This Autumn I am planning to try something new: I'm going to collect a bunch of seeds from local Small-leaved Linden trees (Tilia Cordata), put them in the fridge for a few months to cold-stratify them, and then plant them this upcoming Spring. The first big question comes up: do the seeds have to be peeled out of their little nutlets first? Or are the seeds thrown in the fridge as-is, nutlet and all?
I'd like to dip my toes into the field of photovoltaics (PV).
I'd like to start with a small PV panel that can be folded up and put away when moving; nothing major like replacing a roof or a whole grid that needs to be wired into the power utility's system.
I was thinking about connecting it to a battery and then (controlled by a timer) to a very low-power heater. It would be nice to have the heater in the garage. The patio is above the garage, and there are several plants growing on the patio. IF I could place a small heater directly below these plants, hopefully the rising heat would keep the plants (esp. the roots) a bit warmer through the winter. And being on a timer, I could set the timer to come on during the coldest parts of the nights, say, 3 AM - 6 AM.
Being paranoid about safety, and since nobody would be watching it, it should not come with a risk of fire.
Can anybody here suggest an extremely low power heater, ideally, DC powered?
I'd like to get a better idea how the micro-climates around my home differ from each other, and am thinking about buying three or four max/min thermometers to see how temperatures vary by location.
I'm especially interested in learning how big a difference it makes to place potted plants right up against the house. (Will the warmth of the house keep some of these plants alive through winter?)
If there is a big difference between a thermometer placed right up against the house and one placed at the far side of the backyard, it would also give me an indication that a lot of heat is escaping from the house.
In any case, I'd like to place one thermometer right against the house on the south side.
That would be in direct sunshine, which I've read is a no-no.
So, I am wondering, what is the recommended practice for getting an accurate temperature reading in a location?
Is it simply a matter of putting the thermometer in a cardboard box (to get it out of direct sunshine)?
A styrofoam box? etc.?
Any other factors to consider to ensure accurate readings at each location?
It's good that you've used concrete to try to fill as many access points as possible; that's a permanent solution.
For any other opening (say, for ventilation), put 1/4" galvanized mesh over it.
1/4" mesh is the largest you can use and keep the mice out. If the gaps are larger, mice will get through.
This option also provides ventilation.
(This mesh is also good for putting around trees, to prevent mice from gnawing on the bark and ringing the trees. It needs to be buried a little in the dirt to prevent them from digging underneath.)
Hugo Morvan wrote:
. . .
How do you know it's a Bocking variety?
. . .
I went looking specifically for Bocking 4.
I read that the roots of Bocking 4 go down ten feet and the roots of Bocking 14 go down eight feet. I wanted plants that go down as deep as possible because they were going to be planted along the sides of a creek and they were going to serve as erosion control, like living pilings that hold the ground in place.
The supplier I found said that he only ever had Bocking 4 on his property, nothing else.
Perhaps he lied.
Or he was being honest, but his supplier lied to him.
Or his supplier was being honest, but that supplier's supplier lied.
etc. etc.
Hopefully, everybody along the supply chain was honest.
Otherwise, there would be no way to confirm the genealogy of the plants all the way back to Bocking, England where the variety was developed.
I have a couple Comfrey plants in my back yard (Bocking 4, one of the sterile hybrids).
I've had these plants several years and they have not moved.
Plus, there are a couple plants at my parents' place that have not moved for over 35 years. In fact, they are starting to look kind of anemic, not the strong plants they once were. Bottom line, they haven't spread by seed, so I am confident that they are, indeed, the sterile variety of Comfrey.
However, this afternoon when I was deadheading one of the plants in the back yard, I came across a seed. I thought I was looking at a Borage plant but, nope, it was Comfrey.
So now I am wondering, do the sterile varieties of Comfrey ever produce seeds? Perhaps the odds are extremely low--but not zero.
Alternately, if a sterile Comfrey plant is pollinated by common Comfrey, is there a greater chance that viable seeds will be produced?
I've read that Black Locust contains substances that inhibit the growth of other plants. Is this true for dead lumber as well and if so, isn't it a bad choice for a raised bed application?
