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CommonShore posted:Finally found a youtuber who is dealing with conditions similar to mine his setup is too hi-tech for me. thermal blankets and roller motors? Dig partway underground/pack up the walls with soil/manure/compost and do a sunken greenhouse and you could do it for a fraction of the cost
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Feb 20, 2021 16:34
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SubG posted:I have had the worst fuckin' luck with these guys. Lao green stripes too. Japanese eggplants? No problems, seeds germinate, plants grow well, they end up productive as hell. Thai eggplants? Sprout, grow two or three inches, and then just stay there for six months. I've had bad luck with eggplant generally, as well as zucchini of all things. We rarely have a freeze that lasts more than a few hours where I live. Until the winter storm that hit last weekend, I had a few chile plants growing and a tomato that self-seeded and was already pretty big and producing (a tiny cherry variety). Those are dead, as are a few other plants that I didn't protect, so I'm going to buy some seeds at a local garden shop/nursery soon and get them in the ground. Will definitely plant more chiles, since those do extremely well for me, as well as cucumbers, watercress and a few different greens. I'll wait a bit to plant beans, though I have at least one variety that self seeds and covers about 10 square yards along a fence every year. There's already a small vine growing up the four feet or so that's left of an okra plant that I left in for that purpose. My Chinese broccoli survived in the ground, as did my strawberries - neither of which were protected. I pulled up a weed called "Cleaver" and used it as mulch over the peas that I planted 2 weeks ago and were just starting to come up. I didn't think it would work, but I'll be damned if they're not still (mostly) growing. Another surprise survivor was my curry leaf tree. I'd stripped most of the branches off to freeze the leaves, thinking it wouldn't survive even if I covered it, but so far it's still kicking, and I don't anticipate we'll have another hard freeze this year. I have no idea how you people deal with actual cold weather. I mean, I do, because I've read this thread, but yikes.
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Feb 20, 2021 22:03
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Here in zone 6 the warmth is coming back and the snow is melting. I was able to get out and inspect. Looks like my lone carrot from last year is still alive and my crocuses survived the cold snap. Makes me pretty happy considering I'm desperately eager to get out and start growing. This weekend I swung by Menards to grab some in ground soil bags to top off my raised beds; I had some rebates I wanted to get spent. I've got everything that I'm planting this year except my strawberries. Almost bought a bag of 40 at Sam's Club, but I didn't know if Allstar was a good variety of strawberries. They had another variety that I can't remember right now. Strawberries are the last thing I need. That and my pear tree, but I don't know if I'll be able to find that. Heads up for everyone, if you want to can this year you might want to get your canning supplies right now! My partner and I are wanting to try canning and we had to drive to several stores to get the supplies.
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Feb 22, 2021 20:33
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Just a tip if you're buying seeds, Dollar Tree has seed packs of all sorts for $.25 each. I just got what would have cost $200 or more (even at Walmart) for $15. Sure, probably more duds in the packs, so I'll likely double up on how many seeds go in each hole, but still an insane deal.
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Feb 22, 2021 23:39
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Organic Lube User posted:Just a tip if you're buying seeds, Dollar Tree has seed packs of all sorts for $.25 each. I just got what would have cost $200 or more (even at Walmart) for $15. Sure, probably more duds in the packs, so I'll likely double up on how many seeds go in each hole, but still an insane deal. I would be more worried about whole packs being duds, and/or random crap not at all related to what's on the packet. And even if they are viable and what they say, odds of them being high quality, well-bred seed are low. Like, do please experiment and report back, but don't get your hopes up.
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Feb 23, 2021 10:21
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I'm in zone...5a(? Burlington, VT) so I think I should start my peppers soon, and my toms soon after that. Ideally, I'd use my basement... But it's basically averaging 50 degrees F. I have an LED grow light, but not very large, so I think I'll buy another and a big heating mat? Recommendations on a good one? DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Feb 24, 2021 |
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Feb 24, 2021 04:05
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Maybe try and find one that someone's actually looked at the spectrum of. But to be honest it's hard to get a bad grow light. And regarding seeds, here's a tip: if you're growing vegetables or ornamentals from seed, buy the best seed you can get. That means from places that are established and do things like put the germination rate on the packet. Growing seed and keeping it true to strain is a huge enterprise, and you want to trust that the grower can handle that. Ideally buy from a seed company based near you and in a similar climate, so you get seeds slightly more adapted to local conditions. Buy interesting varieties - you're not saving any significant amount of money by growing your own vegetables, especially when you factor in your labour, so have some fun with it. If you really, really want to save money on seed, then buy high quality open-pollinated seed and save your own seed for next year.
