Author Topic: I have everything..... (Read 1556 times)

longwinters · « **on:** February 27, 2013, 12:48:20 PM »

I have all my seeds etc...now I am just waiting for sun, warmth, thawing and spring....is that TO MUCH TO ASK?

?

Only about 6 weeks to go.

Long

charles p · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2013, 01:52:07 PM »

I bet you get your wish - in May.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2013, 02:36:23 PM »

good luck with that

i have tomatoes and peppers sprouted
and up about 4" - need some sun here
in a month or so to get them put outside
to give the onions some company.
need to get the okra in the ground and
try these new squash that will not fail
and i'll have a surplus of squash. . .
(i'm gonna keep sayin' that)

nodlenor · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2013, 03:35:03 AM »

I received some backordered sweet corn seed yesterday. That completed the seed I had ordered. I've got some more things ordered but they won't be shipped until after April 1st. I usually buy most of my plants from an Amish greenhouse. They have nice plants and aren't very expensive. I don't have room to raise my own from seed so I either plant seed directly in the garden or buy plants from them. I'm usually ready to start about this time of year but it will be middle of Apr. or first of May before the soil is ready in my area.

reliquary · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2013, 02:00:39 PM »

I have 9 squash plants and about a dozen tomato plants sprouted and waiting to go outside. I'm going to put the squash in the ground next week, but the tomatoes will wait until after Easter.

English peas that I sowed, in a moment of boredom, are up about 4" but I've had to put a plastic "tent" over them due to some cold weather coming in.

cjclemens · « **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2013, 05:42:40 AM »

I just planted my peppers in Jiffy trays yesterday. I plan on putting a heating pad under the trays, just to keep em warm until they emerge (it can get a little chilly in the room where I have my grow lights set up). Tomatoes pop up a little quicker, so Ill probably plant them next weekend or the weekend after. I had a lot of tall, leggy tomato plants last spring, so I'm gonna try later planting - just in case we have some late frosts again. Planting peppers has got me pretty excited for spring, even though its 30 degrees out and we have snow in the forecast. Hopefully it warms up soon - I definitely have the itch to get outside and play in the dirt!

longwinters · « **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2013, 01:26:54 PM »

Thats my problem with tomatoes. I have a small area to start them, as well as my pepper plants. If I start them too early they end up holding each other up and when I seperate them they need support or they fall over. It is amazing how fast they can grow and even in 6" pots the spacing isn't enough if the pots are touching each other. So I have gone from 8 weeks to 6 weeks and I might go to 5 weeks this year.

What I'd like to know is how companies like Bonnie have such strong thick stalked tomato plants. I always plant mine deep so never have any problems but cannot figure out how they do it.

Long

Ranger99 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2013, 01:40:44 PM »

probably mushroom dirt
and those climate controlled
greenhouses, and maybe
liquid plant food in the water $:-\$

cjclemens · « **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2013, 04:16:39 PM »

The main key is light intensity. Commercial growers have the benefit of some serious hardware. They normally use a combination of high pressure sodium and metal halide lamps that put out enough wattage you could get a tan under them. There's no practical way a small time gardener can afford to put that much lighting over a small grow table. Also, they use big fans, so there's always a slight breeze in the greenhouse - plants respond to it by thickening up the stem, so they don't wave around so much.

I have 2 (2'x4') tables for starting seeds - each one has two 4' fluorescent fixtures (54 watt T5 high output) hanging over them. Even with that much light hanging over them, my seedlings could always use more. I like the fluorescent lights, because they are a lot more energy efficient and don't put out as much heat as other lamps. That way, you can put them really close to the plant leaf without scorching them, and they're not a fire hazard, if they fall over. My folks had a cat knock over an incandescent grow lamp down, and it would have caught the carpet on fire, if someone hadn't been there to smell the smoke. Ive been leery of those darn things ever since. I also have an oscillating fan set up, so it blows on my plants all day long. Everything is run through a couple generic timers, so it all runs 8 hours a day, without me having to turn it all on and off.

My biggest problem last year was some warm weather in March - I got the itch really bad, and planted everything too early. The peppers were OK, but the tomatoes germinated in only 5 days. Then, I had late frosts outside, so I couldn't get them out to harden off until May. By that time, they were almost 20" tall and still in the 3" pots! It looked like a disaster, but they still did well, once I finally got them out in the garden.

As far as fertilizer goes, you might get away with a little Phosphorous and Potassium, and some micro nutrients. Whatever you do, don't feed them any Nitrogen. Nitrogen will seriously compound the problem you're trying to avoid. Its probably best to wait until they're out in the garden to put any fertilizer on them, if any at all.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2013, 05:47:28 PM »

i always try to have any chemical
fertilizer tilled or spaded in before
valentines day. you might try the
cut-the-bottom-out-of-plastic-milk-
jugs-to use-for-a-mini-individual-
greenhouse type deal like i do.
or a 6 mil sheet of plastic tent
will work.
good luck

longwinters · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:03:09 PM »

I use a 400 watt metal halide bulb, 6" pots and Miracle Grow potting mix. My grow area is approx 4'x6'. I start about 30 plants total between tomatoes and peppers. I also use an occillating fan. Temperature in the basement is 60 degrees. This year no extra fertilizer in the potting stage besides what is in the potting mix.

