u/HailSaganPlantNative

My husband thinks I just need to wait for it to cool off, but it's been plugged in for an hour and it's not just not cool inside, it's HOT inside. It buzzes loudly intermittently and there's a strong (not faint) burning plastic smell. I pulled it away from the wall and nothing is visibly melting, but the big black canister part in this photo is hot enough to burn your fingers. That doesn't seem right to me. Am I nuts, or is this thing super broken?

Nothing like making bad middle of the night decisions and ordering discounted dahlia tubers in the middle of July in Southern California when it's about to be hot as hades. I know my chances of success here are... Well, not great. I have them in a cooler spot where they get morning sun only right now and so far the weather hasn't gotten horrendously hot. Hopefully that holds. I don't have any room in my raised beds or the ground right now (veggies still going strong). I know this was ill advised. There may or may not be a couple more in transit. Allegedly. Words of wisdom on how to maybe have a sliver of a chance at success or just general good vibes appreciated. Stories of unlikely survival against all odds welcome. Blatant mockery at my folly begrudgingly but rightfully accepted.

This dahlia has grown to over 7 feet tall and is just now finally budding. I've never seen anything like it. For such a massive plant, the buds sure seem very, very small. For scale, that's a 6 foot tall sunflower to its left. Absolutely bonkers. Anyone ever had a dahlia go beast mode like this? It seemed on its way to a normal size earlier in the spring but the Santa Ana winds we get here in so cal snapped it to the ground. I put a massive tomato tower around it and wished it the best and it apparently came back with something to prove. I fed it a high bloom feed when it kept growing and not forming buds but that seemed to deform the new leaf growth a bit. Other than that seems healthy other than some minor powdery mildew on the lower leaves I've been clearing. This this is a bit more than I bargained for, haha. No idea what the flowers will look like!

I had to yoink a couple of my dahlias due to viral infections and pickings were slim at the local nurseries this late in the season. This one I got was just labeled "assorted dahlia" so if anyone has any ideas, I'd be most grateful. Blooms (so far) are roughly 3-4" across, foliage is dark but not quite a "black" variety.

They said we couldn't do it. We did it anyways. So far it's going really well. We previously had them in ground and loved them but they were taking over the entire space so we dug them out, runner by runner over the course of a couple of years. But we really missed them, so we took a shot at containerizing them on top of the concrete driveway where they wouldn't be able to escape out of the drainage holes. Can you do it in a small container? Probably not. But a half barrel seems to be a pretty good compromise and so far they've grown a ton. They're in a mix of cactus/succulent soil and our native clay soil and topped with a shredded wood mulch. We water deeply roughly once a week. We drove from OC all the way down to The Little Barn which is basically on the Mexican border to grab the plant because no one local had them in stock. So if you're wondering if whatever that plant you want is will grow in a container and everyone says no, try it anyways. Could work out OK!

Grabbed a pair of all white wayvees at the outlet by my house and I love having a chunky white pair of vans. I was fully expecting the trouble spot to break in, but I've been wearing them for a while now and the area shown in the photo is still killing the top of both of my feet. If anything I have a low instep so there's no reason for the excess pressure there. Anyone have any suggestions for breaking in that zone or at least protecting my foot while they break in long term? It's not a rubbing/friction kind of thing, it's a stiffness/pressure thing. Not really sure how to fix it.

Does holding down the little parking safett button disable just the beeping and warnings when you're backing up, or does it also disable the automatic braking system? This page from the manual simultaneously makes it sound like it disables the auto braking and doesn't at the same time, so I'm confused. I'm really hoping it does disable it!

I'm trying to root some dahlia cuttings from various plants around my garden. I'm not having issues with rot at the cut points, I'm having issues with uncut growth points turning black. I've tried with a humidity dome and without, this is indoors at consistent low to mid 70s temperature, and this keeps happening. I'm attempting to root with rooting hormone in moist vermiculite. Any insight or recommendations?