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Costello Jello posted:Where do you live that it's too hot to plant tomatoes? Florida...I'm in zone 10B. 
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Aug 22, 2010 12:34
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ateam posted:There are aphids on nearby (5-10 feet) tree leaves, should I worry? If you see them migrate over, use some insecticidal soap on them. ateam posted:What are these (weren't present a few days ago): Those are leaf miners.......an inevitability in Florida, unfortunately. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_miner Regarding watering, water in the morning at the base of the plant. You can mist them around 6 or 7 pm, or whenever they are no longer getting direct sun. Also, it's probably still too early for the tomato and the pepper plants to thrive. It's simply too hot and wet and the sun is relentless. Is there any way that you can rig up some shade for them? Maybe with a tarp?
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Aug 22, 2010 12:41
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Had a busy day in the garden. No pictures as the camera is getting a sensor clean. Got round to planting some Roma tomatoes today. Went overboard, and started 8 trays. Started 2 trays of paprika and 1 tray of tobasco peppers. Transplanted some mustard greens and swiss chard and finally released my two large rosemary plants from their pots. Gave them a home in an empty bed near my patio. Repotted my Thai pepper plant in a larger pot, gave it a worm tea treatment too. It's always been a prolific plant so I am expecting big things soon. Transplanted a seedling from the Thai plant's fruit into it's unused pot. Repotted my bay sapling into a roomier pot. It's a very hardy sapling that has survived two black frosts already and has done nothing but get stronger. Many years to go before it'll produce espetada sticks. Got a wildflower floral mix for the kids to plant to attract indigenous pollinators to the garden. Two pots, and the youngest insisted her toy wheelbarrow be used for a third receptacle. Trimmed the roots of two Ficus Ginseng bonsai and transplanted into more attractive pots. Potted a Margaret Roberts Lavender. Hit the rest of the garden and trimmed the roots of two Ficus Ginseng trees, dressed and fertilized the lawn area and laid grass seed in some dead spots. Dressed the ornamental beds with a fair amount of compost started cutting down a dead Acacia tree. Rehomed the compost bin into a larger receptacle. All in all a great day out in the yard.
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Aug 22, 2010 15:55
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I never thought I'd say this, but my garden is too productive. I can't keep up with the food, and I feel wasteful tossing it out (into the compost bin).
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Aug 22, 2010 18:44
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Emasculatrix posted:I never thought I'd say this, but my garden is too productive. I can't keep up with the food, and I feel wasteful tossing it out (into the compost bin). Give it to your neighbours? One of ours came round earlier to scrounge up jam jars as she's had a bumper crop of plums this year, so now we're getting a couple of jarfuls free! I don't know our immediate neighbours too well, but a couple of times I've left a few courgettes or leeks or whatever on their front doorstop with a note and they've said thank you over the fence the next day. Another alternative would be to grow your own bacon, if you catch my drift...
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Aug 22, 2010 20:38
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I'm getting a lot of tomatoes. Has anyone had any experience canning them and at a minimum what will I need to do it without poisoning myself?
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Aug 23, 2010 03:57
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Personally I just sauce and freeze them. Haven't needed much more than patience and the bare essentials of a kitchen. That aside, I'm also interested in any canning knowledge that could be shared.
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Aug 23, 2010 04:33
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There's a really good canning thread in GWS. Plenty of info there.
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Aug 23, 2010 04:58
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I'm getting a lot of tomatoes. Has anyone had any experience canning them and at a minimum what will I need to do it without poisoning myself? I've got about 16 qt us already. It's pretty easy. Blanch, peel, quarter, place in canning jar with a squirt of something acidic (I use MinuteMaid Lemon Juice). Press down with a spoon to get rid of all air pockets an run through the presser cooker at 10# per your cooker's directions. As long as the lids seal you're cool (and if they don't the first time try again). I haven't read the canning thread yet and may head over there this morning. You can significantly reduce the volume of tomatoes my making a sauce first. The sauce cans just as well.
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Aug 23, 2010 12:51
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Emasculatrix posted:I never thought I'd say this, but my garden is too productive. I can't keep up with the food, and I feel wasteful tossing it out (into the compost bin). Also give a call to the local food banks, there's one by me that accepts fresh produce.
