Gardening 102

Most people can bring home a plant from their local garden store and manage to water it and successfully keep it alive. Most can also throw random seeds into pots full of soil, water them, and have things come out of the ground, the success rate varying hugely depending on what seeds are being thrown and in what climate these seeds have to germinate. I would say that it is clear that plants in general don't need human interference to grow, other than occasional watering if said plant happens to be in a pot.

However, often times, we want an exact type of plant to grow in an exact location. We want to grow vegetables in the yard or pot and be able to depend on the fact that we will have a good harvest when their season comes. We want to grow a beautiful flower or some herbs on the kitchen window.
Often times one needs a plan and a better understanding of green things. So here's some of the little gardening wisdom I gained in the last two months which I have spent putting everything I could get my hands in soil and trying to make them grow.
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Almost all herbs can be started from cuttings. So take a couple of stems of fresh mint, basil, lemon balm, rosemary, etc. and remove the leaves on the bottom 2 - 3 inches and stick them in water. Change the water daily until you see root growth. Give it a couple of days more for the root to become substantial before planting it in a pot. Water well for the first few weeks to encourage more root growth. If the plant droops upon transplant, support it with a stick and remove the bigger leaves, leaving it with the 3 or 4 smallest.

Garlic and onions are to be planted in fall. If you stick them in the soil in spring or summer, they will simply either dry up or rot.

Strawberries are evil. They're supposed to be easy to grow but all the stuff on the supermarket shelves are infertile mutant hybrids that refuse to germinate. I've tried repeatedly because I can't find strawberry seeds to grow.

Some seeds need to go through a cold stretch resembling winter before they can germinate. This is especially true for bulbs. Before planting bulbs in mid to late December, put them in the freezer for about a month. For seeds that require it, put them on a wet paper towel, place in a zip lock bag and put the bag in the fridge for about 3 weeks before sowing.

A few drops of plain soap or plain dish washing soap with a couple tablespoons of oil, and a few cups of water, shaken, make an excellent pesticide. Spray the leaves of a plant and the stems once a week. I've successfully used it to get rid of fungus gnats, aphids, and other assorted pests.

Tomatoes are probably the most commonly grown garden vegetable/fruit. Plan well and you can have a steady supply of no pesticide yummy tomatoes all through out the growing season with plenty to spare and share. They're so easy to grow that I can not for the life of me figure out why they were so expensive in the U.S.
You can simply throw seeds in a pot and hope for the best. I've followed the almost fool-proof instructions given in this link. My seeds germinated in about a week, and my plants are now huge. I've counted at least 15 blossoms already, and it's only the start of the season. I'm already preparing a new batch of tomato seeds for planting, these coming from small golf ball sized tomatoes.

Bell peppers are tricky and I've had little luck so far. I'm making a new attempt, but this time I'm following the exact same procedure as I did for the tomatoes. Wish me luck!

Radishes and carrots can not be grown from roots like a potato, try though I might. You'll need to buy seeds.

Avoid using wood chips as mulch unless you live in the desert or it's extremely hot. Wood will eventually rot, and pesky little black flies called fungus gnats, that are annoying but not harmful, will be everywhere. Use straw or grass clippings if you want.

I'll leave you with a picture of the balcony I've hijacked as my garden workshop. In the back are the tomatoes, in the white pot chili peppers, and assorted flowers and tree cuttings. Mostof these plants in the pots will transplanted eventually to the window sill box. Also my first tomato flowers.


Cheers for now.