am going to strip it down and dig over the garden beds and sow mixed green manure crops, broad beans and spuds... and walk away.  My understanding is that May/June is likely to be the worst of the Covid19 situation and I am hoping that by August/September  I can be digging the green manures back into the beds and be harvesting beans and spuds.  These things can look after themselves for the duration of the lock down.    In the meantime I can give some much need attention to my own patch. 

Maybe I am an optimist but  this will be good for the community garden,  We have planted season after season for three years now and the lock down will be an enforced fallow.   The green manure and the broad beans will fortify the soil and the ground should be revitalized for the Spring.   

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On 3/24/2020 at 6:36 PM, Beer Baron said:

Is anyone here a horticulturist??

My Murraya plants are dying at an alarming rate??

Baron,   Is that curry leaf ?  I am no horticulturalist but from what I know of curry trees (apart from that they are of the Murraya family) is that they hate wet feet... and I notice yours is right by the water meter.   It doesn't look wet but have a dig around - maybe there is a leak at the meter underground, at that will certainly lead to a yellowing of the leaves.  Wet feet deprives the roots of oxygen and will eventually lead to root rot and the death of the plant.   

If you don't find the plant has wet feet then the yellowing is likely to be a nutrient deficiency and without going into the ins and outs of the duck's bum I would suggest a dose of Epsom salts and a dressing of compost.  

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50 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said:

Baron,   Is that curry leaf ?  I am no horticulturalist but from what I know of curry trees (apart from that they are of the Murraya family) is that they hate wet feet... and I notice yours is right by the water meter.   It doesn't look wet but have a dig around - maybe there is a leak at the meter underground, at that will certainly lead to a yellowing of the leaves.  Wet feet deprives the roots of oxygen and will eventually lead to root rot and the death of the plant.   

If you don't find the plant has wet feet then the yellowing is likely to be a nutrient deficiency and without going into the ins and outs of the duck's bum I would suggest a dose of Epsom salts and a dressing of compost.  

@Beer Baron Hey Baron - think I noted same re waterlogging on another thread for you... seems James is thinking of same thing... or nutrient deficiency which I also mentioned... chlorosis often Nitrogen deficiency.... could also be phytophthera - fungal root rot.  If nutrient deficiency as James suggests compost is good.... BUT there are so many things that can cause yellowing as I noted in my earlier posting... given the wetter times we are having and as James suggests proximity to water meter... maybe waterlogging is a possibility.   Biological systems are complex though and there could be many different things causing the micro-environment your plants are not happy with... sorry there is no easy answer.

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On 3/24/2020 at 6:36 PM, Beer Baron said:

Is anyone here a horticulturist??

My Murraya plants are dying at an alarming rate??

 

Is that the same one that was crook in January or are there more dying now Baron?

If more... and not the same spot... may be generally wet conditions and then fungal root rot like phytophthera...

Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould (-->fungus) that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called "root rot" or "dieback". The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries around the world.

Symptoms include: wilting, decreased fruit size, decrease in yield, collar rot, gum exudation, necrosis, leaf chlorosis, leaf curl, and stem canker

Chlorosis = yellowing...

Are you having pretty wet conditions after years of drought?

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Hi @Bearded Burbler

I have had a few die in the front garden and some have been well away from the water meter. The water meter has recently been moved to that position and then I put the garden there. The yard is on a gentle slope and most have been on the high side above the water meter. The garden is only about 6 months old now and it’s doing my head in. We have had a fair bit of rain lately and maybe they are a bit wet but how do I stop them from staying wet??

Thanks for your help!!

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23 hours ago, Popo said:

managed to harvest some jalapenos before the bower birds got to them.

They are bloooody beautiful Popo... magnificent own-grown fresh veggies are gold... luvyerwork.  And nice pickling job too... great stuff.

Am hoping we might be getting a bit more like average rain and am gunna take a punt and throw some old and new seed in and see if I have some luck..

