No.137043
reading about it on wikipedia
saffron farms will have tens of thousands of flowers in a football field sized plot of land
the harvest takes place over just a few days because of the short bloom
so you have to employ many laborers on short notice to pick out the threads and take them to a drying kiln because they cant sit for too long
i feel like this industry is poised to become disrupted by fleets of cheap autonomous drones with AI and manipulator arms... short that saffron....
No.138685
Meteorological
Spring is basically here now. I should have bought some early-Spring seeds already, but it's not too late.
Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should try growing? Some flowers and some relatively easy crops would be good since I want to focus on some computer stuff this year and don't want to spend an hour each day watering and weeding and such.
This area does get very hot in summer, so crops that aren't can't tolerate that are a no-go.
I buy my online seeds from
https://www.rareseeds.com/ and
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/ so give a look if you're bored and have any suggestions for stuff I can grow and blog about this year!
I already know I want to try growing the following this year:
Turnips, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkins, Strawberries, Peas, Green Beans, and I guess some herbs. I don't really like leafy stuff, but maybe I could try something? I'm not going to grow tomatoes because it's not good to grow the same stuff in the same area year after year. Maybe I'll grow some in a container.
No.138686
>>138685potatos so you can snack on a lot of french fries :3 *pokes you in the tum*
peas and green beans because
>zundamon No.138691
Planning to plant pole beans again this year after skipping the past one. Will prepare separate seedlings during May to plant at the start of June.
No strawberries this year since they have not been productive in recent years and blackbirds have found a taste for it.
>>138685 >[...] it's not good to grow the same stuff in the same area year after year.
That is probably the reason, the health and output of the plants went noticably down after four years in a row.
Might be time to try tomatos now, potatos sound good too since I have a lot of comoposted soil now.
No.138693
>>138691>girlDo you have proof of this
No.138694
>>138693Your Zundamon has grown a bit different I guess.
:D
No.138742
The grubs pupas I keep inadvertently exposing/killing when tilling are apparently june bugs. They're supposed to be really damaging to roots so I guess I won't feel too bad when I accidentally kill them. May their corpses nourish the soil.
Last chance for crop/flower recommendations as I'm going to buy seeds in the next couple days!
>>138691Nice! What type of bean exactly?
>That is probably the reason, the health and output of the plants went noticably down after four years in a row.I'm not sure if that's true, but maybe you need new crops if it's the same strawberry plants coming back? I've had terrible luck with strawberry plants producing much fruit after the first year. Maybe it's a fertilizer issue?
The thing I heard about tomatoes is that if you keep growing them in the same area nematodes will start showing up and they can be devastating as they spread around underground. There are anti-nematode crops like marigolds, but it's best to avoid the conditions where they can show up.
No.138755
>>138742>May their corpses nourish the soil.Spoken like a druid.
>Last chance for crop/flower recommendations as I'm going to buy seeds in the next couple days!A bit of Lemon balm can be nice to spice up a salad if you like a lemon-like scent. Sunflowers are nice to brighten up your outside area a bit (they might get huge in good conditions though) and if you like small birds you can let them pick out and eat the seeds later.
>Nice! What type of bean exactly? A variation of Phaseolus vulgaris called 'Blauhilde'. From my experience they are very productive and tasty.
>I'm not sure if that's true, but maybe you need new crops if it's the same strawberry plants coming back?Forgot to mention it weren't the same plants/generations, also don't know which species I tried so far.
In my region, a new batch of strawberry-plants usually need a season to settle and are then productive for two following seasons. I then completely wipe them and let a new set of plants and their offshoots grow there in a managed way.
>The thing I heard about tomatoes is that if you keep growing them in the same area nematodes will start showing up and they can be devastating as they spread around underground. There are anti-nematode crops like marigolds, but it's best to avoid the conditions where they can show up.Good tip, will keep that in mind. I actually noticed some when I spaded my wiped strawberry-patch last year. Am not a flowers guy but I guess it is time for marigolds in that part this year.
No.138756
>>138694What happens when they pollinate each other?
No.138776
>>138765get them
they're resistant to vtubers
No.141033
>>141030Oh yeah, it’s planting season. Ought to get to it myself as well.
No.141401
>>141396on topic sager
deserves it
No.141519
>>141517nice
how long do you think it'll take for the water to drain?
No.141521
>>141519Probably days. I need to get more wood chip mulch to put in them as they soak up the water and keep the plastic from getting damaged from the sun. This would be really bad to have sitting water like this if it was further along the year, mosquitos and stuff would be breeding in it.
No.145104
Normally don't mind windy days as long as it isn't dangerous, but I've got seeds in the ground and need to keep the soil from drying out, so now I need to go out and water every few hours.
