What did you do in your sacred garden today?

[shonman]

Took seeds from the seed pods of my Sinuichi plant.

There sure aren't many in each pod!

Hope they germinate.

No wonder I propagate from cuttings most of the time!

[Demonpigeon]

Mutant....

I consider the Cat an ally.

i'm really glad to hear that, when I google-imaged "bobcat" to see what they looked like I was really sad to see pictures of people hunting bobcats :-(

It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't posing and smiling.

[Sallubrious]

Took seeds from the seed pods of my Sinuichi plant.

There sure aren't many in each pod!

Hope they germinate.

No wonder I propagate from cuttings most of the time!

You mean Hemia ?

Mine produced thousands of seeds the first time it flowered.

[Earth Mother]

This morning I watered my babies ( various cuttings and seedlings from all walks of life) Had myself a cuppa and walked round my patch of green admiring the energetic spring growth and flowers. A nice way to start the day!

[shonman]

perhaps the Sinnuichi/Heimia plant didnt set seeds, just flowers?'

There seemed to be a couple seeds, in each pod....

Edited November 22, 2013 by shonman

[bullit]

took sum brug cuttings and took a few pics enjoy

henbane, gloriez,toothache seedling..

[gtarman]

What did you do in your sacred garden today?

Kept my sacred ass in the shade

[Idon'tstudydinosaurs]

Repotted all my cacti and Khat because they were all rootbound. Cut off pups. Moved Caapi outside now the weather is warmer.

[bogfrog]

Admired some blooms and repotted my 'purple Cherokee' tomatoes.

So nice to be back in the garden, although so much watering was required of me.

(Hehe DCHIW you get a bit gung ho with the watering can and inadvertently water your unfinished smoke )

Valerian beginning to flower - yay fresh seed on the cards -

Comfrey - a cherished garden ally -

I repotted this new addition, a cape primrose

Echeverias are looking nice

Purple Cherokees

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Your comfrey looks grea Ceres!! I recently ordered some roots on eBay and they arrived mouldy. I didn't bother contacting the seller, but if anybody has some I'd love to trade with yas ;)

[bullit]

I recently ordered some roots on eBay and they arrived mouldy. I didn't bother contacting the seller, ;)

thats what happening when she doesnt show her face on the profile pic

[bogfrog]

Cheers prioritise, I only bought one small plant and it has become this beautiful beast of a thing

Mischievous garden spirit

Its still light at almost 9pm. I like this.

Time for collecting dried tobacco flowers and leaves of the plant.

I'm not much of smoker, so this will last me ages. Has anyone used the flowers in smoking mixtures? They are really quite nice, although I'll only use one or two, as they give me headspins.

Not anywhere as harsh texture as tobacco leaf, and they are sticky... Which is usually a good sign.

In other news

Bonsai asked for a feed, today its 'ask and you shall receive'

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Yep the flowers will hold it together, spesh if your tobacco isn't cured and is sun dried. Don't use the pod part, get the petals as there fresh, they pull out leaving the pod and stigma for seeds if you need. There's a cool 'towel' curing method too which gets it niiiiice and dark ;)

[upside]

I picked up another dozen a.acuminata standard type from Bunnings, second time they've received a tubestock tray full.

Also been keeping an eye on my P.Carthaganensis seedlings. My first attempt and seedlings going well, very slow but stable.

this one's seed pod is taking an awful long time to come off.

My a.acuminata narrow phylode variety I grew from seed. From ~30 I have half a dozen left,, they're strong survivors tho, looking quite fit n healthy.

[gtarman]

Today I dug in a new garden bed, and I'm currently still deciding what to put in there. I'm thinking an assortment of various herbs at the moment.

[Earth Mother]

Today I dug in a new garden bed, and I'm currently still deciding what to put in there. I'm thinking an assortment of various herbs at the moment.

Sounds like a fine plan gtarman! I'd like to do the same except I am still chewing the cud as to how I can rat proof edibles. A lot vegetation has been cleared by many of my neighbours who in turn all now have chooks...result...a huge influx in the rat population which have 'found' my garden and all it's yummy treats well worth visiting. Last night they stripped all ( and I mean ALL!!! ) the bark from my citrus.

