Gardening: the beets must go on

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Gardening: the beets must go on

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Housesitting for my parents I figured I'd take the opportunity of temporary home ownership (that I'll never myself have) to start a garden. I'm calling it a birthday present to my mom, we'll see if she likes it

Cherry tomatoes against the wall, roma tomato, thyme, basil, oregano, eggplant, bell pepper. Tried out soaker hose for the first time to simplify watering. Not sure if I'm laying it correctly; there's almost no lateral water movement so I'm not sure if this means I need the hose placed very close to the plants.

I also have another section I want to sow seeds in but it still has the original unamended soil which is some sort of sandy clay. Water likes to pool on the top of it and just create a muddy sludge. I want to plant lettuce and carrots, any recommendations?

Also trying to plug the female end of the soaker hose but having difficulty. I have a male to male coupler and a female cap but it leaks. Anywhere I use this male to male coupler it never seals right, not sure why. Maybe just pinch the hose closed? Ideas?

# ¿ May 31, 2009 19:17

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 18:54

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

My cherry tomatoes went APE the last 3 days. Forced me to do some reading on pruning tomatoes and boy was I uneducated on the subject.
With some newly acquired knowledge of tomato anatomy, I pruned back the six plants to just the main stem and one additional one (trying to get these to climb up a wall as much as possible). Much better

# ¿ Jun 19, 2009 04:03

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

HeatherChandler posted:

Just making sure, you are aware that tomatoes don't 'climb' of their own accord? They will need to be somehow tied/attached to the wall. Tomatoes 'naturally' sprawl on the ground once fruit weighs the stems down, they don't have any mechanism to attach themselves upwards.

Haha yes, I am diligently tying it up as it grows

# ¿ Jun 19, 2009 20:05

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

coyo7e posted:

Murder Most Foul Hath Been Committed!

Was headed to work yesterday morning and noticed that something looked amiss.. Weren't there three broccoli plants the previous day?

Looking around, I discovered what was missing:

A shame..

I'm pretty sure that it was a raccoon, there wasn't any evidence of a bite or cut, so the most likely explanation is a fat-butt 'coon trying to squeeze between the plants (which are all too big to squeeze through for anything larger than a small cat, atm.)

Not a massive loss as it was only one plant and I've got a couple more, but going from to in a split-second while looking at my garden was kind of startling. Also, I like broccoli.

Shame indeed

Eat the leaves though, they are tasty

# ¿ Nov 14, 2009 05:39

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

What are your guys' recommendations for a rooting medium without peat moss

# ¿ Nov 15, 2009 22:06

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

dwoloz posted:

What are your guys' recommendations for a rooting medium without peat moss

Answering my own question for a peat moss substitute: coconut coir

# ¿ Nov 16, 2009 22:36

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Richard Noggin posted:

Just curious, why no peat moss?

Gathering the peat is environmentally destructive and done in a non renewable way. Would just make me feel better not being a part of that and it seems like coir is a perfect substitute

# ¿ Nov 17, 2009 07:47

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Richard Noggin posted:

Contrary to what you've heard, this is untrue. Even the old stuff treated with CCA won't make you ill, unless you're making splinter salads. It hasn't been around for residential construction for years, and even if you were to use recycled PT that containted CCA, most of it will have already leached out.

http://www.finegardening.com/design/articles/pressure-treated-wood-in-beds.aspx

I was warned about using reclaimed railraod ties. Most are probably old enough to contain all sorts of nastiness. Just a heads up

# ¿ Dec 10, 2009 02:43

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Slung Blade posted:

My office is on a big green kick lately and wants to start collecting compost from the kitchens.

We produce an awful lot of coffee grounds and other material and I would love to collect that and set it to work.

Problem is, those blue bins kinda suck for collecting that poo poo. Bags are no good (wasteful, plastic sucks, pain to clean if you want to re-use them) so I'd like to have a smooth-lined plastic bin, enameled bucket, or a stainless steel bin with a lid that I could collect it all in.

I'm having trouble finding one big enough to handle the waste, small enough to carry by myself every night after work, and sturdy enough to last for a few years.

I've seen those little 4 litre kitchen ones which is the same theme as what I'd like, just bigger.

Wheeled stainless bins would be ok too, but I can't find those anywhere.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

Maybe military surplus metal boxes?

