24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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cugal(5b-6a NE Ks)

Ugggggh! mandolls!! My older sister lived in WI (Madison/Beaver Dam) for 15 years & never adapted to WI winters! Kansas winters can be brutal, but we can't compete with WI!

I've got my brassicas under low tunnels & we're supposed to be down to 20F tonight...... Agribon protects to 26-27F, so I may be replanting!

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Slimy_Okra(2b)

The good thing is that all of those veggies except the potatoes are quite tolerant of mildly alkaline soil.
Properly hardened off, your arugula, radishes and spinach will shrug off 20 F no problem. Damage won't start showing up until it gets below about 15 degrees. Don't be alarmed if the cotyledon leaves get burned by a freeze - this is normal.

Pea plants are good down to about 20 degrees.

Lettuce doesn't like it if it gets below the high 20s F, so I would focus on protecting that.

Edit: just reread your post and realized you sowed them today, so it doesn't really matter.

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 21:29

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albert_135(Sunset 2 or 3)

delete - I was attempting humor. Sorry.

This post was edited by albert_135 on Sat, Mar 15, 14 at 15:53

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nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

Don't blame the gnomes! It was the gremlins!
Take advantage of your bum foot and hire someone to prep your garden this year! Then all you have to do is water and pick! Nancy

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veggievicki(7b)

Here the tradition is first full moon in Feb. But you need decent soil temps and it can't be so cold and wet that your seed taters rot before they sprout. It's cold and wet here and it's March!

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farmerdill

tradition in Virginia is St Patricks Day. Pittsburg is cooler so probably the first of April

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

Don't know whether this thread has been closed or not... but since this thread no longer shows up on search results, I am bumping it to keep it from dropping off the radar. Please use the new thread, Unusual/Odd Veggies, for posts on this topic.

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

Almost lost this thread, it no longer came up in search results... but I had saved it in my clippings. Bumping to keep it in the active archive. Again, please do not post on this thread, but use the current "What's Your Favorite Unusual Vegetable" thread.

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2ajsmama

Kale is starting, spinach just a few since seeding on Tuesday (too warm at 67 degrees? About to move everything to basement). Lettuce germinated in 3 days and it's crowded - I tried for 5 seeds per cell since seed was packed for 2012, I bought it end of year to use 2013. But some cells have a dozen seedlings in them!

When to thin (1-2" like outside)? Can these be separated and when? Starting peppers today.

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veggievicki(7b)

Call me crazy but I thin that little tiny stuff with a cuticle scissor. Just snip the ones you don't want. I figure the sooner I get the extras out the better the others will do.

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srj19(4)

Fungus gnats could have been my issue in the past with the plant I brought to the office that had been outdoors. I've not really had issues with seed starting and bugs before now but since I was starting seeds in the office I didn't want this to be the first time.

So I have a related question, when you guys start peppers or tomatoes at how many days or at what stage of their growth do you move them to pots? I think in the past I've kept them in the tray weeks too long.

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woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a

I don't do my peppers/toms in trays... I use the paper towel/baggy method(peppers) or straight into containers from the get go. But, generally you would want to do it right away so you can get them under lights right away.

Kevin

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laceyvail(6A, WV)

Last year I tried spigariello for the third time (it's never done very well for me), and sowed it in mid April right next to Gailan. The Gailan was so much more vigorous and the taste was so similar that I'll never bother with spigariello again.

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glib(5.5)

I would plant tillage radishes right away, and forget about them until 2015. The twins will be demanding.

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basilno(4)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to go with red clover, ? with oats as a nurse crop? (that would suppress weeds better?)

How soon can we plant it? (there's currently 2 feet of snow on the ground, so it won't be very soon but can it be planted once the ground thaws in April? or does it need to wait until after the last frost (traditionally Memorial Day around here)?

Thanks!

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woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a

What Dave said. Another thing though. Whether you use water, insecticidal soap, neem oil, or something else; you have to stay diligent. Instead of the recommended weekly treatments on the bottle for heavy infestations, try every 3-4 days for the 1st couple weeks until you can bring down the populations. Aphids reproduce at very rapid rates, so really attacking them is key, IMO. You could also release some ladybugs or lacewing larvae to clean up the guys. If you do, no pesticides.

Good luck

Kevin

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glib(5.5)

Ladybugs are really a good control if you have them. They go to bed around Oct. 15 here, and all of a sudden pristine brassica plants get populated with these.

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

According to my Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America it is classed as a medicinal plant only, not for regular consumption. It has potential cardiac, hypoglycemic, and respiratory side-effects that could be potentially hazardous if not used correctly. It is usually used as a tea or a decoction.

Dave

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AiliDeSpain(6a - Utah)

The leaves that are yellowing are the cotyledons, it is normal for them to die and fall off once the plant has true leaves.

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zzackey(8b GA)

You can put down cardboard between the rows with a mulch on top of the cardboard. Please don't spray the garden with a weed killer. We use old grass clippings as mulch. What few weeds we get pull very easily.

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woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a

Most tarps let through way too much light Cardboard seems to be the unanimous choice. You might also try black plastic or even clear. With clear you want to make sure the area is thoroughly watered, tuck it in real well, and do it in the middle of summer --- you lose a season, but it solarizes the soil and kills anything a foot down. Don't worry about the worms and microorganisms.. they'll come back.

Also, to keep weeds down to a minimum, after planting your garden, mulch heavily. The few weeds that may come will be poorly anchored and can be pulled with a slight tug.

kevin

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wertach zone 7-B SC

I don't know, but if you try posting this on the harvest forum. You will probably get the answer there!

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defrost49

jean001, thanks for posting about day length sensitivity. I read it someplace but don't remember where (pre-internet days I think) but since I started planting spinach as soon as possible in the spring here in NH, I've gotten a good crop. I direct seed. I think the easiest way to get early spinach would be to direct seed in the fall and let it overwinter. That worked perfect for me one year even when we had little snow cover. This is our second winter with a high tunnel and last year we had too much spinach in winter so I didn't direct seed in the outside garden.

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

I direct seeded some about two weeks ago and they are emerging. The weather here at the PNW, has been in the range of low 30s to low/mid 50s., with lots of rain, clouds. This tells me that you should germinate Spinach in cool temperatures. You don't need a heating mat, You don't need too much warmth. Probably an unheated garage would've been just fine.

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pnbrown

In fact all legumes benefit from support, it's just that the bush varieties don't sprawl as much as a pole will. Pods that stay in contact with the ground suffer damage very quickly, regardless.

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lexusnexus(7a)

It's been awhile since I've grown green beans but varieties of bush beans I know of will grow all of their beans in a short period of time. For these you will need to grow more than one row/group to get a continuous crop. Whereas pole beans will not produce as many beans at a time but have a longer production time. My recollection is that bush beans were better for me. But, as I said long production bush beans were not available at the time.

Dan

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