STARTING OUR SPRING VEGGIE GARDEN PART 3

JoParrott
I like the tray holder you are using. It is just perfect.
Since you seeded multiple seeds in one pot, what do you do with the extra ones?
Do you pick the best plant and remove the other?
Do you re-pot the extra one?

Jo,
Your seedlings look wonderful. Do you start the seeds halfway and add more potting mix to the cups as they get taller?

I think that method is something I might try next season. I especially like to use those clear cups, too!

JoParrott
What are they and where did you get the holders holding up your cups?

OK- answers for everybody-
drthor, I put 2 seeds in each 5oz cup, and as they grow I will behead (ouch!) the weaker plant in each cup. I know that is cruel, but I prefer it to trying to seperate and damage roots. My medium is about half DE (Ultrasorb from an auto store) and half ProMix, which I buy by the 3 cu.ft. bale each year.
Linda, yes, I only filled the cups to about half and add more medium as they grow.
hrp50, the trays are from Fred Meyers- They come with coir cups in them, which I throw away-I don't like them. I buy them solely for the white trays, which have NO holes, so I can bottom water in them. I have some from years past that have cracked, but I patched them with aluminum tape! I also have collected some from WalMarts garden shop- they come with 3" cactus in them, and are perfect to hold the 5oz. clear cups (I use an old woodburner tool to make 3 holes around the side of each cup- this is one of my winter chores! If you will haunt the garden shops, the trays that hold the small cactus and other plants are perfect- mine hold 28 cups.
These plants will get potted up to about 10oz clear cups later.
Another photo of a good holder- I have 4 of these from Lowe's they held 3" plants of some kind- I find all kinds of free goodies there! (it helps to make friends with the garden shop employees!) And I have bought broken bagged soils there at half price ever since I moved here 5 years ago- I know all of their stores won't do that, but ours is great.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2013 10:00 AM

The Texas winds made the news today on CNN.

Wind-blown tumbleweeds cover house

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2013/02/26/dnt-tumbleweed-covers-texas-home.kwes

I just found more trays in my garden shed- these hold 32 cups- even better! They have drainage holes, so need a tray under for watering-

Excellent set up and so well organized.

Finally the wind stopped for a while yesterday and I was able to harvest some lettuce, broccoli and white carrots.
My DH doesn't like carrots ... but only if he sees them in his food ... so I am planning to "trick" him with these white ones ... giggle.
They are actually so pretty , I bought the seeds from Baker Creek: http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/carrots/snow-white-carrot.html


what y'all harvesting and eating right now?


This message was edited Feb 27, 2013 7:50 AM

Every year I am learning something new.
This year I have been watering my indoor seedlings only with "rain water" and I am seeing a huge difference on the quality of the plants.
I knew that rainwater has nitrogen and other ingredients to help the soil ... but I just never took the extra time to try indoor before.
I never had so beautiful and lush indoor plants like this year, green and lush.

Are you also watering with your rain water?
Have you seen any major difference?

jomoncon,
let me know if you will find out that the indoor seedlings will grow much better with rain water ... or it is just in my imagination.

They are awesome drthor, makes me want to get back to my garden!!!

thanks kittriana

REALLY nice, drthor!

I happened to have a tub of rainwater sitting outside, so I went ahead and watered the tomato seedlings under the hoop. It was WARM under the tarp!

Just received my thermometer to measure the soil temperature. How deep into the soil do you push the thermometer? It's 22" long, tee, hee, hee!

I'm on a Well and ive noticed a big difference in my plants and others who are on City Water.

Gymgirl,

Check the depth of the roots for what-ever you are planting. If transplanting plants, then measure the depth of your intended hole. If planting seeds, then measure the top 2-3 inches of soil. The deeper soil (for a leggy tomato) might still be colder than the top few inches for planting bean seeds.

David

Ok. So only shove it in as deep as the roots/seeds of whatever I'm planting/transplanting.

Thanks!

Can't wait to try it! (toys....duh...)

I wonder if rain water has beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae, since wind on soil makes dust, and rain washes dust out of the air.

Jo>> Our winds have been fairly stout this week. On Monday when the front went through we had some 60+ gusts in the Austin area. We live on the top of a hill, and our wind is normally about 10 greater than what they predict or record. We lost a decent-size Arizona Ash on one side of the property, and an old electric pole on the neighbor's yard fell onto our fence. The pole snapped off at the ground and it was partially rotted halfway up. The electric co-op never removed the pole when they put a new one in some years ago.

Today it wasn't as bad but they were still in the 40+ range for a good part of the morning...

Must have something beneficial enuff to support the frog and su. perch eggs theat get rained back down on us...

many years ago Organic Gardening ran a series of articles about free radicals of which rainwater has non until it sits for a spell nor does melt water nor boiled water ..That is about all I remember it has just been too many years ..gotta go

I think I still have some of those Organic Gardening mags. I loved em. Wonxer which tote they would be in. I like rainwater. It may be what it DOESN'T havr in it tho that works to the best advantages for the plants.

