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Faerunner
Dec 31, 2007
You can find all kinds of info on growing herbs indoors through google, but they're pretty easy to grow (if you're not me - I have 3 cats who thus far have killed every herb I've tried to grow in the house, and they can reach the fridge top so not even that's safe!). Just follow the directions on the seed packets, provide light with a window or grow-light and make sure they're watered regularly. Indoor potting mix should work to put them in, and they don't need much plant food or compost. :)

Places like Johnny's Seeds (one of my favorite suppliers) and Home Depot offer indoor herb growing kids with things like cilantro, dill, and basil in a handy kit ready to set on a windowsill or shelf, or you can pick a few of your favorites and find packets of seeds and cute planters at the local hardware or big-box store, or purchase pre-started ones from the local nursery/garden center. It's all about what you're comfortable with!

If the top of your fridge doesn't get direct sunlight (and I'm assuming that it doesn't), you'll probably want to pick up a nice wide-spectrum fluorescent bulb (aka "grow light") and a stand, hang the bulb close to the pots and raise it as the plants grow. You can get bulbs cheap-ish if you know what to look for; if you don't feel like scouring the lighting section for the right CFL or fluorescent tube, just go with a grow light kit that comes with everything. It'll cost more but you'll be guaranteed a full-spectrum bulb that will make your plants happy.

Good luck!


I'm going stir-crazy indoors this winter, especially with the weather as mild as it's been... this is insane. I've already started plotting the spring's garden improvements! My tiny lawn is doomed.

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SubG
Aug 19, 2004

It's a hard world for little things.
What promotes good thyme growth? I've got a couple thyme plants in the back yard, but they seem to tend toward growing stemmy instead of leafy, if that makes sense. They seem to do fine, but I usually end up with a lot of long branches with just a little leafy segment on the end. Is this one of those things where I should be pruning to promote a different growth pattern, or is it environmental, bad luck, or what?

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

SubG posted:

What promotes good thyme growth? I've got a couple thyme plants in the back yard, but they seem to tend toward growing stemmy instead of leafy, if that makes sense. They seem to do fine, but I usually end up with a lot of long branches with just a little leafy segment on the end. Is this one of those things where I should be pruning to promote a different growth pattern, or is it environmental, bad luck, or what?

Thyme does do better with fairly regular use/cutting in my experience, but if you can get your hands on it, give them a good sprinkle of sulphate of potash (Potassium Sulphate). It's lacking from most soils and fertilizers, and will promote better leaf growth and strength.

I'm nuts for the stuff. Especially on tomatoes and herbs, it makes a huge difference.

As for my garden, well, it's hit some roadblocks but is coming back nicely. We had a massive torrential storm over two days, which with winds and rain and hail, wiped out alot of my plants. I probably transplanted them a little early, which didn't help, so I've had to do alot of replanting. Peas have just taken off like the dickens, and my sole surviving tomato plant is getting bigger by the minute. Losing all my lettuce really sucked, but it's been replanted and back to where it was before, so shouldn't be long now! And my chives are growing decently.

The big surprise is that I actually got my chilli's to germinate, which I'm quite happy with. I use them alot, it's gunna be worth it.

Oh, and the carrots and beetroot are just flying along. It's quite awesome.

As for a question however, does anyone know what a marjoram seedling looks like? Either I accidentally dropped some marjoram seeds in the wrong pot, or I've cultivated one hell of a weed. It's got some inch sized leafs that have funny serrated edges, which I'm pretty sure isn't right. Any guesses?

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005

Penguin Radar posted:

As for a question however, does anyone know what a marjoram seedling looks like? Either I accidentally dropped some marjoram seeds in the wrong pot, or I've cultivated one hell of a weed. It's got some inch sized leafs that have funny serrated edges, which I'm pretty sure isn't right. Any guesses?

These are mine, still fairly young:


You can see how the first set of true leaves is a sort of elongated oval. The mature leaves look like this:


Serrated edges are usually a good indicator of weeds. Where did the soil come from?

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

Cpt.Wacky posted:

These are mine, still fairly young:


You can see how the first set of true leaves is a sort of elongated oval. The mature leaves look like this:


Serrated edges are usually a good indicator of weeds. Where did the soil come from?

