The Gardening Thread

topaz

topaz

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Based on some very good posts a few weeks ago, I decided to create a gardending thread.

The upcoming 2016 gardening season may have started from some(those in the West and The South) and those of us in the East and Midwest are daydreaming/preparing for the upcoming season.

I live in Milwaukee, zone 5b. So, I am preparing to start some veggie plants within the next two weeks.

I will growing the following this season.

  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers
  • Eggplant
  • Carrots
  • Celery/Celeriac
  • Beans
  • Peas
  • Cucumbers
  • Cabbage
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Beets
  • Greens(Asian, Spinach, and American)
  • Lettuce
  • Kale
  • Swiss Chard
  • Herbs
  • Flowers(benefical that will help repel garden pests)
I'll post the varities I'll be growing and links to some great gardening stuff.
 
I am starting seeds too. I will be starting a few flowers now and start my vegetables in March and April. I am on the border of zone 3 and 4 so no big hurry!
 
I've been fascinated with air plants (Tillandsias) lately. I just got 5 small ones recently for my aparment. I've never had any sort of plants in my home, because I didn't want to deal with the dirt, heavy pots, potential pests, etc., but these air plants seem like an easy way to get some greens into my place without much of the fuss of the traditional plants.
 
I am not growing anything from seed except maybe annuals later, but I have a question. Do my confused daffodils have a shot or should I just stop hoping they'll make it? They started coming up in our December-January warm spell. :( I am in northern NJ and it will be strange if we dont have at least two or three more weeks' worth of scattered sub-freezing temps.
 
Lizziebeth said:
I am starting seeds too. I will be starting a few flowers now and start my vegetables in March and April. I am on the border of zone 3 and 4 so no big hurry!
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I'm in zone 3b or 3a or whichever is closest to zone 2, unfortunately. I wanted to do some greens last year, chard etc. but never got my act in gear. I am not sure when to start seeding and though I come from a line of market gardeners, all since passed, I haven't a clue. Just with the prices now and how much I love my veggies, I though these might be the best thing to try for. I would start them inside, but have quite limited room. Then for the rest of their growing days, I would move them into my so-called 3 season sunroom. It has a lot of solar gain heat but also is susceptible to winds that come in through the house soffits and is only single pane glass so can only keep away mild frosts.
 
Yay! I'm in zone 6a. I only have a balcony so I have to do everything in containers, but luckily I'm west facing and get lots of sun.

I am planning to do cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, cucumber and zucchini as my produce, and for herbs I've got basil, cilantro, spearmint and oregano. I might also do spinach again, that's gone well in the past. I need to get some larger grow bags; I switched to them last year because they take up so much less room in storage and they're great! My tomato plants were huge from just a 3gal bag.

I did bell peppers before from starters and they all got a mildew. Last year my cucumber died after only two plants (it freaked when I put it on a trellis) and zucchini got powdery mildew before I could get any fruit off :( Any other suggestions for what to grow in containers?

Does anyone do seed swaps? I never, ever use all my seeds up and I've been told I shouldn't use last year's seeds again this year.
 
Urban gardeners may enjoy You Grow Girl - a site/blog and she has a couple of books as well, and an e-newsletter. She's based in Toronto, so lots of good stuff for people who live in the more challenging zones, as well as those with little space.

For me, I've had mixed success over the years, and now that we live in a house that backs onto a woods, we've pretty much given up on veggies except for hot peppers that our woodland friends leave alone. Plus, I like that I can harvest and dry them to use all winter. Otherwise, we do a lot of herbs that are mixed in with the rest of our garden, and we have a bay leaf plant that's on the patio in summer and indoors for the winter - there's nothing like a fresh bay leaf in certain dishes - the dried ones do not compare!

One thing I'd love to do is grow herbs year round - it absolutely pains me to have to buy parsley and chives at the supermarket in winter and early spring when I get them for free and much fresher and tastier all summer and fall! I'm willing to buy cilantro as I've never been able to grow it in the abundance one needs, but I need a permanent solution for the others before next winter.
 
I live in Sacramento and have a plot at a community garden. My winter garden is going strong - broccoli, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, snow peas, onions, carrots, garlic, chives, parsley and cilantro. I can't figure out why more people in this area don't have winter vegetable gardens. It's so easy. I haven't had to water for months.
 
RoseAugust... can I request some pictures of your garden?