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Aug 23, 2010 15:44
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I'm on a mission to grow the hottest peppers possible. Since I don't have a lot of land, I can't really get a good yield for how much I'd need to spend so I'm kind into novelty growing like this. I've been told that the best ways to make peppers hot are to give them lots of sun and heat (possibly by planting them next to a white, reflecting wall) and by starving them of water (only watering once or twice a week instead of three or four times). Can anyone back this up? I've got a Caribbean Habanero and GHOST PEPPER on the way. I'm in zone 10b, if it matters.
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Aug 23, 2010 17:25
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I planted a sprouting black bean in a pot on my windowsill last week. I looked yesterday and there was nothing. This evening I look and this 2-inch shoot has already appeared. It's a miracle, I tell ya.
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Aug 23, 2010 21:37
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Radbot posted:I'm on a mission to grow the hottest peppers possible. Since I don't have a lot of land, I can't really get a good yield for how much I'd need to spend so I'm kind into novelty growing like this. I live in zone 9 and I had one lonely jalapeņo plant this year. It was planted in unamended FL "soil" (sand). I barely watered the thing after it got about a foot tall. It went through hell and didn't put all a whole out lot of peppers (just over a dozen maybe?) but they were the hottest jalapeņo peppers I ever had. The Jalapeņo I had the year before was lovingly cared for, grew in nice bagged soil, put out a bunch of peppers and they were mild at best. I know that's not the most rigorous of testing but my experience points in the direction of: Yes, a stressed pepper plant in a hot climate makes hotter peppers. In other news I found a local rabbit breeder who will sell me 500lbs of rabbit poo for $25.  ^JunkFood fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Aug 28, 2010 |
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Aug 28, 2010 04:30
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^JunkFood posted:I live in zone 9 and I had one lonely jalapeņo plant this year. It was planted in unamended FL "soil" (sand). I barely watered the thing after it got about a foot tall. It went through hell and didn't put all a whole out lot of peppers (just over a dozen maybe?) but they were the hottest jalapeņo peppers I ever had. The Jalapeņo I had the year before was lovingly cared for, grew in nice bagged soil, put out a bunch of peppers and they were mild at best. When you sparsely water tomatoes, the tomatoes tend to be more flavorful and given tomatoes and peppers being closely related, I bet they react the same
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Aug 28, 2010 04:52
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Pepper Joes recommends letting the dirt where the pepper is planted dry out between watering so I suppose there could be some merit to the concept.
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Aug 28, 2010 05:01
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I'm in the process of converting from box gardening to in the ground gardening (tilling the grass is a bitch) but I'm saving one of the boxes just for hot peppers because they did amazing and were the only thing to flourish in the boxes.
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Aug 28, 2010 17:15
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Alterian posted:I'm in the process of converting from box gardening to in the ground gardening (tilling the grass is a bitch) but I'm saving one of the boxes just for hot peppers because they did amazing and were the only thing to flourish in the boxes. No need to till, instead, lay down cardboard, overlap it, make sure there are no holes. Grass WILL find it's way up if you give it a path. Use plain brown cardboard, not colored or waxy. For a new bed, I like putting down horse manure first (free from stables), then cardboard, then finished compost on top to plant in. Sooo much easier than pulling and tilling and the manure and grass/weeds naturally break down and make healthy soil
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Aug 31, 2010 03:34
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I picked up some herbs from the local nursery a week or two ago and while the basil, chives and oregano are doing really well and growing nicely, my flat-leaf parsley and coriander (cilantro) are looking all droopy and sickly. I am in Australia in a sub-tropical zone so it's warm enough here (averaging low 20*C's right now) but my backyard is still quite shady at the moment so I have them sitting in a second floor north-facing windowsill where they get a nice amount of sun. They perk up for a day or two after watering but then revert back to being floppy. I fertilised them the other day with some seaweed + fish stuff but it doesn't seem to have made a lot of difference. Any suggestions as to why this is and what I can do? They're not yellowing or discoloured, just droopy and sad. This is my second year attempting something of a herb and veggie garden and I'm determined to do it properly this time! Edit: There are also some black flying bugs hanging around them which I am worried may be fungus gnats but since I haven't re-potted the plants I can only assume they came with them. Should I be worried about that?
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Sep 2, 2010 14:25
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They might be getting too hot and drying out.
