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Dear Plant Pimp

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owlflavored said:
hey Tina - i'm sure the PP can give you better advice, but you can do a lot with soil ammendments. i had pretty much the same problem at my place and i fixed it by:

(1) renting a roto-tiller at home depot to chop up the super hard ground
(2) mix in 1-part topsoil, 1-part compost, 1-part maneure with 2-3 parts chopped up hard soil.
(3) rake together + water
(4) wait a few weeks.

:thumbup
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Sounds like something I can do without issue. Thanks !! :)

Anything to add PP ???
 
FYI ... before + after. so far so good. had the garden for 4 yrs now and haven't had to add too much to the soil since then.

BEFORE:
DSC_7155.jpg


AFTER:
DSC_7205.jpg
 
wiffledaddy said:
You like mint, bugs like mint. It really shouldn't be much of an issue. Do you know what kind of bugs they are?

When you are watering the mint, you can direct a spray of water sideways -- not straight down -- and wash off the bugs. Or, just rinse off the mint before using it to garnish your cocktails.
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Cool, the ones I found were little white caterpillars maybe an 1/8" long.
Thank You
 
Okay Plant Pimp here is my ailing dracaena next to a west facing window. It gets indirect light all day and watered once a week.

IMG00084.jpg


IMG00086.jpg
 
Not enought light!

It looks like the cane that failed is the one farthest from the window and against the wall, which is the darkest spot. With this plant, the dracaena marginata, less vigorous growth initially shows up as a narrowing cane, which looks to be present on the whole plant. Eventually, it starts dropping leaves until only a few are left. At that point, it's usually too late to do much about it and the cane fails.

This plant likes a very bright spot, though not direct sun. Another type of dracaena or a pothos plant or peace lilly or other plant might be happier in that spot.

You could leave it right where it is, though, and the remaining plant looks like it will likely survive.

You might be able to coax some more green out of that one dead-seeming cane if it hasn't rotted. Give the bottom part a squeeze and if it is solid, cut off the dead stalks, (you might rotate it a *little* bit toward the light - but don't do that at the expense of the overall appearance of the plant - ie, don't have the dead part forward, and nicely foliated part at the back) and then don't water that cane. When you water the plant, just water directly by the part of the plant that is healthy.

Let me know if you have more questions.
 
Dear Plant Pimp,
Our lawn is being taken over by another species. The grass that is supposed to be there is nice and short with skinny blades. The invasive species has big blades and grows sideways in vine like ropes. We try to pull them out but there are so many! How do we get rid of them?
Charlotte
 
Dear Plant Pimp,

I'm planning to get an array of indoor plants for my new home. I've seen my mom struggle with some growing up like indoor ficus-es. What are the easiest indoor plants to maintain that still bring a touch of class to your house?

Thanks!
 
Charlotte said:
Dear Plant Pimp,
Our lawn is being taken over by another species. The grass that is supposed to be there is nice and short with skinny blades. The invasive species has big blades and grows sideways in vine like ropes. We try to pull them out but there are so many! How do we get rid of them?
Charlotte
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Sounds like what I have also, subscribing for the plantpimp solution!
 
ug! Bermuda grass!!!! it's teh worst!!!!

A greens keeper told me about some stuff, we ended up re doing our entire front....

So I lost that knowledge....
 
oh great pimp of plants. my apartment is very dry and stuffy. is there a type of plant that will make the air not so stale?
 
I have a spider mite problem in my herb garden. I have tried several insectisidal soaps and even lady bugs but cant seem to do these little pests in for good. since the plants are used in cooking I dont want to use heavy insecticides.
 
Charlotte said:
Dear Plant Pimp,
Our lawn is being taken over by another species. The grass that is supposed to be there is nice and short with skinny blades. The invasive species has big blades and grows sideways in vine like ropes. We try to pull them out but there are so many! How do we get rid of them?
Charlotte
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There is no cure for cancer.
 
brichter said:
Sounds like what I have also, subscribing for the plantpimp solution!
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Okay, I'll give a more serious answer for the bermuda grass question. Bermuda grass is invasive and powerful. It will defy logic and chemicals and it will outlive you. If you try to till it, it will come back ten times stronger. Essentially, I think you can't win.

But, the good news is, I'm not a lawn expert, or even a fan of lawns, so my advice on lawns is worthless. Do an internet search on management of bermuda grass for better ideas.

I think that between 5-10 years from now, it will be illegal to have a lawn in most parts of the state due to water rationing, so any long-term solution might not be worth pursuing.
 
Jakemate said:
ug! Bermuda grass!!!! it's teh worst!!!!

A greens keeper told me about some stuff, we ended up re doing our entire front....

So I lost that knowledge....
Click to expand...

That's the guy to ask about lawns, there. The greens keeper.

Mostly, I think people manage bermuda grass with herbicides. It gets pretty tricky with planting specific herbicide-resistant grass, then spraying the right herbicide, and doing both frequently.

If you let the maintenance slide for a couple of weeks, the bermuda grass will be back.
 
FemmeLeMoto said:
Dear Plant Pimp,

I'm planning to get an array of indoor plants for my new home. I've seen my mom struggle with some growing up like indoor ficus-es. What are the easiest indoor plants to maintain that still bring a touch of class to your house?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Your plant choice will depend on the conditions in the spots where you want to put the plants. Are you planning to put plants in direct sunlight? Will the rooms be very bright, or will you have low light areas?

Good alternatives to the ficus are palms and dracaena.

If you give me more info, I can give more specific suggestions. My main piece of advice would be to not buy hardware store plants. Go to a real nursery-type nursery for your plants. They will cost more, but will be a much better plant and worth the $.
 
wiffledaddy said:
If you give me more info, I can give more specific suggestions. My main piece of advice would be to not buy hardware store plants. Go to a real nursery-type nursery for your plants. They will cost more, but will be a much better plant and worth the $.
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i fully agree with this advice. All the hardware store plants that I ever bought were full of bugs.
 
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