23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Wow - 30 peppers in a 4x12 bed! And here I thought that I was crowding peppers by putting 14 in a 4x10 bed. I agree with Dave that harvest might be tough on the middle row but you should not get much if any sunscald on the that row. This year my 4x10 pepper bed has a row of leeks on each long edge about 4-5 inches in from the edge and I will plant 14 peppers in 2 rows about 1' from the edge.

Thank you all) Yes, we do like bell peppers) I freeze them for winter and I basically add them in all dishes I make with exception of porridge) But our growing season is not that long, so more plants - bigger crop for the year. I was thinking the same - how to get to the middle row and would it get diseased due to a poor air flow and will it kill whole bed of peppers. But I guess I have to try, otherwise I will have this question for the rest of my gardening life). I plant 30 peppers anyway, and if I can make them grow in one bed, it will free some space for few extra eggplants and I wouldn't have to mix eggplants and peppers on the same bed and worry that eggplants will beat peppers over in space competition.

Maybe the compost was contaminated with persistent herbicides? http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/killer-compost-it-happened-to-us/

greenbean08 -- that's what I was wondering. But he used named brand compost -- could that still be a possibility?

Do you have rabbits? They like tender new growth. A poster on wintersowing said she covers new seedlings with wire mesh wastebaskets bought at a dollar store for $1. I'm going to try that, anchoring with landscape staples.

Here (in WA) the slugs eat all sorts of stuff. I don't think I've had much trouble with the beans, but they like to decimate my squash seedlings. In Colorado, I never saw signs of any slugs (it was really dry) but I did see the pill bugs eating my beans, just like this. The ones in my current garden don't seem to bother anything enough to notice.

I had no problems last year with cucurbit seedlings in the 40's on a few nights... but I don't think they were hit with 30's. I have found cucurbits to be much cold hardier than peppers or eggplants or other heat loving plants. I planted seeds 2 weeks after LFD and had no problems with my plants, they were my best crop, meanwhile the peppers planted too early got stunted. I would leave them, personally.

Thank you all!
I watch my cuces carefully - looks like they continue to develop fine, will see in a couple days. I will still have time to replant if I see them to slow down. Answering temperature question - I have 4 thermometers set on different levels, not on top of the pots, but on the wire shelves where pots are set. They all were around 39F, but soil probably was a bit warmer. Nights now are much warmer, days even hot, so I hope I wouldn't have that problem again).

Don't worry unless it gets THIS silvery: and then worry.

The first two photos are normal. Black Beauty zucchini has silvery spots on the leaves. The last photo shows insect damage, which could be spider mites. Get rid of that leaf and hose off other signs of spider mites or use neem/insecticidal soap.

Now for the point of view of a painter. This is NOT a rare occurrence as all painters have to clean up somewhere somehow.

Firstly, there is nearly NO non-latex paint used any more. Secondly, there is nothing toxic in any non-industrial paint any more. Thirdly, nobody dumps buckets of perfectly good new paint.

Fourthly, what accommodations did you make so the painter could clean up after painting? If none, then the painter had to pick a spot. If the painter can't clean up, they you would have to pay for those ruined thirty dollar brushes and pans and rollers and so on. Clean-up takes water running through the thick paint residues until the tools are clean enough to be used again on the next job. You can't let that paint-y water run down the sidewalk or gutter or people would complain about THAT! Paint is designed to cover, so it looks like there's a lot when it's really just very very thin latex resins and pigments in lots of water.

So, what accommodations did you make so the painter could clean up after painting?

Well I can certainly buy oil based paint, which is very much a non-latex. But again, any toxicity evaporates away as the paint dries.

That being said, let's remember that the painter is getting paid to do a good job. If the painter needed a cleanup site, the painter really should have asked for one. That strikes me as a responsibility of the job that they're getting paid to do competently. Now, I can't assume that all painters would recognize a garden bed if they tripped over it. "Looks like dirt to me!" So it's not necessarily a matter of stupidity that they dumped it there. It is a matter of carelessness for not asking.

In response to a six year old comment on a very old thread, urine is actually quite sterile. What comes out the other end is not. That's the best thing to wrap your head around.

I find that putting urine on my compost pile raises the temperature noticeably. It really does seem to accelerate composting.

Urine sure won't do anything about the pH level of the bed, and wood ash is about the worst thing you can do about alkaline soil. My soil is alkaline, and I consider wood ash mildly toxic waste. (Though in very modest quantities, it is fine to put in a compost pile.) Per unit weight, wood ash is about half as effective in increasing alkalinity as lime.

emgardener - August 28, 2009, .....if you are still reading this thread just wanted to add that I use urine as a deer repellent and it seems to work well. I don't put it on or near my plants but just around the perimeter of the garden. Was wondering if you noticed that it keeps deer or other critters at bay too? Need to refresh after each rainfall.

