flowers versus leaves
four (9B near 9A)
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four (9B near 9A)
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leaves, flowers and buds dropping and furry leaves?
Comments (19)Hmmm so i havnt done anything to it yet but the buds leaves and flowers seemed to have stopped dropping...it was originally in the shade and i put it out in a place that gets half a day of sun about a week ago and i think thats what seems to have helped it. The flowers have faded in the sun though and dont look as deep pink :( which is alittle disappointing i guess...The leaves still have that white furry stuff on them though so i might wipe them down again but it is looking alot healthier. The leaves with the dots on them that you guys though might be mites fell off and no more seem to look like that...maybe i am in the clear? will keep a eye on it still but......See MoreLignites, versus charcoal, versus char, versus wood chips
Comments (6)I transformed virgin yellow/blue clay into what looks like coffee grounds/potting soil in one year using wood chip compost. I could get woodchip mulch from my county composting site for free, but I cleared land and had my own trees/brush chipped (November-December). I watered the compost and mixed in a couple of pounds of high nitrogen lawn fertilizer per cubic yard of wood chips and let it cook for a few months over winter. It was a large pile so it stayed hot all winter. I then mixed this "young" compost into the clay soil as best I could (elbow grease and a shovel since I don't have a tiller). I used about 6" layer of compost mixed into 10" of clay soil (spade depth). The first year the soil was lumpy and rough, some things grew very well (tomatoes), some things did not (onions). I mulched heavily so that the soil did not dry out, and as a result the chips broke down almost completely by the end of the season. The roots from the plants penetrated the clay clods causing them to break up. At the start of the second year the soil quality was amazing down to the depth I originally mixed the soil and I had no trouble growing anything. At this point it is a good idea for me to keep adding compost every year to maintain the soil. I have a cover crop of rye this winter hoping to break up the last of the clay clods. You really need compost humus to build good soil. This consists of bulk partially decomposed plant fibers and chemical humics (humin and humic acid). I add a good bit of charcoal to the garden because I burn brush and quench the coals rather than letting them burn down, but this just results in charcoal lumps in the clay soil when I mix it in. Ground charcoal will act (chemically) like humics, but getting humus is alot easier than getting ground charcoal. Humus (humin, humic acid) is the chemical end product of lignin breakdown from woody material. Fad additives might have a short term benefit, but if you see a benefit it should tell you that your basic soil structure could be improved. Garden and kitchen waste compost (non-woody material) adds bulk (cellulosic) organics (but little in the way of humics), which help the soil for a couple of years until the are respired away by soil microbes. Wood chip based compost is heavy in the lignin organics (humics) as well as bulk organics, and will benefit your soil for decades. I see no reason to buy one of the "active ingredients" of good compost in a bottle (humic acid, or whatever they are calling it on the lable)....See MoreLeaves Before Flowers/Flowers Before Leaves
Comments (2)If your baby is blooming already, maybe you can disconnect it from the mother when you put them to sleep this fall, so the mother can take care of itself instead of concentrating on the babies... Maybe that is why you are not getting blooms from it....See Morepassion flower versus carolina jessamine
Comments (3)Hi, I let my passionvine crawl up the Mesquite tree, as I love the look of the multi trunk tree, but don't really like the mess the Mesquite makes. The tree is also pretty old and has a lot of dead branches, so I figured I "green it up" and let the vine have at it. And "having at it" it is! The passionflower (planted last year in spring) is about 15 feet tall and spread out all over. I have over 100 Gulf Frit caterpillars on there (I quit counting after 53 on about a third of the vine!) It is really beautiful to see all the butterflies flitting in and out of the tree! I am trying to get some pipevine growing up the tree on the other side so that my many many pipevine caterpillars will have a feast too! To kind of answer your question: Last year the Gulf Frits found the vine when it was just 4 feet tall and not very branchy and they really mowed it down. It was just brown dried up stalks twining around and hubby really hated it. This year the vine sent out tons of shoots and spread quickly and is able to sustain all these caterpillars with no problems.... in your case I think it would mean it might drown out other plants. LOL... you will have eggs on there in no time if the Frits are already scouting it out! Be prepared for an onslaught! Best of luck Siggy...See Morefour (9B near 9A)
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)