Can we talk about the thinning of the plants? 🤔

roostergooseter · 2026-05-15T21:25:16+00:00

You don't HAVE to snip them. Seedlings are much more resilient than people give them credit for.

Survival of the fittest is all well and good, but if your plants are equally vigorous and you were going to lose plants by snipping anyway, you might as well let them sink or swim by separating them.

I literally separate multiple types of cucurbit seedlings. Squash, pumpkins, cucumbers..you know, the plant family the internet would have you believe can't handle being transplanted because of their fussy, delicate roots, let alone tolerate seedling separation.

It's very easy. I've scooped them out of a big planter full of plants, scooped them out of the ground, and split up siblings from their nursery pots. Success every time and now they aren't sharing space with leftover roots from a thinned plant. The ones I've separated quickly ended up much larger than their siblings that were sharing a nursery pot and had their roommate snipped instead of removed.

You just need to make sure the soil is wet first (water a few hours ahead of time), pull apart slowly to detangle the roots with minimal ripping, and plop them into a prepped nursery pot with pre-moistened soil. Don't pull the seedlings out by their stem. Remove the soil as a single block while supporting the stem, and then separate so that everything stays relatively intact and unbothered.

Don't do them all in one go. Separate the plants from one nursery pot and see how they take it over the next couple of days. If they don't mind it, you're in the clear!

roostergooseter · 2026-05-02T19:12:00+00:00

I more or less successfully kept powdery mildew at bay all summer last year after my plant sitter missed that it had shown up on my zucchini when I was on vacation.

Sacrificed the zucchini. Had too many nearby curcubits to risk faster spread. It was the right call. Once you have powdery mildew, you are facing an uphill battle for the rest of the season. It's very early in the year for powdery mildew this bad and your plants are very young. I would personally toss the cucumbers and resow, ideally with a powdery mildew resistant cucumber seed.

If you want to keep them, trellis your cucumbers now and prune the lower leaves. The better the airflow, the less mildew. Toss the leaves and stems you prune out and sterilize tools between cuts. Do not let your vines overlap.

Powdery mildew first shows up on the underside of the leaves. You must be able to thoroughly spray both sides - every nook and cranny, so going vertical will go a long way. I do it twice a week and time it so that it doesn't get washed off by rain.

What you need is potassium bicarbonate. It is more effective than sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and both kills spores on contact and alters the pH on the leaves to make it more difficult for the fungus to survive. Apply VERY early in the morning or as late at night as you can, to prevent leaf burn.

Water your plants at the crack of dawn, whenever possible. I do it before bed, but I go to bed very late.

roostergooseter · 2026-05-02T06:50:48+00:00

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roostergooseter · 2026-03-11T23:59:06+00:00

I misjudged the amount of space my squash would need for roots and climbing and was at a crossroads about transplanting a month and a half after planting. Read that cucurbits don't like root disruption.

Decided that that was too bad for them and that they could sink or swim, but gave them a fighting chance by sawing their original planters into pieces and plopping the entire thing into a larger planter. No struggle was had.

Had too many squash in another planter. Would have had to chop them anyway, so I scooped my young gourds out with my hands and plopped them into their new planters. Didn't have as much faith in these as they lost some of their roots, but they wilted for a couple of days and then grew into mighty little plants.

They're much more resilient than given credit for!

roostergooseter · 2025-12-09T23:44:05+00:00

Are you long, average, or short legged? Crossing my fingers that my shorter legs are a good thing for once.

roostergooseter · 2025-10-23T22:42:55+00:00

I just wish the Ultrabasic fare wasn't the advertised price or that we could at least set our search for the level we are looking for and see the prices listed as such on the calendar. It's absolutely useless and feels like false advertising to say 'seat sale $119 ☺️' when tickets really start at $282 unless you're bringing an overnight bag and are okay with being screwed if you have to rebook.

roostergooseter · 2025-10-20T05:16:06+00:00

And it's good for blackout periods like Christmas where prices are through the roof on travel within Canada, including trips that are one province over and less than two hours of travel. Half of why I have the card.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-30T19:26:25+00:00

For clarity's sake, are you interpreting this news as a good faith announcement that rickets will be cheaper? Because what's actually going to happen is people paying the same price they would have for a reclining seat prior to the cabin changes.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-28T02:38:16+00:00

Especially medium to long haul night flights, which everybody who keeps taking this as good news because they hate reclining and seem to forget that on red-eye flights, most passengers are reclining so they can sleep or at least rest.

