Zones 8-9 Spr/Sum 2011 Veggie Gardening is UNDERWAY Part III

do you have pictures on how they look like?
at the vegetable class I took here they told me to NOT start cucumber seeds indoor because cucumbers like to spread their roots.
What do you think?

Guess who's about to get the exact same nursery setup for the fall seedlings?

drthor,
I'll show you the pics I have. The first is the seedling tray. Cucumber are in the section second from the left:
Edited to add: Nope! I'm wrong, I just zoomed on this photo and those are cantaloupe. I guess I didn't take a pic of the cukes at this stage, but they looked like these cantaloupe in size and shape, FWIW.


This message was edited Mar 31, 2011 12:08 AM

And here is my new bed with wire fencing put up along our side fence. The two hills nearest the camera are both cucumber. The larger plant on each of those hills is the Poinsett 76, the small ones just beginning on those hills are called "tendergreen."

Maybe you can tell me -- how big is a hill supposed to be, anyway? As long as I'm growing them vertically, I am hoping to be able to plant 3 or 4 per hill, but as I say, no one has ever said how big "a hill" is. LOL

As for not transplanting -- well, I'm gonna! I don't see a problem with it. You might be right that the roots grow fast, but I transplanted to SOLO cup and then to the hill, so I don't think they ever ran out of room. I had heard that they don't like being transplanted though, so I tried hard not to even touch the root ball. I just used a knife to loosen the sides, picked the whole thing up by the leaves and dropped it into its destination hole with as little disturbance as possible. So far, so good!

Gymgirl -- awesome on getting your own "frugal nursery" going for the fall. I really enjoy mine, although I may have created a monster habit of growing seedlings now. I still have a shelf full of tomato plants (and all that oregano!) waiting for permanent homes and I am about out of pots, soil and room. Time to ask the neighbors if they want to be foster parents to some tomato plants, I guess (although the greedy child in me wants ALL of them!)


This message was edited Mar 31, 2011 12:17 AM

This message was edited Mar 31, 2011 12:18 AM

I direct sowed my cukes last year. The squirrels had a field day! LOL This year, I'm going to lay hardware cloth on top until the little boogers get tall enough and the squirrels can't dig up the seeds.

I've never had any problem with transplanting cukes that we bought at Lowe's in years past. So I'm starting them from seed this year.

I think the biggest problem I'm having is putting some things out too early, just not warm enough. I put zucchini out 3 weeks ago and they were strong, healthy green and have turned light green and look pretty sick and not growing. Never had that problem before but I've always waited until middle or late April. I think I'll wait a couple more weeks until the weather stabilizes and plant some more. I think I've learned that "haste makes waste" still applies !!

aaahhhhh ... I went out in the garden this morning and the PILL BUGS ate half of my cucumber seedlings .. no matter how much DE I sprinkled around them !!!! ahhhhh aahhhh
I guess I will start the again. I think in my area we have until may 1st to seed Cukes !!

LiseP, the hill is about 3-4" tall ... just to ensure drainage to the plants. Cukes don't like too wet feet when they develop ... later they will love water

I wonder if DE works on pillbugs- they have sort of hard shells, and DE works by sticking the skin of soft critters-like slugs. Have you tried Sevin granules? And-are you sure it was pillbugs? I didn't think they ate that much- sometimes I will see them in the area, but then find the culprit to be something else.

oh yah I have lot of PILL BUGS them here.
My pill bugs dine also on stuff that is alive. For me it is impossible to start seeds like cukes or squash outdoor because they will eat them.
I actually think pill bugs are the problem here in this area!
Sevin is bad, isn't?
I am trying to garden green.

I've tried DE (recommended by someone who said it "really" worked) -- not in my experience.... Currently using Sluggo Plus (recommended by GymGirl aka Linda); haven't put it around any plants but dropped a few pellets on the porch step (a favorite pillbug hangout) and it seems to be quite effective, actually works kinda like a magnet for the pillbugs. http://www.epestsolutions.com/sluggo-plus-new-slug-and-snail-control.html

LiseP, your plants are looking real good! You seem to have been bitten by the "starting plants indoors" bug and doing a great job of it. I am envious of the baby cuke. I too like Drthor thought cukes didn't transplant well. My neighbor who gardens in one of my raised beds set out a dozen cukes he got from a nursery and they seem to be doing fine. I have also seen baby okra plants at nurseries and wondered about that too.

After the last hard freeze we had in mid Feb. I planted cuke, squash, melon, cantaloupe, and beets and they are all up and going great guns. I planted 8 okra just for chance a couple weeks ago and they are up about 3". I cut toilet tissue rolls in half and work each half around each okra plant about an inch deep into the soil. This keeps cut worms away from the tiny plant.

Over the past weekend I planted okra, beets, turnips, Chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce, carrots, and radish. I have cukes up that I planted March 21st in my straw bales. I have been struggling this year with my dill. I had a beautiful stand up that survived the first hard freeze in Feb, but the second hard followup freeze did most of it in. I have replanted and have a good stand but don't know if it will be headed up in time for when the cukes are ready for pickling.

