Home Garden thread. Post your homegrown plants here

MG Man · Postby **MG Man** » August 17th, 2021, 8:37 am

yeah I always keep a distance and admire them
Eventually they get accustomed but I'd rather not 'teach' wild birds to get accustomed to humans

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 2:02 pm

Antigua Heat. That's the name of the plant. We have quite a few hummingbirds in our yard. Encouraged them with the plants then a few feeders and now we have so many. Different varieties as well... Love em!

.

MG Man wrote:nice
Quails make nice pets....wish I had space for a few...and some pheasants
Right now I have a nice variety of house and ground lizards
Started planting that bushy plant with red needle-like flowers to attract hummingbirds...starting to see a few of them visiting on evenings

MG Man · Postby **MG Man** » August 17th, 2021, 3:09 pm

how do I get that plant to spread? It just keeps sending out new shoots from the same patch
Or how can I grow more? Cuttings?

timelapse · Postby **timelapse** » August 17th, 2021, 3:47 pm

MG Man wrote:how do I get that plant to spread? It just keeps sending out new shoots from the same patch
Or how can I grow more? Cuttings?

I have a brethren that sells it very cheap.Wife bought quite a lot recently for the same reason as you

viedcht · Postby **viedcht** » August 17th, 2021, 6:07 pm

MG Man wrote:Started planting that bushy plant with red needle-like flowers to attract hummingbirds...starting to see a few of them visiting on evenings

Is it ixora plant you mean?

viedcht · Postby **viedcht** » August 17th, 2021, 6:10 pm

carluva wrote:Antigua Heat. That's the name of the plant. We have quite a few hummingbirds in our yard. Encouraged them with the plants then a few feeders and now we have so many. Different varieties as well... Love em!

.
MG Man wrote:nice
Quails make nice pets....wish I had space for a few...and some pheasants
Right now I have a nice variety of house and ground lizards
Started planting that bushy plant with red needle-like flowers to attract hummingbirds...starting to see a few of them visiting on evenings

You know where to get feeders? I had one make a nest on the DirecTV dish, but I think a neighbor cat got them. Would like to set them up somewhere in the backyard.

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 7:59 pm

I bought mines at Aranjuez Nurseries. They have both plastic and glass.

I also saw in Allied a few months ago. As you walk in, they were located to the front left of the second aisle (the aisle that sells the watering cans and pump up sprayers). I only saw glass though.

The syrup would be one part white sugar and four parts water. Only use white sugar, nothing else. And no type of food colouring. Nothing else on the feeder. Some people use vaseline to get rid of bees and wasps but this is detrimental to the birds as it makes their beak tacky and difficult to open.

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 8:00 pm

Patience. That plant takes a while to grow. Trim it a bit frequently to encourage growth and shape

MG Man wrote:how do I get that plant to spread? It just keeps sending out new shoots from the same patch
Or how can I grow more? Cuttings?

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 8:02 pm

Nope. Antigua Heat. It sends out a reed like stalk with small leaves and long thin flowers. You can get them in red or peach.

Hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers and long tubular shaped flowers. A Pride of Barbados shrub is also a good plant that attracts them but this can get quite large.

viedcht wrote:
MG Man wrote:Started planting that bushy plant with red needle-like flowers to attract hummingbirds...starting to see a few of them visiting on evenings

Is it ixora plant you mean?

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 9:07 pm

The garden lizards are nice. We have an abundance in our yard. We also have the odd iguana and young iguana pass through occasionally.

The same cannot be said of the disgusting house lizard which sh**s all over, lays eggs in abundance, squeaks all time of the day and smells stink when dead in a place you can't usually reach.

