Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 05/07/2010 6:30:17 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners! If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. There are many Freepers from all over the Good Ol’ USA that are willing and eager to help.
I thought a little primer on fertilizers might come in handy this time of year especially to those of you just starting out.
What do the numbers mean?
Every bag or container of commercial fertilizer has a three number code that tells you the percentage that that particular fertilizer has of the "Big Three" nutrients used by plants.
The big three nutrients are, in the order listed on the container:
A bag of fertilizer labeled as 13-13-13 will have equal percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium for a total of 39%; the rest is filler.
Ideally a soil test is needed to determine how much of these nutriments your soil needs.
Also the type of vegetables or plants you are growing may require different percentages of these nutriments to grow or produce successfully. Know your plants needs.
And remember small amounts will go a long way. Don't over fertilize. Too much at one time or too often can overwhelm plant systems and cause problems.
Weekly Gardening Thread
I hope all of you will stop by.
This is typically a low volume ping list. Once a week for the thread and every once in a while for other FR threads posted that might be of interest.
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Either I’m early or ....
Not much gardening today. Its pouring here in Michigan.
Good Morning,
This weekend, we are installing a bird bath, taking out a failed drip type watering system that the previous owner installed, and planting a few more flowers.
I hope everyone has a great and beautiful weekend ahead.
Regards,
AR
Well, it’s about time! It’s cold & raining outside, so I need to get my gardening “fix” at the computer, and y’all have been MISSING!
Where does sulphur fit in? In AZ, it was a given that sulfur was neccessary for happy plants. Thx and happy gardening!
looks like my buttercrunch lettuce is ready to start harvesting...one of my tomatoes is turning color already too I noticed the other day. Haven’t had to water for a couple of days due to the afternoon showers starting early this year. Looks like wildfire season was over before it started.
Oh, I also found a place that sells the big bags of coarse vermiculite - for $27!
Speaking of fertilizer, I picked up a PH test kit at the Ace garden center yesterday. A correct PH is needed for plants to utilize the fertilizer you have added to the soil. I have had a PH meter for several years but I don’t think it was giving me a correct reading as it didn’t vary from area to area...
Good advice on fertilizer, Red. One thing I always tell my customers: don’t worry so much about the nutritional value of your soil. Just make sure it’s in good shape by adding peat moss, top soil (if needed) and composted cow or horse manure...espcially if you garden in clay soil like we do here in southern Wisconsin.
THEN - you can individually feed your plants exactly what they need.
Here’s a good basic guideline:
I think of the dirt as something that holds my plants UP. It’s up to me to feed them properly; I don’t try to get every inch of my garden bed ‘nutritionally’ perfect...which can be VERY expensive.
Storm blowing in here.
Still pretty cold for May.
I don’t know what’s up with this weather, but I think it’s stunting the growth on my plants.
We harvested the remainder of the chinese cabbages this week. They were kind of small but I’d rather have a few small cabbages than bolted inedible ones. My snow peas have finally quit making. Those will get pulled this weekend to make room for something else in the raised bed. Not entirely sure exactly what yet. Maybe some hot peppers. I’m going to fill the cubbies in the concrete blocks with dirt this weekend and alternate basil (minette) and dwarf tomatoes (red robin) in those for effect. I’ve also got petunias (wave ones) to put at the corners.
I’ve got some ginormous pots under one of my oak trees that we’re going to plant with lettuce. It’s an experiment to see just how long we can grow lettuce w/o it getting too bitter to eat or bolting.
Hopefully weather will cooperate and I won’t manage to kill everything I touch!
My tomatoes in the big garden are doing great. The ones that survived being run over (yes, with the car!). I’d put the flat on my driveway to get extra warmth from the concrete and promptly forgot about it. Until I heard the sickening *cruuuuuunch* as I ran over it. Lost a good 75 seedlings. Bummer.
I also have a surprise hazlenut seedling. I planted a hazlenut last fall just for kicks, in an unusued pot full of soil. Amazingly enough it sprouted! I have six hazlenut bushes now. If I don’t manage to kill them somehow.
Cherry bushes (Hansens) are loaded. As are the blueberries and now the blackberries. My oldest daughter picks a clamshell or so full of strawberries every day and between her and her sisters they last about a day.
Almost have my corn completely mulched with newspapers and grass clippings. Finished mulching the cucumbers and melons on the trellis. Cucumbers already have blooms and little baby cucumbers on them.
Harvested my first round zucchini yesterday. Still debating what to use it with/for. Anybody have any good ideas for zucchini dishes that toddlers might actually eat?
Has anyone started asparagus from seed? How did it turn out?
Life is good.
The tomato cages are there to remind me where to leave some rows for walking! Our friend Mike tilled for me yesterday, God Bless Him!
Since my compost pile doesnt have enough volume for my veggie garden, I picked up a half-yard of dairy compost & spread it out on the garden this past Tuesday.
I think all the plants are very thankful.
Well, come down to Texas if you are cold. It was over 90 the past few days. We may get some relief this weekend and just hit the mid 80s.
My garden is growing like crazy. I may be picking fresh tomatoes by next week. Bell and jalapeno peppers are putting on a lot of peppers too.
Big ice chunk on top of the cover on my four wheeler. Rain and snow yesterday, cold today. All tomato and pepper plants inside under grow light. Whew.
Send some of that rain down here to Texas! I had to do some serious watering this week. We’re getting dry.
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