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coyo7e posted:Probs normal wilting due to fungus in the soil.. have you grown peppers or tomatoes in that same plot previously, without changing out the dirt? It's a brand new setup in a couple of Earthbox planters. I got the seedlings from Lowe's garden centre and transplanted them directly into the Earthboxes. I have pinched off the yellowed, wilted leaves and I'll see what happens. Thanks!
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Jun 21, 2017 04:15
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Planet X posted:I posted several pages back about wanting to solve the issue of producing too much compost in a one bin system. I've solved that through a small worm farm setup in the basement. It's pretty neat, and effortless. They are eating up our scraps and I'm not filling up the outdoor bin as much and ending up with too much compost than I can use, weighing the tumbler down. yes, exactly what you see in my pic there actually. I use that as the second composter or whenever I have too much. It sits on a couple old spare concrete border tiles for aeration and has a bunch of holes drilled in it. When I turn it I really just have to lock the lid on and roll it around and occasionally take the pitchfork to it to turn it.
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Jun 21, 2017 13:04
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VERTiG0 posted:It's a brand new setup in a couple of Earthbox planters. I got the seedlings from Lowe's garden centre and transplanted them directly into the Earthboxes. If it gets too bad I recommend taking chlorothalonil to it. But really your best bet is just crop rotation, I personally only resort to non-organic methods if I'm in danger of totally losing a crop.
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Jun 21, 2017 13:06
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Planet X posted:I posted several pages back about wanting to solve the issue of producing too much compost in a one bin system. I've solved that through a small worm farm setup in the basement. It's pretty neat, and effortless. They are eating up our scraps and I'm not filling up the outdoor bin as much and ending up with too much compost than I can use, weighing the tumbler down. Post your worm setup please, I'm interested. For your material not yet broken down just sieve the compost, big bits go back in for another tour of doody.
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Jun 21, 2017 13:38
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cakesmith handyman posted:Post your worm setup please, I'm interested. I'll take some pictures and post it up tonight or tomorrow. The issue with sieving is that while I have a sieve (I found a sieve box in the neighbor's yard) its very difficult to use. It has no wheels on it, so I have to hold it over a tarp or something, hard on the back to just hold it there and shake. Also, the compost is wet and it makes it difficult to sieve. Any suggestions? When I post the worm farm stuff, I'll try and post a picture of the sieve box I found.
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Jun 21, 2017 14:09
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Can I get some opinions about bed placement? I've mulled it over and I think the best spot in my yard to put my initial two beds is about right here. The white planter box at the bottom of the first photo is roughly where I'd like the first bed to start. It would extend back along the fence for about 10-15 feet, then I'd leave about a 2-3 foot gap followed by another bed of roughly the same dimension (so, two beds at about 2.5x10 or 2.5x15 feet).  Questions: Do these bed dimensions sound reasonable? How concerned should I be about nearness to the fence? This photo was taken around noon today facing west. I'm in northern Virginia, so I know in the winter I'm going to have some lower angle sun. My concern is that, depending on the angle of the sun vs. the fence next to the beds, my beds might be in shade during the winter. We have mild enough winters that I could easily have some winter and even fall/spring crops going year round, so I want to make sure I don't gently caress up the placement and put them somewhere that's going to be shady for half the year. Right now I'd put the beds about this far away from the fence:  Does anyone know the degree difference for sun angle so I can calculate how long the shadow would be? e: I found an online calculator and if I'm doing my math correctly this shadow which is currently around 1.86 feet around noon today (according to the calculator, my measurements are pretty close to this), would be 11.91 feet on the winter solstice. Does that sound right? That's a massive change and totally throws my placement out the window... kedo fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 17:20
