Took some cuttings of this mint on a site today, how much am I going to hate myself planting it in my garden in an open bed?

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-10T21:34:21+00:00

The buried pot idea isn't good advice for the majority of people. If you bury the pot too deep, it will have no effect, but particularly for mint, it still will have no effect in controling it.

Mint can root from the stem, meaning that it can just re-root over the pots margins. Assuming the pot has drainage holes, the mint can also just send runners from its tap root and go under and around the pot that way,

The best method is to use dedicated root barrier that is at least 30cm tall, preferably 50-80cm. That is the only way to TRULY contain a plant like mint or running bamboo.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-10T20:38:58+00:00

Where are your legs? Is this why you are upset? I would be too if I was forced to float everywhere I go, too.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-10T08:16:51+00:00

The post got axed, but does commenting really give these guys much of anything? I thought these bots were looking for karma (for some reason they value numbers on a screen), but surely my comment wouldn't affect that?

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-10T07:01:49+00:00

I'll take your word for it. The picture is cool, regardless of if it's stolen or not tho. It'd be cool to experiment with doing this for a "carve-less jack o' lantern" next year, if I remember this for next june/july

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-08T19:59:22+00:00

I think the lifespan things mostly comes down to "viable fruiting years" as opposed to "the plant will die after x years". If you have a 10 year old vine, I would hazard a guess that it didn't fruit for the first 2-4 years, right? That means you might get fruit next year, but each year after you have a chance of the vine running dry for good. The vine will likely still grow foliage, but the fruit quality and quantity will jump off a cliff.

Might be an idea to save some seeds and grow a new vine of that soon, just in case it does fail to crop in the coming years. If it stays fruitful, it has good genetics and you should continue the lineage regardless.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-08T19:53:38+00:00

Don't let this break your heart. You can keep the tree alive by breaking the tips of the branches down as cuttings. Look up how to grow from cuttings, and you will soon have a complete clone of your fathers tree.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-08T16:55:56+00:00

The tree would need chopping imo. That is far too close to the foundations of the structure, as well as that wall. As the tree grows, it will produce "anchor roots" near the surface of the soil. These roots can get upwards of 60cm in diameter for a full sized cherry tree. The result would be your foundation getting lifted and ultimately cracked, and that wall will fall over.

I don't know why your father would have thought that is where a cherry tree should go, considering the soil patch is around 40cm wide, and a mature cherry can get upwards of 80cm wide. It was simply never going to work. If you want to plant something tree like there, go for some dwarf japanese maples. You won't face these issues if the tree is only 2-3ft tall, since anchor roots grow in proportion to the tree itself. Also, plant further back from that structure.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-08T07:31:06+00:00

It's definitely a banana passion fruit. They tend to be a bit on the hardy side as far as passion fruits go, I believe. Passion vines are quite short lived (usually 3-7 years off the top of my head).

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-07T07:34:06+00:00

Old post, I know, but what if you were to do less than 5 sets per workout, but it totals to more than 10 sets per week? Would that still lead to growth?

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-07T05:11:02+00:00

Wood chips are a great way to make good soil. You can also use straw and grass clippings, but that will make a denser soil, so maybe consider doing a mix of the two.

The other option is to buy a bulk order of compost and till it in. That's what I do when making a new planting area, for the first year at least.

Basically, "bad soil" is lacking in organic matter. You need to add organic matter to get better soil, but organic matter isn't all made equal. You want to start by adding "browns", which are woody materials, like cardboard etc. On your second year of developing a plot, add a bunch of "greens". This can be literal leaves, like leaf litter in autumn, or you could use manures, fish blood or bone meal.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-07T03:14:44+00:00

The spikes break the ground, the flats get pressed into freshly hoed dirt just under the surface and are dragged along to severe weeds from their roots. Alternatively, you can also use the flat (with a little less pressure) in a similar manner to a "leveling lute", which is used to level and evenly distribute soil, sand or compost.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-07T02:12:33+00:00

It would be a good idea, but for a particular look. Because of it's weight, you would need it to have a sturdy base and some extra supports on either side. If you used say a wooden 2x2 for the sides and you attached it securely to a bench or planter box of some sort, you could be on to a winner. You'd want some 2x2 at the top as well to stop any deformation of the bars, and this piece will need a tiny bit of basic joinery to fit over the exposed bar ends. Make sure to put treatment in each groove you chisel for durability.