I've heard just the opposite. Black Locust is a nitrogen-fixer; it absorbs nitrogen from the atmosphere and emits it out its roots, so it actually helps plants around it grow better. It's like it provides a natural fertilizer--for free.
Perhaps you are thinking of Black Walnut, which emits Juglone. It can have a strong effect on some plants, but others are unaffected.
In order to reduce home heating bills, I'm considering putting insulation over some of the windows in my home during the coldest months. ON THE INSIDE OF WINDOWS.
During the winter, windows on the north side don't get a lot of sunlight. They are just sinks for letting a lot of heat escape.
I was browsing the insulation aisle of Home Depot and a few varieties of rigid insulating foam caught my eye. These are not the soft fiberglass pink (or white) insulation used between studs of on external wall; these are stiff pieces of rigid styrofoam, about 1" thick. I was thinking I could cut them to form, and hold them into the window frames. If they are cut in half, to cover just the lower half of a window, or perhaps half of the sliding glass door to the patio, that still cuts the surface area of potential heat loss in half. It's got to be better than nothing, right?
However, keeping in mind these would be inside the house, are there any health concerns? Do these rigid pieces of insulation give off any fibers that might cause health problems? Would they exacerbate asthma or eczema?
Any other recommendations?
It would be nice to have something that clips on in winters, comes off in summers, easy-peasy.
Anybody in these forums use seasonal insulation over windows, or parts of windows, to reduce heat loss?
I have two questions about two different types of peppers.
This Spring, I bought two pepper plants from a local nursery, one Carolina Reaper and one Ghost Pepper.
They were about the same age, I transplanted them into bigger pots, and they've been growing close to each other all summer. See photos.
Q1:
The Carolina Reaper has several peppers that are turning red.
Judging by the photos, are they ready to pick now? (Or should I wait? Do they get any redder?)
Q2:
The Ghost Pepper doesn't have any peppers on it. It's had flowers and the plant, itself, looks healthy.
Why did this plant not produce any peppers?
I've got a two-year old Avocado tree growing in a pot.
Managed to keep it alive indoors over the winter, and with a grow light.
It now has four or five branches coming off it.
I am wondering if I should prune those off and keep the tree to a single stalk with no branches.
Is there a "best practices" in terms of pruning an Avocado tree?
This is a question I've had for a while: Do earthworms work through clay?
I'm working to improve some very poor soil. And what there is does not go deep before hitting a layer of hard clay.
We've added cow and sheep manure for many years, as well as compost, left-over hay, etc. So we are increasing the height of organic material and giving the worms some food.
However, do the worms actually work their way INTO clay?
I assume they dig their way down, take a bite of the clay, say "Phooie!", spit it out, then turn around, and head back up to where the food is better. So they are not actually digging DOWN so deep-rooted plants can go farther down.
Or am I mistaken?
Do worms dig into clay?
If I turn over the soil by shovel and go down four feet, and manually mix the chunks of clay with everything else, will the earthworms, again, work AROUND the clay chunks, or will they break the chunks down?
I was outside watching ants climb up the fruit trees: asian pear, apple, plum, etc.
The trees are pretty big but the ants still seem to investigate every single square millimeter of the trees: the trunks, branches, leaves, etc. If you put the tip of your finger down on a branch, they will find it pretty fast. It's like they patrol the entire tree--constantly.
I am wondering, do ants provide any benefits for these trees?
On the negative side, they farm aphids, and I have been tempted to put TangleFoot around the trunk. That way, the aphids lose their bodyguards and ladybugs can eat the aphids.
However, perhaps there are some positives I am overlooking.
Do ants also chase away pest insects that damage the fruits?
Do they eliminate ticks on the trees? It would be nice to think, if nothing else, a tree covered with ants has no ticks.
Do ants pollinate flowers?
Trying to think of some positives for all these ants on the trees.
Anything?
I don't mind dandelions and have let them grow pretty much wherever they sprout. I like the fact their roots go deep and break up hard soil, and they grow where many other plants won't.
However, there is a section of the back yard where they are getting out of control.
I am now wondering, what is the easiest method to clear out this plot?
