23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I agree that the terminology can get confusing but once you have a chance to see several brands of bags of potting stuff next to each other, the labels make the differences pretty clear.
Common usage for the terms is
soil=dirt, the stuff the ground in the garden is made of and has no use in containers
top soil= dirt, which may or may not be of better quality than garden dirt and has no role in containers.
potting soil=bags of other ingredients, usually some peat, vermiculite or perlite and some sand mixed with some dirt. Quality of most potting soils currently on the market are considered only poor to fair.
potting mix=soil-free mixture of peat, perlite or vermiculite or both, and sometimes some coco fiber. The quality far exceeds that of potting soil and is commonly referred to as a soil-less mix even in the US.
So when you use the term soil we aren't always clear on exactly what you mean and thus the warnings to not use soil (dirt) in containers, only use a soil-less mix, a potting mix.
If you wish to buy in bulk rather than in the big bags and fill your own containers then some nurseries will make up a soil-less mix for you and sell it by the cubic foot.
If you want to buy bags for your plants most brands are sold in 1 cubic foot or 2 cubic foot bags. A 1 cubic foot bag is equal to approx. a 6.5-7 gallon container and a 2 cubic foot bag is equal to approx. 12-14 gallon container.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Every response has been great and much appreciated, this really helps out tremendously. I will keep this post updated as I move along (plus with any other questions : ). I am about 2-3 weeks away from hardining off the plants.
Thank you everyone again.
-Mr. Beno
I heard that for cucumbers and zucchini lots of male blossoms will set in long and hot days; female blossoms and fruit setting prefer milder (i.e. cooler) climates and shorter days. Is this true?
I don't know the source of that info but as stated it isn't true. What was the context of the statement.
Squash is a summer vegetable and requires specific soil temps to grow and produce. That is what determines when it is planted.
While it is true that most first produce a flush of males blooms, the females quickly follow in the same temps.
If we had to wait for cool summer temps to get female blooms we'd get very few squash.
Dave
Depends on the variety you use and what their DTM is. In your zone you can only extend the season so much even with a hoop house. Plus since most determinates at still 4' tall it would have to be a high hoop house, not a low tunnel. Not only for head room but for insulating effect.
This assuming you don't plan to heat it.
Dave
I had a idea about putting potatoes in about two or three bales of straw, has anyone tried this before?
Than when you dig the potatoes out of the straw you can compost the straw.
What I am putting in my garden is tomatoes , papers, Ground Cherries, melons, cucumbers, winter squash, maybe beets, lettuce if I can find some type of container to put it on so the rabbits don't get it before me. I will be putting more onions out as soon as they can be put out ( I am talking about the ones that look like grass). Can anyone tell me how to grow these since every year they die on me?
The classic regimen for corn as I learned it was 13-13-13 tilled in the furrow prior to planting and sidedress ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) at knee high with a hilling at that time and again at waist high.
The second could be skipped if the leaves don't show a need for it. Corn will show a need for nitrogen in it's leaf color, should be a nice medium tending to dark green of an even color.
This happened quite by accident but I got rid of 4 very pesky gophers...who ate everything I planted....I had trouble gardening because of them and was on the verge of giving up gardening....not encouraging you to do it ...just relaying a story....so picture me completely frustrated and hubby building a new ham radio tower...he digs a huge hole for the base...like 4 or 6 feet deep cant remember but deep....covers it with plywood for safety because it is raining and he can't work....evidently it intersected some of the tunnels because we uncovered the pit to finish the work and there were 4 little dead gophers in a pit with about 3 feet of water in it.. no more gophers in my yard..
Just wanted to let everyone know that I caught my gopher. Bought the Victor Black Box trap smeared some peanut butter behind the trigger and had him the same night. Hooray! I will be carefully watching my yard for signs that a new gopher has moved in though.
CHEERS!!
Soil temperature is what determines ideal planting times in the garden so you also need to do some research into proper planting times based on soil temps in your area. Many charts are available for this so one of them plus a cheap thermometer that can be stuck into the soil is all you need.
The U of Maine Cooperative Extension is your local ag extension service and provides all sorts of gardening info specific to your state and even your county, including proper planting times, on their website. Explore it (linked below).
All 3 you list - corn, tomatoes, melons - are summer crops. So as others have said unless you are prepared to baby and keep transplanting the tomatoes for another couple of months I'd start over at the proper time. Corn and melons are normally direct seeded anyway so I don't see how those transplants would make it till proper planting time.
Rack it up to an important lesson learned. We have all been there at one time of another. :)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: U Maine Co-op Ext.
