23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
It's best stored after dessication in order to remove a lot of it's moisture. You can buy or build a dessication chamber which range from complex machines to a simple large jar with silica gel.
After dessication it's best stored sealed in a near-air-tight container and inside another container. Small petri dishes (with covers) sealed with parafilm are excellent for this...then into a piece of tupperware (or similar).
After that it's into the fridge or freezer.
1-2 years of good storage this way.
If you want something a bit more low-tech and you're planning on a shorter storage time then you can collect tassels or knock a bunch of pollen off a tassel into a paper bag. You need to store this in consistently dry place without much moisture/humidity and give it time to dry. Once dried out it's generally good for a few weeks to a couple months without losing too much effectiveness. This method is a bit less consistent, but it's generally a good one if you have a quick turnaround for the pollen use and you can get the tassels/pollen dry + keep it dry.
I'm a little north of you but our zone is 6b, I planted late March. Normally we plant mid March. You've gotta do what you gotta do. I'd say in the future cheat. You could easily fashion a small greenhouse over a bed to get the soil ready earlier. Little clear plastic, pvc hoops and you can get a jump on the season before the weather gets hot. My people are only just forming their first leaves. I think in the future I'll be cheating too. Or should I say cheating some more.
I planted Sutton's Harbinger peas April 5, and they just popped up today. Soil temperature is around 49 degrees by me now. I'd say get them in. A link to soil temperatures: http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/soiltemp/displaymap.asp?data=bst#toptitlebar
Going to rain a few days this week here, check your forecast again before you plant. I think I'm going to hold off until the weekend - also supposed to be another couple of around-freezing nights. Haven't checked soil temp yet here, but we have been below freezing almost every night last week even though days are warm so holding off with beans too.
Just trying to get my lettuce and kale starts hardened off to plant later this week after the freeze.
As queer as it sounds I'm to the north of you but i'm in a warmer zone. I heard showers for tomorrow perhaps but I'm not seeing terribly cold weather in the forecast. I've watched poatoes growing mulched with leaves in February before. One bed I'm confident in and the other two i'm iffy because one is lower in a valley if you will and the other doesn't have as good soil. I mulched with straw so there will be some insulation.
The soil and white outer layer also look dry. Maybe they aren't in a moist or watered enough environment and that's why they look dry or wilted?
As you said, you only watered when the pods were hydrated. The dome should normally keep the moisture and humidity, but since it looks like something didn't keep that level of humidity (including their location near the sill and radiator), then you can water a little more also.
I gave up on the peat pods last year. Never had anything that survived. I am sure there was a large amount of user error on my part so I am not going to bash them.
My best results have come from using coir. (The Jiffy brick.) The one that is a hard brick like thing in the store. You take it home. Take it out of the plastic, put into a container. Add warm water it will swell up. Note it will just nearly fill up an 8 quart wash pail when it expands.
I fill the hydrated coir into starting pots, Poke a hole to the needed depth with the sharp end of a pencil. Place the seeds in the hole. Use my finger tip to knock the sides of the hole in loosely. Then into a mini greenhouse in the closet. I then keep an eye on them by checking twice a day till I see something sprout. As soon as I see even one coming up I move it to the area with light. Any that did not sprout will do so as long as you do not let the coir dry out.
Edmonton, eh? You can seed the lettuce now. It's much colder out east in SK and MB. So far, March and April have been about 5 degrees C below normal. I haven't been able to plant anything outdoors apart from my high tunnels. Two years ago, I had already planted stuff an entire month earlier in the year.
This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Mon, Apr 21, 14 at 18:34
You shouldn't have any issues using the potting soil. Beans are not heavy feeders and really don't need a lot of nitrogen as they actually create it on their own, so heavy fertilization should be avoided. I rarely fertilize my beans, in fact I place them in areas that typically need a little nutrients.
Agree. Legumes of any kind don't need all that fertilizer. In fact using it only produces big bushes with few to no beans as their nutrient needs and the way they use what is available are far different than tomatoes or peppers or most other garden vegetables.
