23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I wouldn't do it, for a number of reasonsâ¦.
One, you still have to fix the browns to greens ratio even if you did it in your vegetable beds, so why take up the space in your raised beds? You may as well keep the compost bin and fix the balance as others have said.
Second, it's expensive to build raised beds and then space is limited. I would rather use that space for higher production.
Third, If you keep it in a pot in the bed, it's going to smell and attract critters if it is not being composted correctly. Without coming into contact with the soil and without the right amount of browns. Plus in a small pot like that, I have to wonder if you have enough volume. I've often read you should make a compost pile at least a 3x3 ft size.
Cardboard is another good brown. You can get all kinds of cardboard from many different sources. On Freecycle, people are always offering moving boxes.
How much compost are we talking? I've heard of something called spot composting where you just bury a small amount of kitchen scraps right in the ground. But I think that only works with small amounts of scraps and a lot of ground to put them in.
However, garlic planted this late will not produce very big cloves. It is usually planted the previous Autumn for a summer crop.
Alternatively, you could just leave them alone and either use as garlic greens or separate and replant in the Autumn.
Pressing the soil down defeat the purpose of digging it up in the first place. This is actually a very good chance to incorporate some compost and well rotten manure into the soil at suitable depth that you wish to encourage your plants root to grow(ie. 10 to 18 inches depend on plants type). Mere deep-watering can only do so much to encourage deep root growth with nothing down there for them to get nutrient. Only when coupled with plant food(compost/manure) at the suitable depth can deep-watering encourage deep roots efficiently. Plants are a kind of organism that react purely to stimulants:light, temperature, soil nutrient, water, mean altitude and/or latitude etc. Take care of their growing conditions and their growing conditions will take care of them.
I see. Thanks for the response, that makes a lot of sense.
I'll be getting some Shake-n-Feed with it being so widely used. If I was to fertilize it with Shake-n-Feed now, would I have to worry about over fertilizing since I already have the other plant food granules mixed in with the soil?
I know my plants are wanting some food, but I'd hate to over fertilize and not realize it until weeks later when they die or start exhibiting signs of toxicity :-/
Shake n Feed is a Slow Release granular, no magic about it. But for containers that is better,because lasts longer than ordinary granular PLUS it has Calcium and Magnesium. Fertilizers like 10-10-10, 16-16-16 are quick release and have NO calcium and Magnesium.
I mix Shake n Feed with my 5-1-1 potting mix for peppers and tomatoes. For the bed plants I use other stuff, like MG BLUE soluble, 16-16-16, Ammonium sulfate (23-0-0), Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and dolomitic lime. ( the last two item are used very sparingly)
Thanks All.
Dave: obviously seed starters are using it for components and not so much for the myco.. because we already determined that small containers are useless for microorganisms, right?
Also, so only 1 year with the stuff? Reasons?
Thanks again. lol
Kevin
Also, so only 1 year with the stuff? Reasons?
It's no different that any other peat based potting mix in that regard be it MG, Sta-Green, Fafard, Fox Farm, Metro, Sunshine, etc etc.
They all decompose, compact, porosity is lost, etc. over the season. That fact is the whole basis for Al's 5-1-1 as an alternative. Some will get 2 seasons out of them by recharging the mix - 1/2 used mixed with 1/2 fresh. They also make great in-ground garden amendments after use.
obviously seed starters are using it for components and not so much for the myco..
Basically yes although there is some myco root colonization on the seedlings that benefits then while still seedlings and then carries over to the garden when transplanted. But its primary or long term benefit IMO is it allows for the use of organics in containers.
Dave
In the case of garlic or even the large onions, those are the seed/bulb that new plants come from.
But a more equivalent idea would be using the roots of green onion/scallions and replanting them after cutting off the green parts for use. The green onion would regrow in this case (not sure how much white part needs to remain but I generally cut a little bit above the green leaf growth).
The problem with some bean sprouts was because contaminated seeds were grown in a warm, moist, dark environment and they were eaten raw. Growing from the remains of other produce, especially if you put it out in your garden, is different. If the produce you try to regenerate was contaminated, you would have gotten sick the first time you ate it. If you didn't get sick then, you won't get sick from it later. The produce that made people sick usually got contaminated with e. coli in the field before it got to the grocery store.
Even if not allowed to freeze to death, true annuals go through their entire life cycle in one year. Their "mature size" is whatever they grow to in that one year. The point here is that Solanaceae are not true annuals, in that they don't self-destruct at the end of a year, though many let a freeze do that. In northern climes, you don't have much of a choice. It's amusing that many lists of perennial vegetables don't include them. Why? Because the northern assumption is that what can't make it though the winter is a horticultural annual. That's wrong. A frost intolerant perennial is a, let's say, practical annual, if you can't protect it.
It would be interesting to see an honest list of horticulturally perennial vegetables.
It would be interesting to see if you have an overwintered tomato how it does this year (esp. if you can plant it in the ground). My DD and her BFF are doing a science fair project on the lifecycle of a tomato plant, I told them that tomatoes are perennials in warm climates, but here they don't do well even if you can keep them alive, or at least I don't think they'd do as well as peppers.