Sonofa...

Thanks for that. Yep, I successfully cultivated a weed. Luckily I replanted literally everything in my seedraisers after the storms wiped them out, so I've got some little baby marjorams growing away nicely :)

As for the soil, it's all uber expensive specific veggie and herb pot mix. I've got a mate that works at the hardware, so that made things easier (and cheaper). Weeds are a constant bloody pest. You'd think living in the CBD, 5 stories up, they wouldn't be a problem. But I have to pull out about half a dozen daily. It's a pain, especially in the carrot and beet planters.

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005
Yeah, outdoors you're always going to be at risk for airborne weed seed. It's unlikely but possible that the potting mix is contaminated too. You might try putting some of it indoors in a sunny window and keep it watered just to see if there's any weed seed in it as an experiment.

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

SubG posted:

What promotes good thyme growth? I've got a couple thyme plants in the back yard, but they seem to tend toward growing stemmy instead of leafy, if that makes sense. They seem to do fine, but I usually end up with a lot of long branches with just a little leafy segment on the end. Is this one of those things where I should be pruning to promote a different growth pattern, or is it environmental, bad luck, or what?

How much sun is your thyme getting? It sounds like it might not be getting enough sun and is getting leggy. (It's spending its energy on longer stems to look for more sun instead of putting out leaves).

A feeding might also be in order. Nitrogen is the nutrient that helps leaf growth, but if you go with something high in nitrogen, it will burn the plant. Try feeding it a nice organic seaweed fertilizer. It should provide all of the nutrients you need.

As PenguinRadar said, it may also want to be trimmed more often. Never cut more than 1/3 of the plant at a time and give it time to recover between cuttings (especially if you cut back 1/3 of the plant).

Faerunner
Dec 31, 2007
Oh man, my herbs thrive when they're cut. I have lemon balm that was transplanted from a tiny root chunk of my mom's plant... in two years it's gotten almost 3' across and nearly as tall and every summer it bushes out like mad and smells amazing. If I cut it, it comes back twice as fast and twice as big. The oregano doesn't come back quite as fast, but the golden oregano (which is an awesome ground-cover herb and really pretty besides!) has also gotten bushier and spread better after trimming back. They seem to really like it. :3

Also if you don't trim them back, they flower and spend energy making seeds instead of tasty tasty leaves. (The flowers are pretty, though!)

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008
The flowers can also be yummy.

SubG
Aug 19, 2004

It's a hard world for little things.

luloo123 posted:

How much sun is your thyme getting? It sounds like it might not be getting enough sun and is getting leggy. (It's spending its energy on longer stems to look for more sun instead of putting out leaves).
I don't think that's it. It's still growing symmetrically instead of leaning into the sun, like I'd expect a plant wanting more light would---my rosemary does this, despite growing like a weed where it is, and I've got a fig tree that looks like a Dalí painting because it gets shade part of the day from an adjacent tree.

I've also moved the thyme around the yard, and it seems to behave pretty much the same whether it's getting sun in the morning, late in the day, or throughout the day. If anything I was figuring thyme didn't like too much sun, as it seems to start to get yellowish if it's getting sun all day.


When trimming thyme, how much does it want to be hacked back? The stems seem to be running around 20 cm/8" long, with leaves on the last 6 or 7 cm/2 or 3 inches.

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

SubG posted:

I don't think that's it. It's still growing symmetrically instead of leaning into the sun, like I'd expect a plant wanting more light would---my rosemary does this, despite growing like a weed where it is, and I've got a fig tree that looks like a Dalí painting because it gets shade part of the day from an adjacent tree.

I've also moved the thyme around the yard, and it seems to behave pretty much the same whether it's getting sun in the morning, late in the day, or throughout the day. If anything I was figuring thyme didn't like too much sun, as it seems to start to get yellowish if it's getting sun all day.


When trimming thyme, how much does it want to be hacked back? The stems seem to be running around 20 cm/8" long, with leaves on the last 6 or 7 cm/2 or 3 inches.

It was a theory. I would love to see the Dali fig tree, though.

