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kedo posted:We're doing a potato tower this year with some late season potatoes, and this is distressing news. Potatoes are one of the most fun crops to grow, even if the payoff (potentially) sucks. I didn't do one this year, but in our old garden, we had a big 4 x 12 bed that we would fill with potato seeds and then mound with soil and straw. We would get ok returns (20 - 30 lbs realized, 50 - 100 expected), but I didn't even care because they are very pretty plants, and they grow pretty quickly. I honestly don't even know what I would do if I had a year where we got a 100+ pound harvest, but it's worth trying.
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May 13, 2019 21:48
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We only planted a small bed of potatoes last year thinking that the cool climate varieties of sweetpotato we were trying would do better than they did. We ended up with a few handfuls of tiny sweetpotato tubers and ran out of potatoes by January. We will not be making the same mistake this year. We usually use potatoes as the pioneering crop after we till another piece of lawn into a garden bed. Oddly enough we've had very few problems with wireworms even though they're supposed to be a high risk in newly tilled grassland. The only time we had problems was when we ran out of space in the beds and were trying a Russian Blue variety in potato grow bags. Don't know if it was our watering technique (allowing the soil to dry out enough to crack and give the worms access) or placing the open ended bags over sod, but every bag produced wormy potatoes.   Our main potato bed was only three metres away from the bags and produced zero infected spuds. Again, no idea if it was a difference in watering technique or diligent hilling keeping the potatoes buried below where the worms like to burrow? The worms only burrow shallowly into an infected potato so if you're lucky you can use a paring knife to salvage most of a large potato. When you do this to Russian Blues you end up with something that looks like a misplaced internal organ. The colour fades a bit with cooking. 
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May 14, 2019 05:22
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Planting potatoes is the closest I get to gambling  I'll snap a pic of the bed I didn't plant them in this year, it's hilarious.
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May 14, 2019 11:01
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bengy81 posted:Potatoes are one of the most fun crops to grow, even if the payoff (potentially) sucks. I didn't do one this year, but in our old garden, we had a big 4 x 12 bed that we would fill with potato seeds and then mound with soil and straw. We would get ok returns (20 - 30 lbs realized, 50 - 100 expected), but I didn't even care because they are very pretty plants, and they grow pretty quickly. I honestly don't even know what I would do if I had a year where we got a 100+ pound harvest, but it's worth trying. Yeah, we're having blast growing them, so even if they don't produce much we won't be that bothered. They're in the stage now where they seem to be growing almost an inch a day, so we've been adding a new layer to the tower almost once a week. If we do get 100+ pounds of potatoes I might finally be able to convince the wife to let me buy a big coffin cooler to keep in the basement for long term veggie storage, so fingers crossed.
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May 14, 2019 14:02
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I kinda want to dig out my crawlspace a little to make a root cellar for veggie storage, but I'm worried about loving up my foundation. Maybe just dig a hole out near the garden and repurpose a small septic tank or something?
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May 14, 2019 15:14
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When I was a kid, we dug out the crawlspace and made it into a basement. I think it's something you could do if you wanted, maybe talk to an engineer/architect if you are worried about messing up the foundation.
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May 14, 2019 15:27
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taqueso posted:When I was a kid, we dug out the crawlspace and made it into a basement. I think it's something you could do if you wanted, maybe talk to an engineer/architect if you are worried about messing up the foundation. There is a LOT more involved than just digging. If you're going near/below your footers it can damage the foundation quite badly if you don't know how to support and extend these things as appropriate.
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May 14, 2019 15:40
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Motronic posted:There is a LOT more involved than just digging. If you're going near/below your footers it can damage the foundation quite badly if you don't know how to support and extend these things as appropriate. Plus eventually I want to insulate the crawlspace and move it inside the house's heating envelope which would eliminate the ability of the crawlspace to act as a root cellar, as I understand it. Crakkerjakk fucked around with this message at 16:40 on May 14, 2019 |
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May 14, 2019 16:38
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If you’re going to all that work, you’re probably better served by installing a chest cooler. The bonus is that it can also store beer or other beverages at drinking temp when it’s not full of veg.
