23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

yukkuri_kame,

Crimson clover is an annual, if I mow it, it won't come back until fall if there are any seeds still there. If I wait until it seeds in June and then mow it will reseed and give me a nice layer of mulch, and add N when the corn needs the extra boost. The seeds lay dormant until fall so it won't compete with the corn.

Yes sunnibel7, it was completely weed free last summer. I mowed it after it seeded and I just left it in place to keep weeds from sprouting. If I had tilled it under or moved it then I probably would have had the weeds come back.

planatus, My plan is to just lay off rows with my tractor which will only clear about 10" of clover out per row. Enough to keep the clover at bay until the corn is up and going. I may loose some from crushing with the tractor tires. Then I'm thinking the clover will shade the soil around the corn helping to keep moisture in.

You are right about the bees when it blooms, there are probably at least 1,000 + bees come to feed on it!

yukkuri_kame, I think you may be right. And I don't think this will work as planned.

I decided to mow it first. Because it was growing like crazy! I used my leaf vac so that I could compost it and I cut it down really low several weeks ago.

I laid off the rows and planted the corn a little over a week ago. The clover was growing back fast. The corn is up but the clover is a foot high and blooming again!

Even though it is an annual, it springs back! I thought that mowing it would kill it!

Its shading the corn and has actually grown over the top of it.

I left enough space between rows so that I can mow between them. We had heavy rain this weekend and I will mow it again as soon as it is dry enough.

But from the looks of things, I probably will have to plow it all under and plant again.

Thank goodness I used old corn seed instead of the $12 a pound stuff!

I like it. How about posting on the thread linked below. I'm sure readers of that thread would be interested.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Show Me Your Trellis

Looks great. Pole beans should always grow on a trellis that you can walk under, makes things a lot more fun. I volunteer at a children's garden and we have a similar structure made out of bamboo that the kids love crawling through.

Dave:

Thanks for the clarification clearly expressed. You've raised a whole new issue for me; disinfection. Can you point me to some info?

Also, do you know of any cross-border security techniques - x-rays or ?? - that might affect traded seeds?

Can't help with the cross-border issues. AFAIK most just mail them in a standard envelope through the regular mail.

As for disinfection, there are several methods. The FAQ here on How to Save tomato seeds covers one and "disinfect seeds" search on the Tomato forum will pull up discussions about others.

Personally I use the 1:10 chlorine bleach misting method after the seeds have been fermented and just before they are spread out to air dry.

Dave

Hopefully you didn't leave the dome cover on them all this time. The plugs in biodomes are not intended to be used until garden planting time unless you don't start your seeds until just a couple of weeks before then. They are intended to be transplanted to containers of potting mix once germinated.

You can learn much more about this and the issues of the bio domes over on the Growing from Seed forum here.

Dave

If the plants are large enough and the weather suitable, I likely would plant them out where they will grow...to save the roots...if you can extract the roots without breaking them off. If you can't get the roots out, you could cut up the starter cells.

I side dressed it last Tuesday with 1 cup in the middle of each row of Blood meal that was 12-0-0. Do you think that was enough or should I add some more?

1 cup blood meal should be ok depending on row lengths, one tablespoon per plant is about my average dosage. Some folks side dress twice, when plants near 6-10" high and again at tassel peek stage.

I was having this issue as well. It was like someone was take clippers and cutting off each leaf and also cutting the starter plant right at the middle of the stalk.

First i thought it was birds so I covered my plants with netting. Didn't work. Then I thought it was squirrels. So I covered it very good with a cage. Nothing was going to get in for sure. Still my plants were losing leaves over night. Right down to the stalk,

One night while enjoying a beer I decided to try the slug trap and walked over to my plants to catch the dark grub in the act. There he was chewing away at the stalk and sawing down my brand new jalapeño plant :( I was upset but happy I know knew who I had to target.

Although I want to go all natural. I feel I'm left with no choice but to use some type of pesticide. Any ideas? BTW THERE WERE SLUGS AND NIGHT CRAWLERS ON MY PLANTS TOO.

darryl:

Diatomaceous earth is all natural. And like others have mentioned, beer traps. I've also read that a ring of sand around the plants help. Some people will take a board and lay it in the garden -- in the morning, lift it up and dispose of them. Copper strips is another deterrent.

Kevin

hmmmmmmmmm I won't be planting my toms until at least mothers day here in 6a.

While we are talking Physalis, I have two flats just begun, one P. pruinosa (Strawberry Groundcherry) and the other P. peruviana (Cape Gooseberry), neither of which I've grown before. Any thoughts on whether these will be perennials or annuals in So Cal before I stick them in a bed? How are they vs powdery mildew (the main reason I'm diversifying from tomatoes)? How much sun? Best way to prepare them, other than roasting for salsa (my main plan for them)?

