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

My beans got eaten by pill bugs last year, until I took the trouble to put plastic collars around the stem of each plant. I also put down Sluggo Plus and between those two things, I haven't had problems this year.

I sooooooooo love those neat and tidy growing spaces like yours LiseP!

I grew up in New Orleans. Rollie Pollies = Doodle bugs = pillbugs = sowbugs...

Here're the link to the instructions for BocaBob's AWS (automatic watering system). It's an irrigation line that can handle up to 45 different drip sites on an automatic timer. Super simple to put together.

I bought all my components at either HD or Lowe's. I forget which one, but it's the "Mister" components. One of the Big box stores carries the "Mister" products -- the other one doesn't. All together, I spent approximately $65 for the parts. I'll be installing it this season for the eBuckets. I'm paying for peace of mind for when I go out of town...no worries...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5804801

Our infinite thanks go to DGer ARANESS, who put together this easy cheat sheet!

Thanks, Linda.

And okay, this doesn't merit its own thread so I'll stick it here but...I just harvested our first (ever) cucumber. I was afraid it would be bitter but it was the sweetest cucumber, even down to the end. It wasn't all that big, but the little prickles were falling off and I read that that meant it was ripe enough to pick. Anyway, just had to report in! I hope we get another one! LOL.

I am green with envy ...
Good job !

That is so adorable, LiseP! Congratulations on your firstborn cuc! That's what's so amazing about growing our own veggies. They taste so much better than anything else. I recently discovered that buying organic potatoes makes an amazing difference. Since I'm not growing them myself, I'll spend the extra for the organic. They HAVE to be fresh, or they sprout.
Happy Gardening. Get down and dirty. Janet

Great job LiseP. I know that was very rewarding. Here's to many more this season!

I planted 8 cucumber transplants this morning. I also saw my 1st SVB moth of the season...buzzing around the yard and molesting my squash plants. Grrrrr!!!!! It's too sooooon!

Gymgirl,

I'm late to this series of threads and may have missed some answers. I hope your back is feeling better!

Did the seedlings that had bigger leaves in 4" pots than in 6-packs continue to be bigger over the next few weeks? Or was it a temporary head start?

I noticed, in Post #8352147, that both 4" pots and 6-packs seemed to be less than 1/2-full of soil. Why do you do it that way?

I'm trying to decide between options like starting several seeds in a wide insert, like 24/tray or 32/tray and then laboriously pricking them out as soon as possible into 3.5" pots or Dixie cups,
vs
starting single seeds in tiny cells (72/tray or 128/tray), and letting them stay there until the root balls fill the cells, and I can pop out the whole ball.

Evelyn, I hope your snow melted!

I seem to see fewer gnats or flies if I can keep the soil surface less damp. Also, running a fan seems to discourage them.

Corey

Oh LISE!! not fair!!..harvesting already! hahaha... & here I was so proud of my little veggie garden just starting to grow!! hahahaha..... I know, I know.. the zones are different!! hee hee

John, could you give us a description of the suspect? We'd like to be on the lookout for him or her.

Rick,
For some reason (I think it has to do with deep-rooting tomato seedlings method I use -- sinking them deeply at potting up and adding more soil as they grow to the top of the 16-18 oz solo cups) I start most of my seedlings in only 1/2 a cell of seedling mix, then add more as they grow up!

Yes, the seedlings in the 4" cells outdistanced the ones in those popsickle cells. This is an advantage if I wanted to start the more robust seedlings in a stagger planting. Eventually, they all caught up, but the earlier plantings would be further ahead in the end...

I discovered the same thing about those pesky gnats!!! So, I'm keeping my soil more on the dry side now. Need to pull out that fan, too.

Also, I've switched over my planting soil to Tapla's 511 container mix, and the grow rate on those runty bell pepper seedlings I couldn't bear to throw out when I was uppotting the larger ones is phenomenal! I started 2-3 seeds per cell, and don't like tossing perfectly good seedlings away. So, I just grabbed a handful of the mix, stuck it and the (almost bare root) runty bell pepper seedling back in the 4" pot and brought them inside under the fluorescent lights.

You should see those today. They've been in about 1-1/2 weeks now, and they have caught up to the seedlings that have been outside in eBuckets for over 3 weeks now. Also, I have megabuds all over these seedlings!

