L Amborn

Haha, I was speed reading and read "greens" as "green beans"! I am used to seeing them paired with peas when I read. That was my mistake

Mike Haasl wrote:I planted 450 onions yesterday but it's spitting snow and windy so I might not get the rest in the ground today.  First batch of peas and greens are planted, not sure if it's too early for the greens.  

Ooh yeah, I would be super interested in that update! My beans are getting huge so I would love to get them in the ground but I have been really nervous with this morning frost.

Ditto! The fruit trees (apple, pear, plum) are all taking off. My rhubarb is huge already. I got a load of compost and have started piling it around where my projects are this year. It is only the 2nd year here so I don't have enough of my own to utilize. I have tons of seeds started inside ready to plant once the morning frost quits.

The plans are:
-double or triple the garden size
-start a guild under the apple and pear trees, I am sick of mowing under them
-perennial pollinator strip along the roadway to also help with mowing/grass control
-train the raspberry thicket in to some semblance of control and order
-add edibles/perennials around the house/edges

Pretty much trying to take over as much lawn that I have to mow/weedwhack with useful plants as I can this year.

Where are you located? I haven't been buying chicks from the stores, near me everyone is hatching. I would go on facebook. There are a couple groups I could suggest based on your location. I am getting mine from a friend in a few weeks.

What is your potting mix ratio? That looks like a lot of wood material which holds a ton of moisture, so it might not be draining well enough.

Most people I know who keep violets don't give them tap water, apparently they are finicky, and respond better to spring water or other pretentious options, another reason I don't like them . Either of those may be the issue. Maybe try a sandier mix or adding some larger rocks in.

A warm soil temp is normal, soil insulates, but if it regularly gets to over 85-90F it could be inhibiting plant growth. I would worry more about aeration/compactness and overwatering than temp if it is inside. Most plants in climate-controlled settings don't get overheated unless under supplemental light.

The #1 problem I see with houseplants is incorrect watering so if you are reading about how to properly water and you correct the soil so it is not holding water for too long it should be okay. Like others have said, violets develop fungus easily so over-moist soil is a problem.  

I commend you for how healthy this guy looks, I hate african violets! A few things I am thinking about that may help narrow it down:

-Can you give more detailed information on the medium you have it planted in?
-what type of water are you using and how are you determining when to water it?
-what zone are you in (edit: I forgot our profiles have zone info, I see your zone now) , how much light does it get (full sun or are there exterior trees shading it for part of the day, etc., do you supplement it with a grow light)
-what kind of drainage does the pot have? What is the pot made of? It is hard to see exactly from this picture.

I have a more "you live or you die" strategy with my plants, so violets don't tend to make it very long. I have attempted them a few times when I have received them for free, but I don't spend money on them haha. I am more of a succulent person.

I know it got really warm here so I just did it! Even if we get more snow, I can't imagine it will get SOOOO cold that they will be in danger. Crossing my fingers. I didn't prune too hard, just a few problem areas that have been bugging me for a while and have been causing big impacts on the growth patterns so I didn't want the spring burst to be headed in the wrong direction. Still have to work on the plums but they are late bloomers anyway. I'll update if I was wrong haha.

Seconding exposing seedlings to movement strengthens their stems. But if you don't have a good setup for a fan you can just gently run your hand across them whenever you pass by them throughout the day, it accomplishes the same thing and uses no electricity. You just have to be diligent with remembering to do it.

I know many permies get nervous about genetically engineered foods, but gal-safe pigs were just approved last year for consumption, and are now available to buy for people affected by alpha-gal syndrome.

I think they might have adapted the technology to some poultry products as well based on the website.

Fossil Farms

I am pretty sure you can order a half or whole pig for the freezer.

Maybe this will help if you are open to it.

Edit, further explanation: they are completely 100% pig. No other organism's DNA has been inserted. Alpha-Gal syndrome occurs because the tick's saliva has a substance that causes an allergic reaction. Red meat has a substance (alpha-gal sugar) which is similar to the substance in the saliva so once a body develops an allergy to the saliva, it begins to recognize red meat as an allergen as well. This accounts for the variability in symptoms. People have different levels of allergies, and some people's allergies get worse with every exposure while other people's do not.

These pig's genetic editing was simply to remove the Alpha-Gal gene from their genome. Nothing else about the pigs were changed. Nothing was added to their DNA (like many other GE animals where DNA from other organisms is inserted). They are 100% pig, just minus the allergen. So they are not triggering the allergic reaction.

Hopefully this helps, I just found out about Alpha-Gal syndrome earlier this year, and I can't believe it has been affecting so many people in America right under our nose without us knowing. I am glad a solution has been invented without much trouble, but because of pop culture many people are averse to trying it.

I am an agriculture teacher, and people always come to me with plant problems. The #1 reason people kill their plants is overwatering. Literally every time. I am not saying you are doing this now, I am just telling you my personal experience. That is what it is, always.

My suggestion is to stop everything. Stop touching it, stop watering it, stop repotting it. For at least 2 months. Ignore it. If it still looks like this in 2 months, THEN investigate another issue like a fungal problem or adjust the soil.

Yes, it might drop a few leaves, it is obviously unhappy. That is what plants do when they are unhappy. But 2 months will give it time to recover if it is overwatering. If it is something else it will continue to go downhill, but if it is just a soil moisture problem it will bounce back. 2 months is not going to kill it if it is a fungus (or if it is, it is dead by now anyway, you just don't know it yet).

I am a teacher and I use these every spring to plant seedlings with the kids during our "day on the farm". They are a great way to reuse the metric tons of newspaper I get and save some money on pots.

Once you get the hang of it you can make them pretty sturdy. I have found the template size they give isn't the best shape, I make it a little shorter and it sticks better.