OOOOOH, It's Finally Time Again....

Ahh, finally time for the community gardening to begin. This ought to make someone wonder about my sanity, but .... come on, it's more fun this way. Last year I had more comments about why anyone would want to put "flowers" in with their boring rows of vegetables. Well, besides aesthetics, flowers help bring pollinators to the garden. This year after the gardens were tilled, I added 2 cu/ft of peat for its moisture and nutrient holding ability. Then came some 10-10-10 granulated fertilizer. I raked all that in and smoothed it out, after filling the planters. I am envisioning the pole beans on the trellises, the larger greens and chard to the back fence line.... the lettuces by the stepping stones.... I have some cilantro and parsely on the side along with some of that sweet Steveia. I hope to try a little lemonade this year sweetened with Steveia. There will be two heirloom tomatoes in the corners with some onions (I think). The small areas to the side will be for a short row of beans and the front will be filled with flowers. That ought to make everyone "happy".

What to do with that Kitty Litter....

The Gesneriad list once again gives us something interesting to think about. The topic relates to passive hydroponic growing of your violets and gesneriads by placing them in a truly soil-less mix thats only purpose is to hold the plant's roots in place. This could be an item such as perlite or clay pellets which act to support the plant while it gets all it's nutrients from the enriched water that gets passed over its' root system. The fact that the kitty litter is Diatomaceous Earth is important because DE powder is used to KILL pests and insects mechanically by making cuts and abrasions on the pest as it comes into contact with the "sharp" qualities of the DE. Diatomaceous Earth is mined from "glass-like" sea creatures, diatoms, made of mostly silicon dioxide. Passive hydroponic growing is a very interesting topic and one respondent, BF, commented about it:

I'm using a product I read about on the Bonsai4Me website: http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basicscatlitter.htm I got my big bag of DE gravel at my local NAPA auto parts place, "part" number 8822 for $7.99 plus tax. The grains are up to 1/4" (.5 cm). It looks just like the photo on the website. So far, so good. The only plant I've lost has been an adoptee Wisdom violet that was sick from soil mealies when I rescued it. Its soul mate has put out a new leaf since I treated and potted them into DE. The only red bag of Wal-Mart cat litter I found was the old style clay that melts right away rather than "Special Kitty® Natural" that the article says is actually DE. The Wal-Mart clay litter has the words "Absorbs odors naturally" in small print, so shoppers really need to check the ingredients info.

As you know, it's questionable as to whether DE works to kill critters when it's wet, but I'm hoping to find a side benefit is that thrips larvae, gnats, and any soil mealies are eliminated. And I hope it reduces the frequent repotting peat moss mixes require. As a plant grows and becomes root bound, the roots grasp and hold the gravel in place. The plant can be simply repotted into a larger pot with additional DE or clay granules. There's no waste and no brushing the old soil away from the roots. An additional quality is that the granules are washable and re-useable.

The African Violet Magazine carried an interesting article in the March-April 2006 issue, "Wicks and Rocks" by Irving Tashlick who uses clay pellets, reservoirs, and the wicking system. He comments, "I think the reasons the [passive hydroponics] methods....are successful in growing African violets and other gesneriads are that there is a great similarity to the conditions achieved with 'Texas Style' cultures. There are many air spaces to allow free gas exchange at root tips, the roots have free access to moisture and nutrients and the system depends on capillary action."

A Closer Look

Isn't this a lovely flower? Sinningia eumorpha....

You Voted!

More votes are in and the results were quite interesting. Two polls ago the question was raised about what was the biggest challenge to the violet grower in their situation. Of the possible answers, getting rid of BUGS was the most voted for answer followed by challenges with watering properly and having the correct house temperature. Coming in last with the votes were wilting the violets and sunburning them. No one chose fertilizing challenges, keeping them too wet (which surprised me) and "other problem" for answers.

So..... we took that information and asked this question: Which PEST problem was the most difficult to deal with and Cyclamen mites topped the charts with 40% of the votes. Foliar mealy bugs and nematodes got 20% of the votes with thrips and red spider mite getting 10% each.

All in all I think that it's an interesting outcome to the questions. Insect/pest problems are more challenging to folks than other horticultural issues like moisture, temperature and lighting. Now, what do you think that most people will say about what they DO to correct the problems? That will be the next poll question, so please cast your votes!

What's new!

Dale Martens is once again a very happy hybridizer! She has graciously shared some photos with the blog that show three of her newest violet hybrids. Here are the descriptions: 1) Yuk x HHLace6858s.jpg is a photo of my newest seedling:

Yukako x (Emerald City x Louisiana Lagniappe)

2) The second shows 3 live flowers with Yukako in the middle and its selfings on each side of it. Only one out of 10 seedlings was purple showing that the green center stripe is the dominant color.

3) Yukako x self with a bell/cupped flower. I'm thinking of naming this one 'Heartland's Lime Bubbles'

Thanks again to Dale for sharing!

Edged....

Now this is a proper edge on a violet. How come they all don't look like this one?

Show Me The Violets!

Here are a few of the exciting plants and designs that you'll see at the Spring Show sponsored by the AVSM. Still going on today, be sure to stop by Har Mar Mall on the corner of Snelling and CR-C to check out the blooms.