23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Shelling peas ;-) I disagree slightly. I planted my peas thick, 1" apart, 2 years ago, and they grew great, but didn't produce that great, and died fairly quickly. Last year I gave them a little more room and they were able to do their thing 100%. They grew to maturity and produced properly. I haven't found any vegetable that 'likes' to be crowded.
When I first started, I took a kill first, ask questions later approach, but time and again I'd end up killing a good bug or at least something neutral.. I've found that actual pests are far outnumbered by neutral/good.
If you want to take a no risk approach, I suggest keeping a jar or something handy so you can catch whatever bug you find on your plants, then hold it captive while IDing it. Then if it's a good one, you can let it go.
That looks like two problems: herbicide damage and (squint) bacterial speck, probably. While it is possible to get that scrunched-veins effect with CMV, it's much more common with something like 2,4-D (aka weed'n'feed). CMV tends to make the leaves much thinner, almost like strings.
So the good news is that the plants might be okay if you can find out how they got dosed, and make sure they don't get any more. :)
--Alison
Agree w/ the herbicide suggestion. Likely culprits (active ingredients) include these:
1. 2,4-D
2. manures or other organic matter contaminated with clopyralid or one of its close relatives.
see this http://puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/Clopyralid.html
-- if you think this may be the problem, look for the how-to info for doing a bio-assay to confirm or not.
Here is a link that might be useful: clopyralid herbicide contaminated soil
It sounds like you're off to a good start with the raised bed, but how many tomatoes and peppers are you trying to grow? A 4'x4' bed isn't very big. With lots of organic material dug in (compost, manure, etc.), you could fit 4 tomatoes OR 9-10 peppers in that amount of space. With a row of scallions, a row of carrots, and 3 strawberry plants already there, my guess is you could add 1 tomato and 2-3 peppers in the remaining space.
The issue with the strawberries is that they will send out "runners" all summer, each of which will want to root and form a baby plant 6-12" away from the mother. While this is a great way to expand your harvest in future years, it means the strawberries need room to spread out. If all you want to do is get a few berries this summer and snip all the runners, then they can stay where they are until you build them their own bed. But if you don't keep up with them, those three plants can easily turn into 12, 15, 18+ plants by fall if you allow all the runners to root.
As for your clay soil, you want to be adding compost throughout the year; the more, the better. If you don't have your own homemade compost, I would suggest digging in a few bags of purchased compost (mushroom soil, composted manure & humus, etc.) at the beginning of the growing season, then top dressing with more compost once or twice through the summer. In the fall, mulch with shredded leaves raked from your lawn (rake them into a pile and run the mower through them several times to chop them up into little pieces). Over the course of the winter, earthworms should start breaking down the leaves, which you can then incorporate into the soil in the spring, along with more compost, and start the whole cycle over again. Each year, your soil will improve, little by little. :)
(1) When I replant the tomatoes, how deep should I plant? Since I didn't prep the underlying clay, should I dig that out and add something to it (compost, e.g.,) before replanting the tomatoes?
Plant them so most all of any exposed stem is buried. Either deep holes or trench them in. More digging sure can't hurt but it would be easier to just add more compost and mix it in to the top so you are working with a good 8-10" of new. Let the worms do the work of turning it in.
(2) I've got a 2' fence flush against the bed but something is getting in and eating the strawberries. There's no obvious tracks in the soil, could it just be bugs?
As mention - slugs snails and many other possibilities. Move them to a container for the good of all issues.
(3) Do I need to move the strawberries? There's 3 plants, I'm told the yield will be low the first year, I'm considering moving them to a trough this year and then to their own bed next year.
3 plants won't give you much yield. Not even a small handful of berries. Honestly not worth planting so few plants. Put them in a pot and plan to plant many more next year in a larger container.
(4) The row of scallions and row of carrots have sprouted, I planted densely planning to thin - when should I thin and by how much at first? Growing up we didn't thin until we could at least discern which plants were doing better. I'm nowhere near that point but since I planted so densely I'd want to make sure I thin on time
Since this is such a small bed and sounds like it is heavily over-planted already if you want any carrots at all you will have to thin aggressively. Begin thinning as soon as the seedlings are large enough to ID individual plants - usually 3/4-1" tall. Do a follow up thinning when they are 2-3" tall and again until they are approx. 3" apart.
