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Marchegiana posted: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. I've got some already growing crazy. What's the lowest temps they'll survive in? It's starting to get around 50-60 during the day here and sometimes hit below freezing at night, but it usually stays around 40-50.
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Mar 10, 2012 19:59
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cowofwar posted:No, that's way too late as you'll butt up against the dry heat of the summer. Peas wont germinate below 4C and don't like frozen ground but will take -5C temperature swings and frosts without problem as long as they aren't flowering. By germinating them inside I can get them in the ground the moment it defrosts and then have a couple successive crops before summer. That's interesting. I've never heard of starting peas inside and I didn't think you could do it. We've always just done direct sow and we've never had an issue with peas. Same with lettuce. If you're starting peas inside, 1.5-2 months before you move them outside, how do you deal with trellising and transplanting? In that time we would have peas at least waist-high outside. I'm in 5b for reference. I have no idea where you're at.
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Mar 10, 2012 23:29
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Z. Beeblebrox posted:That's interesting. I've never heard of starting peas inside and I didn't think you could do it. We've always just done direct sow and we've never had an issue with peas. Same with lettuce. If you're starting peas inside, 1.5-2 months before you move them outside, how do you deal with trellising and transplanting? In that time we would have peas at least waist-high outside. I'm in 5b for reference. I have no idea where you're at. Because peas are cold hardy but require a certain temperature to germinate, many people will sprout their peas indoors and then put them in the ground. They don't let them grow any more than a few inches if at all. Many people just sprout them in wet paper towel until germination has occurred and then sow directly.
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Mar 10, 2012 23:58
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cowofwar posted:Actually if you pull up the almanac's planting dates for peas you'll see that they go in the ground way before last frost. My last frost prediction is April 29 but the peas, spinach and carrots can go in starting March 12. Our soil usually isn't workable until the first week of May. Do we just have crappy soil? Is there a way to make it more workable earlier in the season? I'm away at school during the year so I usually miss the planting aspect but that's what I've been told. Also I decided that I'm going to start a small biodiversity farm and apiary, ideally organic, in a few years. I've been doing a lot of reading since a farm =/= garden. Right now I'm reading into composting and soil amendments. Do you have any suggestions for sources on planting aside from individual plant books? Thank you very much for the information and help! Does anyone have experience with growing mushrooms outside?
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Mar 11, 2012 00:47
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Z. Beeblebrox posted:Our soil usually isn't workable until the first week of May. Do we just have crappy soil? Is there a way to make it more workable earlier in the season? Raised beds are one way. Covering with black plastic will help it warm up a little sooner, but not much.
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Mar 11, 2012 02:48
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Man, gently caress paper egg cartons. All winter when I was planning my garden I kept seeing articles about how great they were as seed trays. I'm really into reusing material and not buying new stuff, so it sounded perfect for me. At first they were great, they're a good size for starting seeds, they fit perfectly along a windowsill, they break down from the constant light and water and can be composted, etc. Last night, however, I realized that all my tiny seedlings were growing their roots into the carton way faster than I was expecting, and I wasn't going to be able to fully remove them without tearing the poo poo out of the roots. I know from previous experience that those "just plant the whole thing and it will break down into the soil!  " paper containers don't work nearly as well as they say, so I wanted to get them all safely removed rather than just leaving them in their compartments and trying to transplant the whole thing.Tonight I carefully unwrapped the paper carton cell from 2.5 dozen seedlings. I have 3 dozen more to do tomorrow, and those ones all look much more ingrown/attached. It didn't turn out to be nearly as bad as I was expecting for this batch, however. For some reason they tended to grow through the bottom and not the sides of each egg compartment, so I peeled off the sides and left the tiny bit of bottom-- the roots should still have plenty of room to spread and grow. They're in plastic party cups now, enjoying my bathroom heater for the night. I think they're gonna be ok, but I won't be using egg cartons again which is a huge shame since we really do eat a ton of eggs. I'm wondering if the lack of space is partially why my seeds are growing slower than I expected. I was waiting for them to get bigger before I transplanted; I didn't realize they were already maxxing out the space they had. Hopefully they all survive and it goes better here on out. Damn Your Eyes! fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Mar 11, 2012 |
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Mar 11, 2012 06:07
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drat Your Eyes! posted:Man, gently caress paper egg cartons.
