Gardening: (2016– )

[suzilightning]

2 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

On reviving the old pepper seeds.

I found a heck of a lot of "Baby Pequin" seeds—hundreds!!!

I found what I think are the "Baby Cayenne" seeds—the labels totally faded on some of the old saved seed containers.

There are no more than 50 seeds.

 

 

Wow....I never knew there was so much to reviving these seeds.  I'm really interested in those "Baby Pequin" seeds....they look interesting.

[Martin Fisher]

Quote

IMHO, lots of money is wasted on starting plants WAY too early.

What's most important, is soil temperature!!!

Tomatoes, for example, aren't going to do anything serious until the soil temperature hits 60 at root depth, and they'll do even better when the temperature hits 65 degrees—above that, they'll take off like a rocket.

Having the seeds germinated and ready to go, as tiny seedlings, when the soil temperature hits 60 degrees is enough.

One year, I sat out some very tiny Matt's Wild Cherry seedlings on the 26th of June—that's considered very late around here, especially for such tiny seedlings.

This was back when I was stacking cages made from concrete reinforcing wire as supports for tomatoes and other stuff.

The plants reached 15 to 18 feet before they were killed by frost!

 

Leggy (or spindly) plants can be caused by not only insufficient light, but also too much heat as well as fertilizer issues.

Having said that, having leggy tomato plants isn't the end of the world—just pinch off the lower leaves and trench plant them—they'll develop roots along the trenched stem.

But, you've created much more work for yourself than is necessary if you've reached the point of having to worry about leggy plants.

 

Expanding in what I wrote above:

From Growing greenhouse tomatoes in soil and in soilless media Dr. A.P. Papadopoulos Research Centre Harrow, Ontario
"Under a cold treatment regimen, place young tomato seedlings in a day and night air temperature of 50-55F/10-13C for approximately 2 weeks, while providing as much light as possible for 9-12 hours. Seedlings should be subjected to cold treatment just after the seed leaves (cotyledons) unfold and the first true leaves start to appear (see below). Shoots kept at low temperatures at this stage of growth produce a small number of leaves below the first flower cluster and therefore flower earlier; roots kept at low temperatures cause branched clusters, i.e., many flowers in the first and possibly the second cluster. Cold temperatures during both day and night are effective. The cold treatment increases the number of flowers but does not influence the setting of fruit. If later conditions for fruit setting are right, a greater number of flowers will set fruit because of the increased number of blossoms. If, however, the temperature for fruit set remains less than ideal, the pollen does not germinate and grow normally, resulting in poor fruit set and cat-faced fruit. When the cold treatment is used, seed 10-14 days earlier than usual to compensate for the slow growth rate during the cold treatment. The growth medium in the seedling trays must be sterile, because when plants are grown at relatively low temperature the danger of damping-off is increased."

 

This is usually quite easy to do when starting seeds late—it's easier to deal with a bunch of tiny plants rather than large ones!

[Martin Fisher]

On 1/15/2019 at 9:58 PM, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

It occurred to me that I may already have a few Mountain Magic seeds.

I'm going to look for them within the next few days.

If so, I could start them extra early and take some cuttings. 

 

I did find a packet of 15 Mountain Magic F1 seeds—packed for 2015! 

I'll give them a try! 

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW,

Here Dr. Carolyn discusses her and Dr. Craig's experiences in reviving very old seed.

The reason I'm being extra careful in attempting to germinate the above mentioned seeds is that, back in 2016, I sent 150 "Baby Pequin" seeds to a guy