Ha ha as a mate says - won't grow in the bag/sachet ha ha 😜

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3 hours ago, Beer Baron said:

Here’s my $hit plant that I ripped out. The dirt has bits of white that are hard to see in the photo. I have no idea what that is......

Hey BB1 mate I am suspecting that you have just got into wetter times and that the medium you are growing in is just hosting a fungus which is attacking the roots of the plants... means that the roots cannot supply moisture to the growing upper plant... goes yellow and dies.

I think this may be Phytophthera cinnamomi (Pc).  The bits of white are just evidence of some fungal hyphae that likes to grow in wet /moist conditions... which may be Pc mycelia but it may be other fungi as well.

Phytophthora cinnamomi  is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called "root rot" or "dieback". The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries around the world.   Pc also is actually an oomycete so not a true fungus but I think that is not material for this discussion. 

See that point - soil-borne water mould.  Am thinking that it might also be present in the garden mulch... but I think mate it is very very widespread across Aus and the World.

Stopping the soil being wet - stop the rain - or improve drainage - you probably have got a heavier clay B-Horizon or lower part of the profile so it will be difficult.

There are soil conditioners - gypsum - think places sell clay breaker... but reckon you are pushing the proverbial uphill... and dunno how many tonnes yer gonna add... and it MUST be incorporated in the clay layer which is probably 300-500mm down... v difficult.

image.png.7906de29877e99fc18fa59d4b64f1411.png

 

You could dig all the shittt out and replace it with a lighter texture - sandier soil matrix - greater coarse particle size distribution but that is a practical nightmare - and if you still have a heavy clay subsoil at depth you are gunna struggle to dig that all out as well and still end up at times of high rainfall inundation with a well saturated profile.

I think that the bad news is that you might be better off changing your plant regime and find something acceptable that is resistant to Pc and which is happier with your type of soil profile and drainage and climate - but that may not be the nice hedge type plants that you are really wanting.

The wet, white fluffy shitttt in amongst timber mulched moist soil with a heavy clay B horizon below the upper profile does mean possibility for Phytophthera (and or other more benign fungi) and no pouring in of Megalitres of Copper Sulphate or other fungicide=poison is going to get rid of it but will cost loads and just make things bad for everything else including any runoff downstream...

I am by no means suggesting I know what is going on or what the definitive answer is but hopefully this my analysis might help a bit in your journey to remediate the situation.

Blooooody phytophthera is a bassstard of a thing and causes all sorts of problems in all sorts of plants and crops all over the world... but need does need moisture... so I believe your plants were spared while we had the drought going on.

Get the below guideline and have a read at least in the intro.  One thing they do say is once you have Pc you will not be able to eradicate it.  Hence you may need to rather change your planting regime to something that is resistant.

https://www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/kangaroo_island/plants_and_animals/pest_plants/phytophthera/phytophthora_mgt_guidelines_2006.pdf.

I know a little bit about soil and plant pathology but don't do nursery and landscaping home garden type stuff other than plant a few native trees in my own yard off mates who raise them and or do veggies if it rains...  and don't live in your area so don't know what plant config you are best chasing as a replacement.  You might be best off going to a decent local Nursery - and trying a suggestion or two - maybe some sort of local native plants - but whatever you do - don't buy 20 plants of one species/variety/cultivar at once till you know it is "a grower".

And all up would be very happy to be proved wrong mate as like I always say - biological systems are complex - and sometimes the root cause (ho ho no pun intended) can be difficult to pin down without more of an extravagant regime of testing.

Sorry I cannot provide more of any easy answer mate. HTH.

BB2   🙁

 

Edited by Bearded Burbler
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polystyrene-gardening-3.jpg%20

At home I use the polystyrene boxes that Lite & Easy use to deliver as vegetable planters.  They are excellent for the purpose and the lady across the road gives them to me in exchange for compliments about just how much weight she has lost.  

