A True Beginner

[Sorali]

Hi there!

I'm Sorali and I am new to both caring for plants and posting in forums. A little about me... I'm the proud parent of two adorable little parakeets whose chatter makes it impossible to have a conversation on the phone (they love to talk). I also have two plants of my own, an aloe vera plant and an exotic angel. To be honest, I've had other plants, but those didn't work out so well... I'm hoping to improve my ability to care for plants, particularly my newest edition, a Sweet Star amaryllis.

I'm looking forward to learning more from everyone here! Since I'm new to using forums, please don't hesitate to let me know if I'm doing anything wrong.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Hello, I am Oliver, 78 and retired, and I spend a lot of my time in the garden keeping away from Covid as I am also immunosuppressed Was it you I replied to about the amaryllis? Even if you have no garden you can find plenty of interesting stuff about house plants here. Welcome to the forum, you don't sound like the type to do much wrong.

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Hello, @Sorali! Have you planted any outdoor flowers?

 

[Sorali]

Hello, I am Oliver, 78 and retired, and I spend a lot of my time in the garden keeping away from Covid as I am also immunosuppressed Was it you I replied to about the amaryllis? Even if you have no garden you can find plenty of interesting stuff about house plants here. Welcome to the forum, you don't sound like the type to do much wrong.

Hello!

Yep, that was me. It's nice to officially meet you! A garden sounds like a lovely way to avoid Covid and also explains how you're so knowledgeable about plant-life. Is it a lot of work to keep a garden? I've often thought about creating a small one of my own, but, considering my lack of skill, I figured it wouldn't be the best idea, haha. It seems like it would be rewarding though.

Anyway, thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[Sorali]

Hello, @Sorali! Have you planted any outdoor flowers?

Hi there!

Well, I haven't planted any outdoor flowers, per se. I did plant several pumpkins last year and they were growing rather nicely...until an unexpected cold-snap put a swift end to them. I've never had much success with growing things, haha.

What about you? Do you do a lot of outdoor planting/gardening?

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Hi there!

Well, I haven't planted any outdoor flowers, per se. I did plant several pumpkins last year and they were growing rather nicely...until an unexpected cold-snap put a swift end to them. I've never had much success with growing things, haha.

What about you? Do you do a lot of outdoor planting/gardening?

My job as a landscaper is to work on people's flower gardens. I do plant a lot of flowers. I also plant numerous flower bulbs.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Hello!

Yep, that was me. It's nice to officially meet you! A garden sounds like a lovely way to avoid Covid and also explains how you're so knowledgeable about plant-life. Is it a lot of work to keep a garden? I've often thought about creating a small one of my own, but, considering my lack of skill, I figured it wouldn't be the best idea, haha. It seems like it would be rewarding though.

Anyway, thanks for the warm welcome!

My advice is to start small, big, ambitious projects can easily become too much, discouraging. One little flower bed four foot square and you can have enough variety that some will succeed, encouraging. You need to get it dug over first, and winter is the best time. you don't even have to do it all at once, I would do three or four little strips, taking my time. I am 78 now, and don't want heavy work, but it is a way I learned early on, better to have a row of beans than nothing, then next year put some broccoli there and move the beans on. Rather than being out for hours and tired it is good for you too to get out for a bit every day and enjoy it.

Another thing I say to people starting is go for cheap plants. With plants expensive does not mean good, but hard to grow and reproduce, cheap means easy to grow. Things like marigolds are cheap as chips, flower all summer and hardly get a thing wrong with them unless something like a dog digs them up and they are a wonderful splash of colour.

 

[Sorali]

My advice is to start small, big, ambitious projects can easily become too much, discouraging. One little flower bed four foot square and you can have enough variety that some will succeed, encouraging. You need to get it dug over first, and winter is the best time. you don't even have to do it all at once, I would do three or four little strips, taking my time. I am 78 now, and don't want heavy work, but it is a way I learned early on, better to have a row of beans than nothing, then next year put some broccoli there and move the beans on. Rather than being out for hours and tired it is good for you too to get out for a bit every day and enjoy it.