MG Man wrote:nice
Quails make nice pets....wish I had space for a few...and some pheasants
Right now I have a nice variety of house and ground lizards
Started planting that bushy plant with red needle-like flowers to attract hummingbirds...starting to see a few of them visiting on evenings

pugboy · Postby **pugboy** » August 17th, 2021, 9:09 pm

they make loud noise for a very small animal
seems to have become a real nuisance in last 5-10 years
i don’t remember them as a child

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 17th, 2021, 9:22 pm

True. They were vet scarce when I was younger. And I certainly cannot recall that noise they make.

pugboy wrote:they make loud noise for a very small animal
seems to have become a real nuisance in last 5-10 years
i don’t remember them as a child

shogun · Postby **shogun** » August 17th, 2021, 9:42 pm

carluva wrote:The garden lizards are nice. We have an abundance in our yard. We also have the odd iguana and young iguana pass through occasionally.

The same cannot be said of the disgusting house lizard which sh**s all over, lays eggs in abundance, squeaks all time of the day and smells stink when dead in a place you can't usually reach

Same with the garden lizards and recently the iguanas. Spotted the first iguana about a month back just chilling in the garage, in the morning sun, as I was headed to the car. Hope to see more.

meccalli · Postby **meccalli** » August 18th, 2021, 9:56 am

Speaking of Iguanas, came across this guy the other day just chilling out in the yard.

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 18th, 2021, 11:50 am

That was a hummingbird nest in our yard a few months ago.

They were doing fine until a disgusting neighbourhood cat go to them one night. Yet another reason why I hate cats.

viedcht · Postby **viedcht** » August 18th, 2021, 1:13 pm

Thanks carluva I will check out the plants you mentioned, I think that may be better than the feeders, I think the feeders will attract ants, and they already patrolling the entire ground by me.

timelapse · Postby **timelapse** » August 18th, 2021, 3:47 pm

TBH, we have 2 feeders up, and the hummingbirds ignore them.
They prefer the flowers.They love heliconia too

timelapse · Postby **timelapse** » August 18th, 2021, 3:59 pm

^spot the hummingbirds

MG Man · Postby **MG Man** » August 19th, 2021, 12:14 pm

carluva wrote:That was a hummingbird nest in our yard a few months ago.

They were doing fine until a disgusting neighbourhood cat go to them one night. Yet another reason why I hate cats.IMG_20210222_104553449.jpg

poison they mc
stray / feral / free-to-roam cats are a nuisance
If it has an 'owner' firetruck that....unless it bound to your yard, it's fair game
I have two by me that getting some deadly treats very soon

carluva · Postby **carluva** » August 19th, 2021, 12:52 pm

I did and do.

Have dealt with about 6-8 in the last year.

What treats do you give them?

MG Man wrote:
carluva wrote:That was a hummingbird nest in our yard a few months ago.

They were doing fine until a disgusting neighbourhood cat go to them one night. Yet another reason why I hate cats.IMG_20210222_104553449.jpg

poison they mc
stray / feral / free-to-roam cats are a nuisance
If it has an 'owner' firetruck that....unless it bound to your yard, it's fair game
I have two by me that getting some deadly treats very soon

Jerry84 · Postby **Jerry84** » August 25th, 2021, 7:42 pm

So I'm thinking about planting a lot of land next door to me. My idea is to do about 10 "banks" 10 ft long by 2ft wide for small seasonings and herbs. I will do regular banks for bigger crops which require more space in between.

My major hurdle is time to irrigate daily as I have a full time job, so I want to run some pvc pipes on the banks with holes drilled into them on either side which would water the crops daily, maybe twice, who knows. Now to achieve this I would need a pump. A cost effective bare pump I saw in the hardware was a Leo 1/2hp. It has a 1"or 1.25" bore(not too sure) which would be reduced to 3/4" and then further reduced to 1/2" on the bed. This pump would be controlled by an electrical timer accordingly.

My concern is would this 1/2 hp pump be sufficient to irrigate the crops. Mind you I don't need the effect of the irrigation hoses where the water sprays up in the air a bit.

