Posted on 03/07/2014 12:18:07 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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Went outside to remove the row covers. Garlic is doing well. All else looks like it'll never recover in my beds. Of course the winter rye is doing well too.
I feel guilty for sitting here at the computer, when I should be outside doing some sort of work, but not so guilty that I am going to act on it.LOL
I have 4 cherry size tomatoes. Lost the label so don't remember if the tomato in the pot indoors is a medium size slicer or cherry tomato. They are still green, so I'll just have to see if they grow more or not.
Forgot to water stuff earlier in the week as I was busy with other stuff. The basil, lemon tree, and tomato plant seem like they are recovering though.
Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the List.
It was 4 degrees this morning, 27 degrees at noon, and it’s 35 degrees now at 3:27 PM here in Massachusetts. In looking over the seeds I ordered, I’ve found that I forgot jalapenos. I guess we’ll have to pick up a packet locally.
Well, at least you are a teeny bit above freezing for now. Days like we have here give me a big burst of spring fever. I have learned though that it’s way too early to get going with too much, cause we can still have snow till mid April.
I hear you. I’m determined to get at least some seeds started this week end. It’s not easy with a 13 week old puppy.
/johnny
Down in San Antonio. Anything Incan put in the ground now? Still have some beets, carrots and lettuce that went through the winter frosts here and reared still growing.
Anyway, as a noob who is in year two of 4x4’s, what can I do now to prepare soil for upcoming season. Last year I got beautiful plants but no fruit. What can I do differently?
I’d probably play with the puppy.LOL
I started my lettuce seeds inside last week and they are sprouting and looking good. I also stated some trays of eggplant and pepper seeds. I think I will stick with buying tomato plants.
My daffodils and hyacinths had started to bloom last week and then the temps plummeted to the low teens and froze their pretty little blossoms. I did learn from last winter to plant my pansies in pots so I could bring them into the garage when there is a freeze. The pansies at the entrance to my sub division were devastated by the cold weather last week.
Here in north Texas there is always a water ban. I wish we could have a mixture of flower gardens and stone or gravel in our front yard instead of having to try, and I do mean try, to have a nice lawn that doesn’t get cited by the HOA.
Can’t wait for the warmer weather to really get outside and work in the gardens.
So is that how you store your stock for the next years planting?
Sounds like the HOA needs to have an attitude adjustment. When water is scarce, hardscapping can make an attractive, but eco-friendly space.
I'm not familiar with raised beds, so one of the others that does raised beds can probably answer what you need to do with them.
For my big garden, now that I'm no-till, I put down about 8" of compostables and mulch. I'll just move that stuff back out of the way when I get ready to plant.
/johnny
/johnny
I noticed this morning one of the containers has a stalk with a tiny bit of leaf about two inches or less growing out of the mix in the container. The other two potatoes in that container are still under the mix. What do I do now? Do I leave the stalk there uncovered or do I put enough mix in the container to cover it up?
This cold icy weather has taught me something - it allowed me to know which type plants suffer the most in this type weather even when they are covered.
The Mortgage Lifter tomato plant died. The Sweet Million Tomato looks really bad. The other three types of tomato plants are okay.
Cucumbers are fragile no matter the type. The four Homemade Pickles Cucumbers didn't look great after I transplanted them into larger containers, but the cold has killed them, I'm sure. The Carolina cucumbers were in smaller pots and it appears only one is going to live. These seeds come up fast in Espoma seed starter so I will plant them later next year to avoid possible cold/ice weather. I have Supremo and National Pickling Cucumbers under the grow lamp. As soon as I get more Espoma seed starter around March 17, I will plant more Homemade Pickles and Carolina cucumbers.
The Borettana Cipollini (Italian) onions died. The other types, three different bunching type, are okay. I'll plant more Cipollini seed when I get more Espoma starter.
I have a bunch of celery plants in a smaller pot with the other young seedlings that were out there, and the celery looks like they spit in the eye of the freeze, absolutely not bothered by the freeze. Those need to be put in a bigger pot, actually thinned out as there are so many in there. The pepper seedlings of several types appear to have made it - barely. Peppers are slow to grow from seed.
Numerous seedlings under the grow lamp already need to be in bigger pots but the seeds in the Jiffy seed starter have not sprouted, not even one cup. Those will be planted again when I get the Espoma starter. That is my biggest failure to date - that lousy Jiffy seed starter.
Buy Espoma Seed Starter if you actually want seeds to sprout and fast.
In theory, April 20th is the last average frost day. However we often have a freeze or two after that. And often about a month of too cool and too damp weather.
I have mid March as my sort the tomato seeds and get the final tomato plan done, then decide whether to start them early or wait to plant out doors. I often just wait and plant the seeds outdoors.
Eventually, we may be forced to optimize our harvest by starting every thing as early as possible. But for now we have sufficient space, and long enough season to just plant seeds outdoors for most stuff.
I lost some patio plants during the last freeze. None of my fruit trees got nipped. They are full of blossoms today and the bees are loving the fresh nectar.
I started out with a raised sq. ft. garden. It sounds like your mix doesn’t provide enough potassium, or phosphorus to me. You might want to add some organic fertilizer that has 15 30 15. Each sq. foot will need a generous helping of compost when you are ready to plant.
I would plant these beds in the fall with winter grains such as cereal rye, winter wheat, or hairy vetch. In February, sow any bare batches with red clover. Then in the spring turn it under about 4 weeks before planting for “green compost”.
He keeps me busy. :)
I wouldn’t worry about covering them until they are quite a bit taller than 2 inches.(6 inches)
Yes, I’ve learned that warm weather fruits and veggies just don’t like the cold. Best to have them in containers that can be brought in or wait till the weather is reliabley 60 degrees at all times.
That’s great news!
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