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Feb 24, 2021 09:33
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DrBouvenstein posted:I'm in zone...5a(? Burlington, VT) so I think I should start my peppers soon, and my toms soon after that. https://www.amazon.com/Tmlapy-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Greenhouse-Fixtures/dp/B083NMHM9C We have these in our tent garden (H180 for the 4x3 foot floor, H100 for the 1x3 top shelf and a couple hanging baskets) and they have successfully grown potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and basically everything else we've tried in there, start to finish (so many cucumbers  ).Might be overkill for starts, but if nothing else it's a drat good light, and doesn't require waiting on overseas shipping.
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Feb 24, 2021 10:43
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For seed starting? Make sure you have a heat mat. Any run of the mill daylight spectrum lights with good enough light cover will be enough until you put things outside. You can spend more, but unless you’re doing growing inside I’ve only seen diminishing returns. So long as you keep it close enough so things don’t get too leggy you can get away with less expensive lights. Just don’t expect an in house growing room for year round without going to better lights. With a 50* basement you’re going to need that heating mat though. Just keep a good watch on watering enough. First time I used one I let things dry out too far because it all wanted to evaporate in my dry and cold house.
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Feb 24, 2021 17:00
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My main recommendation for grow lights is to get white LEDs if you can. I've used fluorescents for years, and they're finicky. The lights and ballasts malfunction, and they generate a lot of heat. I've used red/blue LEDs too, and the color makes it harder to spot things like leaf discoloration. White LED growlights are pretty common and cheap now, so I don't see much reason to put up with the others' issues.
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Feb 24, 2021 17:43
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Jhet posted:For seed starting? Make sure you have a heat mat. Any run of the mill daylight spectrum lights with good enough light cover will be enough until you put things outside. You can spend more, but unless you’re doing growing inside I’ve only seen diminishing returns. So long as you keep it close enough so things don’t get too leggy you can get away with less expensive lights. Just don’t expect an in house growing room for year round without going to better lights. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E9IO8V0 This brand ok? And while I do plan to be diligent on water, at least my basement is perpetually wet, so less evaporation! 
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Feb 24, 2021 22:33
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Im anxious to start seeds but have to remind myself to not repeat last years mistake. Where I had several 2 feet high pepper and tomato plants and no where to plant them because it was still 50F outside. Going to add in a second raised bed this year that will be more shaded. One raised bed just for greens, herbs, etc. That will let me save the other one for tomatoes and peppers as they grow crazy and take over.
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Feb 24, 2021 22:44
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DrBouvenstein posted:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E9IO8V0 I think mine are vivosun brand, but yeah, exactly that sort of thing.
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Feb 24, 2021 23:08
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Took one of my company-mandated furlough days today because it was sunny and 60 and got to work laying out my raised beds. Not setting up anything permanent yet not knowing what the sun will look like during spring/summer, but had enough time to get my cedar bed made and leveled. Getting 30 cubic feet of soil delivered tomorrow in a giant tote too.  Still seven weeks to last frost here, so a ways to go yet. But peppers are coming along under the LEDs and the next round of tomatoes gets going next week.
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Feb 24, 2021 23:36
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Im anxious to start seeds but have to remind myself to not repeat last years mistake. I started pepper seeds last night. I got impatient and wanted to feel like I was doing something. Your post made me look up last frost date and it’s April 1st at the earliest for zone six. Which makes me sad. I hope my peppers don’t get too big before then.
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Feb 25, 2021 03:48
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Just watch their light and temp and you should be able to keep them from getting unhealthily leggy. Make sure the roots have room, etc.
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Feb 25, 2021 03:51
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Earth posted:I started pepper seeds last night. I got impatient and wanted to feel like I was doing something. Your post made me look up last frost date and it’s April 1st at the earliest for zone six. Which makes me sad. I hope my peppers don’t get too big before then. Yeah I think you'll be fine. I'm in 4a and have been burned by a mid May frost in the past so I'm just trying to wait longer this year.
