Since there’s a few gardening people here, I want to ask - how did you all get into it and learn how to make things not die? I quite like the idea of being one of those self sufficient people, or at least partly, but I’m somewhat scared I will probably end up screwing something up and killing anything I try to grow. Also how do you deal with the spiders and insects because they damn near make me cry everytime I see them 😭
Thanks seagoon. Is mint easy to grow? I have heard that it likes to take over gardens and is best planted in a pot or complete separate section of the garden, but someone sharing that fact on YouTube was actually what made me first decide I wanted to garden. And that’s a good point on only seeing people’s successes…
Like any other hobby. Slowly. Learn information online, tv shows, asking people who are good gardeners. Trial and error. Be observant during the trial and error, and then check what went wrong and how to do it better next time.
As for insects, you will encounter them. I wear gloves while gardening. I’ve been gardening a long time and never been bitten by a spider. So it might be a matter of small steps and maybe start with pot plants where there is a very low chance of insects and move up to outdoor gardening when you feel ready. Maybe reading up on the different kinds would help to feel better? Many insects are not only super beneficial to a successful garden, but absolutely essential. For example bees and worms.
Good luck! Gardening is a fun and peaceful hobby. Oh and almost forgot, Gardening Australia on ABC is an excellent show with very good information and inspiration.
I do have a succulent on my window sill which seems to be doing alright. It turned a little brown at the edges, I don’t think I was watering it enough but I’ve started watering it more and I think it’s getting more sunlight now so it should be doing well soon. Thanks for the recco on gardening Australia, I see it’s on iview so I might have a binge tonight
My mum was a fabulous gardener, and one bit of advice she gave me was to check out what is in the local gardens around you. You can tell what plants are suited to the environment that way, and those will be more likely to survive.
I look at the local council gardens to see what is possible in this area, what micro-climate a plant needs ( iow, does it need shade or sun, warmth or coolth ) , and when to do planting and pruning.
Not a huge gardening person, but I know that like it’s nice being able to grow your own stuff, even if it’s just spring onions. It gives them more life, and saves money too. Though I can’t comment on the spiders, because I too cry whenever I see them.
Not sure about the spiders and bugs, they are pretty much part and parcel with being outside.
In regards to learning to garden, I learned most things through books and constantly reading about it, combined with continual practice. Things will continually die, fail to sprout, bolt to seed before you can eat them, get infested with pests and eaten by wildlife. The trick it to keep working at it and improve the percentage that is successful.
I would recommend you start with an actual book or two - there is tons of information on the internet, but a decent book has been structured to provide all of the basic information you need in a coherent order. Some of the info online is also of somewhat dubious accuracy.
It’s been a while since I looked at any. I’d head to the library and look for anything that is along the lines of a “complete guide to gardening”. Just make sure you are aware of whether it is Australian or from the Northern hemisphere, as it can get confusing with the seasons opposite ours - although the basic information will still be relevant.
Is there anything you can recommend to a beginner that’s perhaps a little less likely to die? Or should I just go straight to something slightly more difficult (I really want to try my hand at strawberries) and keep trying until I get something from it?
U wot m8. If you didn’t have a caterpillar problem you do now! I find them impossible to grow at all, let alone to a nice head, without picking off eggs/caterpillars every single morning and even then something else comes and devours it…
Lucky, I usually have terrible results with brassicas - I often can’t even get seedlings to establish without something trying to eat it at all times… Mustard and rocket no trouble though.
Lettuce can also be very prolific when allowed to seed. I currently have a fight for garden dominance between the parsley and the lettuce which seeded themselves this year.
Garlic chives are a strong contender to be in that list too!
E: also agree with Rusty’s assessment of lettuce. Have seen it grow in gravel pavements and get quite hectic under a downpipe. Mizuna (and some other mustards) can be like that too
I find lettuce a lot easier to grow and not as susceptible to pests! I personally dislike lettuce but have grown the loose leaf (vs heading - eg iceberg) varieties before. They’re definitely a good starter plant. You can keep picking off leaves as you need them, until the plant bolts and goes bitter
I wouldn’t start with strawberries, they’re disappointing mofos IMO.
Building on Catfish’s other comment, I recommend growing dwarf snow peas from seed. High germination rate, not that many pests/diseases, don’t take up much space, not that picky (just keep it well watered), will twine even on a couple of sticks, enjoys part shade, long growing season (so easy to just keep sowing every 6-8 weeks for a continuous crop), usually prolific and quick to fruit - plus you can eat the shoots as well as the pods :)
They’re a popular choice for kids. Legumes are generally fun. When I was a kid, it was mung beans in a plastic paper cup.
