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mischief posted:Quick question... I put in my first garden this year and it took a ridiculous amount of effort and materials to make the clay into something worthwhile. Like 650 lbs of mushroom compost, 9 cubic yards of peat moss, and 3 truck loads of soil conditioner. The dirt is pretty awesome now except when it rains. It makes a "skin" almost of clay on top of the dirt and pretty much strangles any new growth I've got from seed. My tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and bean plants are chugging right along just healthy as they can be, but lettuce, herbs, and other leafy plants got covered up before ever getting tall enough. I think in future years you won't have this problem. Since everything was just tilled, every time you water the clay and everything else separates, but eventually as earthworms work it and the compost continues to decompose, the soil will bond better to itsself. In the meantime, the mulch will help by keeping the top of the soil moist so that it never dries out enough to make the crust. I think the "best" mulch is whatever you can get your hands on cheap. If you have any leftover compost you could broadcast another layer on top too.
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May 2, 2009 20:52
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I'm in the process of replanting a few of the beds and mulching them with dead leaves from the cypress trees in my yard. It's free and I think it'll help. I was just baffled, after spending all that time and effort to make super dirt, I came home to standing water in parts of it. It's a learning process, that's for sure! Also, any suggestions for a cheap way to make the walkways less muddy and treacherous? I can get gravel cheap, I just worry that it will sink down into the dirt regardless. Eventually I'll use paving stones, I'm just waiting to find some in the local Re:Store for cheap. mischief fucked around with this message at 21:23 on May 2, 2009 |
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May 2, 2009 21:21
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Cuddlebottom posted:Anyone know how plants are miniaturized? Other than that, plants can sexually reproduce and make healthy dwarves, just like animals. It's very rare, but plants have an advantage that animals don't: asexual reproduction. That means that once a dwarf plant has been identified and is healthy, that plant can be "cloned" in a sense, and again and again until you have enough to sell to gardeners everywhere. mischief posted:Also, any suggestions for a cheap way to make the walkways less muddy and treacherous? I can get gravel cheap, I just worry that it will sink down into the dirt regardless. Eventually I'll use paving stones, I'm just waiting to find some in the local Re:Store for cheap. Dig down a few inches, put gravel down, then put big rocks or pavers on top. That's the proper way to do it... kid sinister fucked around with this message at 23:18 on May 2, 2009 |
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May 2, 2009 23:09
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Always with the right way to do things  I cut the fake turf that was on my itsy bitsy plot before as a ghetto putting green into strips and used that in my little walkways, mostly because it is so small I will probably lift it and retill the whole thing and reorganize it if I am still living here next year. I think the next place I live I might use fake turf again, I can go barefoot on it which I like. On the allotment I saw quite a few people make permanent paths with sod or grass seed (if it was early enough to grow before it would be walked on). A neater thing I saw was a guy who had a system where instead of 'paths' he had areas the same width as his beds planted with a quick growing green manure (clover maybe? I can't remember). He made his beds long and narrow enough that he could reach into them. Then at the end of the season he tilled it all in and planted the whole thing with a winter cover. The next season he tilled it in and did the whole thing vice versa. I asked if walking on where he was going to plant next year ruined the soil structure and he said it wasn't a big deal because it was planted, not bare. Not sure how accurate that is, I just take whatever a kindly old boy tells me at face value. Other than fertilizer, that was all he did to amend his soil. At any rate, it worked for him. I don't think that was the sort of answer you were looking for but I thought it was neat anyway.
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May 3, 2009 01:08
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I've seen some people use mulch for walkways in the past. You would need a fairly deep layer to make sure it stays put. You also wouldn't want to walk on it with bare feet.
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May 3, 2009 17:30
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My mom used to use cocoa shell mulch around my swingset when I was a kid; it's soft enough for bare feet and makes your walkway smell like chocolate when it's fresh. The downside is that it can be hard to find, and is a good deal more expensive than ordinary hardwood mulch.
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May 3, 2009 19:44
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It'll probably stay dirt this year, I've dumped enough money into the ground now that it's really unlikely this garden will pay for itself in a year. I'll get around to gravel and pavers next year when I expand. Stupid NC clay.  The mulch in the garden helps immeasurably. All the plants seem happier and we had some pretty hard rain last night with no visible negative impact on the garden. Put together some trellises from some treated furring strips, about $3 for each one. I think that's the last expense for this year, now it's just on to growing some yummy produce hopefully.
