2018 Garden Thread

[Quillback]

2 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

It's been COLD.  Probably late in May this year.

Always thought they didn't produce until fall, but if they come in May, I'll have to give them a shot next year.  

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, Lancer09 said:

Well.......

I THINK we are going to make it through. Just checked the little'uns and they seem to be looking good. Actually have some more leaf growth in a few of them from just today. I think this is just going to end up just being an "early" repotting. Hopefully moving the 4 ish inches of stem into the plugs will lead to some real good root growth.

I've got some pods of shallots, carrots, and beans I think I want to get out, but dang if I don't want to have to cover them back up this weekend. 

Dang weather.

           Glad the maters may be salvageable Lancer.   Yes Dang weather, all we have outside is the lettuce patch. Doing well. In this picture it looks kind of flat as I had just watered it. Then we have the tomatoes. Only had a few I started early and they are going bananas. This is the third repot and i need to do it again and hopefully it will be the last time. Have more tomatoes coming up, in later but do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. They are now two to three inches tall. Three types of peppers planted same time as last tomatoes. Longer sprouting time just peeking out from starter pots, 

BilletHead

 

[David Unnerstall]

On ‎3‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 6:25 PM, BilletHead said:

           Self wicking planter tub?

  So I have been reading and watching you tube on self watering planters using a wick or capillary action to water your plants. Several links for using double or stacked five gallon buckets. I know it all depends on height you are trying to water and what your dirt or potting soil will draw upwards. I am sure there is a formula for this but I am a hack and we will see what these will do. My tomatoes and peppers do root clear to the bottom of my tubs so I may have to water direct to soil at first until roots get deep enough and once that happens I should be golden. I use the containers cattlemen feed supplement to the heard. These things are everywhere and I have found if you ask the farmers have some stashed somewhere on the farm. You need two of them for each planter. I am making a few for a test and see how it goes. For mine I am using standard sewer drain pipe and inch and a quarter water pipe. Depending on how your tubs slide together will depend on how deep your well will be. I cut three pieces of the sewer pipe for the upper tub to rest on the lower tub.

  BilletHead

I have always thought that if you water from the bottom up you are training the plants to go deep with their roots for water, thus creating hardier plants.

[Lancer09]

i think i can safely say the transplant was succesful!

All the plants are alive and well with new leaf growth. Thicker and strongsr stems are forming, and they drank up more water in the last 2 days than they had in the week prior.

Now itll be a nice surprise when i get them all planted what kind of tomato each grows. Had jersey giants, carbons, ananas noire, black krims, and pantano romanescos in the tray.

[ness]

What a crazy spring! Haven’t even had my stuff out of the basement for any hardening off. Snow over the weekend, record low last night. 

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

3 hours ago, ness said:

What a crazy spring! Haven’t even had my stuff out of the basement for any hardening off. Snow over the weekend, record low last night. 

I blame Terrierman

[ness]

Well, another week indoors and my starts are wanting to stretch their legs.  We had some nice weather during the week, but I wasn’t able to get them out. Haven’t taken them out of their 1-inch cells yet and they’re not liking it. I’ll give them a little Miracle Grow and they will perk up. Low 50s today and rainy, so they’re gonna get to go outside, but not for long. 

[Terrierman]

I finally have some potatoes coming up.  They went in the ground the day after St. Patrick's!  The peas didn't show at all.  Not going to try again on them.  Will plant some pole beans instead since I already have the trellis up.  Will add another cattle panel to make a longer row.

[MOPanfisher]

Well other than my one cold frame I am just now starting.  The cold frame didn't germinate for squat either, but always eventually fills in enough to make a few wilted salads.  Planted some zucchini, little yellow squash, and cukes in trays this morning.  Might even go start the tractor and rip up the garden spot before that rain.  Not worried in the least about tomatoes yet, every time I have olanted early and it is cool they seem to stunt and it take a full soup can of fertilizer poured around each one and worked into soil to get them to pop out of it and grow.  Garden is downsized again this year to a small patch that really isn't big enough to warrant using the tractor on.  However since I have it, I dang sure ain't gonna do it it by hand.

 

Well the old garden was HARD, except where I had turnips planted.  Ripped it with the spring tooth cultivator as best I could, hoping for a little rain to soften it before I put the rear tine tiller on the tractor and make it purty.  Amazes me that each year for over 30 years I pull up some BIG rocks that were not that shallow last year, pulled up one on the first pass that was all I could do to lift it the tractor bucket.  Hauled so many rock out of there over the years that it needs about 3 dump truck loads of good dirt to bring it back up to grade.  The other old abandoned gardens are the same, below grade but I just let them go back to grass/weds and mow them now.

[BilletHead]

8 hours ago, ness said:

Well, another week indoors and my starts are wanting to stretch their legs.  We had some nice weather during the week, but I wasn’t able to get them out. Haven’t taken them out of their 1-inch cells yet and they’re not liking it. I’ll give them a little Miracle Grow and they will perk up. Low 50s today and rainy, so they’re gonna get to go outside, but not for long. 

                  Aren't you so glad you started tomatoes so early ? .  

   I am a fine one to talk and I was a couple to three weeks behind you on my first tomatoes. Here are a few of them and some pepper starts. Got more in and out of the house growing lights. You would think I had a dope growing operation going on in my little storage building,

  Lettice up date too.

     May start some selective picking late next week,

  BilletHead