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[dollmaxing]

Maruki and I have found a nice space to set up a nursery.

It's got a comfortable amount of space and I've added a chair and a speaker - since music is supposed to be quite important for growth, according to studies. I'm already looking forward to taking care of them in here, even with the inevitable hard work.

It'll be my first foray in quite a while raising something that isn't an AI! ʱªʱªʱª (´ᗢू`∗)

I'm sure they'll keep me quite busy.


All of that said, I've never furnished a nursery before. Any advice on furnishing the space would be appreciated.

Comments

[herewardbound]

Room, singular. My mother could just about afford a one-bedroom apartment.

He forwarded a small handful of photos taken. Nothing personal, just some in-progress of helping his father in the greenhouse.

You might be able to find some prefab stuff to build a greenhouse, I don't know. I think Junes has a garden center?

[dollmaxing]

[Jokes aside, this is helpful!]

Drawers might be helpful to keep supplies tucked and out of the way, actually... cabinets as well. Interesting. That's a good organizational strategy.

[herewardbound]

I'd hope it would be, the gardens are his pride and joy. probably would recommend an aboveground setup because the alternative is a lot of digging and I don't get the impression that either of you knows how to operate a backhoe

[dollmaxing]

That would lose all the charm in finding cute differently-shaped pots for the plants, right? Plus, it would be nice to relax with a laptop in there on a lounging chair once everything's set up.

[herewardbound]

Well, if it sparks joy and you're not hurting anyone or violating their autonomy, there's no reason not to do it. Set up your greenhouse however you like. Though probably don't use the overhead irrigation system if you're going to be in there with a laptop or have furniture you mean to be sitting on.

[dollmaxing]

"Sparks joy"... I like that, I'm keeping that turn of phrase.

And lol no irrigation system - the challenge is to attend to a living thing's needs directly, after all. Automating it would be cheating.

[herewardbound]

I suppose that's fair. Plus if you're running a small setup it'd probably be inconvenient to do that anyway.

Oh right, you'll want to make sure you get like a soil moisture monitor, lot of plants are finicky about how wet they want to be and will just straight up ragequit life if you haven't exactly replicated the fucking. PH level and dampness of whatever swamp they're exactly native to, apparently you do get an intuition for it over time but I am a student at the table of a man who's been doing this for years, so

[dollmaxing]

Practice for accommodating picky eaters, isn't it? Luckily, I'm pretty good at memorizing details - we'll find out what the limits are as I get more plants, hahaha.

Takuto made a pot that can detect those details, and I'm excited to fine tune it... it'll certainly take a bit more research on plants to get the programming right, but they're VERY cute with their little emoting face screens expressing what they need. Once I fine tune them, I can give you one to pass along as a gift to your gardening sensei. He won't need the actual features, probably, but he might find it cute anyway.

[herewardbound]

That does, admittedly, sound cute. You might have a real business idea, there.

It's not really my father's aesthetic but it might make a great gift for my sister.

Or my boss, actually, come to think of it. She'd probably be foaming at the mouth to get hold of something like that.

[dollmaxing]

I'll have to pass a few your way then!

Say... since you're a demon, I suppose that makes your sister and your boss both demons as well? What's it like? Are they also corvid-like in appearance? Do they also have magic?

seperate

[takutomaruki]

Hey Phoenix — quick question (And don't get defensive just yet haha I have been doing some reflecting of my own and this is related to the post!!)

That said do you know what your dad uses for pest control in his greenhouse?
Everything in those pics looked suspiciously healthy. I’ve mostly been working off a balcony until now, so I could get away with neem spray, regular leaf checks, and a few sacrificial herbs in the corner. But this nursery space Kuon and I are setting up is a whole other beast — open soil, way more plants, and a lot more ways for things to go wrong.

I understand if you don't wish to speak with me but...any advice would be much appreciated.

[herewardbound]

I think his preferred method is carnivorous plants, honestly


method probably would not work for you, the native species back home are a little more proactive than your average sundew

A cursory check of the internet suggest the worst pests you're likely to deal with are aphids if you're living in the Tokyo area, and they supposedly don't like the scent of alliums. Try planting your stuff with garlic, leeks, marigolds, or catnip, or just be diligent with the pesticides

if they're even an issue here

[takutomaruki]

Okay — planting with garlic or marigolds I have done in pots, but I never thought about how it’d scale up in-ground. That actually might be doable if we’re smart about layout. Catnip’s a fun idea too, though I’m a little worried about every stray in a two-kilometer radius treating the nursery like a rave. Maybe I will get some cat food prepared as well!! 😅

We haven’t had major pest issues yet, but I’m definitely keeping aphids in the back of my mind. I’ll probably do a diluted neem or pyrethrin rotation just to be safe. I’m used to being able to just isolate a pot or pull a planter — this whole “actual soil” thing is exciting but a little lawless.

But. Okay.

Carnivorous plants??

I need to know more.
Are they free roaming? Do they just hang out in the corners and vibe until a bug wanders in?
Do you compost with them somehow? Like do the flytrap corpses become fertilizer??
I feel like you just dropped that like it’s normal and I am absolutely losing my mind at the mental image of a greenhouse patrolled by sundews and pitcher plants like it’s Jurassic Park.

[herewardbound]

The little ones lure in bugs well enough on their own.

The big ones will happily take a chunk out of your arm if they don't know you.

[takutomaruki]

...aw not my arm again :(

But either ways, thank you for the tip! I have a good feeling that the harvest will be quite fruitful (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

[herewardbound]

... dare i ask what happened to your arm

locked

[takutomaruki]

Nothing much! The worst of it has passed a long time back thankfully :D

It took me a good bit of time to regenerate all of it, that's all.

[herewardbound]

well for what it's worth I'm sorry you went through that, losing a limb is not exactly fun

[takutomaruki]

now you have made me worry! Did you go through something similar?

If you don't mind me asking.