I talked with @ruby about doing this recently but I'm only now getting around to posting about this:
Fedi folks who are into #gardening#plants#peppers etc.! We are looking for folks to participate in a Fediverse-based Pepper in a Can challenge!
The Pepper in a Can challenge is simple: between February 11th and September 30th, you grow a pepper plant (your choice of pepper) in a 12oz (or smaller) drinking can, like a standard soda can. Starting October 1st, everyone shares their best can and everyone votes on their favorite (More detailed rules in a followup post).
The only problem with the original Pepper In A Can competition? It takes place via Facebook, which is something a lot of fedi folks are not particularly fond of! So, we thought it'd be fun to run a fedi-specific offshoot of this contest.
Because it is already mid May, we are thinking of this year as "Year 0". If you can start a pepper in a can now, go for it! If not, catch us next year! This will also serve as a trial run to figure out the best way to go about the voting. Because of the way federation happens on here, it may not be as straightforward as just "most likes in a thread" being the way to judge this (and frankly with the way Facebook works I'm not so sure about this method there either lol). So we'll get creative and come up with the best way to go about the voting sometime between now and October. This is the "let's figure out how to do this" year to hopefully set us up for a solid Year 1 next year.
The plan is to use the hashtag #PepperInACan for this, it's encouraged to post progress pictures as you go (and that's some of the most fun stuff anyway).
It's time for a final check of winter losses and survivors.
The best survivors were Austrotradescantia species - fluminensis, mundula, chrysophylla, cerinthoides, and one brave Continental Group cultivar.
All the Austrotradescantia plants were on the same area of shelves. So I can't be sure whether they survived because this subgenus are more hardy, or because their position on the shelves gave them a protected microclimate - or both!
Preparing international orders! Before I can export plants, they have to be inspected by the Animal and Plant Health Authority (APHA) to make sure there are no dangerous pests or diseases. So I've been preparing cuttings with labels and laying them out on every available surface in the grow room to make sure the inspector can see everything easily. Bonus points if you recognise your own order on the shelves 😁
These discarded tradescantias have had no water whatsoever for at least six months. I'm finally composting them, but they're still very much alive! Goes to show they really are succulents, even though they don't always look it 😁
Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom and reveals the astonishing capabilities of the green life all around us.
It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods...
A volte mi capitava, tra un rinfresco e l’altro del lievitomadre, di buttare via quel che rimaneva in eccesso 😱 Che peccato!
Ma un giorno mi venne un’illuminazione 🤩
Da allora lo stendo su un foglio di carta-forno e lo lascio all’aria a seccare. Una volta secco lo trito e me lo conservo in un barattolo come concime per le piante 🪴
My babies are growing so well. Now you can clearly see the difference between the two types of chillie plant: On the left a Habanero, a bit bushy, and on the right an Ufo, a taller plant.
Next week will be the first time I leave my sweethearts alone for a few days. I am curious to see how they look when I get back.
Some plants are trickier to water than others :) Also, it needs a re-potting and better light setup (it looks like some parts are getting too much light and others too little). This is a Sedum Morganianum aka Donkey or Burro's Tail. In the old location it was hanging from a hook and now it's just kind of draped over a shelf. When the leaves fall off as they do with each move and watering I just drop them back into the pot.
Questo inverno l'ho messo a dimora ed ora eccolo qui, bello e profumato.
È l'alium roseum, per le sfumature rosate dei petali. In Toscana lo chiamano "aglio di serpe" o "aglio viperino".
Si trova selvatico sui bordi delle strade di campagna e nei campi, ovunque nella regione mediterranea.
In questa pianta i fiori sono raccolti in dense ombrelle, le quali sono inizialmente avvolte da spire papiracee.
Talvolta le ombrelle contengono anche piccoli bulbilli che, cadendo, possono dare origine a nuove piante. (Guardate bene la foto nel precedente tooth, ci sono!)
CURIOSITÀ: Le cellule intatte di tutti gli Allium contengono alliina, un amminoacido inodore che per azione dell'enzima alliinasi, liberantesi con la rottura del bulbo, si trasforma in allicina, composto fortemente odoroso.
CURIOSITÀ: Le cellule intatte di tutti gli Allium contengono alliina, un amminoacido inodore che per azione dell'enzima alliinasi, liberantesi con la rottura del bulbo, si trasforma in allicina, composto fortemente odoroso.
Doing some spring pruning today. I usually like to let the plants grow the way they want, but in this case (and with some other plants I'll be trimming) they get too unbalanced and can topple over or stem weakening. This Pachyphytum Oviferum branched and offset/cloned a new smaller plant, and then grew sideways.
It was really cute and I wanted to leave it like this but the head of the original plant was too heavy to support over time.
One of my Sarracenias flowered this year for the first time. The flower has been around for a while but photos of it haven't really turned out well so far until this one.
Vast #DNA tree of life for #plants revealed by global science team using 1.8 billion letters of #genetic code
Scientists used 1.8B letters of genetic code from more than 9,500 #species covering almost 8,000 known flowering plant genera to create most up-to-date understanding of flowering plant tree of life. Looking ahead, authors believe this will aid future attempts to identify new species, refine plant classification, uncover new medicinal compounds, and conserve plants https://phys.org/news/2024-04-vast-dna-tree-life-revealed.html
"Food connects us all.
It represents our culture, our identities and biodiversity.
To protect the seeds, crops and fruits that have nourished our communities through generations is a powerful act of resistance."