Long

reliquary · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2013, 10:20:55 AM »

So, there I was...letting my tomato plants get a little direct sunlight...got busy...left 'em out too long. Drat!

So, the next day, while I was browsing at W-M, I noticed that they had 4-packs of 4-5" tomato plants from Bonnie's for $1.77...took some home and put the plants in larger pots and I'm back in business.

Every year, I ask myself: "Why don't you just get the stuff from W-M to start with?" I answer myself: "You're a slow learner."

geezerbiker · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2013, 03:31:48 PM »

I bought some tomato plants a week or so ago and just got them planted yesterday. My sun porch is like a green house but the only get early afternoon sun there so although they were warm, they weren't thriving. A day later out in the sun and they look like different plants.

I don't know for sure if this helps but I heard that spraying hot sauce diluted 50/50 with water on them will keep the deer from munching on them. It was too late for my strawberry plants, the deer already decimated them. I should have put up the deer netting sooner but I just didn't get to it. So it remains to be seen if the hot stuff will put of the deer or if I just seasoned their food for them...

Tony

charles p · « **Reply #13 on:** May 29, 2013, 02:36:48 PM »

Our small garden is full. Waiting for potatoes to come out so we can plant more tomatoes.

longwinters · « **Reply #14 on:** May 30, 2013, 01:27:04 PM »

Well we had some snow last Thursday, but I planted my tomatoes and peppers this Monday. The last 2 days it has been over 80 and today it rained some. It is amazing how fast tomato plants grow when they get outside in the sun. Now I am pacing around waiting for the beans, corn, carrots and winter squash to pop up. I'm always impatient with seeds and worry that they did not germinate for some reason. So I dig around and see what is going on and then plant more seeds if I dont see germination happening. I think mostly the ground is still a little too cold this early, but I can't help it I have to play in the dirt.

Long

Ranger99 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 30, 2013, 01:49:18 PM »

the winter squash some of yall
here suggested is about shin high,
and just a bit ago i noticed a hole
next to where i'd planted it in a filled-in
stump hole. there's a large toad that's
made a home in this hole, that i think
is an old root tunnel. i left him be cuz
i'm thinking it'll take care of the bugs
that may arrive. i don't think it'll
disturb my squash will it?

longwinters · « **Reply #16 on:** May 31, 2013, 01:04:30 PM »

Down the road if he looks like there is a squash in his middle......you may have problems. Otherwise I would leave him be. He might live there year around and eat lots of bugs. I'd be happy to have a few toads hanging around.

Long

Ranger99 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 31, 2013, 01:48:36 PM »

it's a good-sized toad. i would
think it'd be an insect eating machine.
i'll leave it be (i would anyway- if nothing else
move it elsewhere) and see what it does.
i'd be glad not to have to use any insecticide
if mr. toad does his job

blind ear · « **Reply #18 on:** May 31, 2013, 04:35:00 PM »

they will eat snails and slugs to. ear

Ranger99 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 31, 2013, 04:42:30 PM »

it sure does like its water.
when i went over the plants kinda
lightly, the thing kinda scooted up
out of the hole like a prairie dog
wanting to take a look but not get
too far out of the hole.
well it can stay right there if it wants to
be the watchtoad for the winter squash.
if it starts being unruly and playing loud music
and selling crack rocks and meth like the
other neighbors, it'll have to go. i guess
it's too small to steal anything.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 12, 2013, 02:21:41 PM »

i've got two watchtoads now.
one in the squash hill, and one in
the raised bed where the onions
and okra plants are. there was a small
hole i noticed that water was draining
down like a sink drain, and up jumps
number two watchtoad. they must build
an underground den like a gopher or
prairie dog, cuz i'll bet two gallons of
water went down that hole.

blind ear · « **Reply #21 on:** June 12, 2013, 04:27:42 PM »

Where I live the ground naturally gets cracks in it, gumbeaux, alligator clay. the frogs use those cracks mostly. I have pushed 3 foot + sticks in the ground with ease. when first watering rice fields the cracks may carry water many yards where the water will come back to surface. ear

Ranger99 · « **Reply #22 on:** June 22, 2013, 03:26:25 PM »

resident watch-toads up to 3 now.
out a little bit ago to water a bit
and had 6 tomatoes to bring in.
instead of the 2 coming out for
the water hose shower here comes 3.
i hope they wear out the bugs.

longwinters · « **Reply #23 on:** June 22, 2013, 04:23:12 PM »

Must be a good neighborhood for toads. I saw one the other day in my back yard garden. Always glad to see some hanging around.

Long