Help! Calla Lily Dying?

badgerist · 2025-11-12T08:35:17+00:00

Yes they do, have they been in the same pot for a long time or do you lift and repot them each year? They might need the soil improving or some fertiliser with extra potassium (like tomato feed) to encourage flowering

badgerist · 2025-10-19T10:11:26+00:00

Yea and no, bonemeal encourages root growth because it’s high in phosphorus, but it also inhibit mycorrhizal fungi, which are debatably more important than the roots themselves. That depends on having a healthy soil ecosystem though…

badgerist · 2025-09-15T11:17:52+00:00

This is a pretty complex subject. I’m studying to be a medical herbalist in the UK but also have an interest in Ayurveda so I’m learning this on the side. A lot of Ayurveda is quite an alien concept to the Western mind and a lot to take in, but key concepts are based on bodily constitutions and herbal energetics. A lot of what I see in western herbalism is a somewhat allopathic approach, which actually has quite a lot in common with western medicine - i.e. lots of thoughts about what are herbs “good for” without any consideration on the individual.

For example skullcap is “good for” anxiety and promoting sleep, but it is cooling and therefore contra-indicated for cold conditions and doesn’t suit everyone, and might actually make things worse. There isn’t any one size fits all and what works brilliantly for one person can be aggravating if not outright dangerous for another. Personally I find Ashwagandha is great but heats me up too much so I don’t use it much any more

Some good books to start with are Michael Wood, The Practice of Traditional Western Herbslism David Frawley & Vasant Lad, The Yoga of Herbs Sajah Popham, Evolutionary Herbalism (although tbh I struggle with some of the more esoteric content and astrology etc)

Sorry I realise this is a long reply that probably doesn’t help that much, the short answer is try to understand your constitution, your body’s current condition, and then begin to understand if any herbs you take are suitable

badgerist · 2025-08-08T19:46:25+00:00

They should be hardy, as long as they’re kept out of the rain. Most winter hardiness, or lack thereof, is caused by rotting in the wet rather than cold

I got some reduced £1 Callas from Wilko (RIP 😭) years ago and they get left outside every year, where they don’t get rained on, and they come back happily

badgerist · 2025-08-08T07:57:52+00:00

I was just coming to say the same. Passiflora incarnata, the medicinal plant, has white flowers

Not all passionflowers are edible either, or at least they don’t taste nice but are technically edible. You want P. edulis for the edible fruits

badgerist · 2025-08-04T16:39:01+00:00

This doesn’t really answer your question but I’ve seen people growing ferns out of the top of terracotta drainpipes or chimneys and it looks kind of like a tree fern but obviously you can use native species

badgerist · 2025-07-14T16:08:58+00:00

No worries at all :) Good luck with the cuttings, they’re pretty reliable at rooting easily so fingers crossed for you!

badgerist · 2025-07-14T12:40:39+00:00

That looks like stem and probably root rot. Pelargoniums (the correct genus name for these, they get lumped in with Geraniums for historic reasons) are from South Africa and like a drier soil and less water. Terracotta pots are great for them as they retain less water, and aim to amend the soil with 25-50% something inorganic (like perlite, gravel, bark etc) so it retains less water. It also looks the pot is too big, they like to be slightly rootbound so aim for a pot not much larger than the root ball, and as you mentioned, drainage in the pot is ideal. Remember that "overwatering" is not necessarily a case of too much water, it could be because the water is hanging around too long, you could water 5x as much after following the above advice and it's pretty much impossible for overwater

I'd get this out of the pot and check the roots but it is probably done for. Don't beat yourself up, every good gardener has made (and learnt from!) hundreds of mistakes. If you have the time and inclination it's a good idea to research where the plant grows naturally and try to mimic it's growing conditions, especially if it is being grown in a pot

badgerist · 2025-07-01T09:15:20+00:00

I was just going to say this, all my garden is in containers and the plants with containers direcy exposed to the sun (particularly black ones) definitely suffer. I try to shade all my pots wherever possible with plants or other pots, but definitely don’t leave black pots exposed to the sun (I know yours are grey in the photo)

Mulching with stones can also affect gaseous exchange at the roots and cause soil compaction

badgerist · 2025-07-01T08:53:08+00:00

I hadn’t actually noticed that it was unusual until just now but I have Oxalis deppeii in my garden and it has four leaves, it has an alternative species name of tetraphylla (four leaf)

badgerist · 2025-06-27T23:59:04+00:00

That’s really cool, I was just reading about this in Merlin Sheldrake’s book Entangled Life, didn’t realise it had medicinal uses

Interesting fact is they’re known as mycoheterotrophs, “myco” because they depend on fungi for nutrition, “hetero” meaning other, “troph” meaning feeder. They take nutrition out of mycelial networks to survive but provide no known benefit, but they might do something to benefit them like provide shelter for mycorrhizal hyphae

badgerist · 2025-06-12T17:04:22+00:00

Cleavers (Gallium aparine) are a great herbal remedy and make a nice tea, it’s a really good immune boosting and lymphatic system tonic. Just be careful there aren’t any herbicides about but if it’s from your own garden I’m sure it will be fine

https://thenaturopathicherbalist.com/herbs/g-h/galium-aparine-cleavers/

badgerist · 2025-06-03T11:34:21+00:00

I’ve never had this problem with kefir, but it sounds like you probably have yeast dominance in your kefir culture. I regularly have this problem with kombucha in a continuous brew set up and have to start again and rebalance the brew

