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I recommend only putting a little soil in the bottom of big pots used with small plants. If getting sunlight down that well is a problem, the put can be cut short, or the bottom can be filled with big rocks to raise the level of the surface without retaining water.
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May 6, 2020 14:25
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| # ? May 29, 2024 23:11 |
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Platystemon posted:I recommend only putting a little soil in the bottom of big pots used with small plants. If getting sunlight down that well is a problem, the put can be cut short, or the bottom can be filled with big rocks to raise the level of the surface without retaining water. Yeah, I recommend spending $10 on the small cell version if you do a lot of starting. I may have gotten a pack of them and I'll never need to buy more as I may have misread. Now I have 144 6-cell trays. They can be washed and reused too. When I started gardening I wanted to just use whatever I had on hand, but I've slowly come to realize that a lot of the general things are fairly well designed for doing what they're supposed to do. Like, egg carton trays. What was I thinking?
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May 6, 2020 14:58
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poo poo. It’s dropped down to 40 last night and stayed there today. It’s supposed to freeze this weekend. I hope everything lives but I don’t think the basil is going to survive. I brought my tomatoes and peppers inside, so they’re safe. Do I need to cover sugar pea sprouts, cauliflower, radishes or beet sprouts? Also, how do I tell what’s a weed? Do I just pay attention to what’s sprouted as a group and anything new or that doesn’t look the same is bad? If my basil dies I’ll probably turn the entire container into radishes for a quick harvest and then go back to basil.
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May 6, 2020 19:06
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Arrgytehpirate posted:
They're fine, they might even enjoy it. ID'ing weeds is hard when you're first starting out. Wait a week or so, and when you're thinning your plants, just pull EVERYTHING that's not the specific plants you want to focus on. My spinach bags are actually failed basil beds interplanted with mixed wildflower seeds. It's going to be very exciting to see what actually pops up out of these.
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May 6, 2020 19:48
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You'll probably start to recognize specific weeds after a while. The same ones show up over and over.
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May 6, 2020 19:58
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I think I've got a problem. I went ahead and got this jalapeno (and a poblano) while we were at the nursery, but the temps around here are lower than they should be for peppers. Aside from one freeze in a couple days, during which I plan to haul them into the garage, we're looking at mostly days topping out at the low 50s and nights in the high 30s until it warms up in about a week. So, I want to make a makeshift cold frame teepee with these long skewers and some semi-clear plastic. Would it be better to wrap the plastic around and leave a hole at the top, or should I prioritize covering the top? If the latter, should I have ventilation holes on the sides or will simply not sealing the bottom suffice? 
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May 6, 2020 20:00
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Here in Texas local temps are in the high 80s and my tomatoes and peppers are starting to fruit even though they have hardly any leaves. Is there anything I can do to help them grow, or should do next year? I'm watering them once a day, but as you can see, even though it rained last night the soil is already dry. They're in a lovely spot where there's almost no shade.  
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May 6, 2020 20:25
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Personally I'd be tempted to pull those off and dry for seed. I always try to dedicate as much of the plants energy to growth early on but you do you. Both will thrive on a soak/dry watering pattern and up until a certain point will explode with good temperature and sunlight. Later in the season with tomatoes in particular keep an eye out for sun scald, especially down in TX. I use Neptune's Harvest Tomato & Veg extremely liberally on pretty much all my plants. As long as they have food, light, and a little room to breathe they're both very robust plants to grow once they are established. Motronic posted:
I made two compost runs with my new-to-me long bed F350. I don't remember how much each trip weighed but I vividly remember unloading them. We've got a dump trailer we can use now but I haven't done any dirt with it. It's amazing how much more affordable soil, etc is when it's not in a plastic bag.
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May 6, 2020 21:14
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runchild posted:I think I've got a problem. I went ahead and got this jalapeno (and a poblano) while we were at the nursery, but the temps around here are lower than they should be for peppers. Aside from one freeze in a couple days, during which I plan to haul them into the garage, we're looking at mostly days topping out at the low 50s and nights in the high 30s until it warms up in about a week. I would seal the bottom and leave the hole at the top. The thing that got my tomatoes early one was the fact that it was cold AND windy. The plastic should heat the soil enough to keep the plant fine until things warm up. And heck, maybe leave it up for longer (make that too hole large enough to water through) and give your peppers a nice head start.
