23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
So.... it's not too hard/stressful for the plants to get pelted with rain and totally soaked in their first day out? I don't care about getting wet when I'm out there planting, it's not like it will be continuous rain and I shouldn't need to step into the soil in the garden to do my planting (I have stepping stones/boards throughout the garden beds). I was just under the impression that the plants wouldn't transition well if they got inundated right at transplant time.
Thanks for the quick feedback... I'll plan to get those cool crops in this afternoon and the tomatoes this weekend as planned!
As long as you don't have standing, stagnant water sitting around after the rain ends, they should be fine. It's much less hard on the plants than being exposed to wind and sun. And as floral_uk pointed out, a nice rain drives out all the air pockets between the rootball and the soil so they establish quickly.
i just started using Dr. Earth Homegrown Tomato and vegetable liquid fert, and have been happy with its results. I used it on my corn one week ago and it has grown a full foot since then. My egg plant has also really stepped up its growth. The nice part about this fertilizer is that it has a lot of microbial food in it. This is very important because the main difference between organic and synthetics is that the organic ferts need to be broken down by microbes prior to the plant being able to use it. Synthetics are already broken down and can be taken in instantly. The Dr. Earth seems to really be fast acting, which is nice when it comes to organic fertilizers. I do raised beds, so i also use a side dressing of compost mixed with a granular fert like Jobes. This way I have a constant slow release of nutrients from this and then the liquid fert is used during the times I need a boost. It seems to be working great in a container set up. I think organic container gardening can be done. It just takes some time to get your microbe level up. I also have a layer of shredded leaves over my side dressing. As time goes by the leaves will break down and form an organic layer of nutrients there too. This also helps in microbial action.
This post was edited by PlanterJeff on Tue, Apr 29, 14 at 12:19
I have the same philosopy on "organic" as Howelbama.
I am not an organic gardener but have concerns over chemicals used in the form of pesticide and herbicide. When it come to fertilizer, it has no known negative effect on health and nutrition and plants do not care where the N, P, K, Ca ... comes from. However, synthetic fertilizers might not be as environmentally friendly as organic ones due to fast leaching. It can be partly corrected by amending garden soil with organic mater (compost). Don't forget, organic fertilizer like cow manure can also leach and pollute the underground waters. This has been tested in places where cattle graze for a long time. Not everything that is organic is automatically good. Petroleum products are organic too. !!!
I certainly agree that that's the way things should be taken. It's just i've seen many times when questionable advice is given and the OP runs out in the backyard and does something rash. One example is when a new gardener was given the advice to snap off the top of their onions to promote a larger bulb. They went out and did this to all their onions and damaged the entire crop before someone pointed out the error.
My suggestion was definitely not to rub anyone wrong, just to be careful to remember that there are many different ways to do things, besides those we think are right.
-Mark
I do not agree with with you, Mark. No offense as well) What we post here - is opinion, that's correct. And everybody has it's own way to do things based on their experience and knowledge. But, when we describe "our way" to do it - every step is important, so IF you wanna go the way I go, then there are "needs to be". Because technique depends on your climate, living situation, and every step is important and tested. Unfortunately, many people give just one or two steps from a whole program they follow and other people are surprised, why it works for authors, and not for them. Usually it is just because important steps are missing in description. So I never tell people - do as I do. But I always give as much details as possible based on my experience for easier following and mark important steps as "needs to be". and I ONLY tell about things I did for many years and have satisfying and (what is more important) improving results.
Also, I have to apologize, if my language is not all that shiny and soft toned) I came from a cold climate with different language and summer there is just 2 and half month long and growing peppers there was ... hm.. challenging) (normally I would swear here )LOL)
Are these going to be grown in containers like your broccoli is? If so then please ignore the organic recommendation because as we have discussed before, gardening organically in containers is a whole different ballgame than gardening organically in the ground. And yes, of course you can still eat them.