Or if the office wants to splurge: http://naturemill.com/

# ¿ Dec 10, 2009 02:47

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Zeta Taskforce posted:

The quickest and easiest thing to do would be to spray the area with roundup,

Please don't do this. Not only is it costly but its toxic

To clear an area of weeds utilize sheet mulching techniques
Lots of info online, search "sheet mulching" or "lasagna gardening"

# ¿ Feb 20, 2010 04:01

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Zeta Taskforce posted:

I'm not going to convince anyone who is of the belief if it is a chemical, it must be evil crowd, but Glyphosate is one of the safest chemicals used in agriculture. In addition, it is not costly. It has very low mammalian and insect toxicity, is quickly broken down by sun and microorganisms, and leaves zero residues. It works on an enzyme found only in plants.

For someone who only has a hundred square feet, it is kind of pointless. Just do it by hand. Yet in the US alone, close to 100 million pounds are used, and I have not seen evidence that it has led to a single death or injury when used properly. Even in intentional poisonings where someone intentionally drinks as much of the stuff as they can, the vast majority of people do not die.

Costly in comparison to sheet mulching, which is free and arguably more effective

Herbicides and insecticides are without a doubt detrimental to our environment and toxic to living organisms (reproductive, endocrine and nervous system damage). Their problem is they are not by any means constrained to the locality upon which they're sprayed. They remain in soils, taint groundwater and runoff containing them taints our waterways and ocean.

The decision between the free and natural method vs the costly (as in having a cost) and unnatural method seems like a no brainer to me

dwoloz fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Feb 24, 2010

# ¿ Feb 24, 2010 06:58

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

HClChicken posted:

Some Starbucks give away free spent coffee and espresso grounds. It's hit or miss whether they collect them. Currently the woman works at one who fails to do it, so she gets them whenever she throws them away.

So I planted my two trays, have them in the computer room( warmest in the house). With the fluorescent light having 2 feet over. The light is on an adjustable chain so I can raise it if needed. I have a timer for 16 hours of the day. But do I need to have it on now, or wait until the first sprout?

Seeds will sprout without any light

# ¿ Mar 1, 2010 06:11

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

El Bano posted:

I'm starting to try to sprout my tomatos and jalepenos this weekend. I am worried that my spinach won't make it to harvest since we are already having sustained temperatures in the 70s. Hopefully it won't get much warmer over the next 2-3 weeks.

Creating a shade tent should do the trick if heat is an issue

# ¿ Mar 13, 2010 03:28

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

teknicolor posted:

One more question, a few of the seed packets say the seeds should be at 75-80*F, but we only keep our house at 68 tops, colder at night. Will that still be ok? Is the variable temp in the house an issue?

To start seeds I pack egg cartons with coconut coir and put the cartons in plastic bags tucking the open bag end under to seal it up. Setting it out in the sun will get them nice and hot.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2010 01:46

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

ChaoticSeven posted:

I have access to a good chunk of farm field, I could pretty much grow whatever I wanted I bet. If I just bought a bulk pack of zucchini seeds and filled like an acre full of them, how well the fruits would be as like, compost material. The land isn't being used for anything anyhow. If could could grow a couple tons of zucchini to enrich my actual plot that'd be cool. This fall I'll be home for once so I can also plant a green manure ground cover.

Maybe I could burn off a couple acres of field and plant it full of clover and just mow it once a month and make a giant rear end compost pile too. The possibilities...

A nitrogen fixing crop would seem to make more sense in this situation. That would mean something like fava, soya, alfalfa, clover, vetch, rye or others. These are generally winter crops used in rotation though

# ¿ Mar 21, 2010 02:31

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

The Young Marge posted:

- I think I need to start the seeds indoors now (zone 6, last frost March 30 - April 30). I have the space and stuff for this. I was going to use labeled red plastic keg cups; is that cool? Do I just put one seed per cup, or should I put a bunch of them in there to increase the chances of something sprouting?

Start indoors. Any container will be fine, I'd recommend cutting a hole at the bottom though for drainage. You'll need to keep the soil moist for the duration until they sprout, but too much water will rot the seeds and grow fungus. Seeds are fairly cheap so I'd recommend planting 2 or more in each. Planting more than you want will give you a better chance of getting good ones out in the end (ie some wont germinate, some will dry out, some will be small, etc). Thin the extras out.

quote:

- herbgardening.com says that everything can be started inside about 6 weeks before last frost; the seed packets generally say more like 3-4 weeks. I figured I'd start 'em all now and put them in the ground after like 4-6 weeks (after last frost). Sound good? Also, how big will they get in that time? I don't know how much room I need or how long the cups will cut it.

