What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

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Gardening is a cherished activity for many participants, with roots tracing back to childhood experiences and family traditions. Organic gardening methods are favored, emphasizing the use of natural techniques over chemicals. Current gardening efforts include cultivating perennials like blueberries and raspberries, alongside plans for vegetable and herb gardens. Participants express a desire for more space to garden, reflecting on the challenges of apartment living and the joy of nurturing plants. The discussion highlights cultural differences in gardening practices, particularly contrasting American and Spanish lifestyles regarding home and garden ownership.
  • #2,301
Evo said:
I'm expecting to wake up and find that vines have encased my house.

That would make for an interesting excuse to not go to work.

:smile:

Iron phosphate... Pardon my sounding dumb for a moment, but is that different than the normal stuff you get in a box? I have resisted slug bait in hopes that I might get some chickens, but I caved and put some down over the weekend... I may have to leave my chickens in Eastern Wa to get my garden healthy again...
 
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  • #2,302
Ms Music said:
That would make for an interesting excuse to not go to work.

:smile:

Iron phosphate... Pardon my sounding dumb for a moment, but is that different than the normal stuff you get in a box? I have resisted slug bait in hopes that I might get some chickens, but I caved and put some down over the weekend... I may have to leave my chickens in Eastern Wa to get my garden healthy again...

The iron phosphate type is marketed as Sluggo (and some other brands, I think). The kinds that use metaldehyde are not safe around pets, but I'm not sure about chickens...I wouldn't use it if you want to eat the eggs.

It's probably best to check with a vet about iron phosphate. It's marketed as "pet safe" but you know how marketing goes.
 
  • #2,303
I went to my neighbor's place to check my garlic plot today. Tomorrow, I should go snap garlic scapes again. There are some slacker German scapes that need to be harvested, and the red Russians are coming gang-busters.

I am so happy that he gave me his main garden spot for my garlic for this season. The "soil" is really rich compost and worm-castings, and the crop should be scary-good. If the garlic is really good, I'll split my crop with my neighbor for next year's seed, and we'll use his garlic for consumption and to give away to others who want to get started. I gave starter garlic to quite a few people last year, and this year I'll start quite a few more.

If there is a PF member that wants to grow garlic and can travel to central Maine by July or so, I'll gladly get you going. Hard-neck garlic is wonderful - WAY better than the stuff you can buy at the supermarket.
 
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  • #2,304
I snapped a large basketful of scapes today, and my wife broke out the olive oil, nuts, food processor, Romano cheese and seasonings and made enough garlic-scape pesto to last us a couple of years. Duke sat beside me on the back deck while we snapped scapes for processing (the lower part of the scape is what you want - the upper part is tough). He is too polite to beg, but he is a good hinter. :biggrin: He got a few pieces, here and there.

This morning while it was cool, I rototilled, rock-picked, and weeded the lower end of the garden spot, and hoed up the last two beds. Mostly to be used for staggered multiple plantings of herbs like cilantro, dill, etc, that need to be properly in-season when vegetables like tomatoes and peppers are ready for harvest.
 
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  • #2,305
Re: gardening tools. I highly recommend the Echo TC-210 tiller. It is a lightweight high-revving 2-stroke tiller with worm gear drive. It is capable of tackling thick lawn and turning it into a flower bed in no time. Very powerful for its size and weight. I bought the machine used from a friend who sells and repairs small outdoor equipment. He assured me that he had sold well over 100 of these units, and that after years, none of them have needed more than routine maintenance and minor repairs. He's a straight-shooter, and he only stocks and sells stuff that he believes in. Unlike the people at the garden shops, big-box stores, and others, he knows what works and what lasts. You don't have to trust his recommendation, but I do.

In the case of long stringy grass it's best to consider scalping the area first with a mower before tilling, because tough long grass can wrap around the final drive shaft and muck things up. The machine is easy to clean of such clogs - it's just a pain to have to stop and do so when a bit of pre-planning would have eliminated that problem. I bought a 6' PTO tiller for my Kubota, so fall and spring tilling is covered. The little Echo will cover the active growing season easily. I haven't tried a Mantis and can't compare, but the old Murray mini-tiller that I owned is a joke compared to this Echo.
 
