23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I'm never a fan of planting only 1 of anything. It cuts your odds of having any success way down. 2 plants will double your odds, 3 will triple them. Especially when cross-pollination is required. And one doesn't normally only plant one melon plant per mound anyway, you plant 2 and often 3 to insure adequate male and female blooms at the same time.
So I would success you sort your seeds, and if you don't want to grow them as transplants but decide to direct seed instead then plant 5-6 seeds of each in separate hills next to each other, close enough that the vines will be able to intertwine for pollination, and then thin each hill to 3 plants once the plants are 3-4" tall.
Dave
Hi Dave - thanks for the feedback. I do have asparagus in a bed all its own I have too many onions to put out in other places, and was thinking I might be able to use the room in the asparagus bed around the asparagus so it's not "wasted space" once the asparagus is growing to fern. Thanks for the quick feedback.
If your mix already has a little fertilizer in it, you're probably OK. You don't want to risk burning them. My eggplants were planted on March 14 and are still in their seed starting mix. I just gave them a very light feeding at 1/4 strength. In a week or so I will transplant to regular mix in 4-inch containers. They look a week behind the one you call your good one.
It is kinda funny about how some people plan their summer gardens on the basis of these hardiness zones.
Yes, although the hardiness zones are not necessarily indicative of frost-to-frost growing season, I guess they can be used that way. But formally, they aren't really all that useful for vegetable gardening. They're really mainly for shrubs and trees. The American Horticultural Society is specific about that, in reference to the hardiness zones -- "By using the map to find the zone in which you live, you will be able to determine what plants will 'winter over' in your garden and survive for many years."
Hey guys it matters!
Annuals will die earlier in different zones! I buy perennials and if it's hardiness is 20 degrees I won't buy it to high must be 0 or less TX weather is bi polar. I also determine hardiness by drought tollerence if it can dryout before watering and how long it will bloom here because plants bloom longer in different zones. Also lighting determines where I will place the plant as to what kinda of heat will be on the plant. TX heat and Sun time is a lot hotter...the suggestion for watering you can't follow here the same as other hot zones...Happy Planting
I don't know anyone who has rain all season. I sure don't and have to make sure the barrels are empty before they freeze and burst.
I set the barrels up to collect the early season rainfall. Sometimes I use it all other times I don't. If the barrels get empty I fill a couple from the hose which allows time for the chlorine to dissipate and for the sun to warm the water.
I have nothing to measure the pressure in the hose but I do know that soaker hoses require pressure to move the water from the inside of the hose to the outside. I have learned to use gravity where available and having a downhill slope to the garden does help the water to run to the end of the hose.
One secret to using rain barrels is to make certain they are on a level surface and they are elevated high enuff (alright two secrets) to get a 5 gal bucket under if you want to use gravity. I use cinder blocks, two high, with 2x lumber (say 2x8) across the cinder blocks to hold two 55 gal barrels.
A full barrel is extremely heavy say a 55 gallon barrel might be 50gal x8lbs = 400lbs. So you'll want to make sure the cinders are level BEFORE filling with water.
I do have to use a sump pump to get some rainwater up the slope to the barrels closer to the garden which I either use the soaker hoses on or just an open end hose for watering or simply washing/rinsing hands, etc. These are the barrels that I fill with city water if the need arises; been a couple yrs since that was needed.
I also use 30 gal garbage pails under the down spouts to facilitate using the sump pump (or buckets dipped in the water). I squirt baby oil on the water to deter insects such as mosquitoes.
The barrels have a cover and are not a problem with insects.
I do have another 30 gal garbage can with a spigot on the bottom I make compost tea in. Of course you can also just use a bucket to dip into the barrel. I use an aquarium pump in that to help brew but that is another topic entirely.
I found the article that I mentioned earlier...
http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137toc.html
ROOT DEVELOPMENT
OF
VEGETABLE CROPS
BY
JOHN E. WEAVER
Professor of Plant Ecology, University
of Nebraska
I've used trimmed branches as pea supports. Also, I sow peas in a 10" wide strip rather than single rows on either side of my current trellis.
Here's pic I found of branch supports - not mine, from the web - but mine were very similar...
I was going to ask how the area is prepared but I read again that it is a raised bed. In that case, there should have been so little weed in the first place. It seems like you have let it get out of control, though I have to admit that a 20x10 space might be hard to reach all the areas.
For a future time, you might consider making the space a little easier to access from outside of the bed. In the meantime, definitely a mulch will help.
I've always been pretty skeptical about weed-block fabric under a bed, because it's not going to block any weeds that establish themselves on the (hopefully deep) topsoil you have on top of it. That is, if it keeps weeds from growing because it prevents deep roots, why is that good for your tomatoes? I can certainly understand a wire mesh underlayment, to keep out moles, but vegetable roots can go right through that mesh. It won't stop the roots you want.
As to weed barrier fabric on top, sounds like a mess. You should know that at least Bermuda grass grows readily underneath such a layer. It'll keep spreading until it finds a gap to pop up in. As noted, the water permeability of the stuff is not very good. I know several people who have tried it, and nobody likes it.
