c/botany-lovers

Got into a debate with my neighbor about native vs. non-native garden plants

My neighbor Gary insists non-native ornamentals are fine if you maintain them, but I spent 4 hours last weekend pulling out invasive English ivy that spread from his yard into mine. Which side do you fall on for a home garden?

2 comments

graceprice•2d ago

Found out at a Austin plant swap that most 'succulent soil' you buy in bags is just fancy dirt with sand thrown in

I was at this big swap last Saturday over by Zilker Park and this old dude running a booth told me he mixes his own succulent soil with 60% perlite and 40% regular potting mix. Blew my mind because I've been paying $8 a bag for that cactus mix from Home Depot and it's basically trash. He said the big brands add too much organic stuff that rots the roots. Has anyone else tested this out or got a better mix ratio?

2 comments

burns.fiona•2d ago

Tried growing tomatoes in fabric pots versus plastic ones this summer in Seattle and the fabric pots won by a mile

My plastic pot plants got rootbound and wilted by July while the fabric ones kept growing like crazy even through that heatwave we had, so what's the deal with everyone still using plastic?

2 comments

terryb11•3d ago

Found out my favorite orchid species is actually a total parasite in the wild

I was reading a PDF from the Royal Botanic Gardens last night and learned that over 200 orchid species get their nutrients by stealing from soil fungi, not photosynthesis. Has anyone else run into a plant fact that completely flipped what you thought you knew?

2 comments

eva_thompson10•3d ago

Met a lady at the community garden who changed how I water my plants

There's this older woman named Margaret who tends the herb beds near my plot at the Elm Street garden. About two months ago, she saw me drenching my basil with a hose and just said 'you're drowning them, honey.' She showed me how she uses a cheap moisture meter from the hardware store, the one that costs like $8. Now I only water when the meter reads dry at two inches deep. My tomatoes and peppers have been doing way better since I started doing that. Has anyone else picked up a simple trick from a stranger that stuck with you?

2 comments

wade_perez•3d ago

Finally grew a decent tomato in Seattle after 3 years of trying

I switched from a standard soil mix to a 5-1-1 gritty blend for my container plants this spring and the difference has been night and day, has anyone else had better luck with coarse mixes up here?

2 comments

phoenix_singh•4d ago

PSA: I wasted $45 on a fancy potting soil mix that nearly killed my succulents

I bought this premium cactus blend from a local nursery in Austin for $45 and it held way too much moisture. My Echeveria started rotting within 2 weeks because it was basically mud. I mixed in some extra perlite and pumice myself, cost me like $8 total, and now my plants are thriving. Anybody else fall for the expensive bagged soil trap?

2 comments

the_sean•7d ago

Tried grow lights from Amazon vs a cheap shop light and the shop light won easy

I spent like $60 on those purple LED strips off Amazon and my seedlings were all leggy and sad. Then I grabbed a basic 4 foot shop light from Home Depot for $25 and slapped in some 6500K bulbs. My basil and tomatoes look way better now after just 2 weeks under the shop light. Has anyone else ditched the fancy plant lights for something simpler?

2 comments

adam_robinson•8d ago

I finally chose dwarf citrus over full size trees for my patio

I had to pick between a standard Meyer lemon tree and a dwarf variety for my small balcony in Portland. I went with the dwarf, expecting less fruit but easier care. It took about 6 months, but the first tiny lemon ripened last week, and I got 3 total from the tree. Has anyone else gone dwarf and regretted not having more fruit?

2 comments

seanjohnson•9d ago

That one old guy at the greenhouse changed how I water my plants

Was at Bailey's Nursery in Austin last Saturday and this retiree named Hank saw me drowning my ferns. He just said 'you're loving them to death, son' and showed me how to check soil moisture with a bamboo skewer instead of my finger. Been 2 weeks now and my spider plant is finally perking up. Anybody else get a random plant tip from a stranger that actually worked?

3 comments

irisg57•9d ago

Tried grow lights from Amazon and they did nothing for my seedlings

I spent $40 on a set of those purple LED panels last spring because everyone in this group raves about them. My tomato seedlings got all leggy and pale after 3 weeks under those things. Then I borrowed my neighbor's old T5 fluorescent shop light from his garage and my peppers doubled in size within 10 days. Anyone else had way better luck with basic tube lights over those fancy Amazon LEDs?

3 comments

benk26•10d ago

Took me 4 hours to figure out why my peace lily was drooping

Turned out the pot had no drainage holes underneath that decorative sleeve. Water was just sitting there for weeks rotting the roots. Has anyone else missed something this obvious with a houseplant?

2 comments

hugo_nelson•10d ago

I used to think all moss was bad for trees

For years I would scrape moss off every oak and maple on my property in Portland. I thought it was suffocating the bark or stealing nutrients. Then last fall an arborist doing a hazard assessment told me to stop, said moss is actually harmless and even beneficial for the canopy ecosystem. He showed me how the moss holds moisture and creates microhabitats for insects. I wasted maybe 40 hours over 5 years fighting something that wasn't even a problem. Has anyone else had a similar wake-up call about a common gardening myth?