  • #2,306
turbo-1 said:
He is too polite to beg, but he is a good hinter. :biggrin: He got a few pieces, here and there.
I'm sure that's okay but he is a big dog so I wouldn't leave him alone with the garlic.

Large amounts of garlic will produce similar toxicity problems in both dogs and cats. I think that the amount required is not likely to be eaten by a cat but there are probably a few dogs who would lap up a container of spilled garlic.

http://www.vetinfo.com/dtoxin.html"
 
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  • #2,307
Ms Music said:
On the flip side of the coin, my slugs are very happy! :rolleyes:
My mother used to fill shallow dishes with beer. Slugs love beer, they go in and drown. But they die happy.
 
  • #2,308
We're about to get hit with 70+mph winds and a raging thunderstorm.

I moved all of the plants under the covered patio and keeping my fingers crossed that my guess that the winds will be from the north, based on radar, that the bit of wall on the north side can protect them. Since all of the Evo Child's stuff is stacked everywhere waiting for the move, I don't know where I'd put them inside.
 
  • #2,309
Good luck with the gales, Evo! We have 90 deg+ again here today in the shade. I pop out onto the deck periodically to check my baked (baking) beans. I'm using indirect heat from the side-smoker to keep the charcoal grill at about 300 deg. So far, so good, and the beans are smelling fine. When they are done and I need to start reducing the juices, I'll throw some chunks of soaked hickory on the coals to see if the smoke adds anything to the finished product. (hope, hope, hope)
 
  • #2,310
Evo said:
My mother used to fill shallow dishes with beer. Slugs love beer, they go in and drown. But they die happy.

I remember reading about this method years ago, in Organic Gardening & Farming Magazine. Glad you're Mom had good luck with it. I wish it were that easy to eliminate other soft-bodied garden pests (cutworms, tomato hornworms, squash borers...)
 
  • #2,311
Ouabache said:
I remember reading about this method years ago, in Organic Gardening & Farming Magazine. Glad you're Mom had good luck with it. I wish it were that easy to eliminate other soft-bodied garden pests (cutworms, tomato hornworms, squash borers...)
eeeew, those have to be removed by hand. or get an assasin bug. unfortunately assasin bugs kill everything, good or bad. :(
 
  • #2,312
Evo said:
eeeew, those have to be removed by hand. or get an assasin bug. unfortunately assasin bugs kill everything, good or bad. :(
Overall assassin bugs are good. They prey on beetles, slugs, etc that are slow. Once in a while, they will catch and kill a pollinator like a bee, but mostly they take easy targets.
 
  • #2,313
Ouabache said:
I remember reading about this method years ago, in Organic Gardening & Farming Magazine. Glad you're Mom had good luck with it. I wish it were that easy to eliminate other soft-bodied garden pests (cutworms, tomato hornworms, squash borers...)
I've heard about using foil wrapped around the stems of plants for cutworms. There is a parasitic wasp that like hornworms, otherwise one has to use a fine mesh (or row cover) to keep the moths from laying eggs on the tomato plants. I'll have to look into borers, but I seem to think foil was also recommended.

Otherise, it's best to rotate crops.

Row cover can let the light/rain in but excludes insects.
 
  • #2,314
Astronuc said:
I've heard about using foil wrapped around the stems of plants for cutworms. There is a parasitic wasp that like hornworms, otherwise one has to use a fine mesh (or row cover) to keep the moths from laying eggs on the tomato plants. I'll have to look into borers, but I seem to think foil was also recommended.
Row cover can let the light/rain in but excludes insects.

Great Tips!
I have used something similar on cutworms, I made collars from paper cups around the base of young plants. Also used a sprinkling of crushed eggshells around the base of stems.
Good on parasitic wasps for hornworms. I do leave the parasitized hornworms on the plants when I see them.

I am trying the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPq8Bc2g90" seedlings just after they popped up. I even replanted and they did it again. I hope the 'row cover' will discourage them varmints and also side benefit should keep out insect pests. It's a great way to be environmentally green to my garden, by not needing to spray pesticides. But ironically the material is a petroleum product (like polar fleece).

