Günther Unlustig 🍄 @ Guenther_Amanita @slrpnk.net

Peter Lustig's unlustiger verschollener Sohn mit weirden Interessen und Gad

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How does the soil feel? Has it been overly wet in the last days?

Do you fertilize it?

Might be overwatering, (potassium?) deficiency, or heat stress. Probably a mix of those.

Dauert noch, definitiv.

Die hat Mängel. Hast du schon gedüngt? Welches Substrat?

Maybe they can help you on your balcony!

I don't think so, because there are so many that are attracted by other things, such as honeydew.

But I have a Sarracenia out there!

It wasn't really happy until now, but once it acclimatises, it might catch a few ants and maybe wasps?

My nepenthes is indoor only, because I'm afraid I might introduce pests to my other houseplants when I have to bring it indoors over winter.

That’s amazing. Did the buggy get there on its own or did you help?

I had to help a bit 🙃
I put the bug onto the plant itself, but it crawled in there on its own.

My neps are still learning to walk. They've been fed synthetic fertiliser up until now, and they yet have to develop their hunting instincts :D

Definitely take some leaf pullings before! Just in case, if the soap kills the plants, you have a backup and can start growing them again.

I'm in a similar position with my Drosera right now.

What substrate do you use for your pings? If you use peat or other organic media, I think they won't be super happy. They arent bog plants and don't like to be having wet feet constantly afaik

I think I'm gonna print this out as a sticker, thanks! 🤗

Root rot?

Du hast mehrere Möglichkeiten:

Möglichkeit 1: Extraktion

• z.B. mit Alkohol oder Gas (Feuerzeuggas oder Dimethylether)
• Leider illegal
• Du müsstest definitiv wissen, was du da tust. Bei Butangas zum Beispiel hast du ein großes Explosionsrisiko, deswegen lieber nicht machen.

Zweite Möglichkeit: Hasch machen

• zählt nicht als Extraktion, daher legal
• Restrisiko von Teilchen (Beine, Fühler, usw.) bleibt immer noch ein wenig (?), aber sollte definitiv klappen
• Keine Risiken, also sowas wie Lösungsmittelrückstände, kritisches Handling, usw.

Möglichkeit 3: Waschen

• Ich bin ebenfalls kein Fan von Natron und Zitrone. Das sind mir zu viele Chemikalien, die man danach ordentlich abwaschen muss. Und ich bezweifle ebenfalls, dass die Reinigungswirkung ausreicht
• Stattdessen hab ich es mal mit destilliertem Wasser probiert, das ich im Sodastream aufgeblubbelt habe. Hat prima geklappt. Mit einem Tropfen Seife kann man zusätzlich die Oberflächenspannung reduzieren und den Effekt verbessern, falls das nicht ausreicht.

How do you use clay balls?

I made this post a while ago about "Semi-Hydro", a very simple, yet extremely effective technique.

Not sure I understand how the roots are in water yet get aerated?

In S/H and the Kratky method for example, which are both passive, only a part of the roots is submerged, while the rest is only kept moist, but freely in the air. This allows for extreme well gas exchange.

Other techniques often require air stones with pumps and electricity, but even those have their own strengths and weaknesses.

How do you test for nutrient strength?

I do that by measuring the electric conductivity (EC). Fertilizer = salts; more salts = higher EC. The device itself costs less than 20 bucks.

There are charts available for pretty much every type of crop.

You can even notice if a plant will suffer from a deficiency soon, because the EC will then drop, or if it will get nutrient burn when the EC rises to a certain level. That's super useful, especially when growing outdoors, because sometimes the transpiration is much higher than the nutrient demand.

You can even measure the pH, which will tell you a lot about the nutrient absorption and availability.
For example, I noticed the pH drifting upwards when the plant is in bloom, because of the high phosphorus demands.

All of that is pretty much impossible with soil based methods of growing

I think the brand doesn't matter much. They all work fine.

I will make a post about it, so it is easier accessible for others too.

TL;DR what I'll say:

• Expensive isn't much better per se, but there are still some with worse quality than others (unpuffed balls, etc.)
• There's "red" LECA (smoother surface, but more compact) and "grey" LECA (very lightweight, porous and floats). Both have their own (small) pros and cons, but still similar. I just mixed them by now for aesthetic purposes lol
• The size variation matters a lot. Bigger, rounder balls = more air gaps. Also, I've found smaller beads to also be less porous than bigger ones.
• You have to soak it first in pure water when dry. If you use tap water instead, it will soak up the minerals and leach them out over the next weeks and alter the water chemistry, including pH.
  You can reverse this pretty fast by boiling in rain/ distilled water. The pressure from the boiling will drive out the remaining stuff from the pores.
• All in all, aside from the dust and (often) leftover minerals in the beginning, it is totally inert once you've soaked it in pure water at least two times.