2 comments

angela_allen53•11d ago

Compared worm composting vs. tumblers for 6 months

I had a neighbor who swore by his tumbling composter, but I tried a simple worm bin last spring. The worms broke down my kitchen scraps way faster and without the back strain from cranking that drum. Anyone else find worms more reliable than the gadget approach?

2 comments

christopher713•11d ago

Shoutout to the volunteer who planted a dozen milkweed patches along the Greenway trail in Asheville last spring

I walked by them every morning for 3 months and counted 47 monarch caterpillars on just one patch mid-August, has anyone else noticed a huge difference in butterfly traffic after those plantings?

2 comments

jade738•11d ago

Why does nobody talk about how aggressive mint plants really are?

I was planting some chocolate mint in a raised bed last spring and read this fact from the Royal Horticultural Society website that said mint roots can spread up to 4 feet in one season underground. I pulled up a plant this weekend and found runners going under the fence into my neighbor's yard already. Has anyone else had mint take over their entire garden bed without warning?

2 comments

jessec39•14d ago

Overheard a guy at the nursery telling his kid why leaves change color...

I was at a local nursery in Des Moines last Saturday picking up some mulch and this dad was explaining to his maybe 7 year old kid why leaves turn orange and red in the fall. He said something like "the tree stops feeding the leaf so it shows its real color underneath." I never really thought of it that way before. I always just thought it was the temperature or the sunlight doing something to the leaf itself. But the idea that the tree deliberately cuts off the nutrients and the leaf just shows what was always there kind of blew my mind. Made me wonder how many other things in nature work like that where we only see the surface layer. Has anyone else heard a offhand remark like that that completely changed how you see a common plant thing?

2 comments

gavin_reed•15d ago

Botany lover meetup last weekend had way more soil nerds than plant people

I showed up at the greenhouse in Portland expecting seed swaps and propagation talk, but most folks just wanted to argue about loam vs clay pH levels for 3 hours, so has anyone else found the social side of this hobby gets overshadowed by technical deep dives?

2 comments

vera_lewis•17d ago

Used to baby my jade plant with filtered water and misting, now I just ignore it and let it dry out completely between waterings.

Switched after I killed two perfectly good jade plants by drowning them in care over three years. Anyone else find their succulents do better when you pretend they don't exist?

2 comments

leow90•18d ago

Tried to repot my monstera and the ceramic pot shattered when I set it down on the patio

It was last Sunday afternoon, nothing special, just moving a big 14 inch pot about 6 inches to the left to get more afternoon sun. The thing just cracked right down the middle. Soil and roots everywhere. I ended up having to grab a plastic nursery pot from the garage just to save the plant. Anybody else have a pot fail on them at the worst moment?

3 comments

taylor.paige•18d ago

I finally got my jade plant to flower after 8 years of trying

I've had this jade plant since I moved into my apartment in Austin back in 2016. It grew big and healthy but never bloomed until I read about giving it cooler nights in the fall around 50 degrees. I moved it to my unheated porch for 6 weeks and it popped out those little pink flowers last November. Has anyone else had luck forcing succulents to bloom with temperature tricks?

3 comments

diana_king•19d ago

Felt dumb when my neighbor showed me why my fiddle leaf fig kept dropping leaves after I spent $45 on a humidifier

Turns out it was just getting blasted by cold air from the AC vent right above it, not a humidity issue at all, so has anyone else moved a plant three times before realizing the problem was something obvious like that?

2 comments

jason524•20d ago

Old timer at the botanical garden told me I was watering my ferns WRONG

I've been growing ferns for years in my little greenhouse and always misted them from above. This guy probably 70 years old walks by while I'm watering and says 'you're drowning them, water the soil not the leaves'. I felt dumb but he showed me how fern roots are shallow and need moisture at the base instead. Been doing it his way for 3 weeks now and my Boston fern is putting out new fronds like crazy. Has anyone else gotten a tip from an older grower that totally flipped how you care for a plant?

2 comments

hugo_jones•21d ago

That time a master gardener told me I was planting bulbs too deep

I used to just eyeball it with tulip bulbs, sticking them in wherever. Then an old guy at the Denver Botanic Gardens sale said I needed to go exactly 6 inches for big blooms. First spring after I measured every hole with my finger, the difference was night and day. Anyone else get called out for a basic mistake like that?

2 comments

piperr58•23d ago

My mentor was right about potting soil being a ripoff.

My mentor Linda told me 2 years ago that most bagged potting soil is just peat moss and perlite marked up 300 percent. I laughed it off until I bought a $15 bag from a big box store and found fungus gnats within days. She mixes her own with compost, coconut coir, and pine bark fines for about $4 per batch. Has anyone else switched to mixing their own soil and seen a difference in plant health?

2 comments