I use a rope light under some oil dry. ( like kitty litter) in a box I made. 2" deep x 24" w x48" L. with 2 shop lights hanging right over top of it. the seed flats sit right on the oil dry. stays right close to 80 degrees and 3 to 4 days those tomatoes are breaking ground. Peppers aren't far behind. Not professional but it works for me.
you all are so creative :) Russ, do you think my taters will grow okay in plastic milk crates with the old straw from last year?
Connie
Connie, not Russ, but I did this last year with peppers They did good. Don't know why potatoes wouldn't also.
AWESOME!!! Add another little "to do" to my growing list LOL Thanks:)
Connie
Russ: excellent job on the home-made heating box. Does the job.
That's something that my Daddy would have done. Use the materials on hand and make it work.
I'm looking across my yard (our old cow pasture) at the barn Daddy built in the 60's from lumber he recycled from another building that was probably 40 years old then.
Daddy used small pine trees for rafters and framing.
The tin top was the only thing "new" he bought.
Even the nails were recycled and bent back straight enough to drive.
LOL, that is when they made good nails Kent.
BTW, how is your daddy?
Connie I tried to grow potatoes in a stack of tires,using old straw and sand, I didn't get them in very early, so it was a very UN successful venture. I think I will try it again but get them in earlier. The rest of the potatoes I planted in dirt did well even though they got tough to dig due to hard ground. My best potatoes were the Yukon Gold the kennibecs were all little.
I did try to grow them in old straw 2 years ago It was also UN successful. I think my problem may have been that I didn't water them enough. I am used to dirt gardening and not having to water.
Being blessed with great soil and then trying to do some straw bale gardening as well as dirt gardening is two very different methods and straw bale does require more watering than I am used to. If I had poorer soil and not as much rain, I may have been accustomed watering more often and would have done a better job. My tomatoes and squash that were in bales done great however.
Jeanette: Daddy has improved as time has gone by. Got a meeting next week with nursing home staff as to where he goes in the near future: home or assisted living.
He thinks he'll be able to drive again, but those days are over.
Thanks for asking.
Kent
Connie, when my daughter was in grade school (many many years ago since she is over 50 now) she dug a trench, tossed the seed potatoes in along the trench and then strewed straw on top of them, and that was it. Yes, she did water them once in a while Russ. But, when they were ready, she just pulled the straw back and picked up how many potatoes we needed for dinner. They were all nice and clean because they were not grown in soil. and no digging. They probably would have done better if she had thrown them some fertilizer once in a while.
Therefore, it seems to me that your idea would work. Not all of us have Russ's good soil.
That's the good part I am looking for...clean potatoes without having to dig hard ground. We do have a small area of good soil but it is in a low lying area. Not just ours...everyone's yard. We have built it up some but it still holds too much water when it rains. Love the straw bales for keeping the plants above it.
Connie
Jeanette That sounds wonderful and I may just have to give that very system a try this year. I can still get all the old loose straw I want just for hauling it off. unfortunately there are no bales left.I'm not having a big garden this year but always need potatoes and that sounds very interesting and I would like to try it.
I will try to have the trench ready with the straw in place and drop the potatoes in on Good Friday, If I cover them with a little more straw and a lite covering of soil, that should hold sufficient moisture, while I am gone. One thing a nitrogen rich soil will do is give you lots of foliage not many potatoes and they may be rather scabby" rough skinned"
I'll watch that I don't plant too many. One year I planted 35 lbs got a return of over 700 lbs. I do of course know of several people that would help me get rid of any extra. LOL
Russ, are you saying that I will need to add dirt to the straw I put in the crates? We bought a load of compost late last year. Don't want all pretty plants, I want some yummy taters LOL
Connie
I would add a little Connie. Can't hurt. They have to have a little something. My daughter didn't, but you might get a heavier production than she did too. I agree w/Russ, a little of something might help with that. Just remember everyone's soil is different. My daughter put the seed potatoes directly on the earth, soil. rather than put straw in the trench Russ.
