![Melvin Wei](/img/default-banner.jpg)
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Melvin Wei
United States
Приєднався 5 лют 2011
In 2013 I pioneered a style of video series that documented my newbie plant growing experiences and casual scientific observations. Over the next 2 years these early plant growing series grew in viewership to account for the bulk of my channel traffic, so plant growing will be my focus going forward. I also have animal, plant, and fungi videos with scientific editorial, as well as travel, scenery, hiking, art, and cultural videos, but most of those didn't appeal to the public save for some cute animal videos, so I will make changes to my video formats of these topics until I find something that has lasting appeal to new viewers. I have my vast video collection arranged in playlists for your viewing ease. Make sure to read the notes in the descriptions first so you can understand what's going on and my thoughts on the topics presented. Some of my videos have brief subtitles as the bottom to clarify what I'm saying or explain other salient points.
Відео
Growing Avocado Trees from Pits, Days 0-55
Переглядів 29319 годин тому
Is this the first documented case of germinating avocado pits by immersing in 0.5% hydrogen peroxide? I started germinating two avocado pits in tap water without regards to orientation relative to gravity, then changed my mind on day 12 and immersed the pits in hydrogen peroxide for sterility and oxygen saturation. I figured that the orientation was not important as gravitropism would correct a...
Growing California Poppies from Seeds, Season 2, Days 0-172
Переглядів 17721 годину тому
Season 2 of Growing California Poppies from Seeds is going great with waves of shiny orange blooms. All sorts of pollinating bees come by to feast throughout the day. The flowers open for only a few hours a day when it is hottest in direct sunlight, and close up as soon as the shade of my building covers them mid-afternoon. Can I keep these blooming year-round in my large cubic planter with a g...
Growing California Poppies from Seeds, Days 92-157 FINALE
Переглядів 161Місяць тому
The second episode and conclusion to my first season of California poppy growing. There were many pollinators such as bumblebees, European honeybees, native solitary bees, and bee flies. There were also fungal infections and caterpillars to contend with. All my California poppy plants withered away under the hot weather of August 2023.
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 547-745
Переглядів 560Місяць тому
The first harvest is complete! I got 3 bean pods, one shorter than the other two; the size distribution reminds me of my first harvest from the honeydew series. I expect the second harvest to come much earlier seasonally in 2024 and to be far more abundant. The unending thirst of my ice cream bean tree has finally been satiated by the large volume reservoir of the new large square planter I tra...
Growing Joshua Trees from Seeds, Years 8-9
Переглядів 1,3 тис.2 місяці тому
I can't believe it's been 9 years already! This is by far my longest running plant growing series. In this update I cover the two big risks I undertook in the past year: 1) transplanting to a much bigger volume of coco coir in a self-watering planter, and 2) adding Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) to my chemical fertilizer regimen. So far the Joshua tree seems to have responded very well to all c...
2024 California Lilac Superbloom in San Marcos, California
Переглядів 1,5 тис.2 місяці тому
This is the California lilac superbloom of 2024 at South Lake Park, San Marcos, California. The blooms should last for about 6 weeks, so there should still be time in April 2024 to see this spectacle.
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Years 3.2-4.2
Переглядів 9293 місяці тому
My seed-grown lemon tree has suffered as many attacks as my Alphonso mango cutting brought from an exotic fruit tree nursery. The main problems/infestations I can see are 1) some kind of virus or disease affecting the leaves, 2) plagues of bird poop caterpillars, 3) root rot, and 4) spider mites. I will have to blast my vulnerable lemon plant with pesticides in 2024 regularly to have any chance...
Growing an Alphonso Mango Seedling, Days 274-609
Переглядів 9624 місяці тому
This update covers most of the second year of development for this Alphonso mango plant. Based on the evidence I have to conclude that this plant cannot stand on its own because it is derived from a cutting. Aphids struck...did they bring disease that doomed my mango sapling? It's not looking good for this plant despite the transplant into a much better pot with a much larger volume of fresh co...
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 183-546
Переглядів 9387 місяців тому
This episode covers the span of one year. The ice cream bean tree is one of the fastest growing plants I have ever worked with, with few predators aside from katydids that come at night. After about 18 months beanpods started appearing!
Growing California Poppies from Seeds, Days 0-91
Переглядів 1 тис.9 місяців тому
Germinating California poppy seeds in coco coir indoors or outdoors is easy enough, but getting them to grow past a few inches or centimeters in size is a challenge that depends on the growing conditions with regards to the growing medium, abundance of water, fertilization, access to sunlight, and so forth. Looking at the entire body of evidence I've gathered over the life of this plant growing...
Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 804-916 FINALE
Переглядів 1,3 тис.Рік тому
My red Caribbean papaya series was cut short by natural overwatering due to heavy rains that persisted for much longer than usual for this region during the winter of 2023. Root rot set in, and the entire root burl turned to mush below the "soil line" of coco coir. Snails swarmed the plant, even during the day, to eat the rotting leaves. This was my first case of root rot for plants grown in co...
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 176-350
Переглядів 915Рік тому
From a humble cutting to seeing fruit primordia in just 4 months! At around the 6-month mark I harvested a small bag of figs and only one was worth eating, but I expected the first figs to be of poor quality. In another 4-6 months I expect to see a bountiful second harvest.
Growing Joshua Trees from Seeds, Years 7.4-7.9
Переглядів 2,7 тис.Рік тому
My Joshua tree is doing well, but I was really hoping for a burst of growth after the move in January 2022 to full sunlight and the transplant to a much bigger pot of coco coir in August of 2022. Please visit the website of Farmer's Defense if you want to buy protective sleeves for your arms for gardening work! Keep your arms clean from spider webs, sticky sap, dirt, and grime. These farming sl...
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Days 986-1104
Переглядів 2,5 тис.Рік тому
My lemon plant is now a 3-year-old sapling. Coming off of fierce caterpillar plague, it is actually doing quite well despite the cold winter conditions. I expect robust growth in 2023 and a transplant within the next few months. Please visit the website of Farmer's Defense if you want to buy protective sleeves for your arms for gardening work! Keep your arms clean from spider webs, sticky sap, ...
Growing an Alphonso Mango Seedling, Days 137-273
Переглядів 1,9 тис.Рік тому
My Alphonso mango seedling struggled during the cold and rainy winter of 2022 to 2023, but it still seems to be on the right track, perhaps due to an application of freshly diluted Bayer BioAdvanced 3-In-1. I realized that my seedling was grown from a cutting, not a seed. Clue number 1 was that the root system observed during the initial transplant into this pot (see the first episode) did not ...
Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 674-803
Переглядів 1,8 тис.Рік тому
Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 674-803
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 43-182
Переглядів 3,4 тис.Рік тому
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 43-182
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 71-175
Переглядів 1,3 тис.Рік тому
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 71-175
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Days 818-985
Переглядів 3,4 тис.Рік тому
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Days 818-985
Growing an Alphonso Mango Seedling, Days 0-136
Переглядів 5 тис.Рік тому
Growing an Alphonso Mango Seedling, Days 0-136
Growing Joshua Trees from Seeds, Years 5.7-7.3
Переглядів 7 тис.Рік тому
Growing Joshua Trees from Seeds, Years 5.7-7.3
Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 264-673
Переглядів 4,2 тис.Рік тому
Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 264-673
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 23-70
Переглядів 974Рік тому
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 23-70
Lifecycle of the Honeydew Melon in 1 Minute
Переглядів 9 тис.2 роки тому
Lifecycle of the Honeydew Melon in 1 Minute
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 0-42
Переглядів 2,4 тис.2 роки тому
Growing an Ice Cream Bean Cutting, Days 0-42
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 0-22
Переглядів 1,7 тис.2 роки тому
Growing a Kadota Fig Cutting, Days 0-22
Growing Giant Bangkok Guava from Cuttings, 3.26 Years
Переглядів 1,6 тис.2 роки тому
Growing Giant Bangkok Guava from Cuttings, 3.26 Years
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Days 405-817
Переглядів 7 тис.2 роки тому
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Days 405-817
Growing Grapefruit Trees from Seeds, Days 103-259
Переглядів 2,5 тис.2 роки тому
Growing Grapefruit Trees from Seeds, Days 103-259
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Day 404
Переглядів 3,1 тис.2 роки тому
Growing Lemon Trees from Seeds, Day 404
Thanks for the inspiration. My guy just turned 4.
the algae thing is because of the sun, try to use a no transparent tube
I’m confused; what works best when you transfer from germinated seed to soil ? I have sand but I don’t know anything about clay soil; what about coco coir and sand ? Would that work from the beginning to the end ? And do you introduce light as soon as you transplant the seed ? Thanks !
I just got back from my first visit to Joshua tree and wanted to learn more about these amazing plants. Thank you for making these incredible videos!! I’m so glad Josh is doing well.
Can I make a bonsai with this tree ?
Lord Shen fighting his own dad:
I'm growing my papaya tree in a 12 litre custom pot using 2 litre bottles stacked and it is a about almost 2 years old.