Off the cuff, broad observations like that are easy to make when the poster has little to no info on what you are doing or how you are gardening and just promoting their personal cause.
DynaGro makes many different products. Some of them are OMRI approved, others are not. The choice of fertilizers to use is yours be they organic approved or not.
Just as with your broccoli plant problems post, a diluted dose of your DynaGro will help. And as we have said before it isn't as if you have to water them thoroughly with it. One tablespoon of the mixed liquid is all they need.
In the future do keep in mind that different plants need different water amounts just as they do different nutrients. They don't respond to "scheduled" waterings. The older the plant the more flexible the schedulae needs to be.
These are no longer seedlings. They have multiple sets of true leaves so they are plants and plants in small containers need feeding if they can't be planted out yet.
Dave
I would go for strawberries or maybe some sort of berry bush - we can grow raspberries, blackberries and other similar types but have to choose varieties that are suited to our zone 9 climate. Not necessarily the ones available at the big box garden centers though - try a smaller local nursery or research/order online. Or asparagus or artichokes. which ever you eat more of. These are all expensive to buy at the grocery store so whichever you choose you would be better off growing it vs not.
I use toilet paper - each square is 4" so I use say 6 squares for a 2 foot row - fold it in half longways put a tiny dot of Elmer's glue on the bottom half, a couple of seeds, and fold it back over so it kind of glues together, spacing the seeds the proper distance apart. It worked great especially for my carrots since their seeds are so tiny. I sowed some seeds without using seed tape and fewer seeds germinated, and I suspect some got washed away when I watered... I just made more seed tape for my carrots the other day.
The toilet paper goes away eventually.
Verdict, for those of you who remember this post from last week: I think it ended up being transplant shock/sunburn. It's been 4-5 days since then and nothing has worsened. All the new growth on the plants are healthy as are the leaves that survived that first shock. Sooo, I'm chalking this up to my bad for cutting corners and not hardening off like I should. Luckily, I'm in California and our mild weather is pretty forgiving. I think my plants will survive it just fine!
Thanks again for all the assistance!
Yeah transplanting at this stage would be pretty much a lost cause but it would be easy to direct seed squash somewhere else and give everything else here a better chance at survival.
1 squash plant can easily take up a whole bed that size unless you go to some of the 'bush' varieties.
Dave
Ha ha! Yeah a bed that size maybe should only have 3 tomato plants (and they'll need a cage or some kind of support) possibly some herbs like basil companion planted with them. Would make a second bed for your cucumber & peppers to share (provide a trellis or tomato cafe for the cucumbers to climb on. Onions aren't a great companion plant for most things so would give them their own bed- garlic and onion can share a bed. Squash gets huge- I've seen zucchini & other summer squash just 1 plant get maybe 10 feet in diameter? Might not bother with a raised bed for that just plant in a mound of compost and give it room to sprawl (FYI same goes for melons & pumpkins). You can always try transplanting & see how it goes- if they don't survive at least you tried- and if you are gentle they may be fine. Next time pay attention to plant space requirements or do a little research first. At least your plants look healthy! Good luck!
It could be the seed mix. I have sowed a multicolored mixture twice this year, and so far only one yellow seedling. Some of the pinks look red as seedlings, but the yellows and oranges should be obvious. I also have had red seedlings in Fordhook seeds, which is supposed to be white. Go figure.
Some years we've had a nice mix of colors and some years it's been mostly to just about all red/pink. There's no way that i can figure how to tell until it actually comes up. But yes, the baby seedlings show the color they will be when they get big. I've also not really noticed difference in flavor from one color to the other, but then I've not tried to segregate colors when cooking it.
Edie
My local garden center carries a Jolly G mulch product I like, but I haven't tried their potting mix. I suggest starting your pepper seeds in a seed starting mix anyway. They are not fast germinators. Mine often take well over a week to sprout, and seed starting mixes hold moisture well enough to assist with the miracle.
I would look for a heavier potting soil if you plan to grow your peppers in pots. The bark-based mix will dry out too fast. I like Baacto and McEnroe organic, if you can find either of those.
