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TheFuglyStik posted:I've been searching locally, and only found vermiculite in hilariously overpriced small bags at Lowes. I've found peat moss, and my compost pile has been retrofitted to have worms introduced so that it can be ready when I get my beds made sometime in late March/early April. I'm not finding it at any garden centers or nurseries in my area. Some of them didn't even know what I was talking about. Kinda weird but here's the site for you: http://www.vermiculite.com/ What about farm centers or maybe you have a co-op that can do bulk orders? It doesn't weigh much so the shipping to buy it online might not be too bad either. Are you making some sort of special soil mix with all of this?
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Mar 6, 2012 03:26
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Kinda weird but here's the site for you: http://www.vermiculite.com/ Mel's mix, so nothing really special. Thanks for the sources, which may be my only option unless I find a place in the next town over. Even the Southern States in town and the one two miles from my borrowed farm don't carry it. Also, I will try calling the pool suppliers tomorrow during lunch. The lack of vermiculite here in southern KY confuses the piss out of me as well. 
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Mar 6, 2012 06:52
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Are you asking these places about perlite too? It should serve the same purpose in the mix. It doesn't seem like you have to have it for the mix, you'd just have to be more careful about overwatering, which is a good thing anyways. Too much watering is wasteful and can leach out most of the nutrients. Personally, I dislike the idea of using peat moss too and would use coconut coir instead if I needed it.
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Mar 6, 2012 08:13
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Are you asking these places about perlite too? It should serve the same purpose in the mix. A nursery I completely forgot existed just outside of town has vermiculite!  I've also heard of using leaf mold for peat's purpose, but I'm hesitant to use it in place of peat moss.
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Mar 7, 2012 00:33
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Just so you all know, vermiculite will only be getting more expensive and harder to find. The mines in the states are slowly but surely getting shut down due to finding asbestos in the rock. Wear your masks people.
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Mar 7, 2012 02:13
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I have a question about tomato seedlings. A bunch of them have sprouted, and it's about 5 weeks until our last frost around here. I have them in store bought seed starter mix, which has a lot of drainage but not too much nutrient I guess. Should I top off the seedling trays with anything else? Will they need fertilizer or something to help them along? Should I transfer them to bigger pots now and then outside later, or just leave them how they are until it's time to put them outside?
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Mar 7, 2012 17:13
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Plus_Infinity posted:I have a question about tomato seedlings. I transplanted mine from 1x1" starter trays into larger peat pots a week or so ago with some seed starting mix and now they're popping out of those pots. I've just been watering them from the bottom to prevent dampening off. My seed packet says to give them fertilizer after 4 weeks, but I'm scared to do that cause of how fast they're growing. Spring needs to come soon cause everything I've started is growing too fast. What is a good way to slow growth? Less light? cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Mar 7, 2012 |
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Mar 7, 2012 17:19
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Plus_Infinity posted:I have a question about tomato seedlings. I think the rule is transplant once the plant is 2-3 x higher than the soil level from the base of the pot.
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Mar 7, 2012 18:10
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Plus_Infinity posted:I have a question about tomato seedlings. Are you talking about those tiny seedling trays that are just a few inches deep? I've noticed that if you leave seedlings in the trays they come with for too long, the root system will not have enough room to expand naturally and will ball up. Once this happens, there's a pretty good chance the plant will never reach it's full potential because the base of the roots will always be balled up and won't spread.
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Mar 7, 2012 18:12
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Not exactly gardening, but I harvested three pounds of chickweed from the front yard a few minutes ago. Tastes just like spinach, and it's loving everywhere this time of year. Now that I'm thinking about it, if there's enough interest, I'd be willing to write up an OP for a wild edibles and foraging thread. Baldbeard posted:Once this happens, there's a pretty good chance the plant will never reach it's full potential because the base of the roots will always be balled up and won't spread. This is especially true for plants with deep, sprawling root networks like tomatoes. I would at least repot them in something a bit larger than what they are in now. Even 2-liter bottles with the top third cut of and a few holes drilled/hot nailed in the bottom would work in a pinch here. TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 01:42
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What about slow growing onions? Should I give them more room than their starter cells or wait to get them in the ground?
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Mar 8, 2012 02:03
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TheFuglyStik posted:Not exactly gardening, but I harvested three pounds of chickweed from the front yard a few minutes ago. Tastes just like spinach, and it's loving everywhere this time of year. Yes! That'd be great.
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Mar 8, 2012 03:04
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TheFuglyStik posted:Now that I'm thinking about it, if there's enough interest, I'd be willing to write up an OP for a wild edibles and foraging thread.
