A Seed Saver's Garden

[Jack Holloway]

I would take that comment with a grain of salt. And maybe some ipecac.

While I wouldn't talk anyone out of experimentation, you might have trouble getting either Velvet Bean or Winged Bean to maturity. Both grew here, but neither was able to even get close to mature seed before frost.

We had (and still have) trouble with fungus gnats, when we brought a new plant into the house. Apparently it was infested, and the gnats quickly spread to many of DW's house plants. We put several bowls out near the plants, with a solution of vinegar, wine, and a couple drops of dish soap. Those traps caught hundreds. We hung sticky fly strips directly above the soap traps, and they caught hundreds more... but they were still everywhere. They seem especially attracted to open books, drinks left uncovered, and the light from a cell phone.

We finally tried treating the soil in all of the pots with a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide & insecticidal soap. That kills the larvae in the soil; but it takes awhile for the adult population to die down. We treated all of the pots again (with all of DW's plants, no small task) and only had a few for awhile. They are just beginning to show up again, so we will probably have to re-treat again soon. Unfortunately, the only "cure" will probably be to completely re-pot all plants once the weather warms... or to hope that once placed outside, natural predators will eliminate them.

A tablespoon of lysol to a gallon of water, water the all plants in the house thoroughly, as in all of the soil must be wet, but this needs to be done 4 weeks in a row, at least. With the life cycle of fungus gnats, this solution will kill the larva, but not the pupa (not sure about the eggs), so the adults flying around will lay more eggs, which hatch, so those larva have to be killed. adults will emerge from the pupa, laying eggs, so you've got to prevent the larva managing to pupate. Doing this enough will finally get rid of them. Provided more don't come inside from outside, and you don't get more from new potting soil, or plants. Anything that helps reduce the adult population while treating the soil helps, obviously. Good luck.

 

[heirloomgal]

No confusion... Henderson Red is listed in SSE as a bush lima.

Yes, the lady had handwritten notes in each of the lima bean packages and she labelled then as a bush. She also sent me another bush lima, a black one, little smaller than the Black Jungle but looking much the same, can't recall the name. I like the dark colours on the lima beans.

 

[heirloomgal]

A tablespoon of lysol to a gallon of water, water the all plants in the house thoroughly, as in all of the soil must be wet, but this needs to be done 4 weeks in a row, at least. With the life cycle of fungus gnats, this solution will kill the larva, but not the pupa (not sure about the eggs), so the adults flying around will lay more eggs, which hatch, so those larva have to be killed. adults will emerge from the pupa, laying eggs, so you've got to prevent the larva managing to pupate. Doing this enough will finally get rid of them. Provided more don't come inside from outside, and you don't get more from new potting soil, or plants. Anything that helps reduce the adult population while treating the soil helps, obviously. Good luck.

What surprised me is that, while I've seen the odd flying bug emerge from Pro-Mix bales over the years ( I didn't know until this year that these are fungus gnats) they mostly just eventually disappeared. I've NEVER had a problem with these bugs before - in house, or greenhouse. I've brought in my own garden soil and never seen these things. I can't imagine how many eggs must have been in that bagged soil. And as much as I am spraying everyday, and watering the pots with the neem mixture, I can't seem to totally get rid of them for good. I honestly think once it heats up enough to put them in the greenhouse during the day, putting them out might be the most likely way to win. Get them out of the protected environment of the house!

 

[flowerbug]

No confusion... Henderson Red is listed in SSE as a bush lima.

ok! good to know.

 

[Jack Holloway]

@heirloomgal I was told about this treatment when I raised cacti and other succulents. What I found worse than fungus gnats was mealy bugs. Those I hate with a burning passion. Rubbing alcohol on those.

Take care,
Jack

 

[heirloomgal]

Thank goodness those ones are unknown to me! Knock on wood!