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May 6, 2020 21:28
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Solkanar512 posted:I would seal the bottom and leave the hole at the top. The thing that got my tomatoes early one was the fact that it was cold AND windy. The plastic should heat the soil enough to keep the plant fine until things warm up. And heck, maybe leave it up for longer (make that too hole large enough to water through) and give your peppers a nice head start.  Fingers crossed! The excess at the top is pinched together with a large clip in the back, just gotta open it up for plenty of watering space. Also the bottom is more flush with the dirt than it looks in this pic. I might increase the number of stakes tomorrow to keep the sides further out.
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May 6, 2020 23:47
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LLSix posted:Here in Texas local temps are in the high 80s and my tomatoes and peppers are starting to fruit even though they have hardly any leaves. Is there anything I can do to help them grow, or should do next year? Fertilize and water deeply and infrequently if you can. Leave hose on with a pinkie size stream of water coming out and leave it on each plant for 10min+ every few days. You'll lose less to evaporation and it encourages deeper roots in the plants. We're in a similar drought here, thought it has meant nice weather. 3" of rain since early march when I started this stupid garden, when I think we normally get 8" or so? I've been watering about every day trying to keep seedlings alive, and most all my beets seedlings croaked when I forgot about it for 2 days. Also inside a vegetable garden st. augustine grass is a noxious weed and I would start pulling it as soon as you can or it will take over whenever it does start raining.
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May 7, 2020 02:26
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mischief posted:Personally I'd be tempted to pull those off and dry for seed. I always try to dedicate as much of the plants energy to growth early on but you do you. The real risk in my area of Texas is spider mites. They looooove dry and hot conditions and we have plenty of that. I'm already fighting them on my bushes now  . The cherry tomatoes seem to be the most susceptible but they would all be in a heap of trouble if I weren't spraying off the underside of the leaves every day or so.
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May 7, 2020 02:41
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gently caress spider mites. I can only imagine how bad they are in arid conditions. They’re bad enough in greenhouses.
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May 7, 2020 02:45
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I don't think I've ever had spider mites, but something has been plaguing my pitcher plants for a few years now. I think it's either thrips or mites, but I can't actually find anything.
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May 7, 2020 03:04
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My malay apple was nearly killed by some sort of hard, red scale insect. I thought the plant was just not doing much because the season was cold and dark, but those subtle bastards were sucking the life out of it. I crushed every mature one I could find with tweezers and suffocated the rest with dish soap. I’m going to try to quarantine new purchases from now on, and step up my inspections. I should consider applying pesticide even if I don’t see any problems. It strikes me as preferable to dealing with the fallout.
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May 7, 2020 03:14
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Anyone have ideas what might be happening to my tomatoes? The leaves are getting pale green/yellow, and some are falling off:   It started about a day after I had them outside for maybe ~1-2 hours last weekend. It was a warm day, gave them some water, let them get acclimated, then brought inside. By that evening, some of them had already started doing this. Today is the first time I've brought them back outside since, just using the grow light. Soil is moist, maybe too moist? I took them out of the bottom tray to see if that helps it drain if that's the problem. They also have not grown at all since then, no new leave (a few have lost a leaf or two) or any taller. I did take one out, as you can see with the empty cell, and they aren't anywhere near root locked. Almost the opposite, VERY small root system. And a couple of them are very floppy, as you can see. Flopping over, not a strong stem at all.
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May 7, 2020 18:14
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Platystemon posted:My malay apple was nearly killed by some sort of hard, red scale insect. I thought the plant was just not doing much because the season was cold and dark, but those subtle bastards were sucking the life out of it. This is my mo after having a couple house plants I got on sale gently caress up some of my favorites. I have a new plant area specifically for them
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May 7, 2020 18:16
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DrBouvenstein posted:Anyone have ideas what might be happening to my tomatoes? Don't fret, nothing is hosed. A few thoughts (and if I'm speaking nonsense, somebody smarter please correct me): - You're hardening (transitioning indoor plants to outdoor) your seedlings right now, which is good and necessary. The sun is a whole lot stronger than your grow lights, so it's a little more than your seedlings are used to. If you leave them in direct sunlight for too long before they're ready, they'll fry. Gradually leave them outdoors a little longer each day over the next week or so. I like to start them out in partial shade so they can get used to being outdoors, then more and more sun from there. - The yellowing is probably from being hardened. Since the plants aren't rootbound I doubt it is a nutrient deficiency, so don't overcompensate with fertilizer. That may kill things. Also, you want to be paying attention to how the new growth looks more than the old leaves. If the new stuff is coming in healthy, the older, perhaps discolored growth is a lot less relevant. Tomato plants are psycho vines: there will always, always be new growth so better to look ahead than focus on what already happened. If they're not dead, there's hope. - The "floppiness" you describe is frequently referred to as "being leggy." It's when the seedling can't support its own weight, and it's a common thing that happens to seedlings started indoors. It's not a death sentence, though. Whenever I have leggy seedlings, almost always peppers, I stake them upright using a wooden coffee stirrer. Don't tie it off or anything, just lean the seedling up against the stake so it can try to grow vertically again. I think this matters less for tomatoes than it does for peppers since a tomato plant laying in the dirt will start rooting right there, but they're still really young so gently staking them upright is probably the right move. - It's not a surprise that they haven't grown taller since you began hardening them, reason being that they're getting more than adequate light from the sun compared to what they're used to with the grow light. The grow light doesn't give them as much light as they would like, which is likely why many of them became leggy in the first place, trying to grow as tall as possible to reach the light source. To prevent legginess in the future, keep the seedlings as close to the grow light as you can without burning them. That way they won't have to stretch, at least as much. - Let your soil dry out between waterings (ESPECIALLY for pepper plants, but for tomatoes as well). Countless well-meaning gardeners have drowned their plants, not realizing that was possible. This will encourage root growth as well, as they will have to grow out in search of moisture in the soil. In summary, for the most part you're going in the right direction. Harden them off gently in terms of direct exposure to the elements, let them dry out between waterings, and definitely don't let them sit saturated in water. They should be fine!
