23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
almost lost my plants last night, it was 39*F felt like freezing with the wind chill but they were covered with a plastic and wood greenhouse. Bright them in tonight, true temp without breeze is freezing. :S Tomatoes in my pots had one foot in the grave. They're doing much better now that they've warmed up inside.
Here you go, hundreds of pics of various bamboo trellis set-ups.
We do ours in more of a V shape rather than the typical ^ shape (I'll try to post a pic tomorrow). That way you don't have to crawl in the teepee with all the spiders (of course, if you have kids I'm sure they would love that!). They just hang down the outer sides of the bed for the picking. It also leaves room on the outer edges of the bed to plant something noninvasive. I usually do some extra basil. Nancy
Gardeners in colder climates can start seeds indoors and if you choose short-season varieties you can increase your chances of getting some production. What variety did you order? Days to maturity range from 70 to 90, even 120 days so by planting say Blacktail Mountain or Gold Midget (70 days) you can improve your odds substantially.
Dave
Adding gypsum is the remedy for soil with excess sodium.
The gardener can determine if his/her soil has excess sodium by sending a sample of the soil to a professional lab. If excess sodium is present, the lab will tell you how much gypsum to add.
If you have the gypsum already, and the package is open, you can go ahead and add it. Fortunately, it won't damage anything if sodium levels are ok.
Tons of earthworms is a good sign. It means you can just layer a couple of inches of compost on top of the bed 2-3 times a year and let the worms work it in for you. They do all the work and you get all the benefits. :)
Dave
Sq. Foot Gardening has its own forum here. Sq. Foot gardening forum
Lots of info there but do keep in mind that it is just one possible method of gardening, it has its own learning curve in addition to just learning the basics of regular gardening, and it has its limitations. Spacing used in SFG all depends on the varieties used with many things. Indeterminate variety tomatoes will require more sq. feet than determinate varieties and will require heavy pruning to fit and produce. Smaller pepper varieties do ok in 1 square but the larger bell pepper varieties often need 2 sqs. Many things require trellising to work in such limited space.
<One thing I realized I didn't do though - I didn't use any weed cloth. I dug out my grass, added newspaper and filled the box. I planned (but forgot) to put down a type of weed cloth near the top of the soil. >
Weed barrier goes on the bottom of the box if you are going to use it for some reason. It normally isn't needed or recommended with raised beds because it creates drainage problems. But either way it doesn't go on or near the top. Doing that would only make planting and fertilizing more difficult so I'm not sure what you were planning there. After planting, mulch goes on the top of the soil around the plants.
Dave
Melfield & Kathy - thank you for your posts and for helping.
Dave, I used newspaper on the bottom of this garden; hopefully that helps with the weeds. A friend recommended the weed barrier on top and to then just cut holes when planting as he says there may be weed seeds in his topsoil. In any event, it won't be the case did me this year. With the peat I used, is mulch also needed on top for moisture or just to help prevent weeds? I didnt purchase nukch, but i can. Thanks.
It's more heat VS sun. Rather than buying starts at a big box store, go to a local nursery that has plants that are good for your area. The BB stores will sell you plants that aren't right for the time of year and have been grown in artificial conditions that may not be appropriate for your area.
For example, most of the BB stores in this area have no vege starts in the fall when so many greens will flourish in my mild CA area!
Keep reading here and you'll find when to start seeds or starts. There may even be a forum for your area in these forums! Look around! Have fun! Nancy
Living in AZ, I get a LOT of sun. What has done best is Eggplant. Give it enough water with the sun and it will produce like crazy, even when the temperature exceeds 110F. However Eggplant really doesn't grow like crazy until the soil temperature hits around 80F. I also tried to grow a variety of cucurbits (cucumber, squash, melon). Cucumber was a failure for me here since all the sun makes the fruit bitter. And in the height of summer I was watering the cucumbers around 3 times a day. I started squash this year and even with the 100F temperature a few weeks ago I did not have that problem. My biggest issue with both the cucumbers and squash was the powdery mildew, which thrives on cooler days although hot sun tends to retard the growth of the fungus. Currently using Neem oil to contain it.
After a few days of 85+ (it hit 89 I think yesterday), it is going down to 41 wednesday and thursday nights. Thats even chance of a frost in my garden. The weather is crazy! It has rained less than 1/4 inch over the last 3 weeks. It's practically a drought. Last Spring it didn't let up a day! The weather has just become so unpredictable here. You could say the only thing for sure is the winter is cold, but 2 winters ago that didn't materialize either.
The only thing in my garden actually looking like they are getting ready to produce for me are my peas and broccoli, and I am worried about them in this heat. Broc needs another couple weeks to get full size to start heading. My tomatoes are still just sitting there over 1 week now after transplanting (to be expected I guess), eggplant too had quite a bit of transplant shock. Given the forecast I am glad I kept my peppers and spare eggplants and tomatoes inside! My beets and lettuce look terrible and Idk if I will get anything worth harvesting this year. We didn't really have a spring.
The couple of times I used leaves, I ended up with asparagus beetles. I'm going to try the salt and wood chips this year. I also think I lost some to the drought, so I may have to replant. Nancy
I think the beetles will overwinter in any mulch, possibly even the soil. Although I had cleaned up the beds in autumn and replenished with fresh mulch this spring, I just sent quite a few to a soapy bath today ... They don't seem to have liked it much. Removed eggs and sent them to the bath, too.
Katie, One lady has a lovely idea and it works for her! :-) I hope it can help you too. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3042886/deer-repellant-that-worked-100
My hair in the garden didn't help me but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. I also tried hanging those old AOL Cds to move in the wind - they used to spook me more than the deer when a reflection would shine in the window, lol.
We are gardening in their space (the spiders too) and as more houses get built they get used to people and don't spook as easily. They also seem to know when hunting season begins or when they are too close to homes to worry about gun fire.
I can watch them all day - I just want them to leave me something to eat too.
"Chemicals that are applied by label directions are safe"
So very VERY not true. DDT, Diazinon, all sorts of insecticides were taken off the market AFTER years of use. There is much we do not know about chemicals, some are safe when used correctly, some are not, some we won't realize the damage done for years to us and to our families.
I'm not by any means putting down the good that some chemicals can do. But to believe that they are all safe when used according to label directions is naive.
Living next to a cornfield is way different than having neighbors that use Roundup. On a farm, the herbicide is applied from above and will definitely drift onto your property. Especially because you want to grow organically, this location is not ideal. My husband and I are in the same boat. Looking for a place where we can keep bees and grow organically. Sad that we live in such a toxic world.