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Platystemon posted:The juice is delicious and it takes freezing well. I'd thought about marmalade or something but I'm not sure if satsumas make good marmalade?
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Nov 13, 2019 01:57
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Anybody ever saved basil seed for next year? I have huge thai basil flower stalks that are totally brown, been through some light frost already. I imagine they are packed with seeds? I think they would be viable? They could have cross bred though with neighboring italian basil. May do just as an experiment.
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Nov 13, 2019 15:44
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Comb Your Beard posted:Anybody ever saved basil seed for next year? I have huge thai basil flower stalks that are totally brown, been through some light frost already. I imagine they are packed with seeds? I think they would be viable? That's the only reason I don't. I like to put 2-3 varieties in the same place, but I find I'm always only grabbing the one regular basil. Maybe I should just do the one next year and save seeds. Should be pretty easy.
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Nov 13, 2019 17:26
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loving birds, I started a bunch of bok choy, lettuce, and arugula. I saw they all sprouted nicely. I just went to go look and they were all eaten. :-(
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Nov 28, 2019 01:11
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SA Forums Poster posted:loving birds, I started a bunch of bok choy, lettuce, and arugula. I saw they all sprouted nicely. I just went to go look and they were all eaten. :-(
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Nov 28, 2019 01:37
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I had a mockingbird years ago that would find the prettiest, brightest, most perfectly almost ripe red tomatoes and peck one little beak hole in them. There's something wrong with birds.
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Nov 28, 2019 02:22
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I always have problems with birds eating new sprouts. Especially beans and peas. I assume they think they're worms. Always snipped off at soil level. I've found tenting with row cover till they get bigger or those foil strips tied to stakes mostly works to get them to gently caress off.
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Nov 28, 2019 04:47
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Turns out my garden is some kind of barren wasteland where nothing grows, except rhubarb. I should have known this when one of the beds wasn't even growing weeds. None of the salad crops grew. Of four squash plants, three died and the other produced one fruit which rotted before it ripened. The sweetcorns reached the dizzying heights of maybe 2ft, which would have made supporting the runner beans with the sweetcorn stalks problematic, had the beans grown. I have some very small carrots which I grew in a bucket, half a dozen apples from the patio apple tree (also grown in a pot), and several cucumbers (grow-bag). Next year I was hoping to put in some proper raised beds, but I'm reconsidering this.
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Nov 30, 2019 15:16
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Lady Demelza posted:Turns out my garden is some kind of barren wasteland where nothing grows, except rhubarb. I should have known this when one of the beds wasn't even growing weeds. None of the salad crops grew. Of four squash plants, three died and the other produced one fruit which rotted before it ripened. The sweetcorns reached the dizzying heights of maybe 2ft, which would have made supporting the runner beans with the sweetcorn stalks problematic, had the beans grown. Might want to take some soil samples to your local ag extension, something's fucky. They can give you lots of help and advice.
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Nov 30, 2019 15:48
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I agree. You're either gardening against the north side of a brick wall or something's off with your soil. Probably the latter since I think rhubarb likes a bit of light. You're in Great Britain if I remember correctly? https://www.rhs.org.uk/membership/rhs-gardening-advice/soil-analysis Not cheap, but at least it will give you an idea if you can use the native soil for raised beds or if you have to figure out how to bring in soil/compost from outside.
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Nov 30, 2019 17:14
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Thanks both, I hadn't realised RHS offered that service. Yes, UK, and although the neighbours have a couple of annoyingly tall trees, it's south-facing and gets a fair chunk of daylight. The whole garden is a mess but if it was a productive mess I wouldn't mind so much.
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Nov 30, 2019 17:32
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Lady Demelza posted:Thanks both, I hadn't realised RHS offered that service. All I know about British gardens is that you either have a Monty Don or Tony Robinson traipsing through looking for either fine design or Roman remains, and nothing in the middle.
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Dec 1, 2019 04:19
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Suspect Bucket posted:All I know about British gardens is that you either have a Monty Don or Tony Robinson traipsing through looking for either fine design or Roman remains, and nothing in the middle. My favorite youtube channel is UK's Charles Dowding - No Dig Gardening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te4Jku_WMJQ
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Dec 2, 2019 21:00
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SA Forums Poster posted:My favorite youtube channel is UK's Charles Dowding - No Dig Gardening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te4Jku_WMJQ I just watched your link and Dowding is great, thanks! I will watch more of his videos.
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Dec 5, 2019 16:29
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Oi! Who has cool plans for their garden that they came up with over the holiday break? Share them with me for inspiration. Or if no one does I'll try to do my own and post it late this weekend.
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Jan 2, 2020 23:17
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Crakkerjakk posted:Oi! This will be our 2nd year in this house, last year was a bit weird - late start, bad soil and me constantly distracted and me running in a few different directions. This year will hopefully see: -At least three raised beds. The original plan was 3x8, but 4x8 makes more sense. I need to figure out a cheaper way to fill them. -A compost bin – nothing fancy – 3x3x3 wooden box Soil improvement in other areas A few simple and cheap boarders to stop some run away erosion that was ignored by the previous owners. Possibly moving the two raspberries and rhubarb I got last year (all free!) They are all in kind of random spots. A bigger herb garden - last year was oregano, basil, thyme, parsley. This year will be MAOR BASIL, rosemary and…something(s) else. More vertical space trellises for spaghetti squash, peas tomatoes and such. Some sort of ladder for lettuce. Being able to make salads from the garden was great, so more salad stuffs.
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Jan 3, 2020 01:05
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I've been given permission to be "that guy" along the front walk. There's some space that gets plenty of sun and everything else does a good job of dying there so far, so I'm putting in some planters and am planning out my seeds. Some aji charapita, a chiltepin, and probably some CAP 872. All small fruited plants that should also be prolific. The super-hots will stay in the back so that I don't have to share with crazy kids who want to prank their friends. I currently have cuttings from last year's Carolina Reaper and Caribbean Red that have taken root in my aeroponic indoor garden. I've also decided where the tomatoes are going and how to do my long beans. I'll also have some eggplant to fit in somewhere, but I'm not sure where yet. Probably where I'm doing fewer greens this year. It was a bit of a disaster last year with the slugs, so I need another solution for them and I think it's just planters. I'm also cursing my weather, as it can't decide to freeze and it should have a month ago. I have 2 rows of garlic that are 3-4 inches tall that have pushed through the mulch. I hate to wish for real winter, but I also want a good year for my garlic. I've also been harvesting from the indoor garden. Two varieties of pok choy, a Japanese chard, and this week the wan shen should be big enough to cut back. Next week a spinach-mustard hybrid will be big enough to start using for soups too. I also started a 1/4 tray of watercress that will be just microgreens. Gardening isn't just for the summer apparently.
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Jan 3, 2020 03:34
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I'm currently finishing a hotbed and have lumber for two 12x4 raised beds that will be split into a total of six areas. I'm also planning on getting a 6'x6'x6' gourd tunnel to put in between the two sets of beds. I'll post a list of plants when I get home and can look at my seeds.
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Jan 3, 2020 16:25
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I don't garden a lot but for Christmas my mom got me a completely gigantic planter box for my deck that takes something like 18 cubic feet of potting mix. I generally don't reuse potting soil (I have good luck with the smaller container veggies I do) but I do really need to empty this thing come fall and fill it back up again next year? Is the cheapest method of filling it up just a load of plastic bags of potting soil?
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Jan 5, 2020 03:33
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I think the cheapest method would be buying some compost and/or fertilizer and just reusing the stuff. I’m not sure why people don’t reuse it, it’s soil and unless you have disease issues in your pots and are washing them, the spores and bacteria will be in the pots anyway. I also haven’t had issues with tipping the few ceramic pots out into a pile and just reusing the soil the next spring. I don’t want the hard freeze to shatter the pots. I bought a couple bags of fertilizer two years ago and have enough for another 3-4 years for 150+ sq ft of growing space. It also means I can adjust the balance based on what I’m growing in the area as I rotate things around.
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Jan 5, 2020 05:37
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Does anyone have experience with building wicking raised beds? I'm planning one out for the front yard to grow salad in and while I've read a ton of material about them would love any first hand insights.
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Jan 5, 2020 05:49
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Crakkerjakk posted:Oi! We just missed a really good deal on a skid steer with a tree cutting attachment and root grapple. While the auction was going on all I could think about was wanting to tear down my current old tobacco barn and pull up the fence around the garden. I'd really, really like to clear that part of the property down and put in a steel building and a proper greenhouse instead of the garden. I'll probably just end up using the garage to start seeds again. mischief fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Jan 5, 2020 |
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Jan 5, 2020 06:13
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Twobirds posted:I don't garden a lot but for Christmas my mom got me a completely gigantic planter box for my deck that takes something like 18 cubic feet of potting mix. I generally don't reuse potting soil (I have good luck with the smaller container veggies I do) but I do really need to empty this thing come fall and fill it back up again next year? Is the cheapest method of filling it up just a load of plastic bags of potting soil? Reuse the soil. Eighteen cubic feet isn’t much. At that scale, you’re not going to do better by getting a truckload or a palletload. Just look for good deals. For example, in my area there’s a nursery that has a potting mix dumped in the yard in the yard for their own use, but they also sell it to customers for less than half the price of the prepackaged stuff.
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Jan 5, 2020 06:55
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Thanks for the advice. I moved recently, giving up my compost pile in the process, so I'll shop around.
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Jan 5, 2020 16:26
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Twobirds posted:I don't garden a lot but for Christmas my mom got me a completely gigantic planter box for my deck that takes something like 18 cubic feet of potting mix. I generally don't reuse potting soil (I have good luck with the smaller container veggies I do) but I do really need to empty this thing come fall and fill it back up again next year? Is the cheapest method of filling it up just a load of plastic bags of potting soil? Yeah, as others have said, re-use it. Top dress in the spring with compost as the soil settles. Learn to identify specific nutrient deficiencies in case your leaves start turning colours and looking unhealthy. Around here the cheapest soil is from nurseries that sell from bulk bins. Next cheapest is Costco, but they won't start carrying it until later in the spring.
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Jan 5, 2020 17:14
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Senor Tron posted:Does anyone have experience with building wicking raised beds? I'm planning one out for the front yard to grow salad in and while I've read a ton of material about them would love any first hand insights. I've built a ton of SIP planters based on Albopepper's guides. Any specific questions?
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Jan 6, 2020 00:12
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Hexigrammus posted:Yeah, as others have said, re-use it. Top dress in the spring with compost as the soil settles. Learn to identify specific nutrient deficiencies in case your leaves start turning colours and looking unhealthy. Don't put compost in your containers. But yes, reuse the soil.
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Jan 6, 2020 00:13
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Hubis posted:Don't put compost in your containers. No 100% compost, but drat....yes mix it in like 20% if you've got nice compost that is fully cooked off. That's a great way to rejuvenate potting soil.
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Jan 6, 2020 00:43
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Hubis posted:Don't put compost in your containers. Why would top dressing with compost be bad?
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Jan 6, 2020 00:54
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Hubis posted:Don't put compost in your containers. Guess I should have been explicit that I was referring to finished compost. Why would a large planter box be any different than a raised bed?
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Jan 6, 2020 02:00
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Hubis posted:I've built a ton of SIP planters based on Albopepper's guides. Any specific questions? How worthwhile have you found them in regards to water use versus a standard planter? Also I've been thinking about how to flush them out and most designs don't seem to use a second bottom tap, is it generally good enough to run freshwater through it for a while to rinse out the water beneath? We get long hot summers here so I definitely don't want the reservoir going stagnant.
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Jan 6, 2020 04:55
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Hexigrammus posted:Guess I should have been explicit that I was referring to finished compost. Why would a large planter box be any different than a raised bed? Motronic posted:No 100% compost, but drat....yes mix it in like 20% if you've got nice compost that is fully cooked off. That's a great way to rejuvenate potting soil. Atticus_1354 posted:Why would top dressing with compost be bad? Sorry, I was being a bit off the cuff there. While 20% is probably higher than I'd do that's up to personal taste, but topdressing is probably fine. My concern is with water retention/drainage, and if we are talking about revitalizing potting mix then I assume you might do it two or three years in a row, so that added compost really changes the soil structure over time. I suppose it also depends on the type of compost we are talking about -- I've taken to tossing in some scoops of shredded pine park mulch into my compost bin alongside chicken scraps to change the texture and improve both aeration and water retention. The result is a much lighter eventual compost. I think Al Gracian AKA Albopepper said hes still getting good results re-using his potting mix (with some slight revitalization) after like seven seasons. E: I noticed some of the guides I found online that mention compost specify *screened* compost, and I think that's a key thing. Screening (aka sifting out the very large and fine pieces) means the compost you are adding will contribute positively to the soil structure. I'm on board with that. E2: but the real question is what are you trying to fix by "revitalizing" your mix? Are you trying to replace lost nutrients or are you trying to open up soil which has compacted due to the organic components (peat, coir, shredded bark mulch) breaking down over time? Also also, when we say "compost" are we talking about composted garden scraps, leaves, etc? Or "composted peat"/"composted mulch"? I assumed the former, but I've learned some gardeners (maybe it's a regional thing) refer to any aged organic material as "compost", so maybe I am confused. Hubis fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Jan 6, 2020 |
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Jan 6, 2020 12:52
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Senor Tron posted:How worthwhile have you found them in regards to water use versus a standard planter? Also I've been thinking about how to flush them out and most designs don't seem to use a second bottom tap, is it generally good enough to run freshwater through it for a while to rinse out the water beneath? They are way better than a standard planter for water use in my opinion, because if you are just refilling the reservoir then you are only ever giving the plant what it needs.the moisture stays in the lower portions of the soil so you lose way less to evaporation. The big advantage in my mind though is in consistency and preserving soil structure/aeration -- you've got fairly constant wicking from below, so plants that really dislike swings in moisture like tomatoes completely avoid the issue. Meanwhile you are not watering the soil from the top, so you don't get compaction over time due to heavy water working it's way down through the top of the soil. It may be anecdotal, but I've noticed a lot fewer issues with blossom end rot using the SIPs. People cite calcium deficiency as the cause of blossom end rot, but that's because calcium is used as part of the water management mechanism in tomatoes and the real problem may be inconsistent watering instead (which no amount of added calcium will fix). I never worry about flushing out the bottoms of mine. Honestly a healthy plant will wick it almost empty, so just adding fresh water seems to be plenty. Hubis fucked around with this message at 13:13 on Jan 6, 2020 |
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Jan 6, 2020 12:59
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Thanks everyone for responding. I've been spreadsheeting and will post some of my plans this weekend. Decided to try doing some in-ground beds instead of building another raised bed. Also!!!!! Super important, discovered that cucurbita moschata (one type of squash) is apparently super resistant to a bunch of diseases but also to vine borers and squash bugs(!!!!!!!!). And there's summer and winter varieties! So anyways, gonna buy buncha seeds, cause squash bugs are a friggin plague here. Excited to actually have squash this year. Check out trombocino, Korean zucchini, yuxi Jiang bing gua for summer types. Winter types are butternut, sucrine du berry, Seminole pumpkin, Calabaza, and moscata di provenza (among others).
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Jan 7, 2020 19:36
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Here in Northern California, our winter has been so mild my peppers never died, they aren't doing great, but they still have green leaves! That warm weather also means I have been having crazy amounts of aphids. I even released some ladybugs to see if that helped, it didn't. Might have to get some more diatomaceous earth.
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Jan 12, 2020 21:50
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This year is gonna be the year I (will try to) grow some vegetables after thinking about it on and off over a few years. I even bought a book that had good reviews just to get started with something and avoid the analysis paralysis. I currently live in a 4a zone but move every few years for work (T-minus 18 months til the next one). Is something like the Almanac Garden Planner app useful? The idea of taking some guesswork out of what to grow when and where when moving between countries/zones is appealing.
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Jan 19, 2020 21:48
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Guest2553 posted:This year is gonna be the year I (will try to) grow some vegetables after thinking about it on and off over a few years. I even bought a book that had good reviews just to get started with something and avoid the analysis paralysis. I don't know if that specifically is the jam but this is the first year I've planned everything out well in advance and I'm super excited for the growing season and doing almost everything from seed. I feel you on taking out the guesswork which for me hopefully means less waffling/laziness and more success.There is so much to do every month, my to do list is already huge 
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Jan 19, 2020 22:16
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Anyone here grow pumpkins before? I’m curious how much room to give them and how to care for the growing fruit and so on.
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Jan 19, 2020 22:32
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Solkanar512 posted:Anyone here grow pumpkins before? I’m curious how much room to give them and how to care for the growing fruit and so on. All the room you have. They will take it anyway. And you don't really need to care for them at all. Some of the best pumpkins I've "grown" were volunteers from decorative pumpkins that I threw over a retaining wall (for disposal) and took over a hundred feet of river bank behind a friend's restaurant.
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Jan 19, 2020 22:47
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Motronic posted:All the room you have. They will take it anyway. And you don't really need to care for them at all. That’s amazing. I have a patch of lawn that I can’t do anything with because it’s a drain field so maybe I can have the vines go there. gently caress lawns.
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Jan 20, 2020 00:06
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