HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: klloyd@convex.com (Ken Lloyd)
Subject: Leafs deformed?
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 19:06:33 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

Recently some  of my houseplants have started to
show intermittent deformity in the leaves. Some
start to curl at the tips, some make a complete
90 degree turn on the horizontal axis. Some just
curl completely up like, for a lack of a better
description, like a child's craft project where
a strip of paper is curled by scraping scissors
down one side only. I had a water analysis sent
to me and the water was very hard so I started
using distilled water. I have used the standard
garden variety of plant food (rapid gro, miracle
grow). That didn't seem to help. I have even
tried a complete nutrient answer (hydroponic mixes)
. I recently had a serious power problem and the
light company said I had a bad arcing problem
on the pole which was causing very short light
bulb life and voltages spikes to 146.8 Vac inside
the  house. I was thinking that maybe UV was being
generated by a type of spark gap situation outside.
The problem doesn't seem to be any better though.
The plants seem healthy enough aside from this,
bright green and healthy turgid leaves. Any suggestions
would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken Lloyd


Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: nrlfs1.nrl.navy.mil (Judy Karpen)
Subject: Re: Q: dwarf pomegranate, curry leaf plant
Organization: NRL
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 23:57:36 GMT

> Where are you?  On the San Francisco Peninsula, we have dwarf
> pomegranates planted outdoors.  They are deciduous, but the little
> pomegranates stay on the brown twigs like Christmas ornaments.  I've
> never tried growing one as a house plant, so can't help any further
> there.  If you have a mild climate, you might try leaving it outside
> except on very cold nights (well below freezing).  Our bushes take
> cold down to 20 degrees F right in stride.
> 
Thanks, Kathleen --- I live in Maryland (between DC and B'more). 
I've seen a dwarf pom planted outdoors (but espaliered on a south-
facing wall) in Annapolis, which is a somewhat warmer microclime 
than my town, so it probably would live outside if I had the space
to put it in the ground. Unfortunately it's stuck in a pot, so it's not as
freeze-proof as it would be if planted. Now that I know it's supposed
to be deciduous, though, I feel ALOT better. BTW, are the fruits
edible? Should it be watered at all in winter?

Judy Karpen
karpen@nrlfs1.nrl.navy.mil
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: re: Meal moths (was fungus gnats)
Date: 18 Nov 92 13:05:53 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1992Nov16.070245.9705@fs7.ece.cmu.edu>, snyder@henry.ece.cmu.edu (John Snyder) writes:
>>	While I have your attention, I was infested with these little
>>unassuming brown moths in my garage, I put out the bug zapper to try to
>>catch them, but they where not attracted to it. I didn't think to much
>>about it until these small white catapillar or larva started to appear. They
>>have infested my chicken feed. The scrath is their favorite. I go into the
>>garage every night and turn on the light and catch anywhere from 20 to 40
>>crawling on the trash cans used for feed storage. 
...
> 
> I'm no insect expert, but they sound like grain moths to me.  I used to get
> them in flours and grain products that I kept in my kitchen back when I
> kept stuff bought in bulk in plastic bags or paper bags, 
...

Sounds like Indian meal moths to me, too.  Consider them extra protein.
After all, free-range chickens eat LOTS of bugs and worms and other 
stuff we humans go 'yuck' about.

As for control of meal moths in the house, the best and safest control I
know of is to put infested items in the freezer for a couple of days, 
let them thaw for a week or so (so eggs will hatch), then freeze again
for a couple of days.

After that, you can sieve the food if you wish-- or just shut your eyes and
pretend you're camping.

