23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
It will redden after first frost. Since you may not have a first frost, it will stay greenish-reddish - and more bitter than those that get frosted. It is a matter of taste, I like it equally, frost-sweet or bitter. In its bitter state it is medicinally a lot more powerful (helps your liver more). Radicchio is really optimal for zone 8 or 9, minimal frosts, but frosts. Michigan radicchio, around Xmas just before it keels over, it may be small because of the short season and cold temps, but it is the sweetest.
There are self-heading varieties that I think have inferior taste, and I suspect that the tasteless heads you find in stores are of that type, grown somewhere near the Rio Grande or in Salinas.
Yes, less sun causes greener leaves- chlorophyll (the green pigment) is more effective at photosynthesis than the red pigments, so with less sun the plants will make more green pigment to use the available light better. I would test it and see how you like the flavor. If it is too bitter maybe blanching it by wrapping it in brown paper might help, though I don't really know. It looks very happy and healthy otherwise!
Yes, roots need air (oxygen). Water uptake, and therefore nutrient uptake, are energy driven. In order for the process to occur, plants need to torn the food they make into energy, and that requires oxygen, just as your own body requires oxygen to keep your cells fueled.
The reason many terrestrial plants can be grown in water is by virtue of the fact they can change root structure. The roots produced in water are quite different from those produced in a soil-like or highly aerated medium (perlite - screened Turface - calcined DE - seed starting mix, e.g.). Physiologically, you will find these (water) roots to be much more brittle than normal roots due to a much higher percentage of aerenchyma (a tissue with a greater percentage of intercellular air spaces than normal parenchyma - as in terrestrial plants).
Aerenchyma tissue is filled with airy compartments. It usually forms in already rooted plants as a result of highly selective cell death and dissolution in the root cortex in response to hypoxic conditions in the rhizosphere (root zone). There are 2 types of aerenchymous tissue. One type is formed by cell differentiation and subsequent collapse, and the other type is formed by cell separation without collapse ( as in water-rooted plants). In both cases, the long continuous air spaces allow diffusion of oxygen (and probably ethylene) from the upper part of the plant to roots that would normally be unavailable to plants with roots growing in hypoxic media. In fresh cuttings placed in water, aerenchymous tissue forms due to the same hypoxic conditions w/o cell death & dissolution.
Note too, that under hypoxic (airless - low O2 levels) conditions, ethylene is necessary for aerenchyma to form. This parallels the fact that low oxygen concentrations, as found in water rooting, generally stimulate plants to produce ethylene. For a long while it was believed that high levels of ethylene stimulate adventitious root formation, but lots of recent research proves the reverse to be true. Under hypoxic conditions, like submergence in water, ethylene actually slows down adventitious root formation and elongation.
Soggy soils are hard on plants for a couple of reasons. A) Roots can't quickly make back and forth transitions from well-aerated to hypoxic. B) Soggy soils don't allow the roots enough O2 to work efficiently, so root function is impaired or roots die from a lack of O2. C) Gas exchange in soggy soils is poor. O2 diffuses in air about 10,000 times faster than in water, so in transitional situations (aerated to hypoxic) the plant can't get O2 from the soil OR the upper plant organs. Also, since CO2 is heavier than air, soils with poor gas exchange tend to fill with CO2, and hold onto gas byproducts of decomposition - like the CO2 already mentioned, sulfurous gasses, methane ... which is an obvious problem.
Al
Then I guess I was merely misunderstanding you. My apologies. Simply putting roots in water is not going to kill them, that's not what I'm saying, and I know that we agree on this point.
Where I think I got misconstrued is the idea that it is bacterial or fungal activity that causes root death, not a lack of oxygen (once again, I may have misinterpreted your statement here, further apologies if I did).
I water(rinse) them everyday. Just wet the sprouts, pour out the excess water, when i pour the excess water out, the seed hulls comes with the water, they naturally float to the top. They have all different sprouting tools..
