I’m happy to hear that! It is a lovely past time and I hope it brings you lots of happiness. These are great books to step up your gardening game. Though, the way that gardening culture works is that the books assume plenty where those background steps are generally learned from your parents or a friend. I recommend going and buying seeds suitable for your climate, then looking up when to water those specific ones, and when to plan them, and in how much shade (if any). Chances are your first problem will be the soil being not nutritious or pests. Your next steps will be to look up what to do next, when that happens! Trial and error is best since there is so much regional variation that books don’t tend to be so useful unless you already have your foot in the game and can interpret them for your regional context.
so much regional variation that books don’t tend to be so useful unless you already have your foot in the game and can interpret them for your regional context.
I’m curios how true this is. As an aspiring min-maxer (I can’t tell if this sounds better than aspiring rationalist) one of my main areas of curiousity are how much the supposedly non-determinal aspects of stuff affect a system as a whole.
Assuming a large and very severe difference then I should first get a book that will help me determine how much my climate will affect my plants. Obviously a plant not tolerant of cold or heat will have trouble growing well so knowing the ins and outs can give me a good comparative advantage.
Do you think I’m just thinking too much and I should just RTFM or do you think my cautiousness is justified?
Do you think I’m just thinking too much and I should just RTFM or do you think my cautiousness is justified?
justified! This is a new problem domain. seeking advice could save you incredible amounts of stress and time, assuming I’m right. Meanwhile, I enjoy helping someone who sounds genuinely interested in an area I love! <3
actually, there’s a third option. Traditionally agricultural knowledge is ‘gossip and commonsense’. You’ve probably heard of where the ‘growing regions’ are in your part of the world. Are you in any? You could ask your neighbours if they grow what grows well. This kind of intelligence gathering can be invaluable and at least among gardening interested folk—it’s totally acceptable to ask around! Even if you’re a 27 year old computer programmer who’s never seen an orchid in your life, you can ask the granny down the road how to get started!
You could also look up what grows well in your area, but it might not be granular enough for the min-max side of you! Hope this was helpful. If there’s anything I can do to be of more assistance without being redundant to information elsewhere online I’ll do my utmost.
I live in a city, so the growing region is by proxy the closest supermarket. My apartment does have an unattended garden but I’m not quite sure what I could do with it. Every spring there’s plenty of growth but some dickhead always mows everything down if summer doesn’t make everything dry and uhm.. groundy?
I’m assuming they keep coming back because (A) They hate that mowing dickhead (B) They have some pretty darn long roots there. Seeing as plants don’t have emotions B is the right option while A is more wishful thinking.
I have a nice pot of peppermint which the ground looks dense like a bus full of people and it still managed to grow some despite how dense the ground looks and summer fighting it with a water drinking competition.
I’m assuming they keep coming back because (A) They hate that mowing dickhead (B) They have some pretty darn long roots there.
It could be that seeds are left in the ground. They can just child there for years! Farmers hate that cause it’s a weedy phenomenon.
I have a nice pot of peppermint which the ground looks dense like a bus full of people and it still managed to grow some despite how dense the ground looks and summer fighting it with a water drinking competition.
Excellent! Hope it grows well!
TLDR: What options do you think a city guy has?
I’m not too confident in this area though. Maybe someone else could chime in?
It could be that seeds are left in the ground. They can just child there for years! Farmers hate that cause it’s a weedy phenomenon.
Any reason why it can’t be some deep roots? I have a crazy/stupid idea of using that garden to grow something, and roots would be rather troublesome with digging and stuff.
Excellent! Hope it grows well!
It grows EXTREMELY well—absurdly fast, to honest. I’m surprised there’s still room for more growth after a year in the same pot.
By the way, what should I do about dead branches? There’s a lot of dead branches and I’m not sure what to do with them.
Any reason why it can’t be some deep roots? I have a crazy/stupid idea of using that garden to grow something, and roots would be rather troublesome with digging and stuff.
I don’t know if roots regrow the top bit, or if it’s conceivable. Sorry about that. But yes, roots can be very troublesome when digging. They get in the way and their job is to stay in place. Them and rocks, if your soil is so inclined can be a bit annoying
By the way, what should I do about dead branches? There’s a lot of dead branches and I’m not sure what to do with them.
It depends on how dead, basically. If they are decaying organic matter barely discernable from the soil, it could be useful for you should your soil have insufficient organic matter (and/or acidity since they often go hand in hand). Or, if it’s too acid then it could be worthwhile getting rid of it. But that’s only once you start looking at the soil quality stuff.
More importantly, if those branches are making it hard for you to access the ground, you could chop them up with an axe so they’re easier to move and put them aside (or give them to people with fireplaces if they’re the right kind of wood). They’re probably too big to compost, but I don’t know too much about composting since generally more traditional composting substances are readily available in my garden.
It’s a peppermint plant, they’re more like a line drawn on paper rather than a tree’s branches.