They didn't grow into the ground, but must have gotten something from it.
plus, she didn't use what we have now as seed potatoes. She cut up cooking potatoes. But now they treat those so they won't sprout good don't they Russ?
I have heard people swear by the tire planting too Russ. The heat from the tires, plus they hold the moisture. Maybe it would have helped for you to add a little soil to them too.
Been lurking here a long time, learning. Going to try just 10 bales to start this year, to see how I do. Thanks for all the information, everybody.
Linny
Linny, good luck, keep us posted, and we like pictures.
Connie, I see in the Gardens Alive catalog they have fertilizer for potatoes. Might see what the NPK mix is and see what you can do. Even a little compost might help.
Even tho she got potatoes with her method there is nothing to say you can't get more.
YAY Linny!!! You will love it and everyone on here is soooo very helpful :)
Thanks, Jeanette!! I think I will add some compost maybe in the bottom then straw as they grow???? Okay...I confess...I have never grown them before. I do want red ones and baking ones. Russ, are those Yukon Gold baking potatoes? I know I have to be careful 'cause I don't want scabby tators lol
Connie
Congrats once again, Kent, on your article in Carolina Country.
I didn't have good luck with my bales from two years ago and have decided to try again. I can't seem to get the fertilization down right. Plus I think that I picked the wrong spot for them. They were packed too close together and all the damaging insects had a field day hopping from one plant to another.
Hope springs eternal.
Helen
Connie; They bake very well. Their flavor is only slightly different than other baking tatters. Their flesh is a slight yellow, just off a slight from white. The one thing I have found I don't like about them is If you leave them to get as large a tatter as possible they have a tendency to split on the inside and form sort of a skin within that split. Just have to rake that part aside on your plate.lol
Thanks Russ!!!
Connie
I would not grow them for bakers. Good as mashed, with cream cheese, chives, etc. LOL but not bakers. Grow something else. Tell her what ones to grow to bake Russ. Russets? I like the Reds to bake. They are delicious, but don't know how they keep. Russets keep good if you have a cold place to keep them.
Helen: thanks and welcome aboard! I updated the "recipe" for starting the bales to not even include any sort of nitrogen additives. Just water and time and some good temps will prepare the bales for transplanting.
Kent
I haven't seen that Kent, but think you might be wrong doing that since we, up here in the north country, have such a short season that when those temps come we can't afford to not have our plants in there and getting established. We don't have time to let the bales cook at that good temperature.
Hope you made some allowances for us.
Where can I find the new directions? I'll probably still add bloodmeal, at least that means I'm doing "something" and am not totally lazy....
Here is a pic of my new bales I started watering in Tuesday. Since I had run out of Ammonium Sulfate I bought a new bag yesterday and will start watering it in today. I will plant tomatoes in the bales March 15. Tomatoes love my straw bales!
Here we go!
A short while later...and we are all done. Nothing could be easier!
This message was edited Mar 3, 2011 7:48 AM
Thanks, Kent. We're off to get bales and a truck load of horse manure. Oh boy, and it's not even my birthday!
Helen
Helen: thanks and welcome aboard! I updated the "recipe" for starting the bales to not even include any sort of nitrogen additives. Just water and time and some good temps will prepare the bales for transplanting. - Kent
- - - - -
I haven't seen that Kent, but think you might be wrong doing that since we, up here in the north country, have such a short season that when those temps come we can't afford to not have our plants in there and getting established. We don't have time to let the bales cook at that good temperature.
Hope you made some allowances for us. - Jeanette
Transplanted a few tomatoes today. You can see what's left of the flat that I started with.
Looking good Kent. Where did you get those pots that depth? I have been searching all over the web and have not been able to find any.
Jeanette: 100% of the pots and trays that you see are ones that I have saved over the years when I bought plants from local nurseries.
Too bad. I can't find any that deep.
