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Giblet Plus! posted:Even less headache would be to throw everything in smart pots. I had great results with mine last year. To me, putting things in the dirt is so much easier. But you should talk to my boyfriend. I’ve never seen someone with so many pots. He has pots on his stairs, his back deck, his front porch. Pots lining the walkway, pots next to the garage. I concede that they are pretty, but the guy spends his entire summer watering. He’s a teacher so he is nothing but free time once school ends, but for me, things in the ground have deeper, broader root systems and watering and fertilizing are less time sensitive.
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Apr 26, 2011 15:34
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Giblet Plus! posted:my opinion - starting them too soon caused them to be leggy, not the moving them inside and outside This could be true but I had pretty much ruled out the sunlight thing because when they were inside, I had them set up under CFLs literally 2inches from the top of the tallest leaf. I could see it being the temperature though. 40ish outside and 60ish inside. All I'm saying is that the seeds that were put in the giant container 2 weeks later and stayed out through the frost (I have the leaf damage to prove it) fared better than the ones I coddled and brought in.
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Apr 26, 2011 17:10
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Zeta Taskforce posted:To me, putting things in the dirt is so much easier. But you should talk to my boyfriend. I’ve never seen someone with so many pots. He has pots on his stairs, his back deck, his front porch. Pots lining the walkway, pots next to the garage. I concede that they are pretty, but the guy spends his entire summer watering. He’s a teacher so he is nothing but free time once school ends, but for me, things in the ground have deeper, broader root systems and watering and fertilizing are less time sensitive. You could always have him get a length of misting hose. You just set them up above the area to be watered and turn on the spigot. I've also water spigot timers that would allow you to automate the whole thing. They work just like automatic light timers that you find around Christmas, but with water hoses. Or you could just do this. 
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Apr 26, 2011 18:14
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Check out Blumat valves. They are magical after you get them set up.
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Apr 26, 2011 18:27
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Jonny 290 posted:Check out Blumat valves. They are magical after you get them set up. Wow. Yeah, way better than what I was googling. It's a bit expensive though... You could save a bit of money and get by with locally purchased hoses and connectors and just purchase the properly sized blumats.
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Apr 26, 2011 18:46
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Jonny 290 posted:Check out Blumat valves. They are magical after you get them set up. Ok...that is awesome
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Apr 26, 2011 18:51
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On the subject of container gardening, I used to do it when I lived in an apartment. As long as you keep up on your watering it's not a real issue. The only problem I ever had was spider mites but neem oil kept their population in check. I also love bush cucumbers. I love them so much I continue to grow the bush variety even though I have a dirt garden now. Edit: On a different note, why the gently caress doesn't fish fertilizer come with a warning label? I've been slowly switching to more organic gardening options and godDAMN that stuff smells like a bucket of rotten buttholes. Pluto fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Apr 26, 2011 |
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Apr 26, 2011 19:40
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We have had horrible rains this year in Ohio (as well as lots of other places) and I haven't been able to work in the garden yet. Plants still growing inside though.
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Apr 26, 2011 20:01
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We've had a lot of rain up here in NoVa, too. It's also been wicked warm. My mom's peonies are already over a foot high.
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Apr 26, 2011 20:06
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neogeo0823 posted:Wow. Yeah, way better than what I was googling. It's a bit expensive though... You could save a bit of money and get by with locally purchased hoses and connectors and just purchase the properly sized blumats. Yep, this is the way to go. I prefer to handwater at this point in time because I'm still under 40 containers total for the garden, and would end up sitting on a stump gazing at the plants for an hour a day anyways. It's good quality time between me and the growinthings. However, if I were setting up any sort of automated/low maintenance operation, or if I was doing it for production (e.g. $$$$) i would heavily invest in Blumats.
