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toenut posted:My celery is still barely coming out of the ground after two months, so you are way ahead of mine. I've never done celery before, so I don't know what to expect. That's very typical of Zucchini. The reason you don't see them that size is it makes them usless for pretty much anything but baking.
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Aug 1, 2009 08:45
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In Australia at the moment (winter) Coriander seems to thrive - it likes a good bit of sun but some cooler weather. Good to plant a few different batches because in cooking more is better.. it takes well to a small amount of well nourished soil. This is the LEAVE coriander and not the SEED coriander. You need to look out for the difference in seeds because it makes a huge difference to your yield, obviously. Seeds are good dried and stored but leaves/stalks are FANTASTIC used fresh as a last minute addition to curries and stir fries, or as a marinade ingredient.
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Aug 1, 2009 16:10
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Hey guys, is there any chance that my strawberries might have Verticillium Wilt if they're in containers? They're Bonnie strawberries I bought from Lowe's this spring and planted in pots using Miracle Gro soil. Since this is only my second container garden and my first time growing strawberries I thought it was normal for the outer leaves to be wilting and shriveling up, because new green healthy leaves always sprang up in abundance right behind them. But now my plants are starting to look exceedingly thin and when I googled it, the pictures of Verticillium Wilt look like what's happening. I'm just confused because most of the pictures I saw were of strawberries in the ground, not in pots. I was under the impression that having my stuff in containers meant that they'd be disease free.  Perhaps my hopes were too high.At least my pole beans are starting to get some flowers again. I thought they'd decided to call it quits after producing just a handful of beans during the middle of July.
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Aug 1, 2009 20:25
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doctor_god posted:I've been growing vegetables indoors under fluorescent grow lights. A month or two ago, my tomato got some kind of weird leaf disease (a fungus?) and pretty much died. I got rid of it in the hopes that whatever hit it wouldn't spread to the other plants, and things seemed alright until recently, but now my peppers seem to have the same issue. The leaves get dry, whitish blotches covered in black specks, then leaves start falling off starting at the base of the plant and moving upwards. Here's a picture of an affected leaf: Could be late blight. quote:Late Blight on Tomato and Potatoes
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Aug 3, 2009 16:17
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4 zucchine plants seems like a lot, my family generally had 1 or 2 and we always had waaaayyyy too many zucs to eat. They're good sliced into thick strips, rolled in olive oil and herbs and tossed on the grill, though.
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Aug 4, 2009 06:37
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Richard Noggin posted:Could be late blight. That's not it, but one of your links pointed me towards some info on Septoria leaf spot, which looks pretty much exactly like what I have. Thanks!
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Aug 4, 2009 19:25
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A hungry opossum is eating all of my ripened tomatoes. He's very picky and goes after only the ones that are perfectly ripe. Last weekend when he climbed the vine, he broke off a branch with two nice bunches of green tomatoes. To combat this, I've been picking the tomatoes a few days before they're fully ripe and this seems to be working, but I'd rather not have to be so vigilant. Is there an easy way to keep this thing away from my tomatoes without doing something extreme like netting off my plant, or trapping, or poisoning the little fucker?
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Aug 5, 2009 20:21
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plasticbugs posted:A hungry opossum is eating all of my ripened tomatoes. He's very picky and goes after only the ones that are perfectly ripe. Depending on your local area, animal control may provide free trap rentals and animal pickup if you have an animal complaint. Putting a ripe tomato in one of those animal traps shouldn't be that extreme of a measure, especially if it's only one possum. I've never heard of any other methods that are effective at getting rid of possums other then the ones you listed right there.
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Aug 5, 2009 20:40
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Banana Factory posted:Depending on your local area, animal control may provide free trap rentals and animal pickup if you have an animal complaint. Putting a ripe tomato in one of those animal traps shouldn't be that extreme of a measure, especially if it's only one possum. I'll give animal control a call. For what it's worth, I'm in Venice, CA. Also, I think the foul new smell in my tiny backyard may be opossum urine.
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Aug 5, 2009 22:07
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Banana Factory posted:I've never heard of any other methods that are effective at getting rid of possums other then the ones you listed right there. I have! It's called a .22 rifle.
