Gardening: the beets must go on

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cnmns: Mar 29, 2007; With my pair of headphones and some music, I can ignore the whole world.

I have a quick question. Is it too late to start growing anything but herbs? I am getting a place with a backyard and I would like to grow a few things. I'm in Zone 6 I believe (A or B). Mildly curious because I'm renting this place until the end of June and I kinda wanted to start some plants that might be ready in a couple months.

# ? Jul 31, 2010 02:31

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# ? May 30, 2024 03:30

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

Tell me if this sounds a little crazy or not:

I've been having problems with growing things in raised beds. Is it possible the hot carolina sun is heating up the soil in the raised beds too much and drying it out too fast? The ph and quality of the soil is fine. I finally have a test going on. I planted some green beans in one of my vegetable boxes and some in another area planted directly into the ground. The ones in the ground are doing great. Only half the ones I planted in the box actually sprouted, and they look pretty gross. I only have 2 raised boxes, but I'm thinking about switching to straight in the ground.

# ? Jul 31, 2010 17:52

Anubis: Oct 9, 2003; It's hard to keep sand out of ears this big.; Fun Shoe

Alterian posted:

Tell me if this sounds a little crazy or not:

I've been having problems with growing things in raised beds. Is it possible the hot carolina sun is heating up the soil in the raised beds too much and drying it out too fast? The ph and quality of the soil is fine. I finally have a test going on. I planted some green beans in one of my vegetable boxes and some in another area planted directly into the ground. The ones in the ground are doing great. Only half the ones I planted in the box actually sprouted, and they look pretty gross. I only have 2 raised boxes, but I'm thinking about switching to straight in the ground.

My guess would be either that or (depending on what you filled your raised bed with) fertilizer burn. How far above the ground is your gardens and what do you use for an outside barrier? I've seen people use tractor tires and the like which I know would trap heat.

# ? Jul 31, 2010 18:16

hepscat: Jan 16, 2005; Avenging Nun

Some critter got into my carrots and dug around everything last night. Only the carrots were disturbed so I'm guessing it was a little Peter Cottontail.

Well, for posterity, I can say that transplanting them instead of direct seeding was definitely not the way to go. About 30% of the carrots were straight, but the rest were all bizarre and tangly. It would have been better to wait a month and direct seed.

# ? Jul 31, 2010 19:52

Cathis: Sep 11, 2001; Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?

There is this obnoxious plant that grows EVERYWHERE in our yard. It grows like a weed, and I am constantly yanking it up only to find it grows right back.
It's almost tree-like when it grows for awhile, and on the non-seedlings I have to get shears out because it roots very thoroughly. It can get a quite thick stem, I have seen them up to an inch thick.
Does anybody recognize this annoying plant?

# ? Jul 31, 2010 21:09

Marchegiana: Jan 31, 2006; . . . Bitch.

Looks like it could be mulberry. Does someone have a mulberry tree in your neighborhood? The birds could be crapping the seeds all over your yard, if so.

# ? Aug 1, 2010 02:48

Owsla: Aug 31, 2003; Where are my bitches?

This is our first year with a garden and I think I need a little advice.

Austin, TX - 4x8ft raised bed

We have a mix of Brandywine and Big Rainbow heirloom tomatoes in half the bed and I'm worried they're too tall. They tower a good 2 feet over the top of the 3 1/2 ft tall cages we put around each plant.

They're just now starting to get a few tomatoes here and there, but nothing very high up the plant, mostly towards the bottom and middle. Will the tops just not make tomatoes so I don't need to worry about this, or do I need to maybe prune the tops?

If they are probably going to get tomatoes up top and I shouldn't prune them, should I maybe tie a few 6ft tall bamboo rods around each of the cages to make them taller?

I don't have any pictures showing how tall they are but here are some pics of the rest of our efforts for now:

Our first real contender for awesome tomato flavor (so sick of grocery store maters)

Bell pepper pots are starting to produce

One of the first two cayenne peppers to arrive (when do I pull these?)

Pickling cucumbers! There are 3 of these in 3sq ft of our bed, this was not enough room. We'll be building a trellis asap to hopefully get these guys away from the neighboring tomato cages.

# ? Aug 1, 2010 17:18

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

Anubis posted:

My guess would be either that or (depending on what you filled your raised bed with) fertilizer burn. How far above the ground is your gardens and what do you use for an outside barrier? I've seen people use tractor tires and the like which I know would trap heat.

The bed is made from 10" wood boards. Its not filled to the very top though. I've never put any sort of chemical fertilizer in that soil. I mixed compost in with the dirt and I put grass clippings on top of it as a mulch (we don't spray or fertilize our lawn) I'll try to take pictures today of the difference.

