23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I don't have a soil thermometer, but we've had temps well into the 70swith a few exceptions for several weeks (If you HAVE to have a drought, at least have beautiful weather!). It's been close to 80 the last few days. Planting most things tomorrow. Nancy
<thanks but got to many diff places to test here....>
Is this your native soil? If so then there won't be much difference from one place to the next? Doesn't happen that way. If they are all growing on your property in native soil then they will all be within the same very narrow margin and one soil test made up of several selected samples is all that is needed. And keep in mind that pH changing, if it is needed, doesn't happen over night anyway so trying to amend many locations would be a major chore. If you want to grow blueberries and if your soil is too alkaline it would be better to "create" a specific location for them made up of trucked in acidic soil.
But if that isn't enough for you then a simple $25-50 soil test meter is all that is needed.
Dave
No. Years back, I grew a naked-seeded pumpkin (Streaker Jack) that was impure; one of the plants turned out to have hulled seed. I had (unknowingly) used male flowers from the hulled plant to hand pollinate some of the others in the row, and when harvested, the seed from those plants was still hull-less. Since I liked the quality of the good seed, I wanted to try growing it again... but the vendor had dropped it, probably due to other complaints. :-(
I've grown Kakai as part of a 4-variety trial of hull-less pumpkins, and the seed was large & high quality. The yield was somewhat temperamental, though, and it had problems with seed sprouting inside. If you grow it, I would recommend opening the pumpkins as soon as possible after they are fully ripe.
There is another hull-less variety that I received in trade several years ago that has a high yield & does not sprout, but it also had a hulled impurity... I hope to select a pure hull-less strain from it in a few years.
Duplicate post. Here is a link to your post of this same question last week.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2900704/where-is-the-best-place-to-order-cucumber-seed
This is an old question. However, I want to clarify a bit for folks who are new to growing with plastic mulch in large sheets. Dennis explianed it well. I'lI just add my four cents.
Which is way too much.
So here's the short version
1- Dennis is right and use big sheets
2- make round holes, they tear less.
3- pick up and store plastic away from winter UV
4- don't worry about the weeds and grass. do not till, add compost only at the holes, before putting down the plastic. Water only until the plants are established. A week or 2. No irrigation needed. Ever. Well, maybe in the SW.
5- soil is 5° cooler under black plastic in the summer (Rodale c.1985).
6- Relax,
until Mid August then protect from fifty-five°
I'm not kidding!
The long version.
I have been raising melons, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and more, using six mil or thicker black plastic since the nineteen seventies. My parents started with ten mil (I think), which I inherited and it lasted eight years of leaving it out year round. The winter UV finally killed iit.
My first suggestion is that you roll it up and store it in a dark place. I get six years or more out of six mil black.
Pre-drilling with inch holes is a great idea and I'll try it at about one foot intervals. I just poke holes in puddles when they appear. His nail on a broomstick in a better idea than my method of using whatever is at hand. Why?
Because plastic tears in a line. If you make a longitudinal cut, instead of a round hole or puncture, in later years it will tear more easily.
So, do not make your planting holes with an "x". Make them round with scissors, or as I do. I cut both ends of a can, around four to five in diam, hold it with vise grips and heat the other end with a propane torch. Take a deep breath and psst, cut a nice round, sealed hole and put the circle in a trash bsg . For melons I use six foot diagonal spacing. Less for tomatoes, even less for peppers, eggplant, basil, etc. Plan well, because that's the configuration for years to come. I often use twenty by twenty sheets so I could just turn it each year for crop rotation. You might just slide it down the length of the garden, if north south orientation augers against turning the layout
Now, its about time to plant. Clear plastic will heat up your ground before you plant. Black plastic will not. Clear plastic solarization is thought by some to disturb/ destroy the beneficial biota of you topsoil. So heat with caution and read more to find your way. That aside: in spite of the wind, lay the black plastic on the ground...no need to weed or cultivate. Drive a short stake into the center of each hole. Pick up the plastic and prepare the area at each stake as you wish. I try to remove a half bushel or more of soil to my compost and fill each hole with a compost soil mix. Replace the plastic. Batten down the edges with soil, stones boards, etc. Plant and water individually, as needed for a week or two.
Then forget about it. You may need to weed three inches on all sides of each plant. You will not need irrigation. You have stopped evaporation. The ground in most regions is wet when you plant. It will stay perfectly moist all summer. I have had a few six week periods of eighty to a hundred degrees and no rain w/o water stress. Rodale tested mulches sometime in the eighties and determined that six mil black plastic kept the soil five degrees cooler than bare soil.
For me the major problem with melon production is that i crowd them. So stepping on the vines as I pick and some mildew. I do not lift the melons off the plastic, but puncture a puddle occupied by a melon. Bigger still is that after over thirty years, I cannot tell if a watermelon is ripe.
Beware the heartbreak of late collapse in canteloupes! Fifty-five degrees will make you cry in the August dawn. Get some cover material and get out there on that cool evening, when the clouds go away. A few nights later,you can relax until fall. That's for Western Oregon, Wash, Penna, and the garden state. In NH prepare to keep the patch above fifty- five.
Sorry about the length... I just love eating melons!
It occurs to me that one good reason to transplant is cutworms, which are a problem for me. Now, if I transplant, the plant is *right there*, so I know exactly where to spread my DE or Sevin dust. If I put in seeds, and if I don't mark exactly where those seeds were put in, and where I expect them to come up, I can't do responsible cutworm management. They'll get the seedlings as they come up, probably before I even see them come up. I suppose I could dust the whole seedbed, but that's a bigger proposition.