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May 7, 2020 19:08
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DrBouvenstein posted:Anyone have ideas what might be happening to my tomatoes? I would say stay the course. Only suggestion I have is to wait a bit longer before hardening them. I usually wait until they have a second set of true leaves.
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May 7, 2020 19:14
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Hey all. this thread, and well hellworld, has made me decide to start learning how to garden! My mother in law is ecstatic, since shes been trying to get me to start for years. I now have a bunch of herb seedlings and some bags of carrot and scallion seeds. So uh, Ive got my seedlings outside getting some sun, but I realize I have no clue how often or how much im supposed to water them. The above post about drowning plants was what made me stop lurking, so whats the deal? Should I be adding water every day? Wait till the soil is dry?
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May 7, 2020 19:39
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SpaceCadetBob posted:Hey all. this thread, and well hellworld, has made me decide to start learning how to garden! My mother in law is ecstatic, since shes been trying to get me to start for years. I now have a bunch of herb seedlings and some bags of carrot and scallion seeds. I really don't think that they'd need to be watered every day. Most plants don't drink that much, and if they do, they probably need to be potted up. I like to give my plants a thorough soak, let the soil dry out (all of it, not just the surface. The pot should feel light when you lift it), then another thorough soak. Don't let them sit in a pool of water, though, just to the point of saturation. Also, welcome to a rewarding hobby! Spending time in the dirt and growing your own food is very good for maintaining sanity. And if you want to win bonus points with your MIL, ask her opinions and advice about gardening.
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May 7, 2020 20:06
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Definitely wait for the soil to dry out some. Are you using seed trays? What do you have planted and are they on a warming mat or just facing a sunny window? I think I'd bottom water about every 10ish days for my peppers and tomatoes when using the little 6 cell packages in a tray.
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May 7, 2020 20:46
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willroc7 posted: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... What light did you go with? I have a tray of pepper seedlings going right now under some 't8' LED strips.
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May 7, 2020 20:55
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Raised bed mounds are in. No more excuses left. I'm gonna have to put the fence up next.
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May 7, 2020 22:54
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Motronic posted:Raised bed mounds are in. You do kick-rear end work and that's an enviable setup. Looking forward to seeing it when it's finished!
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May 7, 2020 22:58
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:You do kick-rear end work and that's an enviable setup. Looking forward to seeing it when it's finished! Thanks. I can't wait to get it done - but even more importantly, I just got another drat frost notice for tonight. Really hoping I can feel okay with putting out tomato starts soon and direct seeding bush beans before long, but it doesn't seem like that's in the cards (especially the beans) for a while. And I thought I was late with all of this.......
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May 7, 2020 23:39
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Got my bed frames 95% built today (need a second set of hands to get them fully assembled and placed), ready to get my plants in the ground tomorrow Check the weather, apparently supposed to get snow on Saturday, so gently caress me, I suppose. Also my house is facing SW, with not too much yard, so I'm not even sure how well this is going to work out, but I can hope
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May 8, 2020 05:59
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Motronic posted:Raised bed mounds are in. Aren't those beds a little close to the fence? I'd leave a little room for access/weed control. Unless you just plan to herbicide along the fence or something.