No.152456
>>152455Potatoes after...
FOUR weeks. HOW DO THEY GROW THIS FAST?! This must be the benefit of the energy storage of the potato.
I'm starting to understand why these things prevent famine.
No.152461
>>152460it would be a nice thing to do but you need to own a house for that
No.152464
>>152461Not true, you just need to be a loser that lives with someone that owns a house!
But that's a concept misconception. You only need a big outside garden for growing lots of bulky, sun-hungry plants that need a lot of space and energy. If you have any free space, like the size of a small bed, you can grow a lot of things indoors. It's common for people to grow herbs indoors on top of tables, but you can do fruits and vegetables, too. Lots of species have varieties specially bred for container growing, even things you wouldn't expect like tomatoes or corn.
LED lights are VERY cheap and extremely efficient so people need to graduate from the old way of thinking. Due to the covid lockdowns a lot of people became interested in growing plants indoors and there's an entire industry around it these days. These are the growth lights I have for starting things indoors, but they can be a permanent fixture of a room to use for growing plants while also providing light for yourself:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095C2DLH5 There are people out there doing extensive reviews to rate the different kinds in regards to spectrum of light and energy efficiency over time. There's also tons of guides to assembling your own container soil, hydroponics, and anything else related to indoor gardening. It's pretty cool.
No.152465
>>152464>concept misconceptioncommon misconception* bleh
No.152923
I was thinking of throwing a planter on my balcony to grow some veggies/herbs (fruits would be even better but I don't think they'd work in the limited space). I've done flower gardens before, but I'm not sure what all considerations need to be made with limited-space growing. Would be cool if I could grow
>>152456in one. Seems like 1ft is enough for growing root vegetables and flowers based on site descriptions, though it seems shallow to me. Anyone do this before and have advice on what sizes work best or what some good starter crops are?
No.152945
>>152923Well, what kind of crops do you like? Many of them are easier than you think. If they weren't, nature wouldn't really exist at all.
You said balcony, so outside, what are the temperature and humidity like? Stuff like green beans, carrots and peas do better without intense heat, but can sort of tolerate it if they don't get exposed to the burning sunlight all day.
No.152973
>>152945I like carrots and taters, but I'll probably give most of it away to people who cook so I'm more focused on the growing than the eating.
It's very rainy now with comfortable temps, but will get hot and sometimes dry in another month or so. Highly seasonal weather. I can put them in partial cover where they'll be in the shade half the day or farther out where they'll get more sun.
No.153790
I'm the OP from
>>>/spg/3490My little buds are becoming big fat buds!
No.153797
>>152973You'll need a huge container for potatoes, at least in an effective way. Carrots, sure, they're very compact, you just need to make sure to give them enough room to grow downward and keep the soil loose with the container-only things like perlite or coconut coir. Root vegetables work very well inside containers. I grew turnips in one a couple years ago.
>>153790Looks good! I can't seem to use that finer mulch stuff you have there due to Spring localized flooding transporting it away. I don't know what the solution would be apart from giant containers.
As for me, today I had to "hill" the potatoes. You basically just bury them in dirt halfway and this is supposed to encourage them to grow more tubers. This is the 'before'....
No.153799
>>153798How do you go about digging them out? My dad used a potato plow pulled by a riding mower to dig ours up, but we also had a big patch with a lot of space around.
No.153803
>>153799This is the first time I've ever grown potatoes so I have no idea. Brute force, I guess? Maybe digging around them? I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
No.153813
I think you pull them up if it's healthy and the entire plant will come with you. The mound will make it harder for them to stay rooted
No.154408
>>154305This is something I need to read up on, but I'm not sure. In the US Idaho is well known for potatoes, but I don't know much about their soil. It might just be that since it's located further up North they're limited on what they can grow.
Cost to have 8 bags of mulch, mostly air, delivered locally: $40
Cost to have 5 bags of topsoil, weighing 200 pounds (90kg) delivered locally: $15.
I guess they care about space instead of weight.
I'm now starting a project to fix my soil since I've had parts where nothing grew (or rabbits got to it). The rows with peas, carrots, potato and onion are working, but the two rows in the middle are only growing weeds. I guess this is a good time to start since the heat of summer is approaching.
Coconut coir and vermiculite and used to help prevent soil compaction and aid in water retention, while the word castings are just good for soil fertility and it being organic material also helps with soil compaction. I HATE CLAY!
Not pictured: The 200 pounds of topsoil I mentioned above and 40 pounds of cow manure I also ordered.
No.154420
>>154419Oh, and I'm using coconut coir instead of peat moss. One of the ways humans are screwing over the environment is scraping peat moss from the environment to shove it into bags, wrecking ecosystems. Really not a good thing to support.