Author: Ben George
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Sunflowers – small but growing
Yes, it’s the middle of August. My sunflowers still haven’t flowered, in fact they’re only just coming into proper growth! That’s what happens when you plant them late I guess! They are also a dwarf variety as, living in a flat, we don’t have any room for full sized giants. Ms Mars variety should give…
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Spinach looking good
My Spinach is doing well. The Lechuza container it’s growing in is doing its job well, keeping the substrate moist. As expected, not sure we’ll have enough for a sandwich, let along regular crops for salads, but thaht’s not the point. Well it is, but I didn’t expect to have loads. It’s apparently ‘perpetual’ spinach.…
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To chop or not to chop?
So far when my Gerbera daisy flowers had started wilted I gave the plant a bit of water and it would quickly perk up. This time however is different. This time the the flower that’s wilting wouldn’t perk up with water while the other flower stem stood proud. So I’m taking that to mean the…
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Terracotta pot drainage
I recently purchased a few terracotta pots, for a couple of reasons… Weight – less likely to tip over vs plastic Look better than plastic pots Should allow more air to substrate The plan for these was for my overgrown Opuntia cactus and also my seedling Ms Mars sunflowers. Having purchased them I started to…
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Sunflowers repotted
Like my cactus, I don’t think my sunflower seedlings would have been getting enough light on our east facing, sheltered balcony. So decided to move them with the cactus to the front, but I also wanted to put them into more attractive pots than ugly plastic pots. So they are now sitting pretty in some…
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Sunflowers starting up
IT’s felt like quite the wait (probably 8–10 days) but today I’ve got the first signs that my sunflowers are actually germinating! My Ms Mars sunflowers should grow to be much smaller than the super tall plants we’re used to, instead this short variety will grow to around 60cm and have red or pink flowers…
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Peace lily
Our Peace Lily has seen better days to say the least! I’m not entirely sure when this plant came into our possession, possibly around 2003-2005, which would suggest we’ve not done quite as badly with care I thought. A year or so back the plant wilted, leaves were turning brown and drying out. It hadn’t…
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Gerbera daisy
Sometime in spring 2020 I bought an attractive little plant with a bright yellow flower. Thought it might brighten up the flat a bit. Turns out it’s a Gerbera daisy, possibly Gerbera jamesonii but I could be wrong. If someone is able to confirm in the comments that’d be lovely. I digress. So it seems…
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Lechuza BALCONERA 50
Living in a small flat, we don’t have much room for growing plants. I Wanted to find something that was relatively portable (compared to an allotment!!) but would enable growing of a few edible plants. What I ended up with was the Lechuza Balconera. A trough like container that holds a supply of water in…
Growing Stuff 