Welcome to the list, Edith. We're pretty casual here, so don't worry about
"rules." Standard netiquette will do. We're also friendly. We haven't had
a firefight on this list for...oh, 15 minutes or so. Just kidding. Go
ahead and ask questions, but I do have a suggestion. If you can lay hands
on some walnut leaves (black walnut or English)
Pile them on your quackgrass at least a few inches thick. A woman on the
organic gardening list says walnut leaves killed her quackgrass (but left
ryegrass alone). She wasn't grieving over the loss...
Margaret L
Gardening in Intermountain West and Handicapped gardening
http://www.margaretlauterbach.com
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Good morning,
I've just joined your list and this is my first post. If I break any rules,
please bear with me and give me a chance to correct myself.
I live in mid-coast Maine, in a ramshackle farmhouse out in the country
(though there are more and more houses nearby every year). I haven't really
gardened for several years; I gave up trying to deal with the quackgrass.
Our local farmers market has wonderful fruits and vegetables, and it's so
much easier to go there! But I do miss having at least a little vegetable
garden, and that's what I'll do next year.
I want some more ornamental stuff, too. I had a new septic system installed
last summer, and the list of plant material that succumbed to the bulldozer
broke my heart. I love to propagate things, and I've got my work cut out for
me.
There are lots of questions I would love to have help with, but since the
subject is holiday cactus, let me share the only treatment that works for
me. I learned this after years of no blossoms, but I can't remember where I
got the advice.
I was told to hang the plant outdoors in a tree every spring as soon as the
nights are warm, and ignore it all summer. If it rains, it gets watered; if
it doesn't, it doesn't. Remember to bring it in before frost, at which time
blossom buds are usually visible. The watering can be stepped up once it
starts to bloom. That works for me, and I hope it helps somebody else.
Now if I could just figure out how to keep them from getting lopsided. No
matter how regularly I turn them when they're indoors, they insist on
hanging out of one side of the pot and leaving the other half bare. And
please, when is the best time of year to repot?
I have one orangish-red one and one white/beige/pinkish one, if that makes a
difference.
Thanks for any and all advice. I'm looking forward the chance to learn from
list members.
Best wishes to all --
Edie in Maine
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hi Edith, welcome! There is a vast pool of all kind of knowledge and it
seems to get shared freely. Only thing to watch and it seldom happens is
politics....we don't do that...
I prune my cactus. They do chase the sun. I try to rotate them as well but
well they pretty much do what they want.
Marg in N.S. Zone 5b
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mmillard/index.html
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Hey there, Margaret. that is a good thing to know. I (can maybe get the
leaves and I have plenty of that bl---y grass.
Marg in N.S. Zone 5b
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mmillard/index.html
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WElcome Edie! As Margaret says, not a lot of rules to bother with.
Other than keeping politics out of it (yes a few recent posts are
getting close....).
Cacti - putting them outside will depend on where you live. I can't do
that in the summer. Though I live in Canada, it gets super dry and
often very hot here, and I've killed cacti trying to do just that,
because it hardly ever rains in the summer. They do seem to survive,
but it takes quite a few months to get them healthy again.
Brenda
Edith Bailes wrote:
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