Kay
From: N.W.R.Ayres@bradford.ac.uk (NWR AYRES)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Troy-Bilt vs. Mantis
Date: 19 Nov 92 13:51:32 GMT
Organization: University of Bradford, UK
Originator: x10189@muser
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Rusty DeShazo (rdeshazo@b23b.ingr.com) wrote:
: Does any one have any experience with the Troy-Bilt Tuffy?  The bottom of the
: line 3-hp tiller.
: 
: My garden consists of five hand dug 4' X 20' raised beds, which will be 
: expanded to twice that size this winter. Basically, I am looking for a
: tiller that can turn my beds once or twice a year.
: 
: My questions are:
: 
: 1.  Could the Mantis tiller handle the job?  It is about $170 cheaper than
:     the Troy-Bilt.
: 
: 2.  Would I do as well to keep turning the beds by hand and put my money in
:     the bank?  
: 
: 
: -- 
Given that you have raised beds, you shouldn't need to turn your soil. It may
be a waste of money buying a tiller. Have you considered no-dig cultivation
where you put your compost into the top few inches of your bed every year and 
let the worms do the rest. Deep digging just keeps the weed seeds coming, very
good if you want to preserve wild plants but otherwise a pain in the neck. It
also destroys worm holes which are good for drainage. I would recommend the
very high tech solution of a hoe. Its good exercise, non-noise polluting, and 
preserves the soil structure better. It is also better given limited amounts
of compost. Spreading compost thinly reduces its effectiveness. Concentrating
it in the top few inches improves the soil no end. _perfection comes not when
you can't add any more, but when you cannot take away any more_.

All the best

Nick:
From: Ecology Center <ecologycntr@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: 19 Nov 92 09:07 PST
Subject: Re: Horrible Plants
Nf-ID: #R:1992Nov13.210345.18149@cbfsb.cb.:-172042732:cdp:1453300100:000:166
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!ecologycntr    Nov 19 09:07:00 1992


kay sez:
      "...itch-inducing plants like Fremontia..."

ya ain't lived until a client asks you to prune her 3-story Fremontodendron...
from the inside. :P

chris
From: psmith@alfred.carleton.ca (Peter Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: indoor orange
Date: 16 Nov 92 15:10:32 GMT
Organization: Carleton University

I bought a "citrus trio" from a mail order company, and,
unfortunately, the instructions accompanying the delivered trees were
limited.

The trio consisted of a lime, organge and lemon tree.  I kept the
orange and gave the other two away.  All are doing fine, but I'm
curious about a couple of items related to the orange tree:

How big do indoor dwarfs typically get? (this is an edible fruit type
of unknown name.  6" high when I got it; about 18" 6 months later)

It is in a 6" pot, as recommended, but there is no mention of moving
it to a larger pot at some time in the future.  Is there a size at
which this should be done?

Any idea how many years until fruit bearing?  Any other tips for
growing?

I got these trees out of curiosity, but my interest was greatly
heightened upon hearing the results of a friend's indoor dwarf lemon
tree.

All comments appreciated.
From: roberson@eos.ncsu.edu (JAMES D ROBERSON)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 18 Nov 92 23:12:20 GMT
Reply-To: roberson@eos.ncsu.edu (JAMES D ROBERSON)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Originator: roberson@water1.bae.ncsu.edu


In article <1992Nov18.004159.15641@intellistor.com> pyle@intellistor.com
(Norm Pyle) writes:
|>I don't buy the argument either.  Many areas are being overplanted,
|>changing the environment for the worse (higher humidity in Arizona
|>and Colorado is not what Mother Nature intended).  If everyone buys
|>and plants another evergreen every year, well, I prefer to keep
|>recycling them from the tree farm.  This way there is a fixed number
|>rather than an ever increasing number.

You're joking about the fixed number, right?  The east coast was once
(and in many areas still is) thick with evergreen trees.


|>Go ahead, just don't think you're doing anything better than the
|>person who uses a tree cut from a farm and recycles it.  Think about it.

The farm where I dig my tree each year replants the spot where each tree
has been dug up, so I have increased the tree population which should
help the air quality a tiny amount and improves the 14 acres of former
tobacco field I plant with the trees.  I feel that a live tree is the way
to go if one has a place to plant afterwards.

jim
From: patmcg@home.merit.edu (Pat McGregor)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Troy-Bilt vs. Mantis
Date: 18 Nov 92 17:12:43 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan
NNTP-Posting-Host: home.merit.edu
Keywords: tiller

rdeshazo@b23b.ingr.com (Rusty DeShazo) writes:

>Does any one have any experience with the Troy-Bilt Tuffy?  The bottom of the
>line 3-hp tiller.

>My garden consists of five hand dug 4' X 20' raised beds, which will be 
>expanded to twice that size this winter. Basically, I am looking for a
>tiller that can turn my beds once or twice a year.

>My questions are:

>1.  Could the Mantis tiller handle the job?  It is about $170 cheaper than
>    the Troy-Bilt.
 
