23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I pay a 22 year old $10 an hour to mow and week whack and dig. He lives with his mom and has no expenses to speak of I would pay more for someone trying to make a living. Sometimes I wonder if I am enabling him in staying with mom past appropriate age by giving him spending money but not enuf to actually be independent.
I have a 73 year old man who helps me....I know, sounds weirdly cruel, but he loves it and thinks it's the funniest thing when I tell him what I want him to do next. He will only accept $10 an hour. Let me tell you....this guy works harder than any 13 year old I've ever known. (I call him "Rock-Steady" because he only has only one pace, "slow," but he just plugs along steady as she goes!) I love him.
13 year olds have notoriously short attention spans...I would only pay them $7 or $8 an hour because most of that time will be spent watching you work... or watching the clouds, or sneaking in a text or two, or playing with the cat, or replanting the worms or talking, talking, talking while propping up the shovel....then time for a pop, then time for a bathroom break, then time for a popcicle, then time to call and check in with mother, ...... !
Besides, if you find that they a a great worker, you can always give a bonus as a surprise...Rock Steady gets a big kick out of it when I try to give him one!
I have a LOT less stink bugs than my neighbors. I'm wondering if it's because I plant a few tobacco plants. I know the neighbor's goats won't even go near the plants, much less nibble on them, and they eat EVERYTHING. If you do plant some, use gloves when harvesting. I feel sick when I don't.
We do have them in maine as well.. though our top crop damage is still JBs.. Stink bugs are all pretty tenacious, where JBs are not as bad, simple netting may or may not keep out the stink bug for you, remember they get into your house, any loose hole they can find and enter.
If you're in Z7-east, your peppers may do really well in your partial shade. I usually have to install a shade cover for mine to prevent sunscald on the fruits. In some countries, peppers are grown between strips of corn for shade and shelter.
Sunlight will get much more intense in the next few weeks as the earth tilts closer to old Sol.
I would say, "yes " cover them. But not lettuces and shallots. they cans stand freezing temp's.
And if during the day sunshines, you SHOULD take the plastic off otherwise they might get cooked.(greenhouse effect)
This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, May 14, 13 at 10:14
There's a couple versions of this pepper out there.
There's a thicker blocky version (semi-bell-like with a blunted end) and a smaller frying type.
The smaller frying type is the one traced back to Jan Antolli (name probably misspelled) and the thicker one has a relatively unknown lineage as far as it's introduction.
They both display the same color changes.
Most of the seed out there is from the smaller frying type. The thicker, blocky one is a bit harder to come by.
You'll be able to tell which one you have once it starts setting fruits by the fruit's width if you're unsure which one you've gotten a hold of.
Both plants (I've seen/grown both...and used the blocky version as a breeding partner for a seed I developed) are medium+ sized plants as far as heirloom peppers go, and they can get taller depending on how closely they're spaced. They can both get kind of top-heavy and might need staking depending on how heavily they set fruit.
I think "companion" planting just touches upon the reality, which is that it is necessary to have a very wide range of plant species present to reduce the severity of insect infestations.
IME, it is better to have less production of favored crops so as to achieve this diversity. IOW, even if all a gardener cares to produce is tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant still one had better devote space to other plant families or suffer the consequences. After some seasons of too narrow a range and nutrient depletion, one could not use enough insecticides to stave off the infestations.
Skeptic here, too, for the most part. I *have* found nasturtiums to work very well, though. You have to remember, however, that they're a trap crop, not a repellent. Nasturtiums are more attractive to some pests than the crop you're trying to protect, so they go to the nasturtiums first. You can then kill the pest on the nasturtiums (either by organic or synthetic pesticide or by simply removing the nasturtiums along with the resident pests). Whatever method you choose, you're sacrificing the nasturtiums on purpose to save the crop. In our in-ground garden, I plant a row of nasturtiums next to the row of crop I want to protect. With pots, I'd definitely have the nasturtiums in their own separate pots.