Think of it like ---- and ====.
They’re mainly what used to be the plant when I got it, although there’s a few stems here and there, the center of the pot is a bunch of dead ‘branches’. Most of the new growth occurs at the side, and I want to know that if I take the dead ‘branches’ out, they’ll be new growth in their place.
Can you vouch for the book? I’ve always wanted to try gardening but had no idea where to start.
I’m happy to hear that! It is a lovely past time and I hope it brings you lots of happiness. These are great books to step up your gardening game. Though, the way that gardening culture works is that the books assume plenty where those background steps are generally learned from your parents or a friend. I recommend going and buying seeds suitable for your climate, then looking up when to water those specific ones, and when to plan them, and in how much shade (if any). Chances are your first problem will be the soil being not nutritious or pests. Your next steps will be to look up what to do next, when that happens! Trial and error is best since there is so much regional variation that books don’t tend to be so useful unless you already have your foot in the game and can interpret them for your regional context.
I’m curios how true this is. As an aspiring min-maxer (I can’t tell if this sounds better than aspiring rationalist) one of my main areas of curiousity are how much the supposedly non-determinal aspects of stuff affect a system as a whole.
Assuming a large and very severe difference then I should first get a book that will help me determine how much my climate will affect my plants. Obviously a plant not tolerant of cold or heat will have trouble growing well so knowing the ins and outs can give me a good comparative advantage.
Do you think I’m just thinking too much and I should just RTFM or do you think my cautiousness is justified?
justified! This is a new problem domain. seeking advice could save you incredible amounts of stress and time, assuming I’m right. Meanwhile, I enjoy helping someone who sounds genuinely interested in an area I love! <3
actually, there’s a third option. Traditionally agricultural knowledge is ‘gossip and commonsense’. You’ve probably heard of where the ‘growing regions’ are in your part of the world. Are you in any? You could ask your neighbours if they grow what grows well. This kind of intelligence gathering can be invaluable and at least among gardening interested folk—it’s totally acceptable to ask around! Even if you’re a 27 year old computer programmer who’s never seen an orchid in your life, you can ask the granny down the road how to get started!
You could also look up what grows well in your area, but it might not be granular enough for the min-max side of you! Hope this was helpful. If there’s anything I can do to be of more assistance without being redundant to information elsewhere online I’ll do my utmost.
I live in a city, so the growing region is by proxy the closest supermarket. My apartment does have an unattended garden but I’m not quite sure what I could do with it. Every spring there’s plenty of growth but some dickhead always mows everything down if summer doesn’t make everything dry and uhm.. groundy?
I’m assuming they keep coming back because (A) They hate that mowing dickhead (B) They have some pretty darn long roots there. Seeing as plants don’t have emotions B is the right option while A is more wishful thinking.
I have a nice pot of peppermint which the ground looks dense like a bus full of people and it still managed to grow some despite how dense the ground looks and summer fighting it with a water drinking competition.
TLDR: What options do you think a city guy has?
It could be that seeds are left in the ground. They can just child there for years! Farmers hate that cause it’s a weedy phenomenon.
Excellent! Hope it grows well!
I’m not too confident in this area though. Maybe someone else could chime in?
Any reason why it can’t be some deep roots? I have a crazy/stupid idea of using that garden to grow something, and roots would be rather troublesome with digging and stuff.
It grows EXTREMELY well—absurdly fast, to honest. I’m surprised there’s still room for more growth after a year in the same pot.
By the way, what should I do about dead branches? There’s a lot of dead branches and I’m not sure what to do with them.
I don’t know if roots regrow the top bit, or if it’s conceivable. Sorry about that. But yes, roots can be very troublesome when digging. They get in the way and their job is to stay in place. Them and rocks, if your soil is so inclined can be a bit annoying
It depends on how dead, basically. If they are decaying organic matter barely discernable from the soil, it could be useful for you should your soil have insufficient organic matter (and/or acidity since they often go hand in hand). Or, if it’s too acid then it could be worthwhile getting rid of it. But that’s only once you start looking at the soil quality stuff.
More importantly, if those branches are making it hard for you to access the ground, you could chop them up with an axe so they’re easier to move and put them aside (or give them to people with fireplaces if they’re the right kind of wood). They’re probably too big to compost, but I don’t know too much about composting since generally more traditional composting substances are readily available in my garden.
It’s a peppermint plant, they’re more like a line drawn on paper rather than a tree’s branches.
Think of it like ---- and ====.
They’re mainly what used to be the plant when I got it, although there’s a few stems here and there, the center of the pot is a bunch of dead ‘branches’. Most of the new growth occurs at the side, and I want to know that if I take the dead ‘branches’ out, they’ll be new growth in their place.
Yes, peppermint should regrow nicely, it is quite aggressive.
Sinapis alba in pots. Eat the seedlings. Vitamins and some gall-inducing bitterness (so don’t eat too much).