I can only contribute it to the excellent soil aeration and drainage that Tapla's container mix provides to the plants!

I'll try to remember to take a pic and post tomorrow. It is amazing!

Linda

Cindylove, yep, zones make a big difference. And, if it makes you feel any better, lol, besides already harvesting a cucumber, I'm also already starting to see the summer pests and problems. Went out this morning to find 3 of my tomatoes have Blossom End Rot and my broccoli leaves full of holes, plus a little caterpillar having a nice lunch on my red romaine. Sheesh! Where did this all come from? Gotta take the good with the bad, I guess. At least the caterpillar left some for me.

You go ahead and be proud of your veggie garden. Enjoy watching the stuff "shoosting out of the ground" as the days get warmer. Fun stuff!

hahahahga..thanks Lise! Hey..don't go killing that caterpillar with pesticides ok..just pick it off! ( I have a butterfly garden where no insecticide allowed! lol)

Linda,

>> Also, I've switched over my planting soil to Tapla's 511 container mix, and the grow rate on those runty bell pepper seedlings I couldn't bear to throw out when I was uppotting the larger ones is phenomenal!

Cool! That gives me more hope that my indoor seed starts will thrive (not just refrain from dieing) in my grittier, better-draining mix.

(They are probablyy wanting better light than I give them ... )

Corey

Hey Cam. Yeah, the perp looks similar to a wasp (the stinging kind, lol) but the one in my backyard looked different for some reason. It seemed much fatter and the orange body seemed brighter. They usually have a few black spots on the back but I do not recall seeing any on this one though.

Maybe I need to sow my squash on January 15th (in pots.)

This message was edited Apr 12, 2011 12:57 PM

10-4. We will set up a stake out near the squashes and and if spotted we will mobilize a swat team.

SVB moths are going to town on my crops. I got so desperate this evening that I covered both my squash plants with a barrier. I used the plastic shell that protects my camping tent, lol. The shell is waterproof (and probably windproof to some extent, unfortunately) but it has some clear patches that let sunlight through. The shell is draped over 4 bamboo stakes that I put at the perimeter of both my plants. I just need them to grow a little bit larger...

Here's a pic, pre- camping shell cover. I don't have row covers but maybe I should just go get some?

Just in case ya'll missed this, go check out this trellis design...I think it's the one I've been looking for for a VERY long time! ^^_^^

Unistrut Parallel Line Trellis
http://forums.seedsavers.org/showthread.php?t=625

And, here's his companion thread on "How to Tie tomato plants without injuring them -- using plastic bags!"

http://forums.seedsavers.org/showthread.php?p=16275#post16275

Linda

This message was edited Apr 14, 2011 9:12 AM

Finally, I have an update!

Tomato Babies!

Another plant!

How exciting!! I'll have to share some pics of my tomatoes. I still have some baby brussel sprouts that I think are finished growing (but not dying yet). And my peppers, eggplant, cucs, herbs and flowers are going to town! It's SO much fun watching things grow. And nice to talk with other people who understand :) Janet

Janet,
Tell me all about your setup! Have you been lurking all this time??
Did you start from seeds? What maters are you growing? And do tell me we can grow Brussels Sprouts here! Show and tell!

P.S. What side 'a town do you grow on?

Linda

Yay Linda!!

Wind---1 Onions---0

The high winds felled some of my onions the other day (Thursday). I guess wind gusts up to 50 mph are just too much for them. Go figure! I contacted Dixondale on FB and showed them my picture. They told me to shore them up with dirt to ensure the roots were covered, water well, and they would probably sit back up on their own. It's important to keep the roots covered. He told me that it looked like they had plenty of Nitrogen from the nice green tops, but maybe next week, to give them another treatment of nitrogen just to help them recover. I spent this morning shoring them up and watering well. We've got high winds again today.

Steph,
My onions are doing the same thing. They're practically laying down. I can't put them upright in tHe EB. They're starting to bulb up and I'd have to uproot them to straighten them.

So, I'm keeping the roots covered and keeping them fed. I sprinkle higH phosphorus bone meal over the soil once a week n water in.

