Reddit mentions: The best ornamental plant gardening books

Most books are either about growing ornamentals or vegetables, not both, so it’s hard to make a recommendation without narrowing down your interests. Indoor gardening is a whole separate category, and I don’t doubt that there are plenty of books devoted solely to succulents, although I’m not personally familiar with them. You could try asking the folks at r/succulents for some suggestions.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say that there is any one “must-read” gardening book. I happen to like New England Getting Started Garden Guide as a basic reference for ornamental gardening. For vegetable gardening, I have an old hand-me-down book from my mother that is almost certainly out of print, but this one looks like a good starting point. You could also check your local library—they probably have some good basic references.

1. If you see the wires digging into the bark you can remove otherwise it will scar the trunk/branches.
   
2. You don't really need many, some scissors/bonsai clippers if you want to prune and a watering can.
   
3. I don't know about Jade specific, if you are passionate about the hobby you will probably buy more trees and I'm not sure how much fun you can have with a Jade. I recommend this book.
   
4. Not too sure about this one, someone smarter will come along.
   
   My advice is to really consider other peoples suggestions, enjoy yourself, read the links in the sidebar and don't forget to water it!

I'm personally unaware of pests that leave browned edges where they've eaten, but I'm neither and entymologist nor a botanist, so you might want to do further research, but:

I expect blight. Tomatoes and peppers, along with potatoes and eggplants, are nightshades. They compete for the same nutrient profile and stress soil in similar ways. They are also generally prone to the same types of diseases and pests.

The best way to prevent blights or pests is to keep your nightshades widely separated from each other, and to not have large numbers of nightshades growing at the same time. Tomatoes in particular are very hard on calcium content in soil. As the calcium content of your soil drops, nightshades will become more and more susceptible to disease/blight. Some of this soil depletion can be mitigated by careful and consistent compost or nutrient amendment. Generally, amend soil at the end of the growing season so that the addition has time to "settle" in and become well distributed in the soil

Are these plants in the same bed or very close together? Limit nightshades to one plant of one type per garden bed. If you grow more than one nightshade plant at a time, keep them widely separated from each other. Don't plant nightshades in the same spot/garden bed two years in a row (it is generally recommended to practice a three to four year crop rotation cycle if you have the room to do so).

This book is a good resource for helping to specifically identify issues your plants might be having.

EDIT: If it's bugs, I don't recommend commercial pesticides. You can create a solution of water and dishsoap to spray on the bugs, which will kill them without harming the plant or introducing any nasty chemicals in to your soil or groundwater. As far as preventative measures, there are several types of flowers you can plant that act as insect repellants (marigolds being an example of commonly used flowers). Also, practice companion planting. Tomatoes and basil are pretty standard companion plants.

Good effort. I like the idea but here's some things you'll run into as far as issues I think.

So, for starters, you have Euphorbia...something like trigona but I think it's a different species. Then maybe a graptoveria behind and to the right (with a sedum next to it?), then an Aloe aristata - the green spiky one in the front middle, then opuntia microdasys in the back right corner, and then I think Mammillaria elongata in the front right.

The Aloe needs less light than the rest (although I'd still shoot for 4-5000 lux, which for me is a couple of 2 ft T5HO lamps about 6-8" away).

The cactus will not want much watering.

The graptoveria may want a ton of watering compared to the rest (at least my echeverias and graptoverias seem to soak up the water). Similar but a bit less for the sedum.

The bottom needs drainage (preferably holes not just a layer of gravel) or water will pool and make a bog - maybe it has drainage and I don't see it.

If I was redoing it, I would pot up the two middle back together, the aloe by itself, and the two cacti together and maybe the euphorbia with them - I've had issues rotting out Euphorbias too if I water them as often as some of my succulents.

I've had some limited success with keeping different kinds of sedums together, or different kinds of echeverias, or say a graptoveria fred ives with an echeveria nodulosa and then a carpeting sedum like sarmentosum as the 'ground cover.' This is just a sample, and I am by no means an expert at arranging. I read a good book on succulent arrranging the other day...Here it is: https://www.amazon.com/Succulent-Container-Gardens-Eye-Catching-Easy-Care/dp/B004TBKXEE/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I have this book It has some beginner info but also a lot of great color pictures, and short general info about the individual plants listed that cuts straight to the point for experienced growers.

I found it at a used book store and pretty much bought it for the pictures alone.

I got this book for Christmas The Complete Book of Cacti and Succulents it's really basic but good for a beginner like me.

*Except for the mint plant - mint made it in there because the windowsill for herbs is full.

EDIT: Per request, here is the whole collection.

EDIT #2: This is the book I ordered to learn how to care for succulents: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0848749472/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_s4dFgKYV5Jbb1
This is the grow light I bought to help them thrive: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E9IO770ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_owIchtK8pcOZ7

One book

Another book

I don't own either, but they have good reviews!

Dragonflies and damselflies. The naiads eat mosquito larvae. Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control has a section on dragonflies and damselflies.

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Wrong-Plant-How-Fix/dp/0881929611
is a very good book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0966474147?pc_redir=1397112731&robot_redir=1 incase you were wanting to keep it :)

http://www.amazon.com/Step-By-Step-Guide-Growing-Displaying-Bonsai/dp/0831751622/ref=pd_sim_b_1

I have this one and I like it a lot, particularly the month-by-month breakdown of what you can and can't do with various types of trees.

Bonsai Potato!

Amazon even sells a book/kit: The Art of the Bonsai Potato Kit: Zen - Without the Wait!

Here's my go to

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Cacti-Succulents/dp/0789416573/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+complete+guide+to+cactus+and+succulents&qid=1558821350&s=gateway&sr=8-2


see if this works

Graf's Exotica. But it's not a hydro book, just a plant book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bonsai-Basics-Comprehensive-Cultivation-Paperbacks/dp/0600619109/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344196648&sr=8-1

I bought three books myself, and this is by far the best one that I've read as a starter book. It's simple, explains about what a tree is on a photosynthesis etc level, but in a way that people who haven't studied biology can understand. I frequently go back to this book if I'm in doubt of small general issues.

Funny story about this! A few years ago, I got The Art of the Bonsai Potato as a birthday gift. Along with it, I got two blue/purple potatoes (kinda like these). Now, the first step to growing a bonsai potato is to put them in a dark place to grow out the sprouts, which become your bonsai. I put the two potatoes in my drawer of random crap with nowhere else to go, and then I completely fucking forgot about them (I'd be a horrible bonsai grower). Months later, I went to grab something from that drawer, and the two potatoes had sprouted magnificently! Unfortunately, in the process they had entrapped everything in the drawer into a tangled mess of sprouts, which I had to cut off to retrieve anything. The potatoes themselves had almost completely wasted away providing nutrition to their sprouts, so they were useless for bonsai. I wish I still had pictures, because it was one of the most impressive things I've ever witnessed.

TL;DR Was a terrible bonsai potato grower, drawer consumed by my negligence.

This reminds me on a Bonsai Potato kit I bought when I was younger:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0966474147?pc_redir=1400866212&robot_redir=1

I had potatoes hidden in different cupboard around the house, and actually spent time trimming them. One day, I picked up a potato and it burst, leaking rotten potato gunk all over me.