(5) I'm pretty sure this soil mix is only good for about 60-90 days and I'm not sure what I need to do then. Dig it out and replace it? Add something to it?
Not at all, you just keep mixing in more compost and nutrient supplements. You will not be able to count on this new soil for sufficient nutrients without you adding supplements. There is no active soil micro-herd yet to convert the compost to nutrient forms.
(6) Assuming our garden is successful (so far, so good, I've maintained it minimally) we plan to expand next year. What should I do with the soil this summer/fall, if anything? Raised beds again is what we'd prefer.
Just build more of the same or my personal preference is 3' wide and long as you have room for. It's a more efficient use of space and provides easier access. 2x a year additions of lots of fresh quality compost. If you can get some well-aged manure for adding in the fall - great. otherwise buy several bags of composted manure now while the garden centers have them and add them in the fall.
Good luck with your garden.
Dave
"For the most part I was keeping them in the shade longer and longer each day, occasionally giving them direct sunlight for an hour after 7pm."
I'm confused by your schedule. Why would you give them more time in the shade each day, as opposed to more time in the sun? I can see starting them off in moderate shade, then moving them to light shade, then dappled sun, then full sun, over the course of several days, but how will limiting their sun to only a few hours on Day 9 get them ready for full sun in the garden by Day 12? Are you planning to continue to shade them for part of the day for the first week they are in the garden, providing less and less until they are in full sun all day?
For the basil, I'd continue to harden them off and not plant them yet. If they can't take a few hours of morning sun, they certainly won't be able to handle full afternoon sun in the garden.
Those are the cotyledons. What those seedlings need now is stronger light.
Starting a few more seeds than you need is commonly done. I'd pinch off the larger, spindly ones and save the newly-germinated ones, getting them into more light will give them a better start.
It is, however, late for broccolis in your zone. You'll probably have better luck with your squash.
they do look like brassicas - the tell is the butterfly shaped wings. They all come out like that, radish, cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, mitsuna - you need to wait for the 2nd set of leave (true leaves) to see how they are shaping up.
Agree. Get a professional soil test done by your local county ag extension office. Costs $10-12 dollars in most places. That's the only way you'll know exactly what it needs.
In the mean time scout for a local source of bulk compost and a 25-50lb. bag of cottonseed meal or alfalfa meal to bulk up the N levels to cope with all the bark and wood chips. Just don't apply until you get the soil test back. Normally has a 1 week turn around time.
Dave
As several folks have mentioned in your other thread on the sickly tomatoes, the questions about sufficient sun exposure and planting methods are also problems for you that need to be resolved. Even with ideal soil mix if there isn't sufficient sun exposure you are going to have difficulty.
Dave
Judging from the color of the new growth, the plants are taking up plenty of nitrogen and are poised to make vigorous growth when they get warm sun.
The older leaves are stressed and probably incubating early blight, so I would go ahead and clip them off. A leaf with more than 30 percent of its photosynthetic capacity offline is not worth keeping. I would also mulch with something to help keep the leaves dry -- plastic or cloth if it keeps raining, grass clippings or rotting wood chips when the rain stops. The mulch will also encourage more shallow roots to grow, which will serve the plants well in the long run.
Oh yikes! Well, thanks for the info! I guess I will either make more space for it or plant something else there. :/ The raised bed I was going to put it in is only 3x4 (I only have two 3x4 beds, so no larger option). Right now I have radishes, beets, lettuce and spinach growing in the same bed I was planning to put the zuke. I think the beets are the longest to maturity (currently growing in 2 squares).
I bought the seeds last year and never planted it. Last year was my first year gardening and I bought the seeds before I had a plan. Ahh, what to do. I really wanted to plant zucchini this year but I guess I don't have the space even for a "regular" zuke plant. :(
I often grow my zucchini of a trellis to save space.