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Sep 2, 2010 17:16
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So lately I've been thinking about starting a succulent/cacti garden in the backyard. It's a fairly small backyard, the soil is clay and very dry. I live in the bay area which is apparently in zone 10. I'm not quite sure where to start, though I know we want an aloe vera plant, and I'm also interested in this http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DUCY Has anyone here ever done any gardening with these types of plants, or can offer any tips?
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Sep 4, 2010 05:06
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The first step toward a successful vegetable garden: euthanize your dog. There goes my lettuce, artichokes, peas and beans.
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Sep 4, 2010 19:40
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Emasculatrix posted:The first step toward a successful vegetable garden: euthanize your dog. There goes my lettuce, artichokes, peas and beans. My chickens ruined my bean patch. I thought it was secure, but they got at it from going under our shed to get to it. I came out and they were scratching away, digging up all my plants. 
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Sep 4, 2010 19:44
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For those of you who have experience with the following conditions, what have you had success in growing through the fall and winter? - Planting boxes about 8" wide by 36" long - a NNE facing balcony - mediterranean climate. I've looked at some hardiness zone maps and I'm guessing I'm in the 10a or 10b zone? I'm using the USNA website and I can't tell the colors apart. I'm in the SF Bay Area (Santa Clara) so I assume I can't be that low. I had (relative) success with tomatoes (in a different planter than the one I described). During the summer months I got more sun on the balcony but still not a whole lot. Tomatoes were very sweet and are still coming in, but they stayed VERY small (slightly larger than a golf ball at their largest). Squash and greens came in and flourished but I was gone at apparently a critical time in their growth and wasn't able to water and harvest them at the right times so they died. OSH is having a 25% off "anything that grows" sale so I'm wondering if there is anything (veggies or flowers) that I can pick up and plant this weekend.
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Sep 4, 2010 23:22
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danifestmestny posted:I'm in the SF Bay Area (Santa Clara) ... My dad's garden had some carrots and radishes grow all winter. We're in Tracy, so not quite the same climate, but close enough. If we get into our house in Manteca in time, we're planning Broccoli, Cauliflower, and some beans. Really, out here, anything not a strictly hot weather crop has a chance. My mom grows hibiscus and dahlias all year long. (I will have a better answer for you next year!, but if things are on sale, buy up a few things you'd like to try, and then try them)
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Sep 5, 2010 06:09
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Emasculatrix posted:The first step toward a successful vegetable garden: euthanize your dog. There goes my lettuce, artichokes, peas and beans. My dog has sense enough to leave plants alone, but she does love digging for buried treasure in the parts that are just dirt. She knows it upsets me, but she just gives me this look as if to say "HAY I HELPED YOU GET ALL THAT DIRT OUT OF THERE!  "
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Sep 5, 2010 06:15
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My first proper go this year. I had plastic containers on wooden pallets, with a 3ft bamboo screen stapled around the pallets to make it look tidier, and to stop the dog weeeeing. Lettuce leaves lasted all summer, picked as needed. But a few weeks ago they got really bug ridden. Onions look great, do they brown up while still in the ground, or should I pick them while they're still a bit white? I've had a couple and they taste good now. Radish grew well, but I didn't really use it, wont bother with radish next year. Carrots have been great, next year I reckon we can be 100% self sufficient with the carrots, and we use them a lot. Don't know whether this has come up before - can you do anything with the greens? There's so much off it it seems like a waste to bin/compost it all. There's a few parsnips in there that I've not checked on yet. Sweetcorn was a long shot, it didn't even break the surface of the soil. The beans did well, though we should have used a bit of imagination with them, they all got eaten straight out the pod. Done tomatoes before, but they didn't do very well this year. They're in a hanging basket and its been pretty windy at times. Grow bag in the DIY mini green house, for the tomatoes next year I think. Next years plan is more herbs and spices, and maybe an extra pallet and more tubs. For herbs/spices, am I better planting from seed, or buying mini plants from the garden centres?
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Sep 6, 2010 13:55
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Planted carrots, mesclun, and green onions in one trough; a row of mums (I read they keep moths away, and gently caress moths) in the other. Will peas grow during the fall/winter? I have a tomato plant with a few more on the vine ripening but the plant is about to go and then I'll have a big planter and a cylinder just sitting on my balcony looking stupid.
