# Third time's the charm! Ellen's Amateur Garden thread



## ellen (Sep 6, 2013)

I have been trying to garden! I am such a terrible gardener. Believe me it is quite easy to kill a cactus and I manage it every time. I have the touch of death when it comes to gardening. It's really sad because you have no idea how much I enjoy doing it. I prefer growing native plants with the hopes that the sun and heat won't help me destroy my garden. 

Anyway, the two types of plants on my list are tortoise food and peppers (Ellen food. lol) I know I've spoken about both before.

The chiltepin is doing well. I thought I killed it, but it was dormant over winter and is now a gorgeous plant again. I only got two peppers this season. I'm hoping for a few more. I need to figure out what to do with it so it survives this winter... 




I purchased a desert tortoise seed mix and have failed at growing anything from it twice.

In winter the sprouts froze and subsequently died.

For summer I got two shoots of grass and some crimson spiderling snuck in from down the street. I literally tripped over the massive mother plant after I said I'd never seen it before in another thread...Go figure! Now I'm seeing it everywhere.

This time. This time is different. This time I'm growing my plants inside despite the terrible luck I've always had with indoor plants. I was inspired by some Pothos cuttings I've managed to not kill yet.

Feast your eyes... on whatever all this is. These were planted less than a week ago.  Most of the sprouts look like grass (which I'm not complaining about, my babies love grass) 




 I'm going to have some happy babies once these get big enough to chomp.


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## Team Gomberg (Sep 6, 2013)

I have better luck when I start them growing indoors too. 

Good job 

Sent from my TFOapp


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## Jacqui (Sep 6, 2013)

I too can kill cactus! I have had so many sweet folks on here send me some to work with and so far nothing has survived more then a year.  I don't have any luck with indoor plants at all and seeds as a rule also die under my care. I am pretty lucky in that I can do okay with outside plants, if I have them past the seed stage. This year I did manage to get two pots of nasturtiums to grow from seds and I felt like I had accomplishe some huge amazing feat.  Glad you are getting some seeds to grow. I think that the secret is just to keep trying and not give up.


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## wellington (Sep 6, 2013)

I'm not as bad as you guys, but I do have my troubles. (Watch it Jacqui  ). We're talking plants here. I usually can get them to grow pretty good. I can't get them to flourish or flower. I have some great Plumeria plants that a great member so kindly gave me. They look great and are doing great. However, not one flower. Not even off the one that is into its second summer with me Hoping next year will bring flowers. Good luck.


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## Jacqui (Sep 6, 2013)

Hmmm maybe you have a bit too much sh.. I mean fertilizer in usage Barb?


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## ellen (Sep 7, 2013)

Jacqui - I'm glad I'm not the only one who can kill cacti! It makes me feel better hahaha...

Heather - Thanks!  I'm really excited! 

Barb - I looked up plumeria. Apparently they bloom at three years old... Then it mentioned if it didn't, you need more direct sunlight and high phosphorus fertilizer... "Peter's Super Blossom Booster" was mentioned. I don't know anything about plumeria, though... I wish you tons of luck with it!

As of today I still have waaaay too many sprouts. I have about twice what I posted yesterday. It's going to be sad plucking some of them once they get bigger because a lot of them are in clumps. I'm using coco coir for the first time and I'm quite surprised at how well it works.


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## Jacqui (Sep 7, 2013)

When you pluck them don't be sad, after all you planted them for the tortoise and your going to dress his food with those pluckings are you?




ellen said:


> Jacqui - I'm glad I'm not the only one who can kill cacti! It makes me feel better hahaha...



 Exactly the way I felt when I read your first post!! I had felt so alone in my inability to grow cactus.


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## ellen (Sep 7, 2013)

It took me so long to get sprouts in the first place that thinking about plucking them feels like a huge waste...But you're right, Merlin and Morgan probably won't care if they get sprouts or grown plants as long as I keep the food coming. 

I have a few cacti that aren't tortoise friendly that my brother gave me when he worked in landscaping. They were cuttings that were being thrown away. He suggested I plant them and grow them. Well... I never got to planting them. They're randomly growing sideways. I haven't touched them. I think I'll just let them do their thing. 