Another thing I say to people starting is go for cheap plants. With plants expensive does not mean good, but hard to grow and reproduce, cheap means easy to grow. Things like marigolds are cheap as chips, flower all summer and hardly get a thing wrong with them unless something like a dog digs them up and they are a wonderful splash of colour

That's some incredibly helpful advice! You're absolutely right: keeping things small and manageable sounds like a much better method. I guess I've just always had this skewed idea that a garden had to be some large-scale project, haha. I'm glad you said that about cheaper plants being easier to grow; I've had very little experience with growing things, so I wasn't quite sure where to even start. I think marigolds and maybe a few beans sound like great options to begin with.

Thank you again for giving such detailed advice!! I'm looking forward to getting started.

 

[unlockthedoor]

I'd like to add that if you're going to do any kind of vegetable garden, you need to be prepared to wait for it to mature. It does take time to grow, even if it's just something like a tomato plant. You can also grow your own tomatoes in containers if you want the convenience of one, but you have to wait for them to grow. The same goes for most other vegetables. You can plant things like lettuce, spinach and peas in the early spring or fall, but they're not going to be ready to harvest until a few weeks or months later.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Beans are a good starter crop, they fixate nitrogen which improves fertility. Of course they do it for themselves, not the ground though, so when they are finished don't dig them up, cut them off at ground level and leave the roots in for that nitrogen. The tops can go in the compost, that doesn't have to be a huge pile. My daughter has a tiny back yard, all concrete, and grows things in pots and containers, her compost heap is an old dustbin with no bottom she found, she tells me the worms still managed to find their way across the concrete to it.

 

[Sorali]

Beans are a good starter crop, they fixate nitrogen which improves fertility. Of course they do it for themselves, not the ground though, so when they are finished don't dig them up, cut them off at ground level and leave the roots in for that nitrogen. The tops can go in the compost, that doesn't have to be a huge pile. My daughter has a tiny back yard, all concrete, and grows things in pots and containers, her compost heap is an old dustbin with no bottom she found, she tells me the worms still managed to find their way across the concrete to it.

Oh wow, that's good to know! I'll be sure to keep the roots in the ground once they're ready. I've been working off and on this week digging the flower bed. I'm almost finished, save for cleaning up the edges a bit more. I forgot to mention: I do have a compost bin that I made last year for food scraps. Do you think I should go ahead and add it to the soil of the garden bed? Or should I wait until I actually plant the seeds? Maybe it doesn't matter, but I just want to make sure first!

 

[Sorali]

I'd like to add that if you're going to do any kind of vegetable garden, you need to be prepared to wait for it to mature. It does take time to grow, even if it's just something like a tomato plant. You can also grow your own tomatoes in containers if you want the convenience of one, but you have to wait for them to grow. The same goes for most other vegetables. You can plant things like lettuce, spinach and peas in the early spring or fall, but they're not going to be ready to harvest until a few weeks or months later.

Thanks for the advice!! I'm probably going with beans to start off, but I would like to try growing other vegetables at some point (especially tomatoes since I eat a lot of those). Growing them in containers sounds like it might be worth a shot; it'd be a nice way to monitor their growth a little more closely. I'm still making note of some of the easier plants to start with before I purchase any seeds. Do you have any other suggestions for beginner-friendly vegetables that I could start with?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Tomatoes in containers means you can start a bit early and take them in for a day or two if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

 

[mikejohnson]

Hi, I'm Mike I planted 2 aloe plants, a few flower seedlings, and a few tomato plants in a bro box in July last year. I have been taking care of it every day with care, starting with 3 small plants of aloe vera and tomato plants. It is very nice when the tree after planting by itself bears very good fruit.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Hi, I'm Mike I planted 2 aloe plants, a few flower seedlings, and a few tomato plants in a bro box in July last year. I have been taking care of it every day with care, starting with 3 small plants of aloe vera and tomato plants. It is very nice when the tree after planting by itself bears very good fruit.

Hi mike, welcome to the forum. That sounds like a good start.