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Right so here's my worm farm writeup. Here's the box. Note that you can't see the spigot on the far side to drain moisture. Once the bottom bin is full, you just add more trays (I have 3 more set aside, look up on the web if you want to know how the system works) and the worms climb up into the upper tray(s) to eat the fresh food. Since I just started it, I only have one tray.  Lifting the lid, I have a damp piece of newspaper covering them. This keeps things moist, keeps them from wandering and from fruit flies getting in  Here's the newspaper peeled back. You'll notice that much like composting, you mix in the greens and browns. For worm and outdoor composting, I run my toliet paper tubes and brown bags through a shredder, makes for quicker breakdown. Also notice there are a few scraps of brown paper on top of the (pulverized) greens because the worms like to eat from underneath and be cozy. You dont see many worms on top.  Taking a small hand rake and peeling back a layer, WORM ARMAGEDDON  More:  You’re free to hit me up with questions about the worm farm. I’m new to it. I’ve already covered why I chose to do this, so I’ll focus on the setup. Worm castings are rocket fuel for your garden. First off, you can do this cheaper through a series of Rubbermaid tubs, and there’s a lot of info out there on the web about how to do so. Out of convenience and space, I opted to purchase the Worm Farm 360 from the internet. If I had a big place and / or a big basement and could make more of a mess (its not messy) or wanted to go for more composting volume, I would have done it myself, perhaps. It's just two of us so this setup works great. It’s been going for roughly 3 weeks now. Some things to note, - They eat anything that you can compost except for onions and citrus - You can choose to pulverize the food beforehand, but you don’t have to. It just makes for quicker breakdown - It doesn’t stink, as long as you don’t overfeed them - “Worm Tea” is not the collected moisture that comes out of the spigot at the bottom. That’s Leachate, which does not go on your eatin’ plants, only flowers. Worm tea is where you take castings, and aerate them with some molasses to supercharge them - If you're going to start a worm farm, definitely start with a pound or two of worms, as I didn't start with that many, and they weren't going through food as quick as I wanted off the bat, so I bought more. I know there's a few other vermicomposters that post here, post your rigs! Planet X fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 01:05
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Planet X posted:Also, the compost is wet and it makes it difficult to sieve. Any suggestions? When I post the worm farm stuff, I'll try and post a picture of the sieve box I found. God, yes, this is the exact same issue I have. Is there a better solution than the incredibly awkward "run my gloved hand over the sieve repeatedly to break the compost apart and get it to sift" option I've been doing?
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Jun 22, 2017 03:41
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I've seen sifting tables instead of simple sieve frames but that's about it.
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Jun 22, 2017 03:47
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I built a custom sifting frame that I can sit atop either my wheelbarrow or one of the plastic trash cans I have. I then basically just chuck compost in the frame and use a trowel to stir it around. Anything that falls into the wheelbarrow/can gets used as compost, anything that won't go through the frame either gets chucked back in the other compost bin or used as mulch, depending on how full my bins are at the time. The big organic urban farm I volunteered at this spring has a compost sifter that's basically a giant 4' x 8' frame that sits up at a 45 degree angle. You just throw shovelfuls of compost at it, the good stuff makes a pile under the frame and the unfinished stuff rolls back down to make a pile at your feet. I would have done something similar on a smaller scale if I'd had the space.
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Jun 22, 2017 14:12
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my corn is getting very large (well, coming up on 3 feet or so - not bad for a month!). Does anyone have any good pollination tips?
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Jun 22, 2017 16:09
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Does anyone have any suggestions for planters of lower-light low space indoor herbs? Maybe something like the vertical planters like https://us.minigarden.net/? My small (300sq ft) apartment faces near-north and has a single juliet balcony w/ no windows so I'd have to unfortunately mount it on the wall and it's only going to get direct light around one hour of the morning. There are a bunch of countertop things on amazon and I wondered if anyone had any experience with the dizzying array of options; I desperately need some indoor plants in my life both for eating (I go through a ton of mint and basil) and scent/air quality. Bhodi fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 16:14
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I want to get a few of those Emsa or Elho countertop planters for basil. They're cheap and look nice and seem to work well from what I read.
