Posted on 02/13/2015 1:01:56 PM PST 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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I figure anything below 99 is the Arctic tundra. How come you didn’t ask what is a Canadian Ki-Ki Bird? I love that joke.
Sounds good. Hope the mini orchard does well.
Yep, they sound great. Hope they work out.LOL
Darn. I hate to hear that the hydroponics aren’t that great.
Our actual start date for tomato plants is late March. So I am pushing it. That’s why I’m only doing a few of one type each week. These will probably be grown entirely in pots, so that when I set them out, they can be brought indoors as needed.
Our moderate freeze date is April 26, but that means a 20% chance of frost, so I don’t really like to plant summer veggies until the last of May or first of June.
I am always trying to find a way to push up spring, and extend the production into winter.LOL
Okay, I’ll bite, what is a Canadian Ki-Ki Bird?
Yes, those are good points. The final transplant to the garden needs to be into rich soil. The link does point out that nutrients will need to be added once the seedlings get going.
These see saw days of nice then freezing weather are very challenging for production!
Thanks for posting the article and helping Eric.
Well, now if I were you, I’d probably use the freezing weather as an excuse to huddle in the house with tea and snacks, instead of painting.
Then, if I started feeling guilty I might just clean out a draw or bake a cake or something-any thing to have an excuse to warm it up.LOL
Very nice article and pictures. Thanks to you both for bringing this to the thread.
LOL. I have killed more plants with kindness than I can remember. One reason I like the Mel’s mix for my raised beds. Almost impossible to overwater.
You have a lot of action going on compared to our area!
That does seem like it’ll be a tough balance to strike, tomatoes being fairly water intensive for a potted plant and hanging in the sun. Think I’ll try it though, sounds good for salads :)
I started my Krims (tomato) this past Sunday. They started germinating in less than 48 hours. By Wednesday every seed was up. I planted two seeds per peat pellet. I’ll remove the second seedling from the peat starter, replant, and double the count of seedlings for a total of 72 seedlings. My logic is to put out larger plants so they get a good
head-start on the wilt.
I also plant my usual hybrids (better boys, super steaks, etc) so I continue my harvest until the frost kills the plants.
Last year my Krims germinated in 2 and 1/2 days and entire garden was incredible. I’m thinking this year is going to be a repeat here in Atlanta.
The hydroponics are OK, and they turned out perfect and pretty, flavor wise, eh... so flowers should turn out all right, if you get the right varieties.
I don’t think I’m as accomplished as you with the gardening though. I just plop them in the ground around Mothers Day. Gotta set up a bunch of raised beds first though :)
We had a great year last year for tomato and pepper plants especially too. Let’s hope we both get a repeat!
I have about 200 sq. ft. of raised beds. However half of that is located in a rather shady location too close to a black walnut tree, so it limits what I can grow there. I also have to haul water to the area, and that’s a pain.
This year I am thinking that I might just plant most of it in cover crop and use pots on the lower back patio to make up the difference. Now that we have the split hose hooked to the swimming pool, I can water the stuff there without hauling buckets.
OK, I’ll bite.
I think my friend had his sitting in a saucer of water, instead of letting it drain freely.
I confess to be thinking more about warm weather boating then veggies.
We stay off the lake on major holidays and weekends...too many bozos.
LOL. I don’t think I am very accomplished either. Whatever I get is the result of luck and God’s good will I think. I like to plop them in the ground around the first of June mostly because I don’t like damp cool weather of spring.
So I plant as much as I can in the fall. The exception is potato starts. Those can go into the ground anytime after April 1. So I just wait for a nice day the first week or so of April. Plunk them in, cover with straw, and forget about it till warm weather comes.
My daughter gave me the book on square foot gardening, and hubby built my raised bed exactly as I told him. Making fun of it the whole time.
We were both amazed when almost everything I planted did well. I learned a lot from this thread when Red Devil was posting it, and did a lot of reading books and internet.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember as well as I used to, so I don’t remember a lot of stuff I’ve read, but every year I re read and remember a little more for the next spring.LOL
Boy, I hear ya! That’s what happens when a nice area gets to be a destination.LOL
I swear by Espoma Organic Seed Starter to start seeds. I would get close to 100% of the seeds sprouting in a short length of time for that particular seed. Pepper seeds are slow to sprout, that’s true, but they sprout faster with Espoma, still slow but faster than others (like never with some). For filling the containers for the plants final home, I only use “Miracle Grow Potting Soil Mix”. They have other types of soil but those words are the exact name of that mix.
I sprouted tobacco seed also using Espoma. I got these seeds from Johnny. Now, that one is different. The seeds look like brown dust. It takes a while, like thinking you will never see a sprout and when you do it’s teeny tiny, just tiny green stuff flat on top of the seed starter and you think you have screwed up. Eventually, it starts upward and grows faster almost every day. Before you know it, you have to put it in its final pot. I did grow them to adult stage.
There are squirrels where I live now and I’ve now got a pellet rifle. Squirrels are murderers of plants and produce. I have pronounced them all guilty without a trial.
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