23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
As Davef1 mentioned, cross pollination could cause it, but highly dountful, imo.
Run by us how you saved the seeds... when I save bell peppers seeds, I pull ripe pods. Within a day or 2, I cut the flesh away, leaving the seeds attached to the placenta and stem. I then just let the seed mass dry out for a week or so on a plate. I then dislodge all the seeds on the plate and let them dry out for about another week. Put in envelopes, store in a cool, dry, dark place.
Other varieties, I may just scoop out the the placenta and seeds and do the same as above. Superhots, I'll just split in half and do the same as above.
Btw, contrary to popular belief, one doesn't have to wait for a pepper to FULLY turn color to harvest seeds. If a pod is STARTING to turn color, the pod is fully mature and seed development is finished. In other words, "mature" comes long before fully "ripe."
Kevin
Thanks everybody! I know about seed expiration date and usually just try couple of seeds about a month before actual seeding date for germination, but hot pepper doesn't store well for me more then 3 years , even if kept refrigerated - they may germinate, but seedling are not as strong as from fresh seeds. I usually do not take seeds out of the pods at all for hot pepper - they dry very well at room temp natural way and seeds always were fine for me, but this year. So I do suspect the particular type I bought and hybridization.
72 cells is pretty big, you can get market packs that size in a 1206 tray (12 packs per tray, 6 cells per pack for 72 total cells in the 1020 tray). I've seen plug flats of onions sold in 200 cell trays. My experience has been that plug flats are more of a personal choice rather than a necessity of the plant. The use of plug flats minimizes the footprint of the seedlings in the cool months when you start them. You would only need to heat/light a much smaller space if you use plug flats vs starting seeds in their final size pot. You do need to transplant into larger cells though so that the growth of the plant is not stunted in the smaller cells.
For example, I currently have tomatoes in a 288 cell flat. That same number of tomatoes would take 12 2401 flats or 16 1801 flats, which will be their final sizes before I plant out or sell them. Right now it would be challenging for me to support that however by the time they get transplanted to bigger celled trays it will be warm enough to put them in the unheated greenhouse I have.
I did stumble across a Transplant Action Plan with a table on page 3 that states when to transplant various crops and to what size containers to use. That should give you a decent starting point. Also here is an article on The Effect of Container Size as it pertains to various crops, lots of useful info in there.
Thanks Dave! Yeah, my wife has to sometimes remind me that gardening is supposed to be relaxing........ LOL Planting later is certainly another thing I'll try this season, I've yet to start my seeds for that reason.... Avoiding ideal EB conditions as much as possible might help.. .. Worth a try...
OBTW Dave......... You still da man! ;)
I got so annoyed with the disease and pathetic tomato plants that I stopped growing them for a couple of years! I just started growing them again last year. I had a bumper crop. I really don't like using any chemicals on the garden. I do use either red or black plastic (as suggested above.) I do also prune the bottom stems so none of them are touching the ground.
Hahaha! I totally missed that...and I have my auto-correct turned off (maybe I should turn it back on...)! I did mean on the deck. I used just regular potting mix in my planter box. I bought 4 little plants (the pots were probably 2" square) and I grew them on the deck because the little garden patch I have is too shady for zukes.
Thank you all for the suggestions...I definitely have a better idea of what to do this year. And if all else fails, there's always the farmer's market!
I grew zucchini in 5 gallon paint buckets I bought at a big box store. I just drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets. I planted 1 plant per bucket. I still have shredded zucchini from the summer in the freezer (I should really use that up already!)
The post being brought back up is fine. What I meant in my previous comment was that if a question is posted on this forum, it's usually answered within a day and usually even within the hour. So it's odd, or rather it's kinda inconceivable to me, that back in 2011 this post could have gone unanswered or have been skipped over when the answer was a simple one.
Rodney
Thank you all for your help. I'll have to head over to my garden store this weekend and take a look at the bag for potting mix that I used. Next year I'll put my setup in the basement where it's cooler. So much more complicated than I thought. I guess I have to learn sometime though if I want to keep gardening :)
I usually grow five or six Diva cucumber plants in a 25-gallon tub and get a LOT of cucumbers that are never bitter. I picked Divas because they were reputed to have less of the compound that causes bitterness, and therefore were less attractive to cucumber beetles. I have since learned that many experienced gardeners believe cultural practices -- like uneven watering -- play a bigger role in causing bitterness. I do know that in the hottest part of summer, I have to water my cucumbers every day. It is harder to keep a 5-gallon bucket well watered than a 25-gallon container.
Thanks for some feedback guys/gals.