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Mar 8, 2012 03:07
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Wrong place ignore this. Don Of The Dead fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 06:45
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Anyone have any suggestions as to where I could acquire cinder blocks or bricks or something of the like on the cheap? I checked craigslist but didn't find anything.
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Mar 8, 2012 07:37
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Socratic Moron posted:Oh god yes please. I've got an OP and second post of a list of wild edibles in-progress in another thread. Gardening goons could find it useful by finding out that many plants removed during weeding are edible, with some being downright tasty. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3471170 In other news, I've mistaken Parris Island Cos lettuce for microgreens that bolted extremely early.  Luckily I've got a few survivors that I missed during my most recent thinning.
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Mar 8, 2012 09:47
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Toxx posted:Anyone have any suggestions as to where I could acquire cinder blocks or bricks or something of the like on the cheap? I checked craigslist but didn't find anything. TheFuglyStik posted:I've got an OP and second post of a list of wild edibles in-progress in another thread. Gardening goons could find it useful by finding out that many plants removed during weeding are edible, with some being downright tasty. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3471170 
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Mar 8, 2012 15:40
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My peas are growing strong in our current weather over here in SoCal. Just took some progress pictures this morning. Bastards keep climbing at just over 5 feet now. I wasn't expecting ALL of the peas I put into the ground to take, so this patch is ridiculously dense. Here's a little 3 picture album. http://imgur.com/a/cUjkG I also have a little experiment going with growing tomatoes this year. Last summer, I threw a bunch of dried tomatoes under a big tree I have by my house. Well about a month ago little tomato seedlings started popping up everywhere. I basically ignored them at first, because it was a little too early in the season for tomatoes and there's still a chance of really cold nights. Well these wild growing tomatoes just kept going through the cold nights, so I ended up planted them in my main garden and have been giving them love. I don't know how an early crop is going to work; it could give them a head-start into the main growing season when the warmer weather hits, or they could just stop growing sooner and start producing sooner. Either way, these are tough little plants and I have a total of 9 of them, so I don't even have to buy seeds or seedlings this year.  If everything works out, I will save 50 or 60 tomatoes (most are cherries) and just bury them in the ground for next year. Kind of crazy and cool how sustainable it is to just let things happen on their own. Baldbeard fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 16:53
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My seedlings are all growing well, but seem to be doing so at a much slower rate than what I see around the web. I did my first round of planting on Feb 11-12, and while all have germinated and look strong with no damping off issues, they are TINY and most are just getting their first true leaves now. I'm growing them in cardboard egg cartons and plastic food containers filled with organic potting soil. The leafy greens and lettuce (romaine, oak leaf, arugula, spinach, kale, swiss chard) sit on a sunny table outdoors day and night (central coast California,temps going to low 40s at night and 65-70 during the day). The tomatoes, basil, peppers and cucumbers are outside in the sun during the day and spend the night and morning indoors on a windowsill. I was hoping to do this without a grow light, but I see everyone else's leafy plants and I feel like I'm falling behind. I was planning to build my raised beds this weekend and transplant at least the lettuce by next week, but I can't see the little guys being ready by then. Did I underestimate grow times in natural light/temps? Is there any way I can speed things up now? How long should I expect it to take?
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Mar 8, 2012 20:54
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drat Your Eyes! posted:My seedlings are all growing well, but seem to be doing so at a much slower rate than what I see around the web. I did my first round of planting on Feb 11-12, and while all have germinated and look strong with no damping off issues, they are TINY and most are just getting their first true leaves now. Growing from seeds in general takes a really long time, and is extremely temperature sensitive. Me and my father planted with the same seeds 20 miles apart, and mine broke the ground after 7 days, his 12 days. That's almost 2 weeks before even popping out. Then there's the baby leaflet stage that takes a week or two of slow growth as well. On top of all of that, we are planting pretty early even for CA, because tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers like full hot sun and warm nights and it's been very cool lately. I wouldn't worry, sounds like you are doing everything right. As soon as the temperature goes up, the plants should take off. If they still aren't growing much after a couple more weeks, basic troubleshooting things to look for: Too much water, organic potting soil too 'rich', transplanted too soon, etc... Baldbeard fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 21:15
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Baldbeard posted:I haven't done much leafy greens, I've heard they aren't very impressive growers though. But as for the other stuff: Thanks for the reassurance. Funnily enough, I didn't really start gardening at all until I bought a bunch of starter plants from the mediocre hardware store garden center last fall, including several that I had no business even trying during the cool season. I planted everything with minimal effort and the majority of them did quite well, considering their conditions. Now that I'm growing from seed and actually trying to do things right I'm terrified that I will mess up somewhere. They're my BABIES! 