You're using 2 Liter soda bottles? How can those hold the weight of a tree?
Will you grow papayas again? maybe this time indoors? or under a roof so it won't rot like last time? It was a long episode!
Feel bad too much fertilizing and two different types of fertilizer paying too much attention to the
Uncle, glad to see that you are no longer wearing those weird sleeve things on your arms.
Great to see a new avocado series 👍 hope they do well. How are the lemon trees doing? New episode anytime soon?
The lemon plant is recovering.
Another series of avocado videos. I can't wait to see you get fruit.
It's going to be a long journey, but I have way better planters now.
I use Hydrogen Peroxide in sanitizing potting soil to prevent damping off in seed flats. Back in 1974 when taking ornamental horticulture, I was appalled at the use of Methyl Bromide gas in sterilizing the potting soil we mixed. The instructor refused to set the gas off under the plastic sheeting as long as we students were there. One whiff and you're dead. I couldn't believe such a dangerous thing was used. But I did understand personally from experience just how devasting damping off could be to seedling emergence. I came up with a 50-50 blend os simple basic ptting soil purchased from any nursery and mix with Vermiculite for aeration and water holding capacity. After potting soil was placed in the seed flats, I's sprinkle water cut 50% with Hydrogen Peroxide in a common watering can and the immediate effect was a rather noisy fizzing sound with bubbling on the surface. After it stopped I'd plant whatever seeds I wanted and never had issues with damping off. Sometimes I'd add wood ash to mimic the sanitizing effects of wildfire, but I never found this to be necessary. But I'm sure it also didn't hurt. 👌
Hey Kevin, I haven't seen a comment from you in a long time, thanks for sticking with my channel for all these years! Looking back on my career it's crazy how many dangerous chemicals get used for experiments. The LD50 for methyl bromide is only a few hundred ppm for various test animals. I can't imagine what the fizzing of oxygen must be like when using 50% hydrogen peroxide. The wood ash idea is interesting. Nowadays I don't sterilize my coco coir, but it is a much more sterile/inert medium than potting mix and decomposes at a much slower rate.
How often did you change the hydrogen peroxide water?
I didn't change it. So that's 9 days from starting hydrogen peroxide until the pits cracked open. I think it would be fine sitting for the whole 21 days.
@@TheMelvinWei nice. Thanks!
You did one thing wrong in my opinion. You should've cut branches off and try to root them while the tree was striving or propagate it on the tree. So you'd have the same tree and the same amount of years to it and don't have to start back from zero. Even some of those grren branches that you prune, you should've root them and catch other trees from it. Better luck next time.
The root stock is still alive. I'll post an update later.
Can you name the Joshua tree hedgehog if it has no name. I'm growing a Joshua tree about an inch tall along with dragon fruit, also and inch tall, I got mine from my brothers terrarium because I help pay for it so I got a seed and the only seed that's sprouted so far is my Joshua tree lol. I'm hoping to get a agave / century plant and segaro cacti too but if i list off all my plants i want and have i tipe for days Cuz i love desert plants
I named it Josh in years past haha. Have fun with your desert plant growing journey! They sure are fun to have around and look at. Also, they are so easy to manage because they grow so slowly, and their modified leaves are so tough and don't die off and shed all over the place like with most wet climate plants.
I do think Josh is a good name for it, I also got a terrarium it's fly traps but it has a little mold so I hope it grows still
Thank you so much for this information I germinate my honey mango seed just as you explained and I successfully got 3 seeds to be planted , I’m so happy to see how it turned out .
Ur fig plants are a kind of fantastic Sir I hope one day I can share mine too
The yellow cream color is perfectly fine for a mature citrus plant roots.
Mine got almost that big and I kept it in a mini greenhouse and it loved it and grew wonderfully; what do you use for soil and fertilizer ? Thanks ; )
I’m wondering if you were able to diagnose the issue. It’s not easy to stay motivated when we see a big plant take a nose dive.
Mangoes are the hardest to grow among all the fruit trees and shrubs I've tried.
Wicked!
0:25 the parents of lord Shen 🦚
Those are SWALLOWTAIL butterfly's you see on your lemon plant. They lay eggs on new leaves so when they hatch the babies can eat a soft leaf, then yes...five instars until they form a chrysalis. I raise Monarchs, though milkweed is so expensive, so I love when I find eggs on citrus trees in my neighborhood because their food is FREE. I raise them inside so wasps and fly's don't infect the eggs with their larvae. Just cut off a branch with several leaves and put it in a bottle of water in your kitchen window. When they get bigger set them inside a mesh cage with a thick branch or two and lots of leaves (in water bottle) and eventually they will climb to the branches and form a chrysalis. I right now have two chrysalis that formed last Nov 2023 that have yet to hatch. Hibernation in late Oct-Nov is normal and have in the past had them hatch by April...these guys are late! Enjoy them! They do eat your lemon leaves but they eat very little and will not damage your plants like other worms do.