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Feb 25, 2021 05:17
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Yeah I think you'll be fine. I'm in 4a and have been burned by a mid May frost in the past so I'm just trying to wait longer this year. Can you get away with using a cover, cloche or plastic?
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Feb 25, 2021 11:05
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Earth posted:I started pepper seeds last night. I got impatient and wanted to feel like I was doing something. Your post made me look up last frost date and it’s April 1st at the earliest for zone six. Which makes me sad. I hope my peppers don’t get too big before then. They’re inside right? Surely they won’t get large enough before then to be a problem, unless your peppers are more vigorous than any I’ve seen.
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Feb 25, 2021 14:05
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Got dirt.
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Feb 25, 2021 17:42
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I'm envious you can get your dirt that way. I cannot. I have to rent a uhaul truck and get it dumped in the back of that. I looked and couldn't find anyone that would deliver dirt that way. wooger posted:They’re inside right? Surely they won’t get large enough before then to be a problem, unless your peppers are more vigorous than any I’ve seen. BaseballPCHiker posted:Yeah I think you'll be fine. I'm in 4a and have been burned by a mid May frost in the past so I'm just trying to wait longer this year. They are inside. I'm using a seed starter tray: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jiffy-Windowsill-Seed-Starting-Greenhouse-with-12-Biodegradable-36mm-Peat-Pellets/19243060. It's not great because if you let it grow too long in there the roots leave the little pod and when you rip off the pod casing it tears the roots and stresses the plants and me. Why am I using the seed starters I posted if I know they don't work great? Good question! It's because I have them and I use everything I can before throwing something. My unwillingness to be wasteful is the reason I'm using them even though I know they aren't great.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:55
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Yeah, I hate those things. I bought a stack of the 1” and 2” nursery size starter pots and I’m on a couple years of reuse already. I’ve had so much better results since dumping the peat pots and coir starters too. Some people really like them, but I’ve never gotten them to work great for flower or veg garden starts. You could rip them apart and use them to help with moisture control in a soil mix if you don’t want to waste them.
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Feb 25, 2021 23:18
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mesclun lettuces are sprouting  kale is not  i definitely buried the seeds too deeprapini and spinach in today
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Feb 27, 2021 05:04
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gotta complain for a second. The people who owned my house before me put down just a poo poo ton of super thick plastic everywhere to I assume stop the ivy from spreading but whoever told them that was going to stop it from continuing to spread was a moron. I've manually removed about 1000sqft of ivy now and now im slowly removing the plastic that was under it in order to make a better overall area for planting native berries and root plants and dear god this poo poo just feels like it never ends, you know? And I can't get my neighbors to cut the ivy vines off their trees which are in some cases as thick as my upper arms so I cant stealthily do it. I've gotten almost all the trees on my property done though so that's an accomplishment but ivy spreads seeds any time it climbs so the fight just never ends. Anyway, I just ordered a pacific crab apple for a super wet area of my yard and im really excited about it. Also some more woodland strawberrys for the hill sides where i removed ivy from and gooseberries and salmon berries and some ferns. Also started some potatoes a week ago and they went wild fast and grew over a foot in a week so I got them in a potato bag and set em outside because im pretty sure we aren't going to get anymore hard frosts. Just got some zucchini seeds planted so I can transplant those in about a month. Tomatoes are looking good in my basement. Poblano peppers which i'm debating ever putting outdoors because :seattle: Lettuce that i've already been able to steal a bunch of leaves off of. Oh also anyone in the PNW looking for really good native edible plants shipped to you - I've used these folks twice now and both times they've been amazing. I got evergreen huckleberry, timbleberry, salmon berry, salal and they were packaged insanely well and all plants survived a year. https://nativefoodsnursery.com/ I just ordered miners lettuce, a pacific crab apple, woodland strawberries, gooseberries, and some ferns so we will see how that all goes but I feel good about ordering from them again. silicone thrills fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Feb 28, 2021 |
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Feb 28, 2021 01:28
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^ I was talking about berry canes with my neighbor earlier today. I’ll have to see if I can mix some in where I want to put berry canes. I also have a ton of hot and super hot peppers now and they’re currently multiplying. If you want something the garden centers in Seattle won’t have, let me know and I’ll PM you a list of all the stuff I’m going to sell for donations on the plant groups in the area. I was also talking to my neighbor about our ivy problem, only she and I both hate the ivy. So it’s going to die. Slowly because it’s ivy, but it will die.