The other thing that it could be is a lack of nitrogen in the soil. Or it could just be persnickety. I had some moody thyme a couple of years ago, until it was taken out by an unusually rough winter.

I wouldn't cut off any more than 1/3 of the plant at a time. That's what all of my reading has recommended for pruning. That should be enough to stimulate growth without stressing the plant too much. If it is very hot where you are, I would wait for a cooler day so that you don't stress the plant too much.

Bagheera
Oct 30, 2003

Bastard Tetris posted:

Thirding BT as something that will completely gently caress up tomato loopers.


Following up on this post from a while back.

Is BT effective on most every butterfly/moth larvae?

Does it kill all insects/arachnids?

Is it safe on citrus trees?

I'm about to get some BT for my tomato plants. I haven't seen any more half-eaten leaves since I killed the first three I found in December. I have found a shitload of little white eggs on the undersides of the leaves. So I'm going to get some BT and spray down my tomato plant. I'll put some on my basil leaves just for good measure.

Is it safe to put on my key lime tree as well? I found another caterpillar on it today. The little bastards look like pieces of bird poop when they're not moving, but they display two big red "horns" when they're touched. The horns retract into their bodies when they calm down. I'm thinking about spraying BT on the lime tree as well. That said, the tree is also home to several small spiders that I really don't want to kill. They're probably eating little pests that I never see. Your opinions?

EDIT: The bird poop caterpillars on the lime tree are Citrus Swallowtails, which I've seen flying around my neighborhood.

Bagheera fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Jan 22, 2012

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

Bagheera posted:

Is BT effective on most every butterfly/moth larvae?

Does it kill all insects/arachnids?

Is it safe on citrus trees?


Here's some info about BT from The Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet. The full article can be found here: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2174.html

factsheet posted:

What is BT?

In 1915, B. thuringiensis was discovered from diseased flour moth caterpillars/ Since that first registration, dramatic discoveries have occurred in identifying BT strains. Now we have BT products that affect caterpillars, leaf beetles, and mosquito larvae.


How Does BT Work?

The actual mode of action of BT is simple. The bacterium produces a crystal protein toxin that kills the cells lining the insect gut. When ingested, the bacterial cell wall is digested which releases this toxin. Since insects have guts that are only one cell layer thick, this toxin literally "eats" a hole in the gut, causing an infection in the body cavity.

The interesting thing about BT, is that only certain insects digest and are affected by the protein toxins. In most insects, as well as people, birds, fish, and other animals, the BT proteins have virtually no measurable effect.


Do BT Sprays Harm People, Pets, Livestock, Honey Bees or the Environment?

As stated above, neither BT bacteria nor the protein toxins have any effect on people, pets (unless you are raising caterpillars as pets!), livestock, or honey bees. In fact, there is a BT product that is specifically registered to control the honey bee infesting caterpillar, the wax moth.

Unfortunately, there is considerable misunderstanding about the effects of BT sprays. Indeed, BT sprays will kill most of the young caterpillars that may ingest it as they feed on treated plant leaves. Both damaging caterpillars, such as the gypsy moth as well as harmless butterflies and moths, can be killed. However, by avoiding sensitive areas that may serve as habitat for desirable or endangered butterflies and moths, unwanted effects can be avoided.

In general, BT and its toxins are destroyed within three to five days by sunlight and other microbes. Caterpillars killed by BT stop feeding, drop to the ground, and decay harmlessly. The BT applied in a spray does not multiply or accumulate in the environment.


In short:
Is BT effective on most every butterfly/moth larvae? Seems like it; although, it says later in the page that it is most effect on young caterpillars.

Does it kill all insects/arachnids? No. Just ones that come from caterpillars. No on arachnids.

Is it safe on citrus trees? Your citrus trees should be fine. (YAY! Key Limes!)

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

Had to prune back some of my larger, faster growing herbs for the first time today, so naturally got to taste them for the first time.

The Lemon Basil is insanely strong. Seriously, the aftertaste of lemon remains for like half an hour afterward, and it's absolutely delicious. I'm excited to do some Indonesian styled cooking just to use this stuff. Insanely yummy.

