What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

Cold and rainy dl, not gardening weather. I need my polar bear socks.

 

[turbo]

I planted 4 6x8 (sixpack) flats today with 12 habaneros, 30 Hungarian hots, 30 jalapenos, 30 bell peppers, 40 mariana tomatoes and 40 muscovy tomatoes. As soon as they germinate and start sprouting, they'll go right out into the mini-greenhouse where they will get sun and a variety of temperatures to toughen them up.

I don't pot in soil, because that can result in fungal diseases. Instead, I use Pro Mix with an admixture of bone meal. Both peppers and tomatoes need the bone meal (high phosphate) and that's a good organic amendment that avoids nitrogen. High nitrogen encourages bushy growth and suppressed heavy fruiting.

 

[turbo]

Today, I planted a bed for salad-stuff. Black-seeded Simpson lettuce, Salad Bowl lettuce, spinach, ruby chard, scallions, and parsley. All stuff that is pretty cold-tolerant. I'll do succession plantings for some, but black-seeded Simpson just keeps growing back. Cut it as you need it, and before you have cut all the lettuce to the other end of the bed, the stuff you cut first is already ready to cut again. A 6-8 foot bed is plenty for 2 people. If we need more, I can always plant more, too - the stuff germinates and develops very quickly.

BTW, the weather report says up to an inch of rain is coming, with a possibility of snow-showers. Hurry up, Spring!

 

[Astronuc]

Black-seeded Simpson lettuce, Salad Bowl lettuce, spinach, ruby chard, and parsley should do OK with cool weather. I think scallions would do better in warmer weather.

We've planted lettuce and spinach.

The kale is thriving having survived the winter with temps down near 0°F. It has peripheral growth and is flowering, but it still tastes good. Kale, chive and potato soup/stew is a possibility.

We have a bumper crop of chives in the herb garden, and the garlic is doing well. We can probably harvest half or more of it later.

The blueberries are flowering already, so well have berries in late May and into June.

The raspberries and blackberries have green leaves.

It is still rather cool here.

 

[turbo]

Scallions will be fine - they over-winter here with no problem. Chives are jumping out of the ground so we are using them every chance we get. The apple trees have nice fat pink blossoms, and when the current cold wave passes, we should expect early blossoms. The good news is that I have already seen multiple honey-bees ready to pollinate the trees. I hope it stays warm enough to tempt the bees out of their nests day after day.

 

[Evo]

I bought some tomato and pepper seedlings and a man said "isn't it way too early to plant those?". I said yes, they can't be planted outside for another month, but these are going into pots than can be moved inside.

 

[turbo]

I bought some tomato and pepper seedlings and a man said "isn't it way too early to plant those?". I said yes, they can't be planted outside for another month, but these are going into pots than can be moved inside.

Turn them every day to keep them balanced and keep them from getting leggy, looking for optimum light. It's important to keep the nitrogen level low during this phase, but the people who potted the plant think the exact opposite. They want you to see a nice bushy green plant, but that is NOT what you need to produce optimum flowering and fruiting. You need lean tough plants that will root like crazy and keep flowering and fruiting. Bone meal for peppers and tomatoes, and NO easy nitrogen. Manure releases nitrogen slowly and consistently, so that your tomatoes and peppers don't get a big surge and get "foliate" instead of "fruiting".

 

[rewebster]

I usually plant around Apr 15 and cover them if there's a chance of frost

 

[MotoH]

What are your secret tips for keeping deer, rabbits, and others out of the garden?

 

[rewebster]

I live in town (no wild things)---biggest problems are starlings cutting off the plants--they do it and leave the cut off section --who knows why---

 

[turbo]

What are your secret tips for keeping deer, rabbits, and others out of the garden?

I don't know about rabbits, but for deer, noisy sprinklers triggered by motion detectors seem to work well. Have a Hart sells them a lot cheaper than the Scarecrow brand.

 

[dlgoff]

What are your secret tips for keeping deer, rabbits, and others out of the garden?

I bought a cheap motion detector light (the ones with two lamp sockets), screwed it to a fence post aiming it across the garden, put a 40Watt red bulb in one socket and a small fan (with a card to make noise on the blades) in the other socket. Works good so far.

 

[turbo]

My tomatoes have started to sprout. Mariana and Moskvich varieties.

 

[turbo]

Planted the sweet shelling peas today, and gave them a nice plastic mesh fence to train to when they sprout. When planting peas, remember that they like a little higher pH and more potash than some vegetables. I dusted mine with wood-ash before covering the seeds, then topped the row with another layer of wood-ash so the rains can drive that in.