There is a smidge of truth to the old adage that "beans will grow on concrete".
Dave
Gee, I wish I had this problem. So far with 4 different melon plants of the charantais type growing as a test, I have a single melon growing. And to add insult to injury, the vines are so tangled, I'm not even sure which one produced my lonely only melon!
Susan
If you're growing for competition, leave 1 melon on the vine.
How's your fertilizer situation? When the vines start to run it's time to fertilize with higher P and K values for flowering, fruiting, and roots. Too much N will give you lush foliage and little to no fruit.
I like to grow 2-3 melons per vine to maximize size. Pinch off all other female flowers.
If you want more melons, plant more seeds.
Is it bad to coil your vines? I have a first time garden that is very small 4' x 8' so I have been coiling the vines so they don't grow over the other plants. The only watermelon I have been able to keep growing (about 5" around) split out at the bottom? Oh, and how often do you fertilize? I would appreciate any suggestions! :)
Grow 1-2 watermelon per vine to maximize size. Do not pinch off the end of the vine. Instead, pinch off the female flowers. Pinching off the end of the vine limits leaf growth which the watermelon needs to develop fully.
Coiling is a bad idea. It makes the leaves too dense and disease will flourish. They need to breathe.
Planting in hills does two things: Helps warm the soil and provides good drainage.
Withholding water for the last couple weeks does intensify the watermelon flavor.
Well, yes, you'd want them out of your garden area just so that you don't get bitten by them (if they are the biting kind).
Even if they don't bite, for me, I don't like things (lots of things is even worse) crawling on my hands and arms when I'm doing yard work.
Since you mention specifically that they are different kinds of ants (with wings), then you'll need to check what kind of food they eat to get the proper bait or food to trick them and remove them. For example, something sweet or something else?
You can also keep that bed area constantly wet and see if they move on their own but then when they do move, you'll have to handle them at their next spot also.
Another discussion about this same question just a couple of threads down the page.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Ant discussions
But now I think I will give them the drip three times spread over every two-week period. If that's wrong, I hope you will let me know.
One of the first things to learn as a new gardener is you water when the plant needs it not on some sort of artificial schedule the gardener makes up. :)
There are too many variables involved for any "this is Tuesday so I have to water" schedule to work. When the weather is cool plants need less water, as it warms up they need more. If it rains then you need to know how much. That's what rain gauges are for. Floral is lucky to live in a much wetter climate than many of us on this side of the pond. So what is your climate like?
You need to notice if it has been cloudy and overcast for the past few days or full sun for days. And you need to notice how well your soil drains - how long does it take for it to dry out. Not just surface drying but root deep drying.
You can tell when the plant needs it by sticking your fingers in the soil down to the root level and feeling the moisture content. If it feels cool or damp then you don't water.
Then once the leaves develop notice the turgor - the tension in the leaf surfaces. If they are firm and the leaf surface fully expanded, no water is needed. If softening or floppy they need water.
And once it is leafing don't forget to feed it a diluted to 1/2 strength well-balanced fertilizer.
Dave
You can kill them with dish soap mixed in with water, using a spray bottle. If you have a larger amount, then you can use a hand sprayer and just cover the general area where they are.
It kills them pretty fast. Not sure if they drown or just react to the dish soap, but you can kill the nymphs and adults like this.
If I remember correctly, they like to hang out with female maple trees, so you or a nearby neighbor probably has one of these.
Thank you. They were in the ivy along the fence. I will not worry about them for now.
Here is a link that might be useful: Boxelder Bug
I just remembered that when I was a kid we always planted them on Good Friday. I haven't grown them for many years.
Thanks for heads up. I had completely forgotten that they go in earl, but I'll be throwing some in the ground this weekend.
This post was edited by Creek-side on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 22:10
I thought there would be a website somewhere with a table listing record lengths of vines. I cannot find any.
dianega,
can you post a pic or two of the terraces where you plan to grow the melons? Do they get full sun? I don't think you necessarily need to limit yourself to the compact varieties. It may require more intensive methods, but the vining types might work just fine in your situation.