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Mar 8, 2012 22:09
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drat Your Eyes! posted:Thanks for the reassurance. Funnily enough, I didn't really start gardening at all until I bought a bunch of starter plants from the mediocre hardware store garden center last fall, including several that I had no business even trying during the cool season. I planted everything with minimal effort and the majority of them did quite well, considering their conditions. Now that I'm growing from seed and actually trying to do things right I'm terrified that I will mess up somewhere. They're my BABIES! Yeah, those starters plants are probably a lot older than they seem. A 4 inch high tomato plant could be like 6 weeks (or something) from being planted as a seed. I know how you feel! Part of my morning routine is checking on the garden, and I keep finding fresh gopher holes around my plants Baldbeard fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Mar 9, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 22:17
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Working on a OP that journals my garden from start to finish this season over at http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3471300&pagenumber=1#lastpost Definitely going to be using stuff learned here.
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Mar 9, 2012 02:33
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Aaaaagh, it's only March and my garden is already full of aphids! My lettuce is more aphid than lettuce now. Except, weirdly, the red sails, which have no aphids and no damage. I'll have to hit the garden center to buy some variety of murderous beneficial. I had great success with ladybugs last year, and they're easy to spot, but on the other hand the sound of a couple hundred ladybugs skittering through the garden is disturbing. Lacewings seem less creepy, and mantids seem more awesome, so I don't know what direction I'm going here. All I know is i'm unleashing something on an all-you-can-eat buffet of aphids.
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Mar 9, 2012 20:20
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Baldbeard posted:^^^^ Put in some euphorbias around the perimeter, should help deter them, and they can be kinda pretty. I got a 'blackbird' on a whim and the foliage goes from a deep pink new growth to dark purple, just lovely.
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Mar 9, 2012 20:47
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Molten Llama posted:Aaaaagh, it's only March and my garden is already full of aphids! My lettuce is more aphid than lettuce now. Except, weirdly, the red sails, which have no aphids and no damage. One tip for when you release your ladybugs/lacewings/mantids, is to release them at night, and lightly water your garden beforehand, and maybe even mist the leaves of the plants. Most insects you purchase and release in this manner will emerge hungry and thirsty, and releasing them into a dry daylight garden will end up with the vast majority of them immediately leaving.
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Mar 9, 2012 21:53
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My rack is getting loaded. Just transplanted 24 broccoli in to their own cells, hopefully they tolerate the root disturbance. Bottom shelf of the rack is now full: 12 marconi rossi peppers, 2 sweet bell peppers, 4 sweetie tomatoes, 20 tiny tim tomatoes. I have all of these in beer cups or large yoghurt containers (5 most well established tomatoes). 24 broccoli along with some leeks, peas and herbs starting on the top shelf. Only one of my peas have sprouted (of 3 snow peas and 3 regular peas), bit concerned, might try again if they don't sprout within the next few days. I'll be starting some lettuce, spinach, cucumber and zucchini within the next month so that should fill up the rest of the rack. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Mar 10, 2012 |
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Mar 10, 2012 04:34
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That's awesome Cowofwar, good for you! Do you think there's any reason that you couldn't grow lettuce to its full size utilizing the indoor method you're using? Have you run the numbers to see how much electricity is costing you?
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Mar 10, 2012 05:21
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We have clay rich soil (sticks to your shoes, crusts, heaves, etc..). Last year I just dug trenches and backfilled with mixed existing soil and new potting soil wherever I planted rows. This year I'm expanding my garden so I was thinking about ordering some organic material to help break up the clay. My options are top soil, triple mix (top soil, manure, sandy loam), manured loam, leaf compost, triple mix (compost) or other materials. As I understand I want to be adding very coarse material (so not manure based?). So should I go for leaf compost or compost triple mix? Should I mix in some builders sand as well? Socratic Moron posted:That's awesome Cowofwar, good for you! I was thinking about running one fixture and having a permanent herb garden inside since we don't have a south facing window. I wouldn't run it for salad greens unless I had extra space since I'm a greek salad person and not a rabbit salad person.
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Mar 10, 2012 05:51
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cowofwar posted:My rack is getting loaded. Just transplanted 24 broccoli in to their own cells, hopefully they tolerate the root disturbance. Why aren't you doing direct sow for the peas? I don't peas are something you're supposed to stat indoors or transplant. Ignore if you already addressed this earlier.