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Sep 6, 2010 22:22
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MeKeV posted:
I didn't particularly care for it, but i've had pesto made from carrot greens, before. They're edible, just not really tasty or substantial enough to bother with.
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Sep 7, 2010 02:48
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Eden posted:I picked up some herbs from the local nursery a week or two ago and while the basil, chives and oregano are doing really well and growing nicely, my flat-leaf parsley and coriander (cilantro) are looking all droopy and sickly. Droop like that is lack of water. If its very hot outside watering everyday or sometimes multiple times per day may be necessary (especially if it's a plant in a container) A soil mix high in composted organic material will retail moisture well dwoloz fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Sep 7, 2010 |
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Sep 7, 2010 19:30
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I've been running some thoughts in my head about ground-cover (specifically fine-to-medium shredded bark), and am wondering about moisture retention. If the surface area is increased (due to the bark), and evaporation is high (due to heat in central California), does the presence of bark keep moisture in the soil (by limiting exposure to light/heat), or does it wick away moisture by drawing moisture up into the bark which allows the water to evaporate more quickly?
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Sep 7, 2010 20:57
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Emasculatrix posted:The first step toward a successful vegetable garden: euthanize your dog. There goes my lettuce, artichokes, peas and beans. My cat likes to eat my carrots. Also, moths got to my broccoli plants. They're quite holey now.
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Sep 14, 2010 16:54
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Nimrod posted:My cat likes to eat my carrots. Check the undersides of the leaves regularly for eggs/caterpillars if you want to save them. We had a cabbageworm moth infestation that got to ridiculous levels (they destroyed all the pole beans and started working on the nasturtium), but a daily check for eggs/caterpillars solved the problem pretty quickly. The caterpillars were easy to find because you just check the leaves with holes. The eggs in our case were these little orange rocket-shaped specks.
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Sep 14, 2010 19:15
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My lettuce has grown into a tower  . What does it mean?
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Sep 15, 2010 16:59
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So far my latest attempt at chicken proofing my gardens seems to be successful! I'm probably jinxing myself saying that. My radishes, carrots, and kale are sprouting. Still waiting on the cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach. The nights get down to the lower 60's, but the days are still hitting the upper 80's.
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Sep 15, 2010 17:52
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jovial_cynic posted:I've been running some thoughts in my head about ground-cover (specifically fine-to-medium shredded bark), and am wondering about moisture retention. What are you growing exactly? I've read that using red "mulch" (plastic ground cover) on tomatoes can not only reduce the amount of evaporation but also for some weird reason increase the yield from the plant. Weird science, but it works.
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Sep 15, 2010 18:01
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Daddyo posted:What are you growing exactly? I've read that using red "mulch" (plastic ground cover) on tomatoes can not only reduce the amount of evaporation but also for some weird reason increase the yield from the plant. Weird science, but it works. Currently, small amounts of: artichokes, pomegranate, dwarf lemon, dwarf lime, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, basil, chives, potatoes, lemon cucumbers, cilantro, parsley... Pretty soon, I'll add lettuce, broccoli, and other cold-weather crops to the mix.
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Sep 15, 2010 19:32
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madlilnerd posted:My lettuce has grown into a tower It means your lettuce is bolting. Bolting is when a plant gets ready to set seed and die. For lettuce, that's bad. Harvest it now while you can, and hope it hasn't gotten too bitter or tough.
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Sep 15, 2010 19:50
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madlilnerd posted:My lettuce has grown into a tower  You will have good luck in the coming year, but beware of a handsome stranger. Somebody at work will turn out to betray you. Also your lettuce is bolting
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Sep 18, 2010 02:02
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In the future for your lettuce once it starts getting hot you can use window screen material to shade it and help delay the bolting. But yeah eat that poo poo up before it starts to taste horrible.
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Sep 18, 2010 02:25
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I'd kind of stopped eating it anyway. Grew a lot of the little gem as my rosso variety got savaged by slugs. Ah well, might as well just let it go to seed over the plot or shove it on the compost heap. Wish I had a goat or a rabbit for moments like these.Aeglowyn posted:
Your explanation is the best explanation. Except I'm a student now so I don't really work...
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Sep 18, 2010 19:06
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