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Motronic posted:I've been racking my brains on and off trying to figure out how I could possibly put a roof vent on this thing. It would severely complicate "just throwing the plastic over" but would be SO useful. I know I could come up with some kind of solenoid to open/close it based on temperature, but I'm afraid that's just not something reasonable based on this type of construction. It makes me want to rebuild this as a hard-sided greenhouse What about a temperature actuator? Vent Opener On sale for $26.99 on HF The video I watched to build my greenhouse had this on it. Univent Auto Vent Opener $45
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Apr 11, 2014 17:32
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jvick posted:What about a temperature actuator? The lifter is easy part. The hard part is getting a vent on the top of hoop house construction.
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Apr 11, 2014 19:11
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Have I mounded up my potatoes enough? I did plant them about 4" below soil level but I'm worried the mound might be a bit too narrow or something. edit: correct second photo  Hard to get a good photo because of all the foliage. edit 2: dammit imgur! Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 00:13
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You can keep mounding as much as you want/can, but those things are going like gangbusters. You've got a awesome yield on the way. At some point it's OK to let it go.......you got there 
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Apr 12, 2014 03:01
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I found 3 bare-root grape vines on clearance at my local HomeDepot today. Brought the price of each of them to $3.50. They only had very common varieties, but if you want to add some grapes to your garden, its worth a look. They still had other bare-root plants there too, all were on clearance. They qualify for HomeDepot's one year plant guarantee as well, just keep the receipt. Fozzy The Bear fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 04:58
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Motronic posted:You can keep mounding as much as you want/can, but those things are going like gangbusters. You've got a awesome yield on the way. They are already setting flowers and I swear have been growing inches per day. It is insane. A neighbor told me they got good potato yields and they weren't kidding!
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Apr 12, 2014 05:42
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I had a question about soak hoses. I have 4'x8' beds pictured below and a soak hose making a large loop within each one, tried to keep it about 1.5ft from each edge. I know this isn't precise but how long do you run these for? I have mulch over the beds to help with keeping in moisture but I am not sure when I do run the hoses if I need to run them for minutes, hours? I guess I could figure it out by trial and error but just wanted to see what others might say. I'm in New England and its usually cloudy and damp so I'm not worried about massive water loss or anything.
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Apr 12, 2014 14:17
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Breaky posted:I had a question about soak hoses. I have 4'x8' beds pictured below and a soak hose making a large loop within each one, tried to keep it about 1.5ft from each edge. Drip hose or soaker hose? I use the former oalong our porch plantings and they are 1-gal/hour for each dripper. For individual plants, I hook my 1/4" soaker hose loops to gal/hour connectors. If you are simply using 1/2" soaker thruout, you may have to go and check after every so often and adjust.
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Apr 12, 2014 15:25
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Breaky posted:I had a question about soak hoses. I have 4'x8' beds pictured below and a soak hose making a large loop within each one, tried to keep it about 1.5ft from each edge. Rule of thumb for veggie garden watering is usually 1 inch/week up to 2 inches/week in the Summer, at least around here. If you have a wide shallow container you could put it underneath the hose, flush with the soil so the hose doesn't angle (since the drips will run along it) and then see how long it takes to fill up an inch of water. I've never really bothered with that and just run mine about 20 minutes once or twice a week, checking the soil moisture by jamming my finger in the dirt and keeping an eye on the state of the plants (watching for wilting or yellowing). Keep in mind soaker hoses water dispersion is like a triangle extending down into the soil. If you have freshly sown seeds 6-12" away from a hose they're probably not going to get any water from the hose. I use a watering can to get seeds established.
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Apr 12, 2014 15:59
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Breaky posted:I had a question about soak hoses. I have 4'x8' beds pictured below and a soak hose making a large loop within each one, tried to keep it about 1.5ft from each edge. That really depends on what you're growing. Different things have different needs. For example, if you water tomatoes as much as most other vegetables can benefit from you may end up with blossom end rot. Also, a periodic (every few days) good soaking that get the soil wet a few inches down during the watering (just stick your finger in the ground and feel) every few days is better than a bunch of smaller waterings spread out over time. It promotes deeper root growth because the water is penetrating deeper in the soil.
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Apr 12, 2014 16:31
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 Patio garden is growing nicely. The tomatoes have already started blooming and setting fruit. They were seedling that I transplanted from my compost, so it will be a surprise when I find out what type they are. There were some bees flying around out there this morning around the lavender and tomatoes.
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Apr 12, 2014 18:25
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Follow up on the potatoes: I borrowed a shovel from my neighbor and now have a potato hillock.  