Container Wars für Reiche, geil!
Wenn das zu ner Fernsehserie wird, bin ich auf jeden Fall dabei 😁

Nicht, weil es mich interessieren würde, sondern weil ich die Tränen der superreichen Käufer sehen will, die gerade 5 Millionen für einen Klumpen Stein rausgeballert haben, und die Analysen dann zeigen, dass es sich nur um Silikatgestein oder so handelt hahahahaa

I guess the difference is the very controlled and shielded environment of hydroponics vs the open environment of balcony plants in soil?

Hydroponics only means that I don't use soil, only nutrient solution and maybe a medium like clay balls.

Many pests (e.g. fungus gnats, thrips, etc.) are soilborne and can't complete their reproductive cycle in "hostile" media like mine.

Also, I have more control. I can always check the nutrient strength and pH for example in seconds, and then adjust it or flush the media.
That way, I can often see problems arising before they show, which allows for better growth and more robust plants.

And then, the growing conditions are pretty much constantly perfect. I don't have to worry about waterlogged soil for example, because the roots are constantly moist, but still perfectly aerated.
If you did hydro once, you'll understand how much aeration matters, in soil just as much, if not even more!

I wonder if there is one week of the year when they start turning aggressive - I remember leaving their nests alone because they would be peaceful during the spring months, and then at some point in summer I'd get stung.

Is it possible that they are photoperiodic and sense that winter is coming?

I'm a real fan of undesired non-humans, so figuring out how to co-inhabit spaces with wasps, ants, rats, mice etc. without resorting to genocide is one of my favourite topics!

Same! That's why I did this balcony project. Everything around me is dead. Concrete, pesticides, monocultures, and so on.

My grandma visited me a while ago and said that this is one of the most living places she has seen since years.

I even arranged myself with the ants. They were super annoying in the beginning, but now, we respect each others boundaries. They are actually useful by being my personal cleaning crew, who dispose all dead bodies.
My only annoyance is that they've learnt how to exploid the aphids tho...

I made a guide a few weeks ago, here it is

LECA is expanded clay balls. Similar to pumice for example, it has a lot of pores, which draw up water by capillary action. It is constantly moist, but also highly aerated and my hydroponic medium of choice.

I also made a few posts about it, including microscope pictures and explaining the concept of semi-hydro :)

Ich kann dir folgende Seite empfehlen: https://scienceinhydroponics.com/blog

Da gibt es viele Infos zu Additiven, pH, usw.

Dazu bin ich noch zu wenig in der Chemie drin, lese mich aber gerne ein, danke. Von Ammoniak habe ich auch als Möglichkeit gelesen, KOH war mir zu "heftig"(?).

Kannst gerne jederzeit nachfragen. Vielleicht kann ich weiterhelfen, vielleicht aber auch nicht :D

Bei Ammoniak/ Ammonium muss man halt etwas vorsichtig sein, weil das teilweise die Nährstoffaufnahme blockiert.

"Angst" vor Lauge muss man keine haben, solange man nicht mit konzentrierter arbeitet.
Bei konzentrierter auf jeden Fall aufpassen und unbedingt Schutzbrille tragen, das kann beim Auflösen zu kochen anfangen. Am besten im Spülbecken arbeiten.

Auf 5% verdünnt ist es nicht mehr so kritisch. Da würde ich mir bei Rohrreiniger und co. deutlich mehr Sorgen machen 😉

If you want saccharine sweet ego fluffing responses, go prompt an AI. Being earnest and being honest are more important to me.

That's why I made this post. Because maybe I needed some feedback from real people, with hands on experience, who either tried but failed, or did something a bit different and succeeded.

I didn't criticise what you said, it's how you said it.
I'm highly glad for your input, but I personally think that you could have said it a bit more friendly while being just as honest at the same time.

There must be a word in German for this kind of hubris.

Sure, there's always a german word for something :D

Right now, I can think of "Schreibtischexperte" (desktop expert), but maybe "Praxisversager" (a loser in hands-on-experience), or Theorieprofessor.

2 out if the 3 were made up by myself just at the moment, lol.

So what is stable about your current system? Take the moment for some introspection. Is it stable? Or maybe are you assumptions about stability wrong? Are you expecting to permaculture on a balcony garden? Are you expecting too much because you have some misconceptions?

Stable means for me, that there aren't zero pests, but also no overabundance.

I think I may have overreacted a bit yesterday.
I was already pissed about having itchy bugs everywhere on my skin, and then the wasp attack was the final nail in the coffin...

I planted the willow there on purpose, because last year, when I went for a walk, I noticed mainly the willow trees being swarmed by pests.

