On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:05:10 GMT, Victor Martinez opined:

animaux wrote:
Holy cow! My 'Baby Doll' lotus is starting to grow. The fish have not stopped
eating, and, well, I hope for the sake of the plants we don't get hit too badly.

After the water temperature drops below something (45F, I think?) you're
not supposed to feed fish anymore. Their metabolism slows too much to
digest food. We've never fed our fish during winter and they do just fine.

Yeah, but the water has been 60 during the day and we have a heater in there to
take that sharp cold off. It never gets below 50. When Mark does give them
pellets, he makes sure they are very active, physically, and before he gives
them the pellets, soaks them to make them expand before the fish eat.

In article , Whit wrote:
I
have a cherry tomato plant that is *still* bearing fruit! It's a "Tiny
Tom" I got from the farmers market on S. Congress, I planted it last
March and prettymuch ignored it- I've picked well over 200 little
tomatoes off this little plant since! Is it possible to dry a tomato to
get the seed? I'd love another of these and it would be fun to try to
grow it from seed.


For it to come true from saved seeds depends on if it is a F1 hybrid
tomato plant or open pollinated.

In a hybrid two parents that differ at any number of genes were crossed to
produce hybrid seeds (plants). This is called the F1 generation (what you
can buy). The different parental genes in the seeds produced from these
plants will segregate in the second generation (your saved seeds). So
each plant that comes up will have varying traits of the parents. You
may or may not care for what grows. How different they are depends on
the nature of the parents. If you like what comes up you can try and "fix"
the desired trait in subsequent generations.

Since your plant is alive you can also propagate it by leaf cuttings.

In an open pollinated variety, the flowers will self fertilize if you have
adequate isolation distances (10 feet between varieties for home users and
much more for commercial seed producers) and the seeds from these will
come true and be identical to the parent.

I do not know if Tiny tom is open pollinated or a hybrid. A casual google
search reveals something called micro tom and tiny tim. I do not know if
either are related to what you have.

If you want to save seed, there are several web sources for open
pollinated tomato varieties (usually whatever you can buy at Home Depot,
Lowes and garden stores as plants tend to be F1 hybrid although a small
number of open pollinated types are sold).

Roland

It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict the
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be. =


I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in November
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with his
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:
=

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, please
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. I *=
will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til Spring......=
=2E...
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?
=

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the City=

is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it out.=

It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the green
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept not=

knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)
=

J
=

cat daddy wrote:

"animaux" wrote in message
...
I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is ever=
yone?

I had hoped obsessive compost building had ended with the Mt. Ever=
est
of
heaps, until I happened upon another 75 bags of leaves. It took a whi=
le,
but
I now have Vesuvius going in the backyard. Pretty cool on these cold
mornings....
The ground was frosty this morning for the first time, only the ba=
nanas
are damaged, and the wild iris and others are putting up new tips. I =
have
salvia blooming and butterflies...
I watered a couple of days ago, as well........... We're supposedl=
y a
foot low for the year.

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloo=
m,
some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There=
were
red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still
blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on thi=
s
hill,
anyway.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

Whit wrote:
=

=

I haven't done much to my garden except look at it and think about
what's next. Is this a good time to relocate natives like big muhly,
lantana etc?

No one answered this one. Your tomato inquiry threw them off. Yes,
indeed, it is a great time to relocate the native plants this month.

J


-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

cat daddy wrote:

Yeah, hardly a thing to do in the garden in Winter........ I have a=
pond
in my future, as well, and have slowly used dirt from the hole as fill
elsewhere. I really need rain to soften the sandy loam, though. The tra=
iler
rental place that has baby backhoes relocated a couple of blocks away, =
so I
don't think I'll be hand digging any more...

I'm glad I don't drive past that place. I've been eyeing baby tractors
since I've put in 2 smooth grades this past year on new landscape
construction.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I've experimented with as much as 2
feet of mulch and the bermuda makes its way up and through with vigor.


On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 12:47:16 -0600, J Kolenovsky opined:

It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict the
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be.

I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in November
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with his
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, please
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. I *will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til Spring..........
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the City
is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it out.
It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the green
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept not
knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)

J

cat daddy wrote:

"animaux" wrote in message
...
I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is everyone?

I had hoped obsessive compost building had ended with the Mt. Everest
of
heaps, until I happened upon another 75 bags of leaves. It took a while,
but
I now have Vesuvius going in the backyard. Pretty cool on these cold
mornings....
The ground was frosty this morning for the first time, only the bananas
are damaged, and the wild iris and others are putting up new tips. I have
salvia blooming and butterflies...
I watered a couple of days ago, as well........... We're supposedly a
foot low for the year.

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloom,
some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There were
red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still
blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on this
hill,
anyway.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I've experimented with as much as 2
feet of mulch and the bermuda makes its way up and through with vigor.


On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 12:47:16 -0600, J Kolenovsky opined:

It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict the
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be.

