The horticultural discussion thread.

[STXdevilsquid]

This is also good stuff. I use it for transplant shock and on seedlings developing roots.

The secret to super thrive. The instructions are crap. It says a drop a cup, 1/4 tsp per gallon.

That's incredibly too strong. Use a max of three drops per gallon. (Eye dropper)

Recommended dose is one drop per gallon for plants. Applied once a long month.

Use this too good stuff


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[grasshopperglock]

How interesting.

Plants Have an "Ear" for Music.


http://m.nautil.us/blog/plants-have-an-ear-for-music



Carlson believed he found part of his answer. He maintained that “green music”—sounds akin to, or recorded from, those found in nature, like birds singing or crickets stridulating—possesses frequencies that boost plant growth and yield rates. He claimed that when exposed to synthesized birdsong, a plant’s stomata—the mouth-like pores on the underside of leaves that absorb water and nutrients and expel oxygen—widen. Before he died in 2012, he listed growing a Purple Passion (Gynura aurantiaca)—a houseplant that usually grows up to a foot—1,300 feet high to the sound of green music as one of his lifetime achievements. It earned him a Guinness World Record.

 

[CaptScooby]

My best advice-

natural soil kicks ass compared to potting or bagged soil. Anything you plant in the ground should do better than in a pot.

Texas has a great thing called agrilife. You can get a soil sample kit or bag, YouTube how to get the best sample and find out if you need fertilizer and what you need for less than $20. This works for gardens, yards, pastures, flower beds.

Anyone in South Texas, San Antonio, ever use manure? I've got friends with live stock and I've got chickens. using that would naturally give the ground nutrients better then fertilizer, if I understand that right

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[grasshopperglock]

Both are excellent for ranges of types of plants.

Cow manure is a slow release, low nitrogen fert. However, it has to composted before it's used. Otherwise, it'll spread grass and weed seeds. Composting kills the seeds and e.coli. Breaks down the fiber.


With chicken poop. It also has to be composted, for another reason. It's really high in nitrogen. High enough to either burn or kill a plant. Composting breaks the raw form nitrogen down for a softer release.

 

[STXdevilsquid]

Both are excellent for ranges of types of plants.

Cow manure is a slow release, low nitrogen fert. However, it has to composted before it's used. Otherwise, it'll spread grass and weed seeds. Composting kills the seeds and e.coli. Breaks down the fiber.


With chicken poop. It also has to be composted, for another reason. It's really high in nitrogen. High enough to either burn or kill a plant. Composting breaks the raw form nitrogen down for a softer release.

Yep, I learned the hot chicken poop the hard way, cleaned out my coups, for about 50 chickens and put it on some trees and burned them up, sad day.


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[grasshopperglock]

Pepper spray don't work. Damn fungus gnats continue chilling out like nothing is going on.

I got their number. We're going biological. Evil stuff. "BTI"

It's bacteria found in caterpillar gut. Naturally on some plants. The fungus gnat larva feed on the bacteria. Then the effect, the larva are disallowed to eat. Same deal on mosquitos in standing water. The strain of bacteria is harmless to humans, animals, fish.

On gnats and mosquitos...It bends their day.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Every bug that's been dormant is coming alive. Spider mites, fungus gnats.

Since the mini rose was planted in a bright yellow and white pot... Pest glue cards come in bright yellow. It's the color that attracts them. The pot being the same color is causing issues.

There's Snake plants and devil's ivy in black pots. Those have no bug problems.
...

The hard freeze is over. I've had nothing to baby except house plants. It's time to start some tomato, okra, and several kinds of pepper seeds. Pepper seeds take awhile to germinate. Ill start those first.

This year, they are going into this:

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Pots-B...&qid=1485625488&sr=8-9&keywords=smart+planter

 

[grasshopperglock]

Damn Wal-Mart. The most devilish, capitalistic company known to man. Home of the test pilot to facial recognition cameras.

They now sell Pro-Mix BX.

It's real deal, premium potting soil. No wood chips. Peat moss base. Sealed and compressed. It's top shelf stuff. With the addition of two tablespoons of dolomite lime per gallon. It's nothing like you've seen before.

Modern potting soil. Thanks have to be been given to the cannabis market in legal states driving this product. Coming to a store near you.

Hate it or not, but some of the smartest folks in the cannabis industry are coming up with this stuff. Your local Wal-Mart now sells it.

It's just like NASCAR.

 

[TheDan]

It's bacteria found in caterpillar gut. Naturally on some plants. The fungus gnat larva feed on the bacteria. Then the effect, the larva are disallowed to eat. Same deal on mosquitos in standing water. The strain of bacteria is harmless to humans, animals, fish.

Nice! Looks like it's safe for poultry and fowl as well. Where do you buy it?

 

[grasshopperglock]

Nice! Looks like it's safe for poultry and fowl as well. Where do you buy it?

You can find the granular stuff at Tractor Supply. The dunks are more common. Lowe's has them by the insecticides. Same bacteria as the granular but it's in a small round puck, you toss in a pond. Six pack, I believe.