The Chervil is like a weird, nutty, slightly aniseedy Parsley. Absolutely have no ideas what to do with it though. Oh well, it's a nice problem to have.

The Cinnamon Basil is super aniseedy, tastes like incredibly strong fennel. Gunna be interesting to find a use for that one.

The sage tastes like Sage, and is growing like mad.

So all is going well, except for one Tomato plant. It's still pretty small, I'd say 5in tall at most, and in the past couple of days the leaves have started yellowing and it's looking decidedly unhealthy. I'm thinking it could be too much water, as the drainage isn't the best in this pot, and we've had a tonne of rain in the past few days. Would that cause that? All the other tomato plants are completely fine, so it's an intriguing problem.

Oh, and my pea plants are growing like the dickens, but I've noticed the very bottom leaves on each plant have started to go yellow and die off. I'm guessing that's a lack of nutrients/sunlight problem, so they're getting a feed this morning.

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005

Penguin Radar posted:

So all is going well, except for one Tomato plant. It's still pretty small, I'd say 5in tall at most, and in the past couple of days the leaves have started yellowing and it's looking decidedly unhealthy. I'm thinking it could be too much water, as the drainage isn't the best in this pot, and we've had a tonne of rain in the past few days. Would that cause that? All the other tomato plants are completely fine, so it's an intriguing problem.

Very possible. If the soil gets too wet then the roots aren't going to have air around them that they need to breathe. It's kind of like suffocating or drowning. In general it's better to water deeply less frequently than a little (or a lot) more often. Stop watering it for a few days at least and see if it improves.

dream owl
Jul 19, 2010
Quick question: I have tiny white flies living on my mint. Don't seem to effect the plant, which grows very happily in a pot on my kitchen table. The bugs are just barely visible, but when I ruffle the mint they all take flight. They seem to be chilling out on the undersides of the leaves. I can try and get a picture when there is better light.

Psyched to find this thread, by the way. I've got a whole container herb garden going on my second story balcony (I'm in New Orleans) and am already making veg plans for spring...

Faerunner
Dec 31, 2007

Penguin Radar posted:

Oh, and my pea plants are growing like the dickens, but I've noticed the very bottom leaves on each plant have started to go yellow and die off. I'm guessing that's a lack of nutrients/sunlight problem, so they're getting a feed this morning.

I want to groooooow :( I have cats and they do not leave houseplants alone long enough to do indoor herbs, though. Waiting hopefully for spring, or at least for weather that is not a freaking roller coaster. January sucks!

The peas - I've encountered that too. I studied the issue and concluded that it was either poor drainage or fusarium wilt, which is a fungal infection common in warm moist soils and is a real bitch to deal with. It's been ongoing in the same spot 2 years in a row for me, so I'm going to move the plants to the front yard this year, with better sun and slightly better soil, and see if it happens there, too.

dream owl, the flies on the mint are probably whiteflies, which are related to aphids and will eat your plant and eventually kill it. They multiply fast! Check for little circles or semi-circles of eggs under the leaves! If they are whiteflies, apparently spraying the plant with a seaweed spray (nice for the plant anyway) can make the leaves less attractive to them for reproduction, but you can also use insecticidal soaps.

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

Well, tonight I made my first dish using ingredients from the garden.

Baked Rainbow Trout with Heirloom Carrots, Asparagus and Baby Brussel Sprouts.

Admittedly, I bought the asparagus and sprouts, but everything else was out of the garden. Used a good handfull of lemon and cinnamon basil, a heap of chervil, and of course, my baby carrots.

It was amazing. Utterly amazing. I'm beyond hooked now. And even better is that my pea plants have sprouted baby pea pods, which is terribly exciting.

Time to order some more seeds I think. I reckon I can grow fenel in a decent sized pot, and I'm gunna give asparagus a whirl.

Although I'm about to leave the garden to it's own devices for 5 days while I'm deployed, so I'm a little worried/excited what it will look like when I get back. There's plenty of rain forecast luckily, so watering isn't a problem. I'm hoping it will look like a jungle.

