23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I don't know that juglone qualifies as an oil.
Dave has the best idea....use the hulls on an area where there are no plants of any kind. That's probably even true for the finished compost, if you want to be safe. There are a jillion lists of juglone sensitive plants....each seem to be different from the others. Best to be cautious.
Our very first freeze was two weeks ago. It went down to 23. My broccoli leaves (uncovered) were burned, but the plants made it. Heads were not damaged. I did, however, put row cover over them after that. I really want them to make it all winter. I like the side shoots even better than the big heads. Personally, I wouldn't take the chance. It just doesn't take much time to cover them.
Thanks.
How well does compost suppress weeds when applied as a mulch? (I use quite a bit of compost, but have never used it as a mulch for fear that the weeds would like it too much).
To explain better, the lime is for what I think the soil already needs. There is a nearby asparagus bed that tested at 5.5 a few years ago, I'm assuming this soil is the same (though I may have added a little lime before planting strawberries in the past and there has been some compost and cow manure added over time). The bed is newly planted- I transplanted some crowns about a month ago after they had gone dormant. I meant to get a soil test done- but it's turned into one of those tasks I didn't get to- and it's now 15 degrees with snow blowing everywhere and I'm not sure if I'll get it done before the ground is too frozen. I'll probably go with cedar mulch (I really want something that will suppress weeds) but if anyone has other suggestions let me know.
Growing indoors will be extremely difficult unless you can get 6-8 hours of sunlight and good ventilation. There are more chances of diseases when these are grown indoors. But if you have space for even 1-2 containers outside you can certainly grow them easily. It is best to grow them in summer but you can start seeds indoors about 8 weeks ahead of time or buy transplants from nursery.
Here is a link that might be useful: El Paso Twigs
If you have grown them successfully outside, in the garden or IN container, then may consider growing them inside. Then you have to educated yourself about GROWING UNDER LIGHT.
But what you want to do is to germinating and growing seedling to be planted out in the spring, THEN that is another issue.
I'm surspised at giving the tomato plants only 2' apart. Seems a little close, depending on the type of tomato plants. The 3-4 feet between rows isn't just mainly for us humans to walk in, the plant roots go out into those spots too!
Actually, saying 3-4' between rows can be a little misleading (depending on how you interpret that) because it doesn't address how wide the rows themselves are. A tomato plant has a much larger footprint than a bean plant, so if you plant a row of bean seeds, then measure 3' over from your furrow and plant another row of beans, fine, plenty of room. But if you plant a row of tomato transplants, especially monsters like some of the cherry tomatoes, measure 3' over then do a row of okra, you won't have room to move come midsummer, because those can both average 3' in diameter.
I have lots of space and I like to be comfortable in the garden, so I have a 3' spacing for everything: 3' wide row for planting, 3' wide path for walking, 3' wide row for planting, etc. For smaller things I end up treating it like a small bed, and plant rows within rows, like with lettuce, bush beans, garlic. I could probably do with smaller pathways, but not smaller rows.
Never heard of him so had to look him up. South Texas gardening is the apparent focus so while the folks on the Texas Gardening forum here might be interested he doesn't have much applicable info for the rest of us.
I sure didn't like the looks of the tomato transplant he is holding in the photo - leggy and well past ideal transplanting age and size.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Gardening forum
Perth, Western Australia ?
You are heading to summer , Right ? In that case, B.sprouts are prone to bolt. Cabbages are called COOL CROPS. They are very much like onions. In some places where they have very cool summers,brassica are planted in the spring and harvested in the fall.
In US(Zone, 7, 8), I had planted them one fall. They over wintered and the following spring they resumed growing.
But I don't know how to grow them successfully in subtropics.
I tried over and over this year to grow fall lettuce, every time the heat burned it up. Finally, very late, some of it sprouted and started to grow. I watched with interest to see if it would reach harvestable size before the freeze got it.
Sure enough, I come out one day, and it's all been nipped down to the nub by the rachets.
Every year.
Rabbits decimated my spring Broccoli crop (my first attempt). I planted some fall Broccoli and so far so good but I know that can't last. I finally bit the bullet and bought a floating row cover for pest control as well as frost protection. Now that it came in today I just KNOW those buggers are gonna' clean me out tonight before I can get it attached to hoops and anchored down tomorrow. If they get my fall broccoli we may be having rabbit stew alot this winter lol. Grrrrr.
My nieces live in the city and love rabbits (I do too in actuality, I prefer to use non-lethal barriers and shoot them only as a last resort), they have 7 of them as pets, all adorable. They would be absolutely HORRIFIED to learn that folks out here shoot them as pests and that they can be bred for rabbit meat. Shooting one has certainly crossed my mind a time or two. My sister doesn't even want me to mention in front of her kids that I get my garden manure from a rabbit farm. Apparently that's too traumatic.......Sheesh.
That looks like fusarium mold, which has been a problem for many people in the east this year, probably because of all the rain. There have been several threads about it in the Allium forum.
I would not plant those cloves. Clean bulbs from a coop or health food store would be better, regardless of type.
I had a lot of suspicious bulbs in my hardnecks, so I dried them before the disease progressed. The softnecks were not as badly affected and are still looking perfect in storage.
ahhh overwatering.. that would make sense... I'll stop.. I was watering it more often than I should have because it started to flower. I'll stop. Thanks for the suggestion. I really need to buy some fish emulsion but I have some miracle gro that my dad gave me (I was too polite at the time to say I won't use it, my dad and I garden very differently).
I was debating on what other forum to try... indoor plant or container .. I'll repost on container.
Thanks Dave!
If the purpose of over wintering is to keep them alive, I would not fertilize them too much, I would not water them too much.
I will give them 1/3 strength fertilizers, mybe once a month.
I will also snip any bud and flower. They need light more than anything else. Keep them in cooler spot. UNLESS you want to have an indoor winter garden.
Once again the reputation and good name of slugs around the world has been saved by photographic evidence. Rabbits are famous for damaging our greens and blaming it on defensless slugs. Unlike snails we have not protective shell and are thin skinned. But I still recommend beer be left out for the slugs. If the rabbit does take a drink of it, he/she might forget about the greens. Don't believe what you have heard, that slugs are drunks. We are working on a 12 step program for slugs with no feet. It is tough!
The last thing I need around here, Charlie, is a bunch of noisy, drunken, carousing slugs in my yard! It's tough enough getting a decent night's sleep without listening to Slug Tavern racket. The neon lights alone would drive me batty. 12-step programs don't work around these parts. No, no beer for the slugs, I can't risk it. They get served Sluggo. Shuts them up real good....
They'll store for months in the fridge. Just stuff in as many as you can. That's how I store my carrots and beets. I store my turnips right in the ground, packed under hay.
On the other hand, if they've been sitting around for several weeks and are sprouting, they may already be way past peak for storage.