Before & After Joining The Grow Network

shayjackson
shayjackson Posts: 25 ✭✭✭

Hi everyone,

I want to post your garden pictures for others to see.

Even if you were already an amazing gardener, I think your shots will help inspire people online.

Please comment your before and after pictures or just garden pictures below!

😊

Stay blessed & safe,

Shay

Comments

  • COWLOVINGIRL
    COWLOVINGIRL Posts: 954 ✭✭✭✭

    @Tave that is beautiful! I love the hanging bottles!

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Tave how fast do the pots dry out?

    Great imspiration for the rest of the neighborhood

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant, I live in a fairly arid climate, and my patio gets full sun. I was watering them once a day, and it wasn't enough.

  • shayjackson
    shayjackson Posts: 25 ✭✭✭
    edited February 2021

    @Tave this is absolutely incredible! Thank you for sharing and inspiring <3

    Can I share this on our Instagram when you come back to update us?

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Shay @ TGN, Sure! I'll try to get some more pictures soon.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The patio garden is an ongoing project. The plum tree looks happy. The pomegranate is suffering, probably too much rain. The cats have done a number on the tomatillos, and I don't think they're going to make it this time. I planted mango seeds in a bucket, then planted lettuce on top. The lettuce is now bolting, and two mangoes have just come up.


  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    These pictures are of the semi-guerilla gardening project. I pulled a muscle a little over a month ago and couldn't keep up with it. Most of what I planted died, but I'm still working on improving the soil. Geoff Lawton recommended punching holes in the ground and burying compost material. So that's what I'm doing. The calendula made it, and some corn that evidently was in the compost I buried is doing well. I thought the pomegranate tree was gone. Then one day, I noticed a couple of twigs with new leaves coming out. A rainstorm must have moved it because it was about 6 inches from where I planted it. It's now doing well. A neighbor noticed what I was doing and planted a tree. 🎉


  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I finally got the 3-liter bottles hung.

    What I learned in the process: They are much heavier when full of dirt than a 2-liter bottle, so I tied up the rope first, then adjusted the height on each bottle. I tilted them slightly so I can water from where the lid would have been. Twine doesn't work; it's better to use something that can handle being constantly damp. Then I filled them with dirt and planted the strawberries that have been suffering from neglect.

    I tried to position the holes so that water from the plant above wouldn't drip directly on the plant below. It keeps the leaves cleaner, which is important if they are leaves you're going to eat. And I wanted to make sure that the strawberries stayed as clean as possible.


  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @Tave have you access to white plastic or white cloth that could be placed behind the plants to reflect the sun and reduce the intense heat-bearing on the plants drying them out? Or, could you hook up a watering tube at the base of the container pots with an attached timer?

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SuperC, I try not to use anything that won't work if the grid goes down. Having to water the plants every day also keeps me aware of their health. The strawberries are hanging where they only get morning sun. The wall, however, does heat up in the afternoon, and I don't have access to the other side.

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @Tave it is wonderful to get out into the garden/s and watch their health and spend time with them as well. I love listening to nature in the early morning as the plants absorb the morning sunshine (when the weather allows).

    In a garden I have in the middle of a meadow, I found a sheet of old metal that is white on one side so that faces the southwest to west sun for reflection.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    What a neat project @Tave ; I love the bottles, too. Thanks for explaining how you make the bottles work.