thegunshow.com
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Garden Seedlings
I went to a plant sale today and got lots o plants. I'm so excited!
My garden is starting to look respectable
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| Carrot seedlings |
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| Eggplant |
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| Cucumbers |
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| Cherry tomato |
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Allelopathy
Camille has grown some magnificent looking plants. I visited her garden yesterday and I was dismayed- we are growing many of the same species only a few miles from each other. But mine are around ten times smaller than hers- most notably the strawberries, tomatoes, and dahlia seedlings.
While it's true that the weather is a bit warmer and drier where she lives, I don't think that can account for the differences. She is growing them in large pots with potting soil, and mine are in the ground growing in native soil amended with fertilizer and compost.
However, my soil is poisoned by the chemicals secreted by the eucalyptus trees surrounding it. They exude toxic resins to prevent the growth of other plants that would otherwise compete for water in the dry regions to which they are native. A surprising number of plants do this.
It's called allelopathy, and probably means that many of my plants will never flourish even if they do survive from seedlings. There are gradients of the chemicals exuded in decomposing leaf and bark litter, and possibly also from the root system, which prevent most plants from germinating or growing within a certain radius. It's even in the air! Eucalyptus can secrete compounds that evaporate through holes in their leaves. However, I've seen grasses, sorrel, and a few species of hard-to-kill succulents like jade survive in the otherwise rich & well-drained soil of a eucalyptus forest.
To give you an idea of how effective these chemicals are at preventing other plants from growing: think of a pine forest with that springy soft soil, completely free of leafy green understory. Pines secrete many of these same resins to prevent competitive growth.
They're not necessarily bad for humans- some of them are terpines, which humans consume and apply as hops and essential oils. So I'm still gonna eat whatever grows on my sad plants.
While it's true that the weather is a bit warmer and drier where she lives, I don't think that can account for the differences. She is growing them in large pots with potting soil, and mine are in the ground growing in native soil amended with fertilizer and compost.
However, my soil is poisoned by the chemicals secreted by the eucalyptus trees surrounding it. They exude toxic resins to prevent the growth of other plants that would otherwise compete for water in the dry regions to which they are native. A surprising number of plants do this.
It's called allelopathy, and probably means that many of my plants will never flourish even if they do survive from seedlings. There are gradients of the chemicals exuded in decomposing leaf and bark litter, and possibly also from the root system, which prevent most plants from germinating or growing within a certain radius. It's even in the air! Eucalyptus can secrete compounds that evaporate through holes in their leaves. However, I've seen grasses, sorrel, and a few species of hard-to-kill succulents like jade survive in the otherwise rich & well-drained soil of a eucalyptus forest.
To give you an idea of how effective these chemicals are at preventing other plants from growing: think of a pine forest with that springy soft soil, completely free of leafy green understory. Pines secrete many of these same resins to prevent competitive growth.
They're not necessarily bad for humans- some of them are terpines, which humans consume and apply as hops and essential oils. So I'm still gonna eat whatever grows on my sad plants.
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| so selfish |
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