Faerunner
Dec 31, 2007
Congrats! Last summer I made more bruschetta/open faced tomato sandwiches/regular tomato sandwiches than any human should eat in one season because my heirloom tomato plants did better than I expected. I even gave a few tomatoes to the neighbor! There's nothing like cooking something you grew yourself.

Asparagus is a bitch because of the wait times; you can't harvest it for a year after planting and can't do a full harvest until two years out, but if you have the space it's worth a try! I've had fresh asparagus from a family friend's garden before and it's delicious!

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

Penguin Radar posted:

Well, tonight I made my first dish using ingredients from the garden.

Baked Rainbow Trout with Heirloom Carrots, Asparagus and Baby Brussel Sprouts.

Admittedly, I bought the asparagus and sprouts, but everything else was out of the garden. Used a good handfull of lemon and cinnamon basil, a heap of chervil, and of course, my baby carrots.

It was amazing. Utterly amazing. I'm beyond hooked now. And even better is that my pea plants have sprouted baby pea pods, which is terribly exciting.

Time to order some more seeds I think. I reckon I can grow fenel in a decent sized pot, and I'm gunna give asparagus a whirl.

Although I'm about to leave the garden to it's own devices for 5 days while I'm deployed, so I'm a little worried/excited what it will look like when I get back. There's plenty of rain forecast luckily, so watering isn't a problem. I'm hoping it will look like a jungle.

That sounds delicious! Congratulations. Soon you will have more than you know what to do with. How big is your plot?

dream owl
Jul 19, 2010

Faerunner posted:

dream owl, the flies on the mint are probably whiteflies, which are related to aphids and will eat your plant and eventually kill it. They multiply fast! Check for little circles or semi-circles of eggs under the leaves! If they are whiteflies, apparently spraying the plant with a seaweed spray (nice for the plant anyway) can make the leaves less attractive to them for reproduction, but you can also use insecticidal soaps.

Thanks, Faerunner. I think that's exactly what they are. Time to track down some seaweed spray.

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

Does anyone know how to dry herbs without them going mouldy?

I live in a place with high humidity, air drying isn't an option and I'm not gunna buy a dehydrater just because my basil is going nuts, and try as I might I just can't incorporate lemon or cinammon basil in every meal. I tried a low heat oven, that was switched off, but they turned into ash tasting yuckiness :(

Faerunner
Dec 31, 2007
Airflow can help mitigate humidity, or maybe you could finish drying in the fridge because it might be better than leaving the herbs out in humid air (but I don't know if the cold would have an effect)... I can't guarantee anything, but maybe try less time in the oven, or hang them over an air vent for a while? It won't be perfect, I'm sure... but it might be better than over-baking (I did that my first try with lemon balm, too. I feel your pain!)

My best drying tactic so far has been hanging bunches upside-down on our breezy porch, and then letting them sit in the cupboard for months until I got the motivation to strip the leaves off the stems and jar them. The airflow dried them even though I did it during a week when it rained twice, and the subsequent stay in our dry cupboard ensured there wasn't mold. I haven't had any experience with constant humidity, though :(

Kilersquirrel
Oct 16, 2004
My little sister is awesome and bought me this account.

Penguin Radar posted:

Does anyone know how to dry herbs without them going mouldy?

I live in a place with high humidity, air drying isn't an option and I'm not gunna buy a dehydrater just because my basil is going nuts, and try as I might I just can't incorporate lemon or cinammon basil in every meal. I tried a low heat oven, that was switched off, but they turned into ash tasting yuckiness :(

I've used the box-fan dehydrator from the jerky episode of Good Eats with great success. If you don't have/want to buy a fan then you can also try making flat sheets of the herbs with paper towels and put them in front of the cold air port in your fridge. Since it's coming down from the freezer, the air will be extremely dry; the paper helps wick out moisture from the herbs while the cold retards spoilage bacteria. I've used this for preserving excess rosemary, thyme, and oregano with excellent results as well.

e: these were done while I was living in Orlando, so they work in humid areas.

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005
This paper from Hawaii has a procedure using the microwave to process tea leaves that might give you a few ideas too.

Penguin Radar
Oct 22, 2005

Thanks guys, I was googling for ages with no results. I'll try the fridge trick when I do my harvest next week.