Beautiful; I love this idea ! Now there’s recent videos of putting the top of the seed in water like it’s drinking and it comes out like yours…. I tried it, it failed miserably; I believe from what you said, it’s the humidity in the water that grows them….. Btw, I had no idea that growing regular mangoes takes many years, but there’s another more expensive smaller all yellow mango (just saw in the store) that grows a double shoot, and much faster than a regular mango which is better if you want to grow an actual tree, but the purpose in buying it wouldn’t be to eat it; is that a honey mango, the one you have ? The seed looks like it’s a regular one….. thanks ! ; )
This guy really makes passion fruit sound really great.
"Lesson learned: don't use fertilizer." 😏
I have 6 of these in my backyard.
How are they now?
Early stages here in London, UK
ua-cam.com/users/shorts7S_3WKtWgYo?feature=shared
Türkiye`den sana selamlar...ben akdeniz iklimi olan Adana da oturuyorum her turlu malzemem ve habanero tohumlarim var ama turkiyede bu biberi üreten fazla yok bir kac kisi var onlar da bilgi vermiyor bana yardımcı olursan sevinirim nasıl çimlendirebilirim olasılığı artırmak icin neler yapmam gerek toprak viyol su sıcaklık gunea ışık bilgi verebilirsen cok sevinirim iyi günler dilerim
I had to rely on Google translate to read your comment. I like germinating indoors because the higher overnight temperatures indoors greatly accelerate and increase your chances of germination. This video was made ten years ago and my methods have changed. Use a growing medium such as coco coir or a very sandy dirt mixture to avoid root rot and fungal diseases.
@@TheMelvinWei verdiğiniz bilgiler için teşekkürler ☘️
I have a question, I sprouted a lemon seed but for some reason it only has one leaf on it, no other sign of starting a second leaf, is this a runt? Should I start over?
You can start over concurrently but keep the existing seedling to see what happens with it. Maybe it'll be fine.
I'm an Encinitas poppy. Wut ya think about dat? 😅
Do you attract yellow-tailed bumblebees?
@@TheMelvinWei Sure do! You should totally have me in your garden 😉
@@lita7657 Sounds good, I can never get enough of poppies 😉
I did an update just now of my ice cream bean tree
I saw your updates
My oven is broken. Can I sterilize in a microwave?
Yes if the potting mix is wet, but it could splatter
I just ate this in Costa Rica and loved it. I’ll be looking to grow one of these myself. I really enjoyed your videos and got a lot of information from this. Thank you!!
Thanks for watching, hope you have fun growing ice cream bean!
I just soaked the seed in water for a few days, took the outer hull off the seed, wrapped it in a wet paper towel, put it in a plastic bag in my pantry then forgot about it. I was looking for my cornmeal when I saw it sprouted up. I was like “what is that?!” I’m not used to plants that are this eager to grow 😂
Those flowers are stunning. You did a good job.
Thanks Pat C. More to come for season 2!
I've subscribed
Hi melvin wei I like your videos!
Thank you!
If you want to get lots of native bees, then plant Tomatillos. Plant more than one plant as they do not self pollinate. Numerous kinds of Bees comes from all over.
When my mint patch is in flower, they get swarmed by bees.
Shen got scared of his dad, and so he should.
Is it a baby magpie?
You have to water the base of the plant an let all the water get to the full root of the plant
I heard you cant water the plants on the cantalopes
Good stuff man. I germinate my honey mango seeds in the moist paper towel and ziploc bag, I planted one that Id began to germinate on the 9th of the month and when I went to check on it two days ago it was looking wild like a viking ship with two horns. One was the shoot and the other that was growing along the side of the seed was all spiny and stuff. Shoot on it is like 6 inches tall already having been in soil only a couple of days. Got a bunch of avocado seedlings too but those take months to germinate and grow
Dude! This is an amazing series! Exactly what I needed, so thorough. Thank you! 8yrs later & you're still making an impact. Ps--- I hate culling too...
you are one hell of a patient person 😂🎉 good job 👏
Like the anti slug rock wall under fence LOL! Flood watering trunk rot.
Can’t you shut the comments please? Thanks