What are your thoughts, concerns, opinions.
Thanks in advance

bluefete · Postby **bluefete** » August 25th, 2021, 8:22 pm

pugboy wrote:they make loud noise for a very small animal
seems to have become a real nuisance in last 5-10 years
i don’t remember them as a child

We had a lot of house lizards when I was growing up and NONE of them used to make noise. They were greyish in colour.

This new style noise making house lizard / gekko came along about 3-4 years ago. The first time I heard one clucking, I was like "what the heck is that?"

They are still around but I don't hear or see as many as before.

bluefete · Postby **bluefete** » August 25th, 2021, 8:24 pm

Jerry84 wrote:So I'm thinking about planting a lot of land next door to me.
What are your thoughts, concerns, opinions.Thanks in advance

Is this YOUR land?

Soul Collector · Postby **Soul Collector** » August 25th, 2021, 8:51 pm

bluefete wrote:
pugboy wrote:they make loud noise for a very small animal
seems to have become a real nuisance in last 5-10 years
i don’t remember them as a child

We had a lot of house lizards when I was growing up and NONE of them used to make noise. They were greyish in colour.

This new style noise making house lizard / gekko came along about 3-4 years ago. The first time I heard one clucking, I was like "what the heck is that?"

They are still around but I don't hear or see as many as before.

Have a lot by me. I thought it was a bird or something at first and was gona stakeout my window to try and catch a glimpse of it. Then ppl told me it's a lizard

I read somewhere that they take care of little critters around the place and are not so bad to have around. I just wish they used to eat forking mosquito

bluefete · Postby **bluefete** » August 25th, 2021, 8:59 pm

^^^ LOL. Don't we all.

hindian · Postby **hindian** » August 26th, 2021, 6:50 am

Guys how does a curry tree (caripoule) tree grow? Stem cuttings or the berries that does be on the tree? I tried both ways and cant get it to do anything...

timelapse · Postby **timelapse** » August 26th, 2021, 6:53 am

hindian wrote:Guys how does a curry tree (caripoule) tree grow? Stem cuttings or the berries that does be on the tree? I tried both ways and cant get it to do anything...

Only way I know is plants that burst out from existing roots like suckers

Jerry84 · Postby **Jerry84** » August 26th, 2021, 4:17 pm

bluefete wrote:
Jerry84 wrote:So I'm thinking about planting a lot of land next door to me.
What are your thoughts, concerns, opinions.Thanks in advance

Is this YOUR land?

Yes it is

timelapse · Postby **timelapse** » August 27th, 2021, 9:59 am

Jerry84 wrote:So I'm thinking about planting a lot of land next door to me. My idea is to do about 10 "banks" 10 ft long by 2ft wide for small seasonings and herbs. I will do regular banks for bigger crops which require more space in between.

My major hurdle is time to irrigate daily as I have a full time job, so I want to run some pvc pipes on the banks with holes drilled into them on either side which would water the crops daily, maybe twice, who knows. Now to achieve this I would need a pump. A cost effective bare pump I saw in the hardware was a Leo 1/2hp. It has a 1"or 1.25" bore(not too sure) which would be reduced to 3/4" and then further reduced to 1/2" on the bed. This pump would be controlled by an electrical timer accordingly.

My concern is would this 1/2 hp pump be sufficient to irrigate the crops. Mind you I don't need the effect of the irrigation hoses where the water sprays up in the air a bit.

What are your thoughts, concerns, opinions.
Thanks in advance

Make some drip pipes with pvc, connect them together from a main pvc, then connect to a hose fitting.
You can connect it to your existing water system in your house via water hose

Chimera · Postby **Chimera** » August 27th, 2021, 12:07 pm

using a water pump and holes in pvc means you would end up with water shooting at high pressure into the soil, digging holes, damaging roots etc

you need drip emitters that will control the flow of the water

google 1gph or .5 gph drip emitters

plant doctors has one for sale that threads into 5/32 hole in pvc pipe