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Aug 6, 2009 02:33
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I have a question regarding my roma tomatoes. I have a couple of plants in containers and the plants themselves seem really healthy and started putting out some tomatoes a few weeks ago. For a while they were getting bigger and everything seemed to be fine, but now they've kind of stopped growing and they're still putting out lots of new flowers. Is this something I should be concerned about or am I just being impatient. I had read that it could be due to lack of pruning? I'll try to get a picture on here of their current state in a while. Any tips are appreciated. Here are some pics of the plant in question  Click here for the full 1368x1026 image. And a close up of some of the fruit  Click here for the full 1368x1026 image. Forbidden Donut fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Aug 6, 2009 |
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Aug 6, 2009 17:02
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Forbidden Donut posted:I have a question regarding my roma tomatoes. I have a couple of plants in containers and the plants themselves seem really healthy and started putting out some tomatoes a few weeks ago. For a while they were getting bigger and everything seemed to be fine, but now they've kind of stopped growing and they're still putting out lots of new flowers. Is this something I should be concerned about or am I just being impatient. I had read that it could be due to lack of pruning? I'll try to get a picture on here of their current state in a while. Any tips are appreciated.  I wish my tomatoes looked like yours. Mine are under constant assault from hordes of insects and it shows. Every day I have to pick off worms. I found out I could just remove the hornworm eggs before they hatch, and I've been removing a few every day.
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Aug 7, 2009 07:03
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Does anyone have any advice when to harvest peppers? I have Chili, Jalapeno and Bell peppers and they all look great, but they don't seem to be ripe yet. Unfortunately, they are getting black marks on them like previously mentioned. (My chili's are still green )I'm not sure what to do!
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Aug 7, 2009 15:48
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Banana Factory posted:I think it's just because your pot is only so big. i think if you transplant, then the tomato will grow more. but if it's putting out fruit like that, then i wouldn't fix something that isn't broken I wouldn't transplant while it's flowering/fruiting, but yeah, that pot is too small. You also know to leave any hornworms with white spots on them, right? Those are wasp eggs that feed off the hornworm, eventually killing it when they come out of the cocoon. They'll spread to other hornworms, killing them as well. 
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Aug 7, 2009 16:06
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Thanks for the reply. Yeah I figured it was the pot, though it's a little bigger than it appears in that picture, a bout a foot deep or so, still i know they like to have a lot of room for roots. I've tried pruning to see if that helps at all. Next year I'll get some of those buckets from Home Depot or something. I was actually amazed at how little problems I've had with the tomato plants themselves in regards to pests. When I was younger my dad was always fighting with the hornworms I haven't seen any this year though.
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Aug 7, 2009 18:36
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Richard Noggin posted:hornworms... 
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Aug 7, 2009 19:10
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Oh sweet jesus I hope that's fake. 
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Aug 7, 2009 19:26
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Richard Noggin posted:I wouldn't transplant while it's flowering/fruiting, but yeah, that pot is too small. You also know to leave any hornworms with white spots on them, right? Those are wasp eggs that feed off the hornworm, eventually killing it when they come out of the cocoon. They'll spread to other hornworms, killing them as well. If I ever saw a hornworm like that I would keep it in a jar with some leaves from weeds till those eggs hatched. that said, i've never seen any such thing. I keep the porch lights on at night sometimes to make frogs congregate around my garden but beyond that i've never seen evidence of beneficial animals lurking around my place. I just realized those porch lights might be attracting the hornworm's moth too. Maybe I should try leaving them off. Richard Noggin posted:Oh sweet jesus I hope that's fake. yeah, me too. Too bad it isn't
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Aug 7, 2009 20:49
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MarshallX posted:Does anyone have any advice when to harvest peppers? Someone responded to that, not sure if you saw--many peppers turn blackish/purplish before they turn red, probably just that. Did you let those go to see? Alternatively, it could be sun scald, they will taste just fine. For anything I pick green (for me, Jalepenos--some like them red but I don't, Anaheims, and Poblanos) I wait until they have stopped getting bigger and squeeze them a bit--if they are really rock hard I let them be a bit longer. Also, they feel kind of looser from the stem than when they are immature. Some Jalepenos show corking (crack lines) when ready, some don't. If it came with a marker and you still have it you can look up the cultivar to see if it does or not. Bells are the easiest, if you want them green pick when they stop getting bigger, if you want them red/yellow/orange wait. 'Chili' is a pretty generic term so no advice there, depends on what 'Chili' it is.