# ? Aug 1, 2010 17:34

mcrandello: Mar 30, 2001

Owsla posted:

One of the first two cayenne peppers to arrive (when do I pull these?)

I've started pulling mine when the bottom tip is red and it starts getting dark upwards of about 1/2-1". Wash, leave on the counter until all red and then do with as you wish. I've been dehydrating them in the jerky maker and then ziplocking them.

# ? Aug 1, 2010 20:00

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Owsla posted:

This is our first year with a garden and I think I need a little advice.

Austin, TX - 4x8ft raised bed

We have a mix of Brandywine and Big Rainbow heirloom tomatoes in half the bed and I'm worried they're too tall. They tower a good 2 feet over the top of the 3 1/2 ft tall cages we put around each plant.

They're just now starting to get a few tomatoes here and there, but nothing very high up the plant, mostly towards the bottom and middle. Will the tops just not make tomatoes so I don't need to worry about this, or do I need to maybe prune the tops?

If they are probably going to get tomatoes up top and I shouldn't prune them, should I maybe tie a few 6ft tall bamboo rods around each of the cages to make them taller?

I don't have any pictures showing how tall they are but here are some pics of the rest of our efforts for now:

Our first real contender for awesome tomato flavor (so sick of grocery store maters)

Bell pepper pots are starting to produce

One of the first two cayenne peppers to arrive (when do I pull these?)

Pickling cucumbers! There are 3 of these in 3sq ft of our bed, this was not enough room. We'll be building a trellis asap to hopefully get these guys away from the neighboring tomato cages.

You'll get tomatoes at the top too; just goes bottom to top. Indeterminate tomato plants grow and grow until disease or cold kill them. The growing tips will just continue to grow producing more fruit. I've had plants get to be 8' tall. I'd recommend staking them vertically as much as possible. You can prune the leader growing tip if you want the plant to become more bushy though. If you do so, you'll notice then new growing tips will emerge from between the central stalk and leaf nodes (as seen here http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/tomato-plant-sucker.jpg)

For next season, I'd recommend those tomato cages only for determinate varieties which stay fairly bushy. For indeterminate varieties, install stakes, TALL stakes and do it early. It will look ridiculous having a 8' tall stake next to a tiny plant but its better to stake early then later so you don't damage the roots. For growing many tomatoes together, I like staking every 4 or so plants and then tying string between the plants weaving it between the stalks

# ? Aug 1, 2010 20:48

Cathis: Sep 11, 2001; Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?

Something 4-legged has eaten all the leaves off of all my seedling-baby pepper plants. This upsets me, I was proud of those plants. Now I have to go buy started plants.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 00:54

mischief: Jun 3, 2003

dwoloz posted:

For next season, I'd recommend those tomato cages only for determinate varieties which stay fairly bushy. For indeterminate varieties, install stakes, TALL stakes and do it early. It will look ridiculous having a 8' tall stake next to a tiny plant but its better to stake early then later so you don't damage the roots. For growing many tomatoes together, I like staking every 4 or so plants and then tying string between the plants weaving it between the stalks

I have been really successful using the string and trellis method from the square foot gardening books as well. It's a little more forgiving if you miss a sucker or two and your tomato grows another branch. I've got some Better Boys that are almost as tall as me (about 5'10") this year with none of them breaking.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 01:09

drewhead: Jun 22, 2002

Alterian posted:

I've been having problems with growing things in raised beds. Is it possible the hot carolina sun is heating up the soil in the raised beds too much and drying it out too fast? The ph and quality of the soil is fine. I finally have a test going on. I planted some green beans in one of my vegetable boxes and some in another area planted directly into the ground. The ones in the ground are doing great. Only half the ones I planted in the box actually sprouted, and they look pretty gross. I only have 2 raised boxes, but I'm thinking about switching to straight in the ground.

I'm not sure what kind of soil you're working with from your post. I've gardened in the Sand-hills where I couldn't keep water in the soil no matter how hard I tried and am now in the Piedmont where I build 8" raised beds because I can't get water out of the soil. That Carolina sun does fall on quite a wide variety of dirt. It's been pretty dry here over 4 of the last 5 weeks. What is your watering regiment look like? I just planted a second crop of Bush beans and a row of cow peas 7/18 and they germinated in ~5 days and look great. My spring planting of the same package of seeds took more like 8. Are you getting the same sub light coverage in each of your two areas?

