23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Have you been cutting down the dead ferns in the fall? That's the traditional time to do it and attack the weeds at the same time.

Yes, our landscaping guy ran over the dead ferns this fall, but not completely to the ground. so now there are dead weeds and new weeds growing amongst them. I'm going to try to water it really well and attempt to pull the weeds out.

Thats not a patch - thats a field!

Yes you will, it might not be huge and it might not be divided. But you can use it or divide it and replant it in the fall for next year.

Yep what Jon said. I tend to forget that "wet" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone.

And if you are going to be adding anything to it now is the time to do it rather than after planting.

Dave

Yes, grad.....you'll need to water it and then stir it. It doesn't need to be saturated, but the moisture needs to be distributed well. You don't need to be afraid of getting it moist....it's not my favorite medium but it coarse enough maintain structure when moist.

Those dates are recommendations. A week doesn't matter at all, go ahead and plant. There are very few things in gardening that aren't flexible.

Agree that those dates are just recommendations. They mean do not plant before but anytime after is fine.

Please include your location or at least your gardening zone in any posts or replies. Your location makes a BIG difference in the information we supply to you.

For example, in much of the country this year normal last frost dates aren't valid as frosts are coming as much as 2-3 weeks late. So be sure to check your long term weather forecast before planting.

For future reference, it is your soil temp that best determines when seeds should be planted, not some artificial dates on a calendar. So learn to measure and monitor your soil temps.

Dave

I think flat collars would be easier to fit than cups. You can buy them ready made or make your own. Google cabbage root fly collars.

Here is a link that might be useful: Root fly collars

I think they used to tar paper
A sprinkle of wood ases might work also

Yes, quite possible they were eaten.

Jerusalem artichokes are quite late to show here. Mine are not yet up. BTW 'germinated' applies to seed, tubers just 'come up' or 'sprout' ;-)

If the old stems are visible you could dig carefully down a bit next to one and see if there is any sign of growth.

Here are some pictures of carrot seedlings at various stages that might help. You may just have to wait a bit until they develop a bit more to tell for sure.

Here are chive seedlings.

Hope this helps.

Dave

We had a very cold spring over here and things have only just started growing. Hence the weed explosion. Nothing has yet germinated on my allotment and I didn't even bother to sow anything until last week.

Assuming you marked each end of your rows with sticks or markers of some kind, you could just remove any plants growing either side of, say an 8 inch strip along the row and leave the rest. Then your rows would be defined and once any seedlings start to appear you can begin to id them.

Germination is generally slow still due to the chilly start so you need to wait at least 2 weeks before expecting to see anything, maybe even longer.

Lastly, allotmenteers are usually friendly people, so ask for help from your neighbours.

Zucchini is not a plant that lends itself to container growing anyway. The stems and leaf shanks will always break as it drapes over the container edges simply from the weight of the leaves not to mention the fruit..

It works best in ground where it has support for the stems as it spreads. This one is beyond salvage I fear. You have plenty of time to direct seed in the ground.

Dave

There is no harm in planting it in the ground, quite deeply, just to see if it will take off eventually. But best to start some more at the same time.

That's pretty cool, Bart!

I have a similar fall/winter climate to yours so maybe I will try your method. Planting that late might avoid destruction by the CPB, we'll see...

Yukkrui -
What I did was to store my leftover seed potatoes from the spring planting in the 'fridge. This kept the growth of the eyes slow enough that when I planted them in July and August they were "normal" I.E. the eyes hadn't formed 6 inch long stems!

Ok thanks, I have noticed that some plants are more temperamental than others. My cilantro and green sweet basil was very sensitive to the sun for hardening more so than my others that I have already hardened off. I just started hardening my ornamental peppers and red basil. I put them out for about two hours yesterday and four hours today in direct sun, they look like they are handling it well but it is a cool day today around 50 degrees. I just put them in the shade though to be safe.

I have just been putting my plants out as weather permits. Leaving them in full sun all day, but the weather has been cool so far with highs in the 70's. I just watch them and see how they do. Yesterday there was a few looking a little stressed so I moved them to the shade for the night. I will have to bring them back in this evening tho as we are expecting 30 degree temps again tonight.
Tammy