Haven't done one of these in a while, but #FoliageFriday lives on.

I'm learning some things the hard way about doing this in containers. I found out the hard way that buying bags of soil is a crapshoot. Some of my containers are thriving and others have suffered from lack of nutrients.

I didn't fertilize at first assuming there were plenty of nutrients to start. Well, I started adding a granulated low strength organic fertilizer and the things that weren't doing so well have really perked up.

#FoliageFriday
I've been neglecting my house plants a bit because I have been busy and also concentrating on getting my container garden in order.

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about spider plants is that they make it so clear when they need water. At this point I don't really follow a watering schedule, I just water everything when the spider plants start looking pale. I water by submerging my pots around halfway in a sink full of water. With a dry spider plant you can literally watch the leaves perk up in real time. I don't know, the two pics might not make it as obvious as it is in person, but it is striking.

That's all for today.

Last week's post:
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110396872052699036

#FoliageFriday
The salad days are here again. Literally. I need to thin my kale and lettuce so I'm having my first salad from the container garden this evening.

Most of the grow bags are doing well also. I have a pretty big pill bug infestation, though the only thing that really looks like it's suffering is one basil plant. I planted lots of basil, so if they only want one I guess have at it? I'm trying a few things to make my containers less appealing.

Also, an experiment: avocados. I fucking love avocados, but I'm right on the border of zone 8a/8b. Supposedly there are some cold hardy varieties that - while not suitable for commercial growing for various reasons - are reportedly very tasty. We'll see if I can keep them alive and if they manage to make fruit. These are Mexicola Grande according to the Etsy seller.

Skipped last week, but here's the week before...
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110317594619822143

#FoliageFriday
The sun we had last week is starting to pay dividends. The kale and lettuce are coming in nicely. In the second shot you can see my planters and how I'm planting everything that is small enough to fit. The larger plants go in grow bags.

Basil is just prolific AF once it is started. I grabbed a single start from a garden center and I'm cloning it several times over. I'm planning to put a basil plant in the pot with each of my tomatoes and peppers. Apparently they not only taste good together, but they grow well together as well.

Also, I'm not neglecting my houseplants, they're just in the background because I'm enthusiastic about starting the gardening.

Last week's post:
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110278721184320040

#FoliageFriday and it's really on Friday this week.

It's all gardening stuff. As usual, the Pacific Northwest has gone directly from endless gray sog to full summer over the course of a couple of days and I'm glad I've been getting the jump on a lot of the planting.

First photo is some mixed salad greens just popping up from their deck rail boxes.

The next one is a spouted potato plant in cardboard mulch. I used some tall 10 gallon grow bags for the potatoes.

Third is a few of the pepper starts and one tomato.

And last is the thing that makes it all work for me: an irrigation timer. I'm FAR from organized enough to maintain a proper watering schedule on my own, but this little guy didn't miss a beat last year. I actually figured out I was over-watering. Everything I do is in containers and most of them are on the top rail of my deck. This is lazy man gardening. It took some effort today to set up the timer and the lines, but it's worth it a thousand times over for me.

Last week's post
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110244100710337219

#FoliageFriday on Saturday again. What can I say... My schedule is sometimes chaotic.

Moved my cacti outside last night. It's far too rainy (60+ inches of rain!) and maybe too cold here for them to be outside year round, but I figured out last year that I could put one of those cheap plastic pot saucers over the top with a cutout for the cactus for the rainy months to redirect most of the rain.

Second pic is leaf broccoli, which I know nothing about. An Etsy seller tossed in a sample with some other seeds, so I'll give them a try.

Another shot of the Raven ZZ plant showing the new growth as it darkens.

And one of my spider plants. I believe this variety is known as "Bonnie" and I am 90% sure it was named for Bonnie Tyler's hair in the 80s. I can almost smell the Aqua Net.

And last week's post...
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110203992194496344

#FoliageFriday on Saturday. You can't control me with your calenders, lol.

I'm absolutely fascinated with the coloration on the ZZ and how it creeps into the new growth.

Also, some new garden sprouts. These are a couple of varieties of Chard. Beta vulgaris - basically a variety of beet that grows more greens and less roots.

One is a "rainbow chard" which apparently grows a multicolored chard plant? We'll see.

The other is known as "Perpetual Spinach". I grew some last year and it's great... It produces a ton of spinach-like leaves. They taste a bit more earthy, but less so if you harvest them young. It seems a lot more productive and robust than spinach and doesn't try to run to a head. You can basically trim them back to a couple of leaves and if you keep them watered they'll keep making salad from spring until a hard freeze.

#FoliageFriday

Abbreviated post this week... Sorry to the uncounted millions of you awaiting my little plant posts with baited breath.

Anyway, been working truly stupid hours, so today it's just a solitary shot of a tiny little pepper seedling.

#FoliageFriday

Keeping this going for the moment, because I really do enjoy watching things unfold. I'll probably add some shots of container gardening as spring progresses, though I really don't know what the fuck I'm doing.

Had to take the ZZ outside to get a pic that really shows the color. It's black like a new tire is black.

And just a general shot of the current state of my window of plants. I gave away a spider plant last week, though I have a couple more that I need to fashion hangers for. One thing about spider plants... If you have one, you can turn it into several with very little effort. They are prolific.

Last week's post...
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110079885330421049

#FoliageFriday

I've noticed my pics don't have the best light in the morning, so I may have to take them on Thursday afternoon instead... Anyway.

Today it's the Chinese Evergreen and a spiky Peruvian Boi.

Link to last week's post... https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110039951832828603

Have I mentioned that I love #Autumn?!?!

#FoliageFriday

More #FoliageFriday

The leaves on our maple tree are *just* starting to turn...

#FoliageFriday

One of our neighbours has such a beautiful garden.

It's a pleasure at any given time of year :blobcatheart:

#FoliageFriday
Decided that I'm going to post plants on Friday. We'll see if I stick to it.

Some new growth on my Raven ZZ plant and it looks like the Mandarin Spider plant is blooming?

Last week's post.
https://kolektiva.social/@TheGreatLlama/110001002753459766

Loved my little desk space 18 months ago. The trouble with Monstera Deliciosa is they take over a space very quickly if you’re not careful 🌿 #FoliageFriday #MastodonMonsteraClub

#FoliageFriday

Some other pics from my morning 1

#Photography
#Flowers
#FoliageFriday

#FoliageFriday

A lovely tree outside Hastings Library

Adiantum x mairisii fern, perfectly hardy in the garden in a shady spot
#foliagefriday #gardening

Had a brilliant time at a @reeceeaton workshop making a Christmas centre piece

Wonderful bit of de-stress and creativity. Really kind and helpful tutor as well!

#RdgUK #flowers #Christmas #flowerarrangement #foliagefriday #foliage