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Apr 26, 2011 22:06
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Zeta Taskforce posted:To me, putting things in the dirt is so much easier. But you should talk to my boyfriend. I’ve never seen someone with so many pots. He has pots on his stairs, his back deck, his front porch. Pots lining the walkway, pots next to the garage. I concede that they are pretty, but the guy spends his entire summer watering. He’s a teacher so he is nothing but free time once school ends, but for me, things in the ground have deeper, broader root systems and watering and fertilizing are less time sensitive. well my pots were 20 gal, so they could go a while without watering and lent themselves to huge root systems
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Apr 27, 2011 01:17
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Hi, I'm a new gardener just looking to learn some general things right now. My boyfriend has been growing things here for a few years and some gardening plots do better than others. We're in Zone 8 - East Central Alabama. Right now we have in the ground: hybrid tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, jalepeno peppers, onions (short and long day), okra, bush beans, pole beans and crookneck squash. In seedling cups we have (sprouted) - cherry tomatoes, cantaloupes, more okra, crookneck squash - (not sprouted) more cherry tomatoes, more cantaloupes. For flowers we have alot of different things and I'm planning a 13' diameter circular flower garden that'll probably take me a few years to plant the way I want. Note: That's 13' diameter at the interior of the circle and 15' at the outside with the interior of the circle reserved for other things. I planted snapdragon seeds for it today. Any general advice?
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Apr 27, 2011 04:49
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Viriatha posted:Any general advice? Make sure you have good soil and enough water. Pick cultivars for your area and planting situation. Genetics are everything. Buy seeds and transplants from a quality company and not home depot or wal-mart. If you want to learn about organics, let me know. I don't think you have to be 100% organic, but you should at least take some responsibility for the land you cultivate.
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Apr 27, 2011 05:49
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That reminds me. What's the difference between different brands and types of soil? I see a bunch of different brands and types at stores, and I want to make sure I get the right stuff for my plants. While I'm asking, any general advice on fertilizers? I know pretty much nothing about them.
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Apr 27, 2011 06:05
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See that squash plant? Cute, isn't it? It is going to explode. And by explode, I mean explode. Be prepared. One big thing that I ran into is that my squash plants crept, and I couldn't mow under them, giving me a big weedy patch right next to the garden.
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Apr 27, 2011 16:59
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neogeo0823 posted:That reminds me. What's the difference between different brands and types of soil? I see a bunch of different brands and types at stores, and I want to make sure I get the right stuff for my plants. While I'm asking, any general advice on fertilizers? I know pretty much nothing about them. You just have to look on the back of the bag for their content. The only thing to watch out for is the type of soil you use in containers. Make sure you get soil for containers. Do you want to know about organic or synthetic fertilizers?
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Apr 27, 2011 20:28
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Speaking of fertilizers in the most general terms: all fertilizers are given an NPK rating on the bag. This stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (whose elemental symbol is K). Nitrogen is for foliar growth (leaves), phosphorus for roots and fruits, and potassium promotes general plant health. A fertilizer with 10-10-10 rating would have equal parts of N, P and K, and thus be good for general feeding. Leafy crops like lettuce would do well with a fertilizer with a higher N, like blood meal which is 12-0-0. Tomatoes do well with bone meal, which is not only high in phosphorus (generally 4-12-0) but a good source of calcium to help prevent blossom end rot. Acid-loving plants like blueberries also benefit from a fertilizer that adds sulfur (I like Holly-tone, it's a 4-6-4 with 5% sulfur) as sulfur helps to decrease pH. In general if you have good, loamy soil that's well amended with compost you don't need a lot of fertilizer. Compost increases the bioavailability of nutrients in the soil, so it should always be the backbone of every garden. I actually use very little fertilizer on my veggie beds, the veggies get all my compost so most of the fertilizer I have is used on my landscaping.
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Apr 27, 2011 23:02
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neogeo0823 posted:That reminds me. What's the difference between different brands and types of soil? I see a bunch of different brands and types at stores, and I want to make sure I get the right stuff for my plants. While I'm asking, any general advice on fertilizers? I know pretty much nothing about them. What plants are you growing and what soils are available at the store? I personally like promix organic as a base on which to add other things. Some of the main differences are organic vs chemical, peat vs bark vs coco coir and mixes of those choices, and soils with little starting nutrients vs soils with nutrients for months.
