24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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barb_roselover_in

runswithscissors: You got me. Must know how you go about doing this. I'm not into the hoop gardening because I would have no help in doing this, but if it is a flourescent deal which I have set up under lights in a 50 degree garage, it tweeks my interest intensely. Give me the details--and you are in a colder zone which would help. Barb

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Ohiofem(6a Ohio)

Well, my suggestion doesn't meet the test of being inexpensive, but it's a lot less complicated to set up than many others you've gotten. I got the late fall gardening jones bad last year, so I told my family that the only I wanted for Christmas was an Aerogarden. I used mine in my small, windowless office at work to grow herbs. In about 8 weeks, I was able to harvest six different herbs. People grow dwarf peppers and tomatoes as well as greens in them. It's a lot if fun for a small investment in time.

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donnabaskets(Zone 8a, Central MS)

Oh, Nancy, what a great idea! I love stuffed peppers but hate all the extra work to do the stuffing. I am going to try that! Go You!

I had a pleasant surprise with my pepper harvest this year. In early July I bought a TAM pepper on a whim. I was told that it was "heatless". Not mine. Not even close. HOT!

However, we have a South Korean medical student living with us this year and he adores hot peppers, as does my son in law. So, I made hot pepper sauce using one of the recipes from Pepper Joe's web site. They are loving it! That one plant yielded enough for 6 pints of sauce. I'll plant earlier next year!

Sometimes, surprises are good...

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nickrosesn

Here are the Red Peppers I picked today. The plants are still putting on fruits, should I cut the fruits so the plants don't waste there energy?

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

I'd take that supplier's response with a grain or two of salt Mark. Especially if you end up with 50% female. The % of all-male plants received differs from supplier to supplier.

It isn't that they have 'reverted' but that some growers aren't nearly as careful with their crown selections for sale nor as dedicated to assuring quality as some others are.

Even so any of the Jersey series still surpasses production of quality spears when compared to the Washington strains.

Dave

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jrb451

Thanks for the input. I did think it odd that the supplier used "Hybrid" instead of naming the specific cultivar.

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laceyvail(6A, WV)

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.

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

My advice is :
Do it small scale and learn from your experience. Then the following season you can decide better how much you can handle.

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pnbrown

What about a community plot or find an empty lot that you could use, near your current place as well as where you might move to?

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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.

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tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM

Pecan shells are an expensive but attractive mulch used in my area but mainly in perennial beds, not vegetable gardens. I would use them in an established garden area.

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MickEmery

Should they be covered? If so, plastic or remay?

This post was edited by MickEmery on Sat, Nov 23, 13 at 23:44

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donnabaskets(Zone 8a, Central MS)

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.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Don't put lime down until you have the results of a soil test. Most mulches don't greatly decrease the pH of the soil.

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basilno(4)

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.

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vgkg(Z-7)

You are correct, that's 1 ton and 32lbs of pumpkin. I'd like to see them put that one in a sling and chunk it lol.

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elpasotwigs(8)

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

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

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.

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jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Looks like an over-mature leaf.
What does the rest of the plant look like?

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geosankie(5a NEPA)

Possibly caused by Downy mildew
Pathogen: Bremia lactucae

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ashfarm(8a)

Ok thank you two for the help I'm gonna have fun with my first tiller yay gotta try not to get carried away and do the whole yard

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sunnibel7 Md 7(7)

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.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Thanks

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

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

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chloe456

Ok thanks i did think so and I just read about it too. Hopefully next year I can try them although they will have to be covered here as we have a huge amount of white cabbage moths :( .

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

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.

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ltilton

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.

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squirrellypete(z7b AL)

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.

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