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Jun 22, 2017 16:52
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I've completely lost yet another entire crop of cucumbers to the fuckin aphids  ordered 1500 ladybugs and they devastated the aphids but it was too little too late. Otoh now I constantly see ladybugs all over my garden so that's cool I guess
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Jun 23, 2017 01:40
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I've heard huge good things about the neem derived pesticide azamax from my commercial weed grower best friend in CO, it's kinda pricey but I'm desperate at this point
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Jun 23, 2017 01:41
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I got a garlic chive plant in spring, but it doesn't seem to be doing very well. It droops during the day (it's in a pot on my wooden patio next to a south-facing wall). It probably gets light from maybe 10:00 to 3:00, so I figured not too much sun, but even if it's well-watered it just kind of droops. It's also not really grown that much since I've got it. They're supposed to be a foot tall or so? Mine's kind of tiny - hasn't really spread out at all and not really grown upwards. It's next to an alyssum, which has gone kind of crazy. Edit: some of the leaves are a bit yellow too, could that be too much water? My thyme has been doing pretty well though! Grown quite a bit and takes the heat pretty well. Tasty too! I'll be moving soon so I'm going to attempt transplanting it. I also planted some amaranth for the leaves (amaranthus tricolor), but they're a bit slow too. The big ones have maybe half a dozen leaves, but every time they get a new set of leaves the old ones kind of look brown and ratty, which is disappointing. Hopefully they'll eventually get big enough to make something. Is it a late-summer kind of thing? Maybe my wimpy amount of light just isn't enough for them to grow. Eeyo fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Jun 23, 2017 |
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Jun 23, 2017 02:20
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I've got a problem with my squash. They're rotting before they fully mature and ripen. Web searching leads me to believe that they're either calcium deficient or that they're stressed from going through too wet / too dry cycles. They're also covered in white dust, which I believe to be mildew. How can I salvage them? I'm afraid that they're going to end up like last year where they just get a rot and go away. Any suggestions? Also, a bun has been hanging around a lot lately. YOU STAY AWAY FROM THE VITTLES 
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Jun 23, 2017 02:28
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update from the southern hemisphere: winter gardening sucks and I'm loving tired of leafy greens
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Jun 23, 2017 02:49
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Eeyo posted:I got a garlic chive plant in spring, but it doesn't seem to be doing very well. It droops during the day (it's in a pot on my wooden patio next to a south-facing wall). It probably gets light from maybe 10:00 to 3:00, so I figured not too much sun, but even if it's well-watered it just kind of droops. It's also not really grown that much since I've got it. They're supposed to be a foot tall or so? Mine's kind of tiny - hasn't really spread out at all and not really grown upwards. It's next to an alyssum, which has gone kind of crazy. Drooping during the heat of the day isn't necessarily a problem. Upright plants are sturdy because of the water pressure, and they can have a hard time absorbing enough to keep up when it's really hot. Is the pot small vs the size of the plant?
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Jun 23, 2017 03:39
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Drooping during the heat of the day isn't necessarily a problem. Upright plants are sturdy because of the water pressure, and they can have a hard time absorbing enough to keep up when it's really hot. Is the pot small vs the size of the plant? It's a bit short unfortunately. I got an oval one from my mother, not sure how tall but I'd guess 6-8" tall?
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Jun 23, 2017 05:20
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Planet X posted:
That's a great set up. I started at the beginning of the year. Make sure you don't overfeed them in the first couple of months. I really overestimated how much they could eat (or maybe I just end up with way more fruit and veg scraps), and I ended up running into a problem where they couldn't keep up with the amount of food in it and mites moved in. It's sorted now and they are happily breeding, but it was a bit of a pain. Also now I have chickens to help eat veg and fruit scraps  Chickens are also a great tool for working over compost as they'll scratch around for hours and do lots of the work for you. Of course, they'll also cheerfully destroy all your garden beds if they get into them, so...
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Jun 23, 2017 12:23
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Eeyo posted:It's a bit short unfortunately. I got an oval one from my mother, not sure how tall but I'd guess 6-8" tall? It might appreciate more space then. Hard to say without seeing it. A bigger pot allows for more root space which allows for more water uptake. The new growth on my blueberries droops during the day though, and it's planted in the ground. Sometimes it's just a plant being a plant. Wilting is a much bigger concern if it happens when it's not heat stressed.
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Jun 23, 2017 15:06
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my poo poo is out of control. just made a pizza last night with some fresh basil oreg and baby arugula. tomatoes are too big to believed. corn is taking over. basil pruned and shoots growing roots almost ready to be transplanted. san marzanos are giant but no fruits yet. cocktail plant is tiny but has like 50 little tasty guys starting to grow. life is good right now.
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Jun 23, 2017 15:35
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Is there any way to prevent cilantro/coriander from flowering after a heat wave? The past few years have seen great yields of that wonderful leafy stuff but sometime in July or August we get an insane heat wave and the plants immediately start flowering and stop producing tasty leaves.
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Jun 23, 2017 19:59
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VERTiG0 posted:Is there any way to prevent cilantro/coriander from flowering after a heat wave? The past few years have seen great yields of that wonderful leafy stuff but sometime in July or August we get an insane heat wave and the plants immediately start flowering and stop producing tasty leaves. Pinch off the flowers?
