Kelly's 2016 Apartment Patio Garden

[charley]

I planted some black watchman hollyhocks last year but they never died out.i hope they flower this year.they sure aint very big

[MissS]

Your Hollyhocks look fine and should bloom beautifully for you this year.

[TexasTycoon]

Yep, I knew that about hollyhocks, but I figured may as well start em now or I never will! Yours look very healthy, charley. They've still got lots of time to grow!

[TexasTycoon]

In case you need help imagining the size of my patio, here are my two helpers, Toby (red/white) and Buttercup (tricolor), with me taking the picture with my back against the wall. The shelf to my left is about 5' long. The tall thing is my satsuma tree with all dead branches and suckers removed. The shorter thing is the jalapeño plant.

[TexasTycoon]

Whoops, they're sideways. Posting from my phone, I'll fix them when I get to a computer.

Edit: fixed!

[Worth1]

I have seen your balcony or porch before from the road.
There are millions of them all across the US.

Buying a house today isn't much more room.
I chose small old house with lots of space to do things.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I have seen your balcony or porch before from the road.
There are millions of them all across the US.

Buying a house today isn't much more room.
I chose small old house with lots of space to do things.

Worth

It's definitely the smallest apartment patio I've ever had, but I guess it's better than the ones that are basically rails against the door! We've decided to stay here another 15 months (lease is up in May but they offered a discount for renewing now and I'm the only one working currently for reasons I won't go into so we don't have the money to move anyway), but I can't wait until we have a yard again to have things growing in the ground.

[Worth1]

Kelly I have lived in some messed up places you cant imagine.

One was in Hyde Park 49th and Avenue G north west corner one side of the house was a foot lower than the other so I jacked it up.

$200 a month back in 1983 and it was a steal and I was making $7.00 an hour while my wife went to UT.
We had a room I rented out for $100 a month plus 1/3 bills.

Those were the days, house full of hippies and bikers running loose wild parties all night long big fire in the front yard right in the middle of town.

I haven't changed one bit.
Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Here's what everything looked like this afternoon. A few of the poppy seeds are sprouting to replace the ones that died when I brought the tray outside.

How do I know when it's time to pot up the hollyhocks? All sprouts are showing at least one true leaf at this point.

[TexasTycoon]

I've read that you should transplant seedlings once they have four true leaves. Is that a good rule of thumb? Last year with my flower seedlings I kinda just transplanted once they got tallish and lots of them died.

[Worth1]

Some stuff just doesn't like to have its roots disturbed or it dies.
The true leaf thing is a good idea but nothing is written in stone.
What I have here is a plant hatchery I use a knife to cut into the soil at a certain size and move them to other areas.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Brought the babies in last night because of the low (but not freezing) temps. I'm thinking about watering them with some of the blue stuff, but I'm not sure how much to dilute it for them so I don't burn their roots.

[Worth1]

Well a full dose is one tablespoon for gallon for outside plants so you can drop it down to 1/8 to one quarter of that.
If it is the powdered stuff.
I use full concentration on seedling but if you dont do it right you will be hosed.

Here is what I do.
I give each one 1 teaspoon of the dilute stuff then a little water.

It is hard to explain and I refuse to make yet another video.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Well a full dose is one tablespoon for gallon for outside plants so you can drop it down to 1/8 to one quarter of that.
If it is the powdered stuff.
I use full concentration on seedling but if you dont do it right you will be hosed.

Here is what I do.
I give each one 1 teaspoon of the dilute stuff then a little water.

It is hard to explain and I refuse to make yet another video.

Worth

That makes sense to me. I got a 5 lb tub of the granules yesterday. I think I'll try a very low concentration at first and maybe build it up gradually to see how they do, and maybe I won't use it on all of them just in case. Thanks for the tips!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by TexasTycoon

That makes sense to me. I got a 5 lb tub of the granules yesterday. I think I'll try a very low concentration at first and maybe build it up gradually to see how they do, and maybe I won't use it on all of them just in case. Thanks for the tips!

Is this the stuff you mix with water or the stuff you sprinkle on?
All I use is the stuff in the little box that is concentrated and you mix with water.

Worth