23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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.

Lettuce seeds sprout quickly when soaked. I soak all my lettuce seeds before planting. They usually sprout in 24 hrs or less. During the winter months sprouting took a little more than 24 hrs while temps were in the mid to low sixties.

LOL Miss Moose! Nancy

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.

I third Dave's advice. Stacking them will allow you space to grow 'deeper rooted' veggies, but I also agree with Nancy Jane and others that using them directly on the native soil will allow anything 'deeper rooted' the space to grow out.

I have nine of these and love them. My oldest is four years old and looks as new as the one added in March. I do amend and dig the native soil underneath before filling them. I have had great success with tomatoes and peppers in my beds along with greens, edamame, cukes, garlic, and many more veggies and herbs. Sometimes the corner pieces could have been sanded better, making it a bit of a challenge to slide the boards in but overall they are easy to put together and sturdy.

That's fascinating. Good discussion. Thank you. I guess your original question was about disposable diapers, but the ramifications of that question go well beyond them.

Isn't that so true! I myself was really shocked to come to this conclusion! I think this knowledge should remain in healthy circulation in the community. I wish there was a way to de-salinate the diaper-gel. My husband mentioned vinegar which might do the trick, but then it would be very acidic, and I almost wonder if it would liquify the diaper-gel. I honestly got curious yesterday and tore apart an unused diaper, shook out the crystals and now have about 2 cups of gel. I'll add vinegar to it and see if it completely breaks down. If not, then perhaps the acidic properties could be neutralized with calcium carbonate, as other neutralizers are just basically made of more salt, such as baking soda, which would bring us back to square 1.

I'll add some white vinegar to the diaper gel and update you in a bit. Who knows... perhaps we may end up with a safe, salt-free plant gel! Wanna get in on this patent?? Loll

Update: I didn't realize it, but calcium carbonate separates and releases salt when it reacts with an acid. I didn't even think about it's hidden salt properties, since I didn't see Na in the compound structure. ( CaCO3 )

Update: Vinegar turned the diaper gel into soup.

Glib what do you mean it wont matter? Is that good or does it mean I need to wait because it is bad?

for the bale method to work you need the straw to decompose. On decomposing, ammonia gases will be released. I would use the method myself, a neighbor grows huge cabbages this way, but I have no source for a lot of cheap straw bales.

Yeah, I know, I was just being lazy. :)

Hope you like lots of slicing cukes. IME Straight 8 is VERY prolific!

In addition to Rodney's suggestion above, there are also many less expensive sources for all those varieties other than Burpee. Just for future reference. :)

Dave

I plant my Fortex pole bean seeds around the last week of May. Rarely later, but sometimes sooner if the soil has warmed.

tj

I used to live in Racine, just south of Milwaukee. I had success planting in beans as early as the end of April to as late as Memorial day. It kind of depended on the beans- some drying beans take longer, some fresh beans are pretty fast.

There are a couple garden centers/nurseries in the area that sell good plants. There was a something and daughters on highway 32 just north of Racine- and a really nice place on highway K? Maybe it was G- just west of 94. I always skipped Milaegers because they were so darn expensive. Steins sometimes had good stuff, sometimes didn't.