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Apr 12, 2014 20:01
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Fog Tripper posted:Drip hose or soaker hose? I use the former oalong our porch plantings and they are 1-gal/hour for each dripper. For individual plants, I hook my 1/4" soaker hose loops to gal/hour connectors. If you are simply using 1/2" soaker thruout, you may have to go and check after every so often and adjust. 1/2" soaker. Thanks a bunch for the input guys. I think I'll probably direct water ontop of soaking for the 1st few weeks if the rainfall is light / nonexistent as everything going in now is either direct seed or extremely tiny plants from flats.
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Apr 13, 2014 03:22
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Hey guys. Long time lurker of this thread. Glad I can finally post here (even if its for the wrong reasons). So I finally got a place with a garden and around three weeks ago I got a bunch of herb seed packets on the cheap at Bunnings (I'm in Australia). I stuck them in the ground, gave them a good feed, and they we sprouting beautifully until... About two days ago my coriander was sprouting really well and I could even see a few familiar leaves sticking up. Then this morning when I went out to water them BAM. They were gone. Not in a 'something's been nibbling them' kind of way, but more like they'd been surgically removed from the face off the earth. When I looked closer, I could see mounds of black ants making off with a last stalk (pretty big, about half the size of my pinky). Thing is, I've been searching all day to see if anyone else has had a problem with ants, but all I've found is people swearing up and down that ants simply don't destroy herbs like that. My basil, chives, rosemary and the rest of the stuff I planted is doing really well. It's just my coriander that's been anhialated. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking of putting down coffee grounds to keep the ants away, and maybe planting coriander in a pot instead of the raised planter boxes I have along the side of my house, and then transplanting them? I'm a complete newbie when it comes to gardening. It's great to actually have stuff growing though. Nothing better then watering things.
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Apr 13, 2014 15:24
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Squid Inc posted:Thing is, I've been searching all day to see if anyone else has had a problem with ants, but all I've found is people swearing up and down that ants simply don't destroy herbs like that. My basil, chives, rosemary and the rest of the stuff I planted is doing really well. It's just my coriander that's been anhialated. Not sure if you have it down under but I've used Terro ant traps with good success. It's a mixture of corn syrup and borax. The borax isn't immediately poisonous but they bring it back to the colony where it builds up and eventually kills them all.
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Apr 13, 2014 18:26
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Im looking to buy a golden kiwi plant but they're rather elusive. Anyone know a good vendor online?
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Apr 14, 2014 21:15
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I think the snails indirectly claimed another victim. We've been having pretty high winds here as a front came through, combined with a very heavy downpour this morning (about 3/4 of an inch in 15 minutes). One of my tomatoes snapped off right at the ground and inspecting where it broke it looks like the snails had chomped on it when I first planted it in just the right spot to weaken it enough to make it break.    I'm not going to try and root it to save it because the silver lining is that I was on the fence about this plant to begin with as it was located very close to the blueberries. I may just throw something random there instead. Perhaps a bunch of basil or a broccoli or two? I dunno. edit: I sectioned the stem right above the break and all the tissue looks healthy. I think the browning color you see on the end was just dirt washed into the break by the water and wind and old healing snail bites. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Apr 14, 2014 |
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Apr 14, 2014 22:46
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My tomato sprouts are getting yellow leaves. They still live inside, haven't been hardened, and live in a mix of compost and potting soil. Have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that they're overwatered, how do I know for sure?
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Apr 15, 2014 01:56
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Bean posted:My tomato sprouts are getting yellow leaves. They still live inside, haven't been hardened, and live in a mix of compost and potting soil. Have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that they're overwatered, how do I know for sure? Same thing happened to me. I planted my starts, gave them lots of water, then it rained for a week straight and they turned yellow. Only way to know for sure is to reduce how much water you are giving them and see if they green up.
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Apr 15, 2014 03:48
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Try to water and let them dry out each time. Don't keep them permanently watered.