I have a mantis, which I like a lot for (small-to-mediumish) jobs. 
I have very happily chewed up grass and made beds down to about 8-9 inches
deep with it. It works the best of any tiller I've ever used at kicking
rocks up out of the bed (and we live 1/2 mile from a glacial gravel
quarry, so rocks are a big thing for me). I hate the two-stroke engine
starting problems, but am willing to live with it.
 
If you're only going to use one once or twice a year, you might consider
going in on a tiller with someone else, to get more use out of it.


 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
         Pat McGregor
        3638 Greenook Blvd
        Ann Arbor, MI 48103-9143
       patmcg@merit.edu     
       smor@um.cc.umich.edu                   (313) 426-3506
       UserW02V@umichum.bitnet
From: louiset@informix.com (Louise Twiggs)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 20 Nov 92 09:08:18 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

In article <1992Nov20.004323.12306@fs7.ece.cmu.edu> snyder@henry.ece.cmu.edu (John Snyder) writes:
>In article <3350@voodoo.UUCP> mnb@voodoo.boeing.com (Mike Burr) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov17.190036.17126@infonode.ingr.com> jimreed@b23b.b23b.ingr.com writes:
>>>
>>>Actually, if there was no demand, it would not have been planted in the
>>>first place.  The vast majority of Christmas trees purchased in the U.S.
>>>are grown on Christmas Tree Farms, not harvested from "the wild".
>>>
>>
>>This is generally true, but I'd like to add a few counter points...
>>not to spoil anybodys Christmas you understand - just some food for
>>thought.
>>
>>A.  In some cases the land the tree farms are on wouldn't have been
>>    cleared in the first place.  And in general basic farming practices
>>    are in effect on xmas tree farms - ie. "Kill everything that could
>>    harm the crop with pesticides, etc."  So I'm not convienced that
>>    xmas tree farms are a net benifit to the environment.
>>
>
>One can just as easily argue that Christmas-tree growing preserves
>already-cleared farmland that otherwise would be sold for use
>as housing developments or shopping malls.  I'll wager that
>many more Christmas trees are grown on existing farms than
>are grown on freshly-cleared land.  
>
>As to "general basic farming practices", the same can be said for 
>broccoli-growing.  Seriously, if you have a problem with growing
>a crop for decoration instead of food, consider these:
>
>1)  Do you wear natural-fiber clothing?  What about all that
>farmland devoted to cotton agriculture?  All that rangeland
>over-grazed by sheep?  All those dead silkworms?
>
>2)  Do you wear leather shoes?  Again, what about all that
>over-grazed rangeland turning to desert?  And all those dead cattle?
>
>3)  Do you use paper decorations?  Paper napkins?  Paper Kleenexes?
>I believe that a sizeable number of wild forest trees are cut for paper.
>
>[...some stuff deleted...]
>
>
>John
>snyder@henry.ece.cmu.edu


Do you eat in fast food 'burger' joints?  etc etc
From: jhb@calmasd.prime.com (Jim Bishop)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: The Ailanthus Tree
Date: 21 Nov 92 05:35:42 GMT
Organization: -

In article <1992Nov20.080559.715@ab.wvnet.edu>, 
del_col@ab.wvnet.edu writes:
> Ailanthus altissima  (AKA Tree of Heaven) is a fast growing, weedy tree that
> was brought to the U.S.  in the 19th century by a people who thought that
> the U.S. could develop a native silk industry based on the Ailanthus moth and 
> the ailanthus tree....

The county dumps mulch in the barren parts of the junior high property
at the end of my street.  A lot of it is barren because the kids
pulled out most of the sprinkler system.  The mulch smells mostly of
eucs and can get pretty hot before they spread it out.  Anyway trees
are sprouting in parts of the mulch and I think they may be ailanthus.
Is this tree so awful that I should I pull them out before they get
too well established?  Can it even survive on 9 inches or so of rain a
year?

Jim
From: tracy@apollo.HP.COM (Tracy Hoover)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Ethics in gardening (was Re: Domestication of poison ivy)
Date: 17 Nov 92 14:07:59 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Chelmsford, MA

Michael Pollan, in his book "Second Nature" discusses these issues
extensively.  He gets repetitive at times, but I highly recommend the
book anyway.  There are some amusing anecdotes about our fascination with
lawns and order.
-- 
========
Being called a poetess brings out the terroristress in me. --Audre Lorde
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: mjr@hpcvcba.cv.hp.com (Mark Reed)
Subject: My potatoes are sprouting nicely
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 23:34:07 GMT

 I've been through my various gardening books and haven't found an answer
 so I'm appealing to the collective wisdom out there...