Professional testing, available from your local county extension office for about the same price as a home test kit.

I prepared my pots some 8-10 weeks ago with a mixture of garden soil from HD, steer manure, some sand for porosity, compost, lil all purpose dr. Earth fertilizer

There is your problem. The Garden Soil says on the bag "Not for use in containers". Only soil-less potting mixes should be used in containers because soil mixes compact, suffocate roots and retard development, drain poorly leading to root rot.

You might be able to get away with using it IF you mixed at least equal parts of good compost in with it but even then you will have drainage problems. It simply stays too wet and that is what is causing your yellow roots

You can learn all about the various mixes available for use in containers over on the Container Gardening forum here.

Manure, while not recommended for container use can be used in small amounts but you will still have to feed the plants weekly as the nutrients wash out every time you water.

As young as your plants are I would dig them up, replace the mix and replant them.

Dave

Another part of the problem is the rock in the bottom. In spite of widely held belief, it doesn't improve drainage.

I have a "strictly greenhouse tomatoe" that I keep in a 10" pot. I keep it bonsaied. And it does well and gave me several tomatoes this winter. I have a pepper plant as well. Still, they would much prefer to stretch out their legs. Beans I would think would do well, as will your lettuce, and probably basil. (Beans don't like fertilizer and tho their roots are very stringy in the ground, they don't have a huge overall root system.) The squash tho....hmmm....I don't know. Squashes like to grow shallow and wide. They like lots of fertilizer and water, and besides that their favorite pasttime is cell-division. They love to grow big! I'm curious if a squash would do well.

This year I will Bonsai some of my Tomatoes too! All of my Tomatoes (Cherry and Pear) are Volunteers every year. I must have well over 100 Volunteer Tomato plants this year.

I will start planting my Bean seeds, hopefully, within the next week or so, and continue planting several varieties of Bean seeds until the middle of June. That will give them a good four to five months of growing.

I experimented with planting Bean seeds too early this year, in February. Was still too cold at night. Now the nights are in the 50s-60s, and days are in the 90s.

Wolverine, why do you say this .... ?
"If you hold onto the bulbs you received they will be worthless by this fall. You are correct that they should have been planted last fall."

In what way would they become worthless; by sprouting too soon? (maybe answering my own question :)) but then why not just plant them if/when they do?

I always split my July harvest in two - half for the kitchen, half to plant in September, sometimes November, for next year's garlic. Obviously they stay usable for at least 3-4 months. And the garlic I have now is descended from cloves that were sown in early springtime for the first couple of years, before I learned better. They do absolutely grow bigger with fall planting but it's not essential.

I wonder, when would the nursery have harvested the bulbs sent to Treehugger, and how kept them viable till now? The more I think about this the more I think I don't know!

The first year I gardened I planted my garlic in the spring. They will be small but you'll not have to buy more for your. fall planting. ANd you'll have plenty to eat.
How well they keep depends on the temps and the type of garlic.

My only other suggestion is to spread those marigolds around. Get that funky marigold smell all over the garden and it may help deter some bugs and pests.

I find that chard gets very large and one in sq foot would be ample. On the other hand it cooks down a lot, like spinach, and I'd want at least 10 plants for 2 people. But I can harvest it pretty much all year round so maybe I need more to keep up the supply.

I suggest to put a diagonal bracing all around so that strong wind and weight of the tom can handle it.

I hate tomatoes cages. I used them in the past they limit the tomatoes trees from spreading its branches and producing more tomatoes. Beside it is a pain the A getting to the plant for care like fighting insects, fungus or fruit rotting. I am back to the good old tomatoes sticks and I can control it in any manner.

Radishes are funny critters. They will germinate awesome, but how they grow is a coin flip. I was never able to grow decent radishes......too leggy. But the soil at my wife's home was perfect. She just throws seeds in the ground and gets perfect radishes. A friend of mine used to grow them big as beets.

Thanks all. The taller plants are to the north and west of the radishes. The strawberries are east and south; they are starting to sprawl but they are not over-shadowing the radishes. I have observed the bed at different hours of the day and see no real shade over their location.

May be the peat moss is it. The other bed where the radish did ok is just a mix of various materials. I think the bed contains bagged compost, bagged "garden soil", some wood ash from fireplace, potting soils from abandoned containers, and possible others.

I know the peppermint is going to be an issue, but so is my 7 year-old daughter when I take it out. I am going to make do until I get her a small bed put together for just her choices.