Slugs show a toxicity to http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/slug.html" , suggesting that coffee grounds sprinkled at the base of plants would keep away slugs. We may want to collect some data and find out if coffee grounds (brewed versus non-brewed) provides a sufficient concentration of caffeine to suppress slugs. Another trial may be conducted using tea leaves and cocoa.
 
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  • #2,315
Evo said:
We're about to get hit with 70+mph winds and a raging thunderstorm.

I moved all of the plants under the covered patio and keeping my fingers crossed that my guess that the winds will be from the north, based on radar, that the bit of wall on the north side can protect them. Since all of the Evo Child's stuff is stacked everywhere waiting for the move, I don't know where I'd put them inside.

Hi Evo, that's exactly the same situation here. Specifically what kinds of herb you'd grow during that time?

Carmel
 
  • #2,316
Would you believe it? I put a ginger rhizome in a pot on windowsill here, in Poland. It nicely started to grow but yesterday I found some caterpillar ate top leaf, where the stalk grows (and if you don't understand what was really eaten don't worry, I have troubles naming it correctly even in Polish).

Ginger being eaten by Polish bugs... that's r-selection in its purest form.
 
  • #2,317
I can't believe I'm having so many problems with critters attacking my plants when I live in an urban development. I planted 3 melon plants, 2 different watermelon types and 1 cantaloupe type. They are spaced very far apart. I go out and check on them this morning AND ALL OF THE LEAVES OFF OF EVERY PLANT ARE GONE! Some animal must have gone to each plant and eaten all of the leaves. Do groundhogs do this? My neighbor's dogs killed the one I had problems with before. I tried the groundhog traps and they didn't catch anything. Any ideas? Did the groundhog have babies? Will my melons survive?
 
  • #2,318
More bug problems. Seems to be a common theme, this time of year.

This year I have more ants than I've seen in previous years. I thought to use fresh cedar chips in the pathways of my garden, where the ant holes are. Cedar is a bug repellent after all...right?

I bought a bag but once I opened it I realized I bought shavings, not chips. So I raked it into last year's chips and watered everything down. After a few rains it should be tamped down, but until then any little wind will blow the shavings around :frown:.

But if it works, it's a great smelling way to get rid of the pests! I'll report back what happens.
 
  • #2,319
Got ants? Get terro baits. Borax in sugar water. It works.
 
  • #2,320
turbo-1 said:
Got ants? Get terro baits. Borax in sugar water. It works.
My mother always mixed borax and sugar and put it in little trays and would slide them under the fridge, the sinks, etc...
 
  • #2,321
Borek said:
Would you believe it? I put a ginger rhizome in a pot on windowsill here, in Poland. It nicely started to grow but yesterday I found some caterpillar ate top leaf, where the stalk grows (and if you don't understand what was really eaten don't worry, I have troubles naming it correctly even in Polish).

Ginger being eaten by Polish bugs... that's r-selection in its purest form.

Here's what need to get rid of it: right soil, just enough water, and protection from the cold winter months, and companion plants would help.
________________
Carmel Santos
CEO of http://www.herbgardeningguide.com.au/
The Australian Guide to Herb Gardening
 
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  • #2,322
FINALLY CAUGHT IT!

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/659/20100627202311.jpg

Pretty big little bugger. Close to 4-5 kilos. Boy did it smell to high heaven.
 
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  • #2,323
Good job. If you released it, I hope you put some distance between the critter and your garden.
 
  • #2,324
gravenewworld said:
FINALLY CAUGHT IT!

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/659/20100627202311.jpg

Pretty big little bugger. Close to 4-5 kilos. Boy did it smell to high heaven.
Cute!

I've had gardens destroyed by adorable little bunnies before. :frown:
 
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  • #2,325
I have stakes planted all around my potted plants, no animal could have entered without getting impaled, nothing was disturbed, but all of my largest jalapenos were ripped off my plants and vanished (I did find one tiny one). Would birds chew through the stems of jalapenos and fly off with them? If not, my squirrels have conquered gravity. :rolleyes:
 
  • #2,326
Evo said:
Would birds chew through the stems of jalapenos and fly off with them? If not, my squirrels have conquered gravity. :rolleyes:

It never pays to underestimate squirrels. Try starting with the assumption that they're already capable of interstellar travel, and then figure a way to keep them out.
 