# ? Aug 3, 2010 14:22

Daddyo: Nov 3, 2000

My first real tomato harvest off my porch. Not too shabby. I'm dealing with some minor damaged crops caused by my neighbor not watering my tomatoes for 3 days. The latest bunch came out awesome though. (As well as 4 zucchinis and a cucumber not pictured)

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# ? Aug 5, 2010 18:15

mischief: Jun 3, 2003

Those tomatoes are gorgeous. My last batch got cracked all to poo poo by heavy rains and high winds. Especially for container tomatoes, those are some good looking 'maters. Are they one of the Better Boy hybrids or no?

# ? Aug 6, 2010 16:01

Cathis: Sep 11, 2001; Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?

Mmm... tomatoes. Mine are just at the point where they are starting to fruit well but nothing edible has come off yet.
I am concerned about a couple of my plants- they are about half as tall as the other half. I would like to encourage them to grow taller. Should I prune lower branches, or lop off some of the growing tomatoes, or...? They get fertilized on a fairly regular basis, and appear healthy, they are just bushy and not tall.

# ? Aug 6, 2010 17:26

Daddyo: Nov 3, 2000

Cathis posted:

Mmm... tomatoes. Mine are just at the point where they are starting to fruit well but nothing edible has come off yet.
I am concerned about a couple of my plants- they are about half as tall as the other half. I would like to encourage them to grow taller. Should I prune lower branches, or lop off some of the growing tomatoes, or...? They get fertilized on a fairly regular basis, and appear healthy, they are just bushy and not tall.

I'll take a picture of my tomato plants tonight so you can see the difference. I've got 4 different varieties and they all grow their own wacky way. The yellow pear plant is probably 8 or 9 feet tall now if I had let it grow straight up somehow (it's bent over twice now). The "patio tomato" plant is only 3 feet tall but grows tomatoes at an awesome rate. The heirloom tomato plant is about 4 feet tall but bushy and is growing at least a dozen giant heirlooms right now. Last plant is a mystery tomato. It was labeled as an heirloom beefsteak but it makes tomatoes smaller than the "patio tomato". It's grown about 5' tall and is bushy.

# ? Aug 6, 2010 18:12

Ishamael: Feb 18, 2004; You don't have to love me, but you will respect me.

Here are the things we have harvested in the last week:

Tomatoes!

Thai dragon peppers!

My habaneros are starting to turn orange, and we have gotten some good bell peppers too, but I didn't take any pics of those.

# ? Aug 6, 2010 19:00

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

drewhead posted:

I'm not sure what kind of soil you're working with from your post. I've gardened in the Sand-hills where I couldn't keep water in the soil no matter how hard I tried and am now in the Piedmont where I build 8" raised beds because I can't get water out of the soil. That Carolina sun does fall on quite a wide variety of dirt. It's been pretty dry here over 4 of the last 5 weeks. What is your watering regiment look like? I just planted a second crop of Bush beans and a row of cow peas 7/18 and they germinated in ~5 days and look great. My spring planting of the same package of seeds took more like 8. Are you getting the same sub light coverage in each of your two areas?

I live in the Durham area. My yard use to flood pretty bad, but I fixed it this spring so it actually drains pretty decently. I was watering the beans when I planted them to make sure they weren't getting too dry, but I also noticed the soil was getting HOT from the sun. (the heat index has been in the 110's here) The sad news is my chickens trampled most of the plants that actually germinated. I didn't feel like getting my fence up around them since most of them didn't even sprout. It wasn't a big area anyway :effort:

On the plus side, my other bean garden I got in is doing pretty good. Its not an ideal spot, but before it was just overgrown with weeds and sort of an eyesore. I'm going to try to grow amaranth in the spot next year for fun. I have 6 14' rows of beans going on :cool:

My chickens can't get in that area even though they want to so bad.

# ? Aug 7, 2010 01:42

mischief: Jun 3, 2003

I want chickens and poo poo so bad. drat YOU HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION AND SUBURB LIFE. drat YOU. :doom:

# ? Aug 7, 2010 02:05

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

mischief posted:

I want chickens and poo poo so bad. drat YOU HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION AND SUBURB LIFE. drat YOU.

I live in the suburbs, just not an HOA.

# ? Aug 7, 2010 03:53

mischief: Jun 3, 2003

Yeah, a few years back I bought a nice little suburban house to help raise my rapidly impending offspring in. Then I developed an unhealthy interest in firearms and farming, neither of which is really conducive to this setting. I actually got a lovely letter from my HOA when I was double digging my garden the first year, accusing me of building an unapproved in ground pool. I wrote back saying I was building a Sarlacc pit to kill young Skywalker and they've largely left me alone since then.
HOA's are loving horseshit.

