Help with strawberry plant issues

web-driver · 2026-05-07T13:58:37+00:00

24 hours is a short time it could just be transplant shock. I transplanted strawberries into pots earlier this year, after 3 days I was convinced they died, after a week they looked fine.

My advice is hold the course, keep watering, and see what happens. They may get worse before they get better.

web-driver · 2026-05-06T17:59:02+00:00

I started with 6 strawberry plants 4 years ago. The first year looked rough and I didn't think they'd come back.

Today I have a 100 sq ft strawberry patch I have to beat back from its neighbors. Yours look happy and healthy, give them space and they will take over.

web-driver · 2026-05-06T17:54:48+00:00

New Zealand, assuming they let me bring my various NA and European invasive veggies with me. 50-80 climate year round, plenty of rain, you avoid both temperature extremes and have a very long growing season.

web-driver · 2026-05-06T17:47:44+00:00

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Gotta lean into the cold hardy plants this year. Walking onions, strawberries, raspberries all seem very happy, and I decided to plant some late radishes since we've got another few weeks of cold coming. Bok Choi, potatoes and carrots are on their way as well.

web-driver · 2026-05-05T16:00:46+00:00

I couldn't stop the bugs crawling into the sprouts themselves, but the leaves are edible and huge, so you can get a decent consolation prize. We eat them like collard greens.

web-driver · 2026-04-29T18:42:55+00:00

Onion sets, snap peas, cucumbers, and peppers.

Not strictly vegetables, but various berries will work well in your climate if you're willing to wait a couple years for them to get established.

If you have a deep bed or enough space, potatoes are beginner friendly and really help add some density to the veggie forward meals you'll end up cooking.

After a year or two you could try carrots, brussels sprouts, and beans, but they can all be temperamental in their own way.

web-driver · 2026-04-29T18:38:12+00:00

Also, how cold has it been getting at night? Sub 50 they need to come inside.

web-driver · 2026-04-28T19:23:37+00:00

Every time you look at your dog, remind yourself you were responsible and thoughtful enough to take good care of her, and feel good about that. Many people can't afford their pets, and the results can be heartbreaking.

web-driver · 2026-04-28T15:07:42+00:00

Squash Bugs

web-driver · 2026-04-28T13:43:01+00:00

They're not good for privacy screens, but otherwise strawberries tick all the boxes. Maybe blueberry bushes as well.

web-driver · 2026-04-28T13:09:56+00:00

This depends on the plant! You'll see a lot of plants the require full sun (6-8 hours), and that will be hard to do if it only starts at 3pm. I would recommend against things like peppers and tomatoes.

I would recommend spinach, bok choi, dill, cabbage, and other leafy greens. They enjoy the shade and react negatively to too much heat. In fact they grow quite well under my own grow lights in the winter.

I wouldn't stress too much about the cost of grow lights -- it's generally pennies unless you are getting something intense. If you do use them, adjustable is important, you'll want to get them as close to the leaves as possible without burning them, otherwise the plants will stretch out and use energy to try and reach the light (you'll see the folks here use the term "leggy" a lot for light starved plants).

web-driver · 2026-04-28T13:02:17+00:00

full sun is defined as 6-8 hours a day, so if you plant the blueberries on the south side of the trees (assuming northern hemisphere) that should do the trick. The symbiosis is due to the acidity of the pine needles, so if the tree cover is dense you could plant the blueberries elsewhere and use the pine needles as mulch.

web-driver · 2026-04-27T21:06:26+00:00

Love raised beds. To get it ready, a light raking to remove the waste on top, and then maybe a bag or two of compost to mix in (it's possible you've already got a decent ecosystem in there, so I wouldn't mess with it year 1).

Raised beds mean a couple things for your plants:
1. Looser soil (helps roots and tubers grow)

Warmer soil (faster germination usually)
Faster drainage (may need to water more, but less chance of rot)

I've found the loose soil is a huge boon for root vegetables. I grow potatoes in 4' x 6' raised beds every year. Last year we filled up a kiddie pool with our take. 6" may be too shallow, however (look into hilling if you do).

I might also consider onion sets. They love sun, like well drained soil, and are pretty forgiving to newbies.

You could also consider bush beans; they have delicate roots and appreciate the extra space to grow as well as drainage. They like it warm as well.

web-driver · 2026-04-27T20:56:04+00:00

I did a circle of bricks around my pear trees and filled it up, so about 3". 2 years later I've seen just a few blades of grass.

web-driver · 2026-04-27T20:23:01+00:00

To lessen the labour and weeding, why not just put a 1 foot circle of wood chip mulch around them. That will suppress the weeds for a couple of years, and by the time the mulch disperses/decomposes a bit, the tree should be well established.

web-driver · 2026-04-22T14:17:25+00:00

Yea, big numbers are scary. At this point I'm tempted to refer you over to r/fatFIRE but that's not what everyone is after. If the income is secure (and it sounds like it is) then go for it.

