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toplitzin posted:Put together a raised bed this weekend: Is that a normal spacing for you? It feels tight for me but it could be how I get my sun. drat not a good snipe
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Jun 3, 2019 14:59
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Is that a normal spacing for you? It feels tight for me but it could be how I get my sun. drat not a good snipe It's an 8'x2' bed and the GF did the spacing/layout. No idea if its too close or not. I could probably get one of the tomatoes and one of the sweet peppers pulled into a pot to make more room if it needs it.
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Jun 3, 2019 15:07
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it's dense, but I think it'll be fine if you fertilize it well and check often for diseases (the leaves are gonna be touching, which makes it easy to spread).
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Jun 3, 2019 15:09
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Here's a side view for the depth:
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Jun 3, 2019 15:11
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Fitzy Fitz posted:it's dense, but I think it'll be fine if you fertilize it well and check often for diseases (the leaves are gonna be touching, which makes it easy to spread). Good to know. Probably some projection from me wondering if I could have gotten more peps in
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Jun 3, 2019 15:18
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toplitzin posted:It's an 8'x2' bed and the GF did the spacing/layout. No idea if its too close or not. You should be fine as long as you keep the bottom pruned on the tomatoes and peppers so it has some airflow underneath. I put 5 tomatoes in a 7' long row and some of the peppers are up to 16 plants in 7' rows. Make sure you keep up with the pruning if it's getting too wild and you'll be fine.
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Jun 3, 2019 15:25
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Jhet posted:You should be fine as long as you keep the bottom pruned on the tomatoes and peppers so it has some airflow underneath. I put 5 tomatoes in a 7' long row and some of the peppers are up to 16 plants in 7' rows. Make sure you keep up with the pruning if it's getting too wild and you'll be fine. Actually this is more in line with my questioning. A few years ago I inherited some massive weed plants growing outdoors, didnt know how to trim them properly, got a decent harvest but not nearly as good as if I had taken certain leaves off at certain times.. I've heard about getting rid of early flowers/peppers, what should my mentality be for pruning? Are there any unnecessary leaves? Is it species dependent? I've always figured I could double branches by pinching certain nodes but never looked into it. I pinched my early cayenne and chili flowers and they seemed to like it but that could just be the good greenhouse life. In other lovely news had to kill another rabbit my old rear end rickety cat caught, everyone please... stop. Chill
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Jun 3, 2019 17:32
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Curious about how to prune too, I'm not confident with it. My plants seem much happier since getting bathed in insecticide so score one for modern technology I guess.
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Jun 3, 2019 17:38
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:I've heard about getting rid of early flowers/peppers, what should my mentality be for pruning? Are there any unnecessary leaves? Is it species dependent? I've always figured I could double branches by pinching certain nodes but never looked into it. I pinched my early cayenne and chili flowers and they seemed to like it but that could just be the good greenhouse life. The general idea is that if the plant isn't well established / doesn't have a decent root and leaf system, any flowers and fruit will be sub-par. A lot of plants will flower out of stress because from an evolutionary perspective lovely seeds are better than none. So if you have a plant that's stressed (recently transplanted / potbound / etc) it's a good idea to remove the flowers and give the plant a little more time to grow and develop the support system it needs to grow great fruits. Some people also remove flowers to concentrate growth on existing fruits (this is more common when trying to grow large melons, etc). With tomato plants, the major danger is fungal infection. This can be seen as yellowing / spots on the leaves, usually the lower ones. Most fungi that would infect tomatoes are in the soil and are thought to proliferate when the lower leaves touch the ground or get hit by "splashback" (water bouncing off the ground onto the lower leaves). Some people recommend pruning the lower leaves as a precaution. IMHO mulching is a better option to help this issue because it also has other benefits, but a big part of the fun of tomato growing is figuring out what works best for your plants. That said, weed growers have a very specific goal in mind and tend to promote very intensive growing methods that aren't as relevant to growing vegetables in your backyard. A lot of the techniques are optimized for indoor growth under lights, like pruning leaves that won't receive light. This is less relevant outside because the sun moves around and is also massively more powerful than a grow light.
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Jun 3, 2019 17:46
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Does anyone know what's up with the purple discolouration on my coriander/cilantro? There's a few more pots of them doing the same thing. I'm vaguely aware that it's something they do when they are about to flower, but they don't seem ready for that to me. They are in general purpose compost - there's not many in each pot so I wouldn't have thought nutrients would be an issue, although I haven't given them any extra fertilizer so maybe that is the problem?