They act not only as a trellis for me, but also as a bait, so the pests are only sucking the sap of the willow and not the stuff around. And then, they attract predators, which will ward off any critters that might attack my crops.

However, I didn't think about the relationship between the ants and those bastards.

If you have a small area to work with, you are creating the exact kind of environment for the kinds of pest issues you've created by doing exactly what you are doing

You are trying to do too much with too little. Fewer plants and more spacing between them will both result in individually healthier plants and fewer disease issues because the diseases have a harder time moving through the system.

I think you are absolutely right. I think some of the plants are stressed because they are overcrowded, and there isn't sufficient light and airflow.

I tried to experiment this year and see how much I can grow per m².
Even though it sucks right now, I would call this experiment successful.

I think I have learned something: More isn't better.

My balcony will be less crowded next year.

Also, your garden looks cool af! 😁 Thanks for sharing the video!

And again, thank you for all the advice :)

But do you want to fight against nature or reproduce it?

If I want to fight nature, I can pretty much only loose. So, I tried to recreate it a bit to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to give them a small place to live.

Plants will look sickly if I can't arrange containers big enough to contain their roots. Some just don't like the shape of their pot and don't grow no matter what.

For my productive crops, I use !hydroponics@slrpnk.net. Huge yield for the volumes I use

I've never found copper to be effective against slugs. They didn't even mind one bit :D

But do you know what works? Right, my jet flame lighter. Brutal, but effective.

Mir schwebt sowas vor wie etwa bei pH 7.5 alle halbe Stunde kleine Dosen zu geben um den pH langsam auf 5,7 zu senken. Ich glaube, da dürfte sich das Regulieren in Grenzen halten und die Imbalance der Nährstoffe ebenso. Wichtig ist dabei noch zu erwähnen, dass mein pH Down und Up 10%ige Phosphorsäure und 10%ige K2CO3 sind

Vielleicht wäre ein Puffersystem besser?
Du kannst ja z.B. Monokaliumphosphat und KOH (+ Ammoniak?) verwenden.

Von Carbonaten würde ich eher abraten, die werden durch die Belüftung (Gleichgewichtsverschiebung hin zu CO2) ausgetrieben. Dadurch kriegst du crazy Schwankungen meiner Erfahrung nach.

Ein Phosphatpuffer dagegen ist stabiler und auch das, was viele Dünger, inkl. Masterblend, schon eingebaut haben.
Bei mir pendelt sich der pH immer auf 5,7 ein und ist auch bei Zugabe von bisschen Säure oder Lauge recht stabil.

Nach meinem Verständnis der Bioponik werde ich eher weniger Wasserwechsel machen, die Idee ist ja, ein lebendes Ökosystem darin zu haben, das will ich ja nicht wegkippen

Aquaponik beinhaltet meistens Biofiltersysteme mit Zeolith/ LECA/ Keramikpellets, damit sich da Bakterien ansiedeln und ihr Ding tun können.
(Deswegen find ich Semi-Hydro mit Blähton ja so geil).
Mit so wenig aktiver Oberfläche wie bei dir wäre ich vorsichtig, da können die Wurzeln gerne schnell mal ersticken mit dem ganzen Biofilm.

That's why I included the pics of the ladybug larvae. I think most of them are dead by now, because the ants are no joke and kill everything they see.

When I saw them I was super thrilled, but the aphids spread more and more, and I barely see any ladybugs or other beneficial insects around 🥲

I already own a similar product to yours, but I only use it for indoor stuff atm.

My thought was following: I can't fight against nature outside, the pests will always find a way.

So, instead I fight fire with fire and just let nature take its course, so I get a stable balanced system where no pest is overly abundant and where I don't have to intervene.

With "organic" I basically mean I try to reproduce nature. No pesticides, no intervention, healthy living soil, and stuff like that.

Hey. Thanks for taking the time to write all of this.

But I just wanna say that your comment comes off pretty hostile in my eyes. The world is already a shitty place sometimes, and I think some of your statements were just unnecessary provocative tbh.

Regarding why I chose this kind of system: stability.

It's basically impossible to prevent pests outdoors, and I thought that if I just let nature take its course, it will be self regulating and I don't have to intervene.

Second, your "mites" aren't mites, they are aphids. I can't believe I have to explain this to a weed grower.

I also said that I have both. There is lots of white, flaky stuff (probably white flies) and some mites (small webs) as well as the aphids that are more prominently pictured.

Also, why should I be a more competent gardener only because I grow weed?
I find it basically impossible to kill this stuff. I find melons and chilis way harder tbh.

I already have lots of knowledge, but I lack a bit behind in terms of experience. I find zero shame in that, and maybe others face the same problem right now, but are afraid to ask because of rude comments like yours 😬