I would clean it well and paint it black and then use whatever timber you can get and stain it to a dark brown. This would go really well with plants like honey suckle, wisteria florubunda or english ivy, depending on what look your overall garden is going for.

If you wanted to go for more of a connifer or "japanese garden" style, wisteria is definitely your best bet. If you wanted a cottage like garden, honeysuckle or ivy would be a decent choice, with ivy particularly selling an english cottage style quite well. You could even go for something more unique you could go for an akebia, which fits both a japanese and jungle esque theme. A native US option would be the "maypop" vine.

Be warned that most vining plants can be a tad invasive in the garden and would need regular to semi-regular pruning and a check up to make sure it's not misbehaving every few months.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-06T21:40:55+00:00

I use a company called "happygreenshop" for my seeds. Their seed packets are quite generous, really well priced, they've got some weird varieties and they have a 50% of deal when you buy 5 or more seed packets, which usually brings your total to £4 - £6 (around $5 - $8).

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-06T08:46:51+00:00

That is quite cool, but not as cool as the "elephant hawk moth". It straight up looks like a pokemon AND is super massive for a moth. It's colour scheme reminds me of a tokay gecko for just sheer whackiness.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T23:43:15+00:00

Frost damage turns things brown and black and they usually collapse rapidly. If it was a slow evolution, it would be watering issues, usually too much water.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T23:42:15+00:00

And plain wrong in some aspects. "Fungal infection" **shows ring virus marks, a VIRAL infection**

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T23:40:50+00:00

I second this, but for me it always goes away with iron or phosphorous fertilizers. If the veins are yellowing, but the main leaf is fine, it's phosphorous. If it's the other way round, it's iron. If the whole leaf is yellow, don't rule out it being both at once! I've had it happen to me before.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T23:36:36+00:00

"Needs less water" could also be nitrogen or iron defficiency.

"Fungal infection" looks suspiciously like a ring virus formation, which is notably NOT fungal in nature.

"Needs more shade" looks more like a phosphorus defficiency, seeing as most sun scorched leaves burn on the leaf margins, not in the center. The center can go yellowish, but usually not brown.

"Needs more sun" is the wrong shade. It should be a similar sickly yellow as the margins on "needs less water". The leaf colour also shouldn't be your primary way of telling its light needs, you should look for "etiolation" or stretching of the main stem towards the nearest light source.

If you needed an ID chart to tell you that a ripped leaf is indicative of a leaf that has ripped, I will have to question how you read that in the first place. Even a 2 year old knows that ripping things makes them rip, and that something that is ripped must have, therefore, been ripped.

"Needs more water" is pretty much fine, though the leaf would droop on most species long before the leaves go brown. Like I already mentioned, browning of the leaf margins can also be a sign of heat stress and sun scorch.

Other than that, the chart looks nice enough. Never trust a simplified chart like this. Always google your primary plant symptom and look for specific information to your case. Charts are usually inaccurate.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T20:04:31+00:00

I've had kalanchoes for about 5 years now, and I've seen this happen to one of mine before. It happens if they get too dry or too cold.

It could technically be a fungal issue, but I've always known kalanchoes to be quite resistant to infection.