Linda

I'll try to get some updated photos tomorrow. Onions and garlic are doing well, sugar snap peas are filling out (and still blooming), beet greens are about 18 inches tall, lots of green tomatoes, okra, squash, pickling and slicing cucumbers are all up, dragon tongue beans are blooming, and corn crops are 2 feet, 1 foot, and about 3 inches. One row of hot peppers planted (14 plants) and one row of sweet peppers waiting. Two more batches of corn to go, more squash, and Cannonball watermelons. If I have any room left, I'll find something else to plant. The ONLY thing that hasn't done well is the French filet bush beans. I had horrible (about 20%) germination. I replanted with the same seeds, after soaking, and still had almost none germinate. I've asked the vendor to replace them...I'll replant those rows, and maybe try some new rows too.

David

I had the same result with the filet green beans. I tried soaking as well. nothing worked. I got 3 to germinate out of 2 dozen.

Here's an overall shot of one side of my garden. Hot peppers are in the foreground, Okra next, then the beets. The tomatoes are all doing well, too. The two different sizes of tomato plants are because some were protected in Season Starters, the smaller ones were planted later, after the last frost date. I left plastic at the base of the cage to make watering easier.

David

We may not have a garden this spring. Nothing's been planted except my onions and taters. *sigh*

I would kill, metaphorically, if I could have that much space for gardening.

David, that is a beautiful garden. I too have "space envy".

Here's a photo of one of my square ft beds. 4X4 has tomatoes. So many tomatoes Im afraid the branches will break. Grew lima beans in this bed last year and turned them under when finished.

Here is a close-up. These would be 4th of July variety.

All you guys with the fantastic looking tomatoes are killing me (metaphorically).

So you "guys" are going to be really mad....The garden area you can see in my photo above is only about 1/3 my actual garden space. There is a section 25 x 18 to the left of the above photo, the section behind the tomatoes extends another 25 feet, and a a completely separate area beside the first one is 30' x 75'. I have corn planted in about 30 feet of that garden, with 45 feet or row space still to plant in something.

Of course, the reason I have so much space is because we live in a development with acreage-sized lots. We have a total of 4 acres--unfortunately I can't put the whole thing in garden! I do have a orchard of a dozen peach trees, 8 apples, and 4 pears. The trees are just old enough to start producing a small crop. Last year I made peach jam, pear preserves, apple sauce, and apple butter for my entire extended family. I have 6 pecan trees, too, but they are too small to produce yet.

We planned for years and were finally able to move to the (suburb) country. I have been loving every minute of it. I can spend an hour or two every day working in the garden and I feel much better about life. Of course, if my health was better I could work outside more...then I might not enjoy it as much.

It's a good thing I don't know your actual address, or I'd sneak in, in the middle of the night, and kidnap a 1/2 acre or so and smuggle it home ... (metaphorically).

Grand theft real estate.

I have both space envy and zone envy! My snow peas are almost up to one inch tall. They look like they need strong coffee, or maybe industrial-strength anti-depresants. And yet I'm also "8a".

Oh, well, when Texans are dripping sweat at night, I'll be wearing a sweater at night. Bad for plants, but comfortable.

Corey

Corey,

I would share if I could!

>> I would share if I could!

I have fantasies about that! Like a sunshade that would catch the rays at noon where you live, and deliver them to where I live, preferably around dawn and dusk.

Or, if I retire with enough money, energy and mobility, move somewhere far from a city, where I could afford a bigger plot.

I read a science fiction story about "slow glass" that they could park in the desert for 5 years to "collect light". It took exactly five years for the light to make it all way through that pane of glass, so you could move it somewhere rainy or far north, and have free illumination.

(Then they discovered that it was also capturing images from the customer's houses, so you could just wait five years, and watch things like crimes occur, long after the fact.)

Corey

dreaves, I do envy you all that space but truth be told, I probably could not handle all the work that goes into that kind of space. I do well to keep up with the small space that I have. I just work on trying to make it more and more productive each year. You can do a lot in a small space if you are determined to do so. I want some fruit trees so Im reading a book called The Edible Front Yard. I cant have as many trees as I want but I can have some. Im still researching varieties for my area. I grew canteloupe on what used to be my front lawn one year. They were delicious. Got a little ugly near the end but I tried to keep them tidy.

Corey, I've read that story too. It was interesting that the husband/father that lost his family reversed the glass in the picture window of his cabin to "look in" and relived the years. But the inside of the cabin was dark and desolate.

Steady, I can vouch for it being a lot of work. Its fun but it becomes a lot of work quickly.