 I planted potatoes this year.  We had an unusually warm summer and the
 plants all died back fairly early.  I left the potatoes in the ground 
 and have been digging them up as needed.  Now that we've had some rain,
 the silly things are sprouting.  I've got some plants a foot tall.

 Now what?  We'll probably have freezing weather, and maybe a good
 snowfall or two here in western Oregon.  Should I dig them all up?
 Cover them with leaves?  Put up a plastic cloche?  Sell my house and
 move?

 Many thanks for any help you can offer!
__________________________

 Mark Reed  mjr@cv.hp.com
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 18 Nov 92 14:32:00 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1edd5iINNebq@cat.cis.Brown.EDU>, GE777009@brownvm.brown.edu (Jennifer Cole-Steele) writes:
> As far as I know, Providence does not have a christmas tree recycling
> program. Its hard enough just to keep people recycling newspaper
> and beer cans.  I do know, however, that the LAST thing this city
> needs is more crap on the sidewalk to be picked up and dumped in
> the landfill.

re: beer cans needing to be recycled:  You might start pushing for a 
bottle and can deposit bill.  We put one in here in the 1970's as
an anti-litter measure, and it was supposed to be the death of retail
grocery sales of bottled and canned beverages.... Of course it wasn't,
and I can tell when I cross the state line from Iowa into one of the
adjacent states w/o a bottle bill-- the ditches are full of discards.

re: Christmas trees:  A few years ago, friends wanted an indoor tree,
but had no place to plant a balled and burlapped specimen, and no
money for one either.  Around here, Juniperus virginiana (aka
red cedar and expletive deleted tree) is a weed, growing in prairie
areas and roadside ditches.  So they called the local nature conservancy
and volunteered for a little tree-removal work on the latest prairie
acquisition... and wound up with a choice of about 5  5-10 ft trees
for the price of about 15 minutes work with a bucksaw. ;-)
(yes, they did clear all the trees they were requested to-- and
strung some fence, besides. 8-)  )

In years since, they've also gotten their trees by calling the county
engineers' office, and asking if there are ditches slated to have
tree removal in the next year or so.   Saves everyone money, and the
trees were going to have to be removed anyhow.

I used to have a norfolk island pine I used for a christmas tree 
(until the furnace went out in -20oF weather)-- only problem with 
that was the ornaments had to be VERY lightweight.  Still, I think
the prettiest tree I had was the year I made ornaments by gluing
thread loops to used #2 plastic coverslips-- it really shimmered.

Now I tend to just enjoy other people's trees.  I'm not home enough
to appreciate them, and the cats appreciate christmas trees all too
well!  ;-)

Kay

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: dvarney@polaris.cv.nrao.edu (Doug Varney)
Subject: dahlia propagation
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Distribution: rec.gargens
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 17:49:48 GMT

Does anyone know how to split dahlias after digging them up ?

Please e-mail to dvarney@nrao.edu
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: als@linus.mitre.org (Alice Schafer)
Subject: lady slipper seeds
Organization: Research Computer Facility, The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA
Distribution: rec
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 17:27:55 GMT

I live 25 miles west of boston with piney woods with pink ladyslippers
scattered here and there.  For the first time, I noticed that one of
them has a seed pod! 
	Can I just scatter this seed or is there a good technique for
helping them to take hold?
	Also, I just missed the discussion of lady slippers on this
net that occurred months ago.  Does anyone have a copy they could
email (to als@mitre.org) or is there an anchive of it that I can ftp
from? 
Thanks,
--
Alice Schafer                           email to: als@mitre.org
MITRE Corp.                             tel: (617) 271-8485
202 Burlington Road, Bedford, MA 01730  fax: (617) 271-7722
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: The Ailanthus Tree
From: del_col@ab.wvnet.edu
Date: 20 Nov 92 08:05:58 -0500
Organization: Alderson-Broaddus College

Ailanthus altissima  (AKA Tree of Heaven) is a fast growing, weedy tree that
was brought to the U.S.  in the 19th century by a people who thought that
the U.S. could develop a native silk industry based on the Ailanthus moth and 
the ailanthus tree.  The project failed, but the tree survived.  It grows
very quickly, crowding out native plants.  It is a brittle, easily damaged
tree whose wood is essentially worthless.  When limbs or twigs are broken off,
the broken wood produces a foul odor(the tree has another common name with the
word "stinking" in it, but I can't remember what it is--it is not Stinking
Cedar--that's a Torreya(sp?) species.  Ailanthus was also planted in Eastern
cities, and it is immune to most pollution, etc., but it is an untidy, short-
lived nuisance.  It is also, BTW, the tree referred to in the book, A Tree Grows
in Brooklyn.