Maybe something to do with the peppers lignifying, I don't think tomatoes really do that, my cousin has 2 Burpee hybrids in shrub pots (10 gal?) that I gave her last summer, they languished in 4" pots until I opened a bag of MG and potted them up. She moved them into her living room for the winter, I haven't been to her house lately but a month or so ago one had a small tomato - nothing like the size I was getting off these plants. But they were still alive. Going to have to try to plant them in her garden this year and see how they do but I think the answer will be "not well".
I do have some peppers I started from seed in Jan 2012, potted up until last year 2 biggest (Douglah 7-pot) ended up in 3-5 pots and 3 others (Bih jolokia ) in 2-gal pots, they did flower this winter but no luck hand pollinating. I also has a purple serrano the same age in a 1 gal pot, it was always tall and spindly, I cut it way back and it is looking wonderful now (I did get 1 serrano and 1 Douglah last winter).
I agree that you are over-analyzing the whole thing, which is a waste of time at best and could lead to frustrating crop failures at worst. I would suggest that you get your soil pH tested and then go from there to achieve a target pH of 6.5 to 7.0, which works for pretty much all the veggies you're growing.
I don't like applying urine to my garden because it can burn plants and it can also be high in sodium.
When you use urine, you have no idea what you're getting, as far as pH goes. None at all. You're welcome to pee on your soil, but if you do, forget about the numbers - you may as well pull them out of thin air.
Better to pee on your compost pile and let nature take its course. By the time the compost is ready for use, the soil critters will have worked things out for you.
Well Amish Paste is often described as a somewhat wispy plant in appearance so it could just be a plant appearance you aren't used to. I wouldn't expect it to look much like a Better Bush. In other words varietal appearances vary greatly regardless of if they are heirlooms or hybrids.
Don't know anything about Bison other than it is a dwarf determinate but if rapid wilting is the symptom then I'd sure be looking for other causes like over-exposure, less root development or root bound plants.
Dave
There could be a theoretical justification. Hybrids are a cross between two genetic lines, so you get the genetic contributions of both the mom and the dad. So-called 'heirloom' varieties are inbred lines - that's what keeps them a single consistent type. In genetics, the benefit of crossing two different lines is called 'heterozygote advantage.'
Another way to think of this phenomenon: many dog breeds suffer from genetic diseases that are the product of inbreeding. In order to get the dogs to look the way they do, you have to keep breeding the same types over and over, and eventually they get inbred. On the other hand, mutts are generally free of such medical conditions - being crosses between different types. they don't collect bad genetic mutations.
As much as the internet gardening world loves it's 'heirlooms,' hybrids have been used in agriculture and in animal breeding for a long time for good reasons.
These are tumbling tom tomatoes, special for hanging baskets. I put two plants in each basket and they do wonderful. I wouldn't worry about it if they are for hanging baskets.
I have 50 to put into hanging baskets any day now, but first we have to get rid of this cold weather!
Jay
Jay -- Your baskets look like they are the same size as mine (12" at the top, 8.5" at the bottom, and 7" high.) I wanted to plant Tumbling Tom, but the nursery didn't have them. Your plants are much bigger than mine. Mine have the leaves and stems growing much closer together; you can't see space through them.
What program is that that you are using that can even help estimate sun exposure in E-W or N-S planting? Seems interesting!
Granted, we can visualize which kind of planting might be better but to see it simulated, and even output in numbers that we can physically compare, would be fun also.
The main things I've heard about common garden crops is the tomatoes and potatoes. Some say don't use the same container soil or same plot for tomatoes and potatoes again, but others say they do and it's fine. It comes down to the issues of disease or sickness there. If the plants hadn't gotten any issues there last year, it probably is OK this year.
lacyvail, I was inspired by a post from you! I have been getting mine from Bountiful Gardens (love them!) but also found them at Cook's Garden. $4.95 for a 2 gram packet at Cook's Garden, and $2.50 for the same at Bountiful Gardens. (That's a no-brainer!)
Have you been able to save seeds yet? From the previous post it seems that if they over-winter they should bolt and produce seed. They would have to be isolated also.
Here is a link that might be useful: Which variety of swiss chard to grow
This post was edited by milehighgirl on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 14:05
I usually like to use Mother Nature's rain to help water, so when I can see that some rain is coming in (especially with 80% chance!) then I would definitely get as many seeds/starts/seedlings planted out as much as possible.
The other part of this is that, while it's great to try to get them in before the rain, even the same day before the rain, but after the rain, you might have to wait a few days for the ground to dry more before doing other planting work.
Can you just carefully clear some of the soil around the base of the crown? Fingers would be the least damaging way to do it.
If the soil is too hard to clear it away then yeah I think you will need to at least raise it. I'd try coming in at a deep angle for the side say 8-10" away from the base and losen the clump from the soil. Work around it carefully until the whole crown will raise up enough to work additional soil in below it.
Good luck.
Dave
Thanks. I will first try pulling away some of the soil and when the ground dries up a bit see if I can lift it a little.