23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Your reference is rather misleading. The technique is a form of forcing and the plants cannot be grown long term inside without light. You start off with outdoor grown, healthy, robust plants. Then you move the roots inside where they push out new stem growth in the spring. Commercially this is done in large sheds but home gardeners do it outdoors just by covering the rhubarb plant in the spring with an upturned bucket or similar. After harvesting outdoor forced plants must be rested for at least a year before forcing again. Indoor forced plants are completely exhausted and are composted.

It is the same principle as growing any other blanched vegetable like chicory chicons, celery or cardoons. Exclude light and force new pale, tender growth. forcing rhubarb

    Bookmark     April 15, 2015 at 6:46AM
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benzone5b

Thanks very much. This is what I needed to know.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2015 at 7:31AM
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jolj(7b/8a)

I am late planting my CS, but I have time.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 11:43AM
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irfourteenmilecreek

Send an email to fourteenmilecreek@yahoo.com he has seeds for heavy hitter.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 9:03PM
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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

Never grew Oregon Sugar but they look okay to me. Some peas are smooth seeded.

Rodney

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 9:47AM
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daninthedirt(Cent TX; HZ10, Sunset z30, USDA z8a)

I grew these once. Opening the packet surprised the heck out of me also. FWIW, the seeds in the pods looked a little like these pictured here.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 5:51PM
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Or you could try the Name That Plant Forum which is specifically for getting ids. Name That Plant

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 5:21AM
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Patti Gassner Luzzo

Thanks all. I am on the Perennials forum...wish me luck.!

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 5:20PM
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scarlettfourseasonsrv

I made a real nice raised bed garden to plant some veggies in and then bought a bunch of potting soil at Walmart, finishing it off with many bags of EarthGro Potting Soil and EarthGro Steer Manure and "compost".

My epiphany came too late after I'd spent a lot of time, and money when I checked with SourceWatch:http://www.sourcew atch.org/index.php/SourceWatch

and googled in EarthGro. The following is what I found:

"Paul Sellew is s a CEO of Harvest Power. Paul also founded Earthgro, which is the second largest producer of biosolids-based lawn and garden products. Paul was a senior executive with Synagro. He also founded International Process Systems, AllGro, Environmental Credit Corp, and Backyard Farms.[1]"

Just in case you didn't know, biosolids is another name for sewage sludge. I don't know about you, but I am not going to eat vegetables grown in sewer sludge which contains God only knows what besides human crap. Now, I'm going to have to use my nice raised bed for Remedial plants such as sunflowers to decontaminate this soil if it's ever to be used again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoremediation

In view of this information, I'm wondering just how many of the non-organic fruits and vegetables are being grown in soil contaminated by biosolids, aks toxic sewage sludge and sold to Americans without our knowing it?

" http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Biosolid... ;
Biosolids is the Orwellian PR euphemism for toxic sewage sludge. The name was created and chosen in a PR contest by the lobby association for sewage industry, the Water Environment Federation (WEF). For more background see also The EPA's plan to bypass opposition to sewage sludge disposal and You say biosolids, I say sewage sludge. There is now a SourceWatch Portal on "Biosolids" Beyond biosolids, the sewage sludge industry now puts its waste product into bags labeled "compost" and promotes them through US Composting Council, BioCycle and other front groups and partners.

Beginning in the 1990's the WEF, with the active encouragement and approval of the Environmental Protection Agency, pushed for the disposal of sewage sludge on farm land after bans were imposed on dumping it in the ocean or incinerating it. The name change of sewage sludge to "biosolids" was crucial the image makeover for sewage sludge, a classic industry-government campaign of greenwashing to change the public perception of toxic sewage sludge from an accurate one of "hazardous waste" to the misleading image of biosolids representing safe "beneficial reuse," responsible "recycling" and healthy "organic fertilizer," lately including the ruse of sewage sludge as "organic compost."

A list of just some of the hazardous chemicals and pathogens found in sludge can be found in the article Sludge contaminants. Sludge contaminants include Dioxins and Furans, Flame Retardants, Metals, Organochlorine Pesticides, 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (DBCP), Naphthalene, Triclosan, Nonylphenols, Phthalates, Nanosilver, and thousands more substances. "Sewage is the mix of water and whatever wastes from domestic and industrial life are flushed into the sewer.... We must note that, though the aim of sewage treatment is to produce clean water, it is never to produce 'clean' sludge. Indeed, the 'dirtier' the sludge - the more complete its concentration of the noxious wastes - the more the treatment has done its job.... very waste produced in our society that can be got rid of down toilets and drains and that can also be got out of the sewage by a given treatment process will be in the sludge. Sludge is thus inevitably a noxious brew of vastly various and incompatible materials unpredictable in themselves and in the toxicity of their amalgamation, incalculably but certainly wildly dangerous to life." [1]

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 7:51PM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

scarlettfourseasonsrv - I think you may wish to explore the issue a bit more before making so many unsubstantiated claims. Are you aware of the personal agenda of SourceWatch? If not I'd suggest you explore that issue as well before blissfully imparting the labels of truth and objectivity to the info they provide.

For example:

Biosolids is not an Orwellian PR euphemism for toxic sewage sludge. The biota used by Harvest Power is listed on their website as "food scraps and yard wastes" - aka compost.

