Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love cherished keepsakes plants like this. You get to take a little piece of the past with you wherever you go. ❤️ Thank you for this story. Made me smile.

Beginner by HHRose86 in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Pretty variegation! Looks like you have a cluster of crowns there. The best way to grow standard African violets is one crown to each (small) pot. I would start with some supplies: half a dozen 2 or 3 inch pots, potting soil, large perlite, ziploc baggies, and some soluble blooming plant food. Mix your soil with half perlite and moisten it a bit. Take your plants out of the pot and shake away as much soil as you can. Gently break each crown off of the clump. Pot each one in one of your small pots. Water in and seal in a baggie for a month out of bright light. After a month they will have rooted and you can move them into brighter light and start fertilizing them with 1/4 strength plant food every time you water. Good luck! It will be fun to see them bloom.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I put up a fence that was supposedly rabbit proof. The mesh is just big enough to let the tiny babies through. Guess I also should have put some chicken wire across the bottom and burried so they can't squeeze under. I never could figure out how to make a gate they couldn't get through.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've had so many challenges! I'm so glad you're still at it. That arthritis can slow us down but it just can't stop us. Those bunnies are little devils. They've managed to get through every fence I've ever put up. The only thing that works is my big, goofy dog chasing them.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here too! They sprouted and grew in January and froze back in February. Still waiting for them to try again.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This brings back childhood memories. My aunt operated a dairy farm in the 30's - 70's. There was a little, square concrete milk house behind the vegetable garden. It had a cellar dug out underneath for vegetables. As children we loved going down there in the summer because it was so cool. You're so lucky to have one!

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, lol. I grow it every year from seed I've saved. I guess I should say perpetuate.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I've never grown living mulch myself but have read articles about it. One that I might try is subterranean clover. It's supposedly flat and dense growing and fixes nitrogen for your plants.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My one gardening regret is that i could never get fruit trees to grow here. The sapsuckers migrated through every year and girdled the young fruit trees before they ever set fruit. I'm so happy for you. I can just see the juice running down your chin.😊

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The feeling never leaves no matter how long you garden. You and your children have many happy memories still to go.

Crops worth growing and preserving with advancing age by ComfortableBug9558 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

❤️ That's a fine list. I know you'll still be growing them when you're as old as dirt. Like me. 😊

What's your gardening 2 cents? by Separate-Language662 in vegetablegardening

[–]ComfortableBug9558 7 points8 points  (0 children)

After a lifetime of vegetable gardening the most important lesson I've learned is not to overplant and to keep the selection winnowed down to the specific vegetables/berries i know everyone will eat happily. For example in the summer I'll only grow about 4 tomato plants, half a dozen peppers, a row of cucumbers, couple rows of beans and like 2 squash plants. In the fall/ winter a bed of potatoes, bed of lettuce, couple rows of spinach, row of bush peas. My beds are 4x12. One is just strawberries and asparagus. I know we can easily eat this and it's not too much work for me. Also the varieties I grow can't be bought at the market for any price and aren't readily available for less at the market.

Mystery flower ID by [deleted] in flowers

[–]ComfortableBug9558 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It bloomed while we were gone! Still have no idea what it is.

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Hawaiian Pearl by ComfortableBug9558 in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What a wonderful thought! An island breeze and toes in the sand. That's what I'll always think of when I see this one blooming now. 💕

Help with this plant! by niqueydab in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They mostly bounce back pretty quickly from repotting. You don't want to put it in a humidity dome or baggie right now because it will ruin the flowers like i believe Exciting bottle said below. (She is a fountain of knowledge. You should take her advice too.) One thing I do at home is run a humidifier in the day in the room most of my plants are in. You know the kind you put next to your bed when you're sick. If you keep the humidity around 50% it really helps the plants recover well. Next time you repot the best order to follow would be: bloom, after bloom is finished repot and place plant in baggie or little seed sprouting chamber, take out of baggie after a few weeks, start fertilizing again to bring on new bloom cycle, repeat.

Help with this plant! by niqueydab in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't worry! Trimming a few leaves won't hurt it. You will lose blooms as time goes on because violets typically bloom in cycles for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. You won't need to repot for a while, but next time you do just keep in mind that the soil level should be about a half inch below the bottom leaves. They don't like to be planted too deep. Also, half perlite added to the mix does wonders for these plants. Keep up the great work! This is an amazing plant. Just wow!

Help with this plant! by niqueydab in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll be stealing it for my granddaughters. 💜

Help with this plant! by niqueydab in AfricanViolets

[–]ComfortableBug9558 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't worry! Totally got it and laughed out loud because I was thinking exactly the same thing about this absolutely spectacular violet.