What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

I just watched the forecast for my area (DirecTV by area code) and they are saying a 40% chance of thunderstorms late tonight but I don't see any hail in the forecast. To me, it looks like the heavier storms may be southeast of you. Anyway thanks for your hope.

Have you moved that pepper plant outdoors yet? You might want to make sure it's protected just in case.

I just checked and they've removed the "large damaging hail" from the forecast.

Everything is outside, but on a covered patio.

 

[dlgoff]

Everything is outside, but on a covered patio.

Now would be a good time to get some tomatoes going. A couple 5 gallon buckets with them should give a fairly good yield.

I talked to this guy that takes 5 gallon buckets, cuts a bottom hole (~2" diam), fills them with potting soil, sticks a tomato plant in the bottom and hangs it up for a upside down tomato planter. Might work; if you have a place to hang it.

 

[rhody]

Funny story based on Evo's post https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3019742&postcount=2602", a co-worker and I were discussing getting vegetable plants to pollenate indoors with access to natural insects, wind, and I mentioed Evo's post about vibrating the plant to get the blossoms pollinated, and I remembered Evo's post, well, three female co-workers were close by overheard the conversation and jumped in, it sort of went something like this, "You mean she used a vibrator to fertilize the plants ??!", immediately followed by cruder remarks that included taping a vibrator to a vegetable plant, from there, increased nervous laughter. They claim that I made the whole episode up, that was until I sent them the post listed above. They read it, and I haven't heard any snickering or crude comments since. I just thought I would mention it because I was trying to be helpful at getting indoor plants to produce fruit/peppers/etc... Goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.

Rhody...

P.S. Hot Peppers are doing good indoors, ready to plant them outside with the ornamental's after Memorial Day. BTW. Astronuc, have you started and had any luck with your seeds ? Same question for Evo, any of the chocolate ghost seeds survive ?

 

[dlgoff]

They claim that I made the whole episode up, that was until I sent them the post listed above. They read it, and I haven't heard any snickering or crude comments since.

You're the man rhody. Thanks for protecting our integrity here. Or should I say Evos integrity.

 

[turbo]

I wish there were some PF'ers within striking distance. My wife and I have transplanted an entire flat of habaneros into our garden, and I have another entire flat left. My neighbor surprised me by starting them in his big greenhouse, and he planted WAY too many. A 35' row of those little monsters is more than I'll need if we have a good year, even if I make all kinds of salsas and relishes. My neighbor and my brother have sworn off habanero relish after having problems due to over-indulgence, so I'm my best (only) customer.

 

[dlgoff]

I wish there were some PF'ers within striking distance. My wife and I have transplanted an entire flat of habaneros into our garden, and I have another entire flat left. My neighbor surprised me by starting them in his big greenhouse, and he planted WAY too many. A 35' row of those little monsters is more than I'll need if we have a good year, even if I make all kinds of salsas and relishes. My neighbor and my brother have sworn off habanero relish after having problems due to over-indulgence, so I'm my best (only) customer.

Very nice neighbor to give you these. Didn't you say you had to restart your seedlings?

A 35' row is a lot. What spacing distance did you use? Maybe bunch them up a little and plant the other flats worth between the others. Then worry about what you're going to do with all the extra fruit later.

 

[turbo]

Very nice neighbor to give you these. Didn't you say you had to restart your seedlings?

A 35' row is a lot. What spacing distance did you use? Maybe bunch them up a little and plant the other flats worth between the others. Then worry about what you're going to do with all the extra fruit later.

No worries. I tilled up a new garden spot with my tractor for our new neighbors yesterday, and after the cute little lady spent hours and hours pulling out the clods and roots today, I went back up and tilled that whole spot twice more. They say that they love hot food, and they will plant all of the habaneros. We'll see how tough they are. Red Savinas are pretty snarly. I gave them a couple of 6-packs of Mariana tomato plants, too. Those are Italian-style sauce tomatoes that yield very well, so they ought to be able to whip up some decent hot sauces...

 

[Ms Music]

I was a bad girl this weekend! I made boys and girls have sex together. :shock:

I had been at my mom's house, and noticed her rosemary absolutely COVERED with honey bees. So when I got home, I wandered around the yard. My rosemary had nothing. And all the other varieties of flowers only had one, MAYBE two bumble bees. I also had noticed that my tomatoes were not producing fruit, even though they had been flowering for a few weeks. (although some days were so cold and wet I left them inside, so I halfway expected that) So I went out and hand pollinated my tomatoes, and my kiwis.

The lack of bees in my neighborhood is a little disturbing. I think I will hand pollinate again tonight.

 

[turbo]

The lack of bees in my neighborhood is a little disturbing. I think I will hand pollinate again tonight.

We have had a severe shortage of honeybees for the last few years. I try to provide nesting opportunities for bumblebees and solitary mason bees, and keep the hummingbirds happy with lots of flowers and bee-balm, but I really miss the honeybees.

