Zone 5b Progress

[cjclemens]

I was just wondering if any others in zone 5b had ventured out into the garden yet.  So far this spring, I have tomato, pepper and onion starts under grow lights.  All I've done in the garden so far is disk it down and apply some pell lime.  Im not too excited about doing any planting just yet.  Crop insurance for farmers doesnt kick in till this weekend, and our average last frost is around the 13th.  One thing that worries me is how dry it is - I havent seen it this dry in early April in a long time.  The forecast isn't too promising, either.  Oh, well...we shall see.

[keith44]

I'm in zone 6b, and already have popcorn coming up, along with the usual carrots, onions, and potatoes.  As warm as it is here I am likely to plant tomatoes next week. 


What is pell lime??  I use AG lime (agricultural lime) sometimes called dolomite lime.  It has a consistency of coarse sand, and with my heavy clay acidic loam works wonders.

[cjclemens]

Pell lime is either a trade name or vernacular for pelletized lime.  It consists of regular dolomitic limestone, but it's all fines - as in just the powder.  To hold it together and make it acutally pass through a spreader, they pelletize it into granules.  Its a little more expensive than plain ag lime, but its very fast acting.  If you have a soil acidity problem that needs addressed immediately, it's a definite plus.  Depending on the aggregate size of plain ag lime, it can take 4 or more years for the larger granules to fully dissolve and have an effect on your soil.  I also have clay soil here - but it is a lighter, sandy clay.  None the less, under intense management, the pH tends to drop fairly quickly.  I apologize for the dissertation length response, but soils are kinda my thing.

[keith44]

Thank you for the lengthy reply cjclemens, by default soil as become an area of intense study for me over the past two and a half years.  That's when the wife and I packed up and moved to the country, leaving behind all the noise and mischief associated with the city (well that's the dream anyway, I still work in the city, and mischief is just different in the county     )


To shorten the story a bit the place we moved to was a heavily compacted and neglected tobacco patch that was left fallow for three years before we bought it.  We are just this year finding worms in the ground, so I am on the right track.


anyway, thanks for the reply, saved me from looking it up

[bilmac]

I' ve lived and grown gardens in Wyo, Azriz, Alaska, Ore, Nebr, and back to Wyo. In every place but Nebr. I had to make good dirt before I started getting good crops. Most cases it was a matter of working in massive amounts of organic stuff.

[keith44]

... I had to make good dirt before I started getting good crops. Most cases it was a matter of working in massive amounts of organic stuff.

Yup, I use lots and lots of mulched leaves and grass clippings, in addition to compost and ag lime

[cjclemens]

My job is in soil fertility and fertilizer research.  I help manage field trials all over the state of Illinois, and the one solid conclusion I have come to is that I'm lucky to be in central Illinois (in terms of soils).  Even on tired old Sawmill sandy clay loam, my home farm sits on some of the most productive soil in the world.      

[keith44]

the soils in the ohio river basin are the soils that feed 1/2 of the world 

[cjclemens]

I have a whole mess of tomato and pepper starts that need to go out ASAP, but the weather has put a major damper on that.  The surprising thing is that its not rain thats causing the problem.  Lately we've had a string of overnight frosts and near-frost low temps that have been pretty hard on everything that greened up in March.  The other problem has been the lack of rain this spring.  At this point, we're carrying a near 10" deficit since February - a rare occurance in these parts.  I fear that I'll be dragging the hoses and sprinklers out as soon as I get done planting.  This is gonna be an interesting year.

[cjclemens]

I figured it was about time for a quick update...The garden is all in, and I've been running irrigation in on it for the past two weeks solid.  NOAA has central Illinois listed as D0, which means "abnormally dry," which I feel is a slight understatement.  If I didnt have the sprinklers running almost non-stop, I wouldnt have to bother going out to the garden at all - its that bad.  That being said, this whole year has been a challenge - mild winter, late frosts, and no rain.  Despite the weather, things are looking OK in general.  Potatoes are in full bloom, tomatoes are starting to put on a few flowers, and I've been pulling up some nice little radishes for about a week.  Sweet corn is putting on its 3rd leaf and all my melons and squash are up and growing.  The real strange thing this year is that i've spent way more time dragging sprinklers and garden hose around than I've spent figting Foxtail.  I just hope this dry spell breaks up soon - it has me a little concerned.

[keith44]

not very far ahead of you here in 5a (Western Ky) I have small yellow squash that could be harvested (5 or 6 fruits) and lil green tomatoes on almost every plant.  The peppers have all borne fruits and most are full sized, just waiting for them to ripen a bit.  The popcorn (planted 6 weeks before the sweet corn) is about waist high, while the sweet corn and beans are getting their third and fourth leaves.


Locally we are 6 inches behind on rainfall for this year.

[cjclemens]

We're still 10+ inches (probably more) behind on precipitation.  All this is on top of a dry summer last year, and a dry winter with no snow whatsoever.  I'm concerned that its going to be a long summer again this year.  June is usually our last chance to get enough rain to make a crop before things dry up in July and August.  I do love this time of year, though - Corn and Beans are putting on a new leaf every couple days, tomatoes and peppers have flowers all over them, and everything is just as green as can be.