Your garden sounds great :)
 
@vesperholly I would be interested in seed swapping. I don't have any saved seeds yet, however, I have some seeds I can send you. Let me know what you have and I'll let you know what I have :)
 
For those of who are urban/city growers here are some the containers I use.

The first container I bought were
  • City Pickers Patio planter. Home Depot and Walmart sell them for around $30. You can grow quite a few things in these planters. The first year I grew lettuce, spinach, swiss chard and Kale. They are easy to maintain the veggies I mentioned are easy to grow on my balcony. All of these are cool weather crops, temps of 50 F to 75 F/10 to 23 C. In my zone 5b, I can grow these twice a year. Spring and Fall. This type of container is self watering via a wicking action. Here is a great video on it https://youtu.be/SfuceP_HVw8?list=PLp5vpMG3id54KA1JuLip9mm1sid1ov93Z. There are listed and recommended soil mixes that work well with this type of planter.
  • Smart Pots which are fabric grow pots. They are reusable and environment friendly. I have grown tomatoes and peppers in them. It is hard to overwater in smart pots because the pot will release too much water. The root growth in smart pots is fantastic too.
Recently I have bought window boxes that are normally used for flowers and used those to grow lettuce and herbs. I would recommend "earthboxes" too. I bought some earthboxes in 2014. EB are more expensive but they are super easy to use and convenient. I've seen fantastic harvests from EBs.

More Earthbox(EB) info. https://youtu.be/qbVfsqdFJeY and http://earthbox.com/. EB are more expensive but easy of use from earthboxes are worth it. Plus you can replant in the earthbox year after year.

Here are pictures of the veggies I grew last season:
Cauliflower
Tomatoes
Peppers, Broccoli and Green Beans
Orange variety of Cauliflower - Rich in Beta carotene

My balcony in 2012 with my smart pots and planters

ETA: I have updated the picture links. They should work now. If not, let me know.
 
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@topaz the veggie pics aren't showing :(

Here's a shot of my 2015 cucumbers (and some tomatoes in grow pots behind it). After I draped the vines over the trellis, all those lovely flowers shriveled up and died :fragile: Maybe I needed to train it onto the trellis right away? I went on vacation for a week and came back to massive vines! The two that I was able to grow and eat were super delicious.

My seedlings and starters last year! Basil took forever but eventually got just as big as the starter plant I bought out of frustration. Cherry tomatoes did fantastic but the "regular" sized tomatoes only got to be about golf ball sized. :confused:
 
I'm in zone 7a,I'll be starting things next week.This week was just too busy.Had my boys build me some raised beds(and it kept them busy),I have to go get the dirt this week for it.And we're probably going to build 3-4 more. I'll start onions and lettuce this next week probably
The plan for this season is to only grow things I know they will eat and I will eat.So I'm not going to grow a bunch of something I will only eat. So the plan this year is:

Peas
Green beans
tomatoes
potatoes
cucumbers
all kinds of squash
pumpkins
watermelons
cantaloupes
pinto beans
purple hull peas
corn
okra
leeks
onions
herbs

and I have all my flower beds already established from last year.I need to pamper my hydrangeas and move one of my elephant ears to a wetter area.

Interesting enough,this last year,I had a surprise Pumpkin pop up in the flower beds,apparently the person who lived here before me chucked their pumpkin into the flower bed after Halloween the year before and it grew.I had vines growing everywhere and I let it grow because I wanted to see if it'd actually produce or not lol We got 2 pumpkins off of it.
 
Wow - that's a lot of veg. I envy you being that good at it. If I were ever to go beyond a few plants in my sunroom I would need to put up very tall fencing due to the number of deer in my yard. They are good jumpers when motivated.
 
What kind of soil does everyone use for containers and raised beds?

My husband has had persistent troubles getting the right soil mix for his beds/containers.
 
clairecloutier said:
What kind of soil does everyone use for containers and raised beds?

My husband has had persistent troubles getting the right soil mix for his beds/containers.
Click to expand...

I do not use Miracle grow for veggies.

I have used the following: Dr. Earth's Homegrown and Motherland Planting mix and Potting soil , Fox Farm Ocean Forest, Composts(mushroom, duck and cow), Pro Mix Ultimate Organic Potting Mix, Pro Mix Potting.