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May 8, 2020 13:38
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LogisticEarth posted:Aren't those beds a little close to the fence? I'd leave a little room for access/weed control. Unless you just plan to herbicide along the fence or something. The plan is to use the beds right at the fence for anything I need to climb, and there will be a strip outside of the fence that has some pre-emergent on it. You'll see that and why after phase 1 of the fence is up. That's fence phase 2: keep out the rabbits.
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May 8, 2020 16:38
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I just saw it sleeting outside, and checked the weather to see that there's a frost warning for tonight. I currently have like a dozen potted cayenne and ghost peppers, and I'm wondering what I can do in short notice to protect them
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May 8, 2020 22:11
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If they’re potted, the obvious answer is to bring them indoors. Do you not have room for them?
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May 8, 2020 22:28
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Indoors, garage, cover with plastic like the guy up thread, and do nothing are the options from best to worst. If it’s short notice, you may just want some kitchen plants for a day or until it warms up.
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May 8, 2020 22:44
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I dragged some of them into my basement, but it’ll take a while to find space for them all. Lots are in 5 gallon buckets, some bigger planters and some smaller (none of which are easy to move, since the planters get delicate after a few years outdoors). I should probably get started soon.
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May 8, 2020 23:20
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crossposting from c-spam, but this is my setup for the year that's most of the garden. i have another area alongside the patio where i planted watermelons, eggplants, squash and cucumbers that i raised from seeds. this bed here contains squash, zucchini, bell and jalepeno peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and cucumbers. i've been fertilizing with cow manure, horse manure and miracle grow every 2 weeks. water once a day for about 2 hours with the sprinkler been getting some good results   got a whole mess of squash coming in. last i counted there were 16 of the little bastards on the way  jalepenos on the way   for some reason the smallest bell pepper plant is the one with the biggest pepper so far, but we have about 6 on the way that i've found  zukes are always a pain in the rear end to spot, but so far i've found 4. looking forward to these  the tomatoes are just starting to flower, hopefully we'll see some action soon. tomatoes always take forever to show up around here tho, so i'm not worried  got our first potato flower not long ago. the potatoes plants have grown at an insane pace. two months ago they were still totally underground   baby cucumbers are coming in. i've always liked to guide the vines and help them grow. we installed that hog panel about two weeks ago when the cucumber plants were about five inches tall. they have exploded since then, its amazing
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May 8, 2020 23:45
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Slanderer posted:I dragged some of them into my basement, but it’ll take a while to find space for them all. Lots are in 5 gallon buckets, some bigger planters and some smaller (none of which are easy to move, since the planters get delicate after a few years outdoors). I should probably get started soon. whoops, turns out when I said I had a dozen huge plants I actually meant 3 dozen + assorted smaller herb pots. At least it only took an hour or so.
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May 9, 2020 00:23
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Serf posted:crossposting from c-spam, but this is my setup for the year  You maniacs in warm climates drive me bonkers. We're getting loving snow tonight.
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May 9, 2020 00:31
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Happy Spring from Minnesota! Where temperatures are ranging anywhere from 28-70 degrees! Hopefully last night was our last frost, but maybe another is coming tonight! (Click for huge.) Grape fruiting canes!  Blackcurrants!  Apricots?!  Serviceberry blossoms!  Blueberries!  Strawberries!  Corn!  Kale!  Peas!  Cilantro!  I love plants!
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May 9, 2020 14:41
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Got out to the hardware store to get a latch for the gate. First some "fine adjustment" to make it level: Now for the.....oh F me. There are different SIZES of these things?  I'm not going back out into pandemicland and I'm not gonna be done like this by a gate latch. Time for a different kind of hammer.   (and all the real welders cry at my ugly farm weld that I didn't even care enough to go back and fill in all the way) FIN: 
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May 9, 2020 22:10
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A tale of two varieties. Black cherry, just getting completely worked over by spider mites. I've been trying to spray the bottoms of the leaves off daily but the variety has small leaves that don't hold up to the spray so they flutter and give the mites too many spots to hide. As a result the plants are completely hollowed out:   I don't think they'll produce worth a drat because of it. Maybe 6-10 fruit have set on them so far. San Marzano II, going absolutely gangbusters. The plants have a bit of visible damage from the mites but the leaves are much more robust so I can really hammer them with the water spray and it wipes out enough of the mite population that it isn't holding them back:   One already has over 15 tomatoes going:  And a blueberry because why not: 
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May 10, 2020 01:57
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Squirrels and raccoons keep digging up my seed potatoes. I'm very sad. My snap peas, yet again, are the kings of my garden in Seattle. My salmon berries and my huckleberries aren't going to fruit this year since I just planted last fall but they're lookin really healthy!
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May 10, 2020 02:53
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