# ? Aug 7, 2010 04:16

PrinceofNessus: Jan 9, 2007

Quick question:

My wife and I have planted both tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were growing fine, but the peppers were not producing any peppers. After some research I figured we might need to use a little Epsom salt on everything, and that perked everything in the garden up. We now have peppers.

The Epsom salt package says it should be used once every two weeks on tomatoes, but nothing about how often I should apply to the peppers. It's time to reapply to the tomatoes on Monday. Should I apply to the peppers as well?

# ? Aug 7, 2010 22:45

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

PrinceofNessus posted:

Quick question:

My wife and I have planted both tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were growing fine, but the peppers were not producing any peppers. After some research I figured we might need to use a little Epsom salt on everything, and that perked everything in the garden up. We now have peppers.

The Epsom salt package says it should be used once every two weeks on tomatoes, but nothing about how often I should apply to the peppers. It's time to reapply to the tomatoes on Monday. Should I apply to the peppers as well?

What's good for tomatoes, is likely good for peppers. Same family, solanaceae. Go ahead and apply.

I had a phosphourous deficiency in my soil this year and the solanaceae family plants were not happy, not fruiting. Bit of bone meal fixed them up though

# ? Aug 8, 2010 04:55

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

Has anyone done or seen any websites about doing vegetable gardening that still looks nice?

I've been eyeballing my front yard. Its flat, sunny for almost 100% of the day, and we don't really do anything with it. I have an herb garden along our walkway, some fig trees along the side and 2 apple tree seedlings. I'd love to tear up some of the grass and use the area for *something*, but I'm worried about making our front not look very attractive.

I have a small bird garden up front close to the house, but I'm thinking of turning it into a tea garden next year to go along with the rest of my herb garden :3:

Alterian fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Aug 12, 2010

# ? Aug 12, 2010 18:47

El Bano: Mar 30, 2008

I want to grow some winter squash, but don't really have a place in the yard for it, but I do have an extra 5 Gallon terracotta pot that I could use. Will that be enough space?

# ? Aug 12, 2010 19:18

Hot Dog Day 80: Jun 23, 2003

Marchegiana posted:

Looks like it could be mulberry. Does someone have a mulberry tree in your neighborhood? The birds could be crapping the seeds all over your yard, if so.

That is not a mulberry, the stem color and the leaf structure are all wrong.

# ? Aug 12, 2010 21:58

bssoil: Mar 21, 2004

How do I know when corn is ready for harvesting? I have never really grown it before, and I have about a dozen or so cobs cobbing away.

# ? Aug 12, 2010 23:45

Zeta Taskforce: Jun 27, 2002

bssoil posted:

How do I know when corn is ready for harvesting? I have never really grown it before, and I have about a dozen or so cobs cobbing away.

You have to kind of peek. You can unhusk a tiny bit of one while it is still on the plant and check.

# ? Aug 13, 2010 04:02

bssoil: Mar 21, 2004

Some of my corn got taken down, probably by a raccoon....I guess that means it's ready...

Yes, indeed and delicious! Thanks Mr. Racoon!

bssoil fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Aug 16, 2010

# ? Aug 13, 2010 17:05

Slung Blade: Jul 11, 2002; IN STEEL WE TRUST

bssoil posted:

How do I know when corn is ready for harvesting? I have never really grown it before, and I have about a dozen or so cobs cobbing away.

From what I've learned on TV, you have to rent an elephant. When the corn is as tall as its eye, you can harvest.

Or something.

# ? Aug 13, 2010 17:46

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

El Bano posted:

I want to grow some winter squash, but don't really have a place in the yard for it, but I do have an extra 5 Gallon terracotta pot that I could use. Will that be enough space?

5 gallon would produce a pretty good size plant but probably not to its full potential if unrestricted. Late in the season though to start. Winter and summer squash are started around the same time, winter squash just ripen later

# ? Aug 14, 2010 22:50

El Bano: Mar 30, 2008

dwoloz posted:

5 gallon would produce a pretty good size plant but probably not to its full potential if unrestricted. Late in the season though to start. Winter and summer squash are started around the same time, winter squash just ripen later

My first frost isn't until december. My planting guides for this area say that as long as they're in by late august, I should be fine. Thanks for the answer, probably start them today. With just two of us, smaller squash isn't a bad thing.

El Bano fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Aug 16, 2010

# ? Aug 15, 2010 18:19

Madama Butterfly: Apr 6, 2005; All who dare to cross her course are swallowed by her fearsome force!

