23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I'd definitely bury them below ground a few inches.

I had a bunch of potatoes too small to use in a bucket in the basement. They sprouted and were 3 - 8" long by the time I figured I'd just stick them in and see what happened. They seem happy - most have sprouted and the leaves look as vigorous as our prolonged dry cold spring permits. the sprouts are leafy, so point them up.

thanks for the reply gmom. that was very helpful.

Most of the vegetables you mention are summer (tomato, watermelon, cucumber, okra, eggplant, pepper) while the others are better suited for springtime. I don't know what your particular seasonal situation is, but not all those veggies should be going in at the same time.

Fertilization might be the most useful way to organize your veggies. All of the summer veggies you mention (I think--not sure about okra?) are going to want the same basic fertilization, heavy on the P in NPK (phosphorous), but a P-heavy fertilizer might cause greens (spinach, broccoli, maybe the chard even though it's a biennial) to flower early, which you probably don't want. Clustering together veggies that have the same basic needs might simplify your operations. In addition, the amount of watering matters. For example, watermelons and cucumbers want a lot of consistent watering, while peppers should dry out sometimes (especially if you're aiming for spicy peppers--too much water is supposed to make them blander).

The first few always do that. Could be they come a little earlier than the polinators.

With only 2 plants you're going to have some aborted/non-pollinated fruits until the flowers are going crazy with a good pollinator population visiting them.

Dill's hand pollination suggestion should get you through this.

Thanks for the info! I've started my basil indoors, but I'm thinking I have way too many seedlings for my couple of 12" pots that I have set aside for basil. I also have parsley, oregano, mint and stevia seedlings, and will direct sow my cilantro. Does the same advice (1 per 12" pot) apply?

Lori -- yes, 1 per 12" should be fine. Once it gets going, the mint likely will quickly fill the pot and spill over the sides but may be cut back frequently. Bear in mind that mint stems will root whenever they touch the ground, and oregano (also a mint family plant) will do the same, if not quite as quickly.

Cilantro also will self-sow easily when you allow a plant to go to seed--which I always do since I use the seeds (now coriander) in salads and cooking as well. And in the fall, late-seeding cilantro will hang out hugging the ground all winter and resume groing in the spring for an early crop. I was surprised when I learned how hardy this plant is!

The rule is to always rotate onions each year. Diazanon used to do the trick, but it's not even available any more.

Well, onions never go in the same spot twice here, but it's not a half-mile rotation (as recommended by one of the sites I visited) by any stretch. I find them most in my garlic, which is fall planted. The original clove seems to break down over the winter as the inner shoot grows and I wonder if that is attracting them. There aren't so many dying garlics this year as last, and this is a much more normal spring so perhaps the problem is resloving itself.

About the wild onions, I don't know if they are a host, but one must exist somewhere in the wild because the adults can only fly about a mile. No one else near me is growing onions- corn, soy, wheat, rye yes, and lots of pasture and woods. Thanks for your input, it reaffirms what I am reading elsewhere. Cheers!

I don't know your conditions or zone, but if you're new to gardening, I'm going to guess you're over watering. I live in SE Texas and I only water twice a week. I could get away with even less if I wanted to. Every other day definitely seems excessive. Over watering is just as bad as under watering, if not worse, and it can cause the wilting.

This post was edited by IAmSupernova on Sun, Apr 28, 13 at 11:28

I'll second the diagnosis of overwatering. There should be no problem growing in that medium. But you have a mixture that will hold water tightly. It's supposed to save you the effort of frequent watering! A more sandy mixture with regular soil would drain more readily. That being the case, when you water often, you'll end up with a medium that is continuously soggy. Push your finger and inch or so into the soil. Don't water until that inch or so is dry. It certainly shouldn't be kept moist on the surface, at least after your plants get more than an inch or so tall.

Watering as infrequently as possible is a strategy to encourage your roots to grow deep. Keeping the top layer moist doesn't do that.

Wertach,
Thank you so much for posting, I was not going to grow corn but this corn is so beautiful I just had to get a packet.
Edymnion, I'm sorry they treated you that way. I hope you say something to them so that they can track down why you were not notified.

I've ordered mine. Like Lucille, I hadn't planned on growing corn this year, but can't resist this.

I think you could plant without hardening off if you cover them.

Use fabric not plastic. First put in stakes that are a bit taller than the plants. Make sure the weight of the fabric is on the stakes, not the plants.

Cover the plants completely. Your goal, in part, is to protect them from light. After 2 days, uncover for 2 hours, early or late in the day (not midday). The next day, 4 hours, the next day 6, etc. Nighttime covering at your discretion, depending on temperatures :).

In Chicago, you won't want to plant your tomatoes and peppers until Memorial Day, maybe even June 1 for the peppers given the long, slow spring we've been having. You need to wait until the nighttime LOWS are in the 50's (mid-50's for the peppers), not the highs.

The lettuce and spinach can take much lower temperatures, so they could go out now ... but only after they are hardened off. Enjoy your vacation and plan to start hardening them off properly when you return. :)

As for the carrots and beets, I've only ever direct seeded them. But since this is the time to plant them, I would start hardening them off with your lettuce and spinach when you return.

Good luck!

I think I might have figured out the problem. I have some younger corn plants that were planted in buckets. One of those younger plants appears to have gray leaf spot on a leaf. Does anyone know of a way to cure my plants of this?

Who diagnosed GLS? IF your corn has gray leaf spot, and that is a big IF since it is

1) a disease of the Midwest and East coast, not California and

2) there is no sign of it in your pictures, and

3) it primarily affects mature plants and yours are young seedlings

4) yours is a new raised bed not an old possibly soil contaminated one nor a no-till farm

then the only treatment is fungicide sprays such as Daconil. It does not cure the disease it only slows it down hopefully enough to harvest the crop.

Dave

You're just planting a potato, no oleander. They don't poison the ground or anything else like that.

no potatoes will not contaminate, unless they get blight, unlikely though, they will improve soil and decontaminate.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens instant potato patch

I looked up "reptile light" as most would have no idea what they are - myself included. Apparently they are CFL (compact fluorescent bulbs) and the Reptile 100 is not 100 watts it is only 26 watts. None of the ones I looked at indicate the # of lumens.

Dave

What you want to look for is maximum lumen rating, and the temperature needs to be "Daylight", not "soft white" or anything else, "daylight".

Lynda: the critical points probably are that you need a container that is at least 20-25 gallons; full sun; fast draining potting mix (not soil); at least a 120-day growing season; and regular fertilizing with a balanced fertilizer containing all the trace minerals. Pumpkins need a lot of moisture and food. I suggest you read the most popular thread in the Container Forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils

For fertilizer, its important not to give them too much nitrogen. Too much N and you'll get tons of vines, and no pumpkins at all (female flowers don't set if there's too much N).

Also, pumpkin vines will want to root along the vine, and that will greatly help pumpkin development. Don't just give it one pot at the base, have a couple of extra smaller pots that you can put the vines in for secondary rooting.

Thanks, nc-crn - will follow your advice. I think they are likely saveable.

Something I have used for years and it really works. If you take a plastic laundry basket and invert it over a flat of plants you are trying to harden off, it gives them just the right amount of sun and wind exposure. After a week or so, if it's not too windy, I am able to remove the basket. I usually put the flat and basket on my east facing front porch.

Steve