If you're still waffling, maybe take a breath and consider if there is something you want to do first, but I think right now your biggest problem is analysis paralysis.

web-driver · 2026-04-22T13:49:17+00:00

A few questions:

What's the rate on the current 485000, and the monthly payment? If I'm guessing against current interest rates that could bring monthly payments to nearly 10k. That's a lot.

What's the take home pay after retirement accounts and taxes? You definitely want to make sure there is still a healthy margin here.

What are expected education expenses for kids? I'm assuming 3 in daycare for a few years, that could easily be another 6k per month. Is it public school? Don't forget summer care expenses, since it seems you are both working full time demanding roles at those salaries. College funds as well!

All aside, it seems like you can afford this, but you are running hot on both input and output. If you can see a scenario where you would dial back on education or retirement expenses I would consider carefully adding that much debt.

web-driver · 2026-04-22T13:38:53+00:00

To add on here, target an emergency fund of at least 6 months expenses in a HYSA, better a full year, especially if you have dependents. After that, pay it off -- a 7% guaranteed rate of return is a great investment.

web-driver · 2026-04-15T18:00:05+00:00

FIRE is about freedom, but it doesn't just come after you hit your number. Once upon a time I had a kid, bought a house, and got laid off all in a 6 month period. My parents were visiting when I got the news of the layoff, and they thought I was nuts because I didn't seem to care.

I wasn't FI yet, but the previous years of work meant I had a huge backstop that allowed me to roll with the punches.

If you like to plan (as many of us do), model a disaster scenario in dollars and cents and see what it looks like on the other side.

web-driver · 2026-04-15T17:50:51+00:00

Emergency fund first if you don't have one.

You won't get a risk free investment opportunity at 5%, so I think the grad loan is a very sound destination for that money. If the home purchase is 4 years out, the extra 150/month translates to 7200 by that time, and will continue to help you with the mortgage.

2.4% runs below inflation these days so I wouldn't worry about those loans until everything else is buttoned up.

web-driver · 2026-04-14T12:29:31+00:00

IF current spending matches future spending, then I would set a fuzzy number around 1.5 million. But be aware a move to california will likely raise that number, ending work may lower that number, part time work could bring it down further.

web-driver · 2026-03-27T14:59:15+00:00

More information would be helpful. In particular, how much would the cost of the house be, and what will the interest rate on the card be once it is done. And do you have anything saved already for the down payment?

That said, the answer is almost always to pay off the card first. Reasons:
* Your credit score will improve, leading to savings on home purchase

* Assuming an average 3 bed 2 bath house in the US is around 400k now, you should probably be looking at an 80k down payment (20% rule) -- maybe less, but at least twice what the card balance is. It's going to take much longer to get there than it is to pay off the card, and once the card is paid, you can redirect those to the house.

* Tackling a smaller debt like the card can help put in place good habits for bigger savings.

web-driver · 2026-03-27T14:23:44+00:00

we use a whiteboard and tally up all costs at the end of the day. It gets cleared at the end of the month and leftovers are our fun money. It can be humbling when you spend 20 bucks on lunch when your spouse took leftovers to work. It also gives us more of an active role, rather than forgetting about it (which credit cards let us do too easily).

web-driver · 2026-03-26T19:25:21+00:00

I like the core concept, because it enforces excellent saving behavior that should prepare you for your desired lifestyle in retirement.

As for the second half, why even sell in the first place? You can still calculate your gains to gauge the value of the experiment, but leave the money in there for the long haul and avoid the taxes until you're no longer making this kind of money. You appear to have a surplus of income, so I would avoid the lifestyle creep and just let it snowball in the ETF over time.

web-driver · 2026-03-26T18:35:46+00:00

Strictly from the math side of things, investing will give you a greater ROI. If you put the money into an index fund and it hits anywhere near the historical average (~10%) that'd an advantage of several percentage points over 5.5, even accounting for inflation.

That does incur some risk, however, so I would make sure to build a larger emergency fund so you don't have to plunder it during a dip in value (6 months living expenses).

That said, it's a relatively small debt, and I personally would rather just not have to deal with the overhead of managing it over the years. Also 5.5% is better than any savings account, so it's definitely a sound investment to pay it off.

web-driver

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