My brother this summer gave me 2 plants, I just harvested them now, I tried some and they are VERY spicy, mind that I use spicy stuff a lot but those are very very spicy, i should try without the seeds and see how they are.
I wanted to make some spicy oil but what can I do with all those jalapeños?
I need ideas! Thanks guys !!

Let me start this post by saying I am new to gardening, so my beef with this brand could be completely unwarranted, idk, but it feels valid to me. It has been irritating me for months, so today I decided to be petty about it.

Okay, let’s get into the tea. I started gardening about 3 months ago, and this “Back to the Roots Premium Potting Mix” was on sale at my local At Home Store for $6.99 per bag PLUS buy-one-get-one free. So, I got six 12qt bags.

Now, obviously I don't know much about soil, but I have been EXTREMELY displeased with the quality of this. It popped up as the first, second, AND third result when I searched for “soil for vegetable seedlings.”

It is marketed as “premium” potting mix that's “all purpose” and “great for herbs, veggies, fruit, and flowers.” The bag even says “grows bigger plants!” but the only thing it has grown consistently is my blood pressure.

Yeah, I'm aware of the fungus gnat issue (and yeah, it's insane), but let's just set that aside for now. I'm focused on the composition of the mix. Originally, I just put my plants right into it, which were bell peppers, celery, brussel sprouts, lettuce, jalapenos, habaneros, mini sweet peppers, poblanos, sage, basil, mint, rosemary, and thyme….and they were all on their deathbed after a few weeks. I finally figured out why they tried to die was because of the immense amount of wood in the mix that was watterlogging and causing rot, mold, and stagnation.

So, everytime I needed more soil, I would have to sit and sift through it for an hour or so to get the wood out. After the wood was removed (or most of it, at least) and I repotted my plants into the sifted soil, they thrived. I did this for the past 3 months and dear lord it was frustrating, but I didn't have the money for more mix (and don't like to be wasteful) so I just had to deal with it.

Well. Today I finished my calculus final so I have a week off of school, I had no work scheduled, and I quite literally had nothing better to do….So, I took the last bag of potting mix and sifted it. Twice for good measure. For 10 hours. Below you can see the result from one whole 12qt bag, which is about 15% soil (and even though I sifted it as fine as possible it's STILL mostly tiny wood pieces) versus 85% wood chunks. Let's talk about it.

Do we think it's fair for them to call this “premium potting mix” when it's more like a glorified mulch?

Has anyone used this brand and NOT had the majority of the mix just be wood? Did I just get an unfortunate batch? I did buy one smaller bag (6qt, I think) from Walmart, and while I didn't get petty and measure it, it was extremely woody as well. I noticed that the small Walmart bag also had tons of food chunks, while the big bags from At Home barely had any.

Why do they say it's “all purpose” when I cannot think of many plants (especially vegetables) that thrive on a 15:85 dirt:wood ratio? I know my plants struggled more because they're young, but STILL, I feel like even mature adult plants would struggle in mostly mulch with very little dirt.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the results! Not going to win any beauty contests, but the taste great.

Might wait till a plant i got is of size to fill it, but wondering if anyone could recommend something i could plant small to grow into the pot without worry.

EDIT: I live in Los Angeles so that kinda climate.

For those who have not seen saffron flowers here. Here are some pictures for you. 🌸

Location: Pampore Kashmir

In the 1500s, Spanish Christian missionaries believed the flower’s intricate parts symbolized elements of the crucifixion of Jesus: its frilly crown represented the crown of thorns, its three stigmas represented the nails, and its five anthers represented the wounds. Nature really went all out with the details!

Hi just wanted to know if i should remove them or leave them

Big Beef variety seem to do best later in the season for me.

Getting into late October Gardening is wrapping up in my area enjoying what still is coming from the garden .

I saved some black Cherokee tomato seeds successfully. Then decided to do another batch, to share.

So. The conundrum. This batch sprouted. I didn't do anything differently 😭

I have a large garden bag I can bring in. I could use a trash bag, rolled down as a tray.

I have these 6 spaced seed starting trays.

Do I, A: plant them and keep a most vigorous for overwinter tomatoes (I've got excellent light.)

Or B: do this but also got nextdoor to ask if anyone wants to do the same?

I'm leaning towards B, but that's a lot more work...

This is the seed stock (only this breed around, I know because I have all our neighbors starts) that have me monsters. Even a conjoined.

In Bay Area (9b/10a) California, my zinnias are at their peak right now! Hoping they will last until December.

Bought a house knowingly that the dude before us had the dumbest idea of planting an entire mint garden. It’s spreading all over and I want to get rid of it. What’re my options?

Fall blooming hibiscus.

Last year was my first year growing elephant ears. When I dug them up, I was surprised that I did not have a bulb anymore like I planted. I thought I could plant the piece again but I think it dried out too much over the winter.

This is an elephant ear from this year I dug up today. Is it in a condition that it can be used next year? Any tips for storing? I have a few more to dig up.