And don’t take it too hard if you kill a plant, EVERYONE has done it regardless of skill level or experience - I have a graveyard of dead houseplants I still haven’t tidied up… Just keep going and you’ll start accumulating successes that you can build on :)
E: I also heartily recommend starting with pots. Just easier to control and manage and a lower rate of encountering insects (usually).
Ah alright. I’m not a huge fan of peas, but I may give them a go even just to try and build my confidence with plants up a little bit. Not entirely related, but will food banks take homegrown stuff like that? I don’t really do peas, but if it’s fruitful and I can’t find anyone who wants them, maybe donating them could be good?
The only thing I’ve tried to keep before was a succulent. I meant to find it somewhere nice in my room where it’d get a bit of sun but I forgot about it and by the time I found it again 4 months later it was long dead and basically dust. I don’t think I’ll screw up that badly again though, my current succulent seems to be doing somewhat okay
Only thing I would add to the topics covered below (which I largely agree with), is that gardening is mostly a matter of attention to details. I find I need to spend about 10-15 minutes a day just checking on things plus time spent watering, feeding and cosseting plants. Make it part of your daily routine and it’s easy. And very relaxing.
I would definitely invest in gardening gloves (cheap at Aldi) if you are nervous about bugs etc. Please don’t spray poison on them - there are so many good bugs that actively help you grow things and these really shouldn’t to be poisoned. Ordinary rubber gloves are good for physically squashing pests like caterpillars and cherry slugs. And believe me, once you’ve seen your hard work eaten by caterpillars, one becomes quite murderous where they are concerned.
Something to start with that’s edible and easy (at least in summer) is peanuts. Recommend having a go at these for a starter plant in a pot as it’s so easy to grow. It’s a pretty plant too - very decorative and largely free from pests. They are delightfully weird too as the nuts grow on the end of the branches, just underground. And really fresh peanuts are hard to find in shops and absolutely delicious. Get the seed peanuts from Diggers or similar - ordinary supermarket ones are treated with chemicals or roasted and probably won’t germinate. You will only need one or two seeds to start a plant.
I find I need to spend about 10-15 minutes a day just checking on things plus time spent watering, feeding and cosseting plants
That’s a good thought and not something I’d considered. Yeah I get quite a bit of happiness and zen from just being outside, although some bugs and insects really freak me out. I don’t mind most of the things that actually live in the garden and help like worms and such, it’s only really the pesty types and spiders I can’t really deal with. Also bees I never kill but I do have this funny tendency to freeze up if anything with a stinger comes anywhere near me
I didn’t even know you could just grow peanuts honestly. I mean obviously they’re a type of nut so of course you can grow it but I never would’ve thought they’d be easy to grow or even really like our climate. Always associated them with the tropics and jungle type areas for some reason. But yeah, I like peanuts so I might look into giving them a go. Thanks TW!
They grow very well in Melbourne over summer. Can’t overwinter them, but who cares. My boys got given seed peanuts in primary school to plant etc so they’re easy enough for primary school kids to grow. Another nice thing is that they are nitrogen fixers - that is, if planted in the garden they actually improve the soil rather than deplete it. They aren’t nuts - just a really really weird bean/legume as @catfish points out.
Oh and I forgot to mention. See if there’s a seed library in your area. Sometimes they’re run by the council or a library. You can ‘borrow’ seeds by taking some, planting them and letting some of your plants go to seed to ‘return’ them. Or you can donate remaining unused seeds from a packet that you bought.
Some even have gardening groups or community gardens to help you learn.
(They tend to deal with heirloom seeds though, because those are better for seed saving. If you see anything on a seed packet saying F1, or F2, or F3 then those are hybrids.
Generally with hybrids the results of the first planting will breed ‘true’ and give the best results of the mixed parent genes, but saving the seeds from that and planting again will give you mixed and kind of crappy results.
It’s up to you which you use, both heirlooms and hybrids have their good points, but just something to remember if you want to save the seeds.)
You can also buy kits from shops but they might not be amazing
Edit: This is making me wish Woolies still did those little seed giveaways rather than whatever junk they have now. They’re price gouging so I try to avoid them when possible and not all the plants were cat safe but man… it’s the only time I’ve ever been interested in the giveaways
I’ll chime in. Try container gardening! You can do a few things in pots.
I’m very much an amateur that’s dabbled with simple herbs my entire life but a few years ago I was growing spinach. Because there wasn’t room in the pot to let the plants get full size I harvested the leaves early as baby spinach.