 

[jbosmith]

@jbosmith @Zeedman Thank you both so much for your mention to me of the seed exchange, without your help jb I wouldn't have even known about the recent changes, so would not have even considered joining, and zeedman for your wisdom and insight in light of my significant hesitations. I have had such a fantastic time over the last months connecting with other gardeners across the country, sharing (paper!) letters, e-messages and seeds. I have met so many nice gardeners and I've been able to share out quite a lot of seed with people. I am so glad I joined, it has been a lot of fun. Beyond my expectations! I've probably covered nearly all my garden expenses for the year, or close to it, too.

Here's a couple beans that a generous gardener sent to me. I have no idea if I will be able to get them to maturity (she lives rather South of me), but she sent me such a nice assortment I'm going to give it my best try. Limas have proven difficult for me in the past. I can't figure out if it's a long, but cooler, season they're after or a hot, long season. Seems like everyone I've asked has a different opinion. Anyway, not only do I love the beans, I love the names too!

Henderson Red
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Black Jungle Butterbean
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Ping Zebra
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Callisto - (not sure if it is 100% stable)
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Morden Midget eggplant seedling. Despite the gnats, these seem to have pulled through pretty well without much stunting. One things I'll say about Pro- Mix, the gnats don't like it and are not going in those pots it seems. Transplanting them proved to be a good decision.
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I knew one of the eggplant varieties was a thorny monster, but I couldn't figure out, or remember, which one. I have now found it.
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I just love variegation. Plant just gets prettier as it grows.
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Casa Aquaria. Normally I don't let them grow peppers indoors because it often stunts them, but this one is an ornamental and I have more than one, so I'm going to let it go. The only tedious thing with starting peppers early is keeping the flower pinched. Gnats have been after these in a huge way, but they've mostly managed. The new little leaves grew after I poured a neem oil/water mixture actually INTO into the pot.
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I got lucky with some fresh parsley seeds from the rack. They sprouted much faster than I expected.
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Soaking some chufa for planting tomorrow. These ones seemed drier than the last bag, so I don't know if they'll sprout. I guess we'll see.
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I've thought about getting a PO box just north of the border just to make Seeds of Diversity easier to participate in without going broke

Your plants look amazing!

 

[Zeedman]

Yes, the lady had handwritten notes in each of the lima bean packages and she labelled then as a bush. She also sent me another bush lima, a black one, little smaller than the Black Jungle but looking much the same, can't recall the name. I like the dark colours on the lima beans.

There are quite a few red-seeded bush limas, but not many black-seeded ones. Is that perchance "Cave Dweller Black"?

Cave Dweller Black, from 2018

 

[flowerbug]

@heirloomgal I was told about this treatment when I raised cacti and other succulents. What I found worse than fungus gnats was mealy bugs. Those I hate with a burning passion. Rubbing alcohol on those.

Take care,
Jack

as a kid i had a nice succulent collection. then i bought an elephant cactus with mealy bugs on it and didn't know about them until they'd spread to the rest of the plants. if you've ever tried to get those off of a cactus with all those spines it's a real bugger. sadly could not rescue most of them.

 

[heirloomgal]

There are quite a few red-seeded bush limas, but not many black-seeded ones. Is that perchance "Cave Dweller Black"?
View attachment 47650
Cave Dweller Black, from 2018

This is the bean and her label...

I guess it is fatter than the Black Jungle lima now that I really look at it. And it actually looks a little less jet black, almost a burgundy black. She recommended my trying Ping too as it is small and earlier maturing, and advised starting up to 6-8 weeks early in pots. At first that seemed really far ahead, but I grew Jackson Wonder one year (and failed) and noticed that it is a bean plant that seems to grow slower, at least slower than P. vulgaris beans. So I might just try 8 weeks before plant out, its a gamble either way but I'll take the risk of failing at the front end of the season over the rear of it. I really hesitate to plant any bush bean at all at this point, I gotta really want it, because production is just not comparable to a pole. It's a wonder that bush beans are so popular given that fact, and how much more prone to problems they are.