Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Wareza pix?

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Looks like I can still do eggplants, peppers and carrots.

:noon

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I got the Tobacco seeds from Shilala today. Gonna plant them some time this week.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

That means I'd better check my P.O. box tomorrow. Bet mine are in also. I plowed a patch in the woods (old green field) yesterday for them. However, I think I'd better do some research. See if deer are prone to eat the plants. Especially since there are at least a dozen deer regularly in that area, plus a flock of 20 or so wild turkey.

Anyone have any insight into that possible problem?

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

It's hard for a garden to grow without sun. We hope to get some this year. At least one week straight, just to get things going. Normally we would be in summer already.
I think I have a nicotiana growing that I can set out for the deer and see if they want it.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I sent you a pm, simple chronic. I need your address, a real one that works for a change. :tu

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Hey guys, havent checked into this thread yet, but figured i should since i had a question.

My wife and I have a small garden, about 20 stalks of corn, about a dozen mounds each of cucumbers and squash, 8 tomatoe plants, 3 jalapenos and 2 banana peppers.

I live in central AL so its hot and dry. How often should I water, and when should I? We've gone so far about 2 weeks now without rain, been watering every day or every other. I went for a bit without waterign over the course of about 4-5 days and didnt notice much growth, but now since watering daily definitely getting growth and also now have some tomatoes and jalapenos showing up. Just wanted to see what I should be doing watering wise.

Also One Jalapeno pepper is about 2.5" long, so wasnt sure when I shoudl pick it, if by letting it grow would stunt the growth of the plant itself, as its only about 8" tall.

Thanks!

I'll try to get some pics. We also built a herb rack on the back deck and have about 10 different herbs that we planted from seed over the weekend, already got basils sprouting. We had to redo all of them due to the sun baked and killed all our previous sprouts. Now I modified the rack to where it shaded the mid-day sun and i have a net over the front to sort of cut the amount of afternoon sun down.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Am I in trouble? I am using Miracle Gro garden soil and just noticed a big No Container sign at the back of the package. I replanted my Tomato in one of those Smart Pots using MG garden soil. Should I replant using a different soil? Maybe one of those soilless or potting soil?

Please help.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

You should be ok. Just make sure you have a water catch basin below the pot. The garden soil is pretty loose and it will not hold the water very well. I believe it is meant to mix with other soils to break them up a bit. I am using some of the MG Garden soil in pots and it has been fine so far.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

A DOZEN squash!!!
Pick it...more to come.
General watering instruction is frequent until the plant gets established then less often but more thorough. I look at each plant and make a decision based on what it looks like it needs. Everything you mentioned likes damp deep soil.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

What can I say, I love squash, so does the rest of my family. My wife and her mom love cucumbers, so thats why we planted so many of them.

So I should go ahead and pick the jalapeno eh?

My soil is decent, some decent top soil, but after taht it turns to that good southern red clay. If I didnt till it up, its hard as a brick. I dont know if thats good for moisture or bad. I know if you dig down, the soil is always damp but still hard.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Clay keeps the water from draining and it's hard for roots to work through. You don't want your plants sitting in water. As long as the topsoil is more than a foot deep the clay may work to your advantage by allowing you to water less. In sandy soil the water passes right through it and dries too fast. Lots of organic material (compost) fixes everything, sand or clay.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

The jalapeno will start corking. Look it up. It looks like stress marks on the skin of the pepper. It's ready then. It'll cork before it turns red. Water when you think it's required. Stick you finger in the soil. If dry, time to water. If you notice wilting, time to water. With these hot days you will have wilting, especially cukes, and there be plenty of water. Don't kill them with kindness, but don't let them thirst to death either. I'm in the same boat. We've gotten 0.25" rain in 3-4 weeks. I've been drenching the garden every other day or every second day. I also mulch with dried grass clippings. Once it gets really hot (especially humid), growth will slow. Best of luck.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Im not sure how much top soil I really have, i dont think its a foot honestly. Most of it was pulled to the part of the property next to me when it was initially cleared off years ago.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Sounds like what I started with, except our "clay" is a really fine grained sand, like powder, sometimes called "mudstone" here. I finally gave up on it and built boxes. I would go with Jamie's advice, above. That's about how I do it, too.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I may be wrong, but I believe that warning is because MG garden soil has uncomposted cow manure in it. That is what I have found in my experience. It also does not drain well at all.

When growing in containers, it really is a whole different ball game on what type of soils are used. You should do some reading over at the gardenweb container growing section.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

We have real bad Adobe clay here. about 13 years ago I ended up building a 13' x 4' raised bed also. Anything I cant fit in there goes into pots.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I ended up mixing garden soil with potting mix. Hopefully it is a little better. I don't want to replant them again for fear of shocking the tomatoes. I might do another tomato with all potting mix on another smart pot. Fingers crossed.

