STARTING FALL GARDEN 2011 in ZONE 8-9a

MandL- you will never have enough experience to not make "mistakes" while gardening. You will learn from mistakes but then the weather or something will change and you will be back to square one again. Lol don't worry about it just consider it an experiment.

Lisac - you are SO right ! I cannot think of another hobby / past time... where you can NEVER learn everything...

I mean so many variables at play...various plants..... and then mix in your zone, your soil content, your weather, your pests..... LOL... can never know everything ! So exciting ! :o)

Sometimes a little too exciting but I love your enthusiasm. : )

LOL Lisac !

Just been reading this thread and boy have I learned a ton of things! I am about to undertake my first vegetable garden in more than 30 years, and just about everything is going to be different. Well, a lot anyway. I had a huge organic garden when I lived in Oregon in the 60-70's. I just bough a homestead in Texas and my head is spinning with things that need to be done and when to do them. lol
I remember baking my soil in a oven to sterilize it. Didn't know you could use a microwave!! Glad I just found out - I was about ready to toss an old one. And I love the idea of reusing those plastic water bottles!! I don't buy them - but my adult children do. They all think of me as the recycle queen already. Just wait till I tell them to save the water bottles for me.
The only thing I have started are a few winter squash and herbs, so far. Most are ready to be planted out already. We have been tilling a large garden area and trying to get ready to plant a Fall garden here. Still trying to come up with something to add to the soil to enrich it. At one time we use to add horse manure and stable shavings as well as rotted and decomposing leaves, along with our compost. We are thinking maybe some manure - if I can figure out where to get some for free. lol Or possibly some seaweed, but not sure about the rules and regulations about harvesting it here. Anyone know? We want to stay organic and have to consider our water well when using anything. I hope direct sowing most of the vegetables will work here. Otherwise I may have to wait till Spring to plant most things. Although I know there is a lot that won't grow well in the heat here. We do have a compost pile going and already have lots of volunteers growing out here. lol My biggest challenge is going to be how to deal with all the wildlife here. Lots of rabbits (already have rabbit fencing up!), wild hogs (have no idea what to do about them) along with some friendly armadillos and a few deer. Looking forward to the next year and whatever it brings. lol

We got 1" of rain last night!!!!!!

My first tomato bloomed and we have tons of watermelons and one cantaloupe in the garden.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2011 7:32 PM

TX - I'm fairly new too... (2007) but never heard of sterilizing soil !

Yay Stephanie on the Tomato bloom! Way ahead of me... but I've already lost 2 tomatos and 4 cukes becuase my puppy decided they should go away. So I'm just sick about that and lost some of my fall veggie garden enthusiasm.

I found a new hydroponic store near my house today....and they have Hot Pepper Spray. Would love to try it but I spent $$$ there and couldn't spend another dime... may go back ....
Hugs,
Mary

You can make your own hot pepper spray. Get several of the hottest peppers you can find and cut off the stem part. Put 'em in a blender and liquify them. Add in some garlic for good measure. You can use it full strength or add some distilled water to it to decrease its potency.

Here's my mater bloom.

Watermelon anyone?

No? Could I interest you in a cantaloupe then?

My tomatoes are blooming too and a few have set fruit, I just hope they have time to ripen before it freezes. Texas-one extreme or the other!

The melons look great , I'm surprised they set given the extremely high temps.

Congratulations, Steph!

I'm still trying to figure out how big is "too big a seedling to plant out and expect a decent, mature veggie"...

My broccolis, Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and mustard and Collard greens seedlings just went out yesterday for hardening off, and I'm concerned they might be "too big" to get what I'm supposed to get. Have I stunted them???!!!

PLEASE COMMENT on "too big.."

Thanks!!!

I have a few tomato blooms too, but they were the ones on the transplants I just bought. I'm thinking I should have taken them off, but it is sooooo hard to do!

Nice garden goodies, stephanietx!

Linda, those plants are huge! You have the magic touch for growing seedlings, and they look extremely healthy. I'm betting they transplant okay under your watchful eye.

Linda, I don't think I'd be concerned with "too big", but with "too small". I'd go ahead and plant the good sized ones as those will most likely produce something. You may not get a bumper crop, but you'll get something.

All of the melons have set in the past 3 weeks when the temps cooled off. I have a watermelon jungle in my back yard. Two self-sown plants and they're EVERYWHERE!! LOL

LiseP,
Thank you! That's music to my ears.

I can't understand why it's so hard for others to start seeds. It's totally EZ!! I've made more observations this go 'round, and I have learned even more dos and don'ts.

And, I am totally praising God that, out of every seedling that came up, I haven't lost a single one!

That's the challenge I LOVE!

If you lived closer, and they weren't already spoken for, I'd tell ya to come get 'em all!