I am relatively far north for eggplant, but we really enjoy them and so I am always on a search for productive ones for my area. Over the past many years I have tried Rosa Bianca, Hansel, Gretel, a couple of mini eggplants, and at least three large types, including Black Beauty. Hands down the most productive for me has been Orient Express. It produces early and in massive quantities every year I've grown it regardless of weather and my relatively short season. It's tender and delicious as well.

I've only grown black beauty. It produces more eggplants than we can easily use, although since my husband recently discovered eggplant rollatini that could change. :)

My husband tells me I call my seedlings "kids." As in, "Well, hey there kids. How are you doing?" :) Oh well.

This is fun to read.:) Each time I plant something I say "(name of plant) please come grow in my garden." When I'm planting with my grandkids in the little plots I've made for them at their homes, we say it together and it's a fun little ritual (ages 2 and 3). Also, I express a lot of gratitude, maybe wordlessly, as the garden grows and looks amazing, and produces. I also seem to remember a few cheering sessions, like when something peeks up over the soil, as in "Yay! you look marvelous!"

Katie, I remember that study from ages ago. Would be interesting to google if anything has been replicated and researched in a way that would -- no pun intended -- hold water.

My mom visited Findhorn in the 80's, so it runs in the family.

Generally where are you Moonwillow? (zone and region or state) Last year I bought commercial slips, but this year I am just using sprouts from my current tubers. Last year was the first time I had planted sweet potatoes, and I didn't expect much since it was a relatively cool season. I planted them around Memorial Day or perhaps early June and harvested in early October, and was pleasantly surprised to get several pounds of potatoes from perhaps 5 or 6 vines. Each yielded 3 large to medium tubers, and two were a foot long and 4 inches wide, simply huge!

@NhBabs (4b-5aNH) Im in Ghana actually. no where near the States. so i dont have to worry about too cool a season even though its supposed to be the rainy season now. (thats the coolest its gonna get). They can get that large huh? thanks for letting me know.

thanks pitcom...guess i was worried for nothing!

@vgkg ouu....i shall do exactly that. can't wait for them to start giving sweet potatoes back. you make it sound simple that i have hope to cultivate a green thumb. such useful info ^-^

All i have to do know is look for a larger space in this house and ill keep you guys posted! :D

Heres an update. the rooted one's sprouts are ready i think to be planted. i think the one that didnt root well isnt growing any further. so i'll just take the sprouts ive gotten so far and plant them.

Thanks for the info, I have a test kit and did the test many times and every time it indicated depleted levels of nitrogen (what is weird is I kept a small amount of the dry compost in a bag in my home when I got it and when I tested that it had a surplus of nitrogen? but the same compost in my garden always indicates depleted)

Also last year I got my compost from the same place and used it somewhere else in my garden and I had a Surplus of nitrogen according to the test and all my plants where dark green but this year there was more wood chips in the compost and i'm assuming that is why it is depleted of nitrogen.

If you are using one of the common home test kits then they are notoriously inaccurate, especially when it comes to N and pH readings. A common recommendation is to never make any big corrections based on their results. Far too often it only makes things even worse, not better. For a few dollars more you can contact your local county ag extension office and get a professional test done.

Dave

I m just going to plant after mothers day maybe a couple of days after that. i will be using this week to harden off the plants since it will great weather.

The weather is about to change. 50s/70s+. Unseasonably warm. Yes we have had hot days cold nights and cold soil from a cold winter.

The weather has been very volatile here. Very hard to plan anything.

I find it's easy to recruit volunteer garden watchers with a promise of fresh vegetables. I just make sure I leave clear instructions or the person is experienced. A few tomatoes in exchange for some water works every time.

Vacations and healthy gardens are difficult to juggle without extensive "planning ahead". So for many, the vacation moves to non-gardening times of the year. That way you get the best of both.

Planning ahead allows you to incorporate auto watering set-ups into your gardening; either someone to cover for you or auto water timers attached to in-place drip tape or soaker hose or even sprinklers. Even the most inexpensive auto-timer can take care of all but huge garden plots for you and when the garden is heavily mulched and deep watered from the beginning of the season, one week of no attention is no problem when it comes to water. Pests and disease issues can still run wild when there is no attention but the plants won't lack water. :)

Dave