23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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grubby_AZ Tucson Z9

The only need for conditioning, it seems, is to get it through any hot decomposition phase before putting plants in it that you don't want to cook. Just wet it and monitor the temps. It's not a fad and can work well, just think of it as container planting. Very messy container planting...

    Bookmark     May 19, 2015 at 9:34AM Thanked by sommardahl
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sommardahl

Thought there was some kind of fert. To put on it first.

    Bookmark     May 19, 2015 at 11:15AM
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planterjeff(7b Grant Park Atlanta)

I personally have not, but I have friends who live in the "not quite gentrified" parts of Atlanta where they have had rose bushes, Mums, Hostas, Veggies and even a porch swing stolen. Basically any flower planted at the mail box would be pulled and stolen within a few days.

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 6:36AM
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vgkg(Z-7)

Knock-on-wood no stolen veggies or flowers from here. If I used a community garden I'd post a sign in my plot as follows : "Smile! You're on Candid Camera"

No need for a camera, just a sign.

    Bookmark     May 19, 2015 at 10:46AM
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bopwinter

Does anyone have serious issues with aphids on their lettuce too?

    Bookmark     May 19, 2015 at 2:34AM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Yeah it is 'romaine' here but usually the 'cos' is included in the name or label in some way so I think many know what you mean. :) And yes, I have had aphid issues with it as they love any high nitrogen fertilizers like often used on leafy greens. I just wash them off the plants with the hose a couple of days in a row and cut back on the feedings. They seem to especially love my red leaf varieties.

Dave

    Bookmark     May 19, 2015 at 5:05AM
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balloonflower(5b Denver CO, HZ 5-6, Sunset 2b)

Wow--Nancy in your zone you have to wait all the way until August for that? Yikes! Right now it sounds lovely--my zukes are still seeds in packets waiting for it to quit raining!

    Bookmark     May 16, 2015 at 9:18PM
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nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

^ LOL! No we don't have to wait. That's just the official day. Nancy

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 5:37PM
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tammybelcher

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 11:22AM
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booberry85(5)

The beige / white color of the leaves of the basil (picture 5) and pictures 6 & 7 look like sunburn. Your eggplant in the last picture may have flea beetle damage.

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 5:34PM
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farmerdill

of course. should be similar of course. a red with a yellow would give some strange kernals.

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 3:32PM
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zzackey(8b GA)

ok. Thanks!

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 3:51PM
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Ohiofem(6a Ohio)

I have seen edema on another plant before, so that was my first thought. This does look like the photos I found, although most of the "warts" were on the underside of the leaves and these are on top. But this happened overnight to almost all the leaves on 10 different plants. It's shocking. In the other case I saw, a houseplant, the leaves were ruined but the plant was fine. I hope the same happens here.

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 12:51PM
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Shasta Daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 12:01PM
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Ohiofem(6a Ohio)

As Dave said, "But all the wood chip mulch right up against the plant stems doesn't bode well for the future." Is that mulch or did you mix that into your clay soil to amend it? In either case it can rob your soil of nitrogen. And touching the base of the plant can cause disease.

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 8:52AM Thanked by m_squared_09
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m_squared_09

Thanks everyone for the advice!

    Bookmark     May 18, 2015 at 3:38AM
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1884vic

My lettuce seeds all over the place - I currently have more than 40 Rouge d'hiver lettuces planted in beds that re-seeded themselves in my walkway. Sometimes I just get too busy to pull the plants and lettuce doesn't hurt anything. The way I look at it - free food!

1 Like    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 6:24PM
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Tim Givemeenergy

100% leaf lettuce (not bad looking either)

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 8:18PM
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slimiest_okra

The largest organism alive is not the blue whale but a slime mold. I forget which forest it is in.

    Bookmark     May 16, 2015 at 7:16PM
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Tim Givemeenergy

Yes, slime mold... have put my hand in many a pile of that stuff collecting firewood while doing primitive camping... like a handful of squishy snott...

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 7:20PM
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nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

I think I'll give everything except the tomatoes one more dose. Nancy

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 5:50PM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Fish emulsion is one of, if not the most benign supplements out there and it is honestly almost impossible to overdose with it (unless perhaps you used it daily). Not only is it a low dosage of the primary nutrients but it is in a form that encourages a slow and only-as-needed absorption by the plants. Plus it has the advantage of multiple levels of dilution. As many of the past discussions here about it show, many gardeners use it diluted to 1/4 strength each time they water plants or 1/2 strength every 10-14 days.

Lots of discussions about using fish emulsion

On the tomato growing forums it is often recommended as a foliar spray as well as a root drench with no concerns. So unlike many of the mass market synthetics used to excess by so many, fish emulsion has few if any negative side effects (other than odor).

Dave

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 6:42PM
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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

Giant Red mustard.

Rodney

1 Like    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 11:11AM
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sowngrow

Thank you Rodney!

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 11:55AM
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void

I've grown potatoes in grow bags. 14" wide seems a little small, but that pic seems fine. It will look crowded, but you will get a lot of small potatoes. That is okay, you will get potatoes. Maybe 3 small seed potatoes should have been the max. Steal some out of the dirt after they flower, eat them new. You could try pulling up one of the groups after they flower and eat the small new potatoes, with the idea of letting the others have space to get bigger. Not sure it will make any difference, but you could try that and see what happens.

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 10:05AM
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mphillips1126

I ended up pulling out one of the potatoes so there's 3 to a bag. I'm also growing some in a plastic pot of a similar size. I left 4 potatoes in that pot just to see how it goes.

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 10:46AM
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jnjfarm_gw(5a)

what "short season constrains " do you have in zone 5b? I am in that zone and my season is from late March to early November, longer with season extension methods

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 5:21AM
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galinas(5B)

So when do you start picking your peppers - in March?) I don't think so. I start my peppers in late Feb- early March, to start picking at the end of June. I pick them till first frost in October. Keeping in mind I only have 6000 sq foot yard, that also includes house, 2 sheds, 8 dwarf trees, few berry bushes and other veggies I can't plant more then 30 peppers. And I need about 10 5-gallon buckets to be picked by the end of the season for my canning/freezing needs. This is why I start them early, and plant them out in late May with almost every plant having several peppers on it. But that comes with the cost - when I start them, they have all the room and air they need. By the end of the "in house" period, it is jungles there. If weather is not cooperative to move them out to portable greenhouse I set on the deck(only unused space in my yard) like this year - we struggle. But anyway, it worse it, as they start producing much earlier and give me more for the season. Actually, even powdery mildew doesn't set them back much. So short season in zone 5 is comparing to warmer zones, where you can start your plant a month before transplanting without worrying about PM in crowded environment and still get good crop for the season.

    Bookmark     May 17, 2015 at 9:42AM
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