Bust those pucks up and apply like the granular stuff. Or add the dust to water and shake for a minute. Then immediately water the base of the plant with it. It can't be stored.

 

[grasshopperglock]

No Mr Nice guy.

One pack of American Spirit cigarettes. Thrown whole in small pot. Seeped like tea on the stove. Low heat. 30ish minutes. Strained and poured into a gallon jug of water.

Nicotine is a neurotoxin. Besides a tobacco beetle. There's not too many bugs it won't kill.

I watered and sprayed the house plants with the tea.

It can't be used on tomatoes. Tobacco carries a disease that effects Tomatoes. Egg plant is big no-no. Unless you want a nic buzz from eating it. The plant absorbs some nicotine. What's left in the soil is broken down fairly quick.

The outside roses were sprayed also. But with soap and sunflower oil added to the tea.

 

[F350-6]

No Mr Nice guy.

One pack of American Spirit cigarettes. Thrown whole in small pot. Seeped like tea on the stove. Low heat. 30ish minutes. Strained and poured into a gallon jug of water.

Nicotine is a neurotoxin. Besides a tobacco beetle. There's not too many bugs it won't kill.

I watered and sprayed the house plants with the tea.

It can't be used on tomatoes. Tobacco carries a disease that effects Tomatoes. Egg plant is big no-no. Unless you want a nic buzz from eating it. The plant absorbs some nicotine. What's left in the soil is broken down fairly quick.

The outside roses were sprayed also. But with soap and sunflower oil added to the tea.

Interesting. Out of curiosity, what, if any odors come from brewing cigarettes? Any reason not to just buy the roll your own variety or pipe tobacco instead?

 

[grasshopperglock]

Interesting. Out of curiosity, what, if any odors come from brewing cigarettes? Any reason not to just buy the roll your own variety or pipe tobacco instead?

It smells like a strong, deep, rich, black tea. It's remarkably pleasant. I've read about Bugler tobacco being used. I don't see why pipe tobacco couldn't be used, either.

Back in the day. The feed store sold a small tiny bottle of nicotine. Brown glass, black top. About two inches high. It was sold as a spider poison. I haven't found it online.


If you use it as a spray. Check the wind before you spray. Get enough on you and you're getting a nicotine buzz. Get too much, it'll make you sick.

 

[STXdevilsquid]

OK, gophers. Go!
I got them bad. I got traps, I got poisons and I just sprinkled my fence lines with some stuff that's supposed to keep them away bought from tractor supply in a tub. Natural and not going to kill my dog or chickens. It's a constant battle. I can trap a few and poison a few and can get clear of them, mostly, but they come back. So any more tricks.
And I'm sure its more then gophers, they are just all I've caught in my traps. Some as big as cats almost.
Anyone have any thing else?


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[grasshopperglock]

OK, gophers. Go!
I got them bad. I got traps, I got poisons and I just sprinkled my fence lines with some stuff that's supposed to keep them away bought from tractor supply in a tub. Natural and not going to kill my dog or chickens. It's a constant battle. I can trap a few and poison a few and can get clear of them, mostly, but they come back. So any more tricks.
And I'm sure its more then gophers, they are just all I've caught in my traps. Some as big as cats almost.
Anyone have any thing else?


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Back your truck up to the hole. Take a hose and stick it on the exhaust. Idle. If it breathes oxygen...It's either dead or coming out the hole.

 

[shortround]

An adult barn owl will consume roughly 1,000 gophers a year.

 

[STXdevilsquid]

An adult barn owl will consume roughly 1,000 gophers a year.

And take my chickens heads off, had one and lost a bunch of chickens, trapped it using one of the dead chickens, didn't think it would fall for it but it did, then hauled it off to another Ranch. I love owls, they are great, just not good for chickens.

On another note planted 2 grapes and a blackberry to run along my chicken run, excited to see them grow.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Update on the BTI treatment.

Seems the nicotine drench supplement to the bacteria knocked their asses down by 90%. What adults(two) are flying around came from outside. There's not much that can done about that. Texas is full of them.

Main goal. Kill their kiddos laid in the soil. The adults need to die too...

I've been reading about insect glue. The industrial stuff that comes on rat traps. Fly paper. Come to find out, you can buy a can of it. It's made in under a few names. Ones called Tanglefoot Tangle. Spread on a yellow object. It's a, 'They can check in but they can't check out' situation.

 

[TheDan]

An adult barn owl will consume roughly 1,000 gophers a year.

And take my chickens heads off

...and they are also a "protected" pest. You don't want them on your property. SSS

 

[grasshopperglock]

Brewing compost tea. It's on its second day.

Plastic 9qt trash can. Rain water. Two cups compost. (I used a potting soil that was mixed about 6 months ago. Measured by two hand fulls.) Two tablespoons black strap molasses. Two teaspoon BTI kernels. Aquarium two outlet air pump, running two stones in the bucket. The bad stuff that doesn't like oxygen dies off. The good stuff that likes oxygen, multiples.

Seems there's a lot of 'Twos' to this.


On the third day, Ill water plants with the tea. Then they get sprayed with the same. The tea helps the plant fight off disease. Added to the soil it maintains the healthy universe of organisms.