Backyard Vegetable Gardening & Livestock Raising & Sustainable Living

[beagleboy]

Update on my first grow:

IDK if my plants are going to produce that much "product" because I didnt start early enough, all i had was a cfl setup etc.
But,
Walmart/HD/Lowes in Gulf Coast sells 3 for $10 herbs and vegtables in 5in diameter pots. They're ready to go right from the store.
Liek i was ready to go all out on a new lights setup to sprout and grow my veggies inside for the second fall season/harvest ( My region has 2 growing seasons!! ), but probaly not anymore
Confused, dont know what to do

 

[iheartthisthread]

The good thing about that beagleboy, is that you can try out a few different cultivars and see which you like better under your particular growing conditions. Last summer wal-mart had a surprisingly good variety of plants to choose from.

 

[poopie]

I finally took a few pictures of my patch of crap. Ugh, I'm just going to be a dirt farmer, I can feel it.

Also, A.) what's the proper glass:vermiculite:soil ratio for planting? And, B.) why the fuck is there this much glass in my garden?!

clockwise, we have some bell peppers, a tomato, in the black pot there are some herbs (oregano, lime mint [great in drinks!], and cilantro) and another tomato

chives, dill and lemon balm (from the bottom)

orange blossoms!

my Miami Gardenia is about to explode. I cannot wait!

Chives! From seeds, no less!

my flock of scareflamingos to help banish the robins! with some newly bought confederate jasmine in the background

 

[ChickenScratch]

here it is....

sweet, mild, hot peppers.
tomatoes are beefy, sungold cherries and stripped romans.
japanese eggplant.
bunch of herbs.
lettuce

Hey ChickenScratch, what do you do with mustard greens? I've never had them so I don't know if you cook them or use as a salad green. What is your winter like? My garlic isn't up yet. But, I have faith that it will come up when the ground warms up a little.

Edit* my garlic is coming up. Just checked this afternoon.

mustard greens are kind of spicy, sort of like arugala. but they actually have a bit of a mustard taste to them. i've used them in salads mixed with other greens. i think they're super good on sandwiches and burgers, better than lettuce IMO....but they're also good cooked. i mixed them in with my kale and sauteed them with onions and garlic and stuff and they were rad as shit.

 

[iheartthisthread]

right on poopie... Nice pictures... Except the flamingos lol...
Be careful digging with that glass in your soil- that shit will tear you up...

Nice picture chickenscratch... Nice neat looking beds are awesome... I'll try some mustard this year if you say it's good...

I need to pot up my maters soon... Got a package of red cups, just need to burn some drainage holes in them.

*EDIT done potting up 75 mater plants. :D

 

[ChickenScratch]

yea, i'm a little ocd about my garden looking good. but it's all organic. i run a tight ship, yo!

 

[Klue]

Realised tonight I'm going to need to grow some more thyme so I can keep using it in my meals. Thyme is definitely my favorite herb, and I like using a lot of it fresh when I make an Irish stew (which I'll be doing a number of times over the cooler months)

I've done them from cutting before but they have always been painfully slow, so I think I'll bite the bullet and buy a couple of advanced pots or at least a punnet

 

[LuGoJ]

I started some pepper, eggplant and tomato seeds indoors a while ago(must be 4-6 weeks since they have germinated) and it seems like they are growing way too slow. My eggplants are doing the best, they have 3 – 4 leaves that are maybe ½ inch large. The peppers are just starting to get their second set of true leaves but they can’t be more than 1/8th of an inch large. My tomatoes have what looks like 3-4 leaves but they don’t really look like tomato leaves, just oddly shaped.

At first I thought it was a light issue but aside from their tiny size and slow growth they look very healthy. They aren’t leggy so it doesn’t appear they are reaching for light, the leaves that are growing are close together so it doesn’t seem spindly. I have them within a few inches of 2 100 watt CFL bulbs with surrounding tin foil reflectors I made.

Is this a light issue, a nutrient issue, a planting medium issue or all of the above?

 

[iheartthisthread]

Can you give us some more information?

How many plants are the 2 lights covering?
What are you using for soil?
Is it cool where you have them?

 

[justsayknow]

Oranges on my tree almost ripe= stoked. Also got some Peruvian Aji Limon chillies about to turn yellow.

 

[kytnism]

my s/o and i spent yesterday afternoon digging out a new garden that today after laying fertilizer will be planting our seedlings, consisting of a red chili plant (they already have 6-8 chilis), cauliflower, carrots, oregano, garlic chives, parsley, basil and our baby dwarf lemon tree (with two lemons fruiting). we will be adding to it as we get more seedlings. i really want to find a good tomato plant. any recommendations for a great tasting/yielding variety that will flourish in autumn/winter?