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Aug 8, 2009 03:54
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I recently lost of my three watermellons They were only a little larger than a golf ball and recently split almost in half with a deep crack. Should I leave them on the vine or pull them? I wouldn't think they would still grow but that's why I'm here
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Aug 8, 2009 17:53
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Ridonkulous posted:I recently lost of my three watermellons They were only a little larger than a golf ball and recently split almost in half with a deep crack. Should I leave them on the vine or pull them? I wouldn't think they would still grow but that's why I'm here That crack happened because they didn't get water consistently. If a fruiting plant suffers a mini-drought then gets a big rain or watering at once, the fruit will take on water so fast that it cracks. It's just cosmetic; it won't harm the fruit's taste in any way, at least not for watermelons. That scar can sometimes be tough to bite through for fruits where you do eat the skin, but again not a problem for melons.
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Aug 8, 2009 21:52
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MarshallX posted:Does anyone have any advice when to harvest peppers? That was me that responded earlier... Here's a more detailed answer. When to harvest peppers depends on the type of pepper and your own preference. Chiles and other hot peppers are ripe when they are red/orange/dark purple all over, exact size and color depends on the species and cultivar. Keep in mind that dark purple can also be a transition color, especially when they first start to ripen. Jalapenos get grouped into hot peppers too. Traditionally they are presented while still green, but if left on the plant they will turn a bright red when fully ripe. Again this is your preference, but they're full sized and ready to eat at around 3 to 4 inches long, regardless of color. Banana peppers are a little different in that they'll take on a greenish yellow when ripening. Again according to your preference they can be picked at this stage, but they will take on a red color when fully ripe. Bell peppers are like jalapenos in that they can be eaten when green and not quite ripe yet. Depending on the cultivar, they can ripen into a yellow/orange/red/purple color. They're ready to pick while they're still green at about 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter, but they will be slightly less sweet. Bell peppers really develop their sweetness when they take on their final color.
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Aug 8, 2009 22:12
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 well here's my somewhat ridiculous possum proof setup. Plants are growing pretty well now.
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Aug 9, 2009 05:14
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Forgive my ignorance. I live in Venice, CA and I'm not quite sure what the lifecycle will be with my pepper and tomato plants. I have one Roma and one Beefsteak tomato plant and I have several varieties of Peppers (Jalapeno, Cayenne, etc.). Based on what I've read, my plants should continue fruiting year-round. Does that mean that year-after-year the same plants will keep fruiting? Also, if it does get cold enough for my plants to go dormant in the winter, will I have to pull my plants up and replant new ones next season?
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Aug 9, 2009 06:57
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Forbidden Donut posted:roma tomatoes The Roma variety of tomatoes is determinate, which means that it will grow to a certain point and then just put out one big load of fruit pretty much all at once. This of course makes it ideal for canning and sauce making, but not so great if you're looking for tomatoes for everyday use. If you want a tomato that fruits all summer long you need to get an indeterminate variety next year. If you want an indeterminate plum tomato, the San Marzano is a good variety.
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Aug 9, 2009 16:27
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plasticbugs posted:Based on what I've read, my plants should continue fruiting year-round. Does that mean that year-after-year the same plants will keep fruiting? Yes, to a point. Tomatoes and peppers both originated in South and Central America, where it remains hot enough in the winter to grow year-round. However like Marchegiana mentioned, determinate varieties will put out all their fruit at once then die, so perennials must be indeterminate ones. However, you will still run into problems if you garden tomatoes in one spot indefinitely. Tomatoes and peppers naturally are low growing plants that will layer themselves wherever they touch the dirt again. These new roots farther up the stem means that the plant has a shorter distance to carry nutrients from the roots to the fruits. If you're like most people and keep your tomatoes tied up in a cage off the ground, then as the plant grows distance from roots to fruit will only become longer and as a result the fruits will be smaller. One way around this is to chop off a few of the new tips, cut the main shoot at the ground, stick the shoots in the dirt and water them. They'll readily re-root themselves, and you'll have a clone of the parent just like nothing. Tomatoes and peppers will openly reseed themselves (cherry tomatoes are infamous for this), but depending on the variety, the fruits of any offspring probably won't remain true to the parents'. This is really a problem for hybrid cultivars, where all bets are off for what their offspring will turn out like.
