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The Gardening Thread

Discussion in 'Permanent Threads' started by bewildered, May 27, 2017.

  1. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    It looks like the shitty/cold weather is here for a while, so opted to transplant a bunch of herbs into bigger pots.

    These are the final pots that I'll be building a rack for outside, with automated watering, that I'll try and bring back inside at the end of the season so that I can try and keep the herbs growing throughout the winter.

    They're looking pretty damn healthy for being inside only so far... I'm quite happy.

    IMG_8838.jpeg
     
  2. walt

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    It’s still about a month too early to plant yet, but I turned the soil and weeded the raised beds today. As I’d hoped, the rotted hay from the compost seems to be holding moisture in the soil better than what was in there before. I can’t wait to see how much that helps this year.
     
  3. bewildered

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    The straw mulch helped mine a lot last year. I kind of go no-till though and just dig holes or trenches as needed. I have more straw out there this time and it's a little thicker, I think I will see good outcomes in my plant growth.

    How do you irrigate?
     
  4. walt

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    Just old fashioned watering cans.
     
  5. Nettdata

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    So the weather was quite nice today... and yet this week we have lows of 2°C and they are calling for a couple days of potential snow.

    WTF.

    Anyway, went and trimmed back and staked (where needed) my starters as they are getting a bit big and out of control... just tomatoes and peppers.

    Before:

    Screenshot 2021-05-02 at 11.54.10 PM.jpg

    After:

    IMG_8858.jpeg
     
  6. bewildered

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    I'm pretty sure it is pill bugs eating at some of my plants. I lost a couple kale and one brussel sprout looks chewed up. So, I sprinkled diatomaceous earth on the plants and set out potato traps. You halve a potato, scoop out the middle, lay them face down. I checked them in the morning and caught a ton of roly polys, on and under the potatoes. Fed those to the ducks. Hoping I can get the population down while the plants are small and more delicate. With all the rotting vegetation and straw, I have so many around. Didn't realize they would bother my living plants til recently.
     
  7. Nettdata

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    We had frost last night, and my plants are getting bigger. I even have flowers showing up on my tomatoes now. Joy. Meanwhile it's close to freezing every night this next week.

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  8. binx bolling

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    @Nettdata I had the same thing with my tomatoes a few weeks ago; early flowers, and tomatoes flowering before being put in the ground. At the advice of @bewildered, I cut the flowering stems off. All seems to be going well now. No tomatoes, but healthy looking plants.
     
  9. Nettdata

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    Yep, she's a smart one, even if she is gator-rolling in poop.

    I plan on doing the same thing, and get them in the ground in the next 10 days or so.
     
  10. AFHokie

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    A little saddened bewilderer's signature doesn't reflect gator rolling in poop
     
  11. bewildered

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    @Nettdata your starts look so lush, they are going to take off once you get them in your planters. What's that grassy looking herb?


    I'm about to snip my tomato flowers, too. The beefsteak and yellow brandywine have some. I need to fertilize, too. Even with all the duck shit out there they do not look as healthy as Nett's!

    So, the culprit on the brussel sprouts was actually cabbage loopers, which should have been obvious based on the chewed up holes on the above ground leaves. That's 99.9% of the time caterpillar damage. If you ever see damage, inspect both sides of leaves carefully. These little caterpillars match the leaf color perfectly and were so hard to see. I still think the pillbugs were responsible for the couple of kale. They seemed to get sick, wither and die, like something was eating their roots. I've read that pillbugs may target live plants if they are in overabundance and/or they are trying to find moisture sources.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I sprayed everything with a mix of neem oil, thuracide bt, and peppermint soap diluted with water. Word to the wise, be careful with these things on swiss chard. I think it was the neem oil, but it burnt some of the leaves on my plants.


    Also, another tip: If you plant zucchini or squash, make sure that if you have a long main stem, to really plant it deep and firmly pat the dirt around your plant. We have high winds here kick up periodically and that split the stems. Luckily I have backup plants but I lost about 2 weeks of root growth/progress. The root ball on the plants I pulled were impressive.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Nettdata

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    left to right, back row: dill (for that killer potato salad), basil, catnip
    front row: chives, hot oregano, taragon
     
  13. Nettdata

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    I have a warm room with a covered seedling box with a chicken coop heater in it, with lots of water once a day, and fans going 24x7. HUGE lights (LEDs) are on from 8am until 8pm.

    I also use water soluble fertilizer once a week.
     
    #1493 Nettdata, May 10, 2021
    Last edited: May 10, 2021
  14. Nettdata

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    Was fucking around with the camera today and took some pics of the starters and the insanely healthy outdoor swiss chard. We had frost last night, don't forget. I swear it's a mutant strain or something.

    The peppers are already growing buds.

    0P3A0115.jpeg

    Tomato flowers everywhere... have to do a lot of pruning over the next few days.

    0P3A0116.jpeg

    I'm gobsmacked. Tomorrow night we have swiss chard on the menu.

    0P3A0132.jpeg

    0P3A0142.jpeg
     
  15. bewildered

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    What variety of dill are you growing? It looks nicely compact. I have a lot of mammoth dill going this year. Some for companion planting, some for eating.

    Never heard of hot oregano, might have to find some seeds for next season.

    Your pics are gorgeous! Once they get fruit, take another pic and send it to the catalogue.

    I wish my chard looked that good. I really walloped it with the neem oil.
     
  16. Nettdata

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    I have no idea... it's just... "dill".
     
  17. Nettdata

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    Looks like this is the weekend things will be transplanted. Finally.

    Tomatoes are tall and healthy, and my peppers are already flowering.

    Also almost had my first indoor aphid swarm but caught it in time and sprayed all the eggs. (one plant woke up yesterday morning totally covered in eggs.. if they had hatched it would have been a nightmare).

    E0BC1379-AFE7-4143-A34D-35D3B74E833E.jpeg 088A8D1D-9634-4567-9557-E7E01D5888F5.jpeg
     
  18. bewildered

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    Just sold the bulk of my extras for $121. Still have some peppers and odds n ends left, might just plant the damned things and be done with it. I do have a little space. I seemed to have more sales last season. There were more plant ads this go round, might be more competition this time.
     
  19. Nettdata

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    Lucky you... I couldn't even give them away to family. So looks like I get to have a ton of tomato plants again this year.
     
  20. bewildered

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    I didn't grow too many extras of tomatoes because I couldn't sell what I had last season. I do have about 8 extra zucchini, which I sold out of last time and had people asking for more. I think I will plant my extra peppers, maybe a couple extra cucumbers, and trash the rest. I'm sick of having people stand me up and reschedule for $10 worth of plants, when I could have been napping.