23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
The soil test is key. Without that you have no idea how much K or P is in your soil. It was an eye opener for me. Being in western oregon I knew I had at least an adequate K level, but I found I also had a very high P level as well. So I have stopped using bone meal. I also found out I needed to add 200 pounds of lime, yikes. Adding balanced fertilizers only makes sense if your soil is uniformly deficient, which is not likely.
Hairy carrots! it's not just me?
So many people telling you to get a soil test. That's often a good idea, but not such a do-or-die thing. It is good to know your approximate pH; everything else follows that.
One problem with relying on composted material to provide a specific thing like potassium is that the stuff's specific nutrient levels are extremely varied due to what was used to make it. Hardwood ash is also extremely variable and very alkaline.
Since gardening is long-term and you are only being cautious, you might add rock minerals such as greensand. It has very slow (eon-scale!) K release, especially if your pH is high, and you may need a lot but a lot won't generally cause any problems.
Gardening is also local, so take all that with a grain of salt (poor source of K).
As I understand it, root veggies get more woody in the high summer heat as well. That's why they're typically grown in the spring and fall. Spring Turnips should have been harvested by now and fall turnips aren't ready to plant yet...maybe in the coolest zones you could plant seeds now... Check your local Agricultural Extension or the one nearest you for exact planting dates.
Susan
I really like "Just Right Hybrid". It is more tolerant of cold weather than many other turnips, but it is not recommended for spring planting. I tried it once. Didn't work out at all. The catalog I got it from also says it is for fall planting only. It should mature in cool weather.
Timing could be tricky in Ontario. In my experience, this variety doesn't make cute little "baby turnips" if you get the timing wrong and nasty weather threatens. Roots stay skinny until the tops are really big. Tops are good though. Mild, hairless. Tough midrib.
I don't think it is 100% turnip. I think it has some other brassica in its background.
At 60 or 70 days, depending on the weather, you should have a big, thick-skinned turnip that is tender and sweet. Not the prettiest to look at, as there are roots hanging from the bulb. They hold in the ground much better than most turnips as the weather turns cold (for California) or rainy, but I don't think they're as cold hardy as, say, kale.
I've noticed mine going through different color changes too. It seems that the ones that go through more of a green phase also go through a light orange phase as they ripen. It might have to do with temperature, because my first few also went straight to yellow/ripe. Anyway, it seems like they end up yellow eventually, and it probably doesn't affect anything inside the squash.
I tried planting them in early July, and the seedlings just sat there, unhappy with the heat and not growing until the weather cooled, and I won't even be close to being on target to get sprouts this year unless we have a very mild December and I get lucky with Christmastime sprouts. I assume I will have similar troubles planting in June, it will probably be hot by the 4th of July. Was it perhaps the variety, can you recommend one for our zone for growing over summer?
TracyDR: That makes sense. My available horse manure does break down quickly, and in MA we have chopped leaves! I JUST happen to have bed very much like your description. I was planning onions, but perhaps I will put a few Brussels at one end, to test my soil!
Mark: I am rolling in cabbage immediately next to the Brussels, and they are just starting to head up nicely. Which is good, cause we just started eating second planting of Caraflex from another bed. I parked them there, on a lasagna compost system, sans carpet, from last year. I didn't expect much, soil was very young, but they are great.
Our summer was cooler than usual, nights in low 60's, and hi 50's. Most days 70-80, with a week or so higher in August. Basically perfect broccoli weather. A local vegetable gardening friend told me to look at calcium in the soil. Does low calcium affect Brussels, but not cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower? My memory says it is a trace nutrient... Off to check.
KateQ
Thank you so much Peter and Persimmons. it's good to know next seasons crops won't be as fussy as I imagined. I hadn't thought of beans or legumes to boost the soil until you mentioned it, that is a great idea. Thank you guys so much! happy gardening!
A study was done on using copper. What worked best was two bare copper wires connected to a 9 volt battery. Connect one wire to the plus side and the other to the negative side. Create a barrier by runniing the wires 1/2 inch apart. Do not let the wires touch each other since that will short the battery. When the slugs cross the wires they complete the circuit and it will repel or kill them.
Agree with Rodney the growing medium could be your problem. If you don't want to re-pot the plants, you might try adding a nitrogen containing fertilizer or supplement...just be careful, adding too much nitrogen could hurt your plants. You can also sprinkle soil on top and water it in to help balance out the organic matter.
This post was edited by grandad on Tue, Sep 16, 14 at 7:10
I plan to cover carrots with straw to keep the ground from freezing so I can continue harvesting. Kale doesn't get any cover. Beets can stand up to light frosts.
I would go ahead with hoops and row cover on broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower but throw a blanket over at night if it's going to get really cold. Take off in the morning. They can tolerate some cold. I have a high tunnel and it gets as cold inside as outside at night so I still have to use row covers inside when it gets colder.
I have not used plastic and hoops because I worry about ventilation. If' it's a sunny day, even with double door open and sides rolled up, my high tunnel can get very warm. Many days in summer it got over 100 but peppers loved the extra heat. I debating now when to roll down the sides. A frost is probably going to happen Friday night and I'm going to be away.
As pea pods get bigger, they tend to stay flat and wide before seeds start to develop (at which point they are usually too mature). I think the seeds in shelling peas expand as the pod gets larger and the pod starts getting round right from the beginning. I grow peapods and sugar snaps. Once the pods start showing, I think you'll be able to tell the difference. They aren't going to stay on their own side of the fence.
Centella asiatica is a medicinal herb, so you may get better responses in the herb forum. I know little about except that it can be grown as an annual. It is a tropical plant and subject to frost, so overwintering would require a green house environment. That means both light and sufficient warmth so I doubt that a garage would be sufficient. You could probably treat it as house plant.
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Gotu Kola
I heard they are pretty testy) After I lost whole second crop of carrots due to the woodchuck eat all the foliage I am thinking about eating... a woodchuck) Just need to come up with a way to convince my hubby) He has special thing to furry guys and can't agree with me on the next dinner menu)
They are rodents. Where I am you can't shoot them (Houses are too close) and it's illegal to trap and release them elsewhere. And costs $200 - $250 to have them removed by a company. So I will trap and drown next year. They decimated my Dino Kale this year.