  • #2,327
PhaseShifter said:
It never pays to underestimate squirrels. Try starting with the assumption that they're already capable of interstellar travel, and then figure a way to keep them out.
:smile: <snork>
 
  • #2,328
Evo said:
I have stakes planted all around my potted plants, no animal could have entered without getting impaled, nothing was disturbed, but all of my largest jalapenos were ripped off my plants and vanished (I did find one tiny one). Would birds chew through the stems of jalapenos and fly off with them? If not, my squirrels have conquered gravity. :rolleyes:
I bet they're in the bellies of deer. You need taller stakes. Lots taller.

PhaseShifter said:
It never pays to underestimate squirrels. Try starting with the assumption that they're already capable of interstellar travel, and then figure a way to keep them out.
:smile: I love you guys. This place is great.
 
  • #2,329
dlgoff said:
I bet they're in the bellies of deer. You need taller stakes. Lots taller.

:smile: I love you guys. This place is great.
Yep! Deer love chilies. I lost a nice bushy habanero plant that my sister-in-law had over-wintered for me. Planted it one day - chewed to a nub the next day, with plenty of deer tracks around.

I don't know if deer are immune to the cap', but I suspect they are. That plant was already fruiting.
 
  • #2,330
turbo-1 said:
Yep! Deer love chilies. I lost a nice bushy habanero plant that my sister-in-law had over-wintered for me. Planted it one day - chewed to a nub the next day, with plenty of deer tracks around.
:cry: Damn deer. So far my homemade "deer crow" is working. :smile:

I actually picked some tomatoes just now.
 
  • #2,331
dlgoff said:
:cry: Damn deer. So far my homemade "deer crow" is working. :smile:

I actually picked some tomatoes just now.
Congrats! We are loaded with leaf-lettuce and arugula and the sweet peas are coming in OK. Tomatoes and peppers are a long way away.

We have planted dill and cilantro, and will stagger-plant more in the coming weeks so that we will have dill florets and fresh cilantro to make salsas and pickles when the vegetables come to harvest.
 
  • #2,332
Nope, no deer here. I'll have to post a picture of the stakes, they're 2-3 inches apart, and several feet high. The peppers were down near the base of the plant. These are small pots on my patio. Got to be some crazy bird, or teleporting anti-gravity squirrels.
 
  • #2,333
I have a wild strawberry plant in the garden that had its fruit picked off, bitten, and tossed to the ground. I suspect squirrels. They can't figure out that if the first one doesn't taste good the rest probably won't either.
 
  • #2,334
Ahahaha, anyone that knows plants will immediately know the mistake this gardening newbie made. And this person actually put up a "how to" website for small space gardening! :smile: The blurb that went with this explained that you just put more plants in the same container. I count at least 3 marigolds in there with that poor tomato seedling.
 

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  • #2,335
I pruned my indeterminate tomato plants this morning. Got rid of yellowing foliage on the bottom of the plants, and all the suckers emerging from between the main stems and the horizontal leaves. They're flowering already, and should be tied up to the support fence soon.
 
  • #2,336
Evo said:
Ahahaha, anyone that knows plants will immediately know the mistake this gardening newbie made. And this person actually put up a "how to" website for small space gardening! :smile: The blurb that went with this explained that you just put more plants in the same container. I count at least 3 marigolds in there with that poor tomato seedling.

Normally a bit of tomato plant may overpower the marigolds, however maybe the idea behind this is http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/mar03/pg1.html

Not sure what is hard and proven or merely an affirming the consequence fallacy.
 
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  • #2,337
Andre said:
Normally a bit of tomato plant may overpower the marigolds, however maybe the idea behind this is http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/mar03/pg1.html

Not sure what is hard and proven or merely an affirming the consequence fallacy.
I know that marigolds are supposed to ward off insects, but the point is something in that pot is going to get choked out, or all you'll ever get is a few scrawny plants that look like crap. You just can't over crowd things like that.
 