I'll try to get some pics today of what is going on in my garden. This Spring has been a real juggling act for me with gardening and getting the new chicken yard and hen house ready for the baby chicks that arrived a week ago but it all starting to come together.

One other tip regarding pillbugs. I read somewhere that they are usually drawn to decomp and detritous, like in the compost pile. When they don't have access to any, they head for the seedlings....Just a thought...Same thing regarding birds that peck your tomatoes. The only reason they do is because they're thirsty and have no other source of water. Give them a birdbath on the other side of your yard and train them to it, and they in all likelihood will not touch your tomatoes.

Finally, my earthboxes were lined up on the chain link fence between our yards. My tomatoes, greens, and eggplants were always growing in plain sight, in easy reach of the millions of squirrels in our "Animal Planet" back yard bordering a bayou (possum, raccoons, and probably mice and rats down in there, too). In 4 years of growing on that fenceline, I found exactly 3 tomatoes that had been biten into. Wanna know why?

Cause for years my neighbor had been feeding the birds out of an old satellite dish on the opposite side of her yard. Every day, there'd be a war between the squirrels and the birds over the goodies in that dish. And, she had a birdbath over on that side too. Because they had a fresh supply of food and water, and had been trained over there, they never even thought about munching on all those wonderful red tomatoes sitting out in plain sight!

I grew my very first Black Krim tomato on that fenceline, for about 120 days, to maturity (it was a total of exactly 150 days from sowing it to eating it). I sweated bullets every day thinking I'd come home and find that the wild animals (or the dreaded wild Human animal) had gotten that tomato.

Best tomato I ever ate in my whole life!

Linda, who forgot this started with a pillbug discussion...sorry...

I have had severe problems with pill bugs in the past. I think it is because I have a lot of rock borders. When I move a rock, there are always a lot of pill bugs underneath.

This is the first year I've started things indoors from seed, so was really worried about pill bugs attacking when I transplanted. But I have had zero pill bug damage to any of my vegetable or flower seedlings. I also have lots of trouble with rabbits. We made wire cages and covered with stretch wrap. Two different sizes. Have placed those around every new plant that goes in the ground, even larger ones I've purchased. It protects from wind and rabbits, and since it is pressed down tightly on the ground, I think it has stopped the pill bugs. Once the plants get established for a week or two, then remove the cages. The cages are not very pretty at first but certainly better than having nothing there the next morning after transplanting !!!

I have added a lot of compost, so maybe the additional organic matter has helped with the pill bugs also.

Now my biggest problem is where to store all these little cages now that I've taken them off the plants !

Dogs_N_Petunias

what is the black barrel in the center of your picture/

That is a brass hose pot for storing the water hose.

WOW ... you are so organized.
Pill bugs didn't attach tomatoes, peppers and eggplants this year.
I think it is because I transplanted them outside big and with a thick stem.
Those monsters love the soft stems.
Anyway, I will start again the cukes on Tuesday (I garden by the moon).
The funny thing is that this year I have transplanted my zucchinsi in the front of the house in the poor soil flower bed ... since I was not going to give them prime real state in my veggie garden .. I always lose them either to pill bugs or squash vine bores ... guess what ?? They are alive and growing .... it will be really funny if I will have zucchinis this year !!
By now .. I am going to NHG for an Herb class.

I think I'm going to pull my lettuce out and plant my cukes where my lettuce is currently. I do have an old stand alone soccer net that I could move somewhere in my garden and plant the cukes on, though. Hmmmmm.... Thankfully, I have a few days off next week and can hopefully work out in the garden! Watch it rain everyday I'm off! LOL

We NEED that rain, so make sure to take off, ok?

Was watching my favorite youtuber yesterday (John Kohler of "growingyourgreens") and he said his organic method of getting rid of pill bugs is wet newspaper. Take a folded up newspaper like you would find on your doorstep in a rubber band. Thoroughly soak it and put it down in your garden. Pill bugs will be attracted to it. Lift it up, find the pill bugs and get rid of them. I haven't tried it but it makes sense.

I have just ordered some Sluggo Plus- couldn't find it anywhere locally. I hope it takes care of pillbugs and earwigs- they are bad here.

LiseP ... I do the same with Banana peels. Live them out at night and in the morning the will be full of pill bugs and I just dump them in a bucket with soapy water ... but I have just too many ... so I just plant more plants!

I have baby tomatoes on my 4th of July and my Kellogs Breakfast. My eggplant is blooming. My edamame is 2" high. My potatoes are 18" tall. My limas are making tendrils. My yellow squash is 2". I planted late. My peppers are not blooming yet. Green beans are 5" high. My okra is still in flat about 2" high. Good to hear from all of you. Good job all. I have some pill bugs but the the giant snails that gobble up plants here. They are about size of a quarter (the shell). Because of them, I cant direct-sow much of anything. They are pretty good indicators of rain coming. They climb up on things just before a rain. Cam

Cool wind blew here yesterday. I tried to batten down the hatches a bit here before leaving for work -- didn't get home until midnight and wind was over by then. Woke up at 6am and am just sitting here waiting until it gets light enough to check for damage. Here's hoping!

