Are moonflowers dangerous to animals?
ljlj818
19 years ago
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merriss
19 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (55)Riverspots, it was a surprise to see my old post return. I agree with everything you have said, but I understand that many good friends on this site have far different opinions, and I do respect those opinions. As I respond a year later, I realize that most of us take care of our own animals, and I should have noticed that those beautiful hydrangeas were coming through the slats of the fence, and should have not thought it was cute that the dogs would grab the orchid buds that fell. I cannot understand why cat owners feel that is is acceptable to allow their cats to roam at night. Lou M, did you know that vitamins are not regulated, and Vitamin D and A can hurt us? I have also heard that you cannot overdose with the D from the sun, but I overdosed on the pills. I told my doctor that I was only taking a little more than 2,000 IU, and he said that for all I knew I was taking 20,000. I used a name brand from a good store, but he said they were not regulated and I had all the signs of an overdose. AFter stopping the D for a week or so, the symptoms went away. We all know that excessive A is dangerous. Berndoodle, thanks. I allow the use of chemicals for termites. That is really necessary in our area. I also use DEET. Why do you dislike it so much? I always wear short sleeves, and crop pants, so I only spray a couple of areas. Your tick area is over the top isn't it? Our lot is on the larger size for a suburb, but we don't own farm property, and I can imagine that it would be overwhelming to try to control ticks on acreage. huttnem, one neighbor at a time! Little by little if people are aware of what they are using, and if they are aware that the FDA does not control nearly what we think they control, we will greatly reduce the harm to our neighborhoods. We need to encourage others to only spray where it is needed. To coat the yard with a dangerous chemical to stop snails is downright silly. Hi Patricia. Our dogs have their own yard, and also have the use of much of the house. Unfortunately they feel that they have a right to eat anything in their yard or our kitchen. We spill cheese, it's theirs. Thinking like a human, a spilled orchid became his, and either that or the hydrangea that spilled over to their yard made my dog very sick. We have doubled the length of the dogs' yard, and will not be bringing flowers inside now except for roses. My dogs never try to touch any vegetation when we walk them, and they ignore my roses. I need to think more like a dog to protect my dogs. ha ha ha I understand what Patricia was saying about her grandmother, but we live such a different life than our grandparents. My dogs are golden retrievers, but their life is not one where they can run in the fields, and burn their food like maybe nature intended. They can tend to overeat, and put on weight. Therefore, we control the food they get. Instead of digesting a bird or rabbit that might have fiber (ick), they digest dog food that is very expensive, and has the nutrients that the dog food company says they need. Mine would always like more, but the Vet says I am extending their lives by limiting their food intake, and keeping them slim. For this reason my dogs will tend to eat almost anything -- they don't have the instinct that a dog on a farm might have because we always take care of them. Thank you all for your replies. Sammy...See MoreTrouble Germinating Moonflowers
Comments (9)I'm not at all familiar with your region; I hope it isn't too late to try again. I'll share my experience with you in detail, in case some part of it helps. This year was my first attempt at Moonflowers and I, too, planted seed. My first batch of seedlings was destroyed by animals, so I had to do this twice. Either "nicking" (you won't believe what I did the first time, so I won't go into it here...) or sanding a small spot on each seed (with a nail file or sand paper) will allow water to more easily penetrate their tough seed coats. After the scarifying, soaking them for 24-48 hours really gave mine a boost toward germination. (I put the scarred seeds into a dark vitamin bottle then filled it with slightly warm water.) After they soaked -- some were starting to sprout already -- I planted them 1/2" deep in peat pellets in a Jiffy brand mini-greenhouse. That felt a little funny, since the peat pellets are only about an inch and a half to two inches tall, fully expanded. The seeds are so large, I was wondering where on earth the root could go. I followed the Jiffy instructions as to when to prop open, then later remove, the cover. Since it was already hot here (early July) I put them outside really early so they could grow in natural temperatures and I