cross-posted from: https://lemmy.crimedad.work/post/152929

Here are the other two photos from the series on Pixelfed:

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/763216516514804651

Walking Lichen!

I was grilling some steak on my deck when I noticed this camouflaged lacewing larva. Check out this site for better photos and cool facts about it: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-murderous-mobile-lichen.html?m=1

#LichenSubscribe #Mosstodon #Macro #MacroPhotography #bugs #camouflage

@crosspost@lemmy.crimedad.work

Hey folks, just sharing a video I made (<4 minutes long) during my time transplanting blueberries yesterday. If you decide to watch, thanks!

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/15197450

This is another appreciation-post on how awesome semi-hydro/ LECA can be.

Today, I want to show you how my propagator dome works and how to build one for yourself very easily!

TL;DR

• It uses inorganic media like expanded clay pebbles, Seramis, pon, perlite, or whatever you choose.
• You fill small modified cups with the media and then place your seeds or cuttings in them.
• The media is completely inert and can be sterilized, so you don't have to worry about mold, fungus gnats, or whatever!
• You can't over- or underwater it, it's always moist, but very well aerated.
• This is my personal aerocloner-killer!

Why I build it (backstory)

I've always had trouble getting seeds started, especially for soil plants. They almost always got moldy and the success rate was low, especially due to waterlogging. And because I didn't want to mix soil with hydroponics, I had to search for an alternative.

Some people use rock wool for that, but I always found it too expensive and impractical.

Propagation via cuttings has also been hard for me. Like most people, I started with just a glass of water, but this very often caused rotting due to a lack of oxygen.

So, I built an aerocloner this year. This is basically an aeroponic cloning unit, where cuttings are placed in, which get sprayed with small droplets all the time. It worked really great, but my main issue with it was the noise. It needs an air pump running 24/7, which I found annoying.

I also needed a separate dome just for seeds, which feels redundant.

Many people also just place their cuttings into peat or coco, and they root very well too, as long as they get enough oxygen.

How it works

All semi-hydro substrates have some intrinsic wicking capabilities due to capillary action. This means, that if they stand in water, it gets drawn up all to the top, making the whole medium moist.

In between (and IN) the beads is a lot of empty space. Media like those can only store 30% water or so in their pores, and the rest is air. Air the roots need to breathe!

This means, that the LECA is always wet, but never water logged or compacted like coco, soil or other organic media can be!

Advantages

• Inorganic media are inert, they don't decompose or get eaten by mold or bugs
• As long as you refill the water in the tray once a week or so, you don't have to worry about too dry conditions, both the substrate and the air humidity. And even if you forget to water, it will stay moist for more than a few days after it has run dry.
• No waterlogging (anaerobic conditions due to overwatering) possible.
• Roots are already adapted for both soil AND hydro environments.
• No fungus gnats or other bugs, because they can't eat or live in the hostile substrate.
• Added stabillity for cuttings.
• No spillage, no mess.
• The LECA beads are very easy to remove without harming the roots.

How to build it yourself and use it

What you'll need

• A humidity dome/ seedling starter (available everywhere)
• A bright spot, e.g. your grow tent or windowsill
• (Optional: heating mat)
• A few small cups with lids, optimally made out of HDPE or PP
• A nail, lighter and something for holding
• Destilled water
• LECA or another medium. I like LECA with a small size (4-8 mm) the most for this use case, especially for cuttings.

Preparing the cups

• Separate the lid from the bottom
• Heat a nail and melt a few holes into the bottom. They can be very small, and 4 are sufficient. Try to make the edges as smooth as possible. Too many holes can make removing the roots harder. https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/72fc6f2a-56b0-4f69-afe2-368fb6abf0cc.jpeg
• Burn a hole into the lid and but a section off. Otherwise, it will be hard to remove.
• Fill it up with your medium
• Turn it around, take your cutting and push it into the hole while shaking lightly. That way, the stem will just slide into it without effort. Turn it again and give it another small shake. The medium is now locked up and the cutting can't move.