Lorabell: WHat ORGANIC ferts are you putting in your containers? I've thrown cottonseed, bone,and kelp meals in my wine barrels with potting mix, compost and perlite before, but I still feel they need synthetics throughout the season. What are you fert schedules with just organics?
Dave: So, maybe 2 vining plants in a 15 gal might do?
Thanks ohiofem...Ain't that the truth regarding moisture retention in a large container. It's amazing how long I can go without watering my barrels.
Kevin
In the past before heavy amending, I had to make sure that I had good drainage. This meant going up and down the slope and NOT impounding water. Still, my slopes are very gentle...actually perfect degree...maybe 1 or so percent. Now with sand and peatmoss amending into the good but slightly heavy topsoil, the beds absorb like a sponge.
I have beds and rows in e/w in one garden and n/s in two gardens. Both are fine.
Get your wallet out and just pretend that the beds are large containers; I use a soilless mix like ProMix BX or Fafard's #2, combined with compost--at least a third since the soilless mix is almost nutrient-free, unless you use something like Miracle-Gro.
If you are square foot gardening, do a search for "MEL'S MIX" formula, which uses about 3 or 4 ingredients including granular fertilizer (not water soluble like M-G.)
Most of my raised beds were started with a 3-part mix including topsoil, and regret it; now, I try to refresh them with compost or a mix of peat moss and M-G Garden Soil, which looks exactly like the compost I used to truck in (the town's compost facility got bought by a commercial topsoil company and no longer sells a pickup truck bedful for under $20. They also sold a garden mix, but I really needed just the compost.)
Most of my raised beds are either 3 or 4ft by 7 or 8ft and everything settles over winter, so I add a bale of peat moss and a couple bags of the Garden Soil to each bed, all tilled or forked in.
Hope this helps!
My raised beds at a former home were about 12" above ground and a similar amount underground. Because of the quantity of rock in our weathered granite soil, we put the native soil through a sieve to remove rocks and then added composted manure and top dressed with composed or shredded leaves. It was a great garden!
In order of best IME - beans, carrots, potatoes, broccoli. Agree with what jeff said about the carrots need to be left longer, the broccoli heads will be smaller (1/2 size) the potatoes will be less and smaller. What does better than any of them in shaded areas is leafy greens - lettuces, spinach, chard, kale. even some cabbage.
Dave
Certainly worth experimenting to find out what the partial shade area will do. I have a strip along the west side of the house that gets an absolute maximum of four hours of sun per day (approx. Noon-4pm). I usually always have chard, kale, chives, and catnip in this area, but have also had success with tomatoes and pickling cucumbers.
The tomatoes were quite acceptably productive, although probably a bit less than they would have been in sunnier locations. I staked them and they ended up growing almost a couple of feet higher than the gutters – the pic below was taken standing on step ladder close to gutter level. I eventually ended up with tomatoes resting on the gutter guards!
Pickling cukes did quite well and I think the bee-attracting catnip nearby may have helped them along.
Bush beans have done well in this area. Multiple attempts with peppers failed (as I expected they would). Oddly, lettuce and spinach production was a bit of a disappointment and I’m not sure why.
I’ve never
considered trying potatoes in that area but might try that this year.
Thanks for the info . Im trying to get it rite the first year ive been growing for years but a new earea and new climate means as usual listen to the local gardeners . So thanks water be fine in quality gardening soil. Ill get a test kit for the native soil .i m at a loss trying to figure out why my dad and the neighbor both had failed crops last season? My father cant understand the value of composting he says what am i paying for this big trash can for ?") So mg or what ever is on sale and Soluble normaly works for him. Leading me to suspect a ph or toxicity problem .other than that theres the larva in the root systems of the now dead fruit trees . Beatles what ever. Guess i should start a thread of my own .carl garden thanks again hava great day
Hi everyone. I also live in the CA HD - Apple Valley to be exact. Have been growing up here for about 10 years, starting with growing in large pots to the 5 raised beds I have now. I agree that our soil (and some you can buy) isn't the best. I have purchased "garden soil" from a place up here called the Rock Yard (not sure if they are still in business though), mixed in chicken manure and growmulch and have had great success. Last year I harvested 3 kinds of tomatoes, 4 kinds of peppers, zucchini, Asian eggplant, cucumbers, basil, butternut squash, snow peas, green beans and over the winter, chard, lettuces and spinach (with a plastic tent covering on cold nights).
My problem today is - I am turning my garden soil in anticipation of spring planting and in one of my planters, I am turning up whitish light gray looking soil clusters. Not really sure it is soil, maybe larvae of some insect. If so, they are really tiny. Anyone have any ideas?