Even when i leaved the hulls with the sprouts while they are growing, when i harvested them and rinsed the seed hulls out, the hulls were no where near rotting. Im concerned about your setup Glib, how long do you let your sprouts grow for? Even in my poor setups, i barely had any mold, let alone rot.
Normal times, perhaps a bit longer b/c my house is kept at 55F most of the day. About 8 days for fenugreek. The rotting is not obvious, and there is no mold, but obviously it is ongoing. Fenugreek hulls, for example, become softer as time goes by, and some of them also sink. Broccoli or alfalfa hulls show no texture degradation, but they certainly are attacked by bacteria.
My jars have tight fitting screen lids which are a bit difficult to put on, I have to keep the jars with the lids on until the sprouts are ready, then separate sprouts and hulls, which is done in the salad spinner, full of water, for the most part.
I think the next time I will plant carrot in mid to late October for a harvest by February / March.
Just wondering, Your zone would have below freezing temps (upto 15F). Does that not harm the carrots?
Also if you leave the carrots in ground until April - don't they become woody and inedible?
Yes, Sept or Oct would be alot better than starting in Jan. Carrots will generally be fine down to 20F, below that they probably should be covered. I've never covered before this year and my carrots did fine with temps in the teens. As you probably know the eastern US has experienced record cold temps this winter. And I did cover carrots when it got down to 7 or 8F a couple times here. alot of things can cause woodiness in carrots and leaving them in the ground too long is one of them. You don;t want to wait until they are completely mature and reach their max size. I'll harvest most Dec/Jan but I've left some in the ground til early April and were still edible.
I long to do that ! Once I actually got a few peas and they were unbelievable they were so good.
But I wondered if "the basics" like potatoes and squash and even bananas would taste similar to store bought.
My dream is to grow corn and have the water boiling while I pick some, then dash back to the kitchen and in a few minutes have a buttery, salty feast !
My take is similar to that of Digdirt. Even if you were to grow the exact same vegetable varieties sold in the supermarket (which I don't recommend as a rule) they would still be better because:
(a) you can give them more TLC than they would get in the field
(b) you can harvest at the stage of maturity you prefer, rather than the stage of veggies picked & sold by weight
(c) you can eat them literally minutes after they were picked
(d) if you garden organically, you know what chemicals are not on them
That being said... I find that vegetables which are typically stored for long periods in the home (such as potatoes and winter squash) to be basically the same as those stored... well... in the store. You just have more varieties to choose from if you grow your own.
I like to grow C. moschata pumpkins (last year Dickinson Field) and they do a great job of dominating a weedy hillside. Outside the garden in a place I don't want to mow much, I make a big 3x8-foot compost heap with some chicken litter in it, and set five plants in the heap. I mow around the planting maybe twice, until the vines start to run. After that, the big leaves and vigorous vines definitely dominate over the nasty pasture fescue with no problem.
Last year I got over 100 pounds of good eating pumpkin from the five plants. One vine ran 20 feet, then up onto the roof of an out-building. They are great fun to watch!
WOW -- that's a lot of pumpkin!
C. moschata is the kind I can grow -- will look into Dickinson Field.
planatus -- HOW do you eat it? I'm always looking for good "pumpkin for dinner" recipes.
Melissa -- I agree with no need for landscape fabric -- just mow while you still can, and then let it go. It can be a little hard to get the mower through the taller than normal grass in the fall, but no big deal.
If you are thinking about using a sloped trellis, I find a 60 degree angle much more convenient than a 45. The cucs hang down beneath the trellis, and at 45 degrees, it's a pain to get under and harvest the lower fruit, and nearly impossible to rescue them from the top.
It's actually east facing and the house is sided, not brick. Thanks for all the info. I'm not trying to plant early, just worried that with the cold Spring on its way that we'll have more frosts, later in Spring than usual. I don't want to put my tomatoes out a week after the normal spring frost date just to have a really late Spring frost kill them bc this Spring is predicted to be much colder than normal. Trying to be prepared is all. What is a gardener to do when they plant 'on time' and then some random Spring frost threatens their seedlings? Just throw some garden fleece over them and hope for the best?