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Apr 28, 2011 01:39
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Here I am potting 4 yellow pear tomato cuttings I'm starting for a friend at work in organic soil. Cuttings were cloned in coco coir under T5 lighting. I removed some of the bottom branches so I could sink them into the pots deeper to encourage a larger root system. I used soil from last year's tomato season, and added 1/4 tsp epsom salts, 3/4 tsp garden lime, 3/4 tsp blood meal and 1 1/2 tsp jobes organics tomato food to each container. The cuttings are already showing flowers, so they should get my friend off to a fast start for the tomato season.   
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Apr 28, 2011 01:50
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Bigdee4933 posted:Make sure you have good soil and enough water. Pick cultivars for your area and planting situation. Genetics are everything. Buy seeds and transplants from a quality company and not home depot or wal-mart. Depot carries Burpee, which I have had good results with. I prefer Menards because they have a larger selection.
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Apr 28, 2011 01:58
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Giblet Plus! posted:Depot carries Burpee, which I have had good results with. I prefer Menards because they have a larger selection. Monsanto, bluuuuh. Giblet Plus! posted:The cuttings are already showing flowers, That is not always good. A Plant's only goal in life is to reproduce. When they get stressed they are are like "Oh gently caress, go go go." That can be bad.
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Apr 28, 2011 04:46
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Bigdee4933 posted:Monsanto, bluuuuh. burpee is not owned by monsanto quote:That is not always good. A Plant's only goal in life is to reproduce. When they get stressed they are are like "Oh gently caress, go go go." That can be bad. the plant had flowers when I made the cutting. it is indeterminate.
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Apr 28, 2011 05:09
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Giblet Plus! posted:What plants are you growing and what soils are available at the store? I personally like promix organic as a base on which to add other things. Umm, mostly herbs, with a few varieties of vegetable and maybe some flowers. I can list all the seeds I've bought so far if you want. As far as fertilizer and soil, I don't know what's available at my store, as I haven't yet looked, but I'd either be buying from Lowes, Home Depot, or from the local gas stations and nurseries. I guess at this point, the best question to ask would be what big name brands should I look for that would make good potting soils for container gardening? I'd be fine with adding stuff to the soil as a starting thing, but unless necessary, I wouldn't want to have to continuously add more stuff. I'm doing this mostly to try and cut back on costs of produce in our meals, so I'd rather not have those savings be eaten up if possible.
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Apr 28, 2011 06:04
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Giblet Plus! posted:Some of the main differences are organic vs chemical, peat vs bark vs coco coir and mixes of those choices, and soils with little starting nutrients vs soils with nutrients for months. This is just general information and not directed at anyone in particular. Using peat, at least in the UK, is a bit of an ethical minefield. Peat bogs are important habitats and fantastic carbon sinks and when peat is removed on an industrial scale, it's very damaging to that habitat. But it's great for garden plants because it's nutrient rich and holds on to water and nutrients with ease. Also most peat in composts in the UK comes from Ireland. Ireland's economy is in the shitter, and by buying Irish peat, you're helping their economy (even if it is by encouraging to rape their natural resources, but hey, they're the ones who have to live with the wrecked wetlands and subsequent flooding etc). We try to only buy peat free compost because I don't feel happy wrecking a peat bog somewhere. Plus my brother has an irrational fear of peat bog mummies and is scared we might find a head in a bag one day. If you are container gardening it's best to buy compost specifically designed for that. There are many composts available with water retaining particles and the right mix of nutrients to look after your container plants for a whole season without the need for fertiliser. I recommend you research different composts before committing to one brand forever. There's a really good consumer test group in the UK called Which? that conduct proper trials to rate products. Their gardening department tests compost mixes (as well as tools and plants) to see what makes the most difference in the garden. I've no idea if there's an American equivalent, but it's worth trying to see if anyone out their is properly testing composts because they can vary wildly.
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Apr 28, 2011 11:28
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madlilnerd posted:peat stuff There certainly is a debate over peat among gardeners and while I won't get into all of it since it would distract from the conversation I'll say that, while I'm currently using peat myself, if you can find and afford the price difference I'd recommend substituting coir, especially if you can spot it locally. Coir is industrial waste coconut husks ground up and it has pretty much all the great properties of peat without the debated ecological implications. Anubis fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Apr 28, 2011 |
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Apr 28, 2011 14:00
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Is it still okay for me to enjoy Scotch?
