The Urban Garden Thread

[Hack&Lube]

Do you guys have any problems with insects in your indoor gardens?

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, not worried about anything. I usually plant potatoes early April, and cover any buds if we do have snow coming. But I've never lost any when I miss covering them.

Wow that’s great! I have never planted potatoes that early. You could almost plant half at start of April and other half mid-May and have a staggered harvest!!

If you have buds come up and it was going to freeze / snow you probably could cover with soil and let them grow through.

[Fuzz]

I like to plant early so I can start harvesting in ealry August, taking them out of the ground as I need them through summer. By late September I pull them all out, and have enough until January, when they are reaching end of storage life anyway, so it's works out well.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

If you have buds come up and it was going to freeze / snow you probably could cover with soil and let them grow through.

This is exactly what I do, just cover them with more soil. One year I forgot and I lost about four inches of growth on each plant due to a cold snap. The potato plants came back with a vengeance though and didn't seem bothered by it at all. So the good news is that they're basically indestructible even if they frost and die off a bit at first.

Prime Alberta garden plant right there

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Do you guys have any problems with insects in your indoor gardens?

I had an absurd amount of fruit flies in my pepper tent. Some apple cider vinegar in a jar took care of them. What kind of insects are you dealing with?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I had an absurd amount of fruit flies in my pepper tent. Some apple cider vinegar in a jar took care of them. What kind of insects are you dealing with?

An absurd number of fruit flies/gnats in my apartment last summer. It was miserable as I wasn't even growing food but just bought a few indoor plants for decoration and they must have came with them.

I had to set out apple cider+detergent cups all over my place for a month before they finally disappeared. They were in the shower drains and toilets, in sinks, all over the kitchen, anywhere with moisture.

That experience is deterring me from growing anything.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Do you guys have any problems with insects in your indoor gardens?

Yes.

The only thing I've dealt with indoors is aphids (I'm pretty sure they'r aphids). They get into a basil plant and I've never found a solution.

Cayenne spray
Insecticidal Soap spray
Submerging the plant in soap water
blasting them off with water
I forget what else, but I'm pretty sure there's a half dozen more

It might work for a a few weeks, but eventually my plants get overhwelmed by them on the underside of the leaves. I usually just harvest them and start over. It's actually pretty disheartening, and I haven't yet started over after my last plant got buggy after a few years

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Do you guys have any problems with insects in your indoor gardens?

Wait until you see a few flying around and turn on the vacuum.

I tried apple cider vinegar to no avail this time. The gnats aren’t going for it. I even tried dying it different colours too.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Wait until you see a few flying around and turn on the vacuum.

I tried apple cider vinegar to no avail this time. The gnats aren’t going for it. I even tried dying it different colours too.

When that fails, stale beer with funnels in the bottles might work. It's not the color, but rather the chemicals of decomposition that are replicated in the fermenting acetic acid of cider and the yeasty alcohol of old beer.

I had to do a ton of research as last summer was unbearable with the infestation.

[Fuzz]

We never had much luck with vinegar, but are usually dealing with fungus gnats. The yellow sticky paper and nematodes help.

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

We never had much luck with vinegar, but are usually dealing with fungus gnats. The yellow sticky paper and nematodes help.

I have varying amounts of them depending how much I'm growing. I use the sticky strips and there are hundreds of them stuck on there in short order. The vinegar seems to work well with Fruit Flies but not as effective for Fungus Gnats. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do more than manage them. I considered letting everything mature, harvest and then let the pots/soil completely dry out and see if I could get rid of them that way.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Do you guys have any problems with insects in your indoor gardens?

i've had aphids, spider mites etc for aphids we mixed iso alcohol and dish soap and dunked my plants in it

[Nyah]

Thinking I'll plant my stuff outside tomorrow. Forecast looks good for the next week or so, but I'm prepared to cover everything if I need to. Has anyone already planted anything?

[Fuzz]

Oh ya, most stuff in the ground. Tomatoes going in tomorrow, though we do have frost blankets for them. I think that's it? Wife has been managing most of it, as I am now a profeessinoanl siding installer for the next few months. I did put together a nice trellis for the chlamydia plants to grow on, once I finish the siding on that section tomorrow.

[Wormius]

Nm. TIL there are chlamydia plants.

[Nyah]

I have about 8 different kinds of chili plants, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, squash and flowers. It'll be a busy day!

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Nyah

Thinking I'll plant my stuff outside tomorrow. Forecast looks good for the next week or so, but I'm prepared to cover everything if I need to. Has anyone already planted anything?

We have cold weather crops seeded in the raised bed w/ floating row covers. Have been hardening off the seedlings the past week and will be planting a bunch of stuff tmrw.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Nm. TIL there are chlamydia plants.

Is there? Ha! I just call clematis plants chlamydia plants for fun and awkwardness. "Yes, it is a beautiful flowering chlamydia, look at those vines!"

[Fuzz]

Got this section of siding done today, so was able to put the trellis up and attach the vines. Wife also planted some new hasta's and some other things. Should look good when it greens up a bit!

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Got this section of siding done today, so was able to put the trellis up and attach the vines. Wife also planted some new hasta's and some other things. Should look good when it greens up a bit!

Your clematis will get higher than that trellis. I have Jackmanii and mine would grow higher than my 6' fence if I would let them. You might have to wrap them around if that is the case.

[Fuzz]

I can't remember the variety, but my wife said these ones don't grow that big. We did have some giants in the back yard years ago before renovating. There are always pruning sheers if needed!