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+--- Thread: Confessions of a crappy gardener. (/showthread.php?tid=4238)
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - JWFITZ - 09-01-2008
Thanks, LOL.
Too bad you can't eat mold, eh?
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - Menehune - 09-01-2008
Great post - accelerating my learning curve! [
]To make the most of my gardening inexperience and the most of it's production an eatable mold is essential - BLU CHESSE DRESSING! [:p]
My wife loves cashews - but I've read that part of the plant produces a substance as toxic as "poison ivy" - I'll "scratch" that off my list! (bad pun- my bad [V])
The mention of pond raising "Tilapia" perked my interest - "Googled" it - found that it has some consumption drawbacks -
"Popular Fish, Tilapia, Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination" [?]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708092228.htm
Better get of the internet or the only thing I'll be eating is my computer! [
]Latter - Joey
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - Hotzcatz - 09-01-2008
Aqua & Aviary Hobbiest has some tilapia and usually several different types. He also has a lot of koi, too, if you wanted decorative pond fish. His shop is in the garage behind his house. If you start at the Hilo Library, go up the hill, turn on Komohana street and stay going to the first right past the four way stop sign that will be the street his house is on. Ululani? That doesn't sound quite the right street, but the first right turn past the four way stop on Komohana if you come at it from the Hilo Library side. Maybe it is U'ilani Street? His house is about halfway down the street and on the left. There's pink flamingos in his front flowerbed and a chicken silhouette on top of his mailbox. George is a great guy and has interesting stories if you can get him talking but he's pretty shy. He was telling me of his job at a chicken hatchery in Hilo just after WWII last time I was at his pet shop.
Someone was telling me about sawdust in gardens. I wanted to use some as mulch and they said if it wasn't composted then it would pull the nitrogen out of the soil instead of adding it in, or something along that line. They said it should be composted first, although I suppose amending the soil by adding extra nitrogen would also work.
Lately folks have been getting excited about worm bins, composting and static hydroponics - lettuce in milk jugs.
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - Kelena - 09-01-2008
Fascinating! But I don't think you have much to confess and I think you are a pretty good gardener considering what you are up against. I absolutely love gardening and I assure you I am much, much worse. Under my care, things grow that weren't supposed to get big at all get huge, and surefire performers wilt.
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - punafish - 09-02-2008
Surely I am the crappiest gardener in the land. My enemies include slugs, snails, leaf miners, birds and myself. Thankfully my wife’s discipline and efforts are keeping us in the game. Here’s an update on the status of our garden with the caveat that it’s small scale, and at a much lower elevation that Jay’s (Upper Hawaiian Shores near Da Store):
Tomatoes: depends on the plant; the cherry tomatoes are thriving as everyone on this forum said they would. Leaf miners are doing their damage to the leaves of other plants, but don’t seem to be affecting the fruit. Started using Thuricide today (small concentrate amount mixed with water), will let you know our results.
Basil: no problems
Cucumber: so far so good, but everyone says the first year is easy, then it’s “hide and seek” to stay a step ahead of the pests.
Green beans: thriving, but the birds are pilfering our stash
Lemon grass: one survivor, one casualty.
Lettuce (some in the garden, some in planters): slugs got us in the garden at first but the bait seems to be working
Radishes: no problems so far, but our second crop is on the small side--not enough sunlight?
Mitsuba (trefoil): thriving; but what the hell is a trefoil?
Cilantro: thriving
Strawberry vine: so far so good, no fruit yet; growing my own strawberries seems too good to be true so I’m very pessimistic about this.
In addition to the above, we recently bought seeds from UH Manoa, cost me a grand total of $11. Packet includes: hybrid cucumber “Milo”; bulb onion (Awahia); bell pepper (Kaala); lettuce (Manoa); hubrid tomato (N-65); tomato variety (Kewalo); pole green bean (Manoa Wonder); kai choy Hirayama (W.R. resustant). So far we’ve only gotten the Kewalo started. Will keep you posted.
A nice extra benefit of gardening has been the reduction in our garbage just through composting (from 3 large bags/week to one or less.) The affect of the compost on the garden and my podocarpus plants has been dramatic. And this morning while digging in the dirt, I was pleasantly surprised at how many worms have migrated to the garden since we started spreading compost…threw half a dozen worms into the compost bin!
Great topic Jay!
Tim
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - Andrew - 09-02-2008
Jay says:
"A nice extra benefit of gardening has been the reduction in our garbage just through composting (from 3 large bags/week to one or less.) The affect of the compost on the garden and my podocarpus plants has been dramatic. And this morning while digging in the dirt, I was pleasantly surprised at how many worms have migrated to the garden since we started spreading compost…threw half a dozen worms into the compost bin!"
Hi Jay:
Throwing worms into the compost bin may not be a good idea since if the bin is composting properly then the interior temperature may reach 160 degrees F. which would kill any worms.
Ideally your compost bin should have no bottom and it should be sitting on the bare ground. When the composting procedure is complete worms will find their own way into the heap which will be an indication to you that the process is done.
FWIW.
Andrew
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RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - punafish - 09-02-2008
For composting we just use 2 regular plastic bins (with covers) and stir up the dirt/compost/raw garbage a lot. There are better ways to do it, but we were looking for something easy that didn't require much money. I believe Andrew has a compost bin design he posted elsewhere...
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - punafish - 09-02-2008
Hey Andrew, that's my goof, not Jay's. See, I'm the one who needs help! Read somewhere that worms are good for compost...thanks for setting me straight!
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - Andrew - 09-02-2008
Worms are great in the finished product and there is more than one way to compost. If your bins are smaller then worms might be just the ticket. Worm casting is a very fine form of compost. Your smaller containers probably aren't heating up that much so throwing the worms in may be just the ticket.
Andrew
quote:
Originally posted by punafish
Hey Andrew, that's my goof, not Jay's. See, I'm the one who needs help! Read somewhere that worms are good for compost...thanks for setting me straight!
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http://www.divehilo.com/
RE: Confessions of a crappy gardener. - hooligal - 09-02-2008
I always plant Marigolds in my garden. It's supposed to deter pests , but this is my first time gardening in Hawaii...not sure how it'll work here. I just threw seeds in the garden, so I should be able to report bug/no buggyness in a few weeks (I hope) when the Marigolds come up.
Fitz, if you get super desperate, you could buy cheap taffetta at wal mar (fabric dept) & make 'socks' for your plants. I think it runs a dollar a yard or so. I don't know if it's fine enough to keep out whiteflies though. Ping me via email if you want more info.
So garden gurus, does cinder deter slugs? I have not (knock on wood) seen slugs or snails yet in the garden. All of the beds are at least 9" tall, built with lava rocks & surrounded by red cinder in every direction (2' wide walkways). It seems like cinder and lava rock walls would be pretty darn pokey & sharp for a slug to traverse. Is the cinder/lava wall combo deterring the slugs or this just wishful thinking on my part?