Uncomposted cow manure is bad for container? What will happen to the plant?

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

The dangers of uncomposted manure in a closed container are, harmful bacteria and as the manure is composting... heat.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Small garden my #@$. That's a dang nice size garden! I am in south-central AL so I feel your pain on watering. What I do is pull back some mulch and feel to see if it is wet or not. I normally water at night or early morning.

I am pulling squash and cucumbers left and right, with tons of tomatoes sitting on the plant green as a leaf. I was hoping to have 'mater sandwiches by now but I am stuck with everything but! Peppers are nice though.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

OK, Scott..... I'm in middle Alabama also. The spell of non-growth you went thru was after the tornados??? That'd be my guess. It was due to the cold weather that followed. I went thru same thing here. As to watering, it depends on how deep you water, how you mulch. If you have good mulch to keep in the water, and you water heavy, you can probably go 3-4 days without watering, easy. I do not have mulch, can't find a suitable medium.

Squash, Zucs, tomatoes, melons and the such need lots of water. A good judge, stick your finger into the soil an inch deep. If it is dry, water.

Contrary to Joe's method, do not water at night, if you can help it. Water in the morning is the best plan. Watering late inthe evening and/or night can lead to blossom end rot on many veggies, especially tomatoes, squash and Zucs. Watering tomatoes starting at high noon, in the hot, hot sun is a big cause of tomatoes splitting the skin on the vine. The cold water on the hot skin does it. Tomatoes are susceptible to several issues if they "go to bed" with wet leaves and fruit, so water in the morning, the plant dries before nightfall. A good plan for most of the leafy plants you might be growing.

Good luck, ALL!

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I've done some reading and it seems they don't even recommend using Miracle Gro potting mix. They the chemical fertilizer in it is too strong for tomato.

Damn.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Most Miracle Grow non-specific plant food and soils are heavy in nitrogen. Nitrogen + tomatoes = strong vine and leaf growth, weak fruit growth and fruit drop before they are ready. At most, I will use a 8-8-8 rating on my tomatoes. If they start to grow too fast without fruit, you can add some wood ash (I save ash from my fireplace for this) to the soil around the tomatoes, and water it in good. This will offset the effects of too much nitrogen (it'll take a week or so). If you already have viable plants in the soil, try the ash remedy. You may can still salvage them.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I never knew that was a cause for BER. I had always thought it was from a low concentration of calcium in the fruit.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

The fertilizer that comes in the potting mix is so low it's not even worth mentioning. Miracle Gro potting mix has had great results for some people. You really should take a look here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain/ if you plan to use containers. That place is a wealth of knowledge.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Gave a big handful of squash to my neighbor yesterday evening. Those babies are putting out like mad. It's easy to say I'll have my fill of squash this year. Also have a couple jalapenos ready to pick. Tomatoes are filling in nicely, too, with many greens ones on the vines. No cukes yet, but plenty of flowers.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Still cold and cloudy here.:(

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

How many and what type of squash did you plant?

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

It's a good way to get all sorts of fungal infections, too. Take it with a grain of salt, Wayner. We're talking doing this repetatively.
There's nothing wrong, and it's actually great, to do a leaf feeding of Miracle Grow at night. That way the plants will suck the goodness right in when they respirate.
It's a good way to "push" the plants, but only if necessary.

BER is also stress induced. Too little water for long periods, too much water for long periods, wet feet, sunscald, just about any stress you can imagine will do it.

The best way to get it is an eternally wet growing season. It's nothing that spraying with fungicide won't hold off. You have to be proactive, though. Constant rain? You're gonna have fungus. Fungus will be the stressor, then you got BER.
If you spray faithfully, you'll beat the rot. When we had the great blight here a few years ago, everyone pulled their plants. I had the best crop ever.

I ised to use a 1/4 mix of Sevin and Fungicide all year long, only halting a couple weeks before harvest of whatever stuff we were growing. It kept the bugs and problems to near zero.
Mind ya, that might not work everywhere. It's food for thought. Every different zone has their own problems and their own ways of fixing them.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Rained up here most of the day too.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Having your garden planted but in suspended animation is a drag. I hope the plants are saving it all up for a growth spurt when the sun comes out and it warms up in a week or two.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Ya and on the other hand, I welcome the rain too.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I saw a first glimpse of tomatoes this morning. Tiny little green tomatoes peeking and teasing me.

:noon

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Rain = Good

Wind with the rain = Bad!!

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

My garden was thirsty! I got a feeling its gonna be a long hot summer.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Plants are looking like they are growing a little slow this year.... May have to give them a boost with the miracle grow.

