Beginner Gardening: Total beginner with new raised bed & some questions, 0 by pacificbay

pacificbay wrote:
Hi everyone,

Edit 12 hours later with no replies yet ... Hmm, maybe I should have titled this one more interestingly? I hope someone has some info. Maybe I've just got to learn by experience.

Anyway: We built a raised veggie bed over the 4th of July weekend. Bought a bunch of plants to try, including heirloom tomatoes, corn, peppers, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, Greek oregano, and purple basil. We even threw in a cantaloupe plant because our little boy loves it and we thought it would be fun for him to grow his own. The evening after we planted everything it began sprinkling and it continued to rain all that evening and the next day, which was Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were off and on showers, but I watered a little bit yesterday after work because I had read you should keep the garden moist for the first week, and most of the latter part of the day yesterday it was cloudy, but not raining. Well today has dawned gloriously sunny and it looks like it might be a hot one, and I'm not sure what to do - should I go ahead and water knowing that it might get hot later? Or should I leave it be? We are in the far north coastal Pacific Northwest near the Canadian border.

My second question has to do with the lettuce and basil, as most of the plants look a little unhappy today. In fact, a bit wilted. I've done a fair amount of non-veggie gardening and I would see this as some kind of transplant shock, but they did great for the first couple of days so I don't think that's it. And with all the rain, I would think they wouldn't be lacking in water.

The lettuce varieties are Summer Crisp (the red kind) and Salad Mix (which is green, not as upright as Summer Crisp, but definitely not a head lettuce).

Thanks for any advice you can give! The photo is of one of the happier looking Summer Crisps. You can see one of the leaves of an unhappy one in the background. :(

Jennifer

This message was edited Jul 9, 2009 6:37 PM