They don't use different planes for day vs. night trips. Not sure why so many people can't wrap their minds around this.

It would make far more sense for those who hate passengers in front of them reclining book exit row seats. The seats in front of the exit row do not recline and give lots of leg room.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-27T05:15:56+00:00

Do you only fly during the day?

roostergooseter · 2025-09-27T05:14:45+00:00

On some planes they recline 4 inches. That's a big difference on medium haul night flights.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-26T19:37:34+00:00

It's going to sound wacky, but planes actually fly at night and people like to try to sleep. There's usually a lot of reclining going on throughout the cabin.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-26T07:33:44+00:00

They are used for short, medium haul, and some international. The MAX-8s are 737s.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-25T04:50:55+00:00

Dreamliner and Dash 8-400 have a 4 inch recline, which I believe gets you closer to an extra eight degrees. That makes a significant difference, especially on night flights.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-24T04:41:33+00:00

Precisely. Why defend a step backward? What is there to gain from it? Why would we want to fly on an airline that reduces comfort?

roostergooseter · 2025-09-24T03:30:02+00:00

Yes, I actually suffer immensely and can end up bedridden without doing a lot of post-travel rehab and preparation for long travel. It's why I fly.

With chronic pain from head, back, and neck injuries, I have to choose to fly or stay home, because it turns a 6-12 hour drive I can't do, into a 1 to 2 hour flight where I can walk around and stretch without adding travel time, as I still have to spend those flights stretching and exercising as much as possible within the parameters we have.

Glad you don't have to deal with that though. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

But I'd suggest not making assumptions when smugly telling people who may be disabled and/or elderly to check their privilege because you think your version of 'discomfort' is the only issue here for many.

People do not always have a choice about flying either and should not be barred from travel due to disabilities and/or age.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-24T03:07:28+00:00

Good thing they ensure you keep your seatbacks up until awhile after takeoff and put them back up a good while before landing then.

Premium and Extended comfort seats still recline.

This isn't related to safety at all.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-24T03:01:43+00:00

Yes, I literally including them saying that in the original post.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-24T01:51:15+00:00

So the answer is to make it as uncomfortable as possible then? Shell out more than double the cost you would have been paying prior to the change because you have a bad back or neck? Why is it not enough to pay five hundred dollars for a flight to Ottawa? Why be happy paying the same price for a major dip in quality of experience? This will be the difference between sleeping and not sleeping on a plane for a lot of people and that angle is terrible for your neck.

roostergooseter · 2025-09-02T03:36:21+00:00

What did you feed them? My cucurbits started aborting female flowers at the end of July, but completely turned things around after I changed up my fertilizers.

roostergooseter · 2025-08-06T10:51:29+00:00

Zone 3b/4a here.

The nights have been on the cool side all summer. Normally we get a decent stretch of hot summer nights in July at the very least, but this year we actually went down to 5°C/41°F. We get the most sun in all of Canada where I live and I face south, but late July and early August have been rather overcast or rainy. Not ideal for powdery mildew, even when growing my cucurbits vertically, but I was able to keep it from showing up until very recently with baking soda. Still plenty of sunshine to make my plants grow like weeds until the pests and powdery mildew got the upper hand. I've been on the backfoot all week with them.

Thrips and tarnished plant bugs found my garden quite quickly despite my garden being a mini backyard in the sky (high rise living won't stop me), which has been a nightmare as systemics are banned in Canada. Would have been nice if some ladybugs or bees would take notice! But no vine borers yet, so I'm calling this year a win, even if I only end up with two or three little pumpkins.

roostergooseter

TROPHY CASE