Minnie's Gardeners' Question Time - help for the new gardeners

[tufty79]

I've got two really basic questions..
firstly, the nasturtium seeds i planted months back seem to have started to actually grow - are they going to be ok, so late on in the year?

secondly, what does dill like? Planted up a load of supermarket living herb things a few weeks back, and everything's *rampant* save the dill, which is just pretty much dead apart from *one* new stalkwithfluffyfronds :/

 

[gentlegreen]

In the past I've seen nasturtiums persist very late into autumn, but they're only annuals - certainly in our climate. They'll only pop up the next year thanks to seeds.

Dill seedlings will indeed be fluffy / feathery. The umbellifers (now known as apiacea) - carrots, parsnips, parsley, etc .. tend to be slow / patchy germinators.

 

[campanula]

um, nasturtiums will die as soon as the first frosts come so it really is a bit late. I am wondering why they took so long to get going though. Were they too dark or dry? Were they in pots?
As for the dill, it is a titchy little thing really - supermarkets tend to stuff many seedlings into a pot and force the seedlings into growth - as soon as they are put in a bigger pot or soil, they tend to give up (at least for me - I know people who swear that their supermarket basil and parsley are great)
Anyway, not your fault so don't be discouraged.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Has anyone got a parrot impatiens? Looking for tips on how to care for them (and yes, I know there's tips on the internet but I'm looking for any firsthand knowledge from you lot).

Nobody?

 

[gentlegreen]

Nobody?

Never grown the parrot one, but for a long time I persisted with an uninspiring standard pink one as an "easy" houseplant. It was rather prone to red spider mite.

Dead easy to take cuttings - just stick 'em in a bottle of water - wrap foil or something around the jar as light seriously impedes root development. If you feel like it, change the water once a week and shake it up to aerate it.

As with all potted plants, don't be in too much of a hurry to get them in a big pot, do it gradually, and I suspect like most other plants, impatiens will grow better if you give it a wet-dry cycle to promote root gas exchange.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Never grown the parrot one, but for a long time I persisted with an uninspiring standard pink one as an "easy" houseplant. It was rather prone to red spider mite.

Dead easy to take cuttings - just stick 'em in a bottle of water - wrap foil or something around the jar as light seriously impedes root development. If you feel like it, change the water once a week and shake it up to aerate it.

As with all potted plants, don't be in too much of a hurry to get them in a big pot, do it gradually, and I suspect like most other plants, impatiens will grow better if you give it a wet-dry cycle to promote root gas exchange.

Oh, never knew about light? I've planted a cutting from a fuchsia and a New Guinea impatiens in a bit of soil in a 9cm pot and put them in plastic bags.

The parrot one is only a short-lived perennial afaik and it's taken so long for it to grow, I really don't want to lose it. It's finally got tiny flowers on it

 

[gentlegreen]

Oh, never knew about light? I've planted a cutting from a fuchsia and a New Guinea impatiens in a bit of soil in a 9cm pot and put them in plastic bags.

The parrot one is only a short-lived perennial afaik and it's taken so long for it to grow, I really don't want to lose it. It's finally got tiny flowers on it

Some people reckon water-rooted cuttings get so badly set-back when you plant them and the rather fragile roots break off, that it's always better to root them in compost, but I rate it for fleshy things - I do my brugmanisas that way.
I just rooted some passion flower shoots. I didn't bother with the foil for a couple of weeks and nothing much happened, added the foil and the roots are going mad.
If you want to see really fast rooting in water, add an aquarium air pump and stone.

Yes the parrot ones do seem a bit slow-growing and I've seen some quite sad, leggy ones in offices, so probably best to always have a backup. After all, lots of people grow impatiens in the garden and simply chuck them every year.

 

[dessiato]

Can you recommend something that will grow well in a very hot and dry environment that is quick easy and edible?

 

[gentlegreen]

Salad sprouts. Assuming you can get things like mung beans and whole lentils where you are.
The best salad and stir-fry ingredient bar-none.

 

[dessiato]

Salad sprouts. Assuming you can get things like mung beans and whole lentils where you are.
The best salad and stir-fry ingredient bar-none.

Can't get them here. I'll probably go for tomatoes.

 

[purves grundy]

There's gardening, and then there's gardening. Which do you prefer, and why?

 

[campanula]

There's gardening, and then there's gardening. Which do you prefer, and why?

bewilderingly cryptic for me

 

[gentlegreen]

Can't get them here. I'll probably go for tomatoes.

I thought pulses were pretty universal. ?

 

[dessiato]

I thought pulses were pretty universal. ?

But getting the seeds is not possible

 

[gentlegreen]

But getting the seeds is not possible

The seeds are the dry beans - as found in the market.
After that you need a few large storage jars, a tap and a windowsill.