Sounds good. Give 10 days for seeds to sprout up, then it depends on the plant but you'll see true leaves in another week and have a fairly well established plant in one more week. Once true leaves show you can transplant but you can also keep it in the container longer granted theres enough space for roots (estimate roughly the amount of roots to be 2/3rd the size of the plant)

quote:

- How many actual plants do I need per type of herb? I really don't know anything about plant yield. I have a two-person household and like to cook. I don't mind having a bunch and then drying some or giving some away, but I don't want to be overrun. I especially want lots of basil for pesto and stuff.

Up to you. Seeds are cheap though, time isn't, better off with too many plants than too few in my opinion; you can always give extras to friends. Read up on certain herbs and their growing habits, some will be quite large, others not. Depends on your cultivar as well.

quote:

- For raised bed gardening, do I still need to follow the guidelines for how far apart to space my plants? Or do I plant them closer-spaced? (I thought part of the reason for raised bed is so you get more stuff per square inch.)

Yes. Most seed packets are conservative about spacing and you can get away with closer if you want to plant intensively. The point of raised beds are: less bending over, no digging hard existing soil and complete control over the soil mix that you add.

It gets easier as you go

Good luck

# ¿ Mar 24, 2010 02:09

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Slugs!! drat them!

Wiped out a whole row of my pepper seedlings, half of my cilantro and a dent in my tomatoes. Moved all the seedlings back inside (still in egg cartons) but the little buggers have taken to hiding. I've set out a sugar and yeast bait and have been flicking on the lights and ambushing them.
Beware the slugs

When it comes to transplanting time I'm going to try rings of diatomaceous earth (cheaply sold as cat litter) around the plants. Slugs and the like can't crawl over it; it's too sharp and draws their moisture out

# ¿ Apr 12, 2010 06:41

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Speaking of potatoes, anyone try their hand at a potato tower?

# ¿ Apr 14, 2010 02:14

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Anubis posted:

At least pluck them off for the first 4-6 weeks.

So, I got my strawberry crowns today. Managed to get about 25 in the ground but I still have 75 left to go... I'm going to need more space for all these things.

drat, that's a load of strawberries. How much did 100 run you?

# ¿ Apr 16, 2010 05:34

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Anyone have a recommendation for shade cloth using a commonly available (inexpensive) material?

# ¿ Apr 18, 2010 20:37

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

MarshallX posted:

Wonder where I could find that. Time to visit the local garden shop.

I buy unscented cat litter; 20lb bag at Safeway for $4. Its a bit more dusty than garden store bags but boy is it cheap. Oil spill cleanup bags at auto part stores are also DE and are pretty cheap

Another slug killer is a bowl of beer sunk flush to the ground for slugs to crawl into and drown. Sugar and yeast in water is apparently also a suitable substitute if you're not into "wasting" beer.

dwoloz fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Apr 20, 2010

# ¿ Apr 20, 2010 06:12

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

mugrim posted:

Anyone done this, I've spray painted a cheap 3 dollar "Home Depot" bucket black to use as a pot for my tomatoes, and I'm thinking of repeating this process with sand I have left over from winter. The bucket heats up nice and warm which would be great for tomato roots right?

I know it holds at least 50 pounds reliably and I'm really cheap. Anyone see any problems with this?

Hot roots are no good. Summer crops like the heat/full sun but they still like their roots cool. Earth has a naturally cool regulated temperature and if you're container gardening, you should attempt to replicate this by using light colored pots, plenty of soil and mulching

# ¿ May 4, 2010 07:42

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Papercut posted:

Is there anything edible I can plant in shadier parts of my yard? Like under a lemon tree?

Lettuce, brassicas, any cool weather crop. A lot of herbs are shade tolerant too
Ive had strawberries in partial shade and they did surprisingly well

# ¿ May 11, 2010 07:15

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Shy Farting Man posted:

Whats wrong with my Black Krim Tomatoes

Is it Nitrogen Deficiency? Mites? I cant seem to pin-point it! Hope it isnt something serious...

Maybe powdery mildew or another fungus. Try a baking soda solution on the leaves
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/qt/PowderyMildew.htm

# ¿ May 27, 2010 18:54

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Anubis posted:

The problem I have with those places (because my city has one itself) is that people put literally everything imaginable in their yard bins. Poison ivy and oak along with tons of seeds of weeds get mixed in with pesticides and poisonous fertilizers that are used on the over chemically treated grass cuttings which just leads to potential problems.

