23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Color me impressed! Now that I have a raised bed that I can sit on to garden (arthritis!), I hope to be there too next spring!

Wertach- what's white bbq sauce?

matty12345 - there is absolutely nothing wrong with your rhubarb imo. Colour variations like that are common. Early in the year the plants get all sorts of insults due to temperature and moisture variation, the buds hitting an obstruction as they come up, passing gastropods etc. In parts of the US where rhubarb is hard to keep happy it might be an issue but here the leaves can be ratty and discoloured with no appreciable effect on the crop. Your rhubarb is ahead of mine but mine always seems a bit slow as it is growing in a frost bottom. I would just leave it be. However, if all the leaves are that size I wouldn't harvest much this year. Make sure it has loads of water if it doesn't rain and give it a good pile of compost or muck in the Autumn.

The RHS website makes no mention of redleaf disease and afaik it is not found here.

I think Flora is right. The red leaf disease seems to be very active in Canada and Northwestern US. The pics of your plants don't suggest the plant is unhealthy.

Lol live and learn!

It never occurred to me to pour off the excess water... now that you've all mentioned it, it seems like a no-brainer! It might be worth adding that tidbit to the faq's in the growing from seed forum for other idiots like me... Again, thanks for some great information everyone.

thanks for the responses! I have culled some of the taller ones and put them outside during the day. Hopefully I'll get some good results.

I leave lettuce in clumps and pull apart when I plant out. Although this damages some roots and holds some plants back this is an advantage to me since I don't want them all ready at once.

I wouldn't call Sevin mild, no. If you use it, be sure to check the days to harvest before you cut any stalks.

You might consider Spinosad. For the larvae, BT.

OK I'll look into it! Thanks Nancy

I'm glad to hear you elected to transplant them. Millions of seedlings get transplanted annually and it is really quite easy to do. More importantly, the plants actually benefit from the transplanting process in several ways.

Good luck with your plants.

Dave

>NilaJones, thanks for your input for our specific area. Do you really think it's ok to put seedlings outside this early? Last year, I sowed seeds direct into the ground outdoors around Mid-May, and the poor things had to suffer through 2 hail storms and some cold spells. Portland has some weird weather.

You're very welcome :).

Outside, yes. And it's especially important if you don't have adequate artificial light for them indoors.

In the ground is different story. If we get a cold snap, you can bring seedling trays of tropical plants like eggplant and tomatoes indoors for a night.

Other babies like kale, lettuce, peas, etc. are happiest with cool weather anyway, so you can go ahead and plant them in the ground if the snails won't eat them.. They can stay out even when it's below freezing, this time of year. And all winter, most years.

Hail is not a problem unless your seedlings are so tiny that a hailstone hits one and kills it. When we get hail, air and ground temperatures are still pretty warm. You notice the hail melts in 5 minutes :).

I planted out my pole beans a week ago. I worried about them a little last night, with the wind and heavy rain, but they looked so happy this morning! They like this kind of weather :). Their root systems are not big enough for hot sun yet. Cool and moist is just what they want.

In colder climates, you can cure sweet potatoes near a running furnace, or in a box with an incandescent light bulb for heat.

best source for slips

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: slips and info

espoma makes good products plantone and gardentone are good ,but wood ash is good i have massive pile from the winter .they also have biotone which great stuff.

There is a link to organic gardening at the top of the main vegetable gardening forum page. If you're just starting out, I suggest you buy one of the complete organic fertilizers (like the espona products, Dr. Earth, etc.) The main way to do organic gardening is to build up your soil over several years by adding compost, composted manure and the various other things people mentioned like bone meal, kelp, rock dust. Many of these things take a season or more to break down to a form your plants can use.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Gardening Forum

Silver veined leaves will be Black Beauty. Ronde de Nice will be slower to blossom (longest DTM of varieties in question)

I read that transplants have a better chance of withstanding SVB. I plan to start my seeds in pots this year and replant them into the garden when they are big enough. I lost my squash last year to those nasty bugs..

Thank you. I managed to find some rather ''wordy" responses to the coir debate but really wanted to know what the actual results were, you know? I will keep all this in mind as I go along. One of those large bricks sure goes a LONG way. It's too bad it isn't definite that it would be helpful. I like it for seed starting but am not sure about in the actual beds. I do make compost but it doesn't ever seem to be enough.

Yes, it can be a useful amendment, when used conservatively. I think that's what everyone is sort of saying. It does not add any nutrient benefit, but can add to the structure/texture component of a garden soil.