Most seed packets tell you on the package when and how to plant. Next time, I suggest you read the package. Also, for a first time gardener, it's best to buy young plants to plant in the garden instead of trying to start from seed indoors. Now would be a good time to work on preparing your garden outdoors and not fussing with indoor plants. Talk to people who have experience growing things in your area.
but not sure which one. Home Depot sells a bunch.
What is sold in the 20-40 lb. bags is primarily composted steer manure from stock and feed yards that has been mixed with other composted materials (humus). It may be in different brand bags but it is basically all the same.
So since it is already composted it is, in theory, ok to use as is. The real issue is how much of it to use and that opens up a whole bunch of other questions as ristau said - your soil, your pH, your nutrient levels, what other feeding/fertilizers you use, which plants, etc.
And note I said in theory. That is because much of it is not stored correctly and has turned anaerobic. Look for dry, not wet bags, that are relatively lightweight with a loose feel to the contents and that have a good earth/dirt smell not an ammonia smell.
Dave
Start thinking about next year now, and think about a compost bin/pile/heap. Then you won't have to fuss much about what manure to add to your garden. You can add it to your pile as you find it!
Just a thought for next year! Nancy
Sorry i went off topic. Turned out it was Instinct not Orijen we went off of. I'll look at Pure vita. Yes green beans are in the future along with carrots and the like. Still looking for the forum that discusses food successes. Bye and thanks for the input.
Those are edamame, not regular soybeans. They are used as green shellies.
Here is a link that might be useful: Edamame recipes
Pick the pods when they are well filled out but the seeds are still green. Put them in boiling water for 5 or 10 minutes. Drain them and sprinkle with salt. Pop a pod open and eat the seeds.
Edamame is a popular snack in sushi bars. They are nice to nibble while watching TV and better for you than chips and dip.
Jim
I'm in Zone 5 and I consider my planting date to be Memorial weekend and the last 2 years I had a bad frost just days before. I was afraid to move everything out of the greenhouse and plant even then but I did and both times I was fine. April...NO WAY!
I would recommend much bigger pots. Do you have an area in the yard you could plant into the ground instead?
Squash in particular needs a high nutrient soil. Peatmoss contains very little nutrients (it is used by commercial growers for its pH and ability to hold moisture), and why you would need a lot of ongoing chemical fertilizer applications (commercial growers apply 1-2 X weekly).
Chemical fertilizers work much better in peatmoss than Organic fertilizers (organic fertilizers require soil microbes to convert efficiently).
I would recommend a bag of "compost" derived soil amended into your natural soil.
Our zucchini grew about 4'-5' in diameter last year (each plant), and the summer squash was 3'-4' in diameter. The kids only watered once a week and we didn't need to add any fertilizer. They enjoyed picking and helping cook it in different ways a lot - plus they were much more willing to eat vegetables they grew than they would otherwise :)
I wouldn't use the "synthetic" soils sold at the store that are ground up mulch with chemical fertilizers. Some of them are produced using municipal waste composted with city lawn clippings and contain high heavy metal concentrations.
I had a crop of tomatoes that grew terribly one year using bad soil - because of high heavy metal caused toxicity that showed up after 2 months of growing. I used to work for a large tomato commercial grower - and was super ticked when I figured it out. Most newbies blame themselves for any growing issues and why a lot of companies can get away with selling bad product.
Actually, I don't think it's a fungus or SVB. Yesterday I picked some nearby lettuce and accidentally picked a seed pod from some clover. Pretty sure the seeds from the clover are the same as I found on my tomato. I'm not sure how they got all the way to the top, but they look like the kinds of seed pods that burst open to throw the seeds everywhere. Or maybe a bird picked it and dropped it. I don't know - think that's what it is, though.
Glad my squash aren't threatened - they're just starting to pump out the flowers.
I try to stagger bush beans because the plants do give out at some point and I want a steady supply.
Also trying it with the cukes, which seem to be prolific producers early but as the vines age and get damaged from tugging the cukes off, rooting through for the hidden ones, etc., they tend to trail off. So I'm going to do one planting early then start some more seeds in another location a few weeks later.
If I grow squash it will be just one because two years ago I had one plant that gave me more than I could use, freeze or give away. And it just wouldn't quit. Probably should have looked for a food bank that wanted fresh produce.
In Pennsylvania, I don't think our summers are long enough for a second round of tomatoes. I've put some in in late June just to see and they never really produced -- probably not enough time before the nights got too cool.
If you grow leaf lettuce you can cut the leaves and the plant will produce more, but after the second or third cutting it gets bitter so it's either time for more plants or just go to a late summer planting for fall harvest since lettuce doesn't love the heat.
I grow backups, but I don't stagger.
Unless you count two planting a year (winter and summer) as staggering -- I do that sometimes with greens and roots. Or sometimes I just grow them in the winter. If I have a huge winter crop and am tired of them by spring then I don't plant for a summer rerun ;).