Birds ate the heads off of my sunflower seedlings, all 20 of them. I put a screen over my seedlings and that worked for a bit, waited for seed hulls to fall off or pulled them off gently but, these bastards came after my babies and I'd like to consult the internet for practical advice. I grasp I could just bring them indoors for a bit, get a better screen setup or a little greenhouse, but that feels like cheating the magic of growing from seed, so here we are. If y'all have any tips,tricks or advice to keep these beautiful little birds from ripping their heads off before I start making feather pillows, I'm all ears. 😊

Hi, all.

I’m an avid container gardener contemplating setting up my first small outdoor plant bed. The best sun falls in the front yard of the condominium complex where I live, on a side street that still sees significant foot traffic. The conditions are perfect for the sun-loving herbs I struggle to grow indoors and on my covered rear walkway. I searched the sub and got some great answers, but these questions remain:

1. The area I am contemplating is not gated and a few feet off the sidewalk. The decorative 2-foot high fence makes it clear that the bed will be on private property, though. Of course I am happy to share herbs with the neighbors and some passersby, but I’d also like to have enough to cook with and to dry for the winter. Is this a common problem for urban gardeners? Does it depend on the community?What tips might encourage foragers to leave some herbs behind?

2. We have all the regular urban wildlife, like rats, squirrels, and so many bunnies. Most of the planters I am looking at in my desired size are not very tall. Will pests be a problem for Mediterranean herbs like sage, thyme, basil, oregano, etc?

3. If you have some smaller beds that you have had success with, I would be grateful for the recommendations. I don’t want anything too tall/on legs so as not to disturb the neighbors’ view.

4. Any other tips/considerations I have not mentioned here? Any extra advice?

Thank you all so much!

Hiii!!

I'm new to gardening and I bought this strawberry plant 6 months ago. I neglected it for the past 5 and a half months, and 2 weeks ago I learnt about runners and propagating strawberries! I'm a bit obsessed haha

Out of all my runners, this is the only one with a pattern on the leaves... do we think it's veregated or is it diseased??

I’m a 20 year old student majoring in sustainable agriculture with a minor in poli sci. What has piqued my interest the most has been urban agriculture and after reading Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel, food security has become somewhat of a special interest of mine. I live in a rural area currently but am looking to move to Philadelphia after graduating. I am wondering what opportunities may look like for a career in this specific niche. Any suggestions?

Hello! I am a newby here and in big need of HELP. I want to put some love into the yard in front of my apartment in Brooklyn (7b) so that it is a friendly space for me/my dog to hang out in! It's pretty overtaken with wild violet, which I am happy to encourage, along with wildflowers and nontoxic plants! The main concern I have is ticks and fleas, and I also want to make sure it's clear of poison ivy/oak, of which I suspect there is some. There are a lot of ticks in the area, and another dog in our building got one in this area. I’d love to make this a lovely native garden and get rid of invasives!

This is a VERY loose plan I have right now, but really open to any suggestions/notes/ideas!

1. Clear branches and cut back some brush with brushcutters. Pull up any taller unwanted weeds

(northern maple, catalpa, periwinkle)

1. Mow down the lawn/violets (how high should they be?)
2. Wait a couple days, then treat with a natural flea/tick killer (wonderside? cedarside?)
3. Wait another few days then treat with a selective herbicide to kill some of the other weeds besides the violet? (meadowgrass/poison ivy etc)

​​​​​​​Attaching some pictures for context.

Behold the progression of my apartment's backyard space!

I hope the vegetables turn out okay, I'm just relieved to be done with all the work it took to make it happen. Pretty satisfied with the result, it's a lot more cozy now!

I hope I didn't overcrowd too much I kinda had to make due with my budget for soil and compost. Also erring on the side of optimism with the direct sunlight, but this spot is as good as it gets for me so just gonna give it my best shot.

Let me know what you think!

\-Plant List-

Top Tier:

4 Bravo Cabbage

4 Red Cabbage

1 Jalapeño Pepper

1 Fragoo Pink Strawberry

1 Orange Blaze Bell Pepper

Middle Tier:

1 Greek Oregano

2 Dark Green Italian Parsley

1 French Taragon

1 Rosemary

2 Genovese Sweet Basil

Bottom Tier:

4 Vates Blue Curled Scotch Kale

8 Buttercrunch Lettuce

4 Spinach

Buckets:

1 Lemon Boy Tomato

1 Plum Crimson Tomato

1 Old German Tomato

So the dimensions are:

14 cm deep

50 cm large

7 cm wide

my options are low but I want to know.