I think the reasons are because of various people's different situations. For example, some will clear the sod and till up the area first. Others put cardboard or newspaper right on top of the grass. Still, others add the weed block to keep other plants down.
Some of it also depends on how deep your bed is and if you will mulch. Deeper bed and mulch helps reduce any unwanted weed seeds which may have been present in the original soil (assuming there was none in the soil above the ground)
So that's why there are so many ways to prepare a raised bed.
On April 22nd, there's still about a 10% chance you could see a frost in your area.
On May 3, 2013, the high temperature was 36 degrees at a weather station nearby you and snow/ice pellets were observed. I remember what a horrible day that was for everyone anxious to plant out. Seems like 2013 was a year that winter wouldn't let go.
How big are the tomatoes getting? And what kinds of tomatoes are they? I mean, if you are growing patio toms and getting big means 4 inches tall that's one thing- if they are giant indets and are a couple feet tall- that's quite another.
And it can also depend on how warm your bed is- and if you are prepared with some sort of coverage/capping type of scenario in case you get hit with a late chill.
It can also depend on what your micro-climate is. Like for me, looking at a general map- I'm zone 5. But by going into detail, and considering my micro-climate, I'm actually a zone 6. But I still don't put out tomatoes till May, regardless of how nice the last frost date is. And even so, I'm prepared with hot caps and mulch deep just in case. Because even though I'm supposed to be frost free by then, it has happened where I get a late frost or even (gasp) on one occasion a late snow.
I think a few hours is fine. The commercial process for lettuce is called seed "priming", and it's a little more complicated than just soaking. That's where the seeds are soaked just long enough to start the metabolic activity required for sprouting, but not enough to actually make it sprout. The seed is then dried slightly to allow for a bit of storage time, and uniform planting. This process works against both photo-dormancy and thermo-dormancy, which are big problems for commercial lettuce growers. I'm not sure, but I think the priming process it may also soften the seed coat a bit, allowing for easier emergence.
You can read all about it here.
First need to clarify that it isn't "cutting off the tops". Not a good idea. :) It is trimming the existing leaf growth back by approx. 1/3 or no more than 1/2 and leaving the rest. The reason - (1) primarily because it stimulates new growth, new leaves, new layers of the onion/leek to develop, and (2) secondarily it helps prevent leaf break-over (leaf bends/snaps/breaks at the joint of the leaf and bulb) due to damage or weight.
It isn't required when growing either onions or leeks and many growers don't do it but those of us who do swear by it. So the choice is yours. I became convinced of its benefits many years ago simply by trying it on 1/2 my plants and leaving the rest to grow normally. Give it a try and see which works best for you.
Dave
I consider like other plants that are being transplanted. You just want to reduce some green leafy growth so that it can handle the transplant a little better. The other reason may be that, prior to you planting the onion bulb, it has already been sending up green leaves, and some of those may be dry-looking. While it doesn't hurt to leave it on the plant, taking it off is part of taking care of dead leaves on plants also.
Miss Moose, years ago, I overheard my daughter's young friend telling her that if you ate pink PlayDoh it would make your poop pink. As far as I know, my daughter never tested that info herself :) But I don't doubt her friend was reporting first hand knowledge. Oh, yes, they were an interesting pair, never a dull moment when they got together.
Since your new bed can't possibly have any active soil micro-herd, no soil food web of bacteria, developed yet to convert the added organic fertilizer then no, you don't need to worry about any "burn" issues, a minor concern anyway.
Of course it won't do much for the plants either and that is the real issue. Until the soil food web has a chance to develop and that takes time and more time, the nutrients aren't available to the plants. You might want to do some research into how dry/granular organic fertilizers work (vs. liquid organics) and what you have to do to tide the plants over until the soil food web develops.
Dave
Thanks for the info Dave. I'm not sure exactly what's in the soil, but this isn't a brand new garden plot. It's a 14x14 plot in a community garden, and I don't know what has been grown in that plot since it opened 2 years ago. I probably should've done a soil test before planting. Another gardener there told me that a couple had rented 3 plots in a row last year, including mine, but didn't tell me what was grown or added to the soil. If I see him again I'll ask him if he recalls what was there... though even that prob wouldn't be as good as a soil test.
Now that I think of it, was my terminology incorrect when I said I made a raised garden bed? It's just a 3x14 wide bed raised about 6" above the walking paths. It's not enclosed with boards or anything... Just sloping down to the paths on each side.
Rhizo1 ; Thanks for correcting my radical spelling of radicle. I actually do know better, but I'm getting old .....
(Interestingly the gardenweb spellchecker is objecting to "radicle." I wonder if I actually had it right to begin with, but the software radicalised it. Anyway, GW should know better!)
A passing update to soaking seeds, I also purchased some Lupine flowers which I hear are infamous for not sprouting without a good soak and possibly even some husk scoring. I soaked the seeds for 24 hours, and got about 50% of them swell and crack the skins to their seeds right off. Inside was a classic green embryo, however the others had shown no signs of swelling. I scored the ones who had not swollen with a simple nail file, and of those about 85% caught up to their siblings within just a few hours.
I've planted all my seeds now and already a Lupine has pushed from the starting medium and is trying to push out two cotyledons after only 12 hours. I expect 100% success with the lupines. :)