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Socratic Moron posted:Since I measure my e-penis by the yard, here's my 18 yards that were recently delivered: gently caress, I'm jealous. I wish I had a place for some fruit trees.  After looking over fencing options, it's looking like 2' and 4' high strands of electric fencing for deer and chicken wire for rabbits is going to be my cheapest option if I go above 100' of fencing. Solar power supplies have gotten really drat cheap in the past couple of years.
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Feb 23, 2012 01:38
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cowofwar posted:I've just finished setting up two test germinations of peppers and tomatoes in egg carton trays. Soilless mix with six peppers and six tomatoes per tray then wrapped in saran wrap. Slid one tray under the kitchen radiator and put one on top to see if there's a difference (or if one works).
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Feb 23, 2012 15:39
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Seeing everyone hard at work made me jealous, so I went outside and started working on my new space. (recently moved away from the garden I spent countless hours working on) I'm mostly going to be planting lettuce and carrots for now, while I build another raised bed and get back into the swing of things.  
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Feb 23, 2012 22:25
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Got some snap peas sown out and a couple ornamental containers done up and things moved around in the crazy warm weather today. Still, completely jealous of fruit trees with actual leaves on!
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Feb 23, 2012 22:37
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I'd love to be outside digging since the temperature is approaching 50, but it's been raining so much that the ground is completely saturated.civilian.d posted:id love to see a pic of this germin' rack if it isn't a huge hassle! It's not much to look at but here you go. Right now it's just got my tea plant seedlings on the top shelf and some artichoke starts on the bottom. Those black trays are the standard 10x20" seed flats and you can turn them 90 degrees and fit 4 on each shelf, although it's a bit tight.  You can see there's a lot of room for more shelves later on. I was using the extra shelves to hold drip trays but it hasn't really been much of problem. The lights I'm using are meant to withstand a little dripping from above anyways.  I use twist ties to mark the approximate level I want the lights at so it's easier to put them back after raising them to water stuff.  One power strip is zip-tied to the top for anything that needs constant power, like the heating mat temperature controllers and the webcam. On the end I have the Brinks timer. It's one of the few I found with grounded outlets (it has two) and the digital readout makes setting more precise timings easier than those mechanical twist-type timers.  The power strip for the lights is zip-tied to the shelf leg. I've got room for 3 more lights on that strip and then I would have to plug another strip into the 2nd outlet on the timer.  The wires are a little untidy but there's only so much you can do since the power cords for the lights need some slack when you raise and lower them while watering.
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Feb 23, 2012 23:34
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Do you guys have any ideas for visually attractive yet functional trellises for pole beans and other climbers? I want to get more into vertical gardening but want to have fun with some of the trellises.
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Feb 25, 2012 16:31
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With pole beans you can drive 10' poles into the ground and plant under them, the beans will climb on their own, and they like the rough bark. When I was a kid we would use 6' wide rolls of reinforcing mesh the local concrete culvet company used for manufacturing re-inforced sewer lines. We'd cut a 6' wide swath of it, roll it and secure it into a tube. We also used it cut three feet high for the best darned tomato cages in the world. A couple of years ago I strung a 50 foot rope about 15' up in a tree and secured the other end to a T post and strung twine from that. One end was short, the other was high, and I had to have the end way up in the tree so I wouldn't get clotheslined when I wandered through, but it was pretty cool with that parabola look to it. One year I put in a trellis for my beans and then realized I had bought bush beans.
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Feb 25, 2012 17:38
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Socratic Moron posted:Do you guys have any ideas for visually attractive yet functional trellises for pole beans and other climbers? I want to get more into vertical gardening but want to have fun with some of the trellises. I've got a couple ideas I'm looking at for my garden this spring. My mom sent me this one:  And I found this one on a local landscaping company's flickr:  I'll probably end up doing a kind of combination of the two - build a nice looking frame and box, and then run wire or string or something in a grid for the plants to climb on.
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Feb 25, 2012 17:52
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Desiree Cousteau posted:A couple of years ago I strung a 50 foot rope about 15' up in a tree and secured the other end to a T post and strung twine from that. One end was short, the other was high, and I had to have the end way up in the tree so I wouldn't get clotheslined when I wandered through, but it was pretty cool with that parabola look to it.  Desiree Cousteau posted:One year I put in a trellis for my beans and then realized I had bought bush beans.  dur posted:Socratic Moron fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 19:31
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dur posted:I've got a couple ideas I'm looking at for my garden this spring. My mom sent me this one: Ah, The Square Foot Garden. Classic. They have a trellis set up they suggest for pumpkins and melons, I've always thought about doing that one. There was a farm I used to pass that had several lengths of chain link fence installed in the fron yard of the house to raise cukes. I think they raised them for sale, since there was about 50 yards in all.
