Posted on 02/01/2008 6:27:10 AM PST by Gabz
How big of an area are you gardening?
I have a lot of questions for everyone, being the newbie to gardening that I am.
...meaning no freeze=big Texas bug problems.
You’re plan sounds SUPER. And I thoroughly agree with you about it needs to be fun and not cost prohibitive.
The year I tried berries was a financial disaster, even though I had gottent them all at half price, losing a dozen berry bushes and 100 strawberry plants was a major OUCH on the pocket.
Are you cutting the netting off the peat pellets before you transplant? You have to be careful and not hurt the roots if they are coming through...
It’s the middle of winter, so if we’re gonna get wet stuff from the sky — I would personally prefer snow!
Should I be removing it?
That’s a new catalog for me, thanks for the link.
So far, so good.
Last year I decided to buy two jumbo packs of Burpee seeds—one annuals and one herbs—and just throw them on a pile of dirt left over from hardscaping, just to disguise it.
Well, I got the best garden ever. Towering cosmos, oodles of marigolds, knockout zinnias, etc. The herbs were just as pretty—blue borage and purple basil; lavender chives and golden nasturtium.
The seed packets were five bucks apiece at K-Mart. Complete with layout designs and plant markers. Great for beginners.
This plot, at the back of my property, was prettier than the fussy formal gardens up front.
Isn’t that just the way it goes?
We have 4 beds that are about six foot wide by 100 feet long......I filled the beds with just sand manure and peat and compost over time. We don’t soak the beds, we have drip irrigation and watch the plants .......more equals bugs and such and less equals slow growing bad looking plants. Each garden is different.
I did have a faucet plumbed into each bed so a timer on or little rainbird drippers comes off that. As well consider your regions freeze and be able to drain your irrigation drippers or faucets in the fall to prevent bursting in extreme cold.
Takes some time for the first one but worth decades of easy use later.
Don’t line the beds as that will allow drainage is ya water too much.
Did they freeze ?
I always liked those peat pellets, but don’t use them anymore because they started getting cost prohibitive. I just use a good quality potting soil (whatever is cheapest in WalMart or Lowe’s) in pots I make from news paper.
I love Jerry Baker and his tonics and have had good luck with several of them. One of the great things about them is they are made with everyday household items.
A. Seed and Soil Energizer
1tsp whiskey
1tsp ammonia
1tsp dishwashing liquid
1 quart weak tea water (soak a used tea bag with a tsp of dishsoap in a gallon of water until light brown)
Mix these ingredients in a bucket (I use milk containers) and pour into a handheld sprayer. Shake and apply a good misting to surface of newly planted seed beds or containers.
B. Seedling Saver Solution
4 tsp chamomile tea leaves
1 tsp dishwashing liquid
1 quart boiling water
Mix all and let steep for an hour. Strain out solids and pour into hand held sprayer. Mist seedlings as soon as they poke through the surface
C. Tough Love for Transplants
Just before you transplant your vegetable seedlings, spray them with a solution of 2 ounces salt or baking powder per gallon of water. This temporarily stops their growth and increase their strength, so they stand up to the challenging conditions they’ll face outdoors.
That sounds great.
I got my daughter a bunch of large packets of mixed wildflowers and let her put them wherever she wanted...........she scattered several packets around the base of the utility pole out front, it sure looked pretty, I hope she wants to do it again this year.
Thanks. My wife will be interested to hear that. She prefers the flowers. I told her she does the work, she can plant anything she wants. Your plan will make her smile.
No, they didn’t freeze, I think I may have waited too long to get them in. because nothing every happened once they got planted.
Spring plant, harvest in late may early june..... dry sandy soil amended with compost is best and also never plant strawberries where ya plant something else like tomatoes an such as the berry’s don’t like that and will die / rot get sick and such.
We use old wine barrels we cut holes in the sides . Plant in those and on top. I have a cement mixer I use to “make dirt” ......12 shovel’s of this , 2 shovel’s of that sort of recipe. Also with regards to good berry’s get a Soil Ph tester and after ya make your dirt lest it rest for a few days and test it before ya fill the barrel planting bed.
About 5.5 to 6.0 on the Ph level is best per my experience. When yer dirt is there fill the barrel and drill the holes in the side , 2 inch hole saw is what I use. Jam in a seed spike ream it around to make a planting hole and plant .
I usually hit em with a spray of the hose in the AM and the drippers in the evening. Once ya get some berry’s on the plants start watering em a little more and watch the birds. Ya may have to throw some pest mesh over the barrels when berries form if ya have lots of birds in the garden.
Also don;t put the wood wine barrels in the dirt as the bottom will rot. Place it empty on a few blocks or flag stones then fill it. As too the number of plants....as many as ya want or your barrel will allow holes to be cut.
The barrels actually look neat when they are done right. Ours reside as deck plants on our patio. They smell good and the color looks good. Easier to look after.
Sounds most interesting...
Here are instructions or making them Origami style: How to make a newspaper pot for starting seeds
I like the doohickey think I use. You wrap a strip of paper around it then squish in into a wooden base, sort of like a mortar and pestle.
Radar map is showing some heavier precip moving in. It’s only 30 out by our thermometer.
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