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reply to post by retirednature


I've used cheesecloth to support trellised cucumbers, luffa, zucchini, muskmelon, etc. It ties easily to the trellis, comes in large sections for big fruits, and breathes wonderfully. It's also pretty affordable.

otherpotato - All the best wishes for your research project. Sounds like a great one.

reply to post by Halekoch


Why thank you! I am finishing up the details and will be posting the formal project soon. At the moment I am suffering greatly from my aggressive weeding this weekend. Ouch.

I've been tipped that pantyhose make great supports when trellising heavy fruits such as squashes. Just slip the legs over baby fruits. I may try this. One can get several pairs of low grade hose for cheap!

reply to post by Gazrok


I had a feeling that would be the answer - no worries. Thank you for trying - and to everyone else who passed the torch keeps those posts coming!

reply to post by spooky24


This is fascinating. I should check this with my plot, though I think mine must be opposite. The length of the field runs east to west so the part near the fence is where the sun rises. We get full sun all day with shading on the ends (which is a nice break for the leafy greens, peas, etc.)

What makes this placement optimal? I would interested to learn more. One of the topics I had proposed as a research area was using astronomy to garden, as well as the various "old wives tales" as people like to call them, which I feel is a bit of a misnomer. They are more than mere tales.

reply to post by otherpotato


This may be TMI. I'm pretty sure it is. So, away we go: I've worn pantyhose. I don't wear them anymore. They're miserable and don't breathe, which makes me think they could cause blossom ends to rot. Unless you're going to fishnet the fruits? Oooo... racy.

reply to post by Halekoch




I have worn pantyhose too.

Nuff said. We'll pass on that idea.

Fishnets however...hmmm....

Perennials are essential. Rootcrops as well. Rootcrops tend to either be perennial, or perform as such assuming you leave germplasms (any bit that can grow into a new plant) in the ground.

You need things you can depend on. With annuals its quite easy that your entire crop of any given thing can get ruined.

People might expect the notions of needing pesticides of some sort to stop the bugs from eating the fruit end products. I find, with annuals, often its about things that happen well before fruit set even occurs.

Here in FL, cucumbers and relatives can be a real pain. In general they tend to need to be hand pollinated (squashes in particular), but here the real killer is mold. By late May it seems if you don't spray with copper mold will begin destroying them right as they're reaching their prime. No copper, well?

Similar things with tomatoes: the last year I did my big array, some damn wasp apparently was eating the flowers rights off before they could do anything. Blossom end rot produces abut the same effect, and is one people in all places will get to enjoy when there's calcium deficiency.

With corn the bugs like to eat the main shoot (apical meristem). That destroys the plants ability to grow and even get around to beginning husk formation.

SO in terms of survival, one of the most important things all should ever print is your planting dates for your area. I also suggest printing a USDA Climate Zone Map. From there print a list of companion plants.

Now you need to grasp what each sort of veggie faces in your area. This will take reading, and practicing. Armed with these insights you can now strategize how you'd deal with these issues in whatever outcome it is you're preparing for.

Be sure to not skip on perennials. Unlike annuals, they're built to last and tend to not be prone to the above ordeals. In perpetual SHTF, you're going to need things you can count on and dont have to hassle with replanting etc every single time. BY their typical nature, these are the things you want to get going now so they have the time they need to reach high production stages. Moreover, even if you dont want to hassle with a 'garden' now, start setting the perennials now across your landscape.

reply to post by Gazrok


I love your layout!

I don't want to be a buzzkill, but figured that I should mention that onions and strawberries don't like each other. They would be better off on opposite sides of your garden, as far away from each other as possible.

I have made the strawberries their very own patch in a different part of the yard from the rest of the produce. They are also perennial and will grow and spread. Berries also like a more acidic soil than most of the other veggies.
Strawberries seem to be picky, but when they are in the right home they will forever give you fruit and more plants to continue expanding. Another thing, they don't like to be around gladiolas either, I have seen both plants struggle when planted in two different yards right next door to each other.