As far as repelling pests, I still haven't found any plant that lives up to the companion planting hype. The problem is, the majority of them only work when they're jostled or crushed to release the offensive (to the pest) scent. That just doesn't happen enough in the average garden unless the plants are right on the path getting stepped on and brushed against. I just don't have the time and space for that.
The dill and brassicas combo is the one other CP that has worked well for me. I have no idea why. It's just been a consistent observation that the years I plant a row of dill in between my rows of broccoli, I have healthier plants and bigger harvests. *shrug* That's not to say that that would happen for everyone, though.
Another lucky gardener here who doesn't have to deal with slugs. We have them, but not many. They stay way out by the slough (pond) with the snails and the only place I've ever seen them in the garden is under the rhubarb when I haven't had time to keep it tidy and off the ground. My dad used to have them, though. Horrible things. He used to send me out with a salt shaker when I was a kid. *shudder*
It would depen on HOW HOT it gets and HOW MUCH SUN they get. For example, cabbage can stay on well before frost. but for short cycle cold crops you can plant at different times(say one month apart).
What happens if it gets hot? Well if you don't harvest them(like chinese cabbage, lettuce...) they will bolt(go to flowering and seed production.
Okay, I have been experimenting with this for years. I'm way south of you, but I live on a mountain side, so I have mostly cool weather all summer (about a week of temps approaching 90 in the day, a month of 80s in the day, nights always in the 50s and 60s, 40s in May and September).
Normally, for warm season crops, I plant the shortest DtM (days to maturity) varieties--tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, corn (rare, I hate to fight the raccoons), etc. I no longer even try melons, and have no interest in cowpeas or okra. :-)
But you are asking about cool season crops. Yup, that's the majority of my garden, as the long, cool autumn before a hard freeze makes the cool season crops a joy.
First of all, lettuce, radishes and spinach planted in the spring are going to bolt around mid-summer, even in a cool summer. It's a day-length thing, not temperature, for the most part. A few lettuce varieties have been bred/selected to hold longer before bolting, but I haven't seen great holding in spinach. Plan to plant again after the summer solstice. However, things will not grow as fast as the summer is winding down as they do when it is winding up. I have struggled with counting back 60 days from first frost to plant my 60 dtm lettuce or spinach and it just never matures. While you are learning the best practices for your area, I suggest you plant maybe 4 feet of seeds every 2 weeks up until you reach that (for example) 60 days before first frost. Keep note of it (I don't have a garden notebook, bad gardener, but I write this stuff on my wall calendar and have a stash of old calendars on top of my fridge) and you'll have a better idea of the planting window next year.
Swiss chard and perpetual spinach are good spinach substitutes for mid summer. Both of these are basically beets selected for stems (chard) and leaves (perpetual spinach). I'm not a big fan of the stems, so I grow beets for a version of perpetual spinach. I rarely harvest the roots, but we do eat the greens. They also hold well into the cool season. If you like beet roots, plant again after sumer solstice to have nice tender roots at harvest time in the fall. Mulch thickly and you should be able to harvest the roots up until your soil freezes (or you can harvest and hold in a root cellar or your fridge). Turnips are also good for greens and the roots hold well in the ground until hard freeze. Again, plant after summer solstice.
Winter radishes also go in after solstice. These are the Daikon radishes, but also Spanish black, German beer radishes, etc. These tend to be harvested much larger than spring radishes, and the ones I have grown are quite mild in the fall. Covered with mulch, they keep well in the garden until the ground freezes, and can be kept in a root cellar or refrigerator.
My solution for cabbage and carrots is just the opposite of my warm-season veggies. I grow the long-season varieties! We like big fat carrots, so that works well. I don't rush to put them in early, but they can go in before my summer planting weekend (usually Memorial Day weekend or the weekend before). I've never had success with the early cabbages, but we've had some memorable January King cabbages that were just fine cooked, shredded for cole slaw, or shredded for sauerkraut. And again, they hold well in the garden until hard freeze. Oh, and we are a family that goes against the norm, even my kids like Brussels Sprouts (harvested after a frost and roasted, not boiled), so we have also grown those for late harvest. I have a nine-pack of Falstalf to go in next weekend, in fact. Need I say kale gets the same treatment as these other cabbage-family crops?
