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Gardening resources and tips, etc.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby karadekoolaid » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:34 pm

Aloe Vera.png


The Aloe Vera is a pretty tough plant. Mine grow on the bank just outside the kitchen, and endure torrential rain from June until November, then no rain at all from December until May. No special compost or anything.
Yours, on the other hand, look in desperate need of a bigger pot! I´d transplant them asap and you´ll see how they liven up again.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby KeenCook2 » Fri Aug 14, 2020 3:38 pm

Impressive plants, KK!! The grass looks pretty healthy too! I guess you're in your rainy season!

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Renee » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:54 pm

I once grew aloe vera in a pot, but it kept outgrowing the pot! It was before the days of the Internet, so I didn't know what to do with it. I ended up throwing it out.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:25 pm

I guess you're in your rainy season!

Today is the first day it HASN´T rained in a fortnight. Believe it or not, that grass was cut less than 10 days ago, but I can´t trim it again because the ground is too wet.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby halfateabag » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:28 am

This really did my heart good......https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-eur ... ith-cuckoo

Enjoy !

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:55 am

The robin is feeding the cuckoo ‘fledgling’ because it has raised it as its own ... the female cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of other birds (often dunnocks, robins ... one cuckoo egg in each nest ... the cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the other eggs in the nest and the cuckoo chick turfs the robin eggs or nestlings out so they are destroyed.

The pair of birds whose nest it is will feed and raise the cuckoo chick as if it were their own, not realising that it has killed their own offspring, is huge and not their family. As it grows too big for the nest the small birds will continue to feed it.

What the video shows is parasitism not altruism.

An explanation and another aspect https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9225207/r ... -pictures/

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby halfateabag » Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:55 am

Actually Suffs, it was the vid. about the tame robin, but the link went on to the next vid. I was not quick enough !!!

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Badger's Mate » Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:07 pm

An explanation and another aspect


I wouldn't trust what you read in the papers either. :D

One of the advantages of modern technology is that it's now relatively easy to get stunning photos of wildlife compared to previous eras. Another is that we've learned more about that wildlife. These beautiful pictures are good enough to suggest to a reasonable degree of certainty that it's a male cuckoo being attacked by the robin. Females, although of variable plumage (some are brown) have usually got a bit of brown around the neck and some barring showing on the throat. Consequently that bird wasn't likely to lay any eggs in the robin's nest. Many small birds will mob any bird of prey or owl if it sits near them. The robin almost certainly didn't identify the cuckoo as such, but as (common) cuckoos have got a superficial resemblance to sparrowhawks the robin was probably mobbing it for that reason.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Fri Aug 21, 2020 3:32 pm

I have this growing in my garden ..I recall when I first planted it, it was called Actinidia kolomikta (kiwi) vine, however, when I do a plant ID, the leaves are different .. mine are much more delicate and, imho, much prettier. .... Any ideas ?
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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Aug 21, 2020 3:35 pm

That doesn't look anything like the actinidia I know

https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/ac ... assid.179/

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Fri Aug 21, 2020 3:43 pm

Yes, that's what I thought. Although it's some years since I planted it, I do recall that it was labelled Actinidia, so it may well have been mis-labelled. I don't really mind, as I love it, but have just given a self seeded cutting away and really wanted to let my friend know what it was. It is deciduous, hardy and had to fight to survive being planted alongside ivy. My plant identifier actually said it was Himalayan Ivy :roll: :?

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:13 pm

I've been looking through my books ... I think it might be the variegated Porcelain Vine ... Ampelopsis

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/varie ... e/t45381TM

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:14 pm

Some sites describe it as 'invasive' ... think that might be more in the USA but don't let it get too happy :gonzo


Lovely pics of the 'berries' here https://plantlust.com/plants/10106/ampe ... a-elegans/ and hopefully you have the 'smaller version' it speaks of.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:45 pm

Yes... that's it . :klingonbanana :thumbsup .. Mine grew back after my builder cut it off at soil level when he was re-laying my patio. I really do love it though. I cut the Ivy right down to the roots, but it is still having to compete with a honeysuckle and Campsis, although their roots are further away.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:56 pm

Does yours have those gorgeous berries?

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:36 pm

Suffs wrote:Does yours have those gorgeous berries?


I think it probably did ... that is before the builder, who just saw this bit of twig sticking out of the ground got rid of it :roll: That was last year and probably accounted for the self-sown seedling. I managed to retrieve some live stem and grew that on :thumbsup
Last edited by PatsyMFagan on Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby miss mouse » Fri Aug 21, 2020 7:42 pm

Hello everyone. Can anyone answer this, what will happen if I plant potatoes now? If they fail it isn't a worry and if it is wasted effort they can grow in the compost bin. Thanks.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:30 pm

miss mouse, I've not done it myself but I have known people plant potatoes in August to have them for Christmas, and there are instructions on the RHS web site, so likely to be reliable

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=593

Would be interested to know if anyone has successfully grown the festive spud?

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby miss mouse » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:09 pm

Thanks SS, of course re Xmas potatoes, I had forgotten. OK in the ground they will go and success or failure update will follow.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Badger's Mate » Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:05 am

Would be interested to know if anyone has successfully grown the festive spud?


Not quite, in my case. I had some spare seed potatoes that were left in the shed on the plot as there was no room for them. They'd grown long shoots, but I planted them in the ground that I'd just dug earlies from, and got a second crop around early November, but they were new potatoes. I probably planted those ones in July. It's a bit hit and miss after that though, because of the risk of frost.

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