Author Topic: A couple of questions for the gardeners out there . . . (Read 13973 times)

BlueStateSaint · « **on:** May 18, 2011, 12:24:55 PM »

Where I am, Memorial Day is regarded as the start of the gardening season. But, I've got a few window boxes that I'm growing things in, for quick-grab stuff for dinner. Anyway, I was noticing the spacing between the broccoli plants in one window box, and the spacing between the spinach plants in another window box, and I thought, That's a lot of space! Could I put something else there? My first thought was radishes. Any opinions on this, or anything else (tomato plants, pepper plants, green beans, etc.) I could put in between the spinach and broccoli plants?

And, where I am, we have cutworms. A few nailed three of my cousin's tomato plants the night after he planted them. He remembered a tip that our grandmother had used to deal with cutworms--wrap the stems of the fledgling tomato plants in wax paper and tape the wax paper together. Make sure that the paper is in the soil about 1/2". Cutworms won't touch the stems that are in the wax paper. When the plant gets big enough, its' growth will break the wax paper. Anyonw else try/do this?

Chris_ · « **Reply #1 on:** May 18, 2011, 12:30:00 PM »

Basil

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #2 on:** May 18, 2011, 01:00:42 PM »

Quote from: chris_ on May 18, 2011, 12:30:00 PM

Basil

My SIL told me that. She told me that planting basil around the tomato plants improves the taste of the tomatoes. I'm not too sure how this is done, but . . . The music director at my church is my basil contact.

Chris_ · « **Reply #3 on:** May 18, 2011, 01:05:53 PM »

I have no idea... I just like basil.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #4 on:** May 18, 2011, 01:24:46 PM »

Quote from: chris_ on May 18, 2011, 01:05:53 PM

I have no idea... I just like basil.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8128713_growing-tomatoes-make-tomatoes-sweeter.html

BattleHymn · « **Reply #5 on:** May 18, 2011, 01:27:55 PM »

This might help you. My parents have been companion planters for a good long time, and I am getting into it myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

A google search of "companion planting" will yield some good info, too.

Thor · « **Reply #6 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:57:29 PM »

Marigolds will also help keep away some of the insects.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #7 on:** May 20, 2011, 04:39:09 AM »

Quote from: Thor on May 19, 2011, 06:57:29 PM

Marigolds will also help keep away some of the insects.

I've got a whole bunch of marigold seeds, and I'm going to plant a bunch of full-sized marigolds as well.

catsmtrods · « **Reply #8 on:** May 20, 2011, 04:52:15 AM »

Broccoli is very cold hardy. I plant it in the garden as soon as I can work the soil. It can take some frost and acually does better in the cold and you avoid its worst pest the cabbage moth (those gross little green worms). It needs alot of room both above and below the soil so I wonder how much you got? Radishes will grow fast with little room.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #9 on:** May 20, 2011, 07:06:51 AM »

Quote from: catsmtrods on May 20, 2011, 04:52:15 AM

Broccoli is very cold hardy. I plant it in the garden as soon as I can work the soil. It can take some frost and acually does better in the cold and you avoid its worst pest the cabbage moth (those gross little green worms). It needs alot of room both above and below the soil so I wonder how much you got? Radishes will grow fast with little room.

Right now, it's in a window box. My sister-in-law told me that it could grow "wide" very easily. I'll see how many radishes I get out of that window box before it gets too crowded.

IassaFTots · « **Reply #10 on:** May 20, 2011, 07:57:03 AM »

Quote from: BattleHymn on May 18, 2011, 01:27:55 PM

This might help you. My parents have been companion planters for a good long time, and I am getting into it myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

A google search of "companion planting" will yield some good info, too.

Nice Link! I am getting into it as well.

Celtic Rose · « **Reply #11 on:** May 20, 2011, 08:16:57 AM »

I really like growing radishes in small spaces in the garden, and I've had pretty good luck with them. I'd put a few seeds in and see how they do.

bijou · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2011, 10:44:05 AM »

Radishes are good, also quick growing stuff like salad leaves which you can harvest as a baby leaf before it grows too big. Spring onions would work too.

Odin's Hand · « **Reply #13 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:06:48 AM »

I have been dealing with white flies on the tomatoes and cutworms on the collards and watermelons here. I pitched some Sevin Dust on all of them and that really knocked the fight out of them. The plants have shown steady growth over the past few weeks since I did that and I haven't seen much insect pop. since then. Hit them with about 5 gallons of Bonnie's plant food yesterday before our big rain here and we'll see how that goes

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2011, 07:47:59 AM »

Well, we're turning the ground for the Parish Community Garden at 10 AM today, and I have a gray fungus growing on my tomato seedlings. I've got a fungicide that I've been spraying on them. Hopefully, I can salvage the seedlings. Two radishes have broken the soil. I think I have another spinach plant in a corner of a window box, too. The Iceberg lettuce leaves are growing like weeds.

Talking with my sister-in-law yesterday, she noted that she has had tomato hookworms. I told her about the basil solution. I have no idea whether or not she'll do that.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #15 on:** May 28, 2011, 08:41:36 AM »

At the risk of pimping my own thread similar to how a DUmb**** would do, we staked out three rows of plots--21 in all--Thursday evening, with storm clouds all over the place. No rain on us, though. I do have to go over and level my plot out. As for the tomato seedlings, I saved all but two. They're growing again. I had to go out and get some tomato plants for the Topsy-Turvy planters--I got three, two Cherokee Purple and one Red Beefsteak, all heirloom plants. I also got one hybrid cherry tomato plant by mistake (I'll put it in a window box or something). I put them into the planters yesterday and turned the planters so that the plants would get maximum sun, and they're growing well because of that (after 1/2 day!). The bush beans I started are growing well in the window boxes. Radishes, broccoli, spinach--they're also growing well. The Iceberg head lettuce is growing well, too.