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Feb 28, 2021 04:04
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Jhet posted:^ I was talking about berry canes with my neighbor earlier today. I’ll have to see if I can mix some in where I want to put berry canes. I also have a ton of hot and super hot peppers now and they’re currently multiplying. If you want something the garden centers in Seattle won’t have, let me know and I’ll PM you a list of all the stuff I’m going to sell for donations on the plant groups in the area. Thanks! I'll see where im at after this order. Is there anywhere online other than facebook and nextdoor that people do plant trades? I had to drop my facebook account because it was making me sad and mad every day and obviously nextdoor is full of nightmares. Not sure if there's something else good in the area.
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Feb 28, 2021 04:08
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Not that I’ve found. I only look at a very few select things on Facebook and am not actually friends with pretty much anyone on it. So it’s mostly a sanity safe space that’s full of only hobbies and not all the crazy (just some). I’d look at Reddit, but I can’t imagine that’s any better than nextdoor either. Maybe there’s a buy nothing group in your neighborhood that would do plant trades?
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Feb 28, 2021 04:18
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Earth posted:They are inside. I'm using a seed starter tray: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jiffy-Windowsill-Seed-Starting-Greenhouse-with-12-Biodegradable-36mm-Peat-Pellets/19243060. It's not great because if you let it grow too long in there the roots leave the little pod and when you rip off the pod casing it tears the roots and stresses the plants and me. Why am I using the seed starters I posted if I know they don't work great? Good question! It's because I have them and I use everything I can before throwing something. My unwillingness to be wasteful is the reason I'm using them even though I know they aren't great. The last person at our community garden plot used a ton of these things and trusted the netting to break down, I guess, so they didn't peel it off. Spoiler alert: it loving doesn't. The plot had been unoccupied for over a year when we got it and we were pulling those motherfucking things out of the ground for a solid two years after we took it over. Never found one that looked like it was even beginning to break down at all.
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Feb 28, 2021 04:32
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silicone thrills posted:And I can't get my neighbors to cut the ivy vines off their trees which are in some cases as thick as my upper arms so I cant stealthily do it That’s why Prometheus stole herbicide from the gods.
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Feb 28, 2021 06:48
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Platystemon posted:That’s why Prometheus stole herbicide from the gods. Herbicide only works on ivy if you literally drill a hole into the vine and pour it in immediately. I've done a lot of testing on this.
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Feb 28, 2021 07:05
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Jhet posted:
We share a fence with a neighbor that was covered in ivy. I talked to them about it and they dislike it too so agreed that if I pulled up my side they’d do theirs. They came through and did their side but basically did nothing but yank out the vines, meaning it’s going to come storming back as soon as spring hits. Meanwhile I’m trying to pull up as many roots as possible to actually kill the stuff.
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Feb 28, 2021 15:16
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silicone thrills posted:Herbicide only works on ivy if you literally drill a hole into the vine and pour it in immediately. I've done a lot of testing on this. Glyphosate, 2,4-D and a liberal squirt of dish soap. Go over the ivy a bit with your string trimmer to get it nice and scarred up. Now spray the hell out of it. Repeat this every week until the problem resolves itself.
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Feb 28, 2021 17:27
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Motronic posted:Glyphosate, 2,4-D and a liberal squirt of dish soap. Go over the ivy a bit with your string trimmer to get it nice and scarred up. Now spray the hell out of it. I may have to do that with creeping fig. I planted it in a large wooden container next to a corner of my decrepit cinder block garage. It did exactly what I wanted, which was to cover the cinder block up. Then it continued to climb over the non-functional "sliding" iron doors, along the other side of the garage and then onto the concrete patio that's between my back door and my decrepit, fig-covered cinder block garage. Now it's onto the small, fairly well shaded backyard that has only been successfully producing grass for the last two years after I had to remove a big ornamental pear tree that died and fell onto my roof. I don't care about grass too much, but I do have a dog and it's the only place he can gambol (and poop) without a leash. That and the space is shaded on one side by the garage and a fig tree and on the other by huge palms my neighbors planted. There's just not all that much I could grow there and still leave some space for the dog. If I can find the time and the resources, I would love to put some sort of barrier up that would make it easy to keep the creeping fig trimmed. The problem with spraying it is that I do like it covering the garage; I just want to stop it from spreading, but the area where it's spreading was, before the recent freeze, also home to some form of taro that we call "elephant ears" here. It would be really difficult to sever the vines that are vacating the garage so that spraying where I don't want it won't kill the whole thing. Alternatively, I could go back in time and not plant the creeping fig. If anyone has advice on either option, please share.
