23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
after a lot of help her3e, thanks everyone, and looking at a lot of reviews and youtube videos i decided to for now go with the Earthwise TC70001 .. just 100 bucks which is less than half of what i planned on so worth a shot especially since it won't be to break new ground but to mix new stuff we'll be putting in, which i am beginning to stock pile now .. little every month till we have enough in a few months just in time for the new garden season
Hi. I live in Gilbert, SC - about 2 hours south of you. I sowed my carrot & rutabaga seeds about a month ago. I had absolutely no problem with germination. I kept the soil constantly moist -- I sometimes misted them 4 times per day. Root crops do not transplant - you need to direct sow. I have heard of covering with burlap or a shade cloth until germination - keeps our hot, hot sun from drying out the seed for those who cannot mist more than 2 times per day. Good luck with your second sowing!
Meg: Good deal! Just to let you know, you don't need an elaborate setup and lights to get going. Just a standard shoplight fixture and a couple tubes.--- around 30 bucks total. I use T8 6500K "daylight" tubes. No need to have actual expensive GROW lights. That, and a couple of shelves, and you're good to go.
Deborah's right about root crops needing to be direct sown. Onions, however, actually do better as starts IMO. Also, most root crops are pretty early DTM. So, holding off a month or so before sowing should still get you a crop. Plus, they hold up to light frosts pretty well.
Check with your local county extension for a planting calendar.
Good luck.
Kevin
I've never used them as a dye, but once the berries are dried, just putting several in room temperature water will create a dark purple 'tea'. I would guess hot water would work even better. No idea if this will work as dye - just saying I don't think the color is real hard to extract.
You have to wait the normal period to get watermelons that are any good. It also helps to have kept the plant to no more than 2 melons on late rounds....important to put that energy into one or two melons rather than a litter. You can also cover the vines on a frosty night to prolong the season.
I have used Hakuri Turnip, and Daikon to add humus. I plant them thickly, harvest small, and leave half or more to grow on, and die in the fall. My family of three can't eat all of them!
I just till normally in spring, roots have decomposed. This year I grew onions, Alisa Craig on that bed, and had a good crop, despite a late start. Next year it will be carrots.
In my previous garden I had numerous voles problems, and as soon as I would goon vacation snakes would move in. But they will not stay if you visit the garden even every second day and I did have to poison the voles eventually. I tried for a long time to establish owls, building a box nest out from a design on the Internet. No luck. The only sustained respite was when a female fox had a burrow at the end of my property, but at some point she moved on too.
We had the shoulders munched off most of our carrots a couple of years ago. Last year the carrots were untouched, but this year again, we have a couple of rows that are munched again. The teeth marks are obvious in places and they're larger than mice. Moles? Anyway... we have rows that we were more diligent about weeding than others. Those areas where you can see the ground between the rows are un-munched. Carrots are fine. The rows where the weeds got away from us, where there's a nice low canopy where whatever-rodent-it-is can maneuver unseen by predators, the carrots are munched. Obviously, we need to keep up with the weeding, but next year I'm also going to put an extra foot between my carrot rows as extra protection. I'm hoping that will do the trick. We don't have many snakes here, only very small garden snakes that we rarely see (maybe once every two or three years). We've got loads of owls and hawks and other birds of prey, though. I need to make sure the birds can see around the carrots so the moles (or whatever they are) don't feel safe in the rows.
I agree with Itilton. Your fertilizer is fine and is probably washed away by now.
The lower leaves will get that way as the plant matures. I pull them off. Make sure they are watered and you may want to put a shade cloth over them if you're in a hot area. Most lettuces have gone to seed (bolted ) by now and people are starting on their new crops for the fall.
Also, check under the lower leaves for insects or other critters that may be eating the roots and stems. That can cause wilting, too.
I'm just wondering if you might prefer to try gardening organically. Good composted cow manure, compost, etc, will add humus to your soil and provide nutrients that are gentle on your plants. This page could help:
Biodynamic French Intensive Method
Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick
Probably a little early yet, but if they don't like the soil temp now, the seeds will germinate when cooler weather arrives. When I lived in San Diego, I planted crimson clover in October, along with garlic & other winter crops (in separate locations). Broadcast some oats & peas into the clover as well. The peas didn't have time to mature before it was all turned under, but I got to harvest a lot of pea shoots.
It is plant specific to a certain extent and it depends on how much root there is whether you want to try to spread the roots out. Plants that are small and not root bound don't need their roots spread out, and plants that don't have their roots messed with have less transplant shock. But sometimes you get transplants that are root bound and if those roots aren't spread a bit the plant likely will never thrive. But once you do that, they need extra attention paid to keep the roots moist at all times while they recover from their "surgery". And even with that done, a really badly root bound plant may remain stunted. Good luck can be had with that method on plants that are just becoming root bound, though. All transplants need a bit of extra water while they send their roots downward, but non-rootbound ones don't tend to need the TLC for as long after tranplanting as do the root bound ones.
It's good to leave it if you can, but if the result is too snarled with old roots and stems, it's just as effective to remove them to a compost pile and allow the decomposition process to proceed a bit further. You can always add that well-rotted material back into the bed for the next crop. This link might help:
Biodynamic French Intensive Method
Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick
If you are in zone 10 - as I am, this is the time to renew the soil and be ready for seed and seedling planting. October and November are our biggest planting months for the cool weather crops.
I'd dig out all the roots unless the planting area is not to be used until later time. The matted roots will not be a very hospitable place for young plants to try to push roots into.
In colder climates, with impending snow, the wet soil would soon reduce any roots and provide mulch for later plantings.
If you intend to plant soon, however, as I am, it would be best to dig deep and amend the existing soil with compost, bone meal, etc., and if any disease is suspected, stretching a clear sheet over the bed first - letting the sun "solarize" the soil first - would be beneficial.
I'm already ordering my seeds and amendments - getting ready for the big "October" push - here in zone 10.
bejay
This is a discussion forum, not a place where you can order seeds. If you are looking for people to trade seeds with then please go to the various Seed Exchange forums here.
And for Gourd seeds the Gourd Gardening forum also has a seed trading forum.
Thanks.
Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable Seed Exchanges