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May 4, 2009 00:07
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I just cut this bitch into my slopping yard today, I am spent. It is 8' by 4' by 20". I started my research some 11 hours ago. I may die soon, I'm over 40. Next will be figuring out how not to F-up the PH with 16 cubic feet of organic matter. E: Clarity ChuckHead fucked around with this message at 00:38 on May 4, 2009 |
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May 4, 2009 00:30
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ChuckHead posted:I just cut this bitch into my slopping yard today, I am spent. It is 8' by 4' by 20". I started my research some 11 hours ago. I may die soon, I'm over 40. Next will be figuring out how not to F-up the PH with 16 cubic feet of organic matter. Don't worry, it's pretty hard to "F-up the pH" enough that nothing would grow there. Veggies like a pH around 7, the only crop plant I know of that likes a non-neutral pH is blueberries. They like a pH between 4 and 6. If you're super-worried, get a pH meter. I got a little electronic one for $35, and it helped me to get my blueberries right at 5.0 this year at last. They do make cheaper testing kits with vials and chemicals and poo poo, but those are a pain in the rear end to use. edit: This is the meter I got. It also tests soil fertility, soil moisture, and light levels (a HUGE plus for house plants). kid sinister fucked around with this message at 01:09 on May 4, 2009 |
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May 4, 2009 00:47
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I am planning on planting out tomorrow so I pulled weeds up from my little plot--I had kind of ignored it for a while after I dug in compost and tilled (it is woefully far from the house). I noticed that it actually had that same crusty layer that mischief was talking about. However, as soon as I tapped it the underneath is now dark and moist but crumbly, the compost has done its thing and I am pleased. There are earthworms now (none before) so overall I am optimistic. However, ANTS. I don't mean one anthill, I mean ants everywhere. So many I have that buggy feeling on my skin even though nothing is there. Do they do anything to plants or should I just ignore it? They are living in the sides mostly where there is a stone retaining wall. Also, a few of my lower tomato leaves have slightly translucent spots, and a few of the squirelly ones at the bottom have died at the stem. I've gone through several pages of tomato troubleshooting photos and nothing looks even vaguely similar. There are no dark patches around where it is translucent. Overall they look healthy, the stems are fine, although they have gotten slightly droopy over the past few days--probably a combination of crummy weather and outgrowing their pots. I don't want to plant them out and introduce a disease to the soil and cause more problems, but it just doesn't look like any of the common tomato problems. I've looked for signs of pests and nothing. The roots are healthy and white. I am pretty baffled honestly. I can't get a good picture with the flash so I can't get one until tomorrow, but any ideas would be appreciated.
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May 4, 2009 02:39
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Marchegiana posted:My mom used to use cocoa shell mulch around my swingset when I was a kid; it's soft enough for bare feet and makes your walkway smell like chocolate when it's fresh. The downside is that it can be hard to find, and is a good deal more expensive than ordinary hardwood mulch. Just a note, this poo poo is very toxic to dogs. So skip it, if you have pets.
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May 4, 2009 04:04
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HeatherChandler posted:Do they do anything to plants or should I just ignore it? They are living in the sides mostly where there is a stone retaining wall. The only plants I know of that actually require ants are peonies, and those are flowers. They need ants to open their buds. If you have that many ants, they might be there to go after the aphids... Do your plants have aphids?