I'll use the city compost when dealing with a flower bed that I don't plan to ever put veggies in, but if I'm going to eat it I'd recommend having a bit more control over your compost sources than a normal city compost system could provide.

In Berkeley, CA where I pick up sometimes they test theirs and certify that it's safe. How...I don't know, but that's what they tell us

# ¿ May 31, 2010 00:56

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

a handful of dust posted:

This is more of a houseplant question than a gardening question, hope that's ok. A friend gave me a neat little container with some ivy in it as a gift. I've had it for a couple weeks and it seems happy, but I was looking at it tonight and I noticed that what looks like one solid mass of ivy is actually 3 separate plants:

Do I need to worry about these guys crowding each other? Should they go in separate pots?

Ivy is one of those plants that will thrive in almost any situation. Its quite drought tolerant so water infrequently. In fact, I'd say overwatering is the only way to kill it. So, don't worry about repotting, they'll sort themselves out.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2010 08:06

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

a handful of dust posted:

So I'm reading Patricia Lanza's Lasagna Gardening, and I figure I'll give it a try this year.

Her method basically seems like another name for sheet composting, so can I plant in this stuff right away or do I need to let it cook for a season like a regular compost pile? Do lasagna beds heat up as the stuff decays like a normal pile does?

Her book says you can start planting as soon as you get the last layer in, but I made the mistake of planting with a bunch of incomplete compost one year and burned the poo poo out of my plants, rather not make that mistake again.

What materials are you using to layer and what are the thicknesses?

If your top soil/finished compost layer on the top is 4" or more, I think planting would not be a problem (depending on many things). I've seen designs that called for planting established plants into a top straw layer that had mostly uncomposted material below; seemed to work for them. Depends on materials though

dwoloz fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Jun 11, 2010

# ¿ Jun 11, 2010 00:27

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Yo, imma blob posted:

I picked some baby zucchini off my plants. They still had the blossom on the end and when I touched the blossom a huge swarm of ants fell out of every one of them. They don't seem to have done any damage to the fruit or flower or even the plants, so what the hell are they doing hiding in the blossom?

Sounds like the ants are going after the nectar. Sounds like it's not causing any problems, you can leave them be
I haven't noticed ants but bees, especially the native tiny mason bees, are loving our squash flowers

# ¿ Jul 1, 2010 23:42

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Tomato problems

I'm growing Early Girl, Green Zebra, Black Plum, Sweet 100 and SunSugar and they are nearly ALL exhibiting cases of extreme lengthwise upward leaf curl as well as leaf petioles growing upwards at an extreme angle. The plants are still producing fruit but growth is very slow. I'm growing in mostly compost with some sandy loam and plants are spaced a bit more than 1ft apart. They are watered 2-3 times a week depending on the heat. Soil is not mulched (yet) so the soil warms up quite a bit.
It would suck if this was just one or two plants....but its basically everything in my beds

Pictures

# ¿ Jul 8, 2010 21:26

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Invasive psyllids are beginning to ravage my tomatoes. I can see their tinyyy yellow eggs all over the place. Bad news

# ¿ Jul 22, 2010 05:17

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Psyllid eggs on a tomato leaf if anyone is curious what they look like

Impossible to remove them without removing the whole leaf and destroying it

# ¿ Jul 30, 2010 19:42

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Owsla posted:

This is our first year with a garden and I think I need a little advice.

Austin, TX - 4x8ft raised bed

We have a mix of Brandywine and Big Rainbow heirloom tomatoes in half the bed and I'm worried they're too tall. They tower a good 2 feet over the top of the 3 1/2 ft tall cages we put around each plant.

They're just now starting to get a few tomatoes here and there, but nothing very high up the plant, mostly towards the bottom and middle. Will the tops just not make tomatoes so I don't need to worry about this, or do I need to maybe prune the tops?

If they are probably going to get tomatoes up top and I shouldn't prune them, should I maybe tie a few 6ft tall bamboo rods around each of the cages to make them taller?

I don't have any pictures showing how tall they are but here are some pics of the rest of our efforts for now:

Our first real contender for awesome tomato flavor (so sick of grocery store maters)

Bell pepper pots are starting to produce

One of the first two cayenne peppers to arrive (when do I pull these?)

Pickling cucumbers! There are 3 of these in 3sq ft of our bed, this was not enough room. We'll be building a trellis asap to hopefully get these guys away from the neighboring tomato cages.