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Aug 9, 2009 21:16
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Alright, I finally moved into my new place and unpacked enough that I can think about the yard. Unfortunately/fortunately (depending on how you look at it) the place has a terribly overgrown little-old-lady flower/herb garden which has pretty much taken over the front fence on both sides since the house was vacated last sprint or winter, and the partially shaded areas under the filbert tree and holly tree (anybody know if these trees have any major affects on soil ph/etc?) are completely overgrown with brush and volunteer filbert trees. My gardening background is that I grew up wild in the nursery my parents owned, then they sold it off to be "hobby" farmers. Thus I spent hundreds of hours in gardens and fields growing up but a lot of the minutia have been lost over the last decade of two of living in dormitories, apartments, and crack houses. So first off, I'm planning on clearing a great deal of the flowers and weeds and getting as much of the "garden" area marked out as possible, and getting in some stuff this fall. I live in the Willamette valley, Oregon (seems to be between a 6b and 7b on the hardiness zone scale.) This is my question: outside of garlic and artichokes, what is good to plant in August/September? I'd like to get a few things into the ground this fall, and I've got roughly 2 or 2 1/2 months before the cold and rain really picks up here.
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Aug 10, 2009 19:45
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coyo7e posted:This is my question: outside of garlic and artichokes, what is good to plant in August/September? I'd like to get a few things into the ground this fall, and I've got roughly 2 or 2 1/2 months before the cold and rain really picks up here. Onions, that's about it for veggies. You could put some bush or tree crops in the ground during the fall too.
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Aug 10, 2009 23:01
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kid sinister posted:One way around this is to chop off a few of the new tips, cut the main shoot at the ground, stick the shoots in the dirt and water them. So I shouldn't uproot the main shoot and throw it on my compost heap? Instead I should cut it off at the base? Is there a reason for not uprooting the whole structure and just planting the tips?
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Aug 10, 2009 23:24
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plasticbugs posted:So I shouldn't uproot the main shoot and throw it on my compost heap? Instead I should cut it off at the base? Is there a reason for not uprooting the whole structure and just planting the tips? You could if you want to, I just said to cut it off at the ground for your own convenience.
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Aug 10, 2009 23:56
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I'm following this calendar for my fall crop http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/docs/veggies/veggie_calendar.pdf
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Aug 11, 2009 00:02
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The grasshoppers around here are getting bigger and developing new colors on their bright green bodies. They became less of a problem when we cut back a lot of the weeds near my container garden- now the new growth just about matches the rate of destruction. I saw one today with what looks like a giant boner coming out it's back end and loving racing stripes. Screw grasshoppers. This is really not a good area to do gardening in, right next to a swamp in North Carolina. I'm starting to get suspicious that the copious amounts of frogs around here eat my plants too, since they don't seem to take care of any of the goddamn bugs. Banana Factory fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Aug 11, 2009 |
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Aug 11, 2009 04:10
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My strawberries definitely seem to be dying. I guess I'll replace them next year. Plenty of pole beans and tomatoes, though. I also started some seeds today so I can have plenty of leafy greens this fall.
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Aug 11, 2009 04:57
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Since nobody in GWS likes my gardening posts, I'll cross-post this here. My tomaterz and pepperz are going loving GANGBUSTERS!!! Roasted red pepper soup is going to happen soon. I have lots and lots of red pepper plants and they seem to be setting 10+ peppers EACH. Good thing I have the big chest freezer.  Roma tomatoes  Red bell peppers
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Aug 11, 2009 19:50
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kid sinister posted:Onions, that's about it for veggies. You could put some bush or tree crops in the ground during the fall too. I talked to my folks and they're coming up this weekend with a truck full of gardening/landscaping tools and seeds and fertilizer - they say that I can probably put in Artichokes, Broccoli, Garlic, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes, Spinach, Turnips.. I wasn't aware that onions were good for fall planting though, oregonstate.edu's horticulture site shows them as only being suitable for planting March and May in the valley - it's VERY damp here in a couple months and I don't think onions would do well with that..? Project yard/garden pics from before I start (red = already cut out, yellow = intending to cutout or seriously cut back, prserving a few of the more valuable things that're hiding under all the vines and weeds): Front view (faces West) - overgrown (over waist-high) rosemary on both sides of the entrance, smoe lemon mint and other herbs are spread along the fence but it mostly looks like a wildflower seed mix that's taken over, over the last couple of years. I'll be weed-eating most of this and I've trimmed the rosemary down to knee-height - the honey and bumble-bees hate me for it and the neighbors think I'm crazy - around here rosemary is essentially a weed, and it'll be back full strength shortly no matter what I do unless I cut out the roots.  North-East corner of the front yard (northwest end of the house outside my bedroom window), I'm planning on cutting back all the flowering crap on the right, and limbing the (10-12 feet tall, holy poo poo I've never seen one that tall!) acer palmatum dissectum that you can see overhanging from where I'm taking the pic (I'm tall so I'm already sick of bending under branches).. No idea what to put in that dirt but it gets pretty good afternoon and evening light, with shade early and light shade later in the day.  South-West corner of front, the red is where I've already cleared down to dirt and roots. There are two fairly healthy blueberry bushes in the bottom-right corner of that pic, in the middle of the yard. I don't remember what the round plant with the balls of pinkish/purpley flowers are, but it's pretty cool and I want to keep it in the middle there at least until spring when I will have a better idea of how much space to work with..  The South-East corner, the tough part.. It's overshadowed by a holly tree (on the left) and a filbert, both of which have become overgrown badly. I intend to cut back all the brush on the ground in there, and limb the trees up to a few inches to a foot over the top of the (5 or 6 foot tall) fence, hopefully this will let in some more light.. I don't know how the soil is under there or if there'll be enough sun even after clearing it out, however worst-case I will lay down brick to extend to rest of the paved area around the deck and back of the house.. I'd prefer to get something in there that'd be edible, and probably a composter in the corner.  Ideas, comments, concerns? Am I doing something dumb? Last night I spent a couple/few hours cutting back the crap that was taking over the front fence.. Got a pretty big pile of brush and rose branches and prickly thorns, before I realzied that I had no wheelbarrow and the gates were too small to take a brush-covered barrow through in any case..  Next step is to sketch out a landscaping map so I have something useful to work with - my camera batteries died!