There are guides but basically I put potting mix in a standard window box, mixed in some slow release fertiliser (Osmocote or whatever brand of granules) and planted some of the spinach seeds. Then I kept planting more seeds at intervals so more would keep coming, while gently picking the bigger leaves so the existing plants would keep producing more. (This may not get you a whole big crop but is very good to constantly get a small amount of fresh leaves ie. for a sandwich.)
This is called a few things like continuous sowing, succession planting etc. The plants ended up a little crowded but they really didn’t mind. The roots are shallow so they’re good for containers.
Some things to remember - spinach seeds need darkness to sprout, and then the seedlings need light to thrive. They tend to be a cooler weather crop. Some types are more heat resistant and resistant to bolting (going to seed) but they will bolt fast if they get too hot or dry. Don’t worry, they do that. They’re temporary plants.
Once planted they hate being moved - mix in fertiliser to the soil first before planting or use liquid, or water it in. Then sow seed straight into where you want them. If you don’t use slow release fertiliser they might want a little more when they start growing to a certain stage (was it when they get their second set of leaves?) They’re hungry bois.
Another option is to get a cutting of rosemary, strip the leaves off the bottom half, and sit it in a glass of water until roots appear. You remove the leaves from where the stem sits in water so they don’t go rotten. If you remember to water it you can plant it in an old yogurt pot. Putting it in gradually bigger pots as it outgrows them means the rosemary will get bigger and start to bush out. Pinch off the very tips sometimes so it gets nice and bushy.
If you see mint you can get a sprig and put it in a pot. It goes wild. DO NOT plant it in the ground, even if the roots are in a pot. It grows tendrils above ground and spreads like crazy. Consider a hanging pot even.
Another choice is radishes. They grow incredibly fast.
Since there’s a few gardening people here, I want to ask - how did you all get into it and learn how to make things not die? I quite like the idea of being one of those self sufficient people, or at least partly, but I’m somewhat scared I will probably end up screwing something up and killing anything I try to grow. Also how do you deal with the spiders and insects because they damn near make me cry everytime I see them 😭
Observation, look at gardens and look at people doing gardening.
Practice and start easy.
Books, read lots of books.
I would start with herbs, they are really tough and you can eat them. Nasturtiums and radishes are great for planting from seed, really easy.
MONEY. Gardening takes money. Money for tools and seed and fertiliser.
Remember when you are looking at other people’s gardens you are looking at their successes, you haven’t seen how many plant they have killed!
Thanks seagoon. Is mint easy to grow? I have heard that it likes to take over gardens and is best planted in a pot or complete separate section of the garden, but someone sharing that fact on YouTube was actually what made me first decide I wanted to garden. And that’s a good point on only seeing people’s successes…
mint is easy and yes, grow it in a pot
Great! I might try and nip down to Bunnings and pick some up over the weekend
Like any other hobby. Slowly. Learn information online, tv shows, asking people who are good gardeners. Trial and error. Be observant during the trial and error, and then check what went wrong and how to do it better next time.
As for insects, you will encounter them. I wear gloves while gardening. I’ve been gardening a long time and never been bitten by a spider. So it might be a matter of small steps and maybe start with pot plants where there is a very low chance of insects and move up to outdoor gardening when you feel ready. Maybe reading up on the different kinds would help to feel better? Many insects are not only super beneficial to a successful garden, but absolutely essential. For example bees and worms. Good luck! Gardening is a fun and peaceful hobby. Oh and almost forgot, Gardening Australia on ABC is an excellent show with very good information and inspiration.
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Kevin Heinze! 🌱🌱🌱
I do have a succulent on my window sill which seems to be doing alright. It turned a little brown at the edges, I don’t think I was watering it enough but I’ve started watering it more and I think it’s getting more sunlight now so it should be doing well soon. Thanks for the recco on gardening Australia, I see it’s on iview so I might have a binge tonight
My mum was a fabulous gardener, and one bit of advice she gave me was to check out what is in the local gardens around you. You can tell what plants are suited to the environment that way, and those will be more likely to survive.
I look at the local council gardens to see what is possible in this area, what micro-climate a plant needs ( iow, does it need shade or sun, warmth or coolth ) , and when to do planting and pruning.
That’s also a good idea, thanks again sea
That’s some great advice, thanks spring chicken (and spring chickens mum)
Not a huge gardening person, but I know that like it’s nice being able to grow your own stuff, even if it’s just spring onions. It gives them more life, and saves money too. Though I can’t comment on the spiders, because I too cry whenever I see them.
Not sure about the spiders and bugs, they are pretty much part and parcel with being outside.