(Other plants are now planned for that area. )
If I keep the plants mowed to the ground, I suppose that would prevent them from flowering and make the job of weeding easier next year. Would it kill the plants too? Or do they regrow?
I am wondering if they behave in any way like Comfrey, which regrows from pieces of root.
Or do dandelion plants have to be pulled up by the root?
If so, how much of the root has to be dug up to kill the plant?
But Butternut trees are supposed to alternate good years and bad years.
Nobody seemed to have Butternut seeds for sale in 2022, so I assume that was a bad year.
Hopefully, 2023 is a good year.
To Canadians who may be reading this thread:
Incredible Seeds (IS), in Nova Scotia, sells Butternut seeds--but they only ship within Canada.
Also, a caveat, they do not guarantee the purity of their plants, or even know the exact variety. They get their Butternut seeds from wild trees growing in the local forest. They may be hybrids. And if you buy seeds from IS, and get them genetically tested to confirm they are 100% Butternuts, in future years IS may not pick seeds from the exact same spot in the forest. Bottom line: there is no consistency and you do not know what you are getting.
James, are there no local trees from which you can collect seeds?
You wouldn't know for sure if they are hybrids, but I don't know important purity is to you.
A couple young cedar trees were blown over in heavy winds recently.
They have since been cut up.
I am now wondering, if I shred the green parts of these trees (not the woody parts), are there any plants that do not like cedar mulch?
I have read that blueberries do not like cedar bark mulch, so am not planning to use this material around blueberries. (Although, it wouldn't really be bark mulch that I'd be using.)
So . . . once I shred the leaves/needles/green parts, are there any plants that would not like this material?
On the topic of hay bales, anybody in these forums have a rough idea how the insulation properties of hay bales compare to commercial insulation products?
My dad used square bales to act as insulation against the inside wall of a well house, to prevent the water pump from freezing in the cold of winter. (These are the small bales, 60 - 80 lb square bales, not the bigger 300 lb square bales that have become popular in recent years.) He just built up a wall of bales against the exterior wall. I am now wondering if I should replace those bales with styrofoam pink or white, products that are actually intended for the purpose of insulating a building.
If I replace these square bales with, say, six inches of soft styrofoam pink, would I be increasing or decreasing the insulation level of the well house?
Abe Coley wrote:
Yeah they have really narrow grey/silver leaves, unlike canadensis leaves which are wider and green. If you want me to be super double extra sure, i can get some from a labeled tree at the arboretum at our local college.
I can just load you up a regular envelope, no charge
I have had Chestnut honey (from Italy) and didn't care for it. It definitely has a stronger taste than, say, wildflower or Acacia honey.
Acacia honey is delicious and is one of my favorites, as well as Fireweed honey.
So . . . bees will forage on Chestnut trees and make honey from them, but I do not know if it is one of their favorites, or where it sits on their hierarchy of food sources in terms of quantity.
I enjoy starting Walnut trees from seed, and Walnuts tend to have roots that go deep fast but don't spread out as fast. So I was looking for pots that are deep but without a large diameter; otherwise, each pot uses more soil than necessary and takes up more room when transporting the trees to permanent homes.
I did not find such pots locally, but was referred to a supplier in Oregon:
They have a large variety of pots specifically for trees.
For example, 6" diameter x 12" deep, or 6" diameter x 18" deep.
If you are planning to keep the trees in pots for two years, the 18" deep pots might be better; otherwise, there is not a big difference in price between them and the 12" pots.
However, the cost of shipping can be surprisingly high, especially depending where you live.
Often higher than the cost of the pots themselves, so they recommend ordering at least 20 pots at a time.
Also, they ship by UPS, so if you are not within the US, there will also be a brokerage charge, plus taxes and duties on the brokerage service. Ouch! So, think long-term and, if you order, order a quantity once so you never have to re-order.
Abe Coley wrote:I can get you some seeds, they are native to my area and I know where a bunch of them are.
I am always interested in more seeds, for the sake of genetic diversity, but I like to be sure they are Silver Buffalo Berry (Shepherdia argentea). I am anal about documenting all the plants that go in the yard. Are those plants silver?
