Design: Gardening II

Discovery: I measured the wrong shelves. The black WalMart shelves are significantly deeper than the pale Dollar General shelves, so I can't implement the kitchen-wire-shelf-risers idea. (The shelves are sort of like these, just simpler. Plain white, and not extendable.) Hm, risers... I wonder if I could keep an eye open for cheap bed risers, and use those? Alternatively, bricks or scraps of 4x4 from home, or something. At the moment it's no big deal, given that I want to get my current plants under control before I plant anything new, but I'd like to start some cucumber and chard before the end of the month, if possible. They're both supposed to be easy, and cucumber is just tasty and chard looks pretty. ^^;; So I have at least a month before I really have to worry about it. I'm planning a trip back to the island next weekend, so I can scrounge around and see what I can scavenge.

Green Stuff Update: I bought two bell pepper plants, one yellow and one orange. I forget which is which (they're labeled, I'm just too lazy to go outside and check) but one of them is doing great, and the other is a little sickly looking. I think it's the yellow. Which is ironic, because its bottom leaves are yellowing. Admittedly it's no worse than it was when I bought it. I gave it some Miracle Gro the other day, which should help - I figure that's safe enough so long as it's not producing, which it's most certainly not - and if it's not greening back up by tomorrow, I'll see if taking it all the way out of its biodegradable cup helps. The roots are already digging their way out of it, though, so I'm not sure how much that'll do...we'll see. Same applies to the (smaller) tomato, though I might do that this evening instead of tomorrow. [Note to self: Research tomato blight.] The larger tomato that I bought the other day - also a patio plant, and already producing, though nowhere near ripe yet - seems to be doing quite well. Must figure out a way to hide ripe fruits from birds and neighbors. I'm replacing the cat grass today, since it could probably do with some fresh dirt and I think the old dirt is infested with fruit flies. *le sigh* The romaine lettuce is doing well - now that it's starting to grow back, it's growing inches per day, which is awesome. For the moment I've got the cilantro sharing its pot (just until I make a decision: inside herbs or outside herbs, and then actually start planting them) , and it's doing okay. Not great, but it's not dying, so that's good enough for me. Must remember to plant the basil in the tomato pots soon. Wanna make sure both tomatoes are doing what they're supposed to do first, though. The spring mix lettuce is dying, but I don't really care - it hadn't grown since I brought it up a month or two ago, so I want to start new from seed with fresh dirt. If that doesn't take, I'll just switch to all-romaine, which is just as good. The strawberries are being boring, seeing as they're still seeds and only recently planted. The odd little pink-leafed indoor plant - will find the name later - seems to be flourishing, now that it's outside. I really should give it a bigger pot (it's in one of those soup cups, the kind you get at Big Lots for $2), but for the moment it seems happy enough. And I really like the idea of planting small decorative plants in big cups and stuff. Haven't a clue why, but I do. I put my ivy out for water, too, since I don't think it's had a drink in a month. Thing's freaking tough. I'm amazed I haven't killed it. And then there are the cuttings, which have been in tap water in a shaded corner since they were cut, and are doing just fine. Gonna try a touch of Miracle Gro in the smallest, just to see what happens. The aloe/ivy/fern had a handful of flies hovering around it the other day, so I'm gonna let it dry out (the fern's gonna hate me) before I water again. But it's doing good. Turns out, of course, that all three plants are mildly poisonous to cats.... *le sigh* As are tomatoes, of course. And most of the herbs I want. Go figure. But the brushing-lemon-on-the-edge-of-the-pot seems to have deterred Rebel, who was the only one interested in the plants at all. And the outdoor kitties at home have never had issues with eating the tomatoes or anything, so I don't think it's that big a deal.

I'll make an update sometime in the next few days with actual names and maybe some photos.

Thought: I might play around with moving the plants to the other side of the porch. Right now they're against the wall, for no particular reason. If I move 'em they could use the porch railing as a trellis, which would save me a few bucks (always good) and - more importantly - I could see them from the bedroom window more easily. On the down(up?)side, they'd also be more visible from the ground. Better for how-to-get-to-the-apartment directions, worse for defending them from hungry neighbors. We'll see. First I want to know if the makeshift benches are actually going to hold up, or if I should steal some clamps from home and just go on ahead with the Gorilla Glue.