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Feb 28, 2021 22:43
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I broke down and planted some this weekend. I know it’s early I just had to do something! Onions, shallots, garlic are in a couple of my raised beds. While I was breaking down by the need to plant I at least kept my wits about me and only planted rooted plants. I also started milkweed seeds in a table greenhouse I have. I put down some soil, a ton of milkweed seeds, and a crunched up leaf mulch on top. That is sitting on my deck and I hope I get a few starters out of it. Sorry about the ivy. It’s a bad problem to have. I have at at my house and I’m waiting to tackle it. I just cut it back every month or so. EDIT: I should add that I’m zone 6. April is what I’m targeting to get my non-rooted plants out. I don’t know what you call non-rooted plants. The stuff that you don’t eat what’s underground vs the onions/potatoes/garlics of the world. Earth fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Mar 1, 2021 |
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Feb 28, 2021 23:23
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First sprout of the year!   Upped my game this season and actually bought a heat pad and grow light and put together a janky setup using a cheap portable clothes hanger. But this way I can actually get my peppers and tomatoes started properly.
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Mar 2, 2021 17:20
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Wondering if people here in general like those seed start trays (can't deny the density of seeds per square inch) or if you just prefer to start directly in a slightly larger container? I ask because last year I feel like I ruined more than a couple seed starters, especially on my peppers, from trying to get them out of those trays. Part of it was certainly letting them go to long and getting root bound, but also I feel like it's just annoying regardless to get them out of there. Just thinking to save myself the trouble of just starting in, say, 4-5" starter pots (or one of the many plastic Solo cups I have around that I don't think are going to be used anytime soon) so I can just keep them in there the whole time until ready to transplant outside?
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Mar 2, 2021 21:53
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I tried a seed tray and really regretted it. I also tried little compostable seed cells and they all formed black mold even while using a slight amount of peroxide in my watering and putting a fan in my incubator. So yeah, every things just starting in bigger pots now for me. A seed tray with no cells did work ok for doing a bunch of strawberries though, I will give it that because then I just kind of pulled them out in chunks and planted them on the hillside im working on.
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Mar 2, 2021 21:59
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I have little pots like https://www.amazon.com/Square-Plast...E2%80%9D&sr=8-4 They work great with starter mix. I leave the peppers to get a decent size, water then a little heavier than normal so the soil sticks to itself, and they tip right out when I pot up to 4” pots. I press on into the soil on the larger pot to leave almost the exact shape I need and just set it inside and brush the new soil in around it. They make it super easy to water consistently from the 1020 tray too. The only problem I’d have with starting from 4” pots is getting good heat to the seed and keeping the water right. The seeds won’t care if you can give them what they need to germinate. Coir pots, compostable pots, and seed pods are all a waste for me. I can reuse the plastic things over and over and will almost certainly never need more. I’ll need more of the 4” and 6” ones because those are given away.
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Mar 2, 2021 22:10
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Everything is horrible in its own way. I've used the peat pellets in the covered tray and have a few pepper and tomato plants going large enough that I repotted them into clay pots. But the ones that aren't big enough yet are getting attacked by mold now. I've also got some of those Jiffy strips, but nothing seems to want to grow in them and they're a little hard to water correctly without having them fall apart. Those little plastic pots are pretty good. You can stick them in a tray to water from the bottom and it's also really easy to squeeze them to remove the plant come springtime.
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Mar 2, 2021 22:15
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Jhet posted:The only problem I’d have with starting from 4” pots is getting good heat to the seed and keeping the water right. Oooh, yeah, my basement is chilly right now and will be all spring, 50-55 at best. My heat mat and grow light should be here tomorrow so I'm hoping I can get everything set by this weekend, but now I'm worried the mat can't keep a bigger starting pot warm enough, unless I only put in a small amount of dirt, but then I'm sort of defeating the purpose since with only a small amount of dirt, it isn't much better than the starter tray. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.
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Mar 2, 2021 22:22
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