 

[tufty79]

Cheers for the advices gg and campanula.. The dill's got more sprouty fluffy bits than it had last week, so i'm a bit happier with it the nasturtium seeds were chucked into one of those £shop propogator things, so very very shallow compost on an outside windowsill, and then forgotten about for ages i've put them in some big pots for now and will wang 'em in the greenhouse if they carry on growing

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Some people reckon water-rooted cuttings get so badly set-back when you plant them and the rather fragile roots break off, that it's always better to root them in compost, but I rate it for fleshy things - I do my brugmanisas that way.
I just rooted some passion flower shoots. I didn't bother with the foil for a couple of weeks and nothing much happened, added the foil and the roots are going mad.
If you want to see really fast rooting in water, add an aquarium air pump and stone.

Yes the parrot ones do seem a bit slow-growing and I've seen some quite sad, leggy ones in offices, so probably best to always have a backup. After all, lots of people grow impatiens in the garden and simply chuck them every year.

hm, not sure what to do now. Maybe I'll take another cutting off another NG Impatiens and stick it in water.

As for my Parrot, here's some pictures. The first one was taken 8 July when it was in a 7cm pot. It's taken this long to get it to the size it currently is in the next picture. Really don't want to lose it and I know a lot of people who have taken cuttings seem to have lost their plants. Have also read about pinching out stem tips etc., but I'm not sure about that and I'm not really sure where to take a cutting from at the moment. I might end up losing flowers.

I can't wait for more flowers to appear

 

[gentlegreen]

They do seem remarkably sluggish when compared to other members of the family ... but yours looks generally healthy

How much light is it getting ?

I hope those are just leaf hair on the lower leaves and not creepy crawlies ?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

They do seem remarkably sluggish when compared to other members of the family ... but yours looks generally healthy

How much light is it getting ?

I hope those are just leaf hair on the lower leaves and not creepy crawlies ?

Stays outside from maybe midday and then is brought in in the evening and stuck on kitchen window-sill.

Occasionally I've left it out overnight but underneath a larger plant for protection from wind/too much rain.

No insects on it... yet

 

[gentlegreen]

You might try insulating the pot - or at least stand it on a board or something when you leave it out at night - not that it's anywhere near "cold" yet, but cold roots may set a sub-tropical plant back .. I definitely was glad of an insulated mat in my tent on Saturday night.

 

[weltweit]

I have a pot plant inside which just keeps growing too tall for where it is.

It has a long brownish stem and then at the top it produces long green leaves which hang down rather like a grass skirt. At its very top, the leaves point up from the stem, then below that they start to hang down.

I have no idea what it is, but it has just grown too tall for its last place and now I am out of high places.

Should it go outside - or to the knackers yard? I am not particularly fond of it, it has to be said!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I have a pot plant inside which just keeps growing too tall for where it is.

It has a long brownish stem and then at the top it produces long green leaves which hang down rather like a grass skirt. At its very top, the leaves point up from the stem, then below that they start to hang down.

I have no idea what it is, but it has just grown too tall for its last place and now I am out of high places.

Should it go outside - or to the knackers yard? I am not particularly fond of it, it has to be said!

No picture?

 

[weltweit]

No picture?

There is a thought

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You might try insulating the pot - or at least stand it on a board or something when you leave it out at night - not that it's anywhere near "cold" yet, but cold roots may set a sub-tropical plant back .. I definitely was glad of an insulated mat in my tent on Saturday night.

Well I've got a great big bit of MDF (kitchen worksurface) that I've currently got plants sitting on, so maybe I'll stick it there in case the ground gets too cold. I also have a pallett in my shady corner.

 

[gentlegreen]

dracaena ?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

dracaena ?

View attachment 13536

I don't even know how to pronounce that

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't even know how to pronounce that

Nor me.

Dracaena (

/drəˈsiːnə/,[2] derived from the romanized form of the Ancient Greek δράκαινα - drakaina, "female dragon")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_(plant)

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

and impatiens

I've heard that pronounced im-patiens (almost like in-patient), impassions and im-pat-ee-un

 

[gentlegreen]

and impatiens

I've heard that pronounced im-patiens (almost like in-patient), impassions and im-pat-ee-un

I bet no two Latin scholars would be able to agree either.

What's bugging me at the moment is they've dropped the elegantly descriptive "umbelliferae" for "apiacea", "compostitae" for "asteracea", "leguminosae" for "papillonacea", etc ...

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I bet no two Latin scholars would be able to agree either.

What's bugging me at the moment is they've dropped the elegantly descriptive "umbelliferae" for "apiacea", "compostitae" for "asteracea", "leguminosae" for "papillonacea", etc ...

But why? Why don't they just give them all nice pronounceable English names