Back at the church--I'll be leveling the plot today, and planting on Monday. I'm going to plant potatoes--Russett Banana and Yukon Gold--and onions (Stuttgarter), along with a bunch of salad greens, beans (yellow and green), peas, yellow and green zucchinis, cucumbers, etc., with a marigold border (for squirrels and rabbits--MSB, could you comment on this?). If our plots don't fill up fast enough, I'll grab the one next to mine for some things that I might have forgotten in the first bunch--maybe watermelons.

IassaFTots · « **Reply #16 on:** May 28, 2011, 08:54:44 AM »

Good for you! I have about 20 baby zucchinis now, and my cucumber and pepper plants are blooming like crazy. Tomatoes got off to a slow start. Boyfriend's garden has corn and potatoes, as well as peppers and tomatoes. We should be eating very well in the next few weeks. Picking up marigolds and strawberries today.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #17 on:** May 28, 2011, 01:51:15 PM »

Well, I spent an hour and a bit leveling the 350 sq. ft. with a cultivator rake . . . and if I had a dollar for every time I had to pull a staghorn sumac root out of the plot, I'd have a Ben Franklin and at least an Alexander Hamilton in my pocket right now. It's not 3 PM and I've had to hit the showers three times today. My wife told me that if I had to do it again today . . . !

I did buy 40 pounds of potting soil, and I filled the Topsy-Turvys with that. I'm beat from that time. I did bring a water bottle, but like a fool, I didn't drink much of it.

'Course, starting in the wrong plot didn't make matters any easier.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #18 on:** June 06, 2011, 07:46:47 AM »

Well, there's a fair amount planted . . . and coming up. But, I noticed something this morning--the birds--crows, I think--nailed a couple of the green zucchini sprouts. Really pisses me off. But they haven't nailed the yellow summer zucchini sprouts yet.

One of the other gardeners--actually, the parish POC for the plot--gave me some tomato plants. She said that the name of the type is "Heritage," with rather sweet-tasting tomatoes. I put some basil seeds in between them. My tomato plants that I started from seeds are getting there, but not as fast as I'd like for them to grow. One of my potato hills has an ant nest (small ants--maybe 3/8" long, and thinner than red ants, and browner) in it, but maybe the ants will keep the bad insects out.

Back at the apartment, I've got three cherry tomatoes that are ripening. The Heiress has already spoken for those. She nails all of the strawberries that I pick, too.

JohnnyReb · « **Reply #19 on:** June 06, 2011, 10:39:40 AM »

Well, I just replanted some string beans....again...but on the bright side...I got the best crop of nutgrass you've ever seen growing in my corn ...even my black thumb can't kill that stuff...oh well...if there's water there for the grass there's water there for my corn.

Couple of cucumbers are blooming like crazy, some small squash appearing on some plants, gonna have a tomato or two in a week or so. The other tomatoes are growing well and blooming. The butter beans and peas I planted over 3 weeks ago are doing just fine. Going to plant some more beans and peas this afternoon.

I hope we get a shower of rain about friday. I certainly don't want another flood like a 10 days ago that washed/drowned everything out.

Odin's Hand · « **Reply #20 on:** June 06, 2011, 06:58:30 PM »

The Sevin dust and plant food worked like a charm. Most of the crop is churning out food now, tomatoes and peppers are coming in daily and have about 6 watermelon vines with 1 melon on each. Having to water extra though with these high temps. About half over more than usual.

IassaFTots · « **Reply #21 on:** June 06, 2011, 09:48:07 PM »

Just pulled up my potatoes, and wowee! They taste fabulous! I am done with summer, can we go back to spring?

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #22 on:** June 07, 2011, 09:51:07 AM »

Last night, after cantor practice, I went to Toys'R'Us and got a BFS. The damn thing is about 4' long, when uncoiled. It stays in a coil, though. I put out an email to the rest of the gardeners about it, so if they see it in my plot, they should not try to cut it to pieces with a hoe.

And my zucchini sprouts are coming up just fine. Along with some cucumber sprouts.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #23 on:** June 19, 2011, 05:26:09 AM »

An update: The potatoes are coming up nicely. I ran the table on those--but it's probably pretty hard to screw those up. I'm out two hills of cukes and two hills of green zucchinis, plus two yellow zucchinis. A jalopeno plant that one of the other gardeners had given me. I let my wife talk me into planting watermelons, and I found out they need an insane amount of water to grow. In the second plot, I've got a swath 8 feet wide by 20 feet long, with absolutely nothing of value in it. I've got a whole bunch of tomato plants (the ones I started from seeds) in that plot. They all seem to have made the transition nicely. I also bought some basil plants and put them in there. Tomato hookworms don't like the aromas of the basil.

IassaFTots · « **Reply #24 on:** June 19, 2011, 12:24:57 PM »

Potatoes harvested. Good! Can't water fast enough to keep up in 100+degree heat. So far so good though. Have zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes popping up everywhere.

News:

Author Topic: A couple of questions for the gardeners out there . . . (Read 13973 times)