I'd have to say that siding, which is over wood framing and insulation, won't hold much heat. In fact, if your home insulation is any good, you won't benefit from the heat in the house much, either.
Seems to me the best plan might be to set the plastic up as a low cap over the bed. Then what you're holding in is the heat from the ground. Maybe staple the plastic to a 2x4s on each side, and lay it over the bed, with supports between the plants (big cans? small pails? bricks?) to keep the plastic from touching the plants. Anchor the other two sides with 2x4s just laying on the edge of the plastic. Basically a mini-greenhouse. Now, that design doesn't permit easy access, though access is just a matter of unanchoring the sides, and pulling it off.
If you want to get fancy, fill those big cans or pails with water. That way, you fill the space more with stuff that holds heat.
Concentrate on the roots and not the tops. You probably need to potup to deep pots, maybe more than once, to allow roots to expand. I'd pull up one or more plants to examine the root mass to make a determination on when to potup. You'll find that there is a bit more work with asparagus than many other veg. transplants and I'm not sure I would go to all that much trouble with that variety but the choice is yours.
I am just starting a veg garden in new place with a few firsts. 1.winter sowing many of my vegetables... 2.also am using vertical pallet gardens. So far onions, chives, radish', tomatoes, peppers, parsley crossing fingers..
It looks more like a milk jug garden at the moment. lol
Nothing!
I will drop about 70 something tomato seeds come St. Patty's day, although if this frigid weather doesn't break I may even wait until end of March. I don't want leggy plants. Probably drop 20-30 peppers and eggplants.
As far as other things, no. I want to direct sow most of everything. I don't notice much of a change in end product when I sow these inside and transplant, vs direct sow. Ie: lettuce, peas, radishes, herbs, etc. As far as broccoli and such, I'm only going to do a fall planting this year, as we will be in a new place this spring.
I normally would have started onions and leeks, but once again...new place, not sure how much ground we will be able to work.
Since I'm an avid seed-tape-fan I just have to add my two cents worth. I like them for carrots and onions mostly because I'm a little older and the whole bending over and holding my hand inches from my nose to pick up one or two seeds to put in holes kills me after about 3 minutes. During the winter I like to sit at the kitchen table and "garden" with my seeds and tp. Here's what I learned:
-two seeds to every dot. It tried to skimp once, and had bare spots because the one seed didn't sprout.
- last year I tried to mix things up, companion-garden style. Onion, then carrot, then radish, parsnip, and so on. I didn't like the results because everything grows on a different time scale. I'm going back to making tapes of just one item per tape.
-2 ply tp didn't work as well as one-ply because it seemed to sap the moisture away from the seed too much instead of disintegrating.
- wind will snatch the tapes right out of your hand and send all the little seeds flying. I make my tapes only the length of my two outstretched arms so they are more manageable (and easier to unfold without flicking seeds off).
- I watered down glue by adding 1/4 water per bottle. Also, the no-name, cheapo brands work better for this purpose because it lets go of the seed better once it's wet. Elmer's likes to hold on for dear life.
-permanent marker goes right thru the paper, so if you're working on a counter or kitchen table, get ready to scrub dots...and do it quick or else they will be there forever.
Gel pens work best for me.
- the soil covering the tapes can only be a light, light covering or the seed can't get out. If a tiny part of paper is exposed, it just dries out and sucks away the moisture from the seed too. I combat this by sprinkling a very light layer of straw down the rows. It doesn't have to be a complete mat, I've found, just a very light sprinkling is all it takes.
Great doing .How long the Quick fix glue holds.
Here is a link that might be useful: Quick fix glue
They take about six days to emerge at 80 F. So if you can find a shady place where they can be held at 70 degrees, you can sow them on April 13th, place humidity domes on them and then give them some bottom heat when you get back to finish germination. Saves a few days this way.
Late April is far too early in your zone to plant out peppers or eggplants. Maybe tomatoes if you give them protection and it's a warm spring.
Wait until you get back for best results or at the very least, don't start them until right before you leave.
Dave