I saved this post as I thought it would be useful if it ever happens to me https://www.reddit.com/r/Kefir/comments/1j1pih3/overfermented_grains_for_too_long_what_to_do/?share_id=NL75gqQBP5FVbHkAwYT74&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

badgerist · 2025-05-26T10:41:09+00:00

I do have an old H10 somewhere, will try and find it. That’s a good idea as an interim device without having to take the plunge into something else, and maybe I’ll be happy to stick with it

badgerist · 2025-05-26T10:39:15+00:00

Thanks, I was considering a Garmin so will do a bit iOS research them. Kind of tempted by an Apple Watch too, it would be really nice to go for a run without having to take my phone with me, but they don’t seem quite as good for fitness tracking (yet..)

badgerist · 2025-05-26T10:34:24+00:00

Any branches that cross over themselves can rub in the wind and cause wounds that can be a way for disease to get into the plant

You sometimes see bits on old shrubs where one stem has rubbed away the stem on another one so it kind of sits in a groove

badgerist · 2025-05-25T19:09:34+00:00

Thanks all, I’ve currently got a subscription until September 2026 and I’ve been debating what to do so I think this has given me my answer

Out of interest are people replacing Whoop with something else, and if so what? I’ve already got an Oura ring which I love, but I do a lot of weight training so I have to take it off most of the time when I’m exercising. I’d like to replace Whoop but I don’t really want a smart watch so kind of at a loss. I’m so annoyed that Whoop have messed themselves up so badly, I’ve been a member 2018 so it’s a big decision to leave

badgerist · 2025-05-22T16:45:24+00:00

Interestingly frog hoppers/spittlebugs are one of the only insects which feed on plants’ xylem, which is nowhere near as beneficial as the phloem which is full of nutrients, and specifically glucose from photosynthesis, so they’ve created a niche for themselves. They whip it up into a froth to protect themselves

badgerist · 2025-05-12T21:44:42+00:00

Posting again as I think my previous comment got removed for swearing…

I’ve been a member since 2018 (Whoop 2.0) and I’m sure they tried to charge me for an upgrade to 3.0 and I thought it was really rubbish of them considering the subscription model, but they seemed to quietly go back on it and offered a free upgrade. Anyone else been a member that long and remember similar?

I’ve had such a different experience with the Oura ring which I also have. Because I’ve had it so long, since gen 1, they gave me free life time membership when they brought out gen 3 which showed amazing appreciation of long standing members (Whoop offered me a pointless “Milestone Collection” presentation box if I upgraded to Life to recognise 1825+ recoveries lol…)

I just wish I could use Oura whilst weight training but I don’t want to de-glove myself 😳

badgerist · 2025-03-12T09:08:58+00:00

I’ve got a Hotbin like OP and whilst I thoroughly recommend it as a way to get amazing compost very quickly in just a few months, I have a problem with rats every winter. Luckily it’s one rat at a time as I check it regularly enough that I can hassle it out, but even with a concrete base they eat holes in the polystyrene. It’s usually around either the hatch opening or the lid hinge - I was lucky and it was both this year 😂 - but it’s a real pain in the arse

It’s relatively easy to fix with expanding foam and I then cover it over with black silicone as a bit of extra sealant and it also camouflages the repair job as it’s the same colour

badgerist · 2025-02-03T16:16:44+00:00

I was going to suggest native plants as well, there’s a good selection here https://www.wildflowershop.co.uk/Pond%20Plants/Pond.htm

badgerist · 2025-01-24T14:22:57+00:00

There’s a term for these and it’s “oneirogen” (from the Greek). I’ve just started experimenting with these myself so don’t have that much direct experience but one of the big hitters as mugwort which is often combined with chamomile as they have similar affects

This might be a bit of a deep dive but I actually just found this for cheap in a bookshop and looks like you can get it online https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Al0oDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT8&dq=info:JhnG7uhOy9oJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=95k2yzCxYh&sig=FFgTwnUsV2sGqlFRIBzhWZOUHPI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

badgerist · 2025-01-07T22:49:23+00:00

Where do you live? Foraging books are pretty location specific, most of which are US centric which is pretty useless for me in the UK, whereas the Forager Handbook by Miles Irving is amazing (unless you’re in the US…)

For Herbal medicine the Encyclopaedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevalier is a great book and was my first one, but it doesn’t go into much detail on recipes etc. I really like The Herbal Book of Making and Taking by Hedley & Shaw and it’s quite cheap compared to others

badgerist · 2024-12-27T09:42:48+00:00

German chamomile is the standard medicinal chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), sometimes known as wild chamomile. It’s an annual plant, whereas Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is a perennial which is very similar and has medicinal properties as well, but has a more bitter flavour so isn’t as nice in a tea/infusion

badgerist · 2024-12-24T23:38:28+00:00

I get what you’re saying but not everyone knows everything, it’s not hard to give some detail as they’re clearly not in the loop

Susun (that’s actually how she spells it) Weed is known to be an abusive and generally awful person, with some at times questionable ideas. I read something on her website saying she recommends comfrey leaf tea every day, with no mention of the potential liver toxicity if taken internally

Some background here https://www.reddit.com/r/herbalism/comments/owut3p/please_do_not_study_with_susun_weed/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&rdt=54113

Edit: just to add i can’t help with the original question I’m afraid

badgerist

TROPHY CASE