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


Good info you posted here.
I think this article addresses other methods of handling pests in the garden;

Flower Power Fights Orchard Pests
www.sciencedaily.com...

Washington State University researchers have found they can control one of fruit growers' more severe pests, aphids, with a remarkably benign tool: flowers. The discovery is a boon for organic as well as conventional tree fruit growers. The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders and predator bugs that in turn preyed on woolly apple aphids, a pest that growers often control with chemical sprays.

I have raised beds in my 'ponics system and am contemplating planting patches around the perimeter to pull the pests away from the garden. Aphids have been devastating people's crops this season (I work at a plant nursery and have been hearing it a lot in addition to my own problems with them). It has been one the coldest winter/spring seasons we have had in a long time down here (though most people get a case of the LulZ when they hear what us desert dwellers think is cold).

Cheers

reply to post by woodsmom

I don't want to be a buzzkill, but figured that I should mention that onions and strawberries don't like each other. They would be better off on opposite sides of your garden, as far away from each other as possible.

Ordinarily, I'd agree with that...but...
I'm in Plant City, FL, the strawberry capital of the world. It's almost impossible to fail at strawberries here. In fact though, we have a special kind of onion often grown WITH the strawberries, where both can benefit. It looks like a leek or a giant green onion. A Strawberry Onion is a Savannah Hybrid Sweet Onion which is grown on the perimeter of the strawberry fields.

reply to post by Gazrok


I grow a great many different onions, 45 minutes away, am a genetic stocking maniac, and did not now that.

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


We have a local joke when asked why we grow the onions with the strawberries. We say it keeps the elephants away. When they look puzzled, we answer, well, when was the last time you saw an elephant around here?

reply to post by Gazrok


I am going to look into that variety! I have been wanting to move my strawberries into the orchard to help pull the bees over that way and protect my fruit from the little critters, but I grow onions as well, so I have avoided it. I appreciate that heads up! I have seen the varieties that don't mix, it's not pretty. I would love to see onions and strawberries together. Is it a special breed of strawberries too, or just the onions?

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


If you need anyone to do a trial on short cool seasons for your berries, I am here and willing!
You can never have too many strawberries, or strawbabies as my youngest used to call them. It is the only berry I can't get enough of to do more than eat, between kids and birds, I am lucky to see many at all for myself.

reply to post by woodsmom


Just the onions.

Again though, kind of hard to fail at strawberries here, so may play into it. We even have an annual festival each year dedicated to strawberries.

For those who were/are interested, the Survival Gardening Research Project is underway.

reply to post by Gazrok


This strawberry/onion discussion caught my eye.

Gazrok, you're in Florida, woodsmom is in Alaska, and I am in the Northeast. There may be things we can learn from each other here.

In my area, both strawberries and onions need freezing temps for their seed to spout new. And both can also overwinter (to a certain temp). You are in Florida - what seeding/dormant periods do you observe?

reply to post by otherpotato


For strawberries? Or in general?

reply to post by Gazrok


Specific to strawberries and onions was what i was asking. I'm curious about the fact in your area they get along, while in ours the thinking is that they don't. I'm wondering if its a temperature thing. Do you have to freeze your strawberry seeds to get them to germinate? That's what we do here. I've been curious about seeds that need to freeze before germinating.

reply to post by otherpotato


Found a good link for you on it (oddly enough, even has the local joke, but then again, Parkesdale is where I heard it, so makes sense...

www.parkesdale.com...

A lot depends on the variety of strawberry. We have to avoid "everbearing" types here (we use annuals vs. perennials). Florida90, Tioga, Dover, Tufts, Douglas, Oso Grande, Chandler, Selva, Festival and Sweet Charlie are popular types. The latter two are best for my area.

We plant them in the fall here, usually mid-October (yield in December). We don't have to freeze them to germinate. Some of the bigger farms here do them at other times of the year as well, I'm not sure what they do to make that happen, or if it just inferior berries. Using mulch and plastic is common, though I know folks who don't. We also tend to place them tighter than further north.