I suspect that transplantation does do some root damage, but I guess one just has to be careful. I never direct seed my squash and melons, and they always do fine. The best strategy for me is to transplant, but while the containered plants are still quite small.
Thanks for the info . Im trying to get it rite the first year ive been growing for years but a new earea and new climate means as usual listen to the local gardeners . So thanks water be fine in quality gardening soil. Ill get a test kit for the native soil .i m at a loss trying to figure out why my dad and the neighbor both had failed crops last season? My father cant understand the value of composting he says what am i paying for this big trash can for ?") So mg or what ever is on sale and Soluble normaly works for him. Leading me to suspect a ph or toxicity problem .other than that theres the larva in the root systems of the now dead fruit trees . Beatles what ever. Guess i should start a thread of my own .carl garden thanks again hava great day
Hi everyone. I also live in the CA HD - Apple Valley to be exact. Have been growing up here for about 10 years, starting with growing in large pots to the 5 raised beds I have now. I agree that our soil (and some you can buy) isn't the best. I have purchased "garden soil" from a place up here called the Rock Yard (not sure if they are still in business though), mixed in chicken manure and growmulch and have had great success. Last year I harvested 3 kinds of tomatoes, 4 kinds of peppers, zucchini, Asian eggplant, cucumbers, basil, butternut squash, snow peas, green beans and over the winter, chard, lettuces and spinach (with a plastic tent covering on cold nights).
My problem today is - I am turning my garden soil in anticipation of spring planting and in one of my planters, I am turning up whitish light gray looking soil clusters. Not really sure it is soil, maybe larvae of some insect. If so, they are really tiny. Anyone have any ideas?
As Davef1 mentioned, cross pollination could cause it, but highly dountful, imo.
Run by us how you saved the seeds... when I save bell peppers seeds, I pull ripe pods. Within a day or 2, I cut the flesh away, leaving the seeds attached to the placenta and stem. I then just let the seed mass dry out for a week or so on a plate. I then dislodge all the seeds on the plate and let them dry out for about another week. Put in envelopes, store in a cool, dry, dark place.
Other varieties, I may just scoop out the the placenta and seeds and do the same as above. Superhots, I'll just split in half and do the same as above.
Btw, contrary to popular belief, one doesn't have to wait for a pepper to FULLY turn color to harvest seeds. If a pod is STARTING to turn color, the pod is fully mature and seed development is finished. In other words, "mature" comes long before fully "ripe."
Kevin
Thanks everybody! I know about seed expiration date and usually just try couple of seeds about a month before actual seeding date for germination, but hot pepper doesn't store well for me more then 3 years , even if kept refrigerated - they may germinate, but seedling are not as strong as from fresh seeds. I usually do not take seeds out of the pods at all for hot pepper - they dry very well at room temp natural way and seeds always were fine for me, but this year. So I do suspect the particular type I bought and hybridization.
72 cells is pretty big, you can get market packs that size in a 1206 tray (12 packs per tray, 6 cells per pack for 72 total cells in the 1020 tray). I've seen plug flats of onions sold in 200 cell trays. My experience has been that plug flats are more of a personal choice rather than a necessity of the plant. The use of plug flats minimizes the footprint of the seedlings in the cool months when you start them. You would only need to heat/light a much smaller space if you use plug flats vs starting seeds in their final size pot. You do need to transplant into larger cells though so that the growth of the plant is not stunted in the smaller cells.
For example, I currently have tomatoes in a 288 cell flat. That same number of tomatoes would take 12 2401 flats or 16 1801 flats, which will be their final sizes before I plant out or sell them. Right now it would be challenging for me to support that however by the time they get transplanted to bigger celled trays it will be warm enough to put them in the unheated greenhouse I have.
I did stumble across a Transplant Action Plan with a table on page 3 that states when to transplant various crops and to what size containers to use. That should give you a decent starting point. Also here is an article on The Effect of Container Size as it pertains to various crops, lots of useful info in there.
Thanks Dave! Yeah, my wife has to sometimes remind me that gardening is supposed to be relaxing........ LOL Planting later is certainly another thing I'll try this season, I've yet to start my seeds for that reason.... Avoiding ideal EB conditions as much as possible might help.. .. Worth a try...
OBTW Dave......... You still da man! ;)
I got so annoyed with the disease and pathetic tomato plants that I stopped growing them for a couple of years! I just started growing them again last year. I had a bumper crop. I really don't like using any chemicals on the garden. I do use either red or black plastic (as suggested above.) I do also prune the bottom stems so none of them are touching the ground.
Hahaha! I totally missed that...and I have my auto-correct turned off (maybe I should turn it back on...)! I did mean on the deck. I used just regular potting mix in my planter box. I bought 4 little plants (the pots were probably 2" square) and I grew them on the deck because the little garden patch I have is too shady for zukes.
Thank you all for the suggestions...I definitely have a better idea of what to do this year. And if all else fails, there's always the farmer's market!
I grew zucchini in 5 gallon paint buckets I bought at a big box store. I just drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets. I planted 1 plant per bucket. I still have shredded zucchini from the summer in the freezer (I should really use that up already!)
Ky Derby, first Saturday in May.....yeah rain finally stoppped this afternoon hope to get asp planted soon and can cover with straw.....
thank yall
Originally asparagus grew in swamps or wet places, so maintaining consistent soil moisture is very important for good production.
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