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  • #2,338
Evo said:
I know that marigolds are supposed to ward off insects, but the point is something in that pot is going to get choked out, or all you'll ever get is a few scrawny plants that look like crap. You just can't over crowd things like that.

Yes and like we discovered earlier in this thread, marigolds are really only good for warding off nematodes... and that's only if the soil conditions are proper and the marigold is a certain variety. My guess is that the tomato will win. Tomatos have their own pesticide built into the point that if you eat the tomato greens you will be poisoned. All this without GM.
 
  • #2,339
baywax said:
Yes and like we discovered earlier in this thread, marigolds are really only good for warding off nematodes... and that's only if the soil conditions are proper and the marigold is a certain variety. My guess is that the tomato will win. Tomatos have their own pesticide built into the point that if you eat the tomato greens you will be poisoned. All this without GM.
Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and capsicum (peppers) are all in the nightshade family.
 
  • #2,340
TomWinners said:
I know that marigolds are supposed to ward off insects, but the point is something in that pot is going to get choked out, or all you'll ever get is a few scrawny plants that look like crap. You just can't over crowd things like that.

Oops. I had to read that three times before I realized you were talking about *the* pot, not pot :redface:. Must have spent too much time in the (cloud-filtered) sun today.
 
  • #2,341
lisab said:
Oops. I had to read that three times before I realized you were talking about *the* pot, not pot :redface:. Must have spent too much time in the (cloud-filtered) sun today.
That was my post, I assume this member was trying to quote my post and failed?
 
  • #2,342
Evo said:
That was my post, I assume this member was trying to quote my post and failed?

Hmm now I'm really confused...the post I quoted is gone :confused:.
 
  • #2,343
lisab said:
Hmm now I'm really confused...the post I quoted is gone :confused:.
scroll up to my post #2347 in response to andre. The member re-posted my post.
 
  • #2,344
Oooh, oooh, I want to grow mushrooms and make cheese.

Who wants to make an old woman's dreams come true?
 
  • #2,345
Evo said:
Oooh, oooh, I want to grow mushrooms and make cheese.

Who wants to make an old woman's dreams come true?

that doesn't have anything to do with mushrooms and cheese, right?
 
  • #2,346
Evo said:
Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and capsicum (peppers) are all in the nightshade family.

As is tobacco.

But that photo makes me wonder whether there's a website out there where biologist can gamble on which species will dominate the ecosystem where resources (or space) are severely restricted.
 
  • #2,347
Gardening is challenging at the moment. Yesterday, we had a maximum temperature of 99°F (37°C) in the shade - at 5 pm. The hot weather is supposed to persist until Thursday.

Now we have to water everything at least once by every third day.

Many local crops are maturing/ripening weeks ahead of normal schedule.
 
  • #2,348
We're watering here, too. Very hot and humid, but no significant rain. The broccoli is heading already and the spinach is long gone - it bolted weeks ago. There are blossoms on the tomato and pepper plants, though the plants haven't developed enough size and stem-girth to actually support fruit. Sweet peas are coming all at once instead of setting on and ripening in stages. This is a very odd year, so far.

My apple trees have set on too much fruit, and are dropping some apples spontaneously, though I may have to remove some by hand to avoid over-crowding and overloaded branches. The cultivated raspberries and wild blackberries are absolutely loaded this year. Hopefully, the milky spore got the Japanese beetle grubs, and the relatively warm winter allowed voles to decimate them, too. They destroyed the meager raspberry crops of the past couple of years, and I'd like to get these picked and processed.
 
  • #2,349
Not too far from Astronuc and we haven't had sun, in fact we haven't had spring. The forecast is looking better with 30 degrees C by the end of the week. The farmers have been freaking. My meager garden has been wimpy at best.
 
  • #2,350
Evo said:
Oooh, oooh, I want to grow mushrooms and make cheese.

Who wants to make an old woman's dreams come true?

Well Evo, if you want to make feta (goat's cheese) we have just the playground for your goats here in beautiful Vancouver BC...

[PLAIN]http://www.vancouvertrails.com/images/hikes/the-lions.jpg
 
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