I’m in the frozen northern hemisphere but will be starting some pepper seedlings in a couple weeks.
Pikelet has successfully grown a nice crop of chillies but she is currently in an absolutely no spicy food phase and they are kind of hot so we haven’t been eating them 
. If I ever get the kitchen clean I might make a batch of pickles.
I’m enjoying perpetual spinach from a few small plants we haven’t put into the ground yet and maybe never will. It has been a convenient alternative to bagged leaves since they are on the avoid while pregnant list.
My cape gooseberry seedings have started flowering too which probably means I should have put them into the ground already.
Our cucuamelons are vining all over the place. They seem to be surviving well even with extreme humidity and lots of rain. Now flowers and fruit please 
3 Likes
Woah! What’s the plan for that area now?
1 Like
Sad, but also yay because this means you’re moving to your property soon?
My apple tree has something like 20 apples on it!!! I removed some this morning so it can handle getting some of them ripe. Do I need to fertilize?! What do I do now! I didn’t expect apples until next year!
3 Likes
Today I turned this.
Into this.
Had to bring it back to its original grass before we move out on the 16th of March.
Interim move to a rental in the same town our property is in. Being 3 mins away to manage a build on a brownfield site is better than 1hr 15mins away.
7 Likes
Impressive. Not much the landlord can complain about there. I bet you’re counting down the days until you can grow on your own land again.
2 Likes
Pretty much. My uncle who lives out there offered to out me in contact with people who have land they’d be willing to let me grow annuals like veges and flowers on.
Planning out my seed box now. Trying to work out what should go where in it.
10 Likes
That’s a nice box. A much better system than my wet envelope based system.
My wife organised for my dad to custom make it so she could give it to me as a birthday present. It’s pretty cool.
5 Likes
Oooh that is a gorgeous seed box.
I need some citrus tree troubleshooting, folks!
This is either a Meyer lemon or a lime tree, its first winter indoors. It’s been doing pretty well but has gradually developed this weird mottled look on the leaves. When it’s inside it gets indirect light from the window.
And in the past week or so the leaves have been yellowing more rapidly. Also in the past week I’ve occasionally been putting it outside when it is both sunny and over 50 degrees, to start hardening it off and get it some proper sun - so no more than an hour at a time. Is it reacting to the cold/higher UV light?
I only water it when it’s dry an inch down and I haven’t added fertilizer, which is what I’m leaning towards doing next.
Oh and also there are three lemons/limes that have been on the plant since I got it in June. Not sure if they’re ripe yet or if the ripening process might contribute to the sad leaves.
1 Like
I have no idea about the sunlight issue, but in my crappy soil citrus definitely needs fertiliser and occasionally added trace elements.
Ripped out the remains of the watermelon and rockmelon vines today. I need to figure out my spacing and placement for broccoli, cauli, bush beans and sugar snap peas.
1 Like
That’s exciting! I’m still waiting for flowers on my watermelon.
1 Like
Wish I could help but I’ve got zero knowledge about citrus.
I helped diagnose an indoor citrus problem last year via the extension help desk. Firstly, if it is only receiving light from a window, it may very well me suffering from lack of sun as an extenuating circumstance. Indoor light, even through windows, is orders of magnitudes less strong than direct UV outside (even through cloud cover). I do realize that many people bring citrus plants indoors for the winter, however. 1 hour of direct sunlight should not shock it this time of year. 50 degrees is a tad chilly from coming from inside a house (which may be 70 degrees or more?) but I wouldn’t expect it to respond so dramatically. Humidity is also a potential exacerbating factor - citrus do best with a humidity of around 50%, which is higher than indoor humidity many places, especially in the winter.
Second, if the fruits have been on the tree for 9 months they may never ripen, and in fact, may be drawing nutrients from the plant. When planting fruit trees in the ground you often remove all fruit that form for the first 1-2 years so that they can become more established and form strong roots. This may not be necessary for potted trees, but given the fact they have been there so long suggests they won’t be ripening. Although around my parts, greenhouse citrus do ripen in Feb/March.
Third, if it has been in that pot for nine months with no fertilizer (and unknown fertilization prior to that) it almost certainly needs fertilizer, although now is not an ideal time to do that. Potted citrus should be fertilized throughout the growing season, typically spring through summer. If it is nutrient deficiency, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a dilute dose and see how it responds.
In this photo it does sort of looks like magnesium deficiency. However, can you take a closeup photo of one leaf (that is very typical to how they look), also the backside, and also check very closely to see if there are any insects or evidence of insects in the back sides of the leaves or on the soil surface? Thrips are another possibility but I can’t see any signs of leaf curling. Some thrips are very tiny, you may not be able to see them without magnification. Spider mites too, depending on what the closeup looks like. Spider mites are extremely small, you will not see them without magnification (just the damage).
2 Likes
Organising my seeds today (to do a better job of keeping them out of toddler destruction zones): does a seed box need to be airtight, or is it enough for it to be kept in a cool dark place?
My seeds are all just in their original paper packets in a cardboard box without a top. Definitely not optimal if trying to store things for a few years but I usually turn all my seeds over within 1-2 years.
1 Like
Cool and dark has always been my go to.
1 Like