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May 14, 2019 16:50
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I couldn't find a general gardening thread, so I'll try this thread. If I had a picture of a plant, how would I go about find the name of the plant. Plant in question is located in SoCal, seen growing in the wild: 
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May 15, 2019 00:52
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Couple of my cucumbers seem to have died out of absolutely nowhere, cool. Gave them some water to see if they perk up again. When I harvest greens that can be cut continuously, do I start with the leaves on the outside or the inside? I assume outside but want to check.
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May 15, 2019 01:09
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theHUNGERian posted:I couldn't find a general gardening thread, so I'll try this thread. If I had a picture of a plant, how would I go about find the name of the plant. Look for the plant identification group on Facebook. It’s not region specific but my wife uses it to ID plants. Grand fromage posted:
Outside/older leaves first is how I’ve always done it. That way the top can keep growing.
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May 15, 2019 01:23
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Yiggy posted:Outside/older leaves first is how I’ve always done it. That way the top can keep growing. Makes sense. I've just never grown any before. Some of them are getting big enough I think I can start harvesting a bit next week.
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May 15, 2019 01:37
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I’ll be starting up my work garden soon (after it gets tilled), so I’m trying to plan out my space. I ended up with a plot about 20x17’. I’m curious about how winter squash vines grow though. Apparently they need quite sizeable row spacings, but the inter-plant spacing is small. Do they tend to grow outwards into thin plants? I had imagined them being roughly circular with many vines, but are they more like 2 vines back to back? And do zucchini do roughly the same, or are they usually more compact? I got “long vine habit” galeux d’eysines seeds as well as some “short vine” sunshine.
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May 15, 2019 01:45
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theHUNGERian posted:I couldn't find a general gardening thread, so I'll try this thread. If I had a picture of a plant, how would I go about find the name of the plant. There is the “plants in general” thread here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3543738 I’ve successfully asked for plant ID there, if nobody can figure it out here.
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May 15, 2019 01:49
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Yiggy posted:Look for the plant identification group on Facebook. It’s not region specific but my wife uses it to ID plants.  I was going to complain that I don't use facebook, but then I remembered that I can just create a throwaway email account. I'm getting old.  Eeyo posted:There is the “plants in general” thread here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3543738 I'll check here as well. Thanks.
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May 15, 2019 01:54
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Eeyo posted:I’ll be starting up my work garden soon (after it gets tilled), so I’m trying to plan out my space. I ended up with a plot about 20x17’. So I'm not a squash expert by any means, so take what I say with a grain of salt, just personal experience. I have grown jack o'lantern pumpkins successfully and the vines get huge, the last year I grew them, each plant had three vines shoot out of it, end from end they were probably 30' long. Each vine gave me 1 mature pumpkin and a few small green ones. I kind of just let it do its thing, but you can definitely trim them to control the growth and force them to produce bigger squash. If you aren't opposed to having the vines spill out of your garden area, plant them on the outside and train them to grow out of the garden, so you can maximize usable space, that's what I'm going to do this year at least. If you have the time/budget, you can always build trellis and grow your squash up off the ground, lots of good resources on Youtube if that's something you are interested in. I think zucchini can be anywhere from compact "bushes" to long sprawling vines, it just depends on the variety. I didn't have much luck previously with zucchini or summer squash, mostly due to growing in mountain conditions. Online reviews seem to suggest that the galeux d’eysines will get loving huge, but you will get lots of squash from them, so I guess be prepared. No clue about how the short vine sunshine will be.
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May 15, 2019 01:55
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I've given each of my kabochas a 5x5 foot trellis of its own. I built the trellises out of half inch electrical conduit, rebar pounded into the ground, and nylon trellis netting. About $15 each in materials.
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May 15, 2019 01:58
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theHUNGERian posted:I couldn't find a general gardening thread, so I'll try this thread. If I had a picture of a plant, how would I go about find the name of the plant. The other thread identified it as golden yarrow, for anyone just reading this one.
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May 15, 2019 05:47
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I am just getting into gardening so trying to figure out what poo poo is has been a big part of figuring things out. There appear to be some apps that can help with identification. I've been using plantnet and it seems decent. Test it on something you already know.
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May 15, 2019 06:03
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Hey so when you're growing garlic... how high does it grow? Mine was like 6-8 inches tall last week and then on the weekend I got some seeds in the ground in that general part of the garden and watered, and the garlic grew like 4 inches in 3 days just from the runoff. At this rate it'll be taller than my house by the fall. Also my area is starting to look a bit droughty this year (again. sigh.) I'm thinking about throwing some kind of top cover between the rows to help the soil retain moisture - soliciting suggestions for top cover media, particularly inexpensive things, or things that cna be made out of scraps. (e.g. if I have a bunch of scrap lumber laying around, will that work?)