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Jun 24, 2017 00:00
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VERTiG0 posted:Is there any way to prevent cilantro/coriander from flowering after a heat wave? The past few years have seen great yields of that wonderful leafy stuff but sometime in July or August we get an insane heat wave and the plants immediately start flowering and stop producing tasty leaves. shade them during the worst of the heat and make sure they have lots of water. unfortunately coriander will always go to seed, but you can try to avert it for as long as possible by minimizing stress on the plants.
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Jun 24, 2017 00:36
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The Walrus posted:my poo poo is out of control. just made a pizza last night with some fresh basil oreg and baby arugula. tomatoes are too big to believed. corn is taking over. basil pruned and shoots growing roots almost ready to be transplanted. san marzanos are giant but no fruits yet. cocktail plant is tiny but has like 50 little tasty guys starting to grow. life is good right now.    
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Jun 24, 2017 02:14
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Coriander seed's really good too! But I'm sure you'd like to get as much leaf out of it as you can. If you haven't had it before, it's got a citrusy smell/taste. Good in curries.
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Jun 24, 2017 03:23
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He doesn't have a coriander plant, that's a cilantro plant 
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Jun 24, 2017 06:10
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How do you stop broccoli bolting? Everytime a head starts getting any kind of size it just bolts immediately. Also I'm loving my snow peas, they're growing super fast and giving tons of delicious, delicious snow peas.
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Jun 24, 2017 06:22
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Did someone say amaranth? Amaranth does NOT gently caress around here. What in the actual gently caress? This is the first time I have ever seen a crop be so invasive it will straight up sprout in the middle of the lawn 10 feet away from the garden    bonus pic of dog 
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Jun 24, 2017 13:30
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I've never harvested the actual amaranth grain which is supposedly just like quinoa or something but it sure as hell is sprouting now...does anyone have any tips or experience in harvesting a grain?
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Jun 24, 2017 13:32
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Niiiice I'm looking forward to pizza, pasta, salsa, stir fry... and we'll probably dehydrate and dry some peppers to make fresh pepper flakes again. Oh, and pickles. Pickle everything.
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Jun 24, 2017 17:29
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Spookydonut posted:How do you stop broccoli bolting? Everytime a head starts getting any kind of size it just bolts immediately. Either learn to control the weather like Mr. Freeze or go back in time and plant earlier. Brassicas bolt in any kind of heat, just give up on any kind of head of broccoli at this point and instead eat the nice leafy green leaves. They cook up similar to collards and turnip greens. Gitchoo some pot likka Also, broccoli flowers are adorable and delicious. Broccoli seed pods are lovely when young. Make both into salads.
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Jun 24, 2017 19:14
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Suspect Bucket posted:Either learn to control the weather like Mr. Freeze or go back in time and plant earlier. Brassicas bolt in any kind of heat, just give up on any kind of head of broccoli at this point and instead eat the nice leafy green leaves. They cook up similar to collards and turnip greens. Gitchoo some pot likka It's the middle of winter here!
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Jun 25, 2017 09:19
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Spookydonut posted:It's the middle of winter here! Ah. That's a different problem. What kinds of temperatures are you seeing? You can head off bolting by nipping off any flower spikes you might see appearing.
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Jun 25, 2017 13:24
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kedo posted:Pinch off the flowers? I could be at it all day doing that! POOL IS CLOSED posted:shade them during the worst of the heat and make sure they have lots of water. unfortunately coriander will always go to seed, but you can try to avert it for as long as possible by minimizing stress on the plants. Thanks, I'll try this I suppose. Eeyo posted:Coriander seed's really good too! But I'm sure you'd like to get as much leaf out of it as you can. If you haven't had it before, it's got a citrusy smell/taste. Good in curries. It is! You're right, I just want more leaf. In years past I've harvested the seeds and used them in BBQ rubs and other spice mixtures. They're awesome when toasted.
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Jun 25, 2017 15:19
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Suspect Bucket posted:Ah. That's a different problem. What kinds of temperatures are you seeing? You can head off bolting by nipping off any flower spikes you might see appearing. Like 18-24C max
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Jun 25, 2017 15:20
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Spookydonut posted:How do you stop broccoli bolting? Everytime a head starts getting any kind of size it just bolts immediately. Have you tried different varieties of broc? I've noticed, for example, red leaf romaine lettuce bolts much slower than green romaine.
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Jun 25, 2017 18:11
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Spookydonut posted:Like 18-24C max Dang. Have you taken a soil temperature? Maybe cool it down with some light colored mulch and give it a bit more shade. Are you growing any particular variety of broccoli?
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Jun 25, 2017 18:14
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