A little update here- as some of my tomatoes are getting pretty tall, but are not ready to pot up in size, I am adding a little highrise that I will add mix to. They are so pretty and green- I hope my luck holds ! And a little OT too- look at these cute garden stones I found today at the Dollar Tree! I just love them!

Lookie what I found this morning on my Pantano Romanesco mater! I clipped it off, but I really need to get these guys in the ground!

Jeez aren't they only about 6 weeks old? The forecast is for a warm up then a cool down, again. Any luck with your pepper seeds?

Marty,
Here's a broccoli update!

Very nice broccoli. Keep posting pictures of them. I am curios to see if they will develop a head because it is going to get hot real soon. Good luck !

Thanks, drthor! I'm curious, too!

Lisa & Steph,
My bells have blooms all over them, and I don't anticipate putting them outside before April 1st. Should I pull the blooms off?

I've been pulling them off so that the plant doesn't waste energy on blooms, but spends it on growth. Not sure if that's the right thing to do as it might decrease my tomato production.

And I think I sowed these on 1/21 maybe??

bells & tomatoes...apples & oranges, LOL!

Updates:
Listada de Gandia Eggplants
Quadrato Rosso Bells
Blooming Bells

Steph>> It looks like we started our seeds the same day, and we're in the same boat. Peppers are still kind of slow, but the tomatoes are doing great. Keeping the room as cold as it's been, the plants are looking pretty stout, but they are getting fairly tall. About 10 days or 2 weeks is all I'll be able to keep them inside, which is when I hope this weather will make up it's mind.

Seen saving rainwater in KCity - it was a dry summer last year ya know? COLD tonite in Mitchell, SD. waving hi to the south.

You are a good broccoli mama, Linda! Glad to see them getting big. I had no way to take care of them. Glad you stepped in.

Thank you, Marty,

I just love working with veggie babies!

MY WEEKEND UPDATE - 3/2/13:
I checked the soil thermometer yesterday morning, and it read 65°. Not bad, since it was only 52° outside! When I lifted it, I could feel the heat (and humidity) under the perforated tarp, and, the seven dwarfs (not really dwarfs...) were doing fine underneath. I won't be covering them again until tomorrow night and, again, that's only for the 25-35 mph wind gusts we're expecting. Have I mentioned how glad I am that bed is oriented N-S?

I remembered that I hadn't mixed any Dolomitic lime into the planting bed, so, I sprinkled a handful of EP and a handful of lime over the root balls of each plant and watered it in. Hopefully the mix sank far enough down to the root balls. Since I trench-planted each tomato in a backwards "L" shape, I know exactly where each root ball is, which makes it much easier to water only those areas and not waste water doing the whole bed.

My turnips are just about ready for harvesting, so when I clear out that side of RB #1, I can put a few tomato plants under the tomato frame. I have a whole flat of cabbages ready to go in, and I may put them and the broccoli where the beets were, opposite the tomatoes. Wondering if it will be worth it, or, if I've run out of time. But, I think I may have a shot at bringing them in, if I use some hoop covers.

I've been learning loads about how to use different hoop coverings to achieve desired outcomes like raising soil temps, or cooling/shading plants in the heat, keeping a bed dry before you need to plant it, and keeping flying, egg-laying moths off by using floating row covers (or, in my case, the bolt of tulle that's on the way...).

I found a website where this guy actual EXPLAINS in a pictorial how he uses at least 4 different hoop coverings to achieve certain outcomes in his RBs. One of the BEST RB garden websites I've ever seen!

I'm encouraged to build my squash trellis and cover the entire thing with a barrier of tulle to keep the Squash moth from getting to the plant and laying eggs on the stems. Think I'll put the plant in a container beneath the trellis, and wrap the entire pot and the lower portion of the stem. Then, I may tent the entire trellis, just until the blooms come on. Hopefully, there won't be any SVB larvae inside the stems, and the plant can have a fighting chance to develop some vegetables. We'll see...

Here's the link:
http://www.araisedbedgarden.com/index.html

Enjoy.

P.S. I found two caramel brown larvae on the soil in my carrot grow bag. When I picked the first one up, the tip moved and startled me, and I dropped it in the grass. I was ready for the second one, though. No idea which creature will hatch and start munching on my seedlings...

Hugs!

Self-pollination, maybe? I'm starting out very small. Only 2-3 vines...

From Sheridan, Wyo where storm hit to 10m up the road. Lynda is the larva a hard case? Built kinda like a sectional pyramid? I wonder if the svb can be fooled by phermones? It appears to be attracted by that instead of color...have seen that larva, dont remember what it is. Not good for plants if I remember correctly.

I'd love to see some pictures of these raised beds.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2013 1:51 PM

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