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Gardening Thread

i'm frustrated with our garden because we have such vastly different results. the corn, tomatoes, basil, pole beans, rosemary, mint, and lettuce are all growing really well. and the cucumbers seem to be doing fine. nothing else is growing. like at all. we never even got shoots from zucchini, summer squash, kale, and spinach. i'm about to put some of the extra seeds into indoor containers and see if i can at least get them to sprout inside (those were all planted directly into the ground outside). but i have no idea why we didn't get anything at all (i'm new at this).
 
DeacHoops said:
we never even got shoots from zucchini, summer squash, kale, and spinach.
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Kale and Spinach should be fine to direct seed. Zuc and Squash are best started indoors and transplanted IMO. That said, you're probably a little late on the Spinach and Kale. They are better in early spring (plant in Feb) and late summer.

Where did you get your seed? The stuff at Lowes/Home Depot is unreliable. Good seed is important. We buy all of our seed and/or transplants from McLeod's Organics up in Huntersville. He sells Sow True, which is a local Asheville company specilalizing in heirloom seed. You can use their website to find out recommending planting, etc .http://sowtrueseed.com/

Also, your corn may be growing well, but it needs lots of nitrogen to produce and it will probably need help to pollinate. We didn't quite it it right last year and ended up cobs that only had kernels about halfway to the tip. How much corn do you have? You need quite a bit for it to reliably self-pollinate as a result of wind only. You'll probably need to help your corn get it on assuming you're growing on a fairly small scale.

Edit: corn pollinating how-to: http://georgiahomegarden.blogspot.com/2011/07/hand-pollinating-corn-101.html
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edi...rn-pollination-how-to-hand-pollinate-corn.htm
 
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RacerDeac said:
Kale and Spinach should be fine to direct seed. Zuc and Squash are best started indoors and transplanted IMO. That said, you're probably a little late on the Spinach and Kale. They are better in early spring (plant in Feb) and late summer.

Where did you get your seed? The stuff at Lowes/Home Depot is unreliable. Good seed is important. We buy all of our seed and/or transplants from McLeod's Organics up in Huntersville. He sells Sow True, which is a local Asheville company specilalizing in heirloom seed. You can use their website to find out recommending planting, etc. http://sowtrueseed.com/
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they were all sow true. and we followed all of the instructions of the guy that you sent me to. he said to direct plant those, so that's what we did. the spinach we bought specifically said it was good for summer temps. the kale didn't, but we had read that it was really able to be grown whenever (and i had a coworker last year grow it all summer with a lot of success), so we at least hoped it would grow, whether or not it would taste good.
 
Seed loses its germination at a slow rate of something like 2% each year, so even if your seed was a couple years old it still should have sprouted. I start all of my sq and zucc from seed in the ground and have never had any problems. I'm having problems with bugs and birds eating my seeds this year. Its crazy, I usually plant three rows of each vegetable, and I had an entire row not come up this spring.
 
DeacHoops said:
they were all sow true. and we followed all of the instructions of the guy that you sent me to. he said to direct plant those, so that's what we did. the spinach we bought specifically said it was good for summer temps. the kale didn't, but we had read that it was really able to be grown whenever (and i had a coworker last year grow it all summer with a lot of success), so we at least hoped it would grow, whether or not it would taste good.
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Ok, so good seed, good instructions. Did you use a seed starter concoction?

It could have just been birds/squirrels/etc as tsy mentiones. When I've planted greens the last few years, I've started them much earlier, but I've always had a near 100% germination rate with the Spinach and Kale I've planted. I always end up giving away transplants when I go to thin out the rows after planting. Maybe there are different pests out this time of year that like that seed. I would definitely try to start some transplants indoors.
 
I use a cold frame to sew seeds in window boxes, so that I stay out of the squirrel feeding business. Those greedy bastiges have gotten too used to the sight of plastic terra cotta.
 
What do y'all use for bugs? Typically I use nothing and grow organic, but this year we are having a major bug issue. I've got to replant a fourth of our plants thanks to bugs and hail damage.
 
WakeGal said:
What do y'all use for bugs? Typically I use nothing and grow organic, but this year we are having a major bug issue. I've got to replant a fourth of our plants thanks to bugs and hail damage.
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Surround W.P.
Insecticidal Soap
 
WakeGal said:
What do y'all use for bugs? Typically I use nothing and grow organic, but this year we are having a major bug issue. I've got to replant a fourth of our plants thanks to bugs and hail damage.
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If I'm having problems, I'll throw together some mixture of water, pepper (cayenne, Tabasco, jalapeno juice, etc) and peppermint essential oil. Peppermint is pretty universal when it comes to pests and covers the important ones in the garden: aphids, beetles, and caterpillars. It will also deter rabbits/squirrels. Make sure it's peppermint essential oil, the cooking extract or planting peppermint won't solve the problem.

We just moved, so I've got a temporary garden right now and I'm working on a much larger area for the fall and next spring. I'm researching what I can plant/grow to attract natural predators like ladybugs, lacewings, praying mantis, bats, etc and/or things I can release to help like nematodes.
 
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The suburban woodlands of North Carolina contain many a gardener's challenge, but none are more predatory for my container gardening than squirrels and birds. Through trial and error, I have discovered placing clear plastic bins (the kind that your wife usually fills with crap you'll never use again and asks you to take to the attic, which presumably will expand geometrically each time you buy a new plastic bin) over top of the plant keeps a) unwelcome paws and beaks out while seeds germinate and b) provides a greenhouse-like effect which aids in germination.
 
Got my worms yesterday. Here's the new bins. I'm only using the first layer now, but it's setup to run as a two layer system. I can always get another bin or two to expand it upwards a bit. In theory, the worms will crawl upwards to new food sources once they are done below, which should allow me to just rotate bins and not have to do much/any seperating of worms/castings. It should also allow me to harvest castings more often/sooner since I don't need to wait for the entire bin to be composted. Started them out on a diet of shredded paper and cardboard for bedding and some stale bread, carrot skins, old lettuce and coffee grinds from the kitchen. I also threw some composted manure from the garden in to add a bit of soil to the peat moss they arrived in.

Starting on my chicken coop tomorrow. The chickens should eat whatever food waste the worms can't.

fje29x.jpg
 
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Let me know how your first conversion goes. I've only got two bins right now, but may upgrade to a third.
 
I checked in on my worms a couple of days ago, and was completely shocked by how great the castings looked. That makes it just over a month for me between starting the composting and when I had a good amount of compost. Should be faster going forward too since the worms don't need the same adjustment period anymore. Really excited about how well it's going. And I have so many worms now that I keep trying to recruit friends to start composting so that I can give them half of my worms.
 
tsywake said:
Let me know how your first conversion goes. I've only got two bins right now, but may upgrade to a third.
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Will do. When I lifted up the piece of cardboard I put over top to empty some coffee grounds this morning, the little suckers were already going to work. Must have been hungry from their flight. Every source I found for worms locally was a 45 minute + drive away, so I just took a chance and ordered some online. They arrived small, but are supposed to plump back up once they are fed/watered.
 
DeacHoops said:
And I have so many worms now that I keep trying to recruit friends to start composting so that I can give them half of my worms.
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Yeah, I'm hoping to put some to use on the end of a fishing line. I'll probably release some in the garden too once I've built up a supply. I bet the chickens will enjoy them as a snack!

Based on what these little suckers sell for, I'm half temped to just have my friends bring me their trash. I'll handle the composting and sell the extra worms and castings for profit. Might be a good little business for my 4.5 year old. :thumbsup:
 
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