How is it the middle of July already?!?

The director of our town’s library gave me gift cards for doing some educational talks - gift cards to another nursery… The gesture was very kind, and I’m glad to expand our plantings, but wow did I have some mixed feelings that I didn’t expect.

And my wife ordered some teeny tiny succulents as favors for our baby shower next week, so now I’m wondering what the rules are for proplifting from plants one is giving as gifts. Please discuss, as well as telling us what’s growing on with you all <3

  • LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.orgOPM
    2·
    4 months ago

    It looks like blossom end rot to me, which is usually associated with uneven/extreme differences in water availability and with low available calcium. We get it with our peppers more often than our tomatoes, but something that’s helped is:

    • Dissolving egg shells in apple cider vinegar
    • Straining out the now-rubbery shell bits
    • Adding the vinegar to a sprayer with water in a 10:1 (water to acv) solution and foliar spraying
    • Adding the shell bits to the soil just under the mulch

    Treating the shells with the ACV releases some of the carbon that’s bonded, making the resultant form of calcium much more plant available. Foliar spraying can help be a sort of direct injection of the calcium solution through the stoma, while the remaining shells will be a slower trickle of the necessary calcium at the root zone.

    • trev likes godzilla@beehaw.org
      3·
      4 months ago

      Welp, guess that saves me from posting an image of a pepper with blossom end rot! I was wondering what was getting to my anaheims.

      egg shells

      So what you’re saying is, I have to have breakfast for dinner tonight, one of my favorite things? Well darn, anything for my garden I suppose. Honey, we’re making breakfast sandwiches! ;)

    • xylem@beehaw.orgEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Thank you! I’ll give this a try. It makes sense, I haven’t done any fertilizing since making this bed in the spring (compost/topsoil blend from a local supplier), and haven’t been the most consistent on watering…