 

[turbo]

It's in the 80s today and the buds on the apple and plum trees are ready to open, so I sprayed the trees. I use a hose-end tree-sprayer loaded with pure canola oil. The oil/water mix penetrates into crevices in the bark where insect eggs and larvae have over-wintered and the oil smothers them. This is the last spraying until after all the petals fall off the blossoms. I don't use any pesticides, so physically smothering pests in the egg/larval stages is the best way to have worm-free apples.

 

[rewebster]

I think the tomatoes and peppers have grown three or four times their planted size (planted this last Tues)

I used a little more Epsom salts and 12-12-12 than I usually use, and that and the weather may have done it.




irises are already starting to fade

nectarines and peaches are fruiting well and loosing the flower part

(a little, hmm, out of focus--didn't wait for autofocus I guess)

 

[turbo]

Very nice! You are in a much milder climate. I expect my plums and apples to blossom and get pollinated next week. I can't set out peppers and tomatoes - in fact, I just moved the flats out to the mini-greenhouse and the peppers haven't sprouted yet, though the tomatoes mostly have sprouted. We're supposed to get some decent weather for a spell, and that will urge them on. That little greenhouse gets very warm. Once the plants get their first true leaves, I'll pot-up. I have the whole floor of the greenhouse open for larger containers. Starting everything from seed has saved a lot of money this year.

 

[rewebster]

yep central Illinois --right long the 40 latitude

 

[turbo]

I used a little more Epsom salts and 12-12-12 than I usually use, and that and the weather may have done it.

You might want to back off of that fertilizer and find one that has a much larger middle number (phosphorus). Tomatoes and peppers need phosphorus, but too much ready nitrogen (the first number in the fertilizer grade) makes them really fat and leafy and inhibits flowering and fruiting. I don't really starve them of nitrogen, but I give it to them in the form of well-rotted manure that releases nitrogen very slowly and steadily as microorganisms in the soil break it down. If you want to increase the phosphorus level without boosting nitrogen, bone meal is an ideal additive.

I use Epsom salts, too, but mostly for foliar feeding during the growing season. It seems to make plants (especially tomatoes) huskier. You can dissolve it in a sprinkler-can full of warm water, but I tend to use a lot of it (with rows and rows of peppers and tomatoes) and apply it with a hose-end feeder to save lots of running back and forth.

 

[turbo]

yep central Illinois --right long the 40 latitude

I'm almost on top of the 45th, and located in the gun-sights of blasts of arctic air from Canada. The difference between today and two days ago was 80+ deg and bright sun, and 40+ deg and snow showers. Normally, we only transplant to the garden on Memorial Day or thereabouts, because the threat of frost persists all through this month.

 

[rewebster]

it's been (almost) in the mid-60's and 70's for about 3 weeks now with just a couple of mid thirties at night

 

[turbo]

it's been (almost) in the mid-60's and 70's for about 3 weeks now with just a couple of mid thirties at night

Heaven! We have gotten several heavy frosts in the past week.

I would love to be able to get an earlier start to the season, but that's life. We get to extend the fall season considerably compared to people living at lower elevations though. Living high up on a large hill has its benefits. As cold air settles in at night in the fall, it spills down-slope through the woods to the valleys, so we are spared many of the early-fall frosts that bring many peoples' gardens to an untimely end.

When people settled Maine and started farming, the most productive farms were those on the south slope of a large hill. Gentle slopes were best, if available, because years of plowing and cultivating with horse-drawn equipment would inevitably result in the soil being displaced down-slope very quickly on steep slopes. If your next arable field happened to be grassed-over from a couple of fallow years, it was very difficult to turn a furrow with a horse-drawn plow unless you turned it down-slope. Along with erosion from storms, runoff, etc, this caused a steady march of soil from the top of the field to the bottom.

 

[rewebster]

I remember hearing someplace 'water always wins'-----

are your peppers on the up grade and the tomatoes at the low grade of the garden? (tomatoes love wetter ground)

 

[turbo]

I remember hearing someplace 'water always wins'-----

are your peppers on the up grade and the tomatoes at the low grade of the garden? (tomatoes love wetter ground)

Generally, I plant peppers higher than tomatoes because peppers flower and fruit more vigorously when they are stressed. This year, I am kind of ignoring that, because I am planting my squash and cukes near the peas (already in the ground) because squash especially loves to be near legumes that are good at fixing nitrogen. I'm planning to hammer in T-posts before hoeing up those beds in preparation of setting up supports. I went to Tractor Supply and bought enough feed-lot cattle-panels and T-posts to provide trellises for my squash, pickling cukes, and indeterminate tomatoes. They are very heavy, galvanized panels and will last the rest of my life. I normally hoe up beds for my peppers very high so they will drain and dry easily. I am going to plant the peppers downslope (to the south) of the tomatoes so that the tomatoes don't shade the peppers. Peppers love strong sunlight and heat, so I don't want any larger plants directly south of them. South of the peppers I'll probably plant carrots, beets, green beans and other stuff that is so short that they cannot shade the peppers.

