Posted on 04/10/2015 8:14:14 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
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Our Prayers to your husband and also you greeneyes ~
When I screened them out, they turned out to be about 25% of the mix. I don't want 1" long pieces of wood in my potting soil. I was very unhappy with MiracleGrow.
/johnny
I started my corn in the greenhouse today after soaking the seed between damp paper towels for 3 days. I took the weed eater to another bed of Vetch cover crop and added that to the compost pile with layers of Redwood needles yesterday and still have 2 beds to go ~
We use Black Gold potting soil which has a lot of peat moss and composed sawdust and perlite. It’s $9.00 for 1 1/2 cu foot at our Ace hardware store. Also use it in our planters for one year and then it gets spread on the gaden in the late fall.
PS, I think of you often Johnny...
If purchaseing full plants , get those that haven't yet set flowers and are still full leafed.
You want plants that will continue to mature, setting out good root growth before flowering
Make sure that they have already been 'hardened off',
less they wilt in the sun and have inadequate roots to sustain additional growth and leafing out.
Go for the 'weed and feed'.
Crabgrass will only grow where there are bald spots
or where it doesn't have to compete with regular grass.
Learn what crabgrass looks like, as there is still time to apply crabgrass preventer.
Don't spend money needlessly - be frugal (cheap ) !
That is why we have the gardening forum with 'greeneyes' on a weekly basis, with weekly updates.
Sometimes products change their formulation and add crap ( wood scraps)
I like to sift my potting soil with 1/4 inch mesh ,so that I know what I am dealing with.
The wood chunks may absorb moisture and fertilizer, and give a 'timed release'
but is not appropriate for seeding beds.
Keep us advised , please . Thanks.
The peat moss is slightly acidic
The composted sawdust will generally be slightly acidic
and the pearlite provides aearation, and soil friability (adding air and is easily broken up)
and you are in my nightly prayers !
I don't know what happened but I fire vendors that don't meet my needs.
I won't ever use/buy Cisco again because they lied to me about how much power a dedicated switch would draw. I had a tight power budget because it was a Solar Power system. They were off by %200. FIRED. Gone bye-bye in the car-car.
I'm very harsh on my vendors.
/johnny
When vendors don't meet expectations , I would expect you to fire them
Does this mean that you don't have hot water again ?
or are you only taking cold showers again ?
Night all.
/johnny
Glad your hubby is doing better, will send some prayers your way. Thanks for starting the thread. My hubby is down with a bug right now. He had a long week at work. With his CLL he’s been told to keep an eye out for infections and I hope this bug passes soon. Other than watching my romaine lettuce sprout under Plexiglas, it’s been too wet to till up the garden. I do have some bulbs to plant today. I think if I dig a hole there will not be any frost.
Interesting , keep us posted on future results. I dislike buying potting soil. I have a separate compost pile, have been doing it for years. It is just for potting soil. I only use large pots for peppers and starting seeds and cherry tomatoes. I prefer not to have them down in the bigger garden. So at the end of the summer, I dump out and compost the potting soil. I figure it’s formulated for drainage mostly. I add composted goat manure when I pot things up in the spring. It’ll be years before I deplete the goat manure. I also add any potting soil from any hanging basket or other planter bought or given to me.
Two of the tomatoes are a little puny. Going out to check on everybody this morning. I think I may have been a little rough getting one of them out of their pots.
Hope Mr. Greeneyes can return home soon.
.... for your consideration
Thanks:)
Well............my container bamboos are just now beginning to shoot.............big news, huh.............
More L8R!
Dick G
*****
We got a few days of warmth here in southern Ohio. I made a rock garden in a 2 x 15 area in front of the porch. I used “Alabama Sunset” pebbles and my horde of local flint I’ve been saving for years. It’s a blast of color now, especially in the rain. I re-potted some of my Cactus plants. The Century plant had three babies, presents for my friends.
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