A bag of potting mix, punch half inch hole 3 inches from the bottom as an overflow and you have an instant wicking tub.  Evaporation loss is much less in these than other containers especially with a layer of mulch and the polywhatsit insulates the roots.  I always silicone some fence pailing to the bottom which reinforces the boxes so that they can moved with fear of them spilling their guts.  I have one for salad greens, another for herbs, one for peas and another for garlic and shallots and one for strawberries.  Virtually all my kitchen requirements come from these boxes.

But that is not all they are good for.  A Coopers Craft Fermenter fits in the box perfectly.  I can feel some low tech temperature control experiments coming on. I have a temperature sensor.  I only need to poke a small hole through the poly to monitor the brew without opening the box.  I'll give it a go and I'll report back with the results.

Edited by James of Bayswater
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Beautiful spinach BB.

Spinach is almost as rare as toilet paper at the minute.  Spinach ! 

It's hard to get seed and at Bunnings the other day new 'seedlings' were being picked up just as soon as they were put down.  If you could call them seedlings as they had barely sprouted.  I lucked onto some seed from a Wholefoods store when I was in the shop as they were being delivered.

I was planting out yesterday in the community garden and three people approached me for greens including 'the bag lady'.  She is an elderly local resident who looks like a bag lady and she has been picking greens from the garden for her dinner for as long as I have been there and its for people like her that I am planting out all this spinach.  I was able to scramble up some silverbeet and a zucchini for her but the new spinach are weeks away.

Council has restricted the number of volunteers who can be present at any one time to two so no more meetings and no more working bees.  Most of the vollies have gone to ground anyway -  several are in the 'high risk' categories.  Fortunately the crew also boasts a couple of guerrilla gardeners (including me)  and we have agreed to keep the garden going even if the council locks us down completely.  I consider my gardening exercise and I am allowed to do that.  

I feel for the marginalized during the pandemic.  The neighbourhood house next door was hosting Woolies surplus fruit and veg but the neighbourhood house has closed.  We used to run a monthly food swap but that has had to stop too, and the poor buggers who normally rely on the garden for veg have found they have a whole lot of new competition and it has been stripped out.  Worse still there has been a Covid-19 positive among the Meals on Wheels crew and that service was suspended also.    It is a whole lot tougher out there for many people than not going to the footy or the pub.

Wash your hands, keep your distance, stay home.  

49442_256x256.jpg

 

 

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1 hour ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

I buy my seed of these guys. 

https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/

Got a delivery yesterday of garland, magenta silverbeet, kailaan and mizuna which i will plant out on the weekend. I see from there website they are swamped with orders. People going back to basics maybe???

 

I’ve noticed more people putting in vege gardens around our neighbourhood 

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GREENY1525229549 , The Seed Collection is based in Ferntree Gully - my neck of the woods.   I put a large order in two years ago but I must admit I have been disappointed by the germination rates especially of anything more exotic.  It was great that they sell small samples at $1.20 a pack but not so good that they didn't germinate well.  You should be fine with your selection though as they are easy growing.   

Also in Ferntree Gully is the Wholefoods shop where I scored my spinach seed over the counter - and the seed supplier was Eden Seeds who I highly recommend and have always enjoyed excellent germination rates with their seed.

 

 

New gardeners should watch out for retailers selling seedlings out of season.  One lady member  was all excited that she had scored punnets of pumpkin seedlings at the big warehouse and she had bought so many she was offering them to the community garden. 

Pumpkins are at the very end of their season.  Those seedling will produce nothing and were virtually worthless but that didn't stop them charging her full price for them.

I have nothing against the big warehouse, in fact I am indebted to them in many ways, but the practice of selling out of season seedlings to gardening newbies is just wrong.

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3 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

What also gets me is that all these seeds being bought up are probably new to gardening. Which is good.

During my other day job (Essential Service) I have noticed a number of recently dug over lawns/flower beds for presumably vegetable patches?

New Vegie Gardeners, fantastic.

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