[gtarman]

Bummer. Native rats?

Rats are one of the worst kinds of pest - they can (and will) chew through a heavy-duty black plastic compost bin just to get at the innards. At a permaculture property I stayed at in Western Australia when I was wwoofing they had that exact problem, and the bloke told me about it (keep in mind he's quite hardcore on the organics and permaculture movements):

"It made me incredibly sad to have to poison them, but by god I'd do it again." That was all they could do to get on top of it in the end. If they're not native I'd suggest a good cat or two. If they are native I'm not sure what the go is. I know that bush turkeys are protected up North mostly, but the things are still bloody pests. They'll eat half of every sweet potato in your patch with full impunity.

Edited December 2, 2013 by gtarman

[Earth Mother]

Thanks for your reply gtarman!

To answer your question I have spied one native bush rat and many of the dreaded Ratus Ratus variety lurking about in my garden of late. I have not found any evidence of nesting sites but I have found a few 'runs/tracks' which lead into my place from neighbouring properties.

Your cat/cats suggestion would be great- but my dog would make a meal out of it/them unfortunately. For that very same reason ( the dog) I am wary of embarking on the poisoning route as dear old doggie would no doubt eat a half dead poisoned rat too!

I had toyed with the idea of concocting some sort of unpleasant tasting 'brew' which I could repeatedly spray on my plants to hopefully deter the rats. But alas, my imagination is not what it used to be and aside from chilli powder as a base I am at a loss as to what else I could use.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Earth Mother

[gtarman]

There are a few suggestions on this page (about half way down for outdoors) http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Rodents-Naturally

I'm not sure about all of them - the cork wood and meat grease one might still hurt your dog as well.

And you might be able to get a cat as long as you're careful about introducing it to the dog in a controlled and gradual manner -

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1016&S=0&SourceID=28

http://pets.thenest.com/can-adult-dog-used-cats-5936.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Cat-and-Dog-Get-Along

[Earth Mother]

Thanks for the links gtarman! Much appreciated. I shall get busy reading!

[gtarman]

Any time, always glad to (try and) help. Good to see a new face about the place too

[gtarman]

I picked up another dozen a.acuminata standard type from Bunnings, second time they've received a tubestock tray full.

Also been keeping an eye on my P.Carthaganensis seedlings. My first attempt and seedlings going well, very slow but stable.

IMAG2307.jpg this one's seed pod is taking an awful long time to come off.

IMAG2308.jpg

My a.acuminata narrow phylode variety I grew from seed. From ~30 I have half a dozen left,, they're strong survivors tho, looking quite fit n healthy.

IMAG2372.jpg

I suspect your survival rates on the acuminata may go up with decreased humidity? I put down a bunch a while back and just kept them open air in full sun and most of them came along fine. They even dried right out a few times as small seedlings and came through okay...I might be doing it wrong, but I just think because the environment they're native to is fairly arid and lacking in soil nutrients that keeping them in closed containers with moisture might not be the way to go, and that might be more suited to other Acacia species. But I've been wrong about plenty of things.

[Earth Mother]

Well this new face almost gave up..it took eons ( well not eons- but an awful long time!) for my account to be validated. I'm pleased I persevered.

[upside]

Hi Gtarman, I have 3 that are now open and hardened off to open air and the other 3 almost there. From the artificial lights to filtered sunlight is my next move. I'm feeling confident lol the loss of the others I'm sure was a humid/too much water thing,, but these guys came out of the same container. So I'm quite happy as to where they are. The phylodes are healthy and getting longer.

[gtarman]

Good to hear. If you start a new batch, give it a try - just sow the seeds in a mix of native potting mix and maybe some sand, keep it out in the air in natural light, keep moist until germination and it'll grow just fine - you won't have to harden them off either ;)

The other big thing I've found is that after germination, it's good to mulch around the seedlings with a fine gravel, like the 2mm kind they use in fish tanks. This will keep the moisture down near the roots but away from the plants themselves and will help to prevent rot. My guess is that after germination they need much less water to survive and thrive.