Friday, June 1, 2018: Marimo Moss Balls, Cactus Flower, Cabbage

Another hot day with clear skies. Yesterday I noticed that I might get as many as five flowers on the prickly pear cactus on the east side of the pond.

Today, the first one opened up. They don't last long, but they are very pretty while they last.

Our east neighbor sent me a text yesterday saying that someone had given them a red and green cabbage plant. They are leaving town for awhile and he wondered if I wanted to plant them in our raised bed. I said "of course"! When it cools off a bit later today, I will probably put them in the west raised bed between the kale and the basil. I need to get and plant some marigolds around the perimeter of the bed in a naive attempt to try to keep the rabbits away.

Green and red cabbage

 While planting the cabbage, I noticed a neat row of something on the other side of the drip hose from the basil. I originally thought it might be the Swiss Chard I sowed. Then I also thought it might be the beets I thought I had planted somewhere else. Either way, something is growing in a nice straight line...could be well trained weeds.

Chard, beets or weeds?

I noticed a couple of days ago that I no longer seemed to have any Marimo in the pond. Marimo (毬藻 in Japanese translates literally as "ball seaweed") moss balls are little squishy balls of algae that look a lot like moss, hence the name. In the wild, they roll along the bottoms of rivers, giving them their round shape. They are also viewed as charms in Japan, and even treated as pets. With proper care, Marimo . Benefits (attributes) of the moss balls include:

• they act like little filters, sucking up debris and small amounts of ammonia and phosphates
• they suck up CO₂ and release oxygen into the water
• by sucking up the same nutrients as undesirable algae, they deprive invasive algae of those nutrients
• they harbor significant amounts of beneficial bacteria
• they are essentially maintenance free
• they are almost impossible to kill (chlorine will do it)
• they can survive for over a century (unless eaten)
• they grow very slowly, only 3/16" (5 mm) / year
• they do not reproduce
• goldfish find them tasty
• they do not produce dead matter
• critters can use this ball of algae as a smorgasbord, a comfy hiding place, or a means of entertainment

I put 5-10 balls in the pond back in the Spring of 2016 primarily as a secondary source of food for the gold fish while we were on our trips. Well, the fish must have enjoyed them as they are no longer around. I bought some more on-line and they were delivered today. These are "B" grade balls which may be slightly misshapen and may have minor flaws in appearance, but for our pond, they are perfect.

After conditioning them according to the instructions, I put them in the pond. There are 17 balls of various sizes. I'll probably have to dig them out of the skimmer a few times before they hydrate completely and sink to the bottom of the pond.

Marimo Moss Balls

Tuesday, May 29, 2018: Okra Saga Continues

The okra plant I took to the garden a week or so ago continues to look healthy. This plant was started inside on January 26 from seed I harvested last Autumn. When I started them, I put a couple of seeds in a 4" pot and also seeds in six sections of peat pot. The one plant I took outside a week ago was from the 4" pot. I repeatedly got seeds in the peat pot to sprout, but they never did much after that. I replanted seeds in the peat pots several times but they never did much.

Progress of okra seeds on March 20

Okra on April 5

Okra transplanted to garden on May 22

I wanted to have three plants again this year. With one in the garden and only one of the many I had planted in the peat pots showing any signs of progress, last week I decided to start some more inside. This time I put three seeds in a larger (4") pot. To my amazement, the seeds in the plastic pot sprouted within just a few days.

Okra on left on May 26

All of this got me to wondering if the problem could be the peat pots. Today, I transferred the one plant still alive in the peat pot to a 6" pot. I left the plant in the peat pot, but tore out the bottom of the peat pot. Considering the growth rate of the plants in the other pot, if the peat potted plant does not take off in a few days, I may cut out the remnants of the peat pot to see if the peat itself is the problem.

Pot on the right has the bottomless peat pot still in it

Monday, May 28, 2018: Asiatic Lilies

The lilies are blooming!