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Mar 11, 2012 15:42
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cowofwar posted:Unless you transplant them immediately after sprouting this always happens. You just remove what you can and drop the remainder in to a beer cup and the rest breaks down over time. Yeah, I guess I just figured it wouldn't happen so fast, or that the little seedlings wouldn't be strong enough to push through the paper. Either way, lesson learned, and 5.5 dozen seedlings have been replanted in plastic cups and seem to be doing just fine.
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Mar 12, 2012 01:28
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drat Your Eyes! posted:Yeah, I guess I just figured it wouldn't happen so fast, or that the little seedlings wouldn't be strong enough to push through the paper. Either way, lesson learned, and 5.5 dozen seedlings have been replanted in plastic cups and seem to be doing just fine. I ended up just buying a couple seed trays and seed cells to reduce the amount of fuss and work. I just carefully transplant out of the cells using a mini spatula, clean and reuse them. The seed cells are way deeper than egg cartons so it helps hold moisture better and promotes better root development. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 02:30
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After a long weekend of on and off work, I got the garden all set up. Moved the soil, moved the cinder blocks, put the fence up and since it's going to be around 70 degrees for the next week and some stuff is meant to be planted mid-march (In Maryland), I put out some transplants and put some seeds down.
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Mar 12, 2012 14:04
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A flying piece of posted:After a long weekend of on and off work...  How you saved one cinder block on each side by not having a full rectangle is interesting too. You don't feel like that'll cause any problems?
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Mar 12, 2012 15:57
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Socratic Moron posted:That looks great! Nice work I don't think it will. If dirt starts leaking out, I'll just mound some dirt into the corners outside the rectangle. I mainly did the corners like that so that the inside dimensions would be a full 8'x4' instead of 8'x4' minus the depth of a block. Edit: And for anyone that's curious, Gorilla Tape sticks to cinder block really well... I was wondering how I was going to attach the strings for the grid. A flying piece of fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 16:03
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A flying piece of posted:I don't think it will. If dirt starts leaking out, I'll just mound some dirt into the corners outside the rectangle. I mainly did the corners like that so that the inside dimensions would be a full 8'x4' instead of 8'x4' minus the depth of a block.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:38
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cowofwar posted:Are you going to plant small pollinator attractants/pest repellants within the cinderblock holes or leave them empty? I've always thought that they would make great spots for heathers or some other spreading, small plant. That's one of the main reasons I went for the cinder blocks over wood. They won't break down as quickly, they don't warp, they're about the same price, are easier to put together and I can plant stuff in the holes. I plan to put herbs and beneficial flowers (the pollinator/predator attractants and pest repellants) in the holes. The only non-herb plant I know off hand as beneficial is Marigold, though. What else should I plant?
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Mar 12, 2012 17:24
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A flying piece of posted:That's one of the main reasons I went for the cinder blocks over wood. They won't break down as quickly, they don't warp, they're about the same price, are easier to put together and I can plant stuff in the holes. I plan to put herbs and beneficial flowers (the pollinator/predator attractants and pest repellants) in the holes. The only non-herb plant I know off hand as beneficial is Marigold, though. What else should I plant? Cpt.Wacky posted:Jeavons recommends hyssop, thyme, catnip, lemon balm, pot marjoram, sweet basil, summer savory, borage, mint, and blue flowers. Bees last year definitely liked my catnip but they also like the purple cosmos I had planted around the edges of the garden. Sunflowers are another good one. I'm going to try borage this year along with more herbs.
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Mar 12, 2012 18:24
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I think there's a lot of folk wisdom/pseudoscience to the whole X loves Y companion planting stuff except in a few very specific cases. Your best bet is a large variety of flowers and herbs so there's something for every type of bug. For pollinators you want accessible and open flowers, and bees prefer blue, white and yellow. I am jealous of you folks getting gardens in already. The soil temp here is mid 40s and ready for lettuce and peas but we're having an epic storm and the forecast is another week of rain.