You potting mix find looks OK, to me. But why are you getting into action so late in the season? Peppers ,from seeds, need a good 6 weeks time to develop into what is suited for plant out, either in a pot or in the garden. I notice you are in zone 5 but still it is a bit too late(to me). So if you start them today, they will be ready like 15th of June for plant out. And that is if your indoor growing condition is flawless.
If I were you , I would look into plants. You might not be able to find Reaper but ther are all kind of Habaneros, Jalapenos, ...
I suggest you visit "Hot Peppers" forum. There are quite few experienced and knowledgeable pepper growers.
If you go to the bakery department of grocery stores, you can usually get the large plastic containers that they get their icing in for free. I forget which size they are, but at least big enough to grow a tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, ect. plant in. I picked them up regularly year before last. I even grew Yukon Gold potatoes and Red potatoes in them. Also, you can save the plastic containers that you get salads and lunchmeats in and use them to start seeds in. You'd definitely want to start several seeds in each and they have their own lids to create a mini greenhouse. Like gardenper, I get the different sized foil pans with clear lids from the dollar stores to start seeds in peat pellets or fill with my seed starting mix and plant onion, celery, kale and some other seeds. I plant up in plastics from cottage cheese, sour cream and other little pots like them that I've bought filled with food we eat. Just wash them really good. There are so many things we eat that have containers perfect for gardeners. Oh, almost forgot, save plastic milk cartons to wintersow veggies and flowers. And don't forget plastic pop bottles. Great to grow herbs in and you can hang them on posts as well.
Lowe's often carries the big black plastic pots. I hope to stay in place for a very long time so I just re-use the pots from when I purchase trees. One trick I read about when planting in very large pots is to place some broken branches in the bottom to help take up space, not too much but some in the very bottom would help in very large containers (I am thinking like half barrels, etc.)
The tomatos and peppers probably, because they like a deep bed but have fairly weak roots.
Okra has a humongous root system, but it's capable of going as deep as it needs because the roots are very vigorous. So it can use the shallow bed.
Summer squash have fairly shallow root systems - give them the shallow bed.
Plant herbs too - basil would love the area, as would oregano, sage and thyme.
Wow, thanks so much for the good advice!. I would not have guessed that the squash have relatively shallow root systems. Tomatoes and peppers shall get the royal treatment then. Ha - I will be able to bury those stems vertically!!!
Since the bed is deep with plenty of root space, I may try to cheat on the sfg spacing rules and sneak in an extra tomato, and encouraging it to trail over the side..
I'll definitely sneak a dill in somewhere! I have parsley, thymes, sages, rosemary and sweet bay growing elsewhere. I've 3 earthboxes to replant next, thanks for reminding me that one should be filled with basil!
If okra is such a vigorous root-space-hog, it may need to just fend for itself! Perhaps I should try amending the native soil downslope from the planter boxes and it can suck up any moisture that moves its way. We just had a deep rain (thank goodness) so the clay is very easy to work today. Hmmm....
The 2 cu yards of planters mix more than filled all 64 cu ft of planting bed space, though I know it will settle a bunch. They are full to the absolute brim, and the settling will be made up with mulch.
But, there's still enough to fill two 1x7 planter boxes. I'm going to put them right between the fence posts, there is no fence up now but I'll be putting up 2x4 welded wire, 5 ft tall. So eventually about 50 ft of back fence will really be a trellis.
The most likely cause of what shows in your photo is overly wet soil either from over-watering, heavy rains, or poorly draining soil mix. Peppers don't like continuously wet roots and leaf margins curl and brown and it sheds leaves directly at the stem junction when kept overly wet.
Plus if it has been especially cool weather lately that makes the problem worse as the soil is still too cool. Usually letting the soil dry substantially and warm up will stop the problem.
Weather this year is creating many unusual problems that only delaying planting beyond the norm will resolve.
Dave