In regards to learning to garden, I learned most things through books and constantly reading about it, combined with continual practice. Things will continually die, fail to sprout, bolt to seed before you can eat them, get infested with pests and eaten by wildlife. The trick it to keep working at it and improve the percentage that is successful.
I would recommend you start with an actual book or two - there is tons of information on the internet, but a decent book has been structured to provide all of the basic information you need in a coherent order. Some of the info online is also of somewhat dubious accuracy.
Thanks raven. Any particular book you can recommend?
It’s been a while since I looked at any. I’d head to the library and look for anything that is along the lines of a “complete guide to gardening”. Just make sure you are aware of whether it is Australian or from the Northern hemisphere, as it can get confusing with the seasons opposite ours - although the basic information will still be relevant.
I actually just organised a new library card from my new library this week so I should be able to do that no problems! Thanks rusty
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Is there anything you can recommend to a beginner that’s perhaps a little less likely to die? Or should I just go straight to something slightly more difficult (I really want to try my hand at strawberries) and keep trying until I get something from it?
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U wot m8. If you didn’t have a caterpillar problem you do now! I find them impossible to grow at all, let alone to a nice head, without picking off eggs/caterpillars every single morning and even then something else comes and devours it…
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Lucky, I usually have terrible results with brassicas - I often can’t even get seedlings to establish without something trying to eat it at all times… Mustard and rocket no trouble though.
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Lettuce can also be very prolific when allowed to seed. I currently have a fight for garden dominance between the parsley and the lettuce which seeded themselves this year.
Garlic chives are a strong contender to be in that list too!
E: also agree with Rusty’s assessment of lettuce. Have seen it grow in gravel pavements and get quite hectic under a downpipe. Mizuna (and some other mustards) can be like that too
Oh I guess it’s a good thing I don’t really like cabbage then. Though I do love lettuce, which I assume will be a similar story?
I find lettuce a lot easier to grow and not as susceptible to pests! I personally dislike lettuce but have grown the loose leaf (vs heading - eg iceberg) varieties before. They’re definitely a good starter plant. You can keep picking off leaves as you need them, until the plant bolts and goes bitter
Eh, that’s from cabbage moths. Get some upland cress.
I’d like to grow full on food eventually, but I’m happy to start with a herb if that’s best
I wouldn’t start with strawberries, they’re disappointing mofos IMO.
Building on Catfish’s other comment, I recommend growing dwarf snow peas from seed. High germination rate, not that many pests/diseases, don’t take up much space, not that picky (just keep it well watered), will twine even on a couple of sticks, enjoys part shade, long growing season (so easy to just keep sowing every 6-8 weeks for a continuous crop), usually prolific and quick to fruit - plus you can eat the shoots as well as the pods :)
They’re a popular choice for kids. Legumes are generally fun. When I was a kid, it was mung beans in a plastic paper cup.
And don’t take it too hard if you kill a plant, EVERYONE has done it regardless of skill level or experience - I have a graveyard of dead houseplants I still haven’t tidied up… Just keep going and you’ll start accumulating successes that you can build on :)
E: I also heartily recommend starting with pots. Just easier to control and manage and a lower rate of encountering insects (usually).
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Is it a 90s thing here? I’ve grown up with them as a standard part of East Asian cuisine…
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TIL! I can believe sweet chilli sauce being a 90s thing. Not giving up on snow pea shoots though, daggy or otherwise 😋
Ah alright. I’m not a huge fan of peas, but I may give them a go even just to try and build my confidence with plants up a little bit. Not entirely related, but will food banks take homegrown stuff like that? I don’t really do peas, but if it’s fruitful and I can’t find anyone who wants them, maybe donating them could be good?
The only thing I’ve tried to keep before was a succulent. I meant to find it somewhere nice in my room where it’d get a bit of sun but I forgot about it and by the time I found it again 4 months later it was long dead and basically dust. I don’t think I’ll screw up that badly again though, my current succulent seems to be doing somewhat okay
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Or if that fails, maybe you need to write $1 and see how quick it gets stolen 😂
Only thing I would add to the topics covered below (which I largely agree with), is that gardening is mostly a matter of attention to details. I find I need to spend about 10-15 minutes a day just checking on things plus time spent watering, feeding and cosseting plants. Make it part of your daily routine and it’s easy. And very relaxing.
I would definitely invest in gardening gloves (cheap at Aldi) if you are nervous about bugs etc. Please don’t spray poison on them - there are so many good bugs that actively help you grow things and these really shouldn’t to be poisoned. Ordinary rubber gloves are good for physically squashing pests like caterpillars and cherry slugs. And believe me, once you’ve seen your hard work eaten by caterpillars, one becomes quite murderous where they are concerned.
