Early March pictures

Here's some pics from this morning

Here is some of my new stacking planters. They are inside my pool area so I put them on 5 gallon buckets (they fit nicely) so I can spin them to have equal sunshine on all the plants

Here's my bean pole, 75 bush bean plants on one square footprint of earth.

Great idea Bob! Hey, do you ever fall into that pool while working? LOL I'm a blunderbuss, I'd be in it daily if I tried to have plants that close.

Just sprouted carrots on the left, and romaine in a Stack an Grow on the right

Yes, just once. It was hot out and felt good.

Some of my 3rd planting of tomatoes this year.

some sweet vidalia onions in 5 gallon grow bags

The absolute last of my 2nd planting of toms

Giant chinese cabbage in a 5 gallon grow bag

Grow bags lined up with tomato plants

Bob, will the onions all have room to get big or will you harvest a few in betweeners? Hey those beans are really growing.

My strawberry plants planted in November are still producing

I planted 5 onion plants per bag, enough room for them to fully mature. Go bean pole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three pepper plants in a 20 gallon plastic tub. Here I mixed some perlite in with the coconut coir 6 months ago. I just harvested a load of beets from this tub and immed replanted with the peppers.

Here's some herbs in my new deck rail planter.

Bob: In looking at your tomato plants those stems are huge. And the toms are beautiful too. I like your set up, as the water can drain right into the buckets the way you have it set up. Great looking veggies there. My nephew is over today weeding my canna lily beds, he is the best worker I've ever had, he is only 16; and I have a surprise for him when he is done today. He always does an excellent job for me, no matter what he does and even though he is only 16, if he does the job of an adult male and does it better, then I feel he deserves the same pay with a bonus. I want him to do the things I can't instead of someone else, so I'm going to make that happen. LOL
joy

Bob, those buckets aren't very decorative, but they would get my veggies out of that tomcat's range (I think)!

carol

Yea, Not pretty, but growing machines.All I want is to grow my own produce (all of it)

Curious about the dynamics, Bob: no way the stacks can blow over?

since I took the picture, I ran a 1 inch pipe through the holes in the planters and through the 5 gallon pail 4 feet in all

Through the pail and into the earth?

Hi Bob.......I sure like the looks of the big pots you are calling the vegetable producers. Six plant sites per pot means they really can produce! And I like the way the plant sites protrude out to make it easier for harvesting and replanting without having to unstack the stack. Lots of vegetables are shallow rooted (lots of flowers too) and are easy to tug their roots from the plant site and insert a new transplant. I will bet if you kept a journal or log on what could be grown and harvested from one stack of 6 of those pots (36 plant sites) in a years time, it would amaze everyone. Many of us live in fairly mild climates where the stack could produce all year. In colder climates, the stack should be easy to protect with a simple mini-greenhouse contraption. Which brings up the thought of Joy's new small greenhouse. Im guessing she could get about 6 stacks in there easy. There are quite a few inexpensive greenhouses that would insure year around production with these stacking systems. Here is a link to some of them...................http://www.flowerhouses.com/products/greenhouses/greenhouses.htm

Jay: That's where I got mine from, it's the dream house flower house. I love mine, I'm gonna be home for 3 months so can watch it now. LOL
joy

I have almost bought the version they call the BloomHouse, Joy, but keep putting it off. I like that big door and all the triangle shapes of the frame should make it stronger. Your house is 8x8 feet. You could comfortably get four 6 pot stacks in there plus all kinds of 5 gal grow pots sitting at ground level. Lets see.......thats about 144 plant sites on the stackers plus various size pots sitting around. A little heater running on colder day/nights and you are a year around gardener!!

jay: True. Tomorrow starts planting time for me, the 40 lettuce startings are going to go in these hanging grow bags, only I'm going to be lying them down flat, four of them have 10 planting holes and the other four have 8 planting holes, will have to put some drain holes in the bottom of them, so the excess water can drain out; but, that is where I'm going to put my lettuce and pray my spinach hurries and sprouts so I can do the same with it, then I'm planting an EB of carrots and 2 EBs of cabbages. I was happy to get everything done today that I wanted to have done, my nephew came out and was the hero of the day, he is such a great worker, he helped me get my canna beds weeded, he is more meticulous than I am at getting every little weed out. Don't know where I'd be without that boy. He is coming back out next weekend to help me put in the humous peat, cow manure and fertilizer after we dig up all the cannas and divide them. Then when March 16th gets here I'll have at least 30 more cannas to direct plant in the beds. I'm going to buy some spices for my daughter to plant in some pots tomorrow to put round my plants.
joy

