23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to go with red clover, ? with oats as a nurse crop? (that would suppress weeds better?)
How soon can we plant it? (there's currently 2 feet of snow on the ground, so it won't be very soon but can it be planted once the ground thaws in April? or does it need to wait until after the last frost (traditionally Memorial Day around here)?
Thanks!
What Dave said. Another thing though. Whether you use water, insecticidal soap, neem oil, or something else; you have to stay diligent. Instead of the recommended weekly treatments on the bottle for heavy infestations, try every 3-4 days for the 1st couple weeks until you can bring down the populations. Aphids reproduce at very rapid rates, so really attacking them is key, IMO. You could also release some ladybugs or lacewing larvae to clean up the guys. If you do, no pesticides.
Good luck
Kevin
According to my Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America it is classed as a medicinal plant only, not for regular consumption. It has potential cardiac, hypoglycemic, and respiratory side-effects that could be potentially hazardous if not used correctly. It is usually used as a tea or a decoction.
Dave
Most tarps let through way too much light Cardboard seems to be the unanimous choice. You might also try black plastic or even clear. With clear you want to make sure the area is thoroughly watered, tuck it in real well, and do it in the middle of summer --- you lose a season, but it solarizes the soil and kills anything a foot down. Don't worry about the worms and microorganisms.. they'll come back.
Also, to keep weeds down to a minimum, after planting your garden, mulch heavily. The few weeds that may come will be poorly anchored and can be pulled with a slight tug.
kevin
jean001, thanks for posting about day length sensitivity. I read it someplace but don't remember where (pre-internet days I think) but since I started planting spinach as soon as possible in the spring here in NH, I've gotten a good crop. I direct seed. I think the easiest way to get early spinach would be to direct seed in the fall and let it overwinter. That worked perfect for me one year even when we had little snow cover. This is our second winter with a high tunnel and last year we had too much spinach in winter so I didn't direct seed in the outside garden.
I direct seeded some about two weeks ago and they are emerging. The weather here at the PNW, has been in the range of low 30s to low/mid 50s., with lots of rain, clouds. This tells me that you should germinate Spinach in cool temperatures. You don't need a heating mat, You don't need too much warmth. Probably an unheated garage would've been just fine.
It's been awhile since I've grown green beans but varieties of bush beans I know of will grow all of their beans in a short period of time. For these you will need to grow more than one row/group to get a continuous crop. Whereas pole beans will not produce as many beans at a time but have a longer production time. My recollection is that bush beans were better for me. But, as I said long production bush beans were not available at the time.
Dan
Nice. A fair amount of work if one has lots of plants to label but and using thicker aluminum would not only be free, recycle aluminum cans, but the tags last for multiple seasons and no wire needed.
Dave
PS: You could have just added this to your previous post on this. That keeps all the info together for all to see. No need for a new thread.
Here is a link that might be useful: Your previous post on this issue
Dave thank you the tip on adding it to my similar post I'm rather new at posting and sharing ideas using the computer. I started making tags for my orchard [grafting] and morphed it into the garden.I see your point on construction time, it would indeed be faster and easier to use an different method , mini blinds and industrial sharpies [thank you xxxxx] for that information. I never knew industrial sharpies existed and combined with minnie blinds --fast and permanent and nonreflective -- my new method,as soon as my alum. markers get lost.
However- have already tried alum cans and dicarded them as they do not emboss as deeply and therefor are harder to read as" pie pan aluminum" and it is somewhat more difficult to cut out of the can as opposed to a flat pan.
No need for anyone to apologize,
All the info shared is very informative.
Perhaps I didn't make myself very clear.
The peppers were started inside,
on my kitchen counter under an overhead fluorescent light.
As soon as they popped up,
I took them outside,
where they stayed as long as the temps stayed 'friendly'.
(we're only talking about 16 little peat pellet pots,
so they are easy to move around)
But as it has been very cloudy,
I thought that was why they were so leggy.
So I brought them back in and dug out the Ott light.
They were inside during the 31 degrees,
Also during the 91 degrees.
They are back outside now,
In dappled sun.
My intentions to pot them up yesterday
Were derailed when I woke up with a sore throat, cough, migraine, etc.
Hopefully I will get them potted up later today or tomorrow.
Again, thanks to everyone for all the information,
And also again, no apologies necessary!
I will post an update when I see how they react
To being set deep into the Styrofoam cups.
Rusty
My guess as to the legginess was not the clouds, but due to the lighting indoors on hot/cold days. The shifting light values from bright sunlight to dark indoors light is, to me, your most likely culprit. Your best bet is, if starting seeds early, to leave them inside under lights until you are ready to harden off and transplant. Unless you can keep them outside during daylight hours and only bring them in at night until transplant.
P.s. pepper seeds don't need light for germination, so, save yourself a few extra $$ and leave the light off until they sprout ;)
Last year I tried spigariello for the third time (it's never done very well for me), and sowed it in mid April right next to Gailan. The Gailan was so much more vigorous and the taste was so similar that I'll never bother with spigariello again.