In crapper news, I got two pea pods, and then all my pea plants died. I can't really see a reason for it, although it is summer and probably not the right season. Oh well, the two were yummy!

I'm thinking I'm beginning to get some pests pop up too. I've noticed a few leaves on random plants have bits that look eaten, but it's actually been eaten down to a level that leaves a clear bit on the leaf. Not sure what could be doing it, but I'm gunna give all the plants a good big garlic spray and hope for the best. At the moment I'm deployed away from home for 5 days a week, which while it's exciting to come home and see how much grows in 5 days, my garden is completely at the mercy of nature and pests.

mindphlux
Jan 8, 2004

by R. Guyovich
oh, I was about to start a new garden thread thinking this one had died, but then I found it.

getting ready to start seeds! I'm a bit late I guess - just cleared out all my dead plants over the weekend, which was a pretty big task. here's what I got to work with




I removed most of my potting soil that had lots of roots in it, but maybe like 1/5th of every container had like 'shake' or leftover dirt in it. Is it ok to reuse this dirt - just mix it in with new potting soil?

speaking of potting soil - I don't really know what I'm doing. if I buy the expensive rear end branded 'moisture control' mixtures, my plants go wild - but I have so many pots to fill that I would easily be spending hundreds of dollars on soil alone if I did that.

I bought some cheap potting soil kind of hidden away in the bulk section of Home Depot, but I don't know anything about it. Is that fine to use? Should I supplement it with those round yellow plant food bead things? I was planning on mixing a bit of perlite in for herbs that grow in more sandy/dry soil...


my missions this year are to A. grow tomatoes that don't have thick unappetizing skins and B. learn more about soil

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

mindphlux posted:


speaking of potting soil - I don't really know what I'm doing. if I buy the expensive rear end branded 'moisture control' mixtures, my plants go wild - but I have so many pots to fill that I would easily be spending hundreds of dollars on soil alone if I did that.

I bought some cheap potting soil kind of hidden away in the bulk section of Home Depot, but I don't know anything about it. Is that fine to use? Should I supplement it with those round yellow plant food bead things? I was planning on mixing a bit of perlite in for herbs that grow in more sandy/dry soil...


This is what my favorite garden resource has to say about soil in pots:

quote:

Fill your containers with one part compost (home-made or bagged) and three parts of a loose, light, ‘soil-free’ mixture like Premier’s Pro-Mix or Fafard’s All-Purpose Mix. Bags labeled ‘seed-starting’ are almost always the right consistency. You DON’T want ‘heavy’; you want a mix that seems almost impossibly light. And don’t use any of these new mixes contaminated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides; since when are there BUGS in peat moss and perlite?!

No compost? Use a clean soil-free mix that contains natural plant food. There are a few out there in the retail world, and Gardens Alive makes a potting soil with five different organic nutrients, including compost, earthworm castings and “mealworm crap” (now there’s an ingredient you don’t see on a lot of bags…). They also use Coir, a fiber from coconuts, instead of peat.

Or make your own mix out of one part each compost, peat, perlite, and vermiculite. (Perlite and vermiculite are natural mined minerals that keep the mix light and provide lots of room for roots to grow strong.) Add one tablespoon of lime or wood ash per five gallons of mix to adjust the pH, and combine it all up in a big tub or wheelbarrow, spraying with plain water as you go to keep down the dust. Warning: Some samples of vermiculite may contain traces of asbestos fibers (naturally present in the mined deposits); I really value the structure vermiculite lends to a mix, but if you don’t wish to use it, just add more perlite instead.

He talks more about gardening in pots, including a section on drainage and pot size. Here's the link: http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=452

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005

mindphlux posted:

oh, I was about to start a new garden thread thinking this one had died, but then I found it.

getting ready to start seeds! I'm a bit late I guess - just cleared out all my dead plants over the weekend, which was a pretty big task. here's what I got to work with




I removed most of my potting soil that had lots of roots in it, but maybe like 1/5th of every container had like 'shake' or leftover dirt in it. Is it ok to reuse this dirt - just mix it in with new potting soil?

speaking of potting soil - I don't really know what I'm doing. if I buy the expensive rear end branded 'moisture control' mixtures, my plants go wild - but I have so many pots to fill that I would easily be spending hundreds of dollars on soil alone if I did that.