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Apr 15, 2014 16:47
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I figure this thread can always use more pictures. The mangetout doing okay there. Carrots in the orange tub under glass, sprouting. Last year's basil still rocking; I'm hoping to get some seeds from that maybe. New basil has ben sown out in the wide container in the back, but I think the temperatures haven't been there yet.  Had an old frame for hanging up garbage bags in the basement. Bought a transparent vinyl tablecloth and duct taped the poo poo out of it for this makeshift greenhouse for my peppers. There's no access hatch or anything so it's going to be a pain in the rear end. I might be able to whip something up with velcro or something. Vine cherry tomatoes go in the black pots in the back you can't really see. That's what the ropes are for.  Here are this year's contenders. The cherry tomatoes in the middle are possibly getting slightly overwatered. The cherry tomatoes on the right accidentally grew outside for several weeks (somehow thought they were carrots for the longest time!). You can't see it in the picture, but they look a lot more robust and have a nice deep green color. Due to the temperature difference they're a lot smaller though. I've taken them inside because nighttime temperatures are dropping a bit here.  Bell peppers not doing stellarly. Some really pale yellow leaves here and there. Possibly overwatering is the problem here too.  Backup peppers.  Iceberg lettuce, which I've never tried before. Does it usually grow sideways? I'm thinking they're not getting enough direct sunlight and they're trying to grow towards it or something. Or could it be too hot for them? I put some plastic under them in the hope the leaves won't start to rot, but I don't know if that's a good idea. Also in the picture: a ziplock bag with seeds for spicy peppers, but they're not moving. Don't know if I'm doing that method right. I usually just put a bunch of seeds in a pot, like with the backup peppers. Anyway, if anyone's got the low down on what's up with that lettuce, let me know.
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Apr 15, 2014 18:33
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So I live in southern Ohio in zone three. Last Thursday (about six days ago) I planted my tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber seeds in starter pots. Two days ago I planted my pole beans in the ground in my garden. It was literally almost 80 degrees F outside yesterday and somehow this morning it snowed. By about noon the snow was melted but... am I completely screwed? Will none of my seeds come up yet? None of the seedlings had sprouted yet.
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Apr 15, 2014 19:10
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ashez2ashes posted:So I live in southern Ohio in zone three. Last Thursday (about six days ago) I planted my tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber seeds in starter pots. Two days ago I planted my pole beans in the ground in my garden. It was literally almost 80 degrees F outside yesterday and somehow this morning it snowed. By about noon the snow was melted but... am I completely screwed? Will none of my seeds come up yet? None of the seedlings had sprouted yet. Nah, you're fine. Especially if they haven't sprouted yet. Those that have may ot may not make it. Snow it's an big of a deal as frost. See if you can throw dome row covers (or even half of a plastic soda bottle or something) over anything that has sprouted on a night when it's going to get too cold (like tonight for me in eastern PA.....it's been 75 for the last 3 days. It's gonna be 25 tonight!)
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Apr 15, 2014 19:20
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ashez2ashes posted:So I live in southern Ohio in zone three. Last Thursday (about six days ago) I planted my tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber seeds in starter pots. Two days ago I planted my pole beans in the ground in my garden. It was literally almost 80 degrees F outside yesterday and somehow this morning it snowed. By about noon the snow was melted but... am I completely screwed? Will none of my seeds come up yet? None of the seedlings had sprouted yet. I'm assuming you meant zone 6?? If so, that's the same zone as me, and I'm not putting tomatoes and peppers in the ground for at least two more weeks. Right now it's just broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, and arugula for me. I have some strawberries in hanging pots, but I just put them in the garage on cold nights.
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Apr 15, 2014 21:13
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AxeBreaker posted:Anybody ever tried multiplying or top set onions? I'm thinking about buying some bulbs online but they are a little pricey at heirloomonions.com. Any experiences?  The darker green guys to the left are the potato onions (the lighter ones to the right are garlic). I don't know about multiplier onions in general, but potato onions are dead loving simple to cultivate. They keep really well, and don't seem to be particularly sensitive to temperature fluctuations (which can make other kinds of onion go to seed). Those there are yellow potato onions. The mature bulbs tend to be around six or seven cm across (around three inches). They've got a somewhat punchier flavour than standard yellow onions. Definitely still an onion flavour, but with with a little more bite and a little less sweet. If that doesn't answer your question, what kind of information are you looking for?
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Apr 15, 2014 23:02
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Flipperwaldt posted:I figure this thread can always use more pictures. Use a spray bottle mister to keep the surface damp instead of soaking it with water when germinating. That lettuce looks leggy.
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Apr 15, 2014 23:28
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cowofwar posted:I start all my seeds in the same containers so I know how heavy a container is when dry. To check it they need water I pick up a couple and check their weight. Best way to avoid over watering.  You got me wondering whether watering automatically based on weight if feasible though. Mechanically or with some sort of arduino contraption. And leggy is the word that escaped me earlier. I guess I could find a better place for that lettuce somewhere.