No, not into the earth. They are on my pool patio (concrete). The pool screen serves well as a wind braker ( except for a catergory 1 hurricane. ). Then I just RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O I C. LOL ETC

BocaBob: PLEASE forgive my stupid questions (but you are all free to laugh to yourselves ;). I'm a transplanted yankee (MI) to Ocala, FL...learning to garden all over again. I normally stuck plants in prepared ground in summer & they produced {shrug}.

So it's possible to sucessfully vegetable garden in containers within a screened area? I was concerned as to whether the screening would cut down on the UV rays? And do blossom producing veggies need pollination? (TOLD you I'm stupid! LOL)

As I test, I bought several "pairs" of tomato & pepper plants. DH finished some home-made self-watering buckets today (note: two bengals cats produce a infinite supply of kitty litter buckets for this project!) and was planning on putting one each inside AND outside the screened area for comparison.

Oh...and I REALLY covet your stackers!!! Thanks in advance for all y'alls thoughts. :)

denise,
Bob's garden is inside a screened in pool area and his veggies don't seem to suffer from any problems. Quite the contrary. They are healthy and [according to him] delish!

denisemb,

Welcome !!!! I grow most of my veggies within my screened pool area. Tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, carrots, beets, eggplant, beans, etc pollinate themselves, so being inside a screened area is fine. Most cukes and squashes need to be pollinated, so unless you want to hand pollinate the female flowers, they should be outside. Don't worry about the UV rays, I had 10 foot high tomato plsnts inside. Go for it !!

BocaBob

Wow, thanks for your quick replies! We were considering cukes, so the pollination info is welcome.

I'll go back to lurking/learning and let y'all know how I make out. :)

Bob: Uh Oh, did you say that cukes need to be outside to be pollinated? I am going to download three pics of my cukes "national pickling" type that are inside in my inside greenhouse (spare bedroom), should they be outside in my outside greenhouse or just outside permanently? Notice they are planted in your coconut coir seed starting kit, look at the roots and the size of the leaves.

Going into room to take pics now and then will download and upload them, while everyone gets ready to advise me please ok?
joy

Here we go folks, look at the roots on that baby, and they are all that long too.

This is to show how massive the plant is getting; but, I'm not wanting lots of nice looking leaves, I want pickles!!!!

Yeah, I know, you gotta tilt your head side ways to get the correct version of the real thing, I forgot to do that part, look at the stems on these babies, now which greenhouse should they be in? The inside greenhouse (spare bedroom), the outside greenhouse or do I dare........ put them right outside when it stops raining??? Here comes TPlant with the paddle for the bad student???

You should be able to put everything outside after or even during the rain as rainwater is miraculous for all plants. I would say your season or frost date is safe now. Wish we had some rain down here as we are bone dry.

Joy, I can't advise you on your cukes. I'm certainly not an expert LOL, but do have a question for you about your greenhouse. Does it get too hot during the day for your seedlings? I've been drooling over that greenhouse but have been afraid that I'd be spending too much time lugging things in and out with the drastic changes in our temps. In the mornings it might be 40 and might be as high as 60/65 or 70 so internal temps could get toasty? I had a small one ... of course the only ventilation was the door. Do the vents in that one make all that difference? Forgive me ... I know this has nothing to do with your cuke questions. :)
~Susan

Wow! It was a broiling 86* here today and that is hot! Hope we get some rain?

Susan: Mine has 12 zip windows, 2 zip doors and two ports so there is plenty of air circulating around through there, what I like is the netting over the windows and doors, they zip also if you want to open the doors and window entirely, I don't as the bad bugs need to stay out for now til the plants are stronger, except I need the cukes to be pollinated I believe right?
joy

Check the seed package. It will tell you if they are self-pollinating?