WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 26 JUNE 28, 2013

Free Republic | June 28, 2013 | greeneyes

[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. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[Marcella]

I have two questions:

1. This is about which plants need to be started from seed outside the garden and then transplanted and which need to be “Direct Sow”.

I’m thinking, however, since every plant will be in a container for the life of the plant, never in the ground, that every seed could be planted in the container to start with (I hate ending a sentence with a preposition). Am I correct - plant all the seeds directly in the container - or not?

2. How long are seeds viable (approximately) when you buy a package of 2013 seed, assuming you keep them in the envelope in a house that is between 74-79 degrees?

[JRandomFreeper]

Viability varies greatly with the species. You'll need to research each one.

You should ignore 'direct sow' as it doesn't apply in your case, since you are growing only in containers.

Plant them all in the containers that they will live in.

It's ok to end a sentence in a preposition if you want to. ;)

/johnny

[Marcella]

I had a strict English teacher in high school and if I ended a sentence with a preposition, I think she would have shot me in the head. In college, an English teacher called me up after class and gushed over a report I wrote (with footnotes). She said I must have had a good English teacher and I told her that teacher was part of Hitler’s brown shirts.

I was also a fast typist and another English teacher in that school, paid me to type her master’s thesis. I knew every rule for footnotes in the universe when I finished that.

Thanks for approving what I thought - that I could plant seed directly in the container. I’ll see what I can find about each seed’s viability.

[Marcella]

Found a really good chart of veggie seed viability. I bought a bunch of seed this year and have plenty of time, as in years, to use these seeds.

The chart is here:

http://www.growingyourownveg.com/vegetableseedviability.php

[TEXOKIE]

How interesting! So you’ve had them for a while, Madison10. I do not have any onions at all, and have no idea about the “top onions.” However, I’d love to know the answer to that as well. We have wild garlic in our yard which produces the little “top garlics” and I have no idea if those can be used either!

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks so much for the onion link!

[TEXOKIE]

What’s a keyhole garden? Thanks.

[madison10]

Thanks! I thought after the date on the packages the seeds were past the date of growing viability.

[TArcher]

>>Does Lowes carry it?

I’m pretty sure that’s where I got it:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_86891-316-HG-93179_0__?productId=3276665

[Marcella]

“Thanks! I thought after the date on the packages the seeds were past the date of growing viability.”

You’re welcome. One of my character faults, as Johnny will attest, is beating a subject to death until I know all there is to know. I needed to know the “life span” of a veggie seed when kept in the dark and cool and now I know.

I also know thousands of useless facts.

[Sarajevo]

Daves Garden

Keyhole Gardening Unlocking the secrets of drought-hardy gardens

Morena's Corner

:)
Maybe we should make a thread of this for Friday's Gardening Thread.

[tillacum]

I need to download this for hubby.

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks for the link! I’ll check it out!

[TEXOKIE]

Re: keyhole gardens

HOW ingenious! Thanks for the links. I had never heard of them before.

“:)
Maybe we should make a thread of this for Friday’s Gardening Thread”

Wouldn’t hurt my feelers at all to learn more. Bounce it off greeneyes!

[ApplegateRanch]

Those “top garlics” can be used or planted, either one. IIRC, if you plant them, you only get a small, solid bulb the first year; then you plant that the following year and get a full sized bulb composed of cloves. Of course, if they’re wild garlics, they may be pretty small, no matter what; and lots of different family members go by the term “wild garlic”.

Our Egyptians are walking like an onion right now. I’m planning on prepping a new bed to be their permanent home, and will separate & plant the tops, and bring the bulbs in for kitchen duty. The ones I already dug were very hot, but also very good flavor: IOW, a little went a long way. I would not use them for slicing or dicing on a hamburger, but would dice & cook then in hamburger.

Check out this, since you’re in OK: Open the link, and scroll down about 3 or 4 post to ***Posted by okiedawn Z7 OK (My Page ) on Sat, Jul 5, 08 at 16:51*** http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/okgard/msg0711214120419.html

[ApplegateRanch]

“Egyptian walking onions.” I would like to give those a try. Marcella, are those difficult to obtain, do you know?

We got 50 of them for free at the town's free "yard waste" disposal area last year. They also have a "brush & branches" disposal site. They make & sell compost from it all. The onions are doing great.

We've also rescued several iris a few times; and last week, I brought home a potted century plant type cactus, sans pot.

Amazing what people throw out.

[TArcher]

Welcome, FRiend.

I’d expect a significant source of elements for your growing/rootless lettuce is - air.

Interesting experiment.

I’m trying to root some cilantro I got at the market. So far no roots and no leaf growth though.

[rightly_dividing]

I agree on drip, it is the only way I have ever used. We have to pay high prices for water so it is a win/win for us. Currently, though, we are having to sprinkle our yard to keep the grass alive that is just recovering from 2010/11. We live on a hill so we cannot lose our erosion control.

[tillacum]

My onions are doing well. They kind of like the syrup pots.

[tillacum]

I down loaded the direction and he thinks it’s a good idea. I love the one I have in the community garden. Right now I have only a couple of things in it, but I’ll be adding in a little while, some ???? swiss chard, lettuce, I do have 4 black diamond watermelons in it right now. I’m thinking of spraying around it with a solution of salt & white vinegar to get rid of the doggone wild morning glory and other invading weeds.