let them grow in the pellets until they were about 10" tall. My first planting of about 80 seedlings were all destroyed except for 6 test plants which were older and 5 - 6" tall when I set all of them out. The larger the plant, the better its survival chances, so I let batch number two get gigantic. At least for peat pellets. The package said they prefer poor soil, so I added very little in the way of soil amendments: just a little bit of Miracle Gro potting soil mixed with existing soil. I put down and still keep a light layer of cayenne and crushed red pepper on the ground around them to discourage squirrels, but of this second batch, I've only lost one plant. These were Burpee seeds: Moonflower, Giant White, Calonyction. My original 6 test plants were Ferry Morse. Of the orginal 6, 4 survived the animal attack. Of the second batch -- 41 plants (in the ground) -- I only lost one. I have a dozen more back up plants in 6" pots in case any more on the fence line die. I had a germination rate of about 90-95% in the Jiffy tray using the above steps. If there are any of the above things listed that you didn't do, you might want to try again and include those things. The place I worried most was concerning water for seedlings. I was really afraid I'd blow it there. Too little, too much. I was so glad when I could finally get them out of the peat pellets and into the ground! My plants went in the ground July 14 and some are now about 1 1/2 feet tall, twining up the chain link fence. I have friends in my region who say they have successfully just tossed the seeds in the ground without any of the above; some who say they just soak and plant; none that went the indoor/outdoor route plus scarifying/soaking like I did, but I'm a stickler for package directions and a newbie to boot. At least all my plants pretty much came up. Hope there's something here you can use and that you haven't given up on trying them this year. Good luck!...See MoreVery Extreme Fire Danger on Sunday
Comments (3)Taira, You're welcome. I think it is so very important to be aware of fire. In 2006, the tiny town of Ringgold, TX, which is across the Red River from the western end of Love County, burned in 15 minutes as wind-driven wildfire just roared through the town. At our house in southcentral OK, the smoke from the Ringgold fire blocked out the sun. Listening on the fire radio was horrifying. Our son's college roommate at the time was from Ringgold and his family lost a house and vehicles and all kinds of personal stuff. (The house they lived in was saved, but an older house on the property burned.) It was an eye-opening experience for me because prior to that I didn't really understand how much harder wind-driven wildfires are to fight. I try to post warnings here for everyone who is at risk because a lot of us come here to talk gardening and may not realize fire is brewing a few miles away. Tigerdawn, I am just an amateur at understanding weather, but I understand enough to know when to be scared. (Also, enough to know when to be cautious!) As gardeners, the more we understand the weather, the better we can plan our gardens and cope with whatever the weather throws at us. Here in Oklahoma, the weather throws everything but the kitchen sink at us....and in tornadoes, I guess we could say the kitchen sink could go flying too. Tornadoes and severe windstorms are scarey. However, the most scared I've ever been in my life was when we were out working the April 9, 2009, wildfires. I've never seen fire move like that in my life, and the smoke was unreal. All our county's emergency personnel worked like maniacs to save property and lives and it was a horrendous ordeal for everyone involved. That day and night made such a deep impression on me and made me much more fire-aware than I previously was....and I'd worked fires for years with our VFD. There is fire and then there is FIRE, and y'all know which one we get in high wind/drought. On a side note, I always tell my spouse that if fire hits here, I hope it burns up the house and not the garden. Hey, the house is insured, but the garden isnt'! Dawn...See Moresprinkles today/dangerously dry
Comments (1)Out of the blue, we got 1" of rain this morning. I know the humidty is going to be through the roof when the sun pops out. But as long as we got some moisture i'm not going to complain. I know this little bit of rain will not make the pastures grow.I know the weeds will take all the moisture before the grasses even know it rained. I sure wish the rest of the drought areas had some releif. I know we were not as bad as some areas. We know that more heat is coming and this little bit of rain really did not do much, other than provide some temporary releif. Will be back in the triple digits when the sun pops out....See Morelynn_d
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