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Apr 28, 2011 14:14
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Anubis posted:There certainly is a debate over peat among gardeners and while I won't get into all of it since it would distract from the conversation I'll say that, while I'm currently using peat myself, if you can find and afford the price difference I'd recommend substituting coir, especially if you can spot it locally. Coir is industrial waste coconut husks ground up and it has pretty much all the great properties of peat without the debated ecological implications. Most of the gas stations and nurseries around here carry a coconut based mulch. Would that be the equivalent?
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Apr 28, 2011 17:23
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neogeo0823 posted:Most of the gas stations and nurseries around here carry a coconut based mulch. Would that be the equivalent? You'll have to read the label to be sure they aren't adding anything weird but yes if it is listed as coconut it's using coir. Costello Jello posted:Is it still okay for me to enjoy Scotch? A small donation to the nature conservancy or something similar should cleanse the soul and make the scotch taste a little smoother. http://www.nature.org/ Honestly, and I really don't want this getting into a huge debate in here, one of the largest threats to peat is underground fires and the burning of peat to produce energy. Slow moving fires can sit underground burning peat for dozens and even hundreds of years before they are even found and in some countries it's common to burn peat in large quantities similar to coal for energy production. Of all the sources, Canadian peat is likely your best ethical choice as they heavily restrict the amount that can be harvested but in the grand scheme if we want to save the bogs and reap all the benefits, including cleaner water and massive amounts of trapped CO2, we need to stop burning the stuff for fuel and heat.
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Apr 28, 2011 17:44
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neogeo0823 posted:Most of the gas stations and nurseries around here carry a coconut based mulch. Would that be the equivalent? are you sure it's not a cocoa mulch? cocoa mulch is great as a mulch but not as a soil base.
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Apr 28, 2011 23:28
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Costello Jello posted:Is it still okay for me to enjoy Scotch? It would be crazy not to. It's liquid heaven!
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Apr 28, 2011 23:38
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It's burgin' time! 
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Giblet Plus! posted:are you sure it's not a cocoa mulch? cocoa mulch is great as a mulch but not as a soil base. It... Could be that. I haven't really looked closely at the bags. My last memory of it was from years back when I was helping my mom plant her flowers for the spring. Come to think of it, it did smell a bit like rotting chocolate.
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Apr 29, 2011 05:39
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Oh thank god I found this thread. Seeing as how I am the family's failure with no education, job, or future, I have been entrusted with the gardening duties for this year in an attempt to contribute. I'm sure they're fully aware the only thing I can grow reliably is pubic hair, so I turn to you all to help me minimize my dishonor. We have a bit of an raised, mini-fenced space that I'd say is about 15x15 feet of moderately clayey Indiana goodness. General demand seems to be for salsa-making so I'm planning for one or two types of tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers, onions and maybe something else given enough space (I'm not sure how much 15x15 is for practical use). Firstly, am I too late? I understand planting time is, like, right now, but for one it's been absurdly rainy out and for two the space is still full of giant clods that need tilled and broken up and such. Secondly, I have NO IDEA if this soil is actually good enough for anything. I'm positive poo poo can be thrown in there and it'll grow and something happens, but how can I test or check to see if it needs fertilizing or a p.H. change? Of course I'm going to get some area-specific advice from a nursery or two I know are pretty close. I also may or may not be entirely overreacting to the complexities of gardening, but I'm all ears for any advice.
