23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
About the "like" button. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I can see the usefulness of it. It's an easy way to say, "thanks" or "I like what you said" when I have nothing more to add at that moment.
I don't want people to go to the trouble of opening a thread with the expectation of a new comment to read, and then all it is, is me saying "thanks," or saying "nice picture." So I "like" it instead.
I hate the new format. I'm not a fan of unexpected change in a place of my life where I've given trust and grown attached to a resource that helped me do a new thing. It's just my luck though, whenever I find something, it always seems to experience a "big change" shortly thereafter. Not sure why, but I've noticed the trend over the years.
I came here to find help for my very first garden, and in my mind was planning to come right back here about this time, revving up for garden #2 in zone 2/3. Came here, and thought I was lost. Found the garden forum buried in the website, but at least the vegetable garden forum still exists. I hate the white on grey scheme, it's hard on the eyes. Don't you know lots of us gardeners are older and reading shouldn't be made any harder?? :( R.I.P. Old Gardenweb.com. *sheds a tear*
I cut and plant immediately. But to protect them against rot, I dip the cut part in wood ash first. I planted today the whole potatoes which had sprouted well, but I am holding back the big ones that will have to be cut, and the small ones which have not sprouted, the soil is just too cold right now.
daves10z7annv said "not sure why in your zone-same as mine-you start them indoors."
Could be to avoid seeds rotting in cold wet soils? That can be a problem here on the southwest coast of Canada, with early plantings. I don't picture that as a problem in Virginia though.
Having to buy plants will limit your choices to what is available locally. So we could list all sort of suggestions for you but few of them may be available. Most local plant suppliers can tell you which of their varieties are ok for containers.
But that raises another issue. What size of containers are you talking about? That alone will make a BIG difference in what plants you can grow. The usual "flower pots" don't work for tomatoes. 5 gallon containers is the smallest recommended but bigger is better.
In zone 7 you can grow any variety you wish so it will be the big containers and soil-less potting mix plus the watering and feeding you provide that will make all the difference. Check out the Growing Tomatoes forum here as well as the Container Gardening forum for many discussions about which varieties work best in containers.
then I;d suggest you go to your local supplier and make a list of what plants are available and let us know the names. We can then tell you which of them might work for you.
Dave
Looks to me like you may have a bad infestation of mites and even some possible aphids. Had to tell from the pics for sure but I would sure examine the underside of those leaves with a magnifying glass and treat accordingly.
Dave
I'm sure you've already ordered your seed by now, but I thought for the sake of someone in the future pulling up this thread, I would add the cucumber that I had great results with last year. We had no pest or disease issues and had so many cucumbers we were sick of them. [g]
Ministro from Fedco
What I found for myself.. In order to be ready for gardening season, you have to take care about yourself in winter. Which means gym, or any other activities you can find to keep yourself fit. Summer will bring it all back, but spring is usually the most hard time to adjust. One year I made myself to keep moving in winter(I hate gyms), and spring work was much easier. This year it wouldn't be that easy - long sedating winter and I guess very short spring...
Thanks, Rina, I am still trying to find that white box. Anyway, I have found another post where someone recommended just pruning off the bolting part. That was my first instinct too, but I know nothing about horseradish, so I thought I would ask. Hope this is right! Cutting it off in the morning!
Cecile
The basil does not seem worse. I might even say slightly better than a week ago. I did snip off all the funky looking leaves. But they don’t seem to be taking off yet. They’ve been in the ground for 2 weeks now. I’ve heard it can take several weeks for basil to take off. Is that true?
As for the watering, I noticed during the day they were wilting. I know plants can wilt a bit during the daytime when it’s warmer, but my gut was telling me to water them anyway, because they were looking pretty sorry, so I did. And they perked up again. But what has me confused is that even after the sun had gone down they remained wilted, but the moister meter I’m using was indicating good moisture level, so I was reluctant to water. But after a few days of noticing this I decided I was watering, regardless of what the moisture thingy was telling me, and the plants perked up as I mentioned...
What the heck?
Basil can wilt slightly in sun, then perk later. Have you tested your moisture meter to make sure it's reading correctly? My digital has been pretty good for me so far, but my manual multi one started being rather inconsistent.
And yes, basil can stunt a bit and grow in fits and spurts. It doesn't surprise me that you haven't seen major improvement. But, as long as it's not getting actively worse, I would say you're on the right track to learning it's habits and it is not diseased.
The containers are about a square foot. I will eventually removed some of the plants to stretch the experiment but it will be too crowded to grow to maturity. The two 1:1:1 mixes started of quite equally but the one with the sphagnum moss peat started to outgrow the other one. The coco peat was not buffered so maybe there are issues with Ca uptake.
Lovely plants but only time will tell ;)
How about some true scientific exploration, though. Document the habit, especially the flowering and suckering of the plant. Maybe you'll discover more dissimilarities that could help tell the two apart?
Right Steve - now I know you are in Yorkshire everything looks different. I sowed my first row of peas last week under cloches and I am probably at least 200 miles South of you. I think maybe you have been sowing too early. You need to adjust recommended sowing times since you are further North. I moved down from York and found Spring a good 2 - 3 weeks earlier where I am now. And if you are up on the Moors or somewhere it may be even cooler. I do not expect this first lot to do brilliantly but I get itchy fingers on sunny days in March. My best peas will come from an early April sowing. Try Douce de Provence - those were my best last year. BTW I would not soak peas in your climate. The danger of the weather turning cold and your pre germinated seed sitting for days in cold wet soil is too great. I would also never water them except at sowing time unless we have at least 2 weeks without rain (ha ha). We have long slow cool Springs compared with most posters on this Forum. Even those who are currently still under snow will get much higher temperatures than we ever have pretty soon.
Thanks Floral - We are down in Leeds and have a well-sheltered spot - but I think you are right. I know ouur "last expected frost" date for the area is mid-may (though just here I think maybe May 1st is safe) - while a friend in Bristol says his is late March!
This last batch were in seed compost in short lengths of gutter in the cold frame - sowed late February - but they showed no sign of life until I brought them into the greenhouse and put them on a heated propagator for a few days. By then, I reckon the damage was done. I'm going to wait for this current spell of bad weather to blow over before I try again - maybe next week - and under cloches.
I had such problem my first year growing tomatoes. Actually, I left for three days and come back to them all laying on their side. I was devastated and thought of throwing them all away. But got an advice - to buy 2 gallon pots, soil, take the bottom leaves and all shooters away and plant them in a big pot laying down their stems in spiral in the pot the way only about a foot is above the soil soil. There was nothing to loose(other than money, ha-ha)) and I did it. The most challenge was to plant them later outside with a such root ball, but they grew so many roots, that the root ball stayed together. Just do not water for few days before setting them outside to have them almost dry for replanting. It will make it lighter and easy to work with. I still needed second person help to hold the greens, while I am taking roots with both hands. It was great tomato crop that year).
Lots of good advice here. You can make a quick high-profile greenhouse by turning a table upside-down and securing sheet plastic over the legs. Be sure to vent.