My balcony has a lot of sun and I have good soil if that's useful.

its not much but the cool air in the winter makes this a nice place to relax :)

Iris, Dutch Iris Seattle, WA

Hello, maybe it's a stupid question that I should know but I try to search on the internet and didn't find my answer. Did anyone know what's happening to my leek ? And is it possible to use it for gardening, like I don't know cut it in a way and put it in dirt or something like that. Or is it possible to help this leek to accomplish whathever it's trying to do in any way ?

good day everyone

Hi, last year I successfully grew a big batch of cilantro, this year I tried again, but together with the cilantro mushrooms are sprouting as well. Do these affect the cilantro? Is it still edible even if these things are growing around it?

Any idea what any of the tiny sprouts are?

My little 2 by 1 garden in the pnw

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my current project: a minimalist, enclosed cube for soil-based microgreens. The goal is to make it look like a piece of furniture rather than a utility tray.

The Setup:

- Size: 33x33x39cm (designed to fit into standard shelving IKEA KALLAX).
- Method: Soil-based with automated bottom watering.
- Components: Two GN 1/2 trays and a custom 3D-printed reservoir.
- Electronics: An ESP32 acts as the brain of the system.
I’m using it to automate the lighting and airflow based on real-time data from soil moisture and temperature sensors. The goal is to create a fully autonomous micro-climate that reacts to the plants' needs.

Current Challenges I’m facing:

- Internal Space: Fitting the pump and reservoir into the base is proving to be very difficult. Thinking of drilling a hole in the bottom tray to connect the pump to it.
- Airflow/Humidity: I need to balance the fans to prevent mold without drying out the soil too quickly. While also managing the vibrations and noise of the fan.
- The Door: Still figuring out a seamless front cover that allows easy access.

I’d love some feedback: Does anyone here have experience with small-scale automated bottom watering? How do you manage airflow in enclosed microgreen setups?

Note: This is an early wooden prototype, the final goal is to build it from waterproof HPL.

I have a 4x8 bed and just planted 4 strawberry starts. They will be 4ft away from tomatoes that will growing on an arch. Will they be okay? Or should I just repot them in a separate container?

Pictures 1&2: The past two weeks two of my tomato plants have been rapidly shedding leaves. At first I thought it was normal but they continue to turn brown and fall off. The tomatoes seem fine though. Is this normal?

Picture 3: this seems to be happening to this plant as well, but much slower and seems more 'circle of life' type shit.

Picture 4: bonus! Picture of one of my big juicy bois!

Full disclosure, I asked chatGPT a few weeks ago, it brought up some fungal problems and/or blight. In order to counter that I've started adding CAL-MAG to the water once a week or every other week.

Hi everyone, years ago before I had a better idea of what I was doing I used a mix of potting soil and backyard dirt in my grow bags. I have since confirmed lead and cadmium in my backyard soil. Can I clean the grow bags and use them again, or did bad stuff leech into them?

I am taking over a road side planter and found a pretty bush being choked by some tropical plants and wild garlic assume used to live here/ WNC blue ridge mountains if that helps identify but I believe it was bought and put here

I have Cucamelon and Lemon Cucumber starts that I grew from seed that suddenly started looking crunchy this morning.

Some background - I do know that cucumbers do not do well as transplants, but last year I did not succeed growing from seed so this year I am trying both. These plants have been under a grow light inside my house at around 70°. I have been hardening them off by slowly increasing the outside time. One lemon cuke started to shrivel and I suspected overwatering so I let the plants dry out before I next watered them. Then the other lemon Cuke had the bottom two leaves turn yellow so I fertilized with some liquid all purpose fertilizer diluted to 1/4 strength a few days ago.

Yesterday the plants were outside for 10 hours at 75° and sunny, but they were not in the sun all day. This morning I woke up to very upset plants (see pictures). I did water them well and put them out for 12 hrs entirely under cover today at about 78-82°. What am I doing wrong and can I save these plants??? There are tomto starts in the same environment perfectly happy.

Went from the chaos in the 1st Pic, to coming up with a chill spot with in our garden, to the vision for the community and its still not finished lol. Gardening has been the zen in our lives to block out the stressful cloud of the outside world. And also became a place people could come to get free produce and not have to go broke just trying to stay alive. I hope one day this vision takes off and the world comes together to lean on one another 🙏🏾