 

[rewebster]

what elevation are you? are you far from the coast?

 

[Evo]

I have potted up a sweet 100 cherry tomato, I have a trellis I can tie it to, a patio tomato and 6 TAM (mild) Jalapenos. I'm afraid that since i am moving next door, even though the place is twice the size, the patio is smaller and only has a few hours of early morning sunlight, and most of that is through trees. I'm not sure if I'll be able to grow these without suplemental light.

 

[turbo]

what elevation are you? are you far from the coast?

My hill is over 300 feet higher in elevation than the river valley a couple of miles away. My house is just about 600 feet elevation. I'm about 80 miles from the ocean as the crow flies. The meteorologist call our region the "western foothills" to differentiate it from the western mountains and the central plain because our weather is often different from either of those.

The river valley often funnels cold air down from the north to mix with warmer moister air in the south and central regions, so thunderstorms can pop up very quickly.

 

[turbo]

The river valley often funnels cold air down from the north to mix with warmer moister air in the south and central regions, so thunderstorms can pop up very quickly.

Well, it happened. I had to shut down due to severe storms yesterday afternoon, and the power went out by 3pm due to trees downing power lines. Power was not restored until after 9am today. Then today, another line of heavy squalls and T-storms rolled through, though the power stayed on.

 

[NeoDevin]

We just got a late 4 inches of snow here. Good thing I haven't had time to plant anything.

 

[turbo]

We just got a late 4 inches of snow here. Good thing I haven't had time to plant anything.

Snow can be a blessing when it is followed by some intense cold. It is wonderful insulation and it prevents below-freezing air from chilling the ground and seeds.

 

[turbo]

If you have cold ground and are itching to plant, get some black-seeded Simpson (promary leaf-lettuce variety for gardeners) in the ground. It is a wonderful variety of leaf lettuce, and it will grow in the snow (no kidding). Plant a short row of it and cut it as you use it. It grows right back so you can keep harvesting it all season long.

 

[turbo]

I spent time this morning at my mother-in-law's tilling a badly neglected and overgrown flower bed, so my wife could clear out the roots, etc, and plant some nice flowering plants for her. She's 93 years old and has dementia, so she needs round-the-clock care at home. My wife and I thought that she would enjoy a nice flower garden right under the window of the front room, where her bed is.

 

[rewebster]

I have potted up a sweet 100 cherry tomato, I have a trellis I can tie it to, a patio tomato and 6 TAM (mild) Jalapenos. I'm afraid that since i am moving next door, even though the place is twice the size, the patio is smaller and only has a few hours of early morning sunlight, and most of that is through trees. I'm not sure if I'll be able to grow these without suplemental light.

how big is your front porch?

 

[Evo]

how big is your front porch?

My current patio is only 10 x 5, the new one is a few feet shorter.

 

[rewebster]

if your patio isn't very good for light, can you use your front porch?

 

[turbo]

I planted my blueberry bushes today and mulched them with shredded cedar. Got 2 Earlyblues, 1 Blue Crop, and 1 Duke. My neighbor rode down to the tree/seed co-op with me and went into pick up the bushes for me so I could avoid a perfume attack, and he loves my dog Duke. I told him to pick out early cultivars and use his judgment regarding the appearance of the bushes. He was grinning when he came out and showed me that tag. Duke was with us, in the back seat, but he can't read and wasn't too impressed.

 

[dlgoff]

I planted my blueberry bushes today and mulched them with shredded cedar. Got 2 Earlyblues, 1 Blue Crop, and 1 Duke. My neighbor rode down to the tree/seed co-op with me and went into pick up the bushes for me so I could avoid a perfume attack, and he loves my dog Duke. I told him to pick out early cultivars and use his judgment regarding the appearance of the bushes. He was grinning when he came out and showed me that tag. Duke was with us, in the back seat, but he can't read and wasn't too impressed.

I always wanted some blueberry bushes; even planted some. But I couldn't get them to live. I'm thinking the summers here are too hot.

 

[turbo]

I always wanted some blueberry bushes; even planted some. But I couldn't get them to live. I'm thinking the summers here are too hot.

I can't get fruit trees and berry bushes to thrive here unless I buy them from the local co-op. They specialize in locally-grown trees and bushes that will do well here. I learned the hard way that I can't go to a commercial garden shop to get seedlings, nor can I order from the Arbor Day Foundation, despite their assurances of zone-hardiness. The trees are all grown in warmer zones and they can't take our winters.

