24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening


Glad I visited this thread today. I planted red onion sets for fun, just to see if they would develop in a container. They were only $.25/lb, and eighteen only cost me five cents. But, they are sending up flower stalks on several plants. May let some flower, in order to acquire seed stock for future planting. Oh well, nothing ventured...

The simplest solution is to lay out drip line or drip tape (emitters every 6 or 12 inches) along rows. The problem with that simple approach is that every row gets watered together, and say, the tomato must get water if the lettuce needs it. Dividing the garden into zones, and watering plants with equal needs at the same time can help. A valve for each zone can adjust the flow to the zone. Or you can use more than one timer.
The ultimate adjustable setup would be an adjustable emitter for every square, but that would be crazy complex in the wiring, with 56 emitters.
A hybrid approach would be tape for small crops and adjustable emitters for big plants.

That is one of the common problems with Sq Foot Gardening - watering.
Everything with totally different water needs is so close together that Mel designed it for hand watering plants individually, not auto or whole bed systems. Of course with such small beds hand watering is easy to do and really works best for the plants. Same with nutrient supplements - different plants have different needs.
Why not post this over on the Sq Foot Gardening forum for suggestions from the folks who practice it. They may have figured out alternatives to watering by hand.
Otherwise, as John said above, the only alternative is very careful zone planting, lots of different shut off valves along the system, and a whole range of various GPH drippers.
Dave

We originally grew the fall-bearing type to get by the Japanese beetles. But I also noticed, because of the cool dry air, we got by the mold, could let them ripen on the plants, and birds were starting to make other plans. We never even tried for a summer crop, and ended up digging up our summer raspberries.

If the soil is dry enough to work, you can plant everything on your list now. Frost is not a concern for spinach, chard, beets, any brassica, any allium (onions, garlic, chives), or most veggies in the carrot family (including dill, parsley and cilantro).
I guess you had an even worse winter & spring than we did this year! Let's hope summer & fall make up for it.


I'm sorry to hear that your broccoli didn't work out. My Packman broccoli is doing very well, with 2-inch heads already forming. The two Decicco broccoli plants in the same pot have not shown much growth, but they are healthy.
I am baffled by your results and sorry we couldn't help. But I don't see any reason to think your mix won't work for other vegetables.

OK, as I commented in your other post (in Container Gardening) I think your 5-1-1 is to coarse. Plus you have a lot of chunkky perlite. I would've added some some DE (flor dri) to help maintain more moisture, or jus more peat moss. As a result the texture of your mix, it has (IMO) very low moisture retention property. I could see in that video demonstration too. . Just take a look at Ohiofem's 511 texture and yours. I see a marked difference there.
Keep in mind that broccoli , as a member of brassica, is water loving plant and won't mind wet feet. You can give them as much water you want, they won't mind is.
So probably, IMO, 5-1-1 is not an ideal mix for broccoli.
BTW: I am using it for my peppers. I add about 15% DE (Ultra sorb).


The answer for your mulch problem does depend on what that mulch is and whether it flies in the face of your organic gardening rules and limits, if any. For the most part mulch is not a problem at all.
Mulch is an insulator for moisture and temperature. It should be a dry thing except for rainy times and it is nearly inert. If it is really "mulch" and not a soil amendment (dug or scratched in), and especially if it's an airy mulch like straw and not a dense one like sawdust or bark, it's interaction with the growing soil is very minimal.

You might want to ask over on the Fruits and Orchards forum and see if the growers there have experience with them. Like Wayne said I would speculate the winter cold is the issue since GG is normally a temperate zone variety for further south growing.
Dave

3"? From this day forward, keep a daily eye on them. Don't look for 8-9" heads -- you may not get them. Look for the florets starting to separate. Just a bit of separation, harvest it. Don't cut TOO low on the main stalk as the nodes below the harvest cut is where the sides shoots will form. Once they start to separate, that's it -- it's actually a little past it's prime. So, from there, you know that you want to harvest the other heads just a bit sooner.
Once separated, they'll start to bolt. .I've never noticed a drastic change in taste on bolted broccoli, but the stalks will become woody. Flowers? Well past picking time.
The smaller shoots are just like the main head. They do tend to bolt quicker, so every few days, go out and harvest or check.
After a while you get the feel when a head or shoot is ready. Nice and tight--- good. Separation--- bad.
Side shoots will continue. Just harvest before separation. I've had broccoli go all summer and fall with side shoots. Water well and mulch heavily when it really heats up.
Kevin
This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, May 6, 14 at 12:58

Broccoli needs to be harvested when the individual florets start to separate and before they start looking like they're going to split open. Don't wait for them to reach a specific size. That way lies bolting.
The taste of broccoli depends on the weather. Heat will make the heads and sprouts strong-tasting. Production of side shoots depends largely on the variety. The plant should start to produce side shoots, if it does, after the main head is cut. Production will fall off in the heat of summer. If you leave some varieties until fall, they start up again.


Zuchini -probably bush style, will give you the huge leaves that you are looking for. The bush style will look fuller. In that size pot you should also get some harvest.
There is also an early white bush scallop (its an heirloom) that would be full sized with big leaves by July if planted now-and the squash is delicious.

Mary think about Sweet Potatoes, even the ornamentals. Many different color leaves than mix and match quite attractively. Bright Lites Chard is another attractive one in a mixed arrangement tho I'm not sure if you can find transplants for it still.
Good luck with the display.
Dave


Same here - 16-18" in the gardens. I have planted 2 much closer together in a 15-20 gallon container but they didn't produce nearly as well. Of course that may have been partly the fact they were in a container too.
I don't know if sun scald is as beg an issue in Ohio as further south but if the plant gets the proper nutrients it should shade itself.

I have had occasional sun scorching here in N Ohio, but it's not a problem as it only hits a couple peppers every few years. And I have never had a disease problem with peppers.
Lately, we have gone to growing the small, sweet chilies and only a few bell peppers. We save the seeds every year. They have thick walls like a bell pepper and taste sweeter. They average 2" to 3" long, are early and prolific, and the small ones can be eaten like gum drops as they are uvirtually seedless. We have red, yellow, and orange, and use them just like bell peppers except for stuffing. If I'm activee enough this winter, I will try to offer some on the seed exchange.


I'd buy transplants for the peppers and tomatoes for best results. Direct seeding either of them is low- success at best.
It is still too early for okra for sure in your zone and probably a little too early for melons and beans too although can't be sure without knowing your soil temp.
Dave
Shouldn't be too early for beans, Melons should be planted about the 3rd week of May, I would just buy the pepper and tomatoe plants as it is too late to start by seed.