LiseP,
I'm in the same boat. Could only look out the window late last night and early this a.m. I saw one seedling sort 'a leaning over...

Here too ...
Not too much damages ... Tomatoes leaves a little broken and brown ... just the tips.
Peppers and eggplants leaves took the worst .... a little broken ... but they will recover.
Really luv my garden ....

Drthor,
You've got a LOT to love!!!

I came out okay. One broken tomato side limb. Yep, have some brown tips on my older tomato leaves but that was happening before the wind, over the last couple of days of cooler temps.

I agree that you have a lot to love, drthor!

Drthor,
You ever considered starting a business to visit home gardens and provide assessments and consultations....just a thought....

You could come to my house first...tee hee hee! ^^_^^

Thanks for the nicest words Gymgirl.
I like to keep gardening a hobby ... I am worry if it is a job I will not enjoy it so much.
But thanks anyway

Ok. Well, if you're ever going through Houston, give a holler!

Ok, I'm planning to start planting out this weekend. First I have to soak the ground to drive more stakes in to shore up the fence. Then it's planting time. This year ive got two locations so I'm interested to see if one area is better then the other (gets more shade).

I'm really glad I didn't plant out earlier it was 31 here yesterday AM I would have lost everything because didn't expect it to get that cold, even the plants that I have on the covered deck were covered with sheets and a couple got burned. But today it was 88 and really windy. So next week I will be posting pictures of my gardening adventure ( hopefully). Im hoping to have pictures of my plants with fruit set in July since Ive never had a year were they completely stopped producing, just slowed down. This is my favorite time of year, I love to sell my plants to people and they are so happy when they get what they call great looking plants.

Just read through this discussion and have a few comments:
Thanks for starting it Gymgirl and for the helpful links.
Llama poo?? I'm such a city girl... :)
If pill bugs are doodle bugs, I have too many fond memories of playing with them to hate them. Of course, they are not eating my plants. Then, I would have no problem. KIIIIIIIIIILLL.
What is "start your seeds indoors"? heh, heh. I'm such a small scale gardener, I buy starts at my fav nurseries or direct sow cucs, okra, snow peas, lettuces, chard, turnips and other root veggies and greens, all in their proper season. BUT you are all so inspiring. Maybe I'll try growing my own tomatoes, eggplants and peppers next year from seeds.
Since I'm being lazy, can someone point me to a discussion on drip irrigation? I was just going to buy the black drip hose stuff and put it on a water timer. I need approx. 60 ft of soaker. And has anyone used a timer for watering before?
Thanks for the help and info! Janet

You can grow your own plants from seeds rather cheaply, so many start from seeds. You start in January for tomatoes, though.

I'm not a expert but, what I called doodle bugs were ant lions, they make little pits to trap and eat ants. Pill bugs have armour and curl up in little balls for protection and found under vegetition and rocks.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2011 8:32 AM

I'm not an expert but I did kill a scorpion last night while my teenage boys watched from the door way. But dmtom's discription is correct, doddle bugs make little pits in the dirt that other bugs fall into.

Ever since childhood when I would play with them, I have called pill bugs (the correct name) doodle bugs. I guess it depends on where you grew up (Dallas area for me).

I too am looking for a drip irrigation system as it is taking me about 45 minutes to water everything properly, a slow soaking watering. Plus last summer when I went on vacation for a week the neighborhood teenager responsible for feeding the dog and watering my vegetables only got 1/2 of her job right and it wasn't the watering of my plants. I'll be hesitant to leave for a week this summer unless I have a drip irrigation system in place before hand.

Those are pill bugs eating my okra !!! Just in case you wonder how they look !!
I have transplanted out too small okra seedings ... the pill bugs attacked all the small ones.
I have 3 plants safe because they are much older and 10" taller !!
$$$@@@##@##!!@#@######

Sluggo Plus!! Looks like they're doing more than eating your okra, too. LOL

Sluggo plus doesn't do anything for them ...
I just learn to live with them. It was my fault to transplant out too small of a plant ...
Everything else is ok.
As soon as the plant will develop a woody look on its stem, pill bugs leave it alone !!

Ok, doodle bugs = pill bugs to me--at least that is what we called them. Some people call them roly polies. And I had no idea they EAT plants! I'll never look at them the same again...
Lisa--EEEK! When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, we were shown some kind of movie in school and all I remember about it is it may have been about a saint and it involved scorpions. I have been terrified of them ever since but haven't lived in a place where they hang out. Hope I NEVER see one!
hrp50--maybe if you weren't so fond of your pet, you'd have preferred the watering to be the other way around? :)
and I'll try to find info on drip irrigation and water timers later today.
Have a happy day and get those hands dirty everyone!
Janet