23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Given the controversial nature of its philosophies the best source of info for you here will be the Companion Planting forum. I direct linked it for you below.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Planting
I have planted marigolds, basil, rosemary, lemon balm, chives and red salvia in the hugel with my tomatoes. Can't hurt, can it? The Ask.com site I went to was very informative about companion planting. I bought several petunia plants to plant in with my squash and pumpkin plants. They are supposed to deter squash vine borers. Stink bugs are supposed to be deterred by catnip, radishes, mints, marigolds and garlic. I will try anything natural. I will not use chemicals ever again. I had to spray them every week in a back pack sprayer at one nursery I worked at. I'm sure my COPD has been caused by mostly that.
"Kudzu bugs" are now moving into the South-East US...growing exponentially the past few years.
They look like regular brown "stink bugs" (and smell like them when crushed) with different shell coloring (white/beige with a lot of black dots/lines all over their shell making up a huge part of their coloration) and they are more rounded than pointy on the hind end.
They are absolutely plague-like on soy bean plantings...as well as other plantings. They are huge feeders.
Thanks to "wild" kudzu all over the place, it seems they're not going away any time soon.
This post was edited by nc-crn on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 17:51
I remember seeing Kudzu vines when we drive on 95 through the Carolinas. We don't have that here. Mostly millions of acres of pine trees. Native and tree farms for harvesting for pine products. I was informed about that bug months ago in master gardening. I will keep my eyes open for it though. Thanks, digdirt for the bug links. I am familiar with assassin bugs, although I might have killed some of their instars thinking they were leaf footed bugs.
RAW: If you re-read my original answer .... "By no means am I stating that your soil ph is out of whack. However, you are going to need to troubleshoot & soil ph & fertility seems to me the logical place to start."
Troubleshooting defined: Troubleshooting is the process of diagnosing the source of a problem. The basic theory of troubleshooting is that you start with the most general (and often most obvious) possible problems, and then narrow it down to more specific issues. A proper ph range will negatively affect plants. It doesn't matter how much fertilizer you throw on them because they can't utilize it. While he's waiting on the soil test results he can tweek his watering.
I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE. Last April I put in a 4'X12' twelve inch high raised bed. I had someone come till up the ground for me. We tilled in a few bags of mushroom compost. Then I started double digging in topsoil & more mushroom compost along with composted manure yards at a time. I must have double dug that sucker 5 times because I was building it up 10 inches, too. Native soil is throughout my garden depth but is more concentrated the deeper you go. (Think French Intensive Gardening). Where I live the native soil is quite acidic. We can grow blueberries by spitting on the ground & dropping a seed. That being said, my soil ph came back from Clemson Extension as 7.4!!! Soil test was extremely positive for everything but ph. So you see, I know of what I speak -- no guessing going on here! Any experienced gardener knows that a soil test is never a waste of time and money.
Good luck & take care -- Deb
Hey Sandra,
First an foremost, i feel for you, I was in your same shoes, just moved in my house a few years ago.. It's tough and very mind tiring, but hang in there, the fruits of your labor is well worth it.. Just teaching the kiddos, and spending time with them is priceless!
You mentioned no till lasanga gardening.. I do no till and It works very very well! Some will tell you it's hogwash, and every situation calls for offstage measures, which is true, but you can almost always do a small garden no till without to many problems.. I think your off to a good start right there my friend!
Don't worry about not planning ahead to much, you still have a few weeks to plan.. You can almost plan to much! Trust me, I'm a perfectionist and I get so carried away in plant spacing for maximum yield,etc, i let the whole growing season go by.. It's better off just putting plants in and learning as it progresses, instead of not growing anything at all..
Your concerned about cross pollination.. I assume your growing heirlooms and trying to save seed.. You really don't have to much to worry about for cross pollination.. Just bag the flowers before they open to ensure isolation of pollen...
I do something very similar tonkasanga gardening, but I don't actually layer it up to compost, I actually unfinished compost, then just some mulch..
Here's what I do,
-cardboard the grass
-pile compost/soil on the cardboard
-mulch
-plant
Don't get to overwhelmed, worst comes timeless just throw some seeds down, any gardens better than none! Please, take it easy, you probably got enough work with the new house.. Don't worry to much... Gardening should be a fun hobby, not a chore.
Joe
don't know what can be done about whatever cross pollination may occur all i can suggest is grow only 1 variety of water melon, rock melon and pumpkin, same with tomatoes never hard of capsicums and chillies X-ing but anything is possible.
to stop X-pollination you might need as much as 4 kilometer barrier, so maybe just buy new seeds each season?
len
Here is a link that might be useful: lens bale garden
If seedlings are leggy/floppy, the first thing that comes to mind is:
-insufficient light, you need bright light, as close to the plants as possible
Insufficient strength, you need a fan on seedlings, it will mimic the natural envornment and strengthen them.. Think of it this way, would you grow that tall if you knew one gust of wind will knock you out? Or would you want to train for the wind, an get stalky and strong for preparation for the big fight with the outside..
Bright light, and a fan should beam on the seedlings as soon as they sprout.. If not, in a few days they are already leggy!
Joe
Frequent question on the Container Gardening forum here. Standard recommendation is just what Jean said.
Dump the all the old out onto a tarp, mix in the fresh plus fertilizer, refill containers.
How much fresh you need to mix in all depends on what mix you are using.
Dave
I'm still a little confused about what I do when it comes time to plant I heard I have to lay a type of plastic down what is it called and how do I do it?"
You don't have to do anything, you could just dig a whole and plant your plant, that simple.. You are going to get 100 different answers from 100 different people, you are just going to get more confused.. Just remember it's not rocket science, don get overwhelmed keep it simple..
Lay down plastic for what, to kill grass, for mulch, why are you thinking about laying plastic? Did you already till your soil? Is there grass growing on your soon to be garden area? Do you have your garden ready to plant?
Below is an article for planning a vegetable garden in Maine from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Planning a home vegetable garden
Their site has the most relevant information to you since you are in Maine and have a comparatively shorter growing season than most of us.
They are probably Carola aka German Butterball. Whatever they are, put a few in a sunny window to green up and plant them. My favorite potatoes last year came from the supermarket. The little blue potatoes in a microwave-ready bag grew out to the loveliest blues I've ever grown.
Nice to meet you MJ. Hope you have a successful veggie garden. I could related to your experience of moving from apartment gardening to ground gardening. It was such a thrilling joy for me back then. And the real fun has only just begun!
How you doing MJ? Welcome!
Yes, I unfortunately lived in a apartment most my life, as soon is I got some land, you bet I packed it to it's gills with plants! I never liked cutting grass anyways! You are much wiser, slowly weening your way into it, that's probably the best way to go..
Your garden is huge! How are you going to take care of it all? No it's good your starting small.. It's still just as enjoyable..
Don't hesitate to ask questions.. We are more than happy to help.
Joe