Garden Chat

Yes! Ask away!

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Heck yes!

I’m going to preemptively recommend the PictureThis plant ID app, if you don’t already have a plant ID app downloaded.

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Thanks, I just downloaded it!

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I will have to take some pictures to go along with my questions.

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Just finished the two no-dig garden beds and mulched paths.

Next small job is to sort out this end bit. At the back of the picture, dominated by the Pineapple Sage in flower, is a small herb garden bed that runs along the end of four of the long beds. As I’ve just completed the next two of four long garden beds I can fit in another herb bed.

Just need to move some pots, wire fencing, stakes, deal with the grass and weeds, lay down some more cardboard and buy some more veggie soil. Might have enough mulch left over from today to surround the bed. :crossed_fingers:

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What’s your process for setting up the no dig bed?

Sproot update:


So every variety of tomato and basil has at least one sprout, even though the basil sprouts are very small.

Also this is a much more manageable amount of seedlings than last year…

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How cute! Here’s my wee plant pets:

I have at least 1 pea that has sprouted now too. The ones I direct-sowed went mouldy because the garden bed for watered too often by the irrigation.

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Pretty simple.

Mow the area on the lowest setting you’ve got on your lawnmower, I use the catcher and throw the clippings onto the compost pile.

Lay down a layer of cardboard boxes.

Mark out your beds and paths with stakes and string. I go with 750mm wide beds, 10m long and 300mm paths.

Build the beds with compost, veggie mix or whatever you want your bed made of. I aim for 100-150mm of depth for the beds.

Mulch your paths with wood chips to a minimum of 100mm deep.

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Two kinds of tomatoes (I think the other is Roma?), Peppers, and three lil watermelons. Not shown nearby, tiny basil sprouts.

Cucumber sprout by the C, marigold volunteer above the M, possibly tomatoes by the T? Mr. Meer said he had extra seeds that he threw in the bed.


Three sisters! Corn is the grass looking one, beans have the smooth edged leaves, zucchini squash have the bumpier edged leaves. I think a lot of my zucchini seeds got eaten by squirrels.

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So not quite yet, then. OK.

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They (garlic) still look happy? I’ve started pulling out new clumps of things I’m pretty sure are blooming onions because they are so overwhelming in my yard

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Has anyone bought bee or butterfly houses? They’re cute but I’m not sure if they are helpful or just a gimmick.


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The girls were gifted one a while ago, it’s just a spider magnet as our native insects prefer other ways to find places to hide and lay eggs.

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Yeah for Australian native bees they need to be specifically made to accommodate them - that might apply to your species too? This is my go to bee lady:
https://mobile.twitter.com/BeeBabette
(Dr Kit Prendergast - she is amazing.)
I’m pretty sure she has a guide to making bee homes.
I might have read those homes are also made with chemical treated wood?

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Yeah you just need to email her.

Cleared the garden of Jalapeno and Padron chili plants today. Got a good haul.

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This is the first year I am going to try growing flowers from seed. I am in zone 5, so I figured I should start them inside rather than waiting until close to Memorial Day to plant outside. It is still only 50ish here for a high, and still freezing at night this coming week. I got those little peat pod things figuring it would be easier for a beginner. I just read the seed packets for info and now I have questions. Mostly I have no idea what to do! I am sure it isn’t a hard thing to do, it is just a little scary since I have never done it. lol. I have a lot of perennial plants, but they are so easy! I like flowers that are different and are not usually found at local nurseries in my small town, so buying annual plants is not a great option for me or I would take the easy way out and just do that.

I do not have a good indoor spot that I can keep the cat away from, so my plan was to keep them in the garage which is uninsulated. I did buy a heat mat, and the peat pods come in a container with a lid. One seed company says do not use both the lid and a heat mat, it will be too much. True? Even if in a cool garage? Is a lid or a heat mat better?

I was thinking I would use the heat mat at night and move the trays outside during the day (maybe from like 12-6 when it is warmer?) while I am at work so they get sun because my garage only has small windows anyway. I am unsure if outside for sunlight is good if it is only like 60 degrees though, or if less sunlight but warm heat mat is better?

All opinions appreciated!

They don’t need any sun until they germinate and you can see tiny leaves; they do need to be warm at all times until that happens.

Once they’ve come up, your question about 60 degrees really depends on what kind of flower you’ve planted.

Edit, oh, and humidity matters until they germinate - you need to keep the surface moist. A little spray bottle to mist it every day (or more if very low humidity) would be a good thing.

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Thank you!