coyo7e fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 12, 2009 |
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Aug 12, 2009 19:58
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Checked my tomatoes last night and I have two that are a nice deep orange. Trying to decide how to enjoy my first ripe tomatoes of the season. Hopefully they'll be ready this weekend.
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Aug 12, 2009 20:11
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Anyone do much indoor gardening? Moving from a house in Florida with a year round garden outside to an apartment in DC with no south facing window is a bit of a difference, but I'd still like to have some fresh stuff. Currently thinking of getting a planter or two with a fluorescent grow light of some kind for some herbs and greens. Probably basil, thyme, maybe parsley or cilantro, whatever, I can figure that out. About the greens though, any recommendations on what works well indoors, and preferably can be harvested continuously, and doesn't grow too big? Of course, also has to taste good, I don't want to waste my time on anything even close to iceberg lettuce. Thanks.
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Aug 13, 2009 06:24
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kalicki posted:Anyone do much indoor gardening? Moving from a house in Florida with a year round garden outside to an apartment in DC with no south facing window is a bit of a difference, but I'd still like to have some fresh stuff. You should probably focus on herbs like the ones you listed, where you harvest the leaves which renew themselves much faster then fruits will. oregano, sage, marjoram, rosemary are other herbs that can be grown in container indoors. I don't know how the flavor will be impacted, not having full sunlight and all though. For leafy greens, you should look up "microgreens" in google. It might be perfect for your situation.
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Aug 13, 2009 06:54
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kalicki posted:Anyone do much indoor gardening? Moving from a house in Florida with a year round garden outside to an apartment in DC with no south facing window is a bit of a difference, but I'd still like to have some fresh stuff. I bought a smallish(~6") rosemary plant from Lowes last year on the cheap, and it has maybe grown another five inches at most. For the better part of the year I have to keep it inside , and while my windows face south, there is a building fifteen feet away that is just as tall and limits the amount of light I get each day. Also, if you can get a deal on the Aerogarden I'd suggest buying one. I got one for Christmas that kept me in basil, oregano and thyme until I could get my seedlings planted outdoors.
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Aug 13, 2009 19:50
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^^^ Inside in a container, rosemary will stay very manageable. It grows almost like a weed in most temperate climates though, I think, and it can get HUGE.. The flowers on the rosemary at my new place were literalyl as tall as my shoulder (and I'm 6'3".) BTW, that's rosemary on either side of the gate in my picture below - it was nearly as tall as the fence NOT counting the flower-towers, before I cut back like 60%-70% of it.. I need to get myself some work/gardening gloves - my hands are torn to poo poo from the last couple days weeding and brushwhacking.. I finally struck dirt, though! I will probably get it cleaned up and fertilized and turned-over enough to put some stuff in the ground this weekend if things go as planned.   Buddha only frowns at me, he smiles at the people on the street, though.. Ingrate. Banana Factory posted:You should probably focus on herbs like the ones you listed, where you harvest the leaves which renew themselves much faster then fruits will. oregano, sage, marjoram, rosemary are other herbs that can be grown in container indoors. I don't know how the flavor will be impacted, not having full sunlight and all though. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Aug 13, 2009 |
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Aug 13, 2009 20:03
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