 

[Andre]

Incidentely, http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/vege016/vege016.htm but they are sensitive for cold weather

But it's an issue for other crop for sure.

 

[Ms Music]

I have been wondering if I am down wind of someone that uses heavy pesticides? My mom lives right on Puget Sound, so she is upwind of all the pesticides. I am only a couple of miles inland of her. But the difference was terrible!

Thanks Andre, I love the WSU site, but rumor has been going around that they are axing the program due to budget cuts. I just hope they leave the website!

3 years ago I brought a cherry tomato to work as an experiment. I tested nothing, shaking, and "pollinating", which actually consists of just lightly brushing the flower end with a small piece of tissue, not using a paint brush like normal. So I am not truly hand pollinating, but I found that method gave me the most fruit. And it is only a tiny bit more labor intensive than shaking.

But definitely the kiwi, I used a male flower to pollinate the females by squishing them together. I hope it is sufficient? I have had such terrible luck with males dying over the years, that having one live through winter AND flower? I want to eat kiwi! I haven't had fruit in about 5 years.

On another note, was it Evo that brought the jalapeno inside in winter? I went out, bought myself a gorgeous pot, and planted a jalapeno. This winter, I will bring it to work with me. (my office window faces south) Thank you for the idea, and I hope I have as much luck as you have had!

 

[Evo]

I have been wondering if I am down wind of someone that uses heavy pesticides? My mom lives right on Puget Sound, so she is upwind of all the pesticides. I am only a couple of miles inland of her. But the difference was terrible!

Thanks Andre, I love the WSU site, but rumor has been going around that they are axing the program due to budget cuts. I just hope they leave the website!

3 years ago I brought a cherry tomato to work as an experiment. I tested nothing, shaking, and "pollinating", which actually consists of just lightly brushing the flower end with a small piece of tissue, not using a paint brush like normal. So I am not truly hand pollinating, but I found that method gave me the most fruit. And it is only a tiny bit more labor intensive than shaking.

But definitely the kiwi, I used a male flower to pollinate the females by squishing them together. I hope it is sufficient? I have had such terrible luck with males dying over the years, that having one live through winter AND flower? I want to eat kiwi! I haven't had fruit in about 5 years.

On another note, was it Evo that brought the jalapeno inside in winter? I went out, bought myself a gorgeous pot, and planted a jalapeno. This winter, I will bring it to work with me. (my office window faces south) Thank you for the idea, and I hope I have as much luck as you have had!

Yes, I had huge success with my jalapenos and tomatoes through the winter, and a once or twice daily thumping of the branches to simulate natural movement that pollinates peppers and tomatoes has worked better for me.

 

[rhody]

On another note, was it Evo that brought the jalapeno inside in winter? I went out, bought myself a gorgeous pot, and planted a jalapeno. This winter, I will bring it to work with me. (my office window faces south) Thank you for the idea, and I hope I have as much luck as you have had!

Ms Music,

I have been growing bhut jolokia (hottest in the world) pepper plants now for three years, and last year was the first time I was successful at getting some incredibly hot peppers. During this journey, I bought a good pepper book, did some homework, and discovered that most pepper plants can survive from year to year and am told my variety can live up to 10 years, and have last years plants (trimmed back) and are now coming alive again after keeping them indoors all winter, you need to keep them watered, and can trim them back if you want.

The reason I tried this is because they are slow growing and susceptible to fungus, rot, and a host of other things. So far I have been able to keep my three plants going from last season and hope to get more peppers this year. Best of luck with trying to get more than one crop of peppers from your plants. If you try this method, please report back with any tips and tricks, they would be most appreciated.

Rhody...

P.S. These things like warm sun and soil temps around 80 - 85 F as ideal growing conditions with dry soil on top, not an easy thing to achieve without artificial intervention.

 

[NeoDevin]

I have been growing habaneros indoors for years. I started doing it when I lived in an apartment, and didn't have a garden. I found some cheap self-watering pots at walmart, and used them. They seem to work like a charm. I would put them on the balcony through the summer, and bring them in on stormy nights and during the winter.

 

[Evo]

Test.

 

[turbo]

I think our garden survived the heavy rain, hail, etc OK. I'm glad that I hilled up the rows well. I talked our new neighbors into hilling up the rows in the garden-spot that I tilled for them, and I checked their plants again today, and they seem fine. They have lots of ground-water, with water seeping out of the side of their lawn and running down the road, so aggressive hilling and good drainage are essential, especially when we have heavy rains.

 

[dlgoff]

Glad to hear your garden is surviving. I've lost two Brussels sprouts due to drowning.

 

[Ms Music]

Glad to hear your garden is surviving. I've lost two Brussels sprouts due to drowning.

That is a horrible loss! May the Brussels sprout gods smile down upon your remaining plants and bless them with bountiful, sweet goodness...

I love my Brussels sprouts so much, I even clean the leaves off the plants. My brother thought I was a freak, but now even HE realizes they take 2 seconds to stir fry, and they taste just as good (or even better) as the sprouts! Last year I got them all to myself. THIS spring we actually fought over the leaves.