Also, I live in Canada; shipping and payment might be a hassle. I suppose a handful of seeds sent by regular letter mail wouldn't raise any eyebrows in Canada Post, but what about payment?
I am just getting into Buffalo Berries this year. I started some seeds, and ordered some year-old plants.
So I have some genetic variety, and different ages. (Hopefully, that mix also includes both male and female plants.)
I came looking for additional information about Buffalo Berry plants, and came across this thread.
Specifically, do these plants thrive within the drip-line of Pine and Spruce trees?
Many plants do not like the sticky wax that gets washed off Spruce and Pine trees; the ground around these trees is usually bare.
However, I've read that Buffalo Berry plants are often used as a wind break and can be planted right beside Pine and Spruce.
If that's the case, I have the perfect spot for them: on the south side of some 40-year old Pine and Spruce trees whose lower branches have died off already.
Can anybody in these forums confirm one way or the other?
Will Buffalo Berry plants live under Pine and Spruce trees?
I'm back with another Comfrey question.
My plants are doing well. They grow tall and big, usually about four or five feet tall.
However, when they get this tall, they tend to fall over with the first blustery day or heavy rain.
I've attached a photo and marked where the stalks are actually growing from. The tops of the plants are quite far from where the plant is growing; quite a sprawl.
The plants are now arching back up and the fall doesn't seem to have done them any harm.
But I'd prefer that they stay upright in the first place. I am considering wrapping them loosely with chicken wire or bird netting.
I think most of the growth happens in the center, and I don't want to crowd new growth. But I think bees would have better access to the flowers, and the plant would get better access to sunshine, if they stayed upright.
Any cons to wrapping Comfrey plants to prevent them from falling over?
A lot of information is posted about how many plants are juglone intolerant, and how many plants cannot live near a Black Walnut tree (and, to a lesser degree, other Walnut trees).
I am wondering if a similar process works the other way around: are there any plants that walnut trees don't like being around?
For example, I've read that the resin washed off pine and spruce trees inhibits some plants from growing under them.
Would a walnut tree planted near pine or spruce trees have their growth negatively effected by these trees?
What plants do walnut trees not like being around?
If you are a beekeeper [and that is what got me interested in black locust first, [as black locust gives a very fragrant honey that never crystallizes]. Well, I discovered from talking to other beeks that some years they love it an some years they won't touch it. We don't know why.
I am curious: how many Black Locust trees do you need to yield a significant amount of honey (say, 1 cup)?
I've propagated Walnut trees, and documented it in my blog, with photos.
Your photo indicates a regular Persian Walnut tree.
Squirrels are notorious for cleaning off nut trees, but they also forget where they hide all their nuts, so I am surprised you don't have at least a few young trees coming up every Spring.
Walnuts have deep taproots, so they don't like being transplanted.
If you do manage to collect a few walnuts before the squirrels get to them, they need to go through a period of cold temperature stratification. Basically, they need to go through a period of cold temperature for about 100 days or they won't germinate. The safest place to do this is in your refrigerator. Keep them slightly humid. In the Spring, take them out and plant them in pots.
They will still need to be protected against squirrels for at least the first year. Even after the nut germinates, if squirrels smell them, they will dig up the nut and take them. Even if the tree is four months old and 1 foot tall, squirrels will nip off the tree at the base and dig up the nut, killing the tree for the sake of that nut. Squirrels are pesky critters. One way I found to protect the trees from squirrels was to wrap the tree in a chicken wire teepee. The trees were in five gallons planter pots and each one got a cone of chicken wire wrapped around it.
That was the only way that worked for me.
After the first year, the chicken wire can come off the following Spring.
I think, by this time, the smell of the nut has disappeared and the squirrels ignore the young trees.
Regarding trying to clone the tree by taking cuttings, I don't think it can be done.
If you can successfully do it, that would be wonderful. Post back and let us know.
But if you want a clone of that tree, a better option would be to graft scions from that tree onto rootstock of another Persian Walnut tree, or a Black Walnut tree.
I am considering making winter jackets for trees and am looking for design suggestions. Sizes. Material. etc.