Scott- Got the tobacco seeds! Thanks brother! :tu:noon

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Not here, we're forecasted to have a week of rain. Very rare for this area. Plus no warm up in sight for the near future, according to the long term outlook. I turned the irrigation system off for now. /sigh/

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Common crooked neck summer squash. 4 hills with 2-3 plants each. Picking 4-12 squash per week for weeks now. Squash vine borers are usually the demise to my plants, but so far, so good. I'll snap a picture in the next couple of days.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

just looked at my forecast, mid-upper 90's all week, into triple digits next week, with showers not forecasted till tuesday (on the day its supposed to hit 100.) Guess im gonna be watering a good bit in the mornings.

http://local.msn.com/ten-day.aspx?q=...1848&zip=35023

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I feel like I'm in Canada or something:

http://classic.wunderground.com/cgi-...Select=WEATHER

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I see some very small white insects on the soil of one of my tomato. They look like they are small spiders. Are they aphids? I have a marigold in between my tomato. It's suppose to take care of these. Not sure what to do.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Here is a good pic of tomato aphids:

http://growninthecity.com/wp-content...ato-aphids.jpg

Is this what yours looks like?

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

I use marigolds too. Aphids are green. Do you have a camera that takes macro pictures?


Edit: Simulpost!

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

The white ones looks like it. But they are very very small. Like grain of fine sand small. I'll have a look under the leaves when I get home tonight.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Raining here today off and on its been cold. This has just not been a great season so far. Lettuce and tomatoes are doing okay, but some other things are growing slow.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

We've had exactly 1/4" of rain in 4 weeks at my house, if not longer. My neighborhood, as well as most of the city, looks like it's been sprayed with Agent Orange. You can definitely tell who has lawn sprinklers. I've been doing the manual sprinkling twice a week and hitting the worst spots every other day. Plus, the garden has been getting an "every two day" soaking. No rain in the foreseeable forecast. My water bill is going to be huge.

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

Called my dad - going to help him harvest 4 rows of potatoes this weekend. His rows are probably 40 yards long. We'll end up with a truckload of red and irish potatoes. I'll end up passing them out to folks at work and friends of ours. We've never ate them all. Saturday afternoon we're replanting the rows with Valencia peanuts. I'm bringing a large handful back to put in my garden. I need something else to water.

Below are some squash from Friday and today, plus a few sweet 100 cherries. I also snapped some pictures of the garden. Those japalenos are huge and still growing. I'm still eating pickled ones from last year.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1040823.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1040824.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1040825.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1040826.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1040827.jpg

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

On the watering...
You water when the plants tell you to.
They should wilt in the heat of the day. That's natural. It's fine, and it's what they do.
By late evening they should bounce back and be nice and full. That means they have plenty of water and don't need to be watered at all. If not, they should be back by morning, for sure. That's fine, too.

If not, it's time to water.
Try to use soaker hoses. They're the best because they don't wet the plants, just the soil. They can be targeted right at the roots. If you have to use a garden hose with a nozzle, realize that you can spray with a garden hose for an hour and you've accomplished next to nothing. You'd think it's a lot of water, but it doesn't remotely compare to an hour of good, soaking rain.
If you have to go the "spray the leaves" way, sprinklers are great. Leave them on for a few hours and they'll soak the ground the way you want. The bar type that waves back and forth is my favorite because you can adjust them to the exact pattern of your garden.

When you're wetting the plants every day, you're inviting fungus and stress. You really help the bugs out, too. It's really not a good thing at all, and it's not what you're shooting for.
A good way to hold your water in the ground is to spread out a couple layers of newspapers. Really. At least in the rows where you walk. They'll mold right into the dirt, let water through, and dry during the day. They stay put once you have them watered in, too. You can till them in and they're good for the soil. It's a good way to recycle, as well.

Don't sweat it if you still have to water every other day, but realize it's best to water longer and less days. Try to do something to hold the water down, even if it's just oat straw, newspaper, or some other good mulch that's not full of weed seed (green grass clippings are not a good choice, it's way too much free nitrogen and you'll grow giant, leggy plants with little or no fruit). Heck, you can use stones and bricks and anything you can get for nothing in the rows. Be resourceful. If you come up with a cool idea, please share, I'd love to know what you came up with.
I'd suggest landscape fabric in the rows, but it's black and the last thing you need to do is generate more heat. Straw or newspaper would be my first choice.
Hope this helps!!! :tu

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

We generally have 11" of rain here to this point of the year, Jamie. This year we've had 36". It's insane. It's just stopped raining yesterday, and it's supposed to rain tonight.
I fertilized the grass just in case it does, cause it isn't supposed to be a whole lot. I wanted to get one last dose in before the rain quyits and we have to water the lawn the rest of the summer. :D

On a planting note, I pulled a dead bush, moved one, and planted three new ones tonight. Lisa is gathering up flowers and they'll go in soon. Still no garden, but I'll have one as soon as the sidewalk guys get done, which should be soon. :tu

Re: Let's see those '11 gardens!
 

You send me 3-4" of rain, I'll send you 100 sq ft of gardening space, complete with compost and mammoth earthworms.