Do you have a green thumb?

Question

I used to manage to kill every plant I owned. I love plants! Finally learned to only keep those that are semi-easy to care for. One day hubby and I will get out of the apartment and into a home of our own - and I can't wait to try my hand at outdoor gardening.

Answer 1

I use to feel like I had a black thumb. Then I realized that plants really are very easy to manage. If you feed them once a month at least. Never over feed them, it will burn them up. I recommend that you put two tablespoons of Miracle Grow fertilizer to a gallon of water and feed your plants once a month for house plants and twice a month for outside plants.
I grow alot of tropicals and most of our vegetables.
Even though you may have land to grow tomatos in, I recommend that you still grow them in containers. The reason for that is, if you grow them in five gallon containers they become root bound and really fill out on top and produce very well. My tomato plants are eight foot tall and produce like crazy.
Another idea....Instead of buying small starter tomato plants, this is what I do. Set up your container with soil, I like Miracle Grow. Take a great tasting tomato and cut it in half, squeeze all of the seeds out onto the soil, keep this dry for about two weeks, then hit it with fertilizer. Out of one tomato you will get about 30 to 40 plants. Continue to water and fertilizer until the plants become strong enough to transplant. You will have so many tomatos. I make homemade salsa, spaghetti sauce, canned tomatos........you name it, I even make Conch Chowder. I also love those little grape tomatos and do the same thing with those. You can walk outside and pick a bowl full of grape tomatos and just sit and eat them like candy:~)
I enjoy making a delicious tuna salad then splitting a tomato and stuffing it with the tuna salad. Nutricious and delicious:~)

Answer 2

My yard is a veritable jungle...so I assume so. I love a tropical feeling, so my small yard is a mass of plants, koi pond with water falls, etc. You cannot see into the yard from the street because of plantings dense across the front. Here in California, privacy is such a rare thing, I was determined to make a microworld of my house, far away from the world...and it became just that. I actually can find serenity in the middle of millions of people here.
As for the Green Thumb, I hope that penicillin will take care of it...do not hammer a roofing tack carelessly!

Answer 3

Oh yes! I love to grow things! I have several house plants and many flower gardens and a small veggie garden. I live in kentucky, so the red clay is very helpful to flowering plants. The secret besides watering is light. The best plants to get while your living in an apartment are any kind of philodendrons and violets are easy too. Hang them in the sunniest window and watch them go!

Answer 4

Oh, Lady G...outdoor gardening is NOT all it is cracked up to be!! Unless you get around easily, I would not suggest even starting.

I inherited my home from my parents. I have 8000 sq feet of lawn and 4000 sq feet under various gardens....and they will be the death of me!! It takes me 2 hours (minimum-no breaks) to cut all my grass ALONE. Then the weeding is something that the devil must have thought up to punish us people with black thumbs....and you HAVE to weed or they will choke out all your pricey flowers! Then you have to make sure that the type of flower you put in the sun is going to thrive there (few of them do, except the tropicals).

I am slowly phasing out the flower gardens that my mother left. I have cut back drastically on the vegetable garden--it is now less than 1/3 of the size of her original. And I am REALLY HONESTLY thinking of replacing all the front yard grass (which is a fairly small 20 X 20 foot patch, with the flowers left over from the rest of the yard--have a meandering path through it, and cover the ground with bark chips every year so I don't have to weed as much. Then convert all the other garden space (except for the vegetables) into grass, and buy myself a riding mower!

All the flowers in front for show. All the lawn in back for my grandsons to play on. And easier upkeep all around. Sounds good to me!

(Did I say I had a black thumb?!)

Answer 5

Not really, but I have some plants I have done real well with. Like you we are in an apartment, and I would love the chance to try outdoor gardening.

Answer 6

Oh yeah, I started when I was about 24 to really like outdoor plants and then I started getting ones for inside. I ready book after book from the library on propogation and design etc. Loved it for years, still do but no garden spots here in the complex, they plant lots of things in pots outside, nice to look at for sure. I had an elderly lady that was a prof at a college and she taught me lots of good 'stuff'. My uncle had orchards and he taught me about chemicals and what to use for what. Now I am helping my daughter. Here are some good plants for you arrowhead, pothos and spider plants, they are so easy to grow. Hope you get your home soon.

Answer 7

I've always had a green thumb. The biggest trick I know is to water your plants when they LOOK thirsty. That's worked for me.
I planted my first, real, vegetable garden this year. When I'm working in my garden, I'm not stressing about anything. On top of the psychological benefits, I get wonderful, fresh, organic veggies.
You can plant veggies in big pots. They may take some room but they're worth it! Good luck.

Answer 8

Yes, I do. Everything I plant thrives well. I don't know why. I really don't. I have a moonflower vine that has multiplied from one seed and now completely covers my front porch. (That is just an example).
I planted a small lavender plant and it spread everywhere. My daughter planted same kind and it died.

Some people just do have a green thumb. At least, I am good at something.

Answer 9

Yes.

You are so going to love it LadyG when you guys get your new home in the future.

I keep thinking maybe we should move out of the house, but I really love planting and mulching. So here I stay. Oh and I woke up, pulled the curtains, and two young deer were contently laying around in my backyard! Guess they just got through feasted on my azaleas and hosta plants.

I really don't like house plants because I forget to water and feed, then they die. I am more of an outdoor planter myself.

Answer 10

Yes I have 5 large trees in my backyard, that I planted and they have grown over the years. 20-30 footers, lots of shade from the afternoon sun. My lawn, front and back, roses and gardenias, Sometime the frost kills some of my plants off, and I have lots of houseplants. So I guess I am doing all right.