J. Del Col
From: palepink@lily.arts.com (Suzii Abe)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Bonsai, Greenhouses, You-Name-It
Date: 20 Nov 92 07:42:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: lily.ZX2iuB5w165w


Having designed a few bonsai in my time--I can't imagine that
very many are poisonous.  Maybe poisonous if you eat large
quantities of them, but not likely to cause nasty reactions
when you touch them.

"Bonsai" is not a species.  (Nor is it a genus...)

"Bonsai plants are poisonous" makes as much sense as
"Potted plants are poisonous".

--------

I went out to the Sturdi-Built greenhouse people today.  Turns
out a large proportion of the pictures in the Ortho Greenhouse Book
are from the Sturdi-Built catalogs.

These are redwood construction, with all sorts of options for
glazing, ventilation, shelving, etc., and *Beautiful*.

Has anyone has experience with them?

--Suzii.
palepink@lily.arts.com
From: Stefan.M.Gorsch@dartmouth.edu (Stefan M. Gorsch)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Ashes to Ashes?
Date: 23 Nov 92 20:02:37 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu


     OK, I'm an amateur gardener and I hate to see things go to waste.
Here in northern New England we generate mega-quantities of wood-stove
ashes. Are these of any horticultural value? Can I mix them with manure
and spread them in Spring or am I better off letting them rest in
hidden corners of my woods?

    Please email as I don't regularly subscribe to this board. Thanks,


stefan.m.gorsch@dartmouth.edu
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: mcacc@ptdcs2.intel.com (Mark Cacciacarro ~)
Subject: Re: fungus gnats
Organization: Intel Corporation -- Aloha, Oregon
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1992 14:27:09 GMT

In article <1992Nov13.135723.117@janus.arc.ab.ca> thacker@RHEA.ARC.AB.CA writes:
>Sorry, let me try that again.
>
>
>I did once try a chemical control on gnats.  I had just repotted
>a large plant in a peat-rich potting soil, which the fungus gnats
>*loved*, and the infestation was too great to ignore.  I drenched
>the soil with a malathion solution thoroughly.  This controlled
>the gnats almost immediately, and the effect persisted for many
>months.  Problem was, every time I watered the plants for the 
>next 6 months I got a hideous chemical smell that filled the 
>living room for several hours.  I think everything in the soil
>must have been so sterilized that there weren't any microbes
>left to break down the malathion.  Wouldn't ever do that again.
>
>Avoid peaty soils and learn to accept a few gnats.

I don't know if this is only for carnivirous plant control of fungus gnats,
since I just came on to this, but there is a product called Gnatrol that I
used with great success. It is a selected strain of BT, Bt/H-14 according to
the catalog. You use a 3 week soil drenching cycle since the life cycle of
the fungus gnat is 3 weeks. The larva feed on plant roots so I believe
control starts with the larva stage ingesting it and dying off. So this will
not have any affect on the adults, but they only live about 7 days. If they
are really heavy, they are attracted to yellow sticky traps. Horizontal
placement seems to catch more than verticle. Don't know why, but the catalog
suggested it and it worked. Costs $10 per pint and you use 2-8 tsp./gal.
Available from Gardens Alive!  5100 schenley Place, Lawrenceburg, In. 47025.
812-537-8650.

	While I have your attention, I was infested with these little
unassuming brown moths in my garage, I put out the bug zapper to try to
catch them, but they where not attracted to it. I didn't think to much
about it until these small white catapillar or larva started to appear. They
have infested my chicken feed. The scrath is their favorite. I go into the
garage every night and turn on the light and catch anywhere from 20 to 40
crawling on the trash cans used for feed storage. The scratch can does not
seal, the Egg Maker can seals so it isn't to bad. Are these grain moths?
Any one got a guesse? I was reluctant to put BT on the chicken food.
Any suggestions?

			Mark Cacc.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens