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mischief posted:Outstanding! In retrospect I still wish I had gone raised bed for my first garden. The raised beds are largely because of the insidious rabbits that ruined the last time I tried growing vegetables here. I might extend upwards some time, but for now, filling six beds at 5m by 1.2m by .2m each is quite enough tons of soil for now. My wife used some of our bamboo forest to make hurdles/punji sticks as a greater disincentive.
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Apr 21, 2020 22:27
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I've got a 4x4x2 foot raised bed I just put in and its amazing how much soil it needs. I laid down fabric cloth, a few inches of cardboard, a bunch of compost layers, a bunch of "brown stuff" layers like leaves and then added soil on top. Built a trellis for tomatoes and climbing plants on the north end of it so it doesnt cast a shadow over the other plants. It snowed last week in the twin cities so I still dont have anything out in it yet, might move onions out there from the seed tray this weekend and also plant some lettuce. Excited to give a modified square foot garden a shot this summer.
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Apr 22, 2020 14:05
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BaseballPCHiker posted:I've got a 4x4x2 foot raised bed I just put in and its amazing how much soil it needs. I did three 6Lx4Wx2H beds last year and it took about a load and a half using my dad's 10,000lb dump trailer. It then settled, and I topped them off with another 18 bags of compost. This year I used 10 bags of topsoil and another 10 bags of compost again, amd they're still a good 5" below "max". Beds that deep settle a lot, but man are they nice to work in. I half assed it last year and we had more peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce than we could eat.
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Apr 22, 2020 15:52
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I can’t even imagine wanting to fill in a 2’ deep bed. That doesn’t sound like much fun at all. Was it easier to keep pests away or did it not make much difference for fruit loss?
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Apr 22, 2020 16:13
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mischief posted:I've never had the patience for neem oil to work. Spinosad is quite effective and still organic, it's just become really expensive in the last few years. A little update, I got some neem on there and it seems to have helped out. There's less obvious bugs at least for now so maybe in a few weeks I'll see some results.
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Apr 22, 2020 17:50
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Jhet posted:I can’t even imagine wanting to fill in a 2’ deep bed. That doesn’t sound like much fun at all. Was it easier to keep pests away or did it not make much difference for fruit loss? On my end, it was more about ease of working the bed and comfort. I had zero pest problems, aside from some Japanese Beetle issues. My yard is infested with rabbits, and 2' definitely kept them out. Again, along with the dump trailer, my father has a small tractor with a bucket loader, which made it pretty easy to fill as well. Honestly though, I've seen a lot of other gardeners use 2' beds. It's a little more work up front, but is so much nicer to work from.
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Apr 22, 2020 23:40
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This late cold snap in New Jersey is driving me nuts. It nearly froze last night. I have 5 sweet peppers and 2 crookneck squash ready to go outside x.x
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Apr 23, 2020 13:08
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I don't see any freezing lows on my 7 day forecast - I bet my cold seeds are gonna start popping right away! The plants make me feel so good, even before they're plants yet. There's so much hope in seeds.
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Apr 23, 2020 14:34
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Man everything has really started going crazy this week. We got 2” of much needed rain after only 1” in the past 6 weeks (basically since I started my garden) and everything has shot up. Rainwater is magic. Looks like I had close to 100% germination in my squash hills and they are growing their first true leaves. Same for radishes. Beets and chard will probably start on real leaves this week too. My eggplants have just been sort of hanging out, but since the rain they are putting out new leaves like crazy. 20 tomatoes set on 3 Cherokee purple plants that aren’t even waist high yet! There’s like 4 fruit on 1 branch on some-should I thin the fruit out or just juice them full of fertilizer? My San Marranos that were 2 weeks behind everything else have just about caught up too, and my first lil baby cherry tomato is juuuuuust starting to turn red. I think I’m gonna have to add some strings on the trellis tomorrow, and definitely need to prune the lower growth back up on everything. These are the magic weeks that make gardening so much fun, and I’m gonna have to try to remember them in July. 10 days ago:  Today: 
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Apr 24, 2020 23:53
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I am going through the most CONVOLUTED process of buying these loving Rutgers tomatoes starts. Since the Ag day they normally sell their starts on is canceled, all orders are online, and you need to pick them up in person. Ok, cool, click buy schedule. NOPE. First, A WEEK AND A HALF AGO, I had to put in my order, but they didn't take payment at that time. Instead, two days later, I got an email and had to go to the continuing education portal, and pay through there. Then, four days ago, I sent an email saying I hadn't gotten a link to make my appointment slot. They sent me a link that was broken. This morning, I get an email with the correct link, through a different portal of the college, and I have to dig through about eight different emails to find my Order Confirmation Number (not my invoice number, not my order number, not any of the other numbers I've gotten). Now I have to blindly check which slots are open, because it's not actually saying which pickup slots are full on the scheduling page, it just bounces you back. Holky fukkkkkk they are gonna sell like ten plants. Friggin garden granma's not going to figure this poo poo out, I grew up on the internet and I was frustrated by all of this poo poo. HOW DID YOU DEVELOP A COVID-19 TEST LIKE THIS MY GOD Should have just bought the drat seeds.
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Apr 25, 2020 15:58
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I was productive today. Last weekend I built a 4x4 raised bed and today I did my planting.  Left to right there’s a potato tower, two containers and my garden bed. The only thing I’ve grown before is the basil in the front center container. It was very easy and grew more than I could possibly use. The potato tower has like a dozen potatoes on top of like 6” of soil then another 6” dumped on top. The back middle container has radishes and beets. The bed has garlic lining the front, four cauliflower behind it, two behind that, some lettuce planted to the right of them and a row of peas behind that. I left the back of the bed to transplant peppers and tomatoes I bought today. I’ll do that in a week or so. I have no idea if I’m using my space efficiently! I have no idea if anything will survive or grow! I don’t know poo poo! All in all I’ve probably spent $200 between buying the tools, dirt, wood, plants. I’ll be happy if I can harvest anything that isn’t basil tbh.
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Apr 25, 2020 19:29
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The best way, even in the age of the internet, to learn how to garden is to just loving send it and see what happens. Make sure you have support for your tomato and peppers and keep us posted on the taters. I've never tried potatoes so always trying to learn.
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Apr 26, 2020 02:44
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These are my pepper and tomato seedlings right now: Am I still good to leave them in there a little while longer? I'm not when I should transplant to larger containers.
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Apr 26, 2020 18:26
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Arrgytehpirate posted:I was productive today. Last weekend I built a 4x4 raised bed and today I did my planting. What direction is the sun coming from? Might have to thin the Cauli, they can get fairly unruly. Did you get bush peas or climbers? The peas might want something to climb on. They might climb the tomatoes and peppers, which isn't going to kill them, it's just annoying when it gets thick back there. How many tomato and pepper plants, and what kind? The tomatoes will most likely be wanting some support structure, which will take up space. Are the radishes little breakfast or globe boys? They should hopefully do OK and not out-compete the beets. I would get them a tray of their own and just plant-thin-harvest every month. Two trays, and you can succession plant and get a small crop every two weeks! Or just eat the sprouts. Worst case scenario, just eat the radish and beet tops as a salad green, or throw in a stir fry or pesto. It's a good plan though! Just a bit crowded. Which is the fashion now anyway, cram those bad boys in there. Don't get deterred if it gets unruly in there. Weed frequently to reduce competition, don't be afraid to thin plants that aren't performing. Potato bin looks great, potatoes are fun. Get some cheap pots and plant marigolds, they will be a good friend to everything you've planted. Keeps bad bugs away, attracts pollinators, looks pretty.
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Apr 27, 2020 15:47
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Suspect Bucket posted:What direction is the sun coming from? Might have to thin the Cauli, they can get fairly unruly. Did you get bush peas or climbers? The peas might want something to climb on. They might climb the tomatoes and peppers, which isn't going to kill them, it's just annoying when it gets thick back there. How many tomato and pepper plants, and what kind? The tomatoes will most likely be wanting some support structure, which will take up space. The sun comes from the right. It gets over the houses in front of it by about 11 a.m. I’m guessing that will get a bit earlier as the summer gets on. I got sugar daddy peas. I’m planning to buy a bunch of small dowels to have for stakes if needed. How thick do they need to be for peas? What about tomatoes and peppers? For those I got poblano, Italian sweet and big chili peppers and San Marzano and beefsteak tomatoes. One of each. I think I messed up and bought them too early. They’re big and I have no light in my house and I can’t plant them for at least a week maybe two. I think on nice days I’m going take them outside and let them get some sun. The radishes are half cherry belle half garden giant. The beets are chiogga. All selected at random at Lowe’s. I didn’t even know you could eat radish sprouts. I’ll have to look into that. Throwing some into the presto I’ll be able to make from the basil sounds nice. I do plan to plant marigolds and lavender! I also want to mulch all the grass around the bed. Today I had my first sprouts!!! God dammit. Imgur is broken for the app. So, no pictures. 
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Apr 27, 2020 17:43
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DrBouvenstein posted:These are my pepper and tomato seedlings right now: Leave them in there for a little longer, maybe 5-7 days. The seedlings don't have to be completely rootbound in the cells of your seedling tray to be transplanted, but the more established they are the better they will do. They're still pretty young right now. If you're looking for a good indicator of when to transplant, wait until the seedling has a well-developed root structure such that it will try to take its dirt with it when you remove it from the tray. It's not impossible to transplant before then, but that is a safe method. When you do transplant your tomatoes, bury them almost up to their leaves. The fuzzy hairs on the stalk are all potential root sites, and the more developed a plant's root system is, the more access it has to nutrients to convert into delicious produce. Whatcha got in there?
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Apr 27, 2020 20:37
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Soon... 
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Apr 27, 2020 20:50
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Can I regrow bok choy from the bottoms of ones I get in the store like green onions? I tried leaving it in some water but it just turned to mush.
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Apr 28, 2020 16:03
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net work error posted:Can I regrow bok choy from the bottoms of ones I get in the store like green onions? I tried leaving it in some water but it just turned to mush. I'm growing one right now! Basically when I cut the last leaves off of this one, I noticed some shoots coming from the base, and it grew nicely and is pretty close to ready to put in dirt and root. I haven't decided if I should cut that root into a few pieces to let each leaf grow separately.
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Apr 28, 2020 16:30
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Did you let it sit in water to let the base grow some?
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Apr 28, 2020 16:36
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net work error posted:Did you let it sit in water to let the base grow some? I jabbed toothpicks in it like it was an avocado pit and set it in a glass of water on the window sill, since it had living leaves on it. gently caress I'll grab a picture for you.
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Apr 28, 2020 19:31
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Apr 28, 2020 19:33
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I have a question about a seed starting/growing rack that I built this year. It's working OK for my general seed starting needs, but it's kind of bootleg, and I'm trying to improve it, or even make it useful for wintertime production of greens and such. It's basically just a two-shelf unit I built out of some scrap plywood and 2x4s. Right now the lighting consists of excess old T12 fluorescent shop lights that were left over from the previous homeowner. A mix of various daylight and soft-white bulbs. Really high end stuff  Anyway, I built each shelf as 4ft wide by 2ft deep, to accommodate four 1020 trays each, for plug starting and eventually 3.25" pots and such. My question is, would a set of grow lights like this be appropriate? Originally, I was thinking about having two, 4ft lights per shelf. Now, I'm thinking that I could get four 2ft lights per shelf, one for each tray, and suspended at the appropriate height for whatever was growing there. Something like the "B" configuration here:  Is there any rule of thumb as far as how many lumens I would need per tray? Would one of the bulbs above be enough for a 1020 tray of, say, lettuce plants or tomato starts?
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Apr 29, 2020 14:28
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net work error posted:Can I regrow bok choy from the bottoms of ones I get in the store like green onions? I tried leaving it in some water but it just turned to mush.
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Apr 29, 2020 19:34
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I cannot express how nice it is to be able to go out to the garden and pluck some arugula and mustard greens whenever you want them. Also, there are many types of lettuce that you've never tasted before because they aren't common in stores. It is definitely worth your time and minimal effort to grow from seed. Eat more leafy green vegetables! for your health!
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Apr 29, 2020 19:43
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:I cannot express how nice it is to be able to go out to the garden and pluck some arugula and mustard greens whenever you want them. Also, there are many types of lettuce that you've never tasted before because they aren't common in stores. It is definitely worth your time and minimal effort to grow from seed. Eat more leafy green vegetables! for your health! I'm with ya! I cannot wait for basil and sweat peas hnggggg  Also some more Aji Charapita are coming up, about a dozen in this tray. Cmon lil friends  
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Apr 30, 2020 01:11
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Arrgytehpirate posted:The sun comes from the right. It gets over the houses in front of it by about 11 a.m. I’m guessing that will get a bit earlier as the summer gets on. Agh I totally forgot to reply to this. Sugar Daddies are bush peas, probably wont need support. Both your tomatoes are indeterminate types, and will want staking, or at the very least tomato cages. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/determinate-vs-indeterminate.htm https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/growing-beefsteak-tomatoes.htm
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Apr 30, 2020 15:12
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Having run out of my own compost, I've been watching Gumtree and, sure enough, a nearby farmer had some for sale at £30/ton. Over with my little trailer and it smells simultaneously amazing and horrendous. It also seems a trifle fresh. It may be Scotland, but it's the last day of April and the temperature is in double figures, but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Fz1bglQdU Another bed filled, even if I wouldn't really dare put anything in it right now: 
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Apr 30, 2020 19:21
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I took a garden in basically this spot down when I bought the house because it was too close to both the retaining wall and the barn. It was also poorly constructed. I had every intention of putting it back up next year. But things change, so it goes back in now. So I moved it an extra 10 feet off the retaining wall and up towards the house several feet. It's also smaller......16x24. Should do the job just fine. I have about 4" of top soil with rocks, clay with rocks for another foot, and then shale. The bobcat isn't here. I have no auger for the tractor. So I'm doing this by hand. "Plowed" with corner posts up. I don't have a plow either, so I was using a box blade with ripper hooks. I got about 2 bucket full of rocks out of there. That seems like barely any of them as I started digging more:  Every hole I dug so far (with a manual post hole digger and digging bar) had some sort of nasty surprise:  And now I'm wasting time on the internet because I'm tired and sore. One long side is done and the gate is installed:  I'm planning on doing mound rows of mushroom soil. Not gonna bother building boxes for the beds right now. Time's a wasting and I'm trying to use what I have sitting in the woods, not going out buying new stuff. As least all of these blisters are a good start on my proper summer callouses.