How to use

• Moisten the LECA with a spray bottle. If they are dry, the wicking won't work as great or will take longer.
• Try to water the tray, not the top of the substrate at first. Fine seeds might get washed out otherwise.
• You can just sow the seeds directly onto the substrate and put the lid on it. As soon as they germinate, the roots will "burrow" themselves very lightly into the pores of the hydroton and be fixed there.
• Some heating from below with a heating mat is beneficial

Here are some pictures of a cactus (right after germination) and some cuttings (Tradescantia, hops, Ctenanthe) I made just a few days before:

Obligatory pedantry:

We would also accept "soil", since we're talking about the life in the mineral earth

[Image description: a group of people, captioned "all the seeds I'm stratifying for spring", stand uncomfortably close around a woman seated on a couch who is captioned "the butter"]

Today, our gardens were my biggest source of solace and hope, and I hope that yours are comfort for you all as well. I went hard planting more fruit bushes and will be hitting up our town's seed library tomorrow to hedge some bets for next spring.

One of the plant families I went big on this past year is Pycnanthemum - mountain mints. Not only are they a good source of nutrition for pollinators, they have the added benefit of being an abortifacient you can grow on the DL. There are a number of species, not just P. virginianum, so check to see what's endemic to your region and have a patch growing for your local support network <3

What's growing on with you all?

So, j have a lemon thyme plant and would like ideas for it.

Growing, cuttings, uses, literally anything about it

Anyone have experience?

[Image description: Buster Bluth proclaims he's a monstera, rather than a monster, because of the picture of a monstera superimposed on his head]

This is admittedly stupid but I laughed a bunch while making it

I wanted to share all the mushroom parties I came across in October on some local hiking trails I visit regularly. No idea what any of them are but are located in Southern Ontario.

[Image description: a cartoon image of a translucent sheet draped over a potted plant, with text that says "the ghost of the plant I killed"]

We've had an overnight low of 21°F already, despite the unseasonable daily high temps. One of the things I prefer to do after our first few frosts is harvesting our Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) because of the chemical changes they undergo - the starches change and they become a little sweeter.

If you haven't yet (and you haven't), please suggest a plant nursery doing good things in your region (or a region other than your own, that's fine too) so others visiting can put their plant dollars towards nurseries engaged in good works and social equity.

What's growing on with you all?

I am feeling a little sad about the state of my progress in relation to the imaginary and arbitrary goals I had set for myself - every task in the garden reminds me of two not being done. I hope your garden adventures are filling you with joy, though!

Let's share how our gardens are growing, and encourage those seeds we've all planted this year, whether that's in our gardens, someone else's, or within ourselves

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/753089752476933726

Look at this little guy in my tree.

#raccoon #TrashPanda #friend #backyard

@crosspost@lemmy.crimedad.work

we had to cut down a maple in this spot last year, as it was in danger of collapsing on our house. i planted this three-foot-nothing white oak to take its place, and i'm excited to watch it grow! the soil is super rich and well-draining right here since we had the stump ground down and left all the mulch to decompose. basically black gold.

edit: seeing all those invasive privets in the background.

I am a bit swamped this week, as I am prepping for a fair on Saturday and also trying to get things squared around the house for my parents to come meet their granddaughter.

Our tomatoes are pretty much done for the season, and I think I'm going to have to clip and cure some of our pumpkins in the hoophouse rather than leaving them on the vine. This morning a friend let me take a truck bed's worth of wild elderberry cuttings for the fair and other fall sales, which was super nice of her.

What's growing on with you all?

ghostarchive link here

[Image description: small black seeds attached to white fluff have taken the place of the purple flowers that adorned this Sweet Joe Pye Weed]

I'm out collecting seeds from some Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) with our newborn in a wrap, rockin' that Kuato vibe pretty hard.

If you haven't yet, pop over to this pinned thread to shout out a nursery that you've had a good experience with, possibly even one that's local to your area.

What's growing on with you all?

[Image description: a three-panel meme with text. The first panel shows a person marked "caterpillars" asking "Hey, why'd you plant all these native plants for us?" In the second panel the person marked "me" replies "I want to feed the baby birds". The third panel has no text but shows the person marked "caterpillars" looking at me with surprise and alarm.]

This climbing aloe has been in its pot for a couple of years. It lives inside during the cooler months and outside in the sun during the warm ones. It had a trellis until today when I removed it due to the plant not really climbing the trellis.

I'm thinking a couple things to improve the situation here:

1. Repot it into something broader but not as deep, unless the roots are that deep.
2. Perhaps a bit better drainage.
3. A trellis that's closer to the plants height, can handle the weight, and isn't 6 feet tall.

What's your rating? Thoughts on how to improve this situation?