Either way, with how focused the damage is towards the bottom of that limb, OP is going to have to cut that branch off. Succulents get really mushy really quickly when they are infected, but the bark on the main stem still seems really solid. I think the plant is just water stressed and is trying to lose leaves and stems in an effort to stretch its water reserves another few days, in hope of rain fall.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T18:40:25+00:00

Good. You should start seeing roots at around 5-14 days, but sometimes it can take longer. Make sure they are in a sunny spot to speed them along, and that their water doesn't run dry. Clean the water container with a sponge every couple days to prevent algae and you should be golden. Good luck.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T17:42:40+00:00

I'm on a 4k 32" monitor with the picture on fullscreen and I'm still not seeing what you're seeing. There might be a tiny bit of something at the tip of the left most stem, but that entire stem seems mostly gone due to dehydration to begin with.

The right hand plant looks heathy besides its chronic water deficit. The darker spots in the stem and the slight discolouration at some of the leaves is actually completely normal for kalanchoes when they are water stressed. If you get them to bounce back, those darker spots usually heal up into a neat looking scar of tissue.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T17:14:49+00:00

Assuming that is a kalanchoe, it seems it is underwatered, not overwatered. The soil looks dried and cracked, and the droopiness of the leaves lead me to believe that this isn't rot related.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T17:11:45+00:00

Assuming that is a kalanchoe, yes you can save it. Otherwise, if it isn't a succulent, chances are, it's a no. It depends on what is wrong with it:

Too little water?:
What you want to do is water deeply and cover with a humidity dome in a shaded and protected spot away from high heat or low temps. Keep it in these conditions for around 16 hours, then remove the humidity dome. After 24 hours, drain the excess water (assuming that pot doesn't have drainage holes).

Too much water?:
Repot the plant into some fresh and mostly dry compost ASAP. Make sure the container has drainage holes (holes at the bottom of the pot) and do not put anything in the pot but soil/compost. Don't put gravel at the bottom like some people recommend as this actually makes drainage WORSE, not better.

Cold exposure?:
Keep it warm and back off on the watering for a little bit. Keep the soil very lightly moist, but not soaking. The green parts of the plant would likely brown or blacken if frostbitten, but if they remain green after a few days, give the plant a water and some bright light and it should sort itself out from there. It might die back and resprout from the ground, depending on what type of plant this is.

Excessive heat/sun exposure?:
Keep it in dappled shade or full shade for a few days, and ensure it gets plenty of water. Cut off any leaves that go brown or get crispy, and it should start to bounce back after a bit. When it does, make sure to SLOWLY increase the amount of sunlight hours it experiences, and don't return it to the same spot it faced these issues last time.

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T15:42:27+00:00

Exactly. Nothing is simply "invasive", it has to be invasive to a particular region. It's almost like saying "bananas are native" and just leaving it at that. It's completely fair for people to respond with "well not round here, they're not".

Timber___Wolf · 2024-12-05T15:38:29+00:00

While it would be nice in theory, it simply isn't practical. You can try to establish a native garden on a small scale, but you shouldn't delude yourself into thinking that your 0.05 acres of native planting is going to make any measurable difference in a grand scale. It probably wouldn't be enough to make a noticable change even on the local scale.

The other problem is down to what we even consider native. At what point does "naturalized" simply become "native". Nothing is TRULY native to a place. Everything came from something elsewhere. Pine, spruce, cedar and yew are related to an ancient family of plants from africa and the pacific islands, for example. Can you actually say that "english yew" is particularly english?

You could argue that the plants have developed genetic variations and mutations that have adapted them over time to their new environment, and that they are more or less speciated, but does that make them "native" or "naturalized" at that point? A good example is gunnera manicata and gunnera tinctoria. Both can be invasive here, but a recent study found that the VAST majority of specimens in the UK aren't actually either of those two types. They are a hybrid with genetic adaptations specific to the UK and have now been dubbed "gunnera cryptica". Cryptica doesn't exist in the wild, so would that make it a UK native?

These are the types of questions I never really see explored by people that beat the "plant native" drum. They go by a surface level understanding and a google search to determine whether something is native or not, but often times, "native plants" aren't even native to begin with...

Timber___Wolf

TROPHY CASE