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Apr 29, 2011 10:57
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neogeo0823 posted:It... Could be that. I haven't really looked closely at the bags. My last memory of it was from years back when I was helping my mom plant her flowers for the spring. Come to think of it, it did smell a bit like rotting chocolate. If you have dogs, make sure you know before you put it down! I've heard stories of dogs eating cocoa mulch and getting ill. Sudoku posted:Firstly, am I too late? I understand planting time is, like, right now, but for one it's been absurdly rainy out and for two the space is still full of giant clods that need tilled and broken up and such. I don't think it's too late to start at all (please note I know nothing about Indiana and could not point to it on a map if asked). Here we've had such weird weather over the past few years that I seem to recall still having tomatoes growing at the start of October. You can check your soil quality by buying a soil testing kit from a garden centre or home depot or online. Something like this. You mix up a small soil sample with some water and the indicator included in the pack, give it a good shake and compare the colour against the provided chart. There are different kits for testing pH and nutrient levels. Chances are you will need to fertilise, so get hold of some well rotted manure or compost and mix it in well with the ground soil, breaking up the large dirt clods. You can start off peppers and tomatoes from seed in small pots before planting them out. For onions, I would use sets rather than seed (sets are like bulbs you plant that grow into larger onions), because it's faster and more reliable than using seed. I have never had luck growing onion from seed, only leeks/green onions. Gardening isn't that complex, despite how it seems. Our ancestors have been growing food for thousands of years and have been breeding better strains of everything for nearly as long. The most important thing to remember is that plants want to grow. They just need you to provide reasonably good conditions so they can do that. The most important thing really is light. Nutrient deficiency is easy to correct with a splash of fertiliser, but you need to make sure your plants get enough light to thrive. Take all my advice with a pinch of salt though, I'm distracted by the queen right now...
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Apr 29, 2011 12:18
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Most county extension offices will do a soil analysis for a modest fee (about  ). I know around here they have the testing kits at the local library available for the asking; it's a box for mailing and a set of instructions. The extension office will do a full analysis and tell you exactly what, if anything, you need to amend the soil with.
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Apr 29, 2011 12:26
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 What. Have. I. Done. So apparently I underestimated the sprouting capability of the cauliflower seeds I got, and have a billion little guys on their way. And I have about 8 containers like this that all look identical. I did the same with just about every other seed I had as well, because for the first time in my life I'm attempting to grow something without the watchful eye of my mother. Is there any chance of separating these all into different containers, or should I just deal with the fact that I'll have to kill something I created?
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Apr 29, 2011 13:55
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Marchegiana posted:Most county extension offices will do a soil analysis for a modest fee (about If you do this make sure you go 6 inches deep and dig in a zigzag area around the plot. akx.corvus posted:Is there any chance of separating these all into different containers, or should I just deal with the fact that I'll have to kill something I created? Just thin them out. We do most of our cole crops like that. You over plant and then pick the best ones and thin out the rest. Lettuce, spinach, radishes, and others like them have cheap seeds. Bigdee4933 fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Apr 29, 2011 |
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Apr 29, 2011 13:59
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Sudoku posted:Firstly, am I too late? I understand planting time is, like, right now, but for one it's been absurdly rainy out and for two the space is still full of giant clods that need tilled and broken up and such. Here (6a I just found out) I still have 3 weeks before I can plant stuff in the dirt. So I have to wait to start. I just asked at the co-op last night. I'm desperate to get started! So you may have time yet!
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Apr 29, 2011 16:14
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akx.corvus posted:Is there any chance of separating these all into different containers, or should I just deal with the fact that I'll have to kill something I created? You'll just have to deal with it. Get rid of the weakest and move on, unless of course you actually want 200 cauliflower plants (hint: you don't). Sometimes a gardener has to be pragmatically brutal with their plants, better to get used to that idea sooner than later.
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Apr 29, 2011 16:16
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My back yard won't dry out enough to work the dirt. My pepper starts are dying. My tomato starts are terribly leggy. I'm just getting so loving garden-depressed it's ridiculous. 
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Apr 29, 2011 23:58
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I planted out my sweetcorn today oh man oh man if the slugs get my little babies I think I'll cry  The sunflowers all recovered from their horrible squirrel attack and are on their secondary leaves so they need to get into the ground ASAP too! I am so worried about them all, I have to be back in London by Tuesday to hand in an essay about toilets and I don't know when I'll be back. Screw ceramic design, I know I should have done horticulture!
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Apr 30, 2011 00:03
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