Last year one of my friends gave me a
houseplant/flower arrangement for my birthday.
It was a nice surprise.. but left me distressed..
I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever owned.
I looked up how to water plants (I can kill them by
over watering or under watering.. lots of experience)
and discovered Self Watering Containers and Wicking gardening.
The plants have gotten huge.. I’ve been having some
trouble with them getting “leggy” (a new plant word I learned).
And amended the soil with mulch for better drainage.. so far so good.
My husband also surprised me for my birthday
with some Purple Sensation Alliums.. you can read
about the Wicking Planters I built for them here.
A few weeks ago we bought some dianthus (the pink flowers)
to go with them at a botanical garden sale.
One of my alums bloomed early..and I wish
I had taken a picture.. because the others
aren’t doing so well and haven’t bloomed yet..
see their yellowing pointed leaves?
I thought their soil might not have enough drainage too.. but they
actually needed water today and had tiny webs on them.. spider mites?
I am thinking about rubbing them down with alcohol and
spraying some dawn water on them. E-how’s answer.
These flowers are doing great. I converted their pot into a SWC, too.
They look much better than last year when I was(n’t) watering them.
I got a new watering can for Mother’s day.
Isn’t it cute? I use it for the dogs and house plants.
And see the tumble weed behind it? Do you think it
rolled here all the way from Texas?
Before my alums started looking sickly I got all excited
about trying a SWC vegetable garden with Judi.
This is her last year to homeschool and I thought it’d be
a good learning experience for the two of us.
So after reading tons of stuff on the internet about
SWC, how to make your own, what you can grown in one,
soil recipes, how to grow small watermelons on a trellis,
and how to build a cheep trellis.. this is what I’ve got.
The two blue totes I had on hand and I bought the
three flexible totes and nylon trellis at Walmart for $5 each.
From left to right I have: Big Beef tomatoes, Mountain Pride tomatoes,
Jalapeno, Cajun Belle, Orange Bell Pepper,
and two Sugar Baby Watermelon plants.
So far so good. The watermelons have already doubled in size.
I am using a different soil recipe than I did for the wicking planters:
3 parts potting soil, 2 parts mini mulch,
and 1 part perlite (I used sand.. it’s cheeper).
I thought I could use the rest of the nylon trellis a cross the middle
to support the pepper plants.. it needs some re-thinking.
Love,
Jenny
Your grandmothers would be proud!