You'll get tomatoes at the top too; just goes bottom to top. Indeterminate tomato plants grow and grow until disease or cold kill them. The growing tips will just continue to grow producing more fruit. I've had plants get to be 8' tall. I'd recommend staking them vertically as much as possible. You can prune the leader growing tip if you want the plant to become more bushy though. If you do so, you'll notice then new growing tips will emerge from between the central stalk and leaf nodes (as seen here http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/tomato-plant-sucker.jpg)

For next season, I'd recommend those tomato cages only for determinate varieties which stay fairly bushy. For indeterminate varieties, install stakes, TALL stakes and do it early. It will look ridiculous having a 8' tall stake next to a tiny plant but its better to stake early then later so you don't damage the roots. For growing many tomatoes together, I like staking every 4 or so plants and then tying string between the plants weaving it between the stalks

# ¿ Aug 1, 2010 20:48

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

PrinceofNessus posted:

Quick question:

My wife and I have planted both tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were growing fine, but the peppers were not producing any peppers. After some research I figured we might need to use a little Epsom salt on everything, and that perked everything in the garden up. We now have peppers.

The Epsom salt package says it should be used once every two weeks on tomatoes, but nothing about how often I should apply to the peppers. It's time to reapply to the tomatoes on Monday. Should I apply to the peppers as well?

What's good for tomatoes, is likely good for peppers. Same family, solanaceae. Go ahead and apply.

I had a phosphourous deficiency in my soil this year and the solanaceae family plants were not happy, not fruiting. Bit of bone meal fixed them up though

# ¿ Aug 8, 2010 04:55

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

El Bano posted:

I want to grow some winter squash, but don't really have a place in the yard for it, but I do have an extra 5 Gallon terracotta pot that I could use. Will that be enough space?

5 gallon would produce a pretty good size plant but probably not to its full potential if unrestricted. Late in the season though to start. Winter and summer squash are started around the same time, winter squash just ripen later

# ¿ Aug 14, 2010 22:50

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

^JunkFood posted:

I live in zone 9 and I had one lonely jalape�o 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 jalape�o peppers I ever had. The Jalape�o 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.

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

# ¿ Aug 28, 2010 04:52

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

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

# ¿ Aug 31, 2010 03:34

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

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.

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?

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

# ¿ Sep 7, 2010 19:30

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

CadavericSpasm posted:

Before digging up my gardens I had to contend with a forest of weeds that took the place of any grass lawn that might have been. We had a good crop of broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, swiss chard, green beans and various herbs but the weeds have been a constant problem. I'm also really lazy when it comes to weeding and have only done it about five times through the whole season.

The vegetable and herb patches are ground level so I was thinking that to combat the weed growth I could lay down some landscape fabric and build raised beds over my old ones. Would this work okay, and not cost me a fortune? The beds are about three feet wide and six feet long each, and there are three of them.

Also, does anyone have suggestions for resources on plotting out garden spaces? I'd like a moderately attractive garden because right now I have a forest of tomatoes due to starting too many and planting them in too small of a space.

Use overlapped cardboard instead of landscape fabric. Just make sure it's overlapped and plain brown (not color, glossy or waxed). Over time it will break down and roots can go through. To prevent weeds on the surface, either plant intensively so the soil is completely shaded out or cover the soil with mulch

# ¿ Sep 25, 2010 02:06

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

I just started using a 9:1 water/milk mixture to battle powdery mildew yesterday; I'll report back with results
Previously I tried neem oil, which was not effective, and a fertilizer tea with lacto bacillus in it, which seemed to actually work.

We've had terrible problems with powdery mildew; we're about half mile from the ocean so the air has stayed moist, especially in our freaky cold and foggy summer in the San Francisco Bay Area

Does anyone know of a variety of cucurbits that are powdery mildew resistant?

# ¿ Oct 1, 2010 00:26

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 18:54

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Thats a fantastic link. I especially like that it lists whether it's open pollinated. Thanks much

Us coast folks have it rough. Even a few of my tomatoes and kale are showing signs of mildew, it's freaky.

My picks from that list (based on it being mildew resistant, open pollinated, smaller quicker ripening and seeds that are available to purchase):

Success PM Straightneck - summer squash, bush
Wautoma - pickling cucumber, vining
Honey Nut Mini-Butternut - winter squash, vining
Sweet REBA Acorn - winter squash, bush
PMR Delicious 51 - melon, vining

dwoloz fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Oct 1, 2010

# ¿ Oct 1, 2010 06:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Gardening: the beets must go on

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