I've tried Napa cabbage a couple of times without success. I'll have to take my own advice this year and plant a few every couple of weeks after summer solstice.
BTW, deer LOVE, LOVE, LOVE members of the cabbage family. Rabbits do, too. I am learning to love rabbit fence (which keeps old fat chickens out of the garden, too) and re-mesh cages.
Good luck with your cool-season garden!
Catherine
Here is a link that might be useful: Baker Creek's Radishes, many winter
Little holes...flea beetles (like Dave said).
From link below:
Try this homemade spray to control flea beetles: 2 parts rubbing alcohol, 5 parts water, and 1 tablespoon liquid soap. Spray the mixture on the foliage of garden plants that are susceptible to these pests.
Moths and butterflies do not have chewing mouth parts but rather a long proboscis for lapping up nectar from flowers. Perhaps the white butterfly is a Hairstreak butterfly which is harmless but plentiful right now...late Spring and Summer; 1 generation a year.
Here is a link that might be useful: Flea Beetles
I'm new to vegetable gardening and have had help from my dad who lives nearby and doesn't grow anything he can't eat (if he can help it). He's been gardening for 40+ years and suggested I add a couple of spoonfuls of Epsom salts to water in a sprayer and spray my pepper plants for increased production and healthier fruits.
I stopped growing Peppers because I was just not getting enough sun but I have cleared part of my yard and hope to move my garden to a very sunny spot next year.
My question is: Is it ok to still hit your peppers every few weeks with Neptune's Harvest or does this fall into the "Too much Nitrogen category"?
I never knew that. Most of the time the cotelydons on my tomatoes turn yellow and fall off at some point (if I don't take them off when I pot up). My cousin's in the greenhouse without artificial lights were horribly leggy but they already had true leaves so I don't know when they started getting that way. Interesting, I should get them some lights for next year and have them put them under light right away.
But this still isn't answering the OP's question - though unless he/she comes back and clarifies what type of plant(s) and whether they've germinated yet, nobody can really answer if it's OK to leave them outside for a while right now.
*Right now* may not be a good time for setting things out in LI. Getting cold up here in CT, high 30's early tomorrow and then Tuesday AM predicted to be 34 with "feels like" temp of 31 even with just 5 mph wind (probably windier here) and 70% RH. I'm going to cover my newly-planted kale and spinach just in case. Not even going to hit 60 the next couple of days.
Yes, this late cold snap emphasizes the importance of separating the seedlings. In this weather, I'd leave more hardened brassicas out in the daytime, bring them in at nite. But I left the tomatoes and peppers inside all day, yesterday, even tho I've been hardening them.
Which, of course, is why artificial lighting should be available.
What's valuable about this discussion is how it illustrates that, ideally, all seeds would be sown outside in perfect weather. Starting inside, starting in artificial media and pots, transplanting outside is all unnatural and not ideal for the plant. Transplanting is always stressful. Sown-outside seeds are acclimating from the outset to conditions.
But reality isn't ideal. Our weather isn't ideal. Freezes can kill young and tender seedlings. If we direct-sowed everything, people in northern latitudes would never be able to grow, say, tomatoes. So we do what we can to extend the growing season and try as far as possible to approximate ideal conditions by artificial means.
This post was edited by ltilton on Mon, May 13, 13 at 9:20
If snipping then in various steps along the way as recommended.
If pulling (not recommended) then ASAP.
As mentioned in your other posts, "keeping moist" is for germination only. Once germinated then watering is done as needed by the particular plant given its growing conditions.
Dave
Thanks guys. Trying to do everything as close to right a possible.
Seems like one issue after the next.
But that's the life of gardener I guess.
I'll get it together eventually