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Mar 12, 2012 21:07
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I can't get any mints to grow except catnip. Help  They just will not germinate. I've tried peppermint, spearmint, and now, lemon balm (which I desperately want to grow). I thought mint was supposed to be virile and invasive! Is there a trick to getting mint to germinate??
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Mar 12, 2012 22:10
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Hummingbirds posted:I can't get any mints to grow except catnip. Help Funny you should mention mint. I've been looking everywhere locally and the only place that has mint seed on the seed rack is Walmart. We'll need more details about what you've been trying to help troubleshoot. What soil medium did you use? Sterile seed starter, potting soil, other? What temperature was the soil at? Mint seems to do best between 60 and 75 F. How do deep did you sow the seeds? They're small and covering them almost at all could be too deep? How did you water? Was the tray or pot kept covered to retain moisture? Were the seeds expired, or did you try different brands, or from different stores? Edit: One page I found recommends starting from a cutting of an existing plant. Put it in water until it sprouts roots and then plant it. I'll have to try that. Cpt.Wacky fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 23:37
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I'm hoping one of you can help me identify a bug on many of my plants. It is mostly on tomatoes and vine plants and has what I would describe as a diamond shape back. They are either green or brown, about the size of a dime to nickel and look to be in the beetle family. They're slow enough that I can pick them off. I don't seem them doing any specific damage but hopefully this is enough for someone out there to go on and let me know if they are doing damage I'm not aware of like spreading disease.
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Mar 13, 2012 00:55
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Socratic Moron posted:I'm hoping one of you can help me identify a bug on many of my plants. It is mostly on tomatoes and vine plants and has what I would describe as a diamond shape back. They are either green or brown, about the size of a dime to nickel and look to be in the beetle family. They're slow enough that I can pick them off. I don't seem them doing any specific damage but hopefully this is enough for someone out there to go on and let me know if they are doing damage I'm not aware of like spreading disease. ?
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Mar 13, 2012 02:03
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That's him. Thanks. gently caress.
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Mar 13, 2012 03:05
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I thought I remember reading that mints don't seed true so a mint seed could pretty much be any kind of mint flavor.
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Mar 13, 2012 03:34
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Looks like spearmint is a true seeding mint, and peppermint and some of the other flavored mints are hybrids. That would explain the lack of seeds except for spearmint. Time to read up on growing from cuttings.
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Mar 13, 2012 05:53
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Funny you should mention mint. I've been looking everywhere locally and the only place that has mint seed on the seed rack is Walmart. I sow most of my seeds in a light potting soil and barely cover the seeds. I live in Florida so temp is around there at this time of year, sometimes a bit warmer. No, the pots were not covered -- I never have trouble germinating anything else but perhaps mint is finicky because it's so small. And yes, the seeds were always from different retailers (most recently from an online Amazon seed dealer). Your post gave me a lot to consider, I guess I should start by getting a very light seed starting mix and covering the pot/tray. As for mint not growing true to seed, I just looked it up and apparently lemon balm does, which is what I care about right now. Hopefully I can get it to grow
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Mar 13, 2012 06:00
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Looks like spearmint is a true seeding mint, and peppermint and some of the other flavored mints are hybrids. That would explain the lack of seeds except for spearmint. Time to read up on growing from cuttings. If you live in the triangle area of NC, I have all the mint cuttings anyone could possibly want. I should really take a new picture of my mint patch. Its going to be crazy this year.
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Mar 13, 2012 13:39
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I think global warming is going to make this year crazy. We're already seeing upper 70s and lower 80s in mid-March. My peas haven't even had time to grow!
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Mar 13, 2012 14:46
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Give peas a chance!
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Mar 13, 2012 14:48
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So I planted 12 peas and 11 rotted. Tried sowing eight more in soiless mix and this morning set up another 12 using the paper towel method after soaking them overnight. Hopefully I get something this time. Looks like all my lettuce germinated though. cheese eats mouse posted:I think global warming is going to make this year crazy. We're already seeing upper 70s and lower 80s in mid-March. My peas haven't even had time to grow! Global warming is climate change which is a different thing. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Mar 13, 2012 |
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Mar 13, 2012 15:20
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cowofwar posted:So I planted 12 peas and 11 rotted. Is it a La Nina year? I didn't know that. I was sort of being facetious anyway.
