AMKuska's 2023 Garden

ducks4you

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Ha, Ha! There is this guy who hosts AMC programs. His brother was taking piano lessons and not really interested. HE started to teach himself to play. His parents realized the wrong child was getting lessons and switched.
He majored, Piano Principal, even concertized for a short time. At some point he became very interested in film scores, like those from Eric Korngold.
 

ducks4you

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Ballet would be great too :).
My kids are in a non traditional piano lessons. They learn chords, sing and it's a group class. They love it so much more than one on one traditional lessons. They are also learning so much more and actually love to practice.
A Good music teacher pays attention to a child's interests, then guides them to finger correctly and pay attention to meter.
 

AMKuska

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Well, I decided to sacrifice a pepper and dump it out of the pot to inspect it and see what could be going on. The problem became immediately obvious as soon as I pulled it out. Despite the tiny size up top, the whole bottom of the plant is a massive root system. It's all rootbound. There's no room to grow!

I will pot up these peppers and see if they feel better with more space for growing up.
 

AMKuska

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Sacrificial Plant got a test pot up today. I'll compare photos in a week. If there's significant growth I'll pot up the rest.

I tried looking up why such a pathetically small plant up top could have such a large root system. I found this study. The jist of it is that plants immediately put their roots out to feel the edges of the container and see how big it is. If they sense the pot is not very big, they won't grow up top because they know their roots won't support it.

I'll be interested in seeing if this plant responds to a larger root system, as light, water, and soil have all been addressed.

IMG_20230223_122742.jpg
 
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AMKuska

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My daughter came out and helped me plant the garlic. I realize it's supposed to be fall planting, but I found instructions for spring garlic with an acknowledgment that the garlic might not be quite as big. As I've never grown it before, I will chalk up what ever comes of the garden to experience.

We had a fun time.
 

AMKuska

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Ah, will you be charting its progress in your thread? Also, what area is your thread in? I tried glancing through the front pages of fruits and veggies and random ramblings, but missed it. I usually only get to drop by when it's on the "new posts" section D:
 

Branching Out

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Just curious about how deep the pot was that the pepper was in?
I planted Italian garlic 2 years ago in my front flower bed. Mostly clay and it was near impossible to harvest
My gardening neighbour was away on vacation last year when the garlic needed to be harvested, so I offered to pull it for her so it wouldn't over-develop. She has clay soil, and while I had heard about 'heavy clay soil' I did not realize that it is actually heavy-- like cement. It felt like someone was on the other end of the garlic, trying to hold it down. Wow.
 

AMKuska

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Just curious about how deep the pot was that the pepper was in?

My gardening neighbour was away on vacation last year when the garlic needed to be harvested, so I offered to pull it for her so it wouldn't over-develop. She has clay soil, and while I had heard about 'heavy clay soil' I did not realize that it is actually heavy-- like cement. It felt like someone was on the other end of the garlic, trying to hold it down. Wow.
It was in a 4" pot, and I just potted it up to one about double the size. I'm not sure of it's actual sizing. It's just the next size up I have.
 

Branching Out

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Interesting about how the plant won't continue to put on top growth if it senses that there is no where for the roots to develop. I see that with my little soil blocks for sure. At the 3 week mark they all just sit there, unless bumped up or planted out to the garden-- and then they take off again. Part of it could be the ability to add fertilizer or manure when bumping them up too; that certainly gives the plants a boost of nutritients to stimulate green growth.
:)
 

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