Has anybody in these forums done this before?
Local nurseries sell some for banana trees.
Winters in my area are mild compared to other regions of Canada, but still not warm enough for tropical trees to survive the winter without extra protection. Especially against wind.
So, I was thinking about getting some insulating hard styrofoam (hard board), cutting a groove in it to fit the trunk (for young fruit trees), and maybe even packing some styrofoam pink (soft foam) into it. Then tying these devices around the tree trunks to give the trees added protection against the wind in winter. But I am concerned about humidity. Am I solving one problem, but creating another? Is humidity a concern with this proposed design? As long as I don't wrap anything in plastic, moisture shouldn't be trapped against the tree and cause problems, should it?
I have a blog too, but I wouldn't call it a traditional blog in the sense that it is treated like a diary. It is nowhere close to being a diary of daily events.
And its purpose has changed several times since it was started.
It first started out to record books that I had read and some activities in my life.
Then it became a place to document work that I do with mathematics and computer programming. I write many computer programs that compute discrete solutions to math problems. Remember the Quadratic Equation in high school? One of my JavaScript pages computes solutions to those problems. And polynomials of higher degrees. And several other problems in Linear Algebra such as Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors, solving N Equations in N Unknowns, and several more. Putting background information and examples on a blog page allows me to keep the JavaScript page relatively clean, but making the extra information available if a user wants it.
Lately, I've used the blog to record work in the garden and document the growth of trees. I am always going back and updating blog posts to add more information. Between the blog and Google calendar, I have a convenient way to look back over years and remind myself when I planted/pruned/bought a plant, what strain it was, what a Walnut tree looks like when it sprouts, at one year, when the Comfrey flowered, etc.
Each blog post then becomes an independent repository of information on a particular topic for me. It is not like a diary entry that I write one day and then never touch it again.
I've had pretty good success using a file to scarify the seeds--but I don't do many seeds at a time.
The most I've done in one sitting is about 30 seeds. If you are planning to scarify many seeds at a time, this manual labour method probably is not appropriate for you.
First, I put down a few sheets of white paper. The seeds are always slipping out of my fingers; the contrast of black seed on white background makes it easier to find the seed when that happens.
Second, each side of each seed gets about twenty rubs across the file. Sometimes I get lucky and a seed doesn't need twenty strokes. Sometimes I see the white inside of the seed before twenty, so I stop. All that is required is that the waterproof coating of the seed be unsealed so that water can be absorbed by the seed and it swells.
Third, the seeds are put in a shot glass of water. Cold water straight out of the tap. The intention is to let them soak in the water for 24 hours, but sometimes that plan doesn't work out. (I have a full-time job, so they might end up soaking for 48 hours, or when I find time after work to put them in dirt.)
Fourth, after soaking in water, they should have swelled up, so they are put in planter pots. I like using 3" peat pots because none of these trees are staying in my yard; they are all going somewhere else for their permanent homes. Using 3" peat pots gives them a good start and are inexpensive.
New sprouts poke above the ground in about a week.
In the photo below:
i) the tree on the left is from a batch planted June 4, poked above ground June 12;
ii) the tree on the right is from a batch planted May 9, poked above the ground May 14.
Today is June 20, so that is about 1 week and 5 weeks of growth.
In the June batch, 8 out of 11 seeds sprouted, which is a pretty good rate.
One more thing: I don't throw out the peat pots in which a Black Locust did not sprout.
I've read that Black Locust seeds can remain viable for many years. Just because a seed doesn't sprout now, doesn't mean it's bad. (Maybe I didn't scarify it enough. Or maybe it needs to go through a couple more winters.) In any case, I plant the peat pot somewhere I'd like a Black Locust tree to be and hope for the best. I may be surprised in a future year.
This year I had some success grafting Plum Trees.
This art is still very new to me, only the second year I've attempted grafting. Last year was a complete failure. This year, I was happy to see two grafts taking.
After seeking information about when to take the tape off, (i.e., watching YouTube videos), the norm seems to be about one month after leaves sprout on the scion. So that is what I did.
