The 2014 Garden Thread

First frost expected tomorrow night. Most of the deciduous trees have already been dropping leaves for a month due to being stressed by the hot summer. The zucchinis have been giving me 2 a day for the last couple of weeks. I have a few collected so I am going to slice them, grill them, paint them with vinegar and drown them in herbs and olive oil - should keep in the fridge for 3 months like that and the kids love them on sandwiches. Many of the tomatoes are ripening after all. The melons are ready, they taste very much like the best rock melon (cantaloupe) I have ever had, though they are small. Pumpkins galore. I tired my first chicory root the other day, a bit like jerusalem artichoke but a hint of bitterness, this could be because of growing them over summer, I know that chicory leaves get bitter in hot weather. I have planted silver beet, kale, cabbage, kohl rabi, carrots, parsley, onions, garlic, salsify, and lettuce. All sprouting well or growing already.

Have fun and good luck up there in the Northern hemisphere.

Thank you for this thread. Love it.

My wife retired and this year is her first attempt at a full garden (and some little live stock).

We will be reviewing this and the other posted helpful info from the members.

a reply to: MojaveBurning

I had these (Devil's Ivy) growing throughout my kitchen. They did phenomenally well in a small pot and literally grew to about 12 foot or more. I used to root these in water but soon transplanted them to earth as soon as the root system was big enough. I think you have already sussed the problem - the plant needs more than water can deliver. As the plant gets bigger it needs more nutrients to send around its system. If you wish to keep it in water and keep that water clear a good hydroponic feed would be the answer. I would suggest a very small quantity in the water as too much would probably over feed it and that would be disastrous. Personally i would use a couple of drops in the water bowl and watch and adjust from there.

Hope this in some way helps. And good luck.

a reply to: spooky24

I have followed up my plans and finished my solar project last week.
I have placed two panels totalling 230Wp on top of the wooden construction that was placed to support the blackberry. I have tried to conceal the panels as much as possible to not pollute the picturesque sight too much. I have the option to put them up to an angle to have better yield when needed. When the contraption is down, it produced around 10 amps when the sun is directly above. 13 when in turbo mode.

When dry and sunny I can use the water pump one hour in the morning and have a full battery (AGM 220Ah) at the end of the day. The installation can run the pump for around 4 hours having to regain power for a day or four.




Let the dry season begin!

a reply to: D.Wolf

I have to say that i'm jealous.

Nice setup, and scenery.

I have my garden in the front yard..lol...we like to watch the neighbors drive by slow gawking at the garden. Some stop to buy some tomatoes.

Some are jealous because they don't have a gaurd kitty protecting their garden from squirrels and rabbits.

I love my cat

I've got all my seedlings growing now and within the next couple of weeks I'll get the tiller out and go
over the ground. Last year for the first time, I covered the garden with plastic sheeting and it did a
great job of keeping the ground weed/grass free.

I have been planning on buying a greenhouse sometime soon, but instead of buying one as originally planned,
I'm going to make one ( or give it my best shot!@) out of gatorade bottles. Gotta do something with them, and
rather than seeing them in a landfill, I'll make use of them. Will keep saving them and by next year, I hope to have enough.
Something like this, but a little larger.

a reply to: virraszto

This is a really great idea! I love the idea of repurposing in general, but your greenhouse will especially be a great use of those bottles. It's repurposing on a much grander scale than anything I've ever attempted, kudos to you for taking on such a challenge.

I'm been meaning to drop by this threads since it started.
Bust since our spring is late, so is my yen for gardening.

My seedlings are about 4 weeks old....and some will need to be moved up to a small peat pot...I start my seeds in peat pellets....
Trying calendula for the first time in many years....and so far so good....first attempt was a failure.
Petunias are starting to look good, but boy are they small.

Tomatoes have their first true leaves....

Kudos to all the gardeners out there

I did the paintbrush trick to my tomato plants since I'm short of pollinators and now have lots of little tomatoes...but they are ripening at that small size. Am I overwatering? Over feeding? My bell peppers are small too.
Any ideas?

a reply to: missvicky

How small is small?
And what size should they be?

I've not had much luck with full size tomatoes in pots.
They've been small for the variety and mealy.
I have had much more luck with cherry and grape tomatoes in pots.