Perhaps you have an agricultural co-op in your area where you can get high-bush blueberries appropriate for your zone. Blueberries are not really demanding. They like acidic soils, but aren't really fussy otherwise. The low-bush blueberries are even less demanding. They thrive along Maine's coastal zones where the "fields" that we call barrens are thin acidic soil full of rocks underlain by ledge. Still, with those conditions, we produce the best wild blueberries in the country.

 

[Evo]

I always wanted some blueberry bushes; even planted some. But I couldn't get them to live. I'm thinking the summers here are too hot.

I had some very nice blueberry bushes at the Pit of Doom until the Jaws of Death ate them.

 

[turbo]

I had some very nice blueberry bushes at the Pit of Doom until the Jaws of Death ate them.

Do you remember the cultivar name? Mine are all cold-weather performers that people in other zones call "early" cultivars. Maybe dlg could get started with some warmer weather varieties.

 

[dlgoff]

I recently saw some small starter bushes at The Home Depot, of all places, and though back to when I tried growing them. Now you've planted some and got me wanting to try again. Thanks for the info.

 

[turbo]

I recently saw some small starter bushes at The Home Depot, of all places, and though back to when I tried growing them. Now you've planted some and got me wanting to try again. Thanks for the info.

Good luck, dlg. I love blueberries, and my arthritis makes it almost impossible to pick low-bush blueberries because it is so painful for me to get to ground level, get back up, and move around.

 

[baywax]

I had no idea fuchsias were trees. I've got a whopper growing now and I'll get you a photo... the other thing I didn't know was that you can cut them back to stubble for the winter and re-start them in the spring.

 

[baywax]

Good luck, dlg. I love blueberries, and my arthritis makes it almost impossible to pick low-bush blueberries because it is so painful for me to get to ground level, get back up, and move around.

Hey turbo...!

There's got to be a berry for arthritis! We've got wild blueberries about 10 minutes from here. They're at about 1000 metres above sea level. they are actually quite low to the ground and much smaller than the cultivated variety. They really pack the taste mind you... totally tasty! The other thing about them is the variation from mineral deposit to mineral deposit. From the colour of the leaves to the size and taste of the berries... the variation is quite... varied! Sometimes you can pick them from below a ledge... you'd like that!

 

[turbo]

Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants, and the small wild low-bush varieties are really flavorful. The coastal regions of Maine are loaded with them. The whole area has been heavily glaciated and weathered and the soil is thin and crappy. When not much else wants to grow, wild blueberries thrive. The growers burn off the fields yearly to reduce grasses and weeds and make it easier to rake the berries.

It's a big (though seasonal) business here. http://www.wymans.com/

 

[rewebster]

from all this talk about blueberries, I bought some blueberry Newtons the other day

 

[turbo]

It's still a bit early for planting here (frequent frosts), except for cold-hardy plants, but it's a good time to prepare. The peas are already sprouting behind that plastic snow-fence, and I have erected some trellises for the buttercup squash, pickling cukes, and indeterminate (vining) tomatoes. I got sick of dealing with make-do solutions, so I shelled out ~$200 for a permanent, but movable solution. I went to Tractor Supply, bought a bunch of galvanized welded-wire cattle panels, and some T-posts with clips. I cut the 16' panels in half to make them more manageable and transportable. Drive the posts, hoe up the rows into nice raised beds (to help keep them from getting waterlogged in heavy rains), then set the panels and clip them to the posts. In the fall, I can tear everything down and store all the materials under my deck. These trellises will out-last me.

 

[rewebster]

I used concrete reinforcing wire, put up about 9 years ago for the tomatoes--I thought about the cattle panels too---if I had a little more garden space, I used either for a bunch of other stuff too--like the cukes and squash---I think I'd even try musk melons on them---just about anything that 'vines'

 

[turbo]

My neighbor uses concrete wire, too. It's not as rigid as the cattle panels, so it requires more T-posts, plus it flexes in the wind when the squash, etc is all leafed out. He built wood frames to deal with that in some applications, but I'd prefer not to get into a lot of wood-working and maintenance. These galvanized panels will last a good long time, and they are easy for one person to handle. I can tear down the whole set-up in an hour or so, so my garden will be clear for tilling with the tractor. Laziness is the mother of invention.

 

[dlgoff]

I have used cattle panels to keep the deer for my tomatoes in the past. You can take the 16 foot panel and roll it into a nice circular cage by wiring the edges together at a few places with some electric fence wire. Then plant a couple of plants in the middle and let them grow low to the ground inside.