I give no fucks about your Binsar tree.

My binsar tree makes yours look like a weed

In Berlin most  of the plant shops are pretty standard affairs where you have the same mass produced plants available. But two are different- one particularly so- in that they sell exclusively rare or uncommon plants. This is great because after a while of collecting you start to tire of the same leaf shapes over and over again, so having something a bit unusual that stands out becomes especially desirable.  Anyway, due to the lockdown which has now come into force, both of these plants had to clear all their stock in two days, which meant everything was at least 50% off. I'm devastated that I only found out about this yesterday, as I missed the chance to get some things that I would never normally be able to afford, but I still added half a dozen uncommon plants to my collection at a silly low price and it's given me a fresh burst of love for my living space. Will upload pics once I have reordered my room to accommodate them all in a way that feels balanced. 

At some point I'm going to have to get into trading rare cuttings. It's the only logical way to progress further, and seems to be what most of the collectors do. get a rare plant, propagate it, then trade the node for another one you don't have,  repeat. Unfortunately it will be a while before I can afford to get started, but it's something to look forward to in the distant future.

Mine's been in its dead stick phase for two years now. When can I accept that it is, in fact, a dead stick?

equinox_code wrote:

You get that from Wish?

My local plant shop sells these orchids



I don't think flowers fit the look i'm going for with my room but i do really like these leaves

That's a jewel orchid. Ludisia genus.
I've a few pups rooting. I'll post you one out (ludisa discolour) in the new year if you want. They're v cute and like all orchids will only flower if everything is perfect and established

Edit: shit, brexit, arghhhh, no EU plant passports.

Anyway lemmie know if you want one.
I promised Rouj some succulent baby like a year ago, sorry chief will get this to you too! @roujin

This year I've an abundance of avocado plants and my eldest one is nearly bigger than the window it's in. Gonna plant it in the local park, haha this may kill it, we'll see.

I'm up for some guerilla horticulture this year.

I have thousands of tobacco seeds to sow so after sprouting I'll be moving some to the park to see how they get on too. Though my indoor one is like seven foot so these may get some interest from the local friends of the park group

beano wrote:

I promised Rouj some succulent baby like a year ago, sorry chief will get this to you too! @roujin

Don't worry about it, no rush boss man.

Nah, new one now, just DM me and I'll give you the address. No rush though!!!

Unc/Eric/Anyone with gardening knowledge. I have a acer tree to move from back garden to front. Its 175cm tall and the trunk is around 19cm thick though only for 20cm then it splits into its branches.

The original hole that was due for it when it was planted last January was 100cm in diameter. If i dig up that same hole will that suffice? Or would i be cutting off some of the acer's roots by doing so? Do i need to go wider? Is this a job for a professional and any idea on cost? I dont mind doing the work, just dont want to kill the Acer permanently.

Yes in the wrong place. When we moved i had it put near the bushes but the bushes are gone now (more garden space). So now it looks out of place in the middle of the grass with no shade of its own.

Cheers unc. Thats reassuring.

Stops the weeds from growing through

Weeds are gonna weed. It's amazing how resilient and sneaky they are.

So whilst all my beans seem to have died (combination of some cold days followed by scorching 40degree sun perhaps?) some of my other plants are doing quite including this guy:


Very exciting!!

Had to google poinsettia. Looks nice! You'll have to post a pic.

My poinsettias are still alive and doing quite well.

And my plumeria that was without leaves has grown at least 10 leaves, some pretty big already. Think there are flowers on the way as well.

Still too cold at night to be really thinking about the garden, although the nasturtiums usually have a few flowers going so that is nice.

Question:
There's some roses around our grass. Each bush has a least two or three random other plants growing there and I feel they're taking to much nutrients etc from the roses. The gardeners that are supposed to come every week don't really do anything about it. Is it worth it to try and cut down / dig out the non - rose plants? One even has something like a palm growing in the same place. I don't really want to dive in the thorns if it's not gonna do anything without digging out the whole bush.

When asked about the garden the landlord said I could use the raised area I've been using for my own things, but the area around the grass was being done by the gardeners. It's a bit random how everything is planted, but I wouldn't mind getting healthier roses.

My jungle has taken a beating recently. The problems began when my flatmate got me a plant, which was a very nice gesture but I was reluctant to accept it. My concern was it looked to be the type of plant that would be grown in large quantities in one of those giant, loosely regulated greenhouses, which are notorious for being ways that pests get into the home. I tentatively voiced my anxiety, which was roundly mocked by all my flatmates. My main worry was that I'd end up with thrips, which can be a nightmare to get rid of. Everyone told me I was being paranoid, so I welcomed the plant into my collection. 

1 month later suddenly thrips are everywhere. Judging by where the largest number of these cunt insects are located it's clear the new addition is the point of origin. It's crazy how fast these bastards can destroy things, and I'm struggling to keep on top of it. Most advice I can find online is frustratingly middle class, saying  things like 'It's important to keep your affected plants isolated in a different room'. Fucking great. I have 60 plants.  It's not possible to arrange these in a way that they aren't all touching each other.

I tried the 'natural' approach first, using neem oil, which achieved fuck all. I don't think it killed a single one. So I have had to adopt the toxic chemical approach, which surprisingly smells a lot nicer. Anyway, again the advice is middle class. 'take your plants into the garden to spray them' etc. Sadly an open window and face mask will have to do.

This has been a massive task, taking each plant into the bathroom, spraying it front and back, up and down, letting it dry, then repeating with the others. Each cycle takes me a whole day. And then there's the cost! 15 euro per bottle, and I'm onto my third bottle now. 

This has been going on long enough to the point where I'm having to consider throwing plants away, just so it's possible to have a fractionally more of a buffer between each one. Pretty gutted about it to be honest.