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Apr 15, 2014 23:46
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So yesterday I managed to get a whole lot of vanilla bean mulch from a local company who grow vanilla and process it. It smells amazing! I haven't even managed to put much out as it gets so dark by the time I get home from work, It smells like I have vanilla extract in the sunroom part of the house it's currently sitting in. also ordered cocoa husk mulch from a chocolate factory before I knew I could get vanilla. my garden is going to smell delicious
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Apr 16, 2014 12:00
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Flipperwaldt posted:And leggy is the word that escaped me earlier. I guess I could find a better place for that lettuce somewhere. What I've found with head lettuce is it either needs to be direct-sown or have a strong artificial light source from day one. Iceberg and butterhead have both sprouted and gone leggy in the same day. Romaine quickly goes leggy too, but not with the same-day speed of the others. Leaf lettuce seems to be a little more forgiving.
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Apr 16, 2014 18:32
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My wife has been bugging the poo poo out of me the past few weekends to get moving and get all the plants into the ground and outside. I've been telling her no no, wait wait. And then yesterday and today I wake up to see frost and snow on the yard. Yeah, glad I've been waiting.
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Apr 17, 2014 13:07
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Cimber posted:My wife has been bugging the poo poo out of me the past few weekends to get moving and get all the plants into the ground and outside. I've been telling her no no, wait wait. Ditto. My garden buddies and I decided last weekend would be planting/transplanting weekend, but at the last minute I decided we should wait another week. Last 2 nights have hit frost levels, tonight might as well. Bullet. Dodged.
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Apr 17, 2014 14:07
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So I'm sprouting some key lime seeds and one seed has produced two seedlings. Anyone know about this? When I google it all that comes up is weed growing forums.
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Apr 17, 2014 18:37
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Hummingbirds posted:So I'm sprouting some key lime seeds and one seed has produced two seedlings. Anyone know about this? When I google it all that comes up is weed growing forums. Apparently the term is polyembryonic and it's common with lots of citrus seeds.
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Apr 17, 2014 18:51
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Hummingbirds posted:So I'm sprouting some key lime seeds and one seed has produced two seedlings. Anyone know about this? When I google it all that comes up is weed growing forums. Can you sprout key lime trees from store bought fruit? My husband loves key limes, I'm sure he'd love to have a tree, and we have some key limes left over from pie. (I somehow assumed they were like apples and you might just get a crap tree from store fruit)
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Apr 17, 2014 19:14
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Amykinz posted:Can you sprout key lime trees from store bought fruit? My husband loves key limes, I'm sure he'd love to have a tree, and we have some key limes left over from pie. Store-bought citrus will grow, but it won't produce fruit. I have a ~5 year old lemon tree that I started in a pot from a seed out of a lemon wedge from a salad bar in college. It's a nice big healthy tree, maybe 4 feet tall now, but it'll probably never fruit.
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Apr 17, 2014 19:16
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A lot of commercial citrus are hybrids and render sterile offspring.
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Apr 17, 2014 19:22
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I have read that key limes are one of the only kinds of citrus which produces true to seed. http://www.keylime.com/horti.html Cpt.Wacky posted:Apparently the term is polyembryonic and it's common with lots of citrus seeds. Thanks! Funny enough that link up there ^ mentions it here's a pic of the key lime twins in question, as well as a pic of my biggest carambola seedling.  
Hummingbirds fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 19:40
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DuckTalesWooHoo posted:I'm assuming you meant zone 6?? If so, that's the same zone as me, and I'm not putting tomatoes and peppers in the ground for at least two more weeks. Right now it's just broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, and arugula for me. I have some strawberries in hanging pots, but I just put them in the garage on cold nights. Oops, yeah I meant zone 6. I'm still pretty new to gardening. This is only my second year with a vegetable garden. I've got some cauliflower, spinach, pole beans, and radish seeds that haven't sprouted yet. I probably jumped the gun on the pole beans but oh well. I planted my strawberries by seed in the ground and saw a few seedlings had sprouted this morning. It was hard to figure out when to plant spring things since we had such a long winter. ashez2ashes fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Apr 18, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 22:16
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So this weekend I plan on restarting my failed raised bed garden from last year, and I need some advice on how to deal with rabbits. I made a chicken wire fence around the whole thing last year because I always see rabbits in the yard. The little bastards kept going under it, even though I buried about 3 or 4 inches of it into the ground. Should I move all the dirt out of the box I built, build a wire floor that ties into the fence and then refill the dirt? It seems like overkill. Any tips?
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Apr 17, 2014 22:56
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Rabbits dig huge burrows to live in, 3 or 4 inches of chickenwire is just going to make them laugh and spend an extra 2-3 minutes getting to your bed and chowing down. A wire floor will definitely keep them out, I wouldn't necessarily call it overkill.
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Apr 17, 2014 23:13
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