Yearly Archives: 2011

Just Thinking Out Loud About Potted Tomatoes…

Posted on by

A few weeks ago, Hugh, a fellow Flickr friend told me about the website Global Buckets which showed how to make a self watering pot or a global bucket (as they called it) using two 5 gallon buckets, PVC Pipe and a plastic cup. I thought this was a good idea, but I didn’t have anything to plant in it…

…Until I saw a photo by Meighan, another Flickr friend, who was growing Tomatoes in pots. This gave me an idea… How about if I grew some Tomatoes in a self water 5 gallon pot so I could move it around. Maybe even put it in a spot in the front yard that gets more sun than in the back yard.

Tomato Plants
Tomato Plants by Meighan

I think I’ll try this next year, but I’m kinda anxious to make a self watering pot, so maybe I can test it out with two extra Lemon Cucumber plants that was left (no more space in the veggie bed to plant them).

[Update] ooohh, I just thought of something!.. I can plant my Pepino Dulce in one! (I have a new project to do tomorrow) :)

Unusual Summer Rain…

Posted on by

We had an unusual summer day with rain. It was pouring earlier today, so I placed pots, buckets and plastic bins where ever I can to catch the rain, since our rain barrel was already almost full.

Overflowing Rain Barrel

The plastic bin below are the same bins that I used to wintersow some of my seeds. I’m glad I didn’t drill holes on the bottom. Now if has multiple uses.

Catching Rain in Plastic Bins

Tropf Blumat Self-Watering Plant System…

Posted on by

I just read about a self-watering system called Tropf Blumat on the Home Harvest Garden Supply website.

I’m curious if anyone has used this system and how well does it work.

If it works well, maybe I can use it to self water parts of my Square Foot Garden that dries out easily during the summer.

Lemon Cucumbers!…

Posted on by

The Lemon Cucumber Folia seedlings now have their third sets of leaves and are big enough to plant in the Square Foot Garden. I’m planting them in 5 squares with 2 plants per square.

Lemon Cucumber Seedling Ready to Plant

Planted Lemon Cucumber

Green Swiss Chard Planted + Summer Leafy Greens?

Posted on by

I didn’t do much gardening, but I planted the 6-pack of Green Swiss Chard Folia into three half squares in back of the Lemon Cucumbers. I think I will plant either some Bush Beans or another summer greens in the other halves of the three squares.

I also moved some of the Coleus pots I planted a few days ago into the front patio.

Which reminds me… I need to do some research and find out if there are green leafy vegetables that will grow in the summer time… since I believe most greens like Kale, Bok Choy, Mustard, etc. like the cool weather. Any suggestions?

[Update]
I found a couple sites that have some good ideas:
– Veggie Gardening Tips: Top Ten Leafy Greens for Summer Gardens
– Mother Earth News: Spinach Alternatives: Warm Weather Salad Greens

Unknown Bromeliad Solved…

Posted on by

Bromeliad Pot

A few days ago, I divided my Bromeliad pot and there were 4 varieties:
– a green Vriesea Bromeliad
– a red Vriesea Bromeliad
– a yellow Aechmea recurvata var. recurvata Bromeliad (that was dead)
– an unknown toothed leaf Bromeliad with long leaves

I don’t remember planting the fourth one on the list, so I looked for historical photos when I planted this pot and found this photo, which shows that I only planted three varieties:

Potted Bromeliads

After reviewing the photos of the individual plants, I noticed that the Aechmea recurvata var. recurvata had a little baby plant:

Aechmea recurvata var. recurvata

I think the mystery Bromeliad is actually the baby Aechmea recurvata var. recurvata… which explains the toothed edged leaves.

Bromeliad

It’s really interesting how the new plant is green instead of yellow and the leaves are a lot longer. I wonder if growing under a shade caused this.

More Mystery Plant Research…

Posted on by

So a day after I posted photos of the mystery plant. I just got a few responses:
– Schinus terebinthifolius, which I still don’t think it is because it doesn’t quite match this photo.
– Kentucky Coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, which I don’t think it is.

So I did more research using the Virginia Tech VTree ID Leaf Key website. After all the questions, this is what I came down to this page:
leafy, broad leaves > alternate leaf arrangement > compound leaf > pinnately compound > singly pinnate > serrate, toothed, or spine-tipped leaflet edges

I found two photos that reminds me of our mystery plant. One is a Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) and the other is a European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia).

The search continues…

Mystery Plant…

Posted on by

I’m trying to figure out what this plant Folia is.

Mystery Plant Leaves and Reddish Branch

It’s a voluteer plant that has serrated leaves and a reddish truck and branches. Some people suggested that it is a Brazilian Pepper Tree (Schinus terebinthifolius), but the leaves don’t quite match the photos I’ve seen.

Click below to see more photos.

Continue reading →