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Jun 3, 2019 17:47
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What vonnegut said is all very true. When I'm growing plants closer to each other I take care of the low branches and just keep them bout a foot away from the ground. For determinates I prune branches that will crowd things too much. For indeterminates I prune a lot more, and tend to pinch past the first leaves on the lateral buds on nodes. I like to keep a few extra leaves because I don't want issues with sunburned fruit in August. The indeterminates that I plant respond well to this so far, but key is keeping them off the ground (I'm using Spanish trellises this year and will post pics when I've installed them). I've not grown as many determinates, so I guess I'll find out how well it translates this summer. I do similar things to the peppers, and most will get bushier when you top them and will keep growing out when you prune them.
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Jun 3, 2019 17:57
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Heners_UK posted:Twas a similar story that had me purchasing my drip irrigation system complete with battery powered timer. A few pages back someone wrote everything you'd ever need to know about it. Last time a friend went out of town, I couldn’t water their plants because I was also leaving, so I offered to install a drip system on their patio. It keeps the plants happier than hand watering did and now they have one fewer chore.
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Jun 3, 2019 19:45
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I forgot I ordered Japanese sweet potato slips. Anybody grown these? What sort of environment do they like? I have no idea where I'm going to plant this poo poo.
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Jun 4, 2019 04:56
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Grand Fromage posted:I forgot I ordered Japanese sweet potato slips. Anybody grown these? What sort of environment do they like? I have no idea where I'm going to plant this poo poo.
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Jun 4, 2019 05:42
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Elder Postsman posted:Anyone ITT do cold weather gardening? I've been thinking about such as cold frames for growing lettuce or whatever through at least part of the winter here in the Twin Cities. I've been prepping for some cold weather gardening but cant really speak from experience. Basically just got a few cloches to keep my window open a bit longer and planned on some late plantings of cold weather crops starting in August, things like kale, spinach, etc.
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Jun 4, 2019 16:28
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Elder Postsman posted:Anyone ITT do cold weather gardening? I've been thinking about such as cold frames for growing lettuce or whatever through at least part of the winter here in the Twin Cities. I bought a winter choy variety that supposedly does okay until it snows and freezes, but I haven't tried it yet. There are a lot of more leafy greens (not lettuce) that do well with less sun and colder weather, you just have to hunt and search for them. Some radishes too. You can let the best ones bolt, go to seed, and collect for next year's planting. So if you're using a cold frame in Minnesota, that should push your growing window towards Thanksgiving (or whenever the freeze rolls in that year). I'm in Chicago, so I hope for them to last to Christmas, but it'll depend on the snow. Overtime, you'll get some good greens that won't mind the cold as much, but it'll take a few generations. Lettuce and a lot of kales like cool weather and aren't really hardy enough for getting really cold. You could definitely plant them in August and know that they'll be done by I'd guess mid-October. It's been a while since I lived in the cities and I didn't do much gardening when I did, but it's about the same as my parent's in Wisconsin except for the harder freeze usually.
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Jun 4, 2019 17:13
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Elder Postsman posted:Anyone ITT do cold weather gardening? I've been thinking about such as cold frames for growing lettuce or whatever through at least part of the winter here in the Twin Cities. (Also in the twin cities) I am on the same path as you. One Yard Revolution on you tube talks about it quite a bit. They are the Chicago burbs so a hardiness zone or so higher, but still worth while. He built low tunnels and a hoop house as well. I think I have everything I need in hand so I'll probably build a small cold frame later this year.
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Jun 4, 2019 17:23
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My solution to cold was to setup indoors.
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Jun 4, 2019 17:35
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SubG posted:I don't know if this is true of all Japanese sweet potatoes, but I've grown purple Okinawan sweet potatoes from slips. As near as I can tell they're virtually indestructible. The slips looked like wilted death when I got 'em and I was expecting all of them to fall over and die immediately but every single one of them took off, to the point I had to thin them out to keep them from sprawling over everything. I also haven't replanted any since then, which was three years ago, and every season I get a couple volunteer sweet potato vines regardless of whether the patch of bed is getting any attention---I had them in a planter along one fence line that I've subsequently put a Sichuan peppercorn into, and it doesn't need or want any special care, so the ground around isn't getting anything apart from occasional watering when there's a dry spell. Wilted death is accurate to what I got too. Hope mine wake up. I don't really have anywhere that's full sun to put them so I'm going to just dig up somewhere I know gets at least a couple hours and see what happens.
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Jun 4, 2019 17:38
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Captain Mediocre posted:Does anyone know what's up with the purple discolouration on my coriander/cilantro? So I was reading that some varieties of plants will start turning red/purple with a nitrogen deficiency: https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/mycrop/diagnosing-nitrogen-deficiency-canola  e: This seems like a good reference too -- not sure how generalizeable it is, though: 
Hubis fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Jun 4, 2019 |
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Jun 4, 2019 18:45
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Grand Fromage posted:Wilted death is accurate to what I got too. Hope mine wake up. I don't really have anywhere that's full sun to put them so I'm going to just dig up somewhere I know gets at least a couple hours and see what happens. With the slips they shipped in wet newspaper and they went from that straight into the ground. For the first...I dunno, week or two before they got established...I watered every day. Thinking I was wasting my time because holy poo poo they did not look good. But after spending most of that time looking like the garnish from a week-old bloody mary, they started growing and just would not fuckin stop.