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Mar 13, 2012 15:50
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Is hardening off necessary? Especially for early spring transplanting? Seems kind of like oft repeated bullshit to me, will the seedlings just drop dead? Also I decided to try growing something from the seeds that normally get discarded from store bought green bell peppers and the nice hot house tomatoes I like. Turns out they all grew very well, now I feel like an idiot buying seeds. The overnight pea soak and moist paper towel in a ziplock method has worked well for my peas, looks like most are starting to sprout. Guess I'll prepare the garden for pea town tomorrow. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Mar 14, 2012 |
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Mar 14, 2012 04:54
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cowofwar posted:I asked earlier and got a response: To add to that list, gayfeather, aka liatris. In my yard that was almost more popular than the borage and it attracted tons of different types of bees. It doesn't seed like crazy, but you will definitely have new plants in the area the following year.
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Mar 14, 2012 06:58
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cowofwar posted:Is hardening off necessary? Especially for early spring transplanting? From what I've seen, hardening just keeps the plants from wilting and looking crappy right after transplanting, especially in warmer weather. For it to actually make the difference between life and death for the plant, I would imagine you would have to be at the threshold of either almost too hot or almost too cold or way out of season. One good thing is if you hear a weather report of an unusually hot or cold day, you at least have your seedlings in pots so you can pull them indoors temporarily.
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Mar 14, 2012 10:20
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What is this little bugger? I dug up a collar green that was eaten down to the base and found this guy. He's was wiggling in defiance, so I squished him. I put out some bowls of beer, as I was told that these would attract snails/slugs and then they'd drown in it. Muwhahaha. I hope they like Blue Moon.  
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Mar 14, 2012 16:19
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dhrusis posted:What is this little bugger? I dug up a collar green that was eaten down to the base and found this guy. He's was wiggling in defiance, so I squished him.
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Mar 14, 2012 16:27
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Ordered a couple yards of dirt to put into my garden beds, scheduled it for a day when it wouldn't be raining so I could get it all moved and stay dry. Instead, I came down with bronchitis, and it started raining, and raining, and raining.. Now I've got a three foot high pile of mud and I'm still loving sick, three days later.. I was hoping to have seeds in the ground by today 
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Mar 14, 2012 17:31
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^^ Get someone to put a tarp over it.cowofwar posted:Is hardening off necessary? Especially for early spring transplanting? It is pretty important. Stuff grown indoors is very tender because we give it the ideal environment and putting it outside stresses it in several ways. Obviously the first is temperature, but also the light is much brighter, and there's likely to be stronger wind. In addition, the disturbance to the roots when transplanting will stress the plant. All these things combined can make it stop growing until it adapts to the new conditions, which could take a week. Repeated stresses like that can cause it to stop growing entirely. Cold frames, row covers and cloches (bell jars, hot caps, milk jugs with the bottom cut off, whatever you want to call them) are all fairly easy to make and use and provide a good transition environment. You could always do an experiment to see what happens with and without hardening off if you have extra starts.
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Mar 14, 2012 17:37
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I've just been putting them outside during the day so they get some wind stress and get used to the heat. I started yesterday since I'm wanting to get them in the ground by next weekend. Seems to be going pretty good. The tomatoes love it. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Mar 14, 2012 |
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Mar 14, 2012 18:01
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Cpt.Wacky posted:^^ Get someone to put a tarp over it. Seems like if you're concerned better advice is to just plant out the seedlings and cover with that frost blanket material. That way you don't waste a week of carrying them in and out.
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Mar 14, 2012 18:53
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Cpt.Wacky posted:^^ Get someone to put a tarp over it.
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Mar 14, 2012 23:47
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So I built a trellis with three dollar store trellises that I used for the base. I ran six foot bamboo poles between them (two levels) and lashed them to the trellises. I then staked and lashed another 14 poles vertically on an angle. I then sowed my 16 sprouted peas along the base of one of the six foot spans. I'll be using the other span for pole beans. Hopefully they end up growing, although sprouting peas isn't very difficult so whatever. We've got a stretch of up to 20C weather for the next week or so.
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Mar 15, 2012 01:29
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