Calling all Green Thumbs!!!

[DJChameleon]

Yeah so this is going to be the dedicated Garden thread. All gardening questions answered all the time. We can post pictures of our setups in here and just trade gardening tips.

I'm fairly new to gardening but the wifey wanted us to plant some stuff together.

We are only missing tiny pots to transfer our seeds once they start to sprout and also need to fence of the area that we are going to place our raised bed. There are way too many squirrels and rabbits here that will become super annoying to fend off.

If anyone has any tips for pests I'd love to hear what you got.

[Psy-Fi]

If you live in an area with rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and deer, you will almost certainly need to put some type of fencing around your garden. Rabbits and groundhogs will dig under fences to get to your plants, so if they are a problem in your area you will have to bury the bottom of your fencing in the ground to deter them. Deer can jump over fencing if it's too low, so that's something to consider, also. Squirrels and chipmunks can squeeze through holes in wire fencing, so if you use wire fencing make sure the size of the openings in the mesh are too small for them to squeeze through. They are very good climbers, though, so sometimes they might still be able to get into your garden if they are determined enough.

For insect pests, neem oil works great as an all-around pesticide and it's not harmful to beneficial insects. I use it throughout the growing season. Slug & snail bait is also a must-have for me.

If you make raised beds, make sure you can reach into the middle of the bed from the sides without having to climb into the bed to get to the middle of the bed. It just makes for easier gardening and you don't end up standing, kneeling, and walking in the bed and compacting the soil.

 

[DJChameleon]

awesome thanks for all those tips I will take try them out.

Are there certain plants that also should be planted that act as natural repellents as well like lavender or catnip maybe?

If you live in an area with rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and deer

All of those usual suspects are in my area. I went for my morning walk and all of them crossed the street in front of me as I was walking. I felt like a disney princess or something. It was strange how many I actually saw this morning.

[Psy-Fi]

awesome thanks for all those tips I will take try them out.

Are there certain plants that also should be planted that act as natural repellents as well like lavender or catnip maybe?

All of those usual suspects are in my area. I went for my morning walk and all of them crossed the street in front of me as I was walking. I felt like a disney princess or something. It was strange how many I actually saw this morning.

I plant marigolds and nasturtiums every year because I like them and they're easy to grow. Both have a reputation of being natural repellents to some pests but I've never done any kind of controlled experiments to see how much of that might be fact and how much is just a proverbial old wives' tale. I've never grown lavender or catnip, so I don't have any experience with them.

[DJChameleon]

yeah we decided to plant some flowers that are known to be easy to grow like tulips, sunflowers, Zinnia.

We also included Cosmos morning glory and chinese forget me nots and petunia.

[jimmy jazz]

Americans call it 'green thumbs'?

Mind is blown.

We call it green fingers.

[Lexi Darling]

Yeah, I've never heard green fingers. Also Cypress Hill had a big hit in the 90s with "Dr. Greenthumb".

[Psy-Fi]

yeah we decided to plant some flowers that are known to be easy to grow like tulips, sunflowers, Zinnia.

We also included Cosmos morning glory and chinese forget me nots and petunia.

Squirrels love to dig up tulip bulbs to eat, so you'll need to figure out what method you want to use to try to protect your bulbs from them. I like to plant morning glory in a spot where it can climb. Along the edge of a fence works good because you don't have to bother with a trellis.

[DJChameleon]

Squirrels love to dig up tulip bulbs to eat, so you'll need to figure out what method you want to use to try to protect your bulbs from them. I like to plant morning glory in a spot where it can climb. Along the edge of a fence works good because you don't have to bother with a trellis.

Thanks for letting me know a Tulip I got for my partner for Easter died and we were going to plant the bulbs in the ground but now we have to plant them deeper than we were planning to.

[jimmy jazz]

Anyone had to deal with fungus gnats before? They're doing my head in now. I reckon I'm killing 50 of them a day and I'm following all the advice on not watering often and having gravel on top of the soil.

Its so annoying.

[Psy-Fi]

Anyone had to deal with fungus gnats before? They're doing my head in now. I reckon I'm killing 50 of them a day and I'm following all the advice on not watering often and having gravel on top of the soil.

Its so annoying.

I've never had a problem with fungus gnats but using a systemic insecticide should work on them. I use neem oil as a spray for a general purpose insecticide on all my plants and I've heard it can also be used as a systemic insecticide for insects in the soil but I've never tried using it as a systemic.

[jimmy jazz]

I've never had a problem with fungus gnats but using a systemic insecticide should work on them. I use neem oil as a spray for a general purpose insecticide on all my plants and I've heard it can also be used as a systemic insecticide for insects in the soil but I've never tried using it as a systemic.

I'll have a look at that, thanks.

They are so annoying.

[degrassi.knoll]

Anyone had to deal with fungus gnats before? They're doing my head in now. I reckon I'm killing 50 of them a day and I'm following all the advice on not watering often and having gravel on top of the soil.

Its so annoying.

YES they're awful. I found a product called Mosquito bits that worked super well - granular bits of corn cob containing a naturally-occurring bacterium that kills fungus gnat and mosquito larvae. You can sprinkle the bits on top of the soil and each time you water the bacterium releases into the soil. But I wouldn't recommend this for indoor plants due to decay/mold. Instead, you can steep the bits and use that to water. Safe for humans and animals, can be used in all soil. Brew a new batch once a week. Takes 3-4 weeks to break the life cycle.

[degrassi.knoll]

Neem oil is good too but less effective on all life cycles - I've had much more success with infestation control with the mosquito bits. I do like to spray down and quarantine any new plants I'm bringing in with neem oil and a diluted alcohol solution to kill off any mealy bugs, aphids, etc.

[jimmy jazz]

YES they're awful. I found a product called Mosquito bits that worked super well - granular bits of corn cob containing a naturally-occurring bacterium that kills fungus gnat and mosquito larvae. You can sprinkle the bits on top of the soil and each time you water the bacterium releases into the soil. But I wouldn't recommend this for indoor plants due to decay/mold. Instead, you can steep the bits and use that to water. Safe for humans and animals, can be used in all soil. Brew a new batch once a week. Takes 3-4 weeks to break the life cycle.

Thank you I will try this. Sounds easy!