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May 15, 2019 14:15
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I planted my garlic about 4 months ago and it's just over a foot tall (not accounting for the fact that the top bits are flopped over). It's been that big for a while so I doubt it'll get any taller.
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May 15, 2019 14:22
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CommonShore posted:Also my area is starting to look a bit droughty this year (again. sigh.) I'm thinking about throwing some kind of top cover between the rows to help the soil retain moisture - soliciting suggestions for top cover media, particularly inexpensive things, or things that cna be made out of scraps. (e.g. if I have a bunch of scrap lumber laying around, will that work?) You can buy wheat straw bales at a garden center for a few dollars. One or two should cover your whole garden. I use it for weed suppression and moisture retention, but it also breaks down over the season which adds organic matter to the soil.
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May 15, 2019 14:36
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CommonShore posted:Hey so when you're growing garlic... how high does it grow? Mine was like 6-8 inches tall last week and then on the weekend I got some seeds in the ground in that general part of the garden and watered, and the garlic grew like 4 inches in 3 days just from the runoff. At this rate it'll be taller than my house by the fall. I have no idea what kind of garlic I have (it was the organic bulbs at Walmart that I stuck in the ground) but I planted it in February and now it's like two feet tall. The rule of thumb I've heard is it's ready for harvest a couple weeks after the tops turn brown and fall over (if softneck) or after the side leaves turn brown and wilt (if hardneck), but this is my first year growing it, so. Get you some straw bales and try to pile around 4" around your plants. Mulch mulch mulch.
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May 15, 2019 15:18
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Fitzy Fitz posted:You can buy wheat straw bales at a garden center for a few dollars. One or two should cover your whole garden. I use it for weed suppression and moisture retention, but it also breaks down over the season which adds organic matter to the soil.
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May 15, 2019 15:33
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Thanks for the squash advice! I’ll probably skip the galeux d’eysines then. It’s a shared space so my plot is flanked by other people’s plots, and the area in front and back is a mowed strip, so the plants sprawling out isn’t much of an option. The “short vine” needs only 6’ inter-row spacing (and produces less weight of squash) so hopefully it doesn’t go too crazy. The sunshine is some kabocha hybrid.
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May 15, 2019 16:00
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CommonShore posted:Also my area is starting to look a bit droughty this year (again. sigh.) I'm thinking about throwing some kind of top cover between the rows to help the soil retain moisture - soliciting suggestions for top cover media, particularly inexpensive things, or things that cna be made out of scraps. (e.g. if I have a bunch of scrap lumber laying around, will that work?) As the others have said - mulch. Best if it can break down and feed the soil, but a lot of temporary soil covers will work in a pinch. I've heard of people using planks but never tried it. Straw bales are easy and cheap. Take a quick look for grass seed heads - for some reason the straw bales our local hay store sells is full of grass seed. I understand that in civilized parts of the continent this isn't the case. Horticultural chips - My favourite. Find out where your local tree trimmers and landscapers dump their chips. A little cedar is fine. Be very careful if you live in an area with Black Walnut. That stuff will kill your plants and poison your horses if they're standing on it. A bale of pine chips (sold for animal bedding) would work well but would be more $$. Grass clippings - ideally mow before any weeds are going to seed. If your lawn is like mine (a collection of weeds and random grass plants that's green and flat that gets mowed occassionally) some weeding might be necessary but it's usually not that bad. Cardboard - works well, smothers the weeds, but takes a while to break down. Needs to be weighted down if wind hits your garden. Tree leaves - probably not an option this time of year unless you have some maples that didn't get raked last fall. Great for a light, fluffy fall/winter mulch if you're trying to do the winter garden thing in a marginal climate. Will need to weed out all the germinating maple seedlings in the spring. Again, no Black Walnut, know your local trees in case there's something else nasty growing in your locale. Black plastic - smothers weeds, retains moisture, and heats up the soil. Slit some black plastic garbage bags and weigh them down. Great if you're trying to grow sweetpotatoes in a cool climate, not so good if you're trying to minimize the use of plastic in your garden or growing crops in a warm climate that like their roots kept cool. Shredded paper - very effective. Once it's gone through a couple of wet/dry cycles it forms a paper mache crust that weeds will not get through. If you're using overhead watering you need to pay attention to how much water is getting through to your plants but once there the paper mache crust does a good job of sealing it in. Looks like hell, especially if there were any flourescent orange sheets in the shred. Until it forms a crust it has a tendency to blow around unless you're careful to keep it wetted down until it crusts.