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Feb 25, 2012 20:05
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So based on my germination experiment I have found that heat from below is way preferred over heat from above. In retrospect this is obvious. Don't try to germinate stuff under a radiator, put it on top. But it's irrelevant now since I bought a heating mat (20"x20") and two trays. Seeded cells of a dwarf tomato, a vine tomato, serrano peppers, broccoli, leeks, and some thyme/rosemary/oregano/basil in one tray. I'll seed my flowers in to the other tray. I'll be seeding my carrots, radishes, cucumber, zucchini, pea, snow peas, beans, pole beans, lettuce and spinache directly in the garden in April or May. dur posted:I've got a couple ideas I'm looking at for my garden this spring. My mom sent me this one: I'll be dropping in some vertical posts in to the garden about six feet high with holes drilled every few inches. I'll run a wire through all these holes horizontally along the length of the garden. Having horizontal wires along the length of a row makes planting a row of climbing plants a lot easier. edit - basically this http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/toms-tomato-trellis.jpg This one is also pretty attractice: http://deirdrepope.com/my-garden-projects/garden_project_teepeetrellis/ Socratic Moron posted:Oooh! I like that idea. Thanks cowofwar fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 21:41
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Hi gardening thread! I'm in a desert. My yard looks like.. well, it's not sand. But it's certainly dirt. Really boring dirt. And we have about a billion of these:  Now, I've spent all winter clearing up every last seed I could find out there. I'm sure there's still some out there. However, I imagine they will be less numerous this year. I'm here for approximately three years and my landlord/the owner of the house doesn't give a poo poo what I do with his yard. I am going to get rid of these loving things if it is the last thing I do. I'd also like to have a small garden. I know rosemary will generally help to keep plants around it in check, and mint tends to strangle out other things. I loving love mint and rosemary. ...but I don't know how far out rosemary's talents act. My thought is to plant rosemary and mint slowly this year, from one corner of the lot to the other, all the while pulling the sandspur plants and gathering their seeds for a fiery roast. I'll also be improving the soil as I go along, since apparently sandspurs prefer lovely soil (from what I've read, anyway). Do I sound insane? Or does this sound like it might actually work?
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Feb 25, 2012 22:22
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Desiree Cousteau posted:One year I put in a trellis for my beans and then realized I had bought bush beans. I did something similar last year - I planted corn and beans for a three sisters patch, without twigging that bush beans don't climb cornstalks. Doh! This year I will have real pole beans. If it ever stops being Winter. I'm just itching to start planting, so I started some tomatoes, basil, sweet peppers, chives and oregano indoors this week. Come onnnnnnn stop being cooooooold!
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Feb 25, 2012 23:41
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I made it out to the borrowed farm today to take some measurements, and the situation out there is far better than I thought. I've got a 200'x120' field surrounded by an electric fence that just needs a power source and some repairs. There's plenty of scrap timber in the barn for raised beds, as well as some chicken wire I can salvage to keep larger rodents out. This just cut my expenses dramatically. I don't plan on using all 24,000 square feet, since that it simply insane for one person to undertake with the amount of time I can invest, but it's a drat good starting point to expand slowly. I'm planning on using the 4800 square feet up the hill and adjacent to the barn for berries. Another area directly adjacent to these areas within the fence is occupied by a massive pile of limestone boulders, and I don't feel like borrowing the owner's Bobcat to clear out land I couldn't get fertile, even if I wanted to. The soil there is incredibly rocky, this being cave country in KY, and one of the neighbors stands behind her house watching every time someone goes out there. Those are the only real problems. Luckily, the neighbor can't say a thing, and using raised beds is going to negate the rocky patches. I'll just have to keep the beds sitting on top of outcrops marked so I don't try planting carrots or potatoes with bedrock less than a foot below. Fluffy Bunnies posted:Hi gardening thread! About how much precipitation do you get in your area, and if it's not much, do you have easy access to water? Mint's invasive as all hell, but it does need decently moist soil. I'm not familiar with that particular talent of rosemary, but I'd like to hear more about that myself. TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Feb 26, 2012 |
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Feb 26, 2012 00:16
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Socratic Moron posted:Wow, that's quite pretty. I especially like the tree planted right in front of it that'll shade the hell out of their sun-hungry veggies in a couple years. Heheh. cowofwar posted:Also building a trellis in to the planter like that requires you to initially train your climbers since the trellis is a couple inches back rather than right over top. It would be better for a perennial flowering vine.