(I wish my slugs would drown... )

 

[Ms Music]

P.S. These things like warm sun and soil temps around 80 - 85 F as ideal growing conditions with dry soil on top, not an easy thing to achieve without artificial intervention.

Especially around my neck of the woods! I will have to keep that in mind. Maybe the pot should be kept here for the moment... It looks good for the moment, but now I fear fungus... Too much rain...

Thanks, everyone, for the tips! I will keep you all posted.

 

[dlgoff]

I love my Brussels sprouts so much, I even clean the leaves off the plants. My brother thought I was a freak, but now even HE realizes they take 2 seconds to stir fry, and they taste just as good (or even better) as the sprouts! Last year I got them all to myself. THIS spring we actually fought over the leaves.

I never knew you could eat the leaves! Learn something every day.

I did a little googling and came up with this :

http://culiblog.org/2006/01/brussels-pearls-neither-bitter-nor-farty/"

 

[ZapperZ]

I seem to be getting quite a bountiful of flowers, both indoors and outdoors.

Our roses are, how shall I say it, coming up roses! They were planted last year, and this year, they seem to be coming up like gangbusters. There are also more buds that will open up later, but it is anything close to this, it will be extremely lovely.

Indoors, the orchids are going mad! MAD! All of my orchids are flowering right now, and the amount of flowers are the largest that I've ever had. Each orchids are coming up with several flowering stems, which doesn't happen very often.

The first picture here is one of the old-timers - Purple. She has been flowering consistently over the past 6 to 7 years. This year, she has outdone herself. This is the second flowering spurt she has had within the last 12 months.
[PLAIN]http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5866/img1555am.jpg

Freckles is also a long-timer. She had a few rough spots here and then, but this year, she also outdid herself, coming up with not one, not two, but THREE flowering stems!
[URL]http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4085/img1550qo.jpg[/URL]

[PLAIN]http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/9519/img1547a.jpg

This last one is a new coming. Several months ago, a friend gave me a small orchid plant. It came in one of those Styrofoam coffee cup, and it had only 2 leaves. I took it home, transplanted it to a pot, and took care of it, not knowing at all what it would look like. When it certainly came out in full style now. With three flowering stems, the plant is spectacular. The flowers are small, and purplish. I call this plant Little One. But there's nothing little about the visual impact of this orchid.
[URL]http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/3746/img1541v.jpg[/URL]

[URL]http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5483/img1539pd.jpg[/URL]

With the lilies and other flowers also about to bloom, it is flowering all over!

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

Beautiful flowers, Zz. You obviously have the magic touch!


Around our area, we are having cool weather - unusual for June. It was about 60 F this morning, and yesterday it was around 66F in the afternoon. Three and four days ago, it was 100 F in our backyard in the afternoon. A cool front moved in, and high winds came with it. On Friday we have some severe thunderstorms roll across our area. Trees were damaged, as were power lines.

 

[rhody]

Nice plants, Zz, Freckles, Little One, never thought to name mine. I see your logic, it fits, freckles can be used to differentiate from Daughter of Freckles, Loss of Freckles, Where are my Freckles, etc... lol.

Going to put my struggling Ghost peppers in box next to windows on garage, I will post pics, if and when they start to flower.

Rhody...

 

[ZapperZ]

Nice plants, Zz, Freckles, Little One, never thought to name mine. I see your logic, it fits, freckles can be used to differentiate from Daughter of Freckles, Loss of Freckles, Where are my Freckles, etc... lol.

Giving them names make them easier to refer to, like anything else. :)

Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be "daughter of freckles" unless it starts growing off-shoots.

Zz.

 

[Evo]

Absolutely awesome Zz! I used to be a member of the American Rose Society, so let me know if you have any rose questions. At one time I had over 80 bushes in raised beds with walkways between them.

 

[dlgoff]

Absolutely awesome Zz! I used to be a member of the American Rose Society, so let me know if you have any rose questions. At one time I had over 80 bushes in raised beds with walkways between them.

Just curious. Was this in Texas?

 

[Evo]

Just curious. Was this in Texas?

Yes, I also belonged to the Houston Rose Society and the Gladiolus society.

I have pictures stored in the garage, I want to get them scanned. I'll upload them.

 

[dlgoff]

Yes, I also belonged to the Houston Rose Society and the Gladiolus society.

I have pictures stored in the garage, I want to get them scanned. I'll upload them.

Very cool. I'd love to see the pictures if you have the time to scan them.

 

[Evo]

Anyone know what these are? Are they edible?

 

[turbo]

Anyone know what these are? Are they edible?

The morphology of mushrooms is subject to lots of variation, and there are regional variations that most of us can't address. You'd be well-advised to ignore any identifications that you get on-line. Some mushrooms are very nasty. The father of a friend got really sick after eating mushrooms that he had picked, then seemed to get better. That's when he ended up in intensive care, fighting for his life. He never completely recovered from that.