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Jun 4, 2019 19:44
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Jhet posted:I bought a winter choy variety that supposedly does okay until it snows and freezes, but I haven't tried it yet. There are a lot of more leafy greens (not lettuce) that do well with less sun and colder weather, you just have to hunt and search for them. Some radishes too. You can let the best ones bolt, go to seed, and collect for next year's planting. So if you're using a cold frame in Minnesota, that should push your growing window towards Thanksgiving (or whenever the freeze rolls in that year). I'm in Chicago, so I hope for them to last to Christmas, but it'll depend on the snow. Overtime, you'll get some good greens that won't mind the cold as much, but it'll take a few generations. I had a kale and a rosemary plant that survived completely unprotected all winter a couple years ago. Didn't know radishes did well, and it looks like carrots would be a good choice too. Dukket posted:(Also in the twin cities) I am on the same path as you. Nice! I've got two 4x8 beds, if I have time (lmao) I'd like to build a cold frame for each one. I don't really have the space to do tunnels and poo poo. You know if you have to do anything special for raised beds? I imagine the soil would freeze earlier what with being raised up and all but who knows.
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Jun 4, 2019 22:06
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Elder Postsman posted:I had a kale and a rosemary plant that survived completely unprotected all winter a couple years ago. Didn't know radishes did well, and it looks like carrots would be a good choice too. They can get surprisingly warm on a sunny day. I know some people will mound up soil or mulch around the outside of the bed as insulation. MIgardener (youtube) built a a similar sized cold frame - he's in the norther lower pen of MI - he talks too much, but its still a worth while channel. I can't find them now, but there are a couple of Canadian blogs worth checking out. There is a couple in Ottawa or the burbs and another who is pretty far north in Manitoba, I think. Both have some good cold weather advice. EDIT: This has me wondering if my basement egress well gets enough light. Dukket fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jun 4, 2019 |
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Jun 4, 2019 22:47
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SubG posted:I put mine in a bed that runs along a north-south fenceline, so they only got direct sun for a little less than half the day. They seemed to like that just fine. Cool. Yeah mine look absolutely awful too so I guess that's just how they come. One of my eggplants has produced a flower, but even though the plant is fairly large it still only has like eight leaves. Should I be pruning? I was reading you should prune eggplants to have three stalks but mine only has two. The more I read about pruning the more confused I get.
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Jun 5, 2019 05:06
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Grand Fromage posted:One of my eggplants has produced a flower, but even though the plant is fairly large it still only has like eight leaves. Should I be pruning? I was reading you should prune eggplants to have three stalks but mine only has two. The more I read about pruning the more confused I get. All the wee round green eggplants I've tried to grow---Lao, Thai and like that---have given up around the seedling phase so pruning really hasn't been an issue.
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Jun 5, 2019 09:47
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SubG posted:What kind of eggplant? Every time I grow Japanese eggplants they're loving troopers and I periodically hack back the bits that are trying to sprawl out of their patch of ground but otherwise leave them to do their own thing. I've never felt I had to do basic manage-the-plant pruning like you do on tomatoes or cucurbits. You can also cage them like tomatoes but I've never done it. That's been my experience too with Ping Tung Taiwanese eggplants. File and forget. Only issue is your eggplant fruit looking like purple cucumbers. We grow conventional varieties as well but we had poor germination on the indoor starts this year. Never worried about special care in the past and the Ping Tungs always come through so I'm not concerned about the impending lack of fat black/green/yellow globes.
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Jun 5, 2019 17:57
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SubG posted:What kind of eggplant? Every time I grow Japanese eggplants they're loving troopers and I periodically hack back the bits that are trying to sprawl out of their patch of ground but otherwise leave them to do their own thing. I've never felt I had to do basic manage-the-plant pruning like you do on tomatoes or cucurbits. You can also cage them like tomatoes but I've never done it. They're Japanese, Ichiban cultivar. My other two eggplant types are still little dudes not doing poo poo but are also Japanese.
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Jun 5, 2019 18:22
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Grand Fromage posted:They're Japanese, Ichiban cultivar. My other two eggplant types are still little dudes not doing poo poo but are also Japanese. Earlier you were talking about parts of your growing space not getting full sun. Are the eggplants getting full sun? I've never had problems with 'em like this, but a lot of people reporting eggplant production being very sensitive day length and other light-related variables.