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Feb 26, 2012 00:59
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TheFuglyStik posted:About how much precipitation do you get in your area, and if it's not much, do you have easy access to water? Mint's invasive as all hell, but it does need decently moist soil. I'm not familiar with that particular talent of rosemary, but I'd like to hear more about that myself.  I think they get about 12 inches a year. However, there's a hose right out back and I'm allowed to water legally every other day. And I really, really do love mint to the point if it takes over the yard, I'll probably be encouraging the dogs to roll about in it.I actually can't seem to find anything about the rosemary. Weird. I know I've read it somewhere before, but a google search does nothing for me. Was I misinformed or am I remembering something wrong? Oh, and I found fire ants while I was out there.  I think this means war, yard.
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Feb 26, 2012 02:21
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:
cowofwar fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Feb 26, 2012 |
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Feb 26, 2012 02:35
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:
Steve Solomon, the guy who started Territorial Seeds, wrote a number of books, even though they are aimed at the Pacific Northwest, have some good information on irrigation and other stuff. I mentioned the Compost book above. He has a book called, "Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway" The link at Gutenberg is here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4512/4512-h/4512-h.htm He talks a lot about arid gardening, water management and what plants do well and what do not.
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Feb 26, 2012 05:02
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On the topic of watering, I have seed cells in a 10"x20" seed tray right now on a heat mat with a humidity dome. How do you guys water? Seems like a lot of people add water to the tray and just let the cells passively soak up the water. The medium is soiless seed starter (peat based). Should I add some water to the bottom and then pour the remainder off after they have time to soak it up? Just leave it?
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Feb 26, 2012 05:21
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Oh, and I found fire ants while I was out there. Landscape cloth solves all your problems. Fire ants are so bad where I'm at I'm probably going to do the same. My neighbors did and it worked perfectly. I'm tired of getting stung pretty much every day.
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Feb 26, 2012 05:41
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Socratic Moron posted:With those stickers and with fire ants around, I'd personally cover your entire yard in landscape cloth and then do raised beds. Those stickers are bastards and fire ants keep coming back. Sure, you can use amdro but they then take it under ground and your veggies suck up that poison. What would I be looking at cost-wise for landscape cloth? Pretty much everyone around here does that so.. that's not so big of a surprise to have that suggested.
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Feb 26, 2012 06:20
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:What would I be looking at cost-wise for landscape cloth? Pretty much everyone around here does that so.. that's not so big of a surprise to have that suggested.
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Feb 26, 2012 15:46
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Is there a good place to buy a giant roll of the same material heavy paper bags are made out of?
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Feb 26, 2012 16:27
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Alterian posted:Is there a good place to buy a giant roll of the same material heavy paper bags are made out of? Art supply stores, school supply (i.e. teachers') stores, office supply stores, Uline, some garden centers... What you're looking for is called kraft paper. Uline would probably have the cheapest price and giantest rolls, but shipping would be a killer if you're not near one of their distribution warehouses. Molten Llama fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Feb 26, 2012 |
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Feb 26, 2012 17:14
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I've heard a few layers of newspaper works quite well too if you have access to a good free stash.
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Feb 26, 2012 18:58
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Molten Llama posted:Art supply stores, school supply (i.e. teachers') stores, office supply stores, Uline, some garden centers... What you're looking for is called kraft paper.  I bought a roll of black kraft paper in art school for a project. I can't believe I didn't make the mental connection. Thanks. It looks like you can buy it cheap on amazon. Its even free shipping with amazon prime.edit: I have about 1500 sq ft to cover so I sort of need a more convenient solution than saving old newspapers or gathering cardboard boxes. I can get a roll that covers 800 sq ft for about $26 so that's not bad. I'm fighting back a stiltgrass infestation from taking over and I don't want to have to use pesticides in my garden proper. I feel bad I'll probably have to be using it in other parts of my yard. Goats won't even eat it 
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Feb 26, 2012 19:02
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Our raised beds are coming along nicely... They're not totally full but I'm mixing them in with the native soil so it's ok if they don't fill up to the sides.
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Feb 26, 2012 23:07
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Nice! Is that vermiculite, thus the mask?
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Feb 27, 2012 01:19
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It's been a week and my cosmos are already hitting the top of my dome and the snap peas aren't far behind, but the onions are still a little young. Should I go ahead and take off the dome or leave it on there for a few more days until the onions get a little older? Everything is looking healthy I'm so excited!
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Feb 27, 2012 05:49
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Hello gardening thread this is new territory for me here so please be gentle. So I am trying to grow some herbs. Because of a number of issues I couldn't find seeds or get anyone to mail me seeds and seedlings will not be available for weeks if not months from today so I am starting out by using these fairly expensive puck things. So there's oregano, english thyme and sweet basil. http://imgur.com/uSpnM My problem is that the directions say the room needs to be between 20-25 degrees but the office (which has large windows) where I am planning on putting them will probably be ~10 degrees at night for the next little bit. It definitely won't be below freezing but it will be far below the range it says on the box. Is the box just being stupid or is that actually a hard and fast rule? I remember my mom covering plants outside when it was frosty and it was no big deal. Also, what are those little dot things in the plastic package in the picture I uploaded? What's the best way to start them sprouting? Then, should I put them in a box together or in separate pots? Any other advice for a first time grower? Thanks in advance.