Linda

Gymgirl... might be more a question of patience withme ! So far just done Transplants.. PLUS with PUP deciding to pluck out of the ground... sometimes I am hoping the bigger the plant.... the less chance she will dig it up...

Stephanie - THANK YOU so much for the Hot Pepper Spray idea ! And to think of all the hot peppers I let rot this year..but I WILL try this recipe !

I was in my den early this a.m., and I heard something on my patio. I thought it might be birds tugging @ the seedlings on the patio table. I opened the drapes to see my neighbor's TWIN puppies, Marco and Polo, trying to hoist themselves up to nip at the mustard greens leaves blowing in the wind!!

Forgive me, Mary, but can I say "kill" and "puppies" in the same sentence? I shooed them outta my yard, but they'll be back until I get my fence up.

I was on the way out to church, and thought they might ride with me to the far north side of town, one way. It took all I could pray not to remove those dogs from my neighborhood. They're allowed to roam, and it'll only get worse when they're grown.

Remember, it was her roaming cat that died two weeks ago IN MY YARD!

So, now I can't even harden them off properly outside, unless I'm around.

Bummer...

I missed the roaming cat story. That's sad. Maybe you could put up fencing around the seedlings to harden them off and it'll keep the dogs away/out of them.

Thanks, Steph. I just thought about what you said, and, I do have some plastic poultry wire I can wrap around the table. Hopefully, they'll be safe until I get them into the ground.

The fence installation starts the end of this month...

WE GOT ONE INCH OF RAIN YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linda, doing the rain dance!!! ^^_^^

Here're my seedlings, hardening off.

Linda wrote:
>>LiseP, Thank you! That's music to my ears.
I can't understand why it's so hard for others to start seeds. It's totally EZ!! I've made more observations this go 'round, and I have learned even more dos and don'ts. >>

Linda, I think I'm learning each time. I sure hope so! (The fact that there are a lot of dos and don'ts probably indicates it's not "totally" EZ, lol!). But I appreciate your observations. From you, I've learned, among other things:
- Sterilizing soil is worth the trouble.
- The mix needs to be light and well draining.
- Hydrogen peroxide is your friend.
- And of course, you've posted great stuff on grow lights.

The book "Texas Organic Vegetables" has a good section too, with further hints I didn't realize:
- When you pot up, bury plants a little deeper. (I never did that before).
- When seedlings stall, they're short on fertilizer or have too damp feet. (mine often stall and probably for both reasons).
- Seeds that sprout in total darkness (like in my water heater closet) should be brought out into bright light (even indoor bright light) gradually, or it can shock them. (guilty a couple of times).
- Cold water can shock them. Use warm. (never knew!)

Anyway, gradually, I'm eliminating mistakes, one by one. One of these days...look out! LOL

Yes, RAIN!! It was my 30th wedding anniversary yesterday and all I asked for was RAIN. Between my anniversary and your rain dance, guess we got it done. LOL

Just caught up to reading this thread, starting with Stephanie's prize melons!! Fantastic!

I like these short and to the point pointers on growing seeds. Do all or most seeds need to germinate in the dark? If I EVER feel better, I am going to start some seeds this fall--it might be for the spring garden, but I'm going to get it done, darn it!

Congrats on the 30th anniversary, LiseP! We're 33 this year and going strong!

"Forgive me, Mary, but can I say "kill" and "puppies" in the same sentence?"; ..."thought they might ride with me to the far north side of town, one way."
Linda. You are ALWAYS good for a big laugh!! You know you can call the whatever they are called now--we used to call them the dogcatchers. Look up whatever county you are in for the info--they are there to protect the ANIMALS as well as the people. It's hard for me to understand how people can let their pets run free in a residential neighborhood. It's different out in the country (I imagine--I've never lived in the country, unfortunately). I hate seeing dead pets on the side of the road...I know sometimes though, those tricky little pets get out themselves!
And your seedlings look incredible. I think you will have a bumper crop. Let me know when the Gumbo Z'Herbes is ready! Janet

bariolio,
I'm no expert at seeds (obviously!) but I'm going to say no, they sure don't have to germinate in the dark and maybe it's better that they don't? Some people suggest using the top of a water heater for the warmth, since light shouldn't be an issue (yeah or nay) until they sprout, right? This book author made the case that
"If you choose to germinate your seed on top of the water heater or kitchen counter, move the flat into full light gradually. If you move the flat from a low-light area to full sunlight or intense artificial light, buring of the young, tender seedlings may occur."

So, I'm thinking, the darker place they start, the bigger the transition, right? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I do know that the water-heater seeds never did do well.

Also, I forgot this point -- plants do best with a 10 degree or more difference in day/night temps. If they are always kept at same warm, cozy temp, they can also end up weak and spindly. Again, maybe the water heater is not such a good place!

