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My Backyard Garden

Discussion in 'Gardening' started by blindpup10, Mar 22, 2020.

  1. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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    Last year, I went to my friend's house, her husband is an avid gardener. I was so impressed that he was growing okra, oranges, green chili, spinach, eggplant and many more in his little concrete backyard. He makes his own wooden pots and grew everything from seeds. While I was talking to him, he said: "if you have the land to grow, make use of it".
    His words really inspired me and I began my little project of converting my backyard to grow vegetables.
    Right now things that are in my garden-
    tomatoes, lemons, curry leaves, swiss chard, bell pepper, banana, eggplant. (These are older plants, that I have learned to manage)
    cabbage, cherry radish, beets, (these will be harvested in a month )
    green beans, zucchini, cucumber, spinach, chayote, grapes, kiwi, strawberry ( newly planted)

    My main reason to start this thread is to encourage people to grow and also to pool ideas, wisdom on how to maintain, prune, harvest, ideas on what else to grow, tips and knacks on DIY's.

    Because I don't have gardening knowledge or about plants. I rely heavily on Google, my Gardner to tell me what to do. As its google, I cant ask questions and get a response. I need more of Q&A, to understand things to do and not to do.

    The Hardiness zone of my garden is 10A.

    My biggest non-supporter is my dog, who loves to eat all the veggies before I can pluck it, walks around young saplings. I need this special non-supporter to stay away from my veggies. I need ideas to keep her out as well.
    Pics on its way.
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2020
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  2. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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  3. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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  4. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    Great thread! I am envious of all the possibilities in a zone 10 garden. I have been gardening all my life.
    My yard has blueberries, figs, elderberries, red and white currants as edibles. I also grow a lot of herbs: rosemary, thyme, oregano, several types of mint and basil, and lavender.
    I used to grow tomatoes, okra, eggplant and pepper and they are easy to grow and give great harvests.
    However we have become increasingly plagued by deer and I simultaneously developed an interest in hummingbird and butterfly gardening as well as dahlias. So most of my yard is given over to flowers now and I have tons of plants in containers so I can take full advantage of the limited sunny spots.
    I garden organically, with lots of compost and other soil amendments. Absolutely no pesticides. If anyone has questions I am happy to answer.
     
  5. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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    Omg!! I found my guru!:worship2: Please post pics of your plants. I would really love to see it.
    My question- should i let grapes grow on my compound wall? Or should i get external trellis?
    My lemons/ get some kind of insect- how do i get rid of them without using pestiside?
    How can i build a fence around plants so my dog doesnt get to it?
    Why are my bananas plant not growing? I got it last fall sometime Sept/Oct. My gardener said its a short banana plant, but when I bought the plant- the label didnt say its a short one. How can i find out what kind of banana plant it is?
     
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  6. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    I’ll post pictures as the season goes on. The yard is just waking up.
    Grapes: these are strong sturdy plants so I would get a good trellis for them even if you are growing against the wall.
    Citrus: try hosing off insects with a strong jet of water. If you have scale insects then you can try to scrape them off with a toothbrush. Then spray regularly with a dilute solution of dish soap.
    Fence: if your dog has a preference for certain plants you can put chicken wire around them. Place a few garden stakes and wrap the wire around. This will also help guard against bunnies. When my dog was young she used to love stealing tomatoes and strawberries. I just planted extra for her. Now she ignores the plants.
    Banana: the varieties I have seen my neighbors grow don’t get very big like the ones in India. If you have given it soil rich in compost and it is well-watered that may indeed be its nature.
     
  7. rachaputi

    rachaputi Platinum IL'ite

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    As indians we can't avoid planting few.. curry leaves jasmine also in that list :)

    Lovely, you got inspired and implemented!! Kudos to you :clap2:
     
  8. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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    What is hummingbird and butterfly gardening?
    I don't use pesticides either, but my lemons and hibiscus get eaten by some kind of pest. And my eggplants got attacked by grasshoppers I don't feel like killing it either :( last year it ate my eggplants/ hibiscus/ tulsi plant :(
    This year, I want to be ready, as I have more plants and with Covid-19 WFH options loads of time on hand.

    Jasmine plant (not the one in the picture) that is not growing/ blooming. I replanted it around a year ago, as it wasn't growing in the previous spot too. I worry about this plant, as I fertilize it, it gets ample water, sunlight. No sign of it growing at all. At the most, it gave me 3 flowers in the past 2 years. I don't even know what I am doing wrong.

    Banana plant- Any idea when will start to fruit? I was hoping to have the Indian banana plant, Is there a place I can look for? Grow from seed? ( my mom always said banana don't grow from seeds) soo not sure.

    Grapes- I was thinking of trellis net and pin it to the wall- Will that work? or should I get a wooden trellis?

    Kiwi- This is newly planted ( 2 weeks) I know this is a creeper as well, Any idea if is should start trellis for that as well?
    My dog- love tomatoes!! She eats all the young sapling leaves too!! I will order the chicken wire around tomatoes and strawberry.

    I frequently get topsoil, I use chicken manure, coffee powder as fertilizer.


    I am looking for a star fruit plant, gooseberry plant. Any idea where I can get healthy plants?
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2020
  9. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    I would get sturdy wooden trellises for both the grape and kiwi.
    For the jasmine plant, does it have a lot of leaves and no flowers or is the plant overall sickly? If it is growing well you can cut down the amount of fertilizer, since that can promote leaf growths at the expense of flowers. Instead you can add a bloom-booster type of fertilizer.
    I am not sure when a banana will fruit here, since the ones I see in summer here are largely for decoration.
    I am also not sure where to buy tropical fruit plants. My go-to place for berries is Nourse Farms. I like Four Winds Growers for citrus, but they will not ship to certain states. My favorite place for an incredible variety of eggplant, tomato and pepper plants is Cross Country Nurseries. And I got a fantastic range of okra seeds from Southern Exposure a Seed Exchbage. Jing Orange is a beautiful okra with bright red pods and is very ornamental. Stewart’s Zeebest gives prolific yields and the okra remains tender even when the pods get big.
     
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  10. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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    Jasmine plant- yes it has leaves, some are going yellow. but most of the leaves are green. It's not grown an inch for 2 years.
    Do you know what is the best time to grow okra? I will try to get Stewarts Zeebest thanks for the suggestion.
    I am getting the chicken wire to build a fence around the veggies to keep my dog away.

    Now with lockdown and my grapes already growing so fast. I might use chicken wire on the wall to make it into a DIY trellis. Not sure, if it will work.

    I have asked my friends and other groups for information on nursery where I can find Jamun, starfruit and gooseberry plants. I haven't got any sources so far.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2020

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