I have a question for things that can be direct sown now. Don't you get a lot of weeds growing up with your seeds?

My answer to that from here ,,yes ,, With shrubs and trees I use a large styrofoam cup with clean earth and set it deep in the ground , That I will be doing with New Jersey Tea , Senna ,(candlestick plant ) and hops tree ,,
I never have seemed to get Nanking cherry seeds to germinate ,,

wildflowers said:I do several methods but will usually start off by cutting off the ripe/brown seed pods and placing the stems upside down in a brown paper bag. To loosen the seeds from the pods, I'll then try closing the paper bag and shaking. That usually doesn't do a good enough job and I will end up rubbing the seed pods between my palms, over the bag. That gets many of them loose. But then I'm usually still not satisfied and will take the stems, one at a time and pry the stubborn seeds from the pods.

Look forward to hearing some easier ways to get the job done!

Your method sounds exactly like what I just did. I knew there were more seeds in there and ended up prying the lot of them open. Nice thing to do while watching tv or something else mindless. On a positive note I probably have enough basil seeds to last 10 years!

Joolie said:I put the whole pile of seeds and chaff in a paper bag with a basil-seed-sized hole cut in the corner and just tapped all the seeds out. If it got plugged up I shook the bag and tapped some more. The tiny bits, I gently blew on the bowl and foof! Basil crumbles all over my dining room! (Shoulda done what DraDiana said, lol!)

Ended up with this:


Still a little fluff but not too bad. I'll probably be manually picking out the chonkiest seeds to pack up for everyone anyway so it won't get in my way.

Joolie, when I got to your stage I put them on a rough paper towel, one with lots of ridges and "quilts" I gently tilt it and the ridges will collect either the seeds or the chaff. Gently dump from one towel to another, throw the chaff away each time and after several transfers it was quite clean.

Can the Flowering Tabacco leaves be harvested like regular tobacco for drying/rolling purposes? The reason I ask is because I enjoy cigars and the prospect intrigues me if it is possible... Just curious

Can someone please give me a dumbed-down version of the differences between the French, African, and any other kinds of marigolds? I know some are better than others for mosquito deterrence, but I don't know which is which. Thanks

My version: French are short tagetes and African are taller tagetes. It seems to be varied as to which of those are better for repelling insects but I have found the African marigolds to be smellier. They have been hybridized too, so that makes them less smelly, in my opinion, the smell has been cultivated out of them. It's hard to find a good smelly old fashioned marigold these days. There are others, Tagetes tenuifolia which is the edible version and the tiny flowered tagetes minuta, the medicinal marigold. Pot marigolds aren't actually marigolds at all, they are "Calendulas" and are used medicinally for skin care and other things.

oops had to do an edit.

Hmm the worse they smell the better, then! Maybe I should try the tall ones as cut flowers so the bugs won't come in the house. I'm not sure if I could stand them, though. I might have to go back outside with the bugs.😏

wildflowers said:My version: French are short tagetes and African are taller tagetes. It seems to be varied as to which of those are better for repelling insects but I have found the African marigolds to be smellier. They have been hybridized too, so that makes them less smelly, in my opinion, the smell has been cultivated out of them. It's hard to find a good smelly old fashioned marigold these days. There are others, Tagetes tenuifolia which is the edible version and the tiny flowered tagetes minuta, the medicinal marigold. Pot marigolds aren't actually marigolds at all, they are "Calendulas" and are used medicinally for skin care and other things.

oops had to do an edit.

I'm confused... Are they smellier or not? Sorry

Hammer, both Tagetes erecta and Tagetes patula are used to repel insects from your vegetable garden. It's the aroma of the flowers that the bugs dislike. But because they both have been cultivated, it's hard to know what you are getting in the way of "smelly". Just as Diana mentioned, the scent isn't considered a desirable trait and therefore, many cultivars have minimal or no scent.

If someone has a good smelly Tagetes, I'd love to have some too.

Gotcha! Thanks

Vma4922 and bxncbx, to get the germination benefit of winter sowing for your Violas and yet have them bloom earlier, try the following:
Sow them NOW in a container like you would for winter sowing.
Seal the container in a plastic bag and place in your fridge.
Remove the container around Feb 1 and allow warm germination indoors.

Violas only need 60 days or less of cold, moist stratification so, you can satisfy that need and still start them early.

For those who put my Cinderella pumpkin seeds on their wishlist, I grew the pumpkins from a pumpkin my family picked last year & after more research have determined it is actually a Fairy Tale pumpkin rather than a Cinderella pumpkin. I deleted the Cinderella & added the Fairy Tale pumpkin. Sorry about that

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm thankful for you!

Happy Thanksgiving Back to you and all

Lalambchop1 said:Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm thankful for you!

That's what I was going to say! Just add:
🦃🍠🌽🍽🥗🥧
and an extra

Can't say it enough ~ feeling thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gobble gobble gobble! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your turkey

Ok so I apologize profusely but I'm being that person who is adding a bunch of stuff at the last minute because Thanksgiving ate me instead of the other way around and I kinda over extended myself experimenting with two swaps.

I thought I would sound the alert that I listed my ONE AND ONLY packet of terrestrial bladderwort, though, before trading began. I only have this one. I don't think I ever want to harvest this seed again unless someone is desperate for it or is willing to accept messy seeds that have a bunch of chaffy business.

Terrestrial bladderworts are carnivorous plants that trap larvae in the soil, so they make amazing companion plants to sundews. Less great to pinguicula as sometimes their roots are in danger haha.

Anyway, just the FYI it's an amazing, very specialized plant, EXTREMELY TINY with wow such tiny tiny flowers, but so good. And I only have this one and when it's gone that's IT, from me anyway. 😂

I'm going to try to add more stuff tomorrow before trading starts if I'm feeling well enough (I'm getting serious crashing after Thanksgiving) but I'm likely to keep adding stuff so I'm sorry. Next year I'm sure I'll have it back under control! 😁

@Joolie no tries. Is that a companion to any other kinds of plants? I don't mind chaff.

All, my holy basil & summer savory will likely have some chaff (more so the savory) as I harvested before I knew how to do so properly)