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Feb 27, 2012 05:53
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The little dot things are the seeds. The pucks are the growing medium, usually a peat blend of some sort. Soak the pucks in some warm water and you should be ready to plant the seeds using a pointy implement like an unfolded paper clip or the like. Seeds won't germinate unless it's warm enough. You can usually fudge this with placement, like keeping them near a heat source or positioning them in an appropriately faced window. If you start plants too early, when it's not warm enough, you'll suffer from weak germination rates and the plants themselves will end up pretty unhappy if you can't get them transplanted into something more substantial. I'd say either find some sort of heat source or wait until the weather is more favorable.
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Feb 27, 2012 06:01
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Thanks for your response The instructions that came with it looked like step 1.) soak in water step 2.) plants grow out of it so I assumed the soil was already seeded or something. So if more than one seed succeeds and I get multiple plants growing out of the same puck, what do I do?
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Feb 27, 2012 06:09
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Also, as seen in my picture, do I have the soil puck facing the correct way? Is there an up or a down? I only ask because theres like an imprint on one side but I'm not sure if it's important or leftover from the manufacturing.
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Feb 27, 2012 06:18
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Socratic Moron posted:Nice! Is that vermiculite, thus the mask? It's super fine (and therefore cheaper) perlite.
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Feb 27, 2012 13:18
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THE LUMMOX posted:Also, as seen in my picture, do I have the soil puck facing the correct way? Is there an up or a down? I only ask because theres like an imprint on one side but I'm not sure if it's important or leftover from the manufacturing.
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Feb 27, 2012 14:17
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cheese eats mouse posted:It's been a week and my cosmos are already hitting the top of my dome and the snap peas aren't far behind, but the onions are still a little young. Should I go ahead and take off the dome or leave it on there for a few more days until the onions get a little older? Everything is looking healthy I'm so excited! I have a second tray under lights to which I move the germinated cells. If you move the seedlings as soon as they germinate to under your lights you will avoid getting 'leggy', tall seedlings. In the dome where there is less light they will concentrate on growing tall in order to find light. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 27, 2012 14:20
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cowofwar posted:Are you growing in seed cells in a flat with a dome? You should be taking the germinated seedlings out of the moist environment as they germinate. The humidity helps the seeds germinate but is not good for the seedlings as they can rot. The humidity promotes fungal growth. They are in a 36 cell self-watering tray with a low plastic top. I have a 2ft t5 light hanging a few inches above the tray. I was wanting to stick with one light because of a lack of space and was going to transplant everything into peat pots before going into the ground. Some of my cosmos are looking leggy but I planted enough to thin them out and pick the best. I'm guessing I should keep the light as low as possible? cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 27, 2012 14:50
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cheese eats mouse posted:They are in a 36 cell self-watering tray with a low plastic top. I have a 2ft t5 light hanging a few inches above the tray. I was wanting to stick with one light because of a lack of space and was going to transplant everything into peat pots before going into the ground. Some of my cosmos are looking leggy but I planted enough to thin them out and pick the best.
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Feb 27, 2012 14:56
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THE LUMMOX posted:My problem is that the directions say the room needs to be between 20-25 degrees but the office (which has large windows) where I am planning on putting them will probably be ~10 degrees at night for the next little bit. Once the green sprouts come up, they'll be much more interested in high light than high temperature. Most herbs are pretty hardy to low temperatures, so even if it cools down to 10C (~50F) they won't care that much. If you haven't planted them yet, you could soak the seeds in water that is warm to the touch (but not hot) for an hour. Maybe plant three or four seeds in a triangle/square shape in your pellet. This helps in case some seeds don't germinate, you'll have a higher chance of getting at least one plant out of it. Once they start to grow, you can always trim out the weak ones until you have just one plant growing well. Plants can germinate and sprout in less than a week, but be patient because sometimes it can take a week or two. It all depends on the plant and the conditions in which you plant it. The pellet looks to be the right way up, as noted above. One side is partially open and the other side is solid netting, you want the partially open side to the top. You'll be able to tell once you add water to it and it expands (which is pretty cool, those things really puff up). zeroprime fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 27, 2012 16:56
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THE LUMMOX posted:So there's oregano, english thyme and sweet basil. Of those three herbs the basil will probably come up first, followed by the thyme. In my experience oregano is a pretty slow grower.
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Feb 27, 2012 17:28
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