Paul Sellew is no longer a CEO of Harvest Power. Kathleen Ligocki is. Paul Sellew is a member of the board of directors and an acknowledged co-founder. http://www.harvestpower.com/company/leadership/

Google reveals you have copied this exact same post on several other forums as well. So one has to ask exactly what is your agenda? Perhaps pushing links to Source Watch? To cast aspersions on the organic foods industry? Or just to discredit Paul Sellew, an acknowledged leader in the field of organic agriculture.

What you choose to use in your own garden is of course your choice but I strongly encourage you to not buy into what are noted fear-mongering sources for your information.

Dave

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 1:49PM
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NHBabs(4b-5aNH)

When I had raised beds at my previous home, we just mulched with woodchips that we got for free from the power line trimming crew. It did grow some fungus, but spread thickly it completely suppressed weeds. It drained well also. Buried edging or a V cut edge helps keep the grass from growing in from the edges.

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 3:29PM
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timbersmith(6A)

I actually have/had mulch between the beds, but guess it might not have been enough. I had layed weed fabric down and put the mulch on top of that, but lack of free time to keep things nice and tidy have resulted in the fabric-mulch-weeds-plastic parfait going on right now. I had thought about using pine needles since I've got plenty of those in the back, but having something that flammable next to the house is not a good thing.

That's why I was thinking something more permanent - lack of time to devote to keeping things tidy. Although that looks like it'll be changing in the next month or so, so maybe ripping everything out of the aisles and re-covering them might be another option...

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. They're much appreciated.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 11:46AM
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Adam Robertson

Thanks! What kind of soil do you use with the white styrofoam cups? Just a potting mix? Also, do you water from the bottom with a tray and holes in the cups or from the top?

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 7:58AM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Any growing-on potting mix just as with any container plants. V-shaped holes in the bottom edges just as with solo cups and watering from the bottom is recommended but many do top watering. You just can't use the top of the soil surface as a valid indicator for watering.

You'll find many more discussions about all of this in the How-To FAQs and the discussions over on the Growing from Seed forum here.

Dave

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 9:05AM
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whgille(FL 9b)

I also recommend Asian greens, some are mild like lettuce. Tokyo Bekana, Fun Jen to name a few. I love fava beans, but be careful some people are allergic to them.

Asian greens, lettuce and kale


Silvia

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 5:22AM
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diggity_dude

I'll bet she would like tah-tsai. And baby kale is delicious too. Kale is all the rage these days.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 8:09AM
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planterjeff(7b Grant Park Atlanta)

where are you growing this okra? What's your zone? Inside or outside? lights or sun?

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 7:13AM
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carolb_w_fl(zone 9/10)

Might you have nematodes? Okra is highly susceptible to nematode damage....

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 7:25AM
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Peter (6b SE NY)

The snow looks like it will be all melted by tomorrow, and I can plant if I wanted... Dixondale says the onions should be planted now according to their generic advice, but not sure it applies to a climate like this one where it can be in the low 20's a few weeks before last frost (and in fact it will be 19F tomorrow night.) The ground will also be soggy.

Maybe I will do some tomorrow and some next week?

On another note, should I rake the leaf mulch from the garlic I planted? It is extremely wet. About half the bulbs sprouted. They definitely took a beating this winter and have yellowed a bit.

    Bookmark     March 21, 2015 at 12:46PM
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Peter (6b SE NY)

Just an update, they all got planted 2 weeks after arrival, leeks and onions, and they are growing. I gave some leftover leeks to my dad that were 3-4 weeks after arrival and they don't look like they will survive.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 5:33AM
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spring green-up mapsHere a link to maps of spring green-up.
Posted by NHBabs(4b-5aNH) April 13, 2015
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booberry85(5)

Thanks for posting those. Interesting to look at.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 4:52AM
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n2xjk

Instead of asking if they can aired again on PBS, see if they can be made available in a on-demand service like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime.

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 12:39PM
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nancylouise_gw

Count me in on wanting the old shows back. Crockets Victory Garden shows are what got me started into gardening. I loved watching and learning from them. Today's gardening shows can't hold a candle to the old shows is spot on.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 3:58AM
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drscottr(7)

Dave,

I hold your opinions in great regard. However, this time I may not have given you enough information. I happen to have a nice weather station with soil temperature probes x 4. The soil temps vary considerably. For example at 5 am the soil temp at 1" was 44 degrees. By noon it was 57 degrees and by 4 pm it peaked at 71 degrees.

When a catalog such as Johnny's suggests planting corn when soil temps are above 65 degrees, i'm trying to understand which temp they use. I suspect it's the 9 am temp but not sure.

Scott

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 7:41PM
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gumby_ct(CT it says Z5)

I am willing to bet they mean the lowest soil temp.

fwiw - I have started corn for transplants before to get a jump on the season.

ps. I use a 6 inch digital kitchen thermometer to check the soil temp. Also keep an eye for when the forsythia bloom - which means the avg. soil temp is above 50.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 2:09AM
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Peter (6b SE NY)

Thankfully, there's been red tailed hawks doing the job for me right now.

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 6:53AM
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pennypond USDA 10 Sunset 21 CA

Nice set up!

    Bookmark     April 14, 2015 at 12:20AM
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Cynthia R.(7B (NYC,NY))

Thank you! I will look into the faq's.

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 10:35AM
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slimiest_okra

If you live far enough north, I would just start fresh seeds. I'm just about to start my own peppers and eggplants (but I live at the 52nd parallel, where the long summer days compensate for the late start).

    Bookmark     April 13, 2015 at 4:42PM
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