I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in November
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with his
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, please
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. I *will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til Spring..........
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the City
is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it out.
It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the green
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept not
knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)

J

cat daddy wrote:

"animaux" wrote in message
...
I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is everyone?

I had hoped obsessive compost building had ended with the Mt. Everest
of
heaps, until I happened upon another 75 bags of leaves. It took a while,
but
I now have Vesuvius going in the backyard. Pretty cool on these cold
mornings....
The ground was frosty this morning for the first time, only the bananas
are damaged, and the wild iris and others are putting up new tips. I have
salvia blooming and butterflies...
I watered a couple of days ago, as well........... We're supposedly a
foot low for the year.

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloom,
some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There were
red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still
blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on this
hill,
anyway.

Don't tell HIM that.


animaux wrote:
=

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I've experimented with as much=
as 2
feet of mulch and the bermuda makes its way up and through with vigor.
=

On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 12:47:16 -0600, J Kolenovsky op=
ined:
=

It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict th=
e
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be.

I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in Novemb=
er
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with hi=
s
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, pleas=
e
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. =
I *will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til Spring...=
=2E......
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the C=
ity
is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it o=
ut.
It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the gree=
n
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept =
not
knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)

J

cat daddy wrote:

"animaux" wrote in message
...
I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is e=
veryone?

I had hoped obsessive compost building had ended with the Mt. E=
verest
of
heaps, until I happened upon another 75 bags of leaves. It took a =
while,
but
I now have Vesuvius going in the backyard. Pretty cool on these co=
ld
mornings....
The ground was frosty this morning for the first time, only the=
bananas
are damaged, and the wild iris and others are putting up new tips.=
I have
salvia blooming and butterflies...
I watered a couple of days ago, as well........... We're suppos=
edly a
foot low for the year.

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to b=
loom,
some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. Th=
ere were
red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all stil=
l
blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on =
this
hill,
anyway.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

see below

animaux wrote:

I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is everyone?

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloom, some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There were red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on this hill,
anyway.

I'm going to start seeds this weekend and pot some things up for sale to the
nurseries and get seeds ready to trade.

If anyone is reading this, do you think it is a good time to move the following:

Mexican buckeye
Evergreen Sumac
Apple tree (yearling)
Yucca (several different forms, completely pupped and ready to give birth)

If not now, when would you move these? Would you wait it out till next fall?

V-Happy New Year folks.

Right now at the COLDEST time of the year is the BEST time to move a plant.
considering our SUN is not as unpredictable as it has been since 1991( actually
1962), the
natural weather patterns are returning and probably will be pseudo normal for the
next 100
yrs or so...GOD only knows WHAT will happen in the interim! The Blue Bonnets
finally
started again as they should. For a while they came in the fall only and the Red
corn Flowers
came in the early Spring which was BASS-ACKWARDS from normal. LONG story here
if you're interested?? We're just LUCKY to be here instead of vaporised as we
should have
been had the SUN NOT been ameliorated at a critical moment in time..(1997). We'd
have
been soul Spirits wondering what hit us. See second Peter ch 3 verse 10 for the
answer also
mentioned in the next two books in a similar fashion! Long and amazing story
here! B-0b1

--
"Beaten Paths are for Beaten People". -- Anon.

Great, now you've got me eyeing Davey trucks........... I hadn't
considered it would be more convenient to dump the chips nearby.
On a related note, I did skip leaf trawling for one whole week, but
couldn't resist 6 bags that the city didn't pick up. I mulch mowed them and
spread them directly on the flowerbeds, since I missed spreading the
finished compost that's buried under four feet of leaves.......
The big pile is still going great. Since I cover it, the top 1 ft. layer
is damp and black, and underneath is hot, dryish, and covered in a white
fungus (like ash). I still worry if I'm getting enough water (there are
still pockets of dry leaves) and air to the center. There is a slight
ammonia smell. Turning more than the top layer is not an option, so next
time I think I'll put in vertical PVC drain pipe to see if that helps.

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict the
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be.

I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in November
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with his
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, please
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. I
*will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til
Spring..........
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the City
is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it out.
It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the green
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept not
knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)

That white you are seeing is called actinomycetes. It's a decomposition fungus
which means your pile is healthy. Ammonia smell, you should try to turn as much
as you can. Don't get it too wet.


On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 02:51:41 -0600, "cat daddy" opined:

Great, now you've got me eyeing Davey trucks........... I hadn't
considered it would be more convenient to dump the chips nearby.
On a related note, I did skip leaf trawling for one whole week, but
couldn't resist 6 bags that the city didn't pick up. I mulch mowed them and
spread them directly on the flowerbeds, since I missed spreading the
finished compost that's buried under four feet of leaves.......
The big pile is still going great. Since I cover it, the top 1 ft. layer
is damp and black, and underneath is hot, dryish, and covered in a white
fungus (like ash). I still worry if I'm getting enough water (there are
still pockets of dry leaves) and air to the center. There is a slight
ammonia smell. Turning more than the top layer is not an option, so next
time I think I'll put in vertical PVC drain pipe to see if that helps.