Something to start with that’s edible and easy (at least in summer) is peanuts. Recommend having a go at these for a starter plant in a pot as it’s so easy to grow. It’s a pretty plant too - very decorative and largely free from pests. They are delightfully weird too as the nuts grow on the end of the branches, just underground. And really fresh peanuts are hard to find in shops and absolutely delicious. Get the seed peanuts from Diggers or similar - ordinary supermarket ones are treated with chemicals or roasted and probably won’t germinate. You will only need one or two seeds to start a plant.
That’s a good thought and not something I’d considered. Yeah I get quite a bit of happiness and zen from just being outside, although some bugs and insects really freak me out. I don’t mind most of the things that actually live in the garden and help like worms and such, it’s only really the pesty types and spiders I can’t really deal with. Also bees I never kill but I do have this funny tendency to freeze up if anything with a stinger comes anywhere near me
I didn’t even know you could just grow peanuts honestly. I mean obviously they’re a type of nut so of course you can grow it but I never would’ve thought they’d be easy to grow or even really like our climate. Always associated them with the tropics and jungle type areas for some reason. But yeah, I like peanuts so I might look into giving them a go. Thanks TW!
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Oh
They grow very well in Melbourne over summer. Can’t overwinter them, but who cares. My boys got given seed peanuts in primary school to plant etc so they’re easy enough for primary school kids to grow. Another nice thing is that they are nitrogen fixers - that is, if planted in the garden they actually improve the soil rather than deplete it. They aren’t nuts - just a really really weird bean/legume as @catfish points out.
Ah right. Thanks for the recco
Oh and I forgot to mention. See if there’s a seed library in your area. Sometimes they’re run by the council or a library. You can ‘borrow’ seeds by taking some, planting them and letting some of your plants go to seed to ‘return’ them. Or you can donate remaining unused seeds from a packet that you bought.
Some even have gardening groups or community gardens to help you learn.
(They tend to deal with heirloom seeds though, because those are better for seed saving. If you see anything on a seed packet saying F1, or F2, or F3 then those are hybrids.
Generally with hybrids the results of the first planting will breed ‘true’ and give the best results of the mixed parent genes, but saving the seeds from that and planting again will give you mixed and kind of crappy results.
It’s up to you which you use, both heirlooms and hybrids have their good points, but just something to remember if you want to save the seeds.)
You can also buy kits from shops but they might not be amazing
Edit: This is making me wish Woolies still did those little seed giveaways rather than whatever junk they have now. They’re price gouging so I try to avoid them when possible and not all the plants were cat safe but man… it’s the only time I’ve ever been interested in the giveaways
I’ll chime in. Try container gardening! You can do a few things in pots.
I’m very much an amateur that’s dabbled with simple herbs my entire life but a few years ago I was growing spinach. Because there wasn’t room in the pot to let the plants get full size I harvested the leaves early as baby spinach.
There are guides but basically I put potting mix in a standard window box, mixed in some slow release fertiliser (Osmocote or whatever brand of granules) and planted some of the spinach seeds. Then I kept planting more seeds at intervals so more would keep coming, while gently picking the bigger leaves so the existing plants would keep producing more. (This may not get you a whole big crop but is very good to constantly get a small amount of fresh leaves ie. for a sandwich.)
This is called a few things like continuous sowing, succession planting etc. The plants ended up a little crowded but they really didn’t mind. The roots are shallow so they’re good for containers.
Some things to remember - spinach seeds need darkness to sprout, and then the seedlings need light to thrive. They tend to be a cooler weather crop. Some types are more heat resistant and resistant to bolting (going to seed) but they will bolt fast if they get too hot or dry. Don’t worry, they do that. They’re temporary plants.
Once planted they hate being moved - mix in fertiliser to the soil first before planting or use liquid, or water it in. Then sow seed straight into where you want them. If you don’t use slow release fertiliser they might want a little more when they start growing to a certain stage (was it when they get their second set of leaves?) They’re hungry bois.
Another option is to get a cutting of rosemary, strip the leaves off the bottom half, and sit it in a glass of water until roots appear. You remove the leaves from where the stem sits in water so they don’t go rotten. If you remember to water it you can plant it in an old yogurt pot. Putting it in gradually bigger pots as it outgrows them means the rosemary will get bigger and start to bush out. Pinch off the very tips sometimes so it gets nice and bushy.
If you see mint you can get a sprig and put it in a pot. It goes wild. DO NOT plant it in the ground, even if the roots are in a pot. It grows tendrils above ground and spreads like crazy. Consider a hanging pot even.
Another choice is radishes. They grow incredibly fast.