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May 4, 2009 05:34
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This weekend was quiet busy on the gardening/yard work front. Mixed steer manure, top soil, sand, and peat moss to fill my raised garden beds, added rock around new raised beds.  Planted garlic (not visible), tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini, (carrots, radishes, and florence fennel seeds to follow next weekend). Sorry for the horrible angular picture, but I wanted to fit all the bed in one shot. Plus I have an cheap camera.  I also planted my herbs together in one pot  Bonus: Pictures of Zucchini before transplant 
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May 4, 2009 07:30
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kid sinister posted:The only plants I know of that actually require ants are peonies, and those are flowers. They need ants to open their buds. If you have that many ants, they might be there to go after the aphids... Do your plants have aphids? Well, there aren't actually any plants there yet. There was some weeds, bout it. There are trees and bushes all around where the area is, so one of those could have aphids. I wish I could clear the whole area but can't. Oh I was worried about them eating plants or their tunnels destroying roots Don't want to double post--planted everything out except peppers, which I am hardening off starting today. I don't mulch until early June when the soil is warmed up, so I used an inchish of topsoil around the plants to hopefully keep the soil from getting hard and cracked around the plants. So far so good, only I misjudged where I started the tomatoes--2 of them get shade starting around only 3 pm from this monster 10 ft tall honeysuckle. Looks like tomorrow will be a fun day of trying to lop off branches with hand pruners, no money for tools for another 2 weeks. Anyway, here is a photo of what I mean by translucent patches, they aren't the same as what it would look like if it was bacterial spot. I am assuming something has been nibbling at it, only I don't know what yet.  This is the worst of them, and it was stunted anyway, but I didn't have extras of that variety. When I took it out of it's pot I noticed the roots hadn't gotten through the peat like the others did. I gently peeled it off and buried the stem, so hopefully it will catch up. HeatherChandler fucked around with this message at 20:42 on May 4, 2009 |
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May 4, 2009 15:22
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Lots of garden work going on, cool My first early and second early potatoes are coming up, so are the onions I planted out, and the garlic may be too (the onions and garlic came in a bulb pack). I'm not sure if the garlic container has weeds growing in just the places I planted the bulbs in but because the cloves were super dried out I went and bought organic garlic from the supermarket and will plant some of those cloves in another container. Garlic keeps for ages anyway and I use a ton of it if I have it, plus it's something I've never grown. That farm field looks amazing, I hope you get plenty of rain! The cucumber pyramid should be very cool when it's all grown over.
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May 4, 2009 22:15
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I'm growing a balcony garden for the second time ever, and this is the first time that the plants have lived for more than a week and a half, despite my cat's best efforts. (Little bastard ate a third of my vegetables when I was asleep about a month ago.) Other than the two surviving tomatos, single cucumber, and six mixed lettuces/greens, I also have two chamomiles, three basils, two catnips, and two rosemaries. My question is, they're getting big and I'm almost ready to move them to permanent containers. What kind of soil should I use? This is the first time I've ever had any plant survive this long and I'm just about past the point at which I know how to do anything.
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May 5, 2009 03:59
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sithwitch13 posted:What kind of soil should I use? Try "gardening soil".
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May 5, 2009 04:16
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Tomatoes are in, peppers are in although it is a bit premature... didn't have a choice in the matter they were crowding each other out in my planter and I had to move them. Green beans got planted and the strawberry plants have about 4-500 blossoms by my best guess. If this goes even half way as good as planned I'm going to be sitting on so much produce I'll be able to feed hell and half of Georgia.
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May 5, 2009 06:48
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sithwitch13 posted:What kind of soil should I use? This is the first time I've ever had any plant survive this long and I'm just about past the point at which I know how to do anything. Good soil is 50 percent solids and 50 percent porous space, which provides room for water, air, and plant roots. The solids are inorganic matter (fine rock particles) and organic matter (decaying plant matter). The inorganic portion of the soil can be divided into three categories based on the size of the particles it contains. The amount of clay, silt, and sand in a soil determine its texture. Loam, the ideal garden soil, is a mixture of 20 percent clay, 40 percent silt, and 40 percent sand.
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May 5, 2009 10:07
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Had another really heavy spring rain today and it seems like my mulch experiments worked. I left one patch of the garden unmulched and mulched the other 95% or so. The mulched parts are perfectly fine and already showing good growth from the lettuce planted in them. The unmulched part is floating in water.
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May 5, 2009 15:53
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HeatherChandler posted:Anyway, here is a photo of what I mean by translucent patches, they aren't the same as what it would look like if it was bacterial spot. I am assuming something has been nibbling at it, only I don't know what yet. Looks more like plain old sunburn than anything pest-related, TBH. Did you move these plants out from a shady place into direct sun? Plants sometimes get burned if they're not used to bright light.
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May 5, 2009 15:58
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Magipp posted:Looks more like plain old sunburn than anything pest-related, TBH. Did you move these plants out from a shady place into direct sun? Plants sometimes get burned if they're not used to bright light. That is the weird thing, they were very slowly hardened off. They were in shade for nearly a week before filtered sun, then full sun. They had a tiny tiny bit of sunburn on the very top leaves (white spots) when we had a few days of abnormal heat (stronger sun? I don't know) but on all the other plants the translucent spots are only on the lower leaves, which were pinched off when I trenched them out anyway. Can wind make similar damage? They were out for like 3 weeks before I left them in the wind, but we had some really strong storms. I moved them under the awning and against the house for that, but they still got tousled.
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May 5, 2009 18:49
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Welp, we are planted. I'm very nervous about planting before May 24th weekend but I just couldn't help myself... Click here for the full 1600x1200 image. Ignore the mega long grass - waiting for some other parts of the backyard to grow before I cut!