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May 3, 2020 22:46
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Are the posts for netting?
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May 4, 2020 14:57
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Endie posted:Are the posts for netting? Fencing. Tall enough to keep deer out. Also tall enough for shade cloth for the areas and times of the season where I'll need it.
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May 4, 2020 15:11
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Well i bit the bullet and ordered a bunch of supplies to start hydroponic DWC gardening. Most expensive item was an LED grow light on amazon. Going to start with some hot peppers first, I think... It seems like it is OK to transfer seedlings in soil to a net cup with clay pebbles in it after washing it off. Is that correct? willroc7 fucked around with this message at 14:05 on May 5, 2020 |
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May 5, 2020 13:54
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And the forecast this week has overnight temps in the mid 30's. It's actually in theory only 40 out right now, according to my phone. Fantastic, glad I planted some things on Saturday. Hopefully they'll survive, right now I've got some beans and early peas, carrots planted more like 2 weeks ago, some potatoes, and herbs. The potatoes were just some ones I had that grew eyes and stalks, so if they don't grow I'm not surprised now will care that much. I technically "transplanted" a tomato, but I know it was too early and too small even if the temps were going to be in the 70's, but I had a cell in my planting tray with 2 seedlings that I missed when I thinned out a while ago, and it was really more of an experiment to see how fast it will die. Checked on it this morning and I think it's not officially dead, but unless the temps really did suddenly soar into the 70's and fertilizer rained from the sky, it ain't coming back.
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May 5, 2020 15:01
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My wife thinks I’m crazy, but that’s why I used to keep empty milk jugs. They are great for a quick cover when weather hates on the garden. Even yoghurt containers can work if the plant is small enough. Now I’m just going to build cold frames for my beds so I can grow longer to where the only thing interfering is lack of sunlight. I hate the portion of spring/fall where the weather dips for a few days and then it’s back to warm and good for growing. I’ve lost too many plants this way.
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May 5, 2020 20:45
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Anyone have any recommendations on good/cheap ways to shade some plants? I planted a bunch of lettuce/greens in my container bed but it probably gets to much sun for those plants. Was thinking I just put some cardboard to block the sun on the southern side of container garden but that it may be to much shade. Then thought about trying to just get some old burlap or something and use that instead.
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May 5, 2020 20:54
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 Three trips, 5 yards of top soil 4 yards of mushroom soil. (I can only fit 3 yards at a time in the trailer) I'll be bringing out 2 or 3 yards of self made leaf compost and mixing it all together as best I can. Let's make some raised bad mounds.
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May 6, 2020 02:22
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Motronic posted:
Wow.
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May 6, 2020 02:50
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Anyone have any recommendations on good/cheap ways to shade some plants?
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May 6, 2020 04:27
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If you don't mind your garden looking ragged you can use window screens as temporary shade.
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May 6, 2020 13:38
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Looks arent important at all. I think I do have a roll of window screen laying around my garage somewhere. I'll give that a try. Of course the summer sunny weather we did have is now about to be a week straight of cold and clouds with a chance of frost on Saturday haha. Also just some wisdom I learned the hard way, please fellow gardeners dont make this mistake! This year instead of using those regular seed trays with the little individual pods that fit 24 to a tray I reused larger plastic pots that you'd get from buying plants at a store, approximately 4 inches across. I planted my seeds in there thinking I could give the plants more time and let them get bigger before transplanting. It was working wonderfully, they were all really healthy tall sturdy plants. Then one day I was in a hurry out the door and thought, oh I'll just bottom water like I use to do with the seed trays instead of watering each individual plant. Well the larger pots soaked up a TON of water and I had drowned my plants. All of my tomato and pepper plants had curled up droopy leaves. Its only now about 3 weeks later that they've fully recovered and only about 1/2 ended up surviving. So please dont over water larger pots by bottom watering!
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May 6, 2020 13:56
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