Hi!!! I am enjoying reading the posts on this forum...I set up a square foot type garden this fall. I filled the beds with something called Enviromulch and Black Kow Composted manure. I started planting seeds Sept 26. I live In the same general area (zone 10a) as BocaBob and TiPlant? I think it is. Sorry I am awful with names.
I am looking to add an automatic watering system to 5- 4foot by 4 foot squares and two 8 by two foot squares. I really like the Instagarden sets that BocaBob is selling. I am thinking I will set up one of the long narrow beds with tomatos and that system.
I think I need a drip system for the square beds. Most contain peas, beans, lettuce with a smattering of radish, beets, chard and kale. One bed is completely beans and I keep reading not to get the leaves wet to avoid spreading disease. So far I am watering with a hand held sprayer or a cup and bucket. It has hardly rained more than once in the last three weeks.
My questions-I have more than a few
Anyone have any idea if 4 drip lines across 4 foot wide beds would make the bed evenly moist?
Does anyone have an organic control they like for tiny ants? They seem to like this fresh loose soil and the moisture. Do I need to control them? I suspect I may have a fire ant colony trying to start up in the bean bed. The other tiny ants are not so easily aroused as these fire type ants.
It is still 90 degrees during the day here. Knowing that, do you think I get any edible greens or will they be too bitter to bear eating? Peas have come up, though I fear a poor harvest if this heat continues. I really thought it would get cooler by now. The first set of green I planted is a mesclun mix. It came up within 4 days, and then just sat there. Do I need to fertilize the seedlings?
I have planted pole beans with my corn. and a watermelon for shading the soil. I really hope those take off. All have sprouted well. The only thing I am still waiting to sprout are basil, tomatoes (everglades tomato seed sold by a local nursery) and pepper. I will resow if they don't come up in another week. Do they always take so long to sprout?
I am sure I will have lots more questions, but I am off to read past posts for more ideas and answers.
Thanks for reading...Kathy
Introduction-my South Florida Garden.
Hi Kathy. I think we will get lucky by the end of next week. Much cooler temps are forcast (FINALLY). The cool weather crops will not grow until it cools off, especially lettuce. Peas hate the heat. If you planted tomato seed directly in the bed, make sure the soil is not drying out or your seeds will never "hatch". (not too wet, but moist all the time) Basil and peppers take much longer to sprout than tomatoes. You need to fertilize once you see true leaves. A soaker hose might do you good in the larger beds, or my system that waters each plant .
BocaBob
Boca Bob,
Thanks for the quick reply! It will be fun to see what grows for me!
Here are 4 of the raised beds, two in the foreground and two at the end of the pool. This was taken last weekend before I planted most of the beds. You can see the first bed has little mesclun seedlings and bush beans coming up
Here are the narrower beds. I planted the corn first and two weeks later planted the pole beans. Just one bed is planted. Sorry, I cannot figure out how to make that image turn around in the post...you will just have to tilt your head....LoL...
Kathy: Those are beautiful raised beds, what did you use for a medium? I've often thought about raised beds, especially for root veggies.
joy
Joy,
The medium is a product called Enviro-mulch and Black Kow compost. My guess from the slow growth I am experiencing, is that I added too little composted manure. I can always add more. It is harder to take it out if I add too much.
Is the mulch mixed in with the manuare
Yes it is. But there are only two bags of the Black Kow manure to however much Enviromulch I purchased to fill my six beds.
What do the instructions on the Black Cow state and did you follow them? You have to water heavily for the manure to take affect.
Tplant.. good to see you post. I never saw the bag for the Black Kow so I have no clue if there were any instructions on the bag....I sadly had to have help dealing with a pickup load of the enviromulch and getting it from the front to the back yard. I will go do more research. The beds are constantly moist, but not wet.
Thanks for the response!
Going now to see if I can find directions online..for the Black Kow.....
I have three bags of Black Kow myself, took the trusty flashlight out side and read the directions here they are: For beds add 5-8 lbs per square ft of bed, spread to 1 1/2" thick mix into top 6" of soil. Does that help any? Hmmm, I used it on my canna beds and all I did was cover the tops of the beds with it? It's getting chilly up here and I add this to the canna beds for nourishment for them over the fall/winter, as we don't dig up our rhizomes here, they overwinter nicely.
joy
altho I do mix the black kow in the soil, I too use it just as a to dressing..almost like a mulch thereafter. Besides the weeds thinking its the best thing ever, it has worked great for me.
mesclun...do you continually grow them, kathy? i love mesclun greens.