That said....how big are your pots?
Maybe mine were just too small to ripen large fruit.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe


This is to show the pot size. (Geez I hope this works)

This is to show the size of the tomatoes

What do you think?

a reply to: missvicky

I'd be getting them either in the ground, or go for bigger pots. Even at that size, the plants will have pretty full on root systems which will be stifled in pots that small. You also need to look at staking them regardless, tomatoes find it infinitely easier to manage if they can grow straight upwards.

Hows the weather in your area? Even if it is a bit cooler there they will either take longer to ripen, or ripen a lot smaller like they are.

a reply to: 74Templar

Agreed.
I think it has to do with the root ball being confined, and the heat of the soil in a plastic pot.
I don't have anything from a gardening source to back up my theories, though.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I've always found tomatoes are one of those veggies that are relatively easy to grow, but hard to master.

I stake mine at about 1-2 foot high, and keep tying them back as they grow. My crop last year reached almost seven feet high, and I had fist sized tomatoes. The heat tends to halt them a bit but is good for them, and as for watering and feeding, I just water them each day, and give them a bit of seasol once a week. I've just recently took out the last remnants of my crop as they were done for the season, and the root systems were easily two feet in the ground, and were about 3 feet out from the plant, which even surprised me.

originally posted by: 74Templar
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I've always found tomatoes are one of those veggies that are relatively easy to grow, but hard to master.

I stake mine at about 1-2 foot high, and keep tying them back as they grow. My crop last year reached almost seven feet high, and I had fist sized tomatoes. The heat tends to halt them a bit but is good for them, and as for watering and feeding, I just water them each day, and give them a bit of seasol once a week. I've just recently took out the last remnants of my crop as they were done for the season, and the root systems were easily two feet in the ground, and were about 3 feet out from the plant, which even surprised me.

Do you plant them in enormous containers or in the ground? In the ground isn't really an option for me, but with a root system as large as you describe not even a half wine barrel would be big enough!

Thanks for the tips!

a reply to: missvicky

I always plant them as seedlings in the ground once they are about 6 inches high. The cool thing is they can grow pretty close together, I usually plant them about a foot apart and they just kinda all grow like a big hedge.

My bed is about 6ftx6ft with four plants in each row. One year I used an old single wooden bed frame and just filled it with dirt and potting mix, and they took off. If you can, just get one of those little metal beds from a garden store, or you can even buy canvas troughs that function as garden beds from ebay pretty cheaply. Then just fill them with potting soil and away they go.

As for ripening too soon, I would say the warmth of lack thereof would be causing that. Where you have them do they get full sun, shade or partial both? I find half and half, particularly morning sun and afternoon shade seems to make them go well.

a reply to: 74Templar

Well I have noticed in seasons past they tend to crisp a little in hot afternoon sun so I have moved them where they get morning and late afternoon sun but shade when the sun is high. Like I said room is tight for me and I have to use containers. I was so hoping for a delicious heirloom tomato slice on my BLT but guess I will have settle for several small slices. lol! A couple of my larger plants in the bigger pots wintered over in the greenhouse so they are on their second season of producing. I wonder if that has something to do with it too?
Wouldn't metal beds make the roots even hotter? I'll check out the canvas set up too.

This is strawberry picking time in Texas. I'm not sure what variety mine are--bought them at the big-box hardware complex, and the kids pulled off the tags when we planted them last year.

lots of fruits; they are smaller than commercial, ranging in size from the end of my pinky, up to the size of the end of my thumb. (I have large hands). They have a much, much higher moisture content than commercial ones, and some of them are both extremely tart AND extremely sweet. So much so that you'd swear they were sweetened with something. But no, like that right off the plant.

the bad news is that SOMETHING IS EATING THEM. It eats the upper edge, and just grazes the skin, which leaves a mushy mess of a trail where it was bitten. Originally I thought it was slugs.

I believe now that it is earwig. Any suggestions?

a reply to: tovenar

Where have you got them planted? Are they just in the ground, or up in pots?

Strawberries do better when they are elevated a bit, mine are in old gutters and just hang down as they grow.

As for the bugs, depending on what's eating them, it actually sounds like slugs are eating them to me, if you get some vinegar and weaken it a bit with water, then VERY carefully spray it around the area without getting any on the plant itself. The same result can be used with a bit of dissolved salt in water too, it should keep the bugs away, although it is only temporary and will only last a week or so, less if it rains.

The best trick is to get the strawberries up off the ground and have them hanging, which keeps a lot of the ground bugs off them.