23,822 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Of course the recommendations are going to seem generic because they are computer generated. You can't expect a personalized interpretation when the test facility probably is testing 20,000 to 30,000 samples per month in the Spring.
Most soil fertilizer recommendations are based on a 6.66" depth of soil mainly because that figure computes to 2,000,000 lb. of soil and makes those computer generated recommendations work. If you til deeper or more shallow you probably should be making adjustments to the recommendation because you are either concentrating or dilution the lime and fertilizer that you apply.

I got the test results back yesterday. They are much easier to understand now. Years ago you had to be a scientist to understand the results!
It's in pretty good condition.
PH-6
Sufficient on everything, put P is excessive.
I can pull the P down a little since I planted a cover crop of annual rye if I mow it and remove it. I was planning on turning it under.
They are recommending 15-0-15, 6lb's per 300' of row.
I bought several bags of 17-17-17 last fall that was on sale, and have them stored in the barn, bummer.

Thanks sunnibel! My girls crack me up when NE Kansas has snow! I try to entice them (to come out of their heated coop) by moving their treats (BOS) out into their run......... Nuthin' doin'!
You'd think that snow was razor blades!
Hopefully your girls will find some soft dirt real soon!

Thanks, cugal! Yup, snow is gone, just waiting to be sure the morning lay is done, then I think we'll all spend some quality time outside. Might even hit the 60s today, dare I hope. If only I could teach the chickens to hunt voles, it would be a perfect setup.

I'll be planting warm weather vegetables in mid April, weather permitting. That means I'll be able to look at a ten day forecast and see NO night temperatures below 55 degrees
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If I had to do that( Night lows 55F+) I would have to wait til July.
Here I will be happy with 42F+ night lows. Tomatoes can even tolerate 38F+. But peppers maybe 45F+

Mother earth news has a free planting guide where you put in your zip code and it tells you when to plant what. You can put in your email and they'll send you notices to your email. It's kind of cool.
Here is a link that might be useful: mother earth plant guide

Truth be told, I never bought garlic anyway, except when I worked out of the country for 8 months several years ago. I have always used my own garlic for seed. In my opinion garlic adapts to a site and gets bigger over time. But now I will pay attention.
I also grow everything from seed, similarly to avoid importing disease. But garlic is surprising. I never had a problem, in any soil and with any Michigan season.

Hello,
I'm a new wannabe garlic grower. I just came across this forum thread. I realize it's a little old, but I really appreciate all the good information presented.
Tom,
Would you have any interest in getting together and sharing some knowledge? Maybe, I could come help you harvest for a day and pick your brain as we work. I'm located in Minneapolis. 541-515-4429
Thanks,
Randy

Agree with everybody above. I've tried doing what you want to do as far as planting real close together. Some people say this is ok, but I found better production when I gave each plant the proper spacing.
Either do what slimy or zach suggests or snip one like rhizo suggests.
In either case, I would get them out of those 2" peat containers and into some 3" or 4" containers. Peat pots suck past germination and a month is a long ways away.
Kevin


Lots of people have over on the Square Foot Gardening Forum. I personally haven't. I just use native soil amended yearly with compost.
Here is a link that might be useful: Square Foot Gardening Forum
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Wed, Mar 19, 14 at 19:38

Fertilizer can travel as far as water can. And generally, water does not travel horizontally very far.
What you can do is to put a plastic barier , similar to what they use between grass and garden beds. They are about 6-8" wide and come in rolls, sold at garden center @ HD and elsewhere. Alternatively, you can use a 9/16 x 6" cedar board, the ones are used to make fence with.
As I said, water tends to go down by the force of gravity. UNLESS the bed is flooded.

Also depends on the type of fertilizer. Water souable fertilizers will spread/dissipate out further than a dry granular one will even when it gets wet.
Ideally legumes should be planted as far away from routinely fertilized crops as possible - like a separate area - but that isn't always practical. When it isn't then choose granular supplements rather than liquids or as suggested, some sort of barrier between.
Many gardeners use flowers or other run-off trapping crops between the crops with very different needs but if your space is really limited then that would be a waste of space.
Dave


"When an electric fixture is malfunctioning, one should stop using it immediately. The fluorescent bulbs should last for thousands of hours. But his fixture burns it in no time, he puts in another bulb and the problem persists and he leaves the light on. So whose fault is it ?"
Agree. If something is clearly wrong, the last thing one should do is leave the fixture plugged in and unattended.
There's not a whole lot of difference in T12/T8 fixtures at this point. There's only a few ballast manufacturers and they sell to everyone. Pick the one with the best reflectors (as that's going to be the biggest determiner of performance), and if you're seeing problems in the first couple of weeks, return the damn thing.

Let me tell you how I deal with slugs/snail(Assuming that it is your problem too)
1) HUNTING: Nothing works more effectively than just finding and destroying them. ESPECIALLY early on so that they cannot multiply. Get one of those sharp pointed bamboo skews, just skew them one after another as if you would skew shrimps. (GRIN) . Put it somewhere on a sunny place. Hopefully some birds may enjoy them or they will become SUN DRIED slugs. hehe
2) use nylon netting around and over your seedlings. Make sure that it is well pinned down.
3) Slug baits of all kinds work fine. But they are expensive. Here is what I do: Make my own mix"
--- 1 parts slug bait
--- 4 parts used coffee grounds
--- 2-3 parts play/mortar sand; has to be a little rough. Dry is better.
--- ground egg shell : NOT too fine. You want it to have sharp
points
There you have it; You can use it more generously as opposed to pure expensive sluggo. This year I will add some crushed floor dri(DE) as well.
Slugs have a tender belly. That is how slugo works, by tearing it down. Sand, eggshell, any sharp matter can also damage their belly and you will see them bleeding while running away.
Your ultimate goal should be to destroy them, not deter them. As you continue doing this the population will be reduced, and there will be less muliplication. BUT always be on the look out. not just around the vegetable garden, but everywhere in your yard. HUNT THEM. a salt shake can also work instead bamboo skewer.

My local nursery has gotten in their onion/potato sets as well as asparagus crowns (even had 2yr old crowns). Big box stores had 1yr crowns... found some at Home Depot a week ago that I may take back after seeing the crowns from the nursery place. The nursery crowns had growing points on them... were larger and not as dry. Price was comparable
$4 for 3 crowns @ box stores vs $1.30 per crown at nursery.

Hi missnish and welcome. I hope you don't mind if I redirect you to a couple of different forums here for better info?
First, the Florida Gardening forum can get you input directly from the locals, info those residing elsewhere can only guesstimate.
Second, the Fruits and Orchards forum here can get you input from fruit gowers. I note there are many discussions about growing blueberries on that forum.
Hope this is of some help.
Dave
PS: and if you want to grow them in containers check out this discussion about them on the Container gardening forum.

I wish I knew. I've come to expect my spring crops to be a lot more hit-or-miss than my summer or fall ones. I agree that the weather seems to suddenly and rapidly heat up, causing lots of spring crops to bolt or otherwise become useless. Some springs I get nice broccoli and peas, etc., others I get close to nothing. I'm not expecting much this year, unless the cool trend holds into June. But we will see, this will be another experience under my belt when the season has gone by. I've only been growing in this exact location a few years. Sorry I don't know anything about onions for scallions either. I only grow mine for storage.


Only asparagus? Asparagus beetles but you'd see them. Otherwise the possibilities are numerous - mice, rats, rabbits (my main problem), squirrels, groundhogs, gophers, even feral cats will eat them and they all love the tips especially.
Dave
PS: oh and deer too but mine eat parts of the stalks too.