Finally, thanks for the wedding congrats, Janet!

Some plants do require light to germinate. At least 3 of the many I just started needed light to germinate. Most of them were herbs. I didn't do that well with those seeds - as they are hard to keep moist AND light when it is over 100 degrees for as long as it was. lol And I also noticed most of those seeds were so tiny.

Odd you mention that TXbabyboomer. I planted what was left in a pack of catnip for the fiends at this house. They never germinated so I thought the seed was too old. Now with cooler temps, I have two pots full of catnip sprouts. Telling me temperature (cooler as well as hot) is important for some seeds.

Well said, Podster!

Which is why I'm going to go door-to-door begging forgiveness from ALL my neighbors for going without the Hurricane Ike replacement fence for sooooooooooooo long.

But, because I plan on replacing it only ONCE in my remaining lifetime, (God sparing the wind), I searched long, long, long, to get who, and what, I need to build a stout fence that ONLY God himself will bring down.

Janet,
Here're some more bullet pointers:

►All my seedlings were sown in freshly sterilized potting mix, which was still very warm to the touch (but not HOT) when I put it into the seed trays/containers, and sowed the seeds.

►All my seedlings were sprinkled in "gently" with medium warm (to the touch) tap water and IMMEDIATELY shoved into large plastic baggies that were fogged up with condensation within 10-15 minutes of closing them up (you can see this in the pic I posted below). I stuck my hand in a seedling baggie in January and could FEEL the heat build-up inside. I believe my heat comes from trapping the warmth from the soil and the warm water inside the germinating vessel.

►All the plastic bags/covered starter trays/etc. were vented slightly for some air circulation, but not enough to totally stop the condensation from forming (built-in watering system, until they declared-popped-peeped)

►All my seedlings were germinated in the same room where they have grown. They were shoved underneath the light stand, with only the filtered (not bright, but not totally dark either) light coming from the window. It was relatively dim? underneath the last shelf...

►All my seedlings declared-popped-peeped within 72 hours from sowing (and I wasn't home to put them IMMEDIATELY under the fluorescent lights...)

Upon discovering they had declared, ALL my seedlings were immediately shoved under the BRIGHT fluorescent lights (4 lights per shelf). It was so bright in that room, I saw my true paint color for the first time! Never have "transitioned" seedlings from dark to light...never knew that tip...ain't broke...not fixing... LOL!!

►All my seedlings that declared-popped-peeped have survived - NOT ONE CASUALTY... (praise God!!!!!)

(I'll share some other observations I have made about feeding/watering, later...)

Hugs!

Linda

This message was edited Sep 19, 2011 2:22 PM

This message was edited Sep 19, 2011 2:26 PM

I know this is a thread on fall gardening, but....is it to early to start pre-sprouting my taters for the spring? Some of the ones I harvested and have never gotten around to using have started sprouting! LOL

ONLY because those Canelas?? and Nicolas I ordered way back when, that have turned into a huge alien sprout in the box I opened TWO weeks ago, are going into some soil as soon as possible, will I say GO FOR IT!

Keep in mind, these are LONG-season varieties, made to withstand some cold and a quick frost (like we have).

You must choose carefully, Grasshopper!!!

We can conduct our experiment together! What variety do you have?

As it was raining a couple of days ago, I was at a garden center. Well anyway, I picked up (It WAS raining and my glasses were fogged up. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) what I thought was some Swiss chard. When I got it home I discovered it was okra!! Will this even grow in the Fall here? I was under the impression it was a summer crop.

Okra love the fires of H _ _ _...

I'd return it and try to trade for what you want, unless it's too much of a hassle. The time for baby okra is over...won't survive to make something to eat before cold weather gets here. If it ever DOES get cold... :)

I've been inspired to clean out some of my bed. The eggplant were goners and also the tomatoes. Gotta fix up the soil some and get my few tomato plants in the ground.

But right now I gotta go cook Creamy Southwest Chicken!

Babybloomer-if they won't take it back you might try growing it and consider it an experiment. What zone are you in? It was 98 here today, and while it felt great that's still hot. It grows pretty fast. What have you got to loss? Does an Okra plant resemble Swiss Chard?(teasing) If I were you I'd buy seeds for SC and direct sow it. The seeds are actually capsules so you may have to thin them but they are really easy to start. They germinate faster if you you soak the seeds overnight.

Linda, I have Red Norlands.

No, I'll admit okra doesn't come close to resembling the chard. Maybe it was the cabbage I was thinking I was getting? lol I probably will go ahead and try growing it. It is way to much trouble to take it back. I think I have a lot of clear heavy plastic - that maybe I can fashion some sort of mini greenhouse around it with. I was thinking of doing that for the tomatoes as well.

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"Starting FALL GARDEN 2011 in Zone 8 - Part 2"
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