Insomnia Thread...

[The Hollyberry Lady]

When it develops it's first set of true leaves, I'll know for sure what it is, or at least what it isn't!



Thanks Cam...I think it's pretty nice too.


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[Willow87]

Maybe it is a holly sprout

[Willow87]

Hi Sherry and everyone. I got one lotus seed to sprout after 3 days.

[The Hollyberry Lady]

At first I thought it was a holly sprout but now as it's developed more, I'm having my doubts.


Congrats on your Nelumbo sprout, Cam! They really grow super quickly.


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[Willow87]

It will be nice to finally see what it is. The first sprout came out of one of the seeds. I have some soil in gallon ice cream containers that I may transplant each seed in until they get bigger. The problem is the soil being smelly. I dont know what to do about that

[drew leonard]

Cam, good soil smelly; somethings does not sound right!

[Willow87]

Well its a mix of compost, greensand, and lava sand. I wonder if its because the water is stagnant and the compost is making it smell bad

[Jananas Bananas]

Hi Gang! Cameron that is great that you are already getting activity with your new lotus seeds! How are your lemon seeds doing? I agree with Drew, stinky doesn't sound good. I think there are ways to de-stinky things - I think they use lime on septic fields and stuff like that, but don't know if that would work or be safe on your soil.

Sherry has your little mystery seedling opened up any more today? My first thought was passiflora, but right now it looks like a clover! I'm so nosy, I would be taking one stone out at a time to see what was down in there and see if it is attached to your holly. But that's just me.........patience and me just don't jell! ~J

[drew leonard]

maybe try some charcoal sprinkled on top of the soil?

[The Hollyberry Lady]

Yes, Drew is correct...charcoal is excellent for destinkifying. It sweetens the soil.


JaNan...I promise you it's not a sprout off the Holly cutting. Besides that, until the true leaves develop I wouldn't dare disturb it and risk killing it.


I just hope it's not a clover! That would really suck. It could be anything really and now I just can't wait to know.


I'll show a recent shot shortly...


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[The Hollyberry Lady]

Actually though Cam, I believe charcoal works best on the bottom of the pot, under the soil, because it absorbs.


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[The Hollyberry Lady]

Ok here it as of 5 minutes ago...





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[Willow87]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to find some charcoal. I think its just the rotting materials in it and since the water is stagnant, that probably doesnt help any. I wonder if it will effect the plants? So far my lemon seed havent come up yet. I hope they do soon because I would love to have a lemon tree

[The Hollyberry Lady]

I'd still sprinkle some of the charcoal on top of the soil anyway though Cam, like Drew mentioned. If it were me, I'd no doubt have the whole bag of charcoal mixed through the entire pot!


I did read long ago however that if you add a thick layer of charcoal to the bottom of your pots when you're planting things in them, it sweetens the soil and helps to absorb excessive salts and also aids in over-fertilizing. When I first started gardening, I did it all the time.


Lemon seeds are easy to sprout, Cam. They take time so just have patience...


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[drew leonard]

Cam, that stagnant water in the soil could possibly kill what you are tring to grow.The only things that I know that love stagnant soil are cattails and algae. What do you have growing in this pot; (think I missed that) can you show us a picture? If you can get to a pet store, just buy some of the aquarium charcoal that is in the small 1/8" chunks and mix in to the soil. I'd say maybe 10-15%...


But hey; if it is growing and healthy...

[The Hollyberry Lady]

Good Morning, Chatters!


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[Willow87]

Good morning Sherry and everyone. I'm going to grow lotus in them but I guess I need to get new soil. I wonder if all soil would eventually do that since its going to be in stagnant water?

[Jananas Bananas]

Good Day Everyone!

~J

[The Hollyberry Lady]

I just used clean garden soil in my container pond for my lotus Cam...and made sure I had some minnows in there to take care of the mesquito larvae and algae, and my water stayed clear and beautiful all summer long.


I even woke up some mornings to find the water in the container looking like fizzy soda pop, there were so many air bubbles from the fish and these little suckers I had at the bottom. I never had a single problem once I added the minnows.


Lotus isn't fussy about the soil it grows in either, even mucky is ok. When growing them in a container, the width is more important than the depth. Half barrels are an ideal size.


We were talking about Lotus, weren't we?


Gotta go for a bit but have a great day, gang!


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[Willow87]

Good morning Janan! Sherry I guess I need to buy some clean garden soil. I used soil from one of my plant pots where plant died. I'll have to add that to my list of things to get for the lotus. I have gallon plastic ice cream containers that I want to transfer them to. I put the soil in and added water and when I let it set for a few days i stirred in a little more soil to make it bog-like and the smell was horrendous. I was afraid that the rotting smell would effect the plants growth.