I can't plant anything again until late September (too hot)

My little tomato that I planted in July is dead as hell. So....trying tomatoes again in September!

My sweet potato is growing like crazy though, and is threatening to take over its corner of the backyard. Yay, taters! :dance:

# ? Aug 15, 2010 18:35

madlilnerd: Jan 4, 2009; a bush with baggage

bssoil posted:

How do I know when corn is ready for harvesting? I have never really grown it before, and I have about a dozen or so cobs cobbing away.

Poke it with a pin and if the juice comes out milky then it's ripe and ready to eat.

...I think.

# ? Aug 15, 2010 18:41

Costello Jello: Oct 24, 2003; It had to start somewhere

Madama Butterfly posted:

My little tomato that I planted in July is dead as hell. So....trying tomatoes again in September!

Where do you live that it's too hot to plant tomatoes?

# ? Aug 20, 2010 15:39

ateam: Jul 1, 2005

Thanks for this thread! Very informative. It has in part has inspired me to start a small raised garden in my backyard. First timer here - never grew anything in my life, so I'm looking at this as a learning opportunity.

I'd appreciate any comments or help about my plan

A bit about the plan:

South Florida area, roughly 5 miles away from Atlantic Ocean, sandy/rocky soil present for about a foot deep, then wet sand. Present grass is St. Augustine Grass. Garden positioned to receive full sun exposure.
Bought and set up a 4 foot x 8 foot x 9 inch wooden barrier. As recommended by the local county website on gardening, I put down a few sheets of newspaper on top of the grass instead of pulling it out. On top of the newspaper went about 60 percent organic Miracle Gro Organic Soil and 40 percent native soil dug from nearby (very sandy, loose, dry, rocky) with a small bag of perlite mixed in. On top of that went two bags of compost.
Purchased Basil, Tomato - Champion II, Stevia, Catnip, Bell Pepper and Butternut Squash starter plants (one of each). Transplanted these two days ago.
In the process of germinating from seeds: Dixie Hybrid Squash, Matador Spinach, Barbados Hybrid Broccoli. More seeds being shipped in. (As a side note, I could not find any seeds at the local Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, or Target. Finally, K-Mart had some. It was very weird, and nobody knew at the stores why the seed racks were gone..)

Here is the diagram of the garden on paper.

Overview look as of today:

Questions:

When/how should I water the plants? It's really hot now, midday temps get to over 95 with heat indexes of 110+, and the lows won't go below 77-80 for awhile. I feel like the sand drains the water and combined with the heat, the soil will get really dry. Also, the bell pepper plant has been drooping - not sure if it's too dry or what.

Is it advisable to mist the plants for a while, or water the soil directly, or both?

When should I introduce fertilizer? I purchased 5-0-0 liquid spray, but am open to suggestions for different products.

There are aphids on nearby (5-10 feet) tree leaves, should I worry?

What are these (weren't present a few days ago):

Stevia Leaf

Catnip Leaf

# ? Aug 20, 2010 17:57

IrishWolfMan: Apr 21, 2002; Few have looked upon the face of Liface and lived.

Cool a gardening thread!

I started a lasagna garden earlier this year, which was decimated by gophers. Traps and sonic spikes didn't work so I ended up emptying the raised bed, stapling chicken wire to the bottom and started garden 2.0.

Since emptying the soil and putting it back in, I have had trouble starting things from seed, but have managed to grow tomatoes, onions, two kinds of squash and some marigolds. I also just started a vine box for pumpkins (hopefully in time for halloween).

Here are some pictures:

Squash (Butternut on the left and Uncle Dave's Dakota Dessert Sqush on the left)

Dakota Dessert Squash flowers (Arise, minions!)

Tomato plants are 5' high (so far)

Will there be jack-o-lanterns?

Disco Flame Marigold

# ? Aug 21, 2010 23:28

Marchegiana: Jan 31, 2006; . . . Bitch.

So I just went out to harvest and found this fucker in my green beans:

Has anyone had any flies or frogs or flaming hail lately?

# ? Aug 22, 2010 00:05

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# ? May 30, 2024 03:30

madlilnerd: Jan 4, 2009; a bush with baggage

If that's a locust then it's edible, you know. Perhaps it would be a good accompaniment to your green beans? I hear they are a low fat source of protein.

If you're worried about your first born, just splash some lambs blood on your lintels.

Does anyone have experience growing mooli? I read an article in Gardening Which about growing Oriental vegetables and they sowed their mooli in July and harvested big roots in August. I've had mine in the ground since June and one is flowering! Am I going to have a monster radish lurking under the soil?

# ? Aug 22, 2010 12:27

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