((Serious Gardening))

[Smittenroade]

flgardengirl
Yesterday 5:50 pm I am growing a bunch of baby cacao tree seedlings (the tree that makes chocolate). I already have one kind and am germinating beans for 2 other different kinds of cacao trees. I also am planting 4 different kinds of papayas, starfruit, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, bananas (ornamental- I already have a bunch of edible types), and some royal poinciana trees, sausage trees, orange and pink mexican bird of paradise (Caesalpina types), and my usual brugmansia crosses, and a bunch of other stuff lol.

That is excellent Flgardengirl!! I heard that a disease or pest has dessimated the cacao in south america. So the prices will probably sky rocket pretty soon here in america. Way to think ahead of the game!

I was thinking about planting some citrus trees here in Northeast Texas, I heard they grow good in this climate. We have a very similar climate to Louisianna with a little but more of a cold spell in the winter. I have never grown trees before, but I used to live near an orchard in Illinois so I know a little bit about it. That just sounds sooo cool to grow chocolate, you will definately be popular in your neigborhood lol

Great thread! Our high mountain climate is such a challenge for my gardening abilities. At 8400', I can only do so much outdoors, but I am setting up a pit greenhouse this spring...4' underground, attached to the south end of our cabin and covered with arched cattle/hog panels. Looking for something durable to cover the arched roof with. Any ideas? Probably will go with double-layer polycarbonate (bendable) panels eventually, but looking for something inexpensive right now.

alpinefarm I dunno chief, inexpensive is the name of the game. I have also been looking for inexpensive alternatives to regular greenhouse panels and tarp. I have found nothing so far...Ill let you know if I do tho because I will eventually come across something. Going to visit the local nursery this week and interrogate them about greenhouses.

Thats pretty awesome Gallo del Cielo, it looks like rabbit heaven. My sunflowers are almost ready to come out of the jiffy house. I hope we dont have another unexpected cold spell...Need to find an almanac for this year.

 

[SourRoses]

Thanks a bunch, guys! Now Ill just have to pick out what will work in my soil/sun. Yes, yes, the sun is mine. You cant have it! Na na!

I have absolutely no real idea on a cheap clear greenhouse cover.. but what springs to my mind when someone mentions clear plastic is that stuff they have in the fabric stores.. really clear thick plastic that comes in many different thicknesses.. but would it melt if it rained?

It seems to me that things are always more expensive when they're marketed for the particular purpose you want it for.

I started some Royal Poinciana seeds in fall from my neighbors tree.. I ended up with more seedlings than I have room for, so they are just sitting in pots waiting for me to come up with an idea for them. Next comes the Plumeria

Ditto on the Cacao! The news said someday it might be worth more than gold

.. I want some! I also want to get some Acai berry palms. Provided all goes well, do you plan to try and process the Cacao yourself or would you sell the beans? I suppose it takes some time to get to that point anyway. Vanilla! Ginger! And Saffron! All the expensive stuff, I want... but if it died, well

 

[Mattemma]

I have less than an acre,but I am cramming it full of plants.

I have been leaving the ad for the harbor freight green houses all over the place for dh to see. They are not the best,but they will get your plants going,and the price can not be beat. The 10 by 12 is only $500 right now. I really only want the 6 by 8 but that is $300.Might as well shoot for the big one!

I love growing things,but have little luck with plants needed to be started indoors. I only have one place with light and my worm bins and dying hen are in that place.

My soil additive is the worm poo!

 

[galanie]

My super secret soil recipe: Compost. Rotted plant matter. Aged horse and chicken doo. Next, I add compost. And as soon as the weather warms up, mulch. Which rots and turns into... compost. I've lived where the soil is nothing but clay and where it was almost nothing but gravel. With enough compost, both were wonderful. I know, it's already been said, but being an old hippie, I had to, you know, chime in

I want to warn against trying to grow anything inside a chicken run. You'll likely never see anything because they'll eat the seedlings as soon as they sprout. I have these chicken wire cage things and set them so the greens are just reachable through the wire. That way my girls get some fresh greens without killing the whole thing, and I don't have to pick them. Yeah, I'm lazy. I don't even turn my compost much, either. Everything will rot if you give it enough time

The one thing people consistently get wrong on compost in my observation (being live observation, not what I read online) is moisture. Usually they stack up dry stuff and run the hose on it. And usually their pile is dry as the desert inside if they're using leaves. Or they'll use tons of fresh grass clippings and have a soggy mess. I have to mix and hose down the leaves to get them damp enough before piling the whole mess up. No problems here with grass clippings since I don't use a bagger on the mower normally, but the few times I have, I spread the junk out and let it dry before piling it up. Just be sure your pile is about as moist as a damp sponge. Leaves with plenty of grass clippings mixed in is like the easiest compost I've ever made, but usually there's no grass clippings so I layer in some blood meal to get those leaves going.

I never liked Cannibus (ok well I'm almost an old hippie) but I did grow one in my greenhouse once just out of curiosity. My mother was a big garden clubber and wanted to take it to a garden club meeting! LOL! I wouldn't let her because I didn't want to bail her out of jail but I thought it was hilarious. Had a friend that just LOVED that plant and received it once I got bored with it. She said it smoked nicely hahaha.

 

[Smittenroade]

lol I like your story funny stuff. Awesome information btw!

Learned alot about composting that I didn't know. Thank you very much.

 

[galanie]

Your sig is so funny! But its also funny because of what I posted this morning in another thread. I commented on how lazy I am about gardening: I've finally taken up my late mothers' philosophy on gardening: When asked how she managed to have a yard full of nice plants, she replied, "If it doesn't grow, I prune it with a shovel"

 

[SourRoses]

Speaking of "that plant"... I did grow one once, for the same reason, from a seed my brothers friend gave me. I did with a teeny tiny grow light and a 2 gal pot. It sure smelled fragrant in my room! It turned out to be a boy though, so the seed donator was pretty dissapointed. One day there was some kind of man-hunt going on with the choppers and such... My mom looked out the window to see police officers running around our property with the dogs... So she raced to my room and grabbed the 3 1/2 feet worth of bushy plant, ran to the kitchen.. and she was trying to stuff it down the sink with the garbage disposal running!

That was the end of that kind of experiment in our house!

 

[galanie]

Your mom is a lot more paranoid than mine was, that's for sure LOL - but just as funny.

 

[Junkmanme]

Some pictures of my homemade "seed-starting rack" and the homemade (from mostly scrap) "Hoophouse" GREENHOUSE.

I don't bother with "grow-lights"...I just use the regular florescent bulbs in the cheap 4 foot long "Shop Lights". It works just fine.

The plastic sheeting is the cheap stuff (20' X 25') from WalMart. It lasts more than 4 months before the UV rays start to disintegrate it. I bought some clear UV protected greenhouse plastic sheeting for the next time I recover it. (soon) That stuff is expensive...cost me about $160.00 compared to about $12.00 for the cheap WalMart stuff.

It's a lot of FUN to use the "Hoophouse" !!!

-Junkmanme-

 

[Smittenroade]

Junkmanme , Im not even going to lie....THATS PRETTY AWESOME. lol Ive been wanting to build a greenhouse forever. I finally got the PVC to build one but its so hard to find the right connectors and joints. I think Im going to have to end up buying them online. BTW those florescents are fine for small plants, especially in a greenhouse where they are still getting sunlight. I use my big light to grow whole plants inside with no sunlight.

Heres some of mine in my closet.
Tomatos finally started sprouting.
Feb15

Need to get the sunflowers in a pot already. Ill do that today.

Feb15