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May 15, 2019 16:23
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I prefer straw because one bale lasts a long-rear end time, but another option to add to Hexigrammus's list is processed shredded paper, like is used in hydroseeding. Looks like pencil eraser sized chunks of compressed paper. It turns to the paper mache texture very quickly. Spread it by hand and wet it down with a hose. I'd use this if I needed to mulch on a slope.
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May 15, 2019 16:29
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Thanks for the feedback and suggestions all! FWIW the garlic I have is a farmer's market garlic which I planted in November (I'm in the Canadian prairies). I'll look into the wood mulch. I think I can get some of that poo poo for free. From what I know there's no walnut anywhere around. I also can get heaps of shredded media for free at work, so there are two options. I have a bunch of compost that's almost ready to go onto the garden, so if I can get a few bags of shredded documents, maybe I'll add that together. I'm definitely trying to avoid putting any kind of plastic down. I do have an old lumberyard tarp that's probably on its last legs, too (I throw my container soil on it at the end of the year), so maybe I can also shred that baby up into strips and lay those between my rows.
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May 15, 2019 17:24
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Update: I just scored an unlimited quantity of shredded documents.
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May 15, 2019 18:25
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CommonShore posted:Update: 
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May 15, 2019 19:49
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I work in a large institution that has a moderate security document destruction policy. At any given time we have heaps of shredded stuff around, because things are being perpetually shredded. Right now I think there are 70 jumbo bags of it in the warehouse. The material is sensitive enough to shred, but not so sensitive that they worry about what happens to the shredded stuff, so buddy who oversees it said I can take as much as I want. I'm going to take two bags.
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May 15, 2019 19:56
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CommonShore posted:Update: 
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May 15, 2019 21:48
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CommonShore posted:I work in a large institution that has a moderate security document destruction policy. At any given time we have heaps of shredded stuff around, because things are being perpetually shredded. Right now I think there are 70 jumbo bags of it in the warehouse. The material is sensitive enough to shred, but not so sensitive that they worry about what happens to the shredded stuff, so buddy who oversees it said I can take as much as I want. I'm going to take two bags. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16036967 quote:
because you can, you should. More relevant to the thread, the city council has replaced a tree near us with a smaller and younger tree, so i'm gonna guerrilla plant some flowers near the base. It's gonna look pretty this year!
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May 15, 2019 22:24
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Anyone here plant greens (lettuce specifically) vertically? Ladders, stacked pots, what not? On that same train - favorite heat tolerant (as much as they can be) varieties?
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May 16, 2019 15:41
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Dukket posted:Anyone here plant greens (lettuce specifically) vertically? Ladders, stacked pots, what not? Lean pallet against the wall with the board horizontal. Put landscaping cloth in the gaps between boards. Fill with soil, plant greens.
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May 16, 2019 15:47
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So with a newborn taking up most of my free time, I've decided not to plant a vegetable garden this year. What's the best way to "reset" my raised garden beds and ensure they are ready to go for next season? I've read that just laying a few layers of cardboard down is a good method, but curious if there's anything better.
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May 16, 2019 15:51
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Dukket posted:Anyone here plant greens (lettuce specifically) vertically? Ladders, stacked pots, what not? I did pockets in some like nylon or something once. It worked... alright. It was a mess. I'm really interested in doing it right so if you learn anything helpful please share
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May 16, 2019 15:56
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Mikey Purp posted:So with a newborn taking up most of my free time, I've decided not to plant a vegetable garden this year. What's the best way to "reset" my raised garden beds and ensure they are ready to go for next season? I've read that just laying a few layers of cardboard down is a good method, but curious if there's anything better. Green manure cover crop mix?
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May 16, 2019 16:13
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kedo posted:Green manure cover crop mix? That's what i'd do. Some legumes, grasses, clover. Plant it and chop it before anything g goes to seed, just add nitrogen and carbon to the soil. Then top with compost once you're ready to start planting veggies again.
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May 16, 2019 16:16
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