I bought some cheap potting soil kind of hidden away in the bulk section of Home Depot, but I don't know anything about it. Is that fine to use? Should I supplement it with those round yellow plant food bead things? I was planning on mixing a bit of perlite in for herbs that grow in more sandy/dry soil...


my missions this year are to A. grow tomatoes that don't have thick unappetizing skins and B. learn more about soil

It's probably ok to use that leftover dirt, but keep in mind that's usually the wettest part and may be more prone to carrying disease into newly planted pots. I usually scrub and rinse my pots before reusing them, but some people go to the extreme of bleaching.

Commercial bagged soil is like processed food. It's all made up of various amounts of different ingredients. The cheaper stuff has a lot of filler, often wood bark. If it doesn't have a list of what's in it then you can be sure it's not very high quality. Potting soil isn't going to have a whole lot of nutrients, so you may want to blend it with some compost, and probably plan on using a balanced organic fertilizer. If you don't have a worm bin, then you could start one. That's a great way to get some high quality compost to add to container plants.

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

Cpt.Wacky posted:

It's probably ok to use that leftover dirt, but keep in mind that's usually the wettest part and may be more prone to carrying disease into newly planted pots. I usually scrub and rinse my pots before reusing them, but some people go to the extreme of bleaching.

Commercial bagged soil is like processed food. It's all made up of various amounts of different ingredients. The cheaper stuff has a lot of filler, often wood bark. If it doesn't have a list of what's in it then you can be sure it's not very high quality. Potting soil isn't going to have a whole lot of nutrients, so you may want to blend it with some compost, and probably plan on using a balanced organic fertilizer. If you don't have a worm bin, then you could start one. That's a great way to get some high quality compost to add to container plants.

To add onto what Cpt. Wacky said, if you grew tomatoes in the soil last year, try not to grow tomatoes in it again. Growing tomatoes in the same place year after year can cause a build up of the fungus that causes verticillium wilt. It will affect the quality and quantity of tomatoes in your harvest. You can grow other stuff in the reused soil, just try to avoid growing tomatoes in it.

megazord
Jul 16, 2001

I started our garden this past summer.

I started seedlings in here. Lettuce and carrots didn't survive (I f'ed up when transplanting them). I have a row of 4 broccoli growing in a brick planter at the entrance to our apartment.



I built us a planter box (bottomless) out of cedar fence material and big rear end bolts. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple bags of soil, tomato plants, bell peppers, and chili peppers.


I put too many tomato plants too close together (four), they got out of control so fast. We were giving away more heirloom tomatoes than we could eat. They also got tall and started to crowd out the poor little plants in the front row. I'm going with 2 tomato plants this season at opposite ends of the planter.

The bell peppers are lagging, I've gotten like 2 small peppers out of them. The Jalapeno and Serrano are kind of dormant right now with maybe 2 good peppers on each - there were more during the summer.

Heirloom tomatoes are so good and considering how much Whole Foods sells them for, I think it was worth it. I may have broken even with the startup cost last season, but looking for serious return on investment when I plant some this month.

Even if it ended up costing more, there is nothing like knowing exactly where you got your food because you grew it, not from some shady corporate farm where an illegal immigrant probably pissed on it and threw it in a box for WholeFoods.

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zeroprime
Mar 25, 2006

Words go here.

Fun Shoe
Someone gave a breakdown of the costs of raising different vegetables per square foot compared to their cost from the store. It turned out leafy greens had a much higher return on investment than fruits and vegetables. For the winter, Broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage are good, but kale/mustard greens/lettuce save you the most money.

megazord
Jul 16, 2001

zeroprime posted:

Someone gave a breakdown of the costs of raising different vegetables per square foot compared to their cost from the store. It turned out leafy greens had a much higher return on investment than fruits and vegetables. For the winter, Broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage are good, but kale/mustard greens/lettuce save you the most money.