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Mar 10, 2012 07:21
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Molten Llama posted:Aaaaagh, it's only March and my garden is already full of aphids! My lettuce is more aphid than lettuce now. Except, weirdly, the red sails, which have no aphids and no damage. Soap sprays and diatomaceous earth work on aphids as well. There is also beauvaria bassiana fungus, which kills aphids in cooler weather. Come summer, predators will pick up the slack as the fungus halts until fall. It's not cheap, but it is easy to spread in subsequent years after it has established by soaking a few fuzzball former aphids in water and applying the tea for new spore production with new plantings.
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Mar 10, 2012 09:23
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I've got seeds about 10 days on in Jiffy cubes. Peppers are starting to sprout and the herbs are nicely along. The broccoli and cauliflower is growing WAY too tall! Falling over. Nothing else can keep up. The sprouts are seriously 2-3 inches long. What's my plan of attack? Are they starving for light?
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Mar 10, 2012 12:30
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Jonny 290 posted:I've got seeds about 10 days on in Jiffy cubes. I'm having this issue too with one or two little seedlings. One of them sprouted early. Despite what it seems as plenty of light (5k lumen grow light, they are directly under), the sprout is really long and stringy. I don't think this guy could possibly survive. Maybe we didn't plant it deep enough or something?
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Mar 10, 2012 15:26
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Jonny 290 posted:I've got seeds about 10 days on in Jiffy cubes. Z. Beeblebrox posted:Why aren't you doing direct sow for the peas? I don't peas are something you're supposed to stat indoors or transplant. Ignore if you already addressed this earlier. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Mar 10, 2012 |
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Mar 10, 2012 15:49
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I started a number of seeds about three and a half weeks ago. Part o the batch included four yellow-eyed beans, one in each container. One of them sprouted and shot up several inches within the first week, but none of the others did anything. I thought they rotted in the ground and got some basil cuttings started in the bare pots, but surprise surprise, one of the other beans has just sprouted. That's over two weeks difference in germination time for seeds that were started at the same time, right next to each other.
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Mar 10, 2012 17:19
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Oh god deciding to move 3 yards of compost/top soil and 50 cinderblocks from the driveway to the back yard all in the same day was a terrible idea without having a well put together wheelbarrow.
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Mar 10, 2012 19:00
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cowofwar posted:I thought I'd give it a try as the ground is still frozen outside. If these don't sprout I'm just going to sow directly next weekend after my compost comes in. If the ground is still frozen it's probably too early to plant. You should plant a week after the last frost date to try to minimize the possibility of suffering from spring PMS. Peas are usually ready to go in 2-3 months, depending on the variety. Give them full sun and 4-5ft of trellis and they're pretty easy. I can't wait for a backyard and a fresh supply of sugar snap peas...
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Mar 10, 2012 19:19
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Jonny 290 posted:The broccoli and cauliflower is growing WAY too tall! Falling over. Nothing else can keep up. The sprouts are seriously 2-3 inches long. Move the light closer. If you can, bury the long stems in the ground. I did this with some of my overgrown cosmos and it worked really well. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Mar 10, 2012 |
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Mar 10, 2012 19:26
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After the last frost date is too late for peas, they'll start to die back as soon as the weather gets hot. Peas are pretty cold-hardy, and they'll stand up to a frost (just not a hard freeze). Generally they only need soil temps of about 50-60 degrees to germinate too, so they're usually direct sown about 4-6 weeks before last frost.
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Mar 10, 2012 19:39
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Z. Beeblebrox posted:If the ground is still frozen it's probably too early to plant. You should plant a week after the last frost date to try to minimize the possibility of suffering from spring PMS. Peas are usually ready to go in 2-3 months, depending on the variety. Give them full sun and 4-5ft of trellis and they're pretty easy. I can't wait for a backyard and a fresh supply of sugar snap peas... The general strategy is to grow successive crops of things like peas, lettuce and other cold hardy plants indoors 1.5-2 months before the last frost. The first wave can go in to the ground around 2 weeks after that when the ground is no longer frozen and then successive waves can be started indoors until the ground warms up enough for direct sowing outside. The strategy can be repeated once you hit maximum summer, as you'll start indoors again when it's too hot outside and get the plants in to the ground once it's no longer brutally hot. Then eventually you can direct sow a couple more waves and have harvests up until early winter. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Mar 10, 2012 |
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Mar 10, 2012 19:57
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