Jeanette;
I have used the plastic 16oz drink cups. Just punch a hole in the bottoms. only problem is that they are a little bigger around and you can't get as many in a tray.
Thanks Russ. You know I was looking at Costco at those red ones they have the other day but they only sell them in boxes of 3 or 500 I think it was. I won't live that long to use that many I don't think. LOL but maybe Walmart will have them in smaller amounts.
Hey folks, sorry to have been offline for so long (8 or 9 months I think) but life has been in a flux. Looks like I will be starting all my gardening from scratch this spring as I have just moved and there is nothing where I now live. Am going to be setting out straw bales this year so that I will be able to garden as I haven't been able to move my raised beds and it will be months before I will be able to get this accomplished. Last year I just did tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in straw bales to compliment the rest of my garden, but this year I am going to grow most of the garden in straw bales until I am able to get all of the rest of my garden moved and reestablished. Wish me luck as I have lots to move (am transplanting my cherry trees, moving cuttings from my raspberry beds and transplanting my blueberry bushes) along with trying to reestablish a garden WHEW.... I knew I was getting old, but I think I am beginning to feel my age... Am looking forward to seeing how everyones garden is going to do this year..Hopefully your areas are beginning to warm up.. as far as I can tell, it has been a very cold spring....:(
Spring? Is it here?
For some of us *G*.
In fact, maybe a little TOO much. I'm not looking forward to the 82 forecast for Friday. Upper 60's to 70,s is fine for me, and I have a lot too do this spring.
And 16 days later.......here's what I planted yesterday.
Planted 16 tomatoes in 8 straw bales.
Big Beef X Eva Purple Ball
Black Krim
Black Zebra
Brandy Sweet Plumb
Chappy X/L Red
Cherokee Purple Jumbo
Henderson's “Pink Ponderosa”
JD's Special
Mule Team
Mystery Tomato
One Lucky Cross
Purple Haze
Purple Russian
Rambling Red Stripe
Southern Night
Top Gun
Here's hoping there is no freeze anytime soon. I have 53 tomato plants set out.
Hey y'all - I'm baaaaack! :-)
Have my hay bales being delivered tomorrow, started my peas last week and they're under the grow-light in the cellar. Got my beautiful seeds today (from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) - they have an incredibly beautiful catalogue and such interesting varieties! I'm excited.
I gave my first class on March 9th (the weekend before my cabaret on March 13th). The class was videod and you can see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWz6AmzH_c , if you're interested. (There are also a bunch of videos there of me singing, if you enjoy the standards).
Good to see that everyone's doing well- looking forward to lots of posts and pictures.
Here are the varieties I'm growing this year:
Beurre de Rocquencourt Bush Wax Bean; McCaslin 42 Pole Bean; Old Homestead (Kentucky Wonder) Bean; Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli; Catskill Brussels Sprouts; Beit Alpha Cucumber; Early Prolific Straightneck Squash; Zucchini Squash - Black Beauty; Zucchini Luongo Bianco; Butternut Waltham Squash; Long Island Cheese Pumpkin; Musquee de Provence Pumpkin; Green Zebra Tomato; Violet Jasper/Tzi Bi U Tomato; San Marzano Lungo No 2 Tomato; Striped Roman Tomato; S
(cont'd from above) Sugar Snap Peas; Little Marvel Peas; and 3 varieties of Sweet Peas and # more of Nasturtiums. Anyway- that's it so far. Wish me luck! I'm giving another class to a local garden group next week. Give Hay Bales a try, really. If you don't believe me, do what I did; grow half and half, straw and hay - treat them the same way (but you won't need as much water or fertilizer for the Hay).
Namaste- Suz
Great video, Suz!!! Great job :) Believe it or not, this year we had an easier time finding hay bales over straw. We have 17 hay and 6 straw. Baby tomatoes and peppers are a growin'...Can't wait ::::))))))) Sending you a d-mail in a minute
Connie