...kytnism...

 

[kytnism]

a picture update now that everything is done this weekend :D (please excuse size and shitty phone quality) the three terracotta pots in back house our two jade trees and san pedro cactii.

and the spinach we pulled today from our larger patch, thats going to be for dinner this evening.

...kytnism...

 

[iheartthisthread]

nice pictures kytnism... Forgive my stupidness, but what is the weather like there because tomatoes like warm temps. Diggersclub in au have some nice ideas for maters fwiw.

 

[Klue]

Ended up finding some nice little advanced Thyme last friday and got them in. The were at a little Seventh Day Adventist stall out the front of an old garage and were only two bucks each. I have a couple of big bags of a good potting mix but can never help myself and added some goodies, I'll list them.

Wetting agent granules
Water Crystals
Controlled release pelletized fert
Trace Elements (because the fert I have is basically just N, P and K)

Far from organic, but I've been making my own mixes for more than ten years and this stuff is the gear. Usually I'd add Peat Moss too, but don't have any at the moment. I gave them a drink with a fish and kelp liquid fert to settle them in and will probably continue every couple of weeks with that

 

[beagleboy]

Ive got a Braided Hibiscus, Croton, Tomatoes, Jalepenoes and Green peppers.

I used a custom soil ( sphagnum peat moss, perlite and a generic organic top soil ) and have a thin layer of mulch underneath the Blonde pebbles in the buckets for insulation from the Sun when it gets Hotter.

 

[iheartthisthread]

Good idea with the light stones beagleboy. Up here we often use dark mulches to draw the heat.

I got my onions seedling in the ground today. Mostly copras for storing, but I'm trying another yellow storage too, and rossa di milano for a red salad onion. I haven't bought any onions since last June, but last years crop is almost gone.

My garlic is coming along nicely too, about 5 leaves out so far so I gave them some alfafa meal for a nitrogen and potassium boost. I have used blood meal in the past, but animals can sniff that out for a mile.

 

[kytnism]

nice pictures kytnism... Forgive my stupidness, but what is the weather like there because tomatoes like warm temps. Diggersclub in au have some nice ideas for maters fwiw.

right now were headed into the winter season, so tomatoes according to the site you provided are sadly a no go. thankyou so much for sharing that site, the information its provided has been fantastic.

...kytnism...

ps. im loving seeing the progress of everyones gardens.

 

[justsayknow]

Depending on where you are you can grow tomatoes through winter and then they fruit later on- Ive seen it done as far south as Perth. A bit further north and they will ripen nicely all year round.

I like that idea with the white stones for heat deflection.

My chillis are mostly finishing up now same with the pumpkins, beets and sunflowers. Going to plant some more herbs and greens for winter and some poppies to hopefully flower in spring.

 

[poopie]

updates:

After I saw ChickenScratch's pretty garden, I decided I needed to get serious.

Here's the aerial shot (and that's all I have for now)

I painted the wall white, to try and reflect what little sun I get. I have a bunch of bricks laying about, so I made that tiny bed (about 2.5' x 2.5'). I think I'm just going to put some flowers in there. I made a 4' x 4' x 10" raised bed for a whole bunch more vegetables and herbs and replanted some things in there. Turns out, my dill didn't care for transplant. My three blue potatoes are loving life, though (noticed that during the transplant). I now have 4 tomato plants too. One of which has become a favorite for aphids (just dump bleach on them, right?). I've taken to just blasting them with the hose and pulling off the more stubborn guys. I really don't wanna have to use anything, but they are quite the nuisance.

And these fucking robins. Every time I go out there, there are new holes in the soil of my containers. My friend told me about this story on NPR he heard- apparently those fuckers are cocking their head and listening for earthworms. My scareflamingos are useless. Will play Megadeath instead.

I transplanted from rosemary from the kitchen (it was on hospice, already) and lost it. But, my cilantro has quadrupled in size. Same with oregano. made dinner the other night and the fresh cilantro went great with the fish and black beans.

I dunno if it's too late, but now I want strawberries.

 

[beagleboy]

does anyone know what if anything you are required to "do" to tomatoe plants? Mine arent fruiting yet, but are exploding with growth as I have taken to feeding them every 7 days with MG.
Oh yea'
I heard somewhere that you can make Jalepenoes hotter while they are still on the plant by doing a "trick" to them. Anyone know of this?


Today 5-5-13


4-26-13