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
It's an experiment. I'm putting a 6 inch layer on chips down on the
bermuda to see how well the fungus that forms on the chips restrict the
growth of the bermuda. It's my understanding it will but I'm
experimenting on how thick the chip layer should be.

I've always gotten dumps of wood chips. It saves the operator from
making dump runs and increases field productivity time.

I know what you mean about the leaves. I ground up 300 sacks in November
and I still want to grind more. Between myself and my neighbor with his
lot as a victory garden, I think we have enough for now. It's still a
temptation as the leaves ALL fell in the last week or so in the Bayou
City.

J


cat daddy wrote:

Wow, how'd you get them to do that? No, no, don't tell me, please
no........ I actually drove past three bags of leaves this morning. I
*will*
wash and wax my car and not carry leaves on the trunk 'til
Spring..........
How are you using woodchips on the prairie?

"J Kolenovsky" wrote in message
...
I had Davey Tree dump a free load of wood chips by the prairie the City
is letting me establish. Had to take a hired hand and go spread it out.
It was charring on the inside night after it rained and got the green
stuff wet. Didn't want some uninformed person calling the fire dept not
knowing what's going on. (that HAS happened once before)

Cool! "actinomycetes"............ I think the ammonia smell (and it is
faint) is coming from the top layer that's wet from the steam. It doesn't
seem to drip back down through the hot layer and is a bit compressed. I air
it out about once a week, mix the two layers and sprinkle it again. There
are still some dry pockets, surprisingly.
I might try to dig down to the finished stuff next time. I got a glimpse
of it when I straightened part of the fence. I have bulbs putting up spikes
and some random blossoming, dammit............... These guys couldn't have
given me a break for a another month or so........

"animaux" wrote in message
...
That white you are seeing is called actinomycetes. It's a decomposition
fungus
which means your pile is healthy. Ammonia smell, you should try to turn
as much
as you can. Don't get it too wet.


On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 02:51:41 -0600, "cat daddy"
opined:

Great, now you've got me eyeing Davey trucks........... I hadn't
considered it would be more convenient to dump the chips nearby.
On a related note, I did skip leaf trawling for one whole week, but
couldn't resist 6 bags that the city didn't pick up. I mulch mowed them
and
spread them directly on the flowerbeds, since I missed spreading the
finished compost that's buried under four feet of leaves.......
The big pile is still going great. Since I cover it, the top 1 ft.
layer
is damp and black, and underneath is hot, dryish, and covered in a white
fungus (like ash). I still worry if I'm getting enough water (there are
still pockets of dry leaves) and air to the center. There is a slight
ammonia smell. Turning more than the top layer is not an option, so next
time I think I'll put in vertical PVC drain pipe to see if that helps.

see below

animaux wrote:

I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is everyone?

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloom, some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There were red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on this hill,
anyway.

I'm going to start seeds this weekend and pot some things up for sale to the
nurseries and get seeds ready to trade.

If anyone is reading this, do you think it is a good time to move the following:

Mexican buckeye
Evergreen Sumac
Apple tree (yearling)
Yucca (several different forms, completely pupped and ready to give birth)

If not now, when would you move these? Would you wait it out till next fall?

V-Happy New Year folks.

And and happier New year to ya'll...and YES while "winter" is still in vogue is
the "happiest"
time to tansplant anything...just be very careful of the tenderer root
systems..LOL! use clean sand . in your new soil to assure both "in" as well as
"out" water that, if not moving, can rot any root! . . B-0b1


--
"Beaten Paths are for Beaten People". -- Anon.

see below

animaux wrote:

I don't think it's been this quiet in here in years! Where is everyone?

I had to water my garden today. The bluebonnets are wanting to bloom, some
irises are blooming and my redbuds are budding and blooming. There were red
admirals at the mud puddle and on the lantana, which is all still blooming. I
don't think we've had a frost up here in NE Round Rock. Not on this hill,
anyway.

I'm going to start seeds this weekend and pot some things up for sale to the
nurseries and get seeds ready to trade.

If anyone is reading this, do you think it is a good time to move the following:

Mexican buckeye
Evergreen Sumac
Apple tree (yearling)
Yucca (several different forms, completely pupped and ready to give birth)

If not now, when would you move these? Would you wait it out till next fall?

V-Happy New Year folks.

And and happier New year to ya'll...and YES while "winter" is still in vogue is
the "happiest"
time to tansplant anything...just be very careful of the tenderer root
systems..LOL! use clean sand . in your new soil to assure both "in" as well as
"out" water that, if not moving, can rot any root! . . B-0b1


--
"Beaten Paths are for Beaten People". -- Anon.