Off topic I usually get weird mail. Mostly transfer scholarships and animal related non-profits soliciting for more donations... Yesterday I got the weird mail to beat all weird mail. I have been invited to join AARP. . . I'm 22.


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## diaboliqueturtle (Sep 7, 2013)

ellen said:


> I have been trying to garden! I am such a terrible gardener. Believe me it is quite easy to kill a cactus and I manage it every time. I have the touch of death when it comes to gardening. It's really sad because you have no idea how much I enjoy doing it. I prefer growing native plants with the hopes that the sun and heat won't help me destroy my garden.
> 
> Anyway, the two types of plants on my list are tortoise food and peppers (Ellen food. lol) I know I've spoken about both before.
> 
> ...



*chuckling* This is so me. Well, aside from your new found success ;-) 
I have the magic touch with animals but plants? Forget it. I can kill anything in days. I keep trying though!


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## ellen (Sep 13, 2013)

I had to cage the crimson spiderling because it was encroaching on the globemallow and blocking its access to light. 

I'm thinking of harvesting and saving the seeds.


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## Jacqui (Sep 13, 2013)

ellen said:


> I had to cage the crimson spiderling because it was encroaching on the globemallow and blocking its access to light.
> 
> I'm thinking of harvesting and saving the seeds.




... and a gardener is born....


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## Tom (Sep 13, 2013)

I have a heck of a time too. Hot dry areas and plants just don't mix so well...

I too can get plants to sprout indoors, but the problem is, they will only go so far indoors and then just seem to sit there. Then if I move them outside, they promptly die in the hot sun and dry air. Now I only start them outside and it works much better for me.

That desert tortoise seed mix didn't do much for me either. About the only thing that grew in that pen were the weeds that were already there. I have had tremendous success with the "Testudo Mix" from tortoisesupply.com. I grow it in 4x8' tables. I chop it all down and feed it out, and two weeks later its ready to be chopped down and fed out again, even though its been 105 and 9% humidity. The stuff just lives! The bugs sometimes try to get it, but I cut and cycle through it so fast they don't get a chance.


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## ellen (Feb 23, 2014)

Something unexpected happened. Well I expected all the seeds in my pot to die, lol that happened. But! 

That tortoise seed mix I threw into my empty pots outside sprouted about a billion California poppy plants and a gorgeous desert chia. One of the poppies has two flowers and about seven more buds, and the desert chia growing up tangled in it has a bud now.  I haven't seen desert chia in about 5 years. I went hiking and saw them everywhere but never new what they were. 

So I did manage to get some plants from it!


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## Jacqui (Feb 23, 2014)

We want pictures! Okay, atleast I do, please. I have never saw a desert chia or heard about them.


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## ellen (Feb 24, 2014)

Once the flower starts blooming I'll be sure to post a picture of the desert chia (that's when I'll be 100% sure that's what it is). The leaves look similar to a common weed I also managed to grow called london rocket except they're a lot more textured. From the internet I can tell that they're going to look like reddish purple spiked balls, but the flowers will be more of a blue violet clustered together on the spiked balls.


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## ellen (Apr 29, 2014)

Really late posting! The poppy dried up, (as well as some of the desert chia) but it is most certainly desert chia. They love the leaves, but they're not fans of the flowers. They're soft when they're green but they turn into spiked seed pods that hurt worse than cactus needles. Some evening primrose is starting to pop up now as well. And the crimson spiderling is coming back in the second pot.


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## Jacqui (Apr 29, 2014)

They do look like they would be a bit rough on the mouth.


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## ellen (Aug 17, 2014)

They absolutely love their primrose.  They've been eating the leaves and the flowers. It's fun trying to go outside just in time to watch them open. I've gotten about 9 flowers so far. Chia and poppy are completely dried up now. I've also got some kind of grass coming in now? Except it started with some primary leaves that don't look like grass so I'm not sure what it is.


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## Jacqui (Aug 18, 2014)

Your enjoying yourself and learning things, two of the most important things in life.


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