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May 6, 2009 16:27
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I like the chevron shape of the rows and the flowers around the edge Watch out for those dandelions, I have a love/hate thing with those yellow flowers!
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May 6, 2009 20:49
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krushgroove posted:I like the chevron shape of the rows and the flowers around the edge Don't worry, I just hand picked about 100 dandelions out of our front yard which now looks immaculate. A few around the garden have got nothing on me. Updated pictures after a Work from Home day:   What I am hoping is that the cherry tomato plants I put next to the fence in the foreground of picture two will grow up into it, I'm not sure if they work that way, but it's worth a shot. I also moved the giant chive plant we put in last year to a more suitable location in the "herb corner". He is very happy now
MarshallX fucked around with this message at 21:47 on May 6, 2009 |
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May 6, 2009 21:44
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^ I like your layout and the flower bed around the garden. I'm going to borrow some of your ideas when I start digging my garden. What do you guys think about planting flowers in the dead center of a garden? Is that just as effective (or more) at attracting pollinators? The first seedlings I ever grew took about two weeks to even pop out of the soil. I started them indoors, in peat pots and starter soil, and they were open to the air. Their soil dried out constantly and I had to water them daily. Just 3 days ago I started some flower, onion and basil seeds inside a makeshift greenhouse (just a rectangular clear plastic tub with 5 small holes drilled through the top, they were cheap at Home Deport for a buck each). Same soil, same peat pots. I gave them a first watering to get the soil nice and moist, covered it with the plastic top, and set it by the window sill for afternoon sun. Each afternoon I left open the lid for about an hour if I felt things were getting too wet in there. This morning I already have signs of life coming out of the basil and mixed flowers. I know its getting late in the growing season but just wanted to pass that along to any other grower newbs such as myself. From now on I'm not going to start seedlings without some kind of greenhouse apparatus in place to keep the soil constantly warm and moist.
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May 8, 2009 13:35
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I planted out Monday, and the weather has been kind to me for a few days... The next 4 days however they are forecasting lows in the low 40s. I usually cover under 50, but my tomato plants are too big for either empty V8 bottles or empty milk gallons. I'd let it go at 45-50, but not 40 with wind. I haven't lived here very long and really don't have stuff just lying around, and my bank account is empty for another week, soooo I've had to jerry-rig as best I can with what I have lying around: bamboo, unused painting dropcloth, and hair ties. I don't own any tools either, so out came the handy dandy butcher's knife. After a day of fuddling around like I have brain damage here is what I came up with:  Now, I did everything I could think of to keep the plastic from touching the plants. More bamboo supports would have been ideal but I only had a few peices. This was a pain in the rear end to get up and I work long days all weekend so it needs to stay during the day too. I did cut a few small slits in the top with hopes that it will let excess heat out and that if it rains it'll drip through instead of pooling on top and collapsing. So, any easy ideas for improvement? It looks like it might storm in a few hours here so I am keeping an eye on it and if it collapses I will resort to cutting some small tree branches and making support for the middle.
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May 8, 2009 18:52
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D'awwwww, your tomatoes are going camping! 
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May 8, 2009 19:05
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MarshallX, I noticed you planted your rows diagonally. Is there any specific reason for this (like can you fit more plants in a smaller area) or is a purely aesthetic thing? I was just wondering because I have a similarly sized garden and was wondering if I should do the same thing.
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May 9, 2009 05:15
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I went out and killed my firstborn children today. They paid the price for ambition.
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May 11, 2009 01:41
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I am only growing 3 veggies this year, keeping up my rosemary bush and keeping last year's onion and garlic in the ground for pest control, and 3 potted tomatoes that won't even feel the wind on their cheeks until late June. I live in a zone 3A, and watched what I thought was a sunny corner terrace garden turn into a shady, stunted mess that was last year's vegetables. A south facing garden is wonderful until the tree directly south grows leaves  This year I'm trying purple coneflower (echinacea) jacob's ladder, sweet peas and wizard coral coleus as well as some stargazer dahlias, all from seeds. I have a shady flowers question. I was told that dahlias are ok in the shade, and started growing some. But now that I do some more reading about when to put them in the ground, it seems they are sun-lovers. Was I completely misled by the package at the store? I grew them from seed and they are easily two feet tall now (!!!) and it would be a shame to put them in the ground just to watch them die. Should I keep them in the pot, enjoy some indoor flowers, and hope my other flowers will bloom nicely in the shade? Also I am a fool and planted 1 week before May long... but this way all of the ladybugs are in my yard! Pansies and sweet peas are in the ground, onions and garlic started to shoot up in April, and there are two echinacea and wizard coral plants in the ground to see how they will react to the chilly nighttime temps.  I also gave up on the goofy huge stakes and cut them in half. They're for the sweet peas and just in case we get any late-season snowfall. I live in Calgary.