Unfortunately, the electricians tape that I used took a lot of the bark off the branch too (see attached photo.) Each unroll of the tape took another patch of bark off.
I am now afraid I may have girdled the very branches I wanted to be most successful.
Hoping for the best, but thinking ahead for future years.
What did I do wrong? Did I wait too long to take off the tape (i.e., did the tree have too much time to grow tight against the tape?)
Is there a better tape to use than electricians tape? Plain old non-sticky wrap doesn't make a very tight seal.
There is a young Persian (AKA Carpathian) Walnut tree growing in the back. It's about six years old.
Instead of growing up straight, the main trunk is growing in a curve (see attached photo.)
I had thought, if anything, it would grow toward the Sun--but straight. However, this tree is growing like it wants to make a quarter of a circle.
Is this normal?
Will it straighten up later?
Or should I put a post up beside it, with a strap, and tie it to train it to grow vertical?
One of my young (1 year old) Butternut trees has a couple new saplings growing up from the ground beside it; I assume they are suckers. (See photo.)
(Are Walnut trees known for sending up suckers?)
I am wondering if I can cut these suckers off any time of the year, or should I wait until the Autumn, when Walnut trees are usually pruned?
What is best practice for dealing with these suckers?
Steve Thorn wrote:I soaked them in willow water overnight.
The larger branches did best. Most were probably 1/4 of an inch and the best one was the largest at about 3/4 of an inch.
. . .
Thanks for the information, Steve.
So you soaked them in water overnight, that's it. And then put them in the ground? That sounds pretty easy. I'll try that.
BTW: I watched your YouTube video mentioned in the other thread and gave it a Like.
One more question: is there a difference in cold-hardiness between different strains of Black Locust?
I am especially interested in the Frisia cultivar. Any idea if this cultivar is less cold-hardy than other varieties of Black Locust?
A question about propagating Black Locust trees from cuttings.
Has anybody here been successful starting Black Locust trees from branch cuttings?
If so, do you have any advice for the best chance of success?
I know I could go out and collect seeds from random trees, but I'd prefer to know exactly what variety of tree I'm starting.
And, I've come across a tree that I think is just beautiful. I hope to go back to it and collect some of its seeds in the Autumn.
However, I'd also like to try to start some new trees--right now--from branch cuttings.
Hence, my question.
Is it a rather simple process to prune a couple small branches off this tree and start new trees from them?
Janet Reed wrote:Do you know what kind of plum and be more specific on age and size?
Hi, Janet.
I have no idea what type of plum. The co-worker who gave it to us a few years ago is no longer with the company, so I can't ask her.
We've had it at least three years, and it is about ten feet tall. Attached is a photo.
There are also two other plum trees on the property. They were here when we moved here, so they are at least five years old. They were about six feet tall when we moved here.
Again, never seen these two flower either. Photo attached.
Two days ago, I finished reading "Discourses and Selected Writings" by Epictetus.
It's a philosophy book. Epictetus was a former Roman slave who was given his freedom, and went back to Greece to found a philosophy school. By Penguin Classics.
Pretty easy to understand. Easy and quick to read. Agreed with a lot of what he had to say.
I am now starting "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
It's a non-fiction work by a former prisoner of the Soviet gulags, which won a Nobel Prize. He basically documented the change of a nation from mostly normal people to a nation with ten thousand paid torturers in their employ. It's fascinating how the culture of a country changes; changes happen slowly and, before you know it, you're living in an oppressive, corrupt, dictatorship, where everybody is afraid of everybody.
I love reading history books and books that look at human character and spirit.
The plum tree in the back yard is several years old and is growing well; it is actually quite big.
However, it has never flowered.
It was given to us by a co-worker and I am starting to think it will never flower. Perhaps it started out as a sucker from their tree. (In which case, without being grafted, it probably is only good for root stock.)
I am considering tearing this tree out and replacing it with a brand-new young plum tree from a nursery.
A question before I do this: can a new plum tree be planted where a plum tree grew previously? I read that some trees do not like to grow where a previous one used to be, but I don't know if this is the case for plums.
Any suggestions?
Should I wait another year for the existing tree to flower, or have I waited long enough?