Do you live in the midwest because many of these products you can find at your local garden center or Menards.

http://yougrowgirl.com/choosing-potting-soil-mixes/

In my raised garden beds I used the Square Foot Garden medium at my mom's house. The start up costs are expensives but the results are well worth it. Mel's Mix is 1/3 compost(a blend of 5 composts), 1/3 coarse vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss. After the first year, you just replenish the volume the 2nd year.

http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/h22-mel-s-mix-calculator
 
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Gardening lets you invest a little bit of money for big glorious rewards, so I always look forward to spring. Two of my favorites are heavenly blue morning glories & moonflowers - that's 2 packs of seeds ($1.49 ea. on sale) for all that happiness! :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to get from the spring bulbs I planted last fall. I add more every year & hopefully will get at least half of what I planted, but last time around I caught critters digging them up as fast as I could cover them. Then there was the up & down weather causing some of them to start coming up in December, so who knows?

The good news is the Monarchs are coming back! This has been one of our "spread-the-word" environmental causes for the past couple years, because the Midwest can really help by planting butterfly gardens with milkweed (even a small area in the backyard) & avoiding or severely restricting the use of chemical pesticides. I'm like topaz & don't use chemical treatments. People in our neighborhood have worked to improve both of these areas & it has been nice to sit on the porch & watch the beautiful butterflies flutter along. I saw many Monarchs last summer & hopefully we will see even more this year.

*** Monarch butterflies rebound in Mexico :

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/monarch-butterflies-rebound-in-mexico/
"The widespread use of increasingly deadly pesticides is a death knell for monarch survival. We need to scale back the use of these pervasive pesticides and plant more milkweed to keep these incredible creatures alive and thriving," Sylvia Fallon, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
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One year I planted bulbs and I swear the squirrels must have been watching me from the trees and taking notes, because the next day nearly all of them had been dug up! We love animals though, so took that experience as Critters 1, Humans 0 :)

Our home backs onto a sloping woods, so we have been throwing wildflower seeds down and putting in various plants to hold the soil for a couple of years now. This year we are definitely adding milkweed.

And yay to those not using chemicals! :cheer2:
 
I have a question for people that live in apartments and have plants on their balconies: When you water your plants do you catch the water in a tray or do you let it drains to the balconies below?

I want to try growing plants on my balcony, but I worry about letting the water drains to the balconies below me.
 
how do I find my zone? When do I start? We have small back yard in our townhome, and last year I did some indoor starters - I think I started them in end march/early april though. and the tomatoes didn't really give fruit until end sept.

Should I do my indoor starters now?

I'm in Western WA.
 
maatTheViking said:
how do I find my zone? When do I start? We have small back yard in our townhome, and last year I did some indoor starters - I think I started them in end march/early april though. and the tomatoes didn't really give fruit until end sept.

Should I do my indoor starters now?

I'm in Western WA.
Click to expand...

Hey girl, these sites have helped me out alot. I hope they help you.

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/zipcode/53225

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/seed-starting-dates/zipcode/53225
 
orbitz said:
I have a question for people that live in apartments and have plants on their balconies: When you water your plants do you catch the water in a tray or do you let it drains to the balconies below?

I want to try growing plants on my balcony, but I worry about letting the water drains to the balconies below me.
Click to expand...

It depends. I usually allow the water to drain out on the balacony or into the pot's tray. My balcony is not a solid concrete. It has wood planks. Honestly, when I water them not much water drains out(unless it is raining).
 
@maatTheViking - What seed starting mix and kit did you get?

Also, everyone else who decided to start seeds what kit or seed starting mix did you use?

I have trying something new this year. Home Depot had JIffy Organic Seed starting Mix, which I have heard good things about. I am going to use it as a base mix to start my seeds. I am going to add some rock phosphate and worm castings for nutrients.

As a backup, I am going to use Espoma Organic Seed Starting Mix and Black Gold Seedling mix which I got on sale at my local nursery(Minor's Garden Center) in Milwaukee.
 
I start my seeds in a seed starting mix. Jiffy is very good. Seed starting mix should not have fertilizer. Don't add anything at all. Seeds do not need fertilizer. You can fertilize the plants when you move them to larger pots.

I have started Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun,' Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy,' Dianthus 'Jolt Pink,' verbena bonariensis and some lettuce. So far I have had about 100% germination so that is good. I do some of my flower seeds on heat mats so they germinate faster. I love growing stuff from seed!
 
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