Question about things like lettuce. In small gardens like ours, wouldn't the yield be super small considering each plant gets harvested all at once? If I plant 4 lettuce I'd get 4 heads when they're ready.

Tomatoes -I know they may be an exception- pretty much kept giving and giving until I got sick of pruning them and cut them down to stumps.

I can see where you're going if you decided you wanted key limes or something. That's a lot of watering and work before you get a plant that starts consistently turning out fruit.

mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

megazord posted:

Question about things like lettuce. In small gardens like ours, wouldn't the yield be super small considering each plant gets harvested all at once? If I plant 4 lettuce I'd get 4 heads when they're ready.

Tomatoes -I know they may be an exception- pretty much kept giving and giving until I got sick of pruning them and cut them down to stumps.

I can see where you're going if you decided you wanted key limes or something. That's a lot of watering and work before you get a plant that starts consistently turning out fruit.

You wouldn't necessarily have to harvest all of the lettuce at once, depending. Also, if you want to keep yourself in greens all summer, stagger the planting - that way you can have a new plant ready every week or two, and just keep cycling them.

luloo123
Aug 25, 2008

mediaphage posted:

You wouldn't necessarily have to harvest all of the lettuce at once, depending. Also, if you want to keep yourself in greens all summer, stagger the planting - that way you can have a new plant ready every week or two, and just keep cycling them.

Head lettuce is also much different from leaf lettuce. If planted early, leaf lettuce will keep giving and giving until it gets too hot. A second planting will keep giving and giving until it gets too cold. Staggering is important though.

Head lettuce will sometimes start to form a second head (in theory, I have never grown it), but I hear that it isn't all that common. I might be wrong though.

mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

luloo123 posted:

Head lettuce is also much different from leaf lettuce. If planted early, leaf lettuce will keep giving and giving until it gets too hot. A second planting will keep giving and giving until it gets too cold. Staggering is important though.

Head lettuce will sometimes start to form a second head (in theory, I have never grown it), but I hear that it isn't all that common. I might be wrong though.

This is a really good point that I didn't really consider since I never really est much head lettuce. Thanks.

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005

zeroprime posted:

Someone gave a breakdown of the costs of raising different vegetables per square foot compared to their cost from the store. It turned out leafy greens had a much higher return on investment than fruits and vegetables. For the winter, Broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage are good, but kale/mustard greens/lettuce save you the most money.

Steve Solomon has a chart like that in his book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades.

quote:

Fresh herbs
Parsley
Carrots
Beets
Parsnips
Loose-leaf lettuce
Other leafy salad greens
Scallions (green onions)
Spinach
Kale
Swiss chard
Leeks
Kohlrabi
Potatoes
Rutabagas
Zucchini and other summer bush squash
Tomatoes (indeterminate, staked)
Cucumbers
Peppers
Cantaloupes and other muskmelons
Snap (pole) beans
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Brussel sprouts
Bulb onions
Winter squash
Sweet corn
Watermelon
Pumpkin

Ranked from best value to worst. He says it was based on his costs compared to the cost in the supermarket in the season it could be grown. This is for the Pacific NW so it may vary by region where it's easier to grow some things at different times of the year.

mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

Cpt.Wacky posted:

Steve Solomon has a chart like that in his book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades.


Ranked from best value to worst. He says it was based on his costs compared to the cost in the supermarket in the season it could be grown. This is for the Pacific NW so it may vary by region where it's easier to grow some things at different times of the year.

Haha I don't get how disadvantageous it can be to grow pumpkins. We bought seeds and just let them grow.

NPR Journalizard
Feb 14, 2008

mediaphage posted:

Haha I don't get how disadvantageous it can be to grow pumpkins. We bought seeds and just let them grow.

Maybe because pumpkin is so damned cheap in the supermarket, and takes up so much space, you could be using that to grow more expensive stuff instead, and use the money you save on that to buy pumpkin.

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mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

Frogmanv2 posted:

Maybe because pumpkin is so damned cheap in the supermarket, and takes up so much space, you could be using that to grow more expensive stuff instead, and use the money you save on that to buy pumpkin.

Probably. I guess the value proposition is different when you live on a farm.

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