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May 11, 2009 01:45
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kid sinister posted:edit: This is the meter I got. It also tests soil fertility, soil moisture, and light levels (a HUGE plus for house plants). I have it's grandmother, it is green with only two prongs. The light and moisture functions work fine, but there is no reaction on the PH setting when I stick it in the soil. I just put it in a glass of water and added vinegar, no reaction.  I'm concerned as the volume is filled with 50% "composted topsoil" which seems to be organic matter that has been composted, 25% composted manure and 25% peat moss.
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May 11, 2009 02:01
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Tequila Mockingbird posted:I am only growing 3 veggies this year, keeping up my rosemary bush and keeping last year's onion and garlic in the ground for pest control, and 3 potted tomatoes that won't even feel the wind on their cheeks until late June. That's a cute little garden! The only thing that concerns me is the rain gutter downspouts look like they drain right into the top of the garden. You might be able to get a rainbarrel and it will limit how much tap water you will need and divert it from turning your garden into a waterfall next time you have one of those prairie thunderstorms. You are not going to kill the dahlias, even if they are in a shadier spot than they prefer. If it is too shady, they probably won't flower as much, but should still grow and form a tuber that you can dig up for next year. They do tolerate part shade, but prefer sun. You could keep them in pots and put in a sunny location like a porch, but indoors is rarely as sunny as we think it is and its hard to get most things to bloom inside.
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May 11, 2009 02:16
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Tequila Mockingbird posted:I live in Calgary. They make really inexpensive wire trellises that stick right in the ground for sweet peas. It's fun to watch them climb up the wall all year.
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May 11, 2009 02:28
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Zeta Taskforce posted:That's a cute little garden! The only thing that concerns me is the rain gutter downspouts look like they drain right into the top of the garden. You might be able to get a rainbarrel and it will limit how much tap water you will need and divert it from turning your garden into a waterfall next time you have one of those prairie thunderstorms. Yeah, that gutter sits right where the irises up there stop. I think that's why the irises stop where they do. Mostly I make sure my watering can is under the gutter and empty. It's nice because Calgay is semi-arid, and it's a nice way to save water. I was confused about this tuber dahlia business because all I've found online is how they are from bulbs and I was wondering what the hell I was growing after all, so that's good to know. I think I will just keep the dahlia bulbs up where the irises are, then, because that top level of the trellis is hosed with the eavestrough where it is. And I rent. The tubers can fight for their survival up there next year for the next renters. Slung Blade... I could buy trellises. But that costs money. I'll do what I did last year, and use bag ties to fasten them onto the stakes. They eventually wrap around like tarzan and it's very cute!
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May 11, 2009 03:09
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Monocular posted:MarshallX, I noticed you planted your rows diagonally. Is there any specific reason for this (like can you fit more plants in a smaller area) or is a purely aesthetic thing? I was just wondering because I have a similarly sized garden and was wondering if I should do the same thing. Not at all, I just thought it would look cool :P
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May 11, 2009 03:17
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ChuckHead posted:I have it's grandmother, it is green with only two prongs. The light and moisture functions work fine, but there is no reaction on the PH setting when I stick it in the soil. I just put it in a glass of water and added vinegar, no reaction. The same thing happened with mine. Try polishing the probes with steel wool before you use it.
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May 11, 2009 05:52
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Noooooooooooooooooooo. Frost I hope my little guys are OK.
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May 12, 2009 12:05
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Yeah, I don't know what the weather's problem is but we are hitting down to or below 50 pretty much every day for the next 10. My peppers are going to be severely stunted.
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May 12, 2009 13:21
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Anubis posted:Yeah, I don't know what the weather's problem is but we are hitting down to or below 50 pretty much every day for the next 10. My peppers are going to be severely stunted. The worst part is my fiance was adamant for me not to plant 2 weeks early (To wait until May 24th) but I insisted that the frost was done for the year. Oh how I will never hear the end of this. I went out about an hour after the frost, but before the sun came up and my tomato plants looked pretty sad. Hopefully the sun perks them up again.
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May 12, 2009 14:02
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