Weekly Gardening Thread – 2010 Vol. 14 May 7

Free Republic | 5-7-2010 | Red_Devil 232

[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:

1. Nitrogen - Important for green growth 
2. Phosphorous - For flower and fruit production
3. Potassium - Strong stems roots and other functions.

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.

 

[fanfan]

LOL, I think ‘around the pot’ was the part you missed. ;-)

Anyway, we are all here to help each other.

[Red_Devil 232]

Wow those are some cool average temps for summer! It is 71 now. 75 to 80 is perfect for me.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I called FTD customer line today to inquire about what variety of Hydrangea my daughter sent me. The helpful lady on the other end looked it up, according to my order number, and brightly told me, “Yes. It was blue.”

Duh....

I know it’s blue. What I want to know is if itis a variety that will survive in Wisconsin. LOL.

[MtnClimber]

I got out in the garden this weekend. On Sunday afternoon it got into the 70’s! I pulled the mulch off the gaelic and found that some of them are starting to come up. I also planted peas, beets and some collards. Then today I heard on the radio that there is a winter storm warning for tomorrow and there may be two feet of snow. I don’t think it will hurt germanation of any of the seeds I planted, but darned, I am ready for winter to be over!

[MtnClimber]

I can see the ski runs of Eldora Mountain Resort out of my living room window. Their avarage winter snowfall is reported to be 300 inches.

[afraidfortherepublic]

PROGRESS NOTES

It was too cold to plant any more seedlings this weekend, so we worked on the rest of the bed(s). My husband agreed to make 2 more planting boxes, as well as my perimeter planting boxes (since I'm out of room). I will devote one 4 x 8 foot box to corn and the other to squash and beans per dennisw's suggestion. I still want to do an Indian planting, so I may just plant one "hill". In any case, I can rotate these boxes.

So we set about covering the rest of the enclosure with cardboard to act as a weed barrier. My husband helped me make staples out of insulation hangers - cheap cheap, cheap solution. FREE because we had them left over from an insulation job we did for our daughter 10 years ago. But, they were cheap anyway. Basically they are wires which he bent into a U with pliars and pushed through the cardboard and down into the ground to keep the cardboard in place and to keep it from curling. THe ones you buy in the store are $2 for 12. You go through a pkg. of them pretty fast when trying to keep huge sheets of cardboard in place.

The rest of the enclosure completely covered in cardboard and ready for the boxes and paths.

Bundle of timbers ready to be installed.

When we're done I will have three 4 x 8 boxes and one deeper 2 x 8 box, PLUS the interier perimeter of the enclosure will be lined with 1 ft wide planting boxes for flowers, herbs, and extra veggies.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The pot that I bury in the ground is EMPTY, but has four holes around the lower edge. That’s the ‘liner’ for the hole I dig. I feed and water the squash by pouring water with liquid fertilizer into the pot that’s in the MIDDLE of the four squash plants. It takes the water and the fertilizer directly down to root level that way.

Four plants work fine if you have the room. Just do two on either side of the empty pot in the ground is space is a concern. Or bury ONE smaller pot and ONE squash plant if you’re really squeezed for space.

[dennisw]

Full speed ahead! Good going!

[dennisw]

I like asparagus but no way would I pay $3.50/lb for it. Anyway I would rather eat those flat Romano pole beans....about my favorite vegetable. Cooked by steaming so none of the taste leaves. Toss with salt and olive oil and eat.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thank you. I may not get really good growth on the corn this year because that cardboard will not be dissolved yet. But, I’ll take a poor crop in exchange for no weeds! Next year should be fine.

[tubebender]

Dam MC, I just don’t know a graceful way to break this news to you so let’s get it over with... I just pulled some filled out Vietnamese pink and Chinese red GARLIC for my wife not more then 10 minutes ago...

My wife wants to know if you are close the Abbey of St. Wallburga at Virginia Dale where she and her sister spent a weekend there?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sunday had more traffic, but people are NOT spending like they normally do for Mother’s Day. Part of it is the weather and part of it is that the Recession is FINALLY hitting ‘The People’s Republik of Madistan.’

Our Customer Count was average, but sales per customer were waaaaaay down. We’re also noticing that theft is up. Grrrrrr! I mean, REALLY. Stealing from a Garden Center?

Today was quiet, but Mondays normally are. We’re facing three rainy days in a row, but possibly a really nice weekend, then back into the 70’s next week.

We can catch up to some extent but May only has 31 days, and we can easily lose precious ground based upon the weather. You can only keep plants looking nice ‘on the bench’ for so long...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Gee...when I quit my job at Jung’s, I need to move on to Menard’s! ‘Someone’ is dropping a nice chunk of change into their cash box, LOL!

[who knows what evil?]

The pot that I bury in the ground is EMPTY, but has four holes around the lower edge.

Several other posters pointed out the brain f*rt I obviously experienced when reading your post. I am going to give that a try with my golden zucchini...maybe melons, as well.

[who knows what evil?]

Stealing from a Garden Center?

You're kidding...what are they taking? Seed potatoes? Onion sets? Cow pots?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Melons would love you for that! Heat and lots and lots of water make for the very best melons. :)

[MtnClimber]

I am about 15 mi NW of Golden, CO. Virginia Dale, CO is about 1 1/2 hours driving time and NE from here. It has been snowing off and on today, but melting quickly since the temps have been in the 40’s and 50’s.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

$79.99 Felco hand pruners!

Beotch, Please! Someone that’s stealing a pruner of that quality is most likely a member of my clientele that’s GOT the money to KNOW the quality...and steals it because she’s got nothing to do and all day to do it.

Grrrrrrrr!

The most ardent shoplifters? WEALTHY, middle-aged women with nothing to do all day, who HAVE the money to pay for whatever it was that caught their eye in the first place!

Seriously. I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end. And my boss had been in high-end retail for two decades before taking this job. You wouldn’t believe the things people steal. And you know who’s the very worst? Yep. Employees!

A few stats on what we’re up against:

http://www.shopliftingprevention.org/WhatNASPOffers/NRC.htm

And then we have the dopers that steal expensive full-spectrum light bulbs (we no longer display them; we keep them locked up) and bags of bat guano for their closet/basement pot farms. *Rolleyes*

Yep. It’s a whole ‘nother world out there, LOL!

[tubebender]

There are 6 or 8 large grower wholesalers catering to the local pot growers, indoor and out plus there are mainstream suppliers selling soil amendments 10 and 20 cubic yards at a time and at times more then that. The population of Humboldt County is about 140,000...

[afraidfortherepublic]

Those timbers were $1.97 apiece — cheapest borders I could get. The excess will be used as fence posts to repair my deteriorating pasture fence. 25 cents per foot. The clerk at Menard’s told me that they PAY $2.05 ea., but Home Depot was selling them for $1.97 and Menard’s matched them.

Just got back from Menard’s and brought home 8 bags of composted manure for my new beds. While I was looking over their bagged soil amendments I found Pro-Mix! $5.95 per cu. foot. It’s very light weight with a lovely feel to it, so they don’t sell it by weight. How does that price compare with what fan fan found in Canada?

I looked everywhere for Pro Mix a month ago and even checked their website and couldn’t find it anywhere. Here it was right at Menard’s tonight! Diana, do you have a Menard’s near you? You might try a bag for fall seedlings.