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Jun 5, 2019 21:35
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SubG posted:If you're getting a big plant with a lot of leaves but no eggplants then phosphorus would be my first guess. And actually the whole checklist I posted a couple pages back when someone asked about a similar problem with their C. annuum peppers applies. The eggplant in question is in a sunny spot yeah. I'm not getting a lot of leaves, it's as if the original small plant just became larger but hasn't actually grown any additional bits. Maybe I just need to wait, it hasn't been warm for all that long. The ghost pepper beginning to fruit made me wonder about it since I expected that to do nothing until July at least.
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Jun 5, 2019 21:39
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I have a squash plant in a pot and it's looking very happy with huge leaves and giant blooming flowers, but some of the leaves near the base are getting huge brown spots, with white streaks along the vine. Is this something to be concerned about? If it's an issue I'd like to take care of it before it gets worse.
Davinci fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 5, 2019 22:52
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^ Check for powdery mildew and take steps with fungicides to keep it from spreading. Try to keep moisture from getting stuck in between the leaves and the ground too. My wife has a bay laurel she keeps as a houseplant and as I was watering today it looks to have a scale infestation. Fairly minor, but I've not dealt with it before. Quick googling says Neem Oil (seems a good idea to try), but has anyone had success with other methods? It's on a few of the stems, so it's going to take some dealing with. I can prune them back, but I'd like to not prune all of them as that would be a few hefty cuts to the plant. Jhet fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 15:48
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I live in an apartment and every day, I bathe my 5 month old using about 2-3 gallons of water and a tablespoon (probably less) of baby shampoo. Would it be safe to water my plants (mix of mints, rosemary, pineapples, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes) using the leftover bath water? Since all the plants are in pots, I suspect the baby shampoo ingredients might concentrate, but it feels so wasteful to throw the water out.
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Jun 6, 2019 16:31
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just_a_person posted:I live in an apartment and every day, I bathe my 5 month old using about 2-3 gallons of water and a tablespoon (probably less) of baby shampoo. Would it be safe to water my plants (mix of mints, rosemary, pineapples, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes) using the leftover bath water? Since all the plants are in pots, I suspect the baby shampoo ingredients might concentrate, but it feels so wasteful to throw the water out. They make biodegradable soaps usually marketed towards campers and back packers. I don’t know how cost effective it would be to stock that for child baths though.
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Jun 6, 2019 17:47
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Generally you'll want to avoid anything with sulfates or salts. Which is a lot of soaps because they tend to make them sudsy.
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Jun 6, 2019 18:52
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Generally shampoos are considered grey water safe because they don’t have boron and are very diluted. I can’t find anything about that specific product, but you probably won’t hurt any plants with it unless you do it for 10-15 years straight. There’s just not going to be much ppm of the soap even making it into the water. If you’re going for ultra organic everything, then no. But you’d want to use a different soap if you’re doing everything organic. Bar soaps tend to have more salts, but not all of them. You can always use it to fill your toilet tank.
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Jun 6, 2019 19:00
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Thanks for the answers all. I'm going to try watering them and see what happens. If it turns out to be bad, I'll let you all know. My garden is in a pretty sad state since it's only temporary until I buy a house. I don't see it lasting for more than a year, and at that point, I'll get rid of everything but the pineapple plant (been with me for 2 years now, but no fruit).
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Jun 6, 2019 20:14
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Jhet posted:You can always use it to fill your toilet tank. drat, actually a good idea for water waste
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Jun 6, 2019 23:48
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There’s not that much to lose with potted herbs and veggies, so try it if you like. I definitely would keep feeding the pineapple with fresh water. That’s a years‐long project. I myself have many more low‐hanging fruits to pick for water conservation before I would consider irrigating with grey water.
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Jun 7, 2019 06:27
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So I forgot to bake this Japanese sweet potato I had and How do I take care of these/separate them into slips?
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Jun 8, 2019 03:06
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I've only been messing with sweetpotatoes for the last two years so don't take my opinion as gospel. I've done the following and had some success: 1) Plant the sweetpotato in a tray of moist soil with the base of the slips below the soil. Leave under bright light for a couple of weeks. After the slips have put on some more growth check for root development. If there are roots present carefully snap the slips off the tuber without damaging the new roots and plant the slips outside. Protect from sun scald for several days. 2) Snap the developing slips off the tuber and place the slips under bright light with their bases submerged in a glass of water. Change the water every 2-3 days (or immediately if any cloudiness occurs: rot = bad, I learned the hard way). After roots develop plant in moist soil, again protecting from sunscald. My shipment of cold-hardy varieties arrived mid May. Since we had a heat wave going on I put the slips in water and hardened most of them off over several days before planting out. I didn't get around to planting the last group out for ten days and they went out with minimal hardening off during a couple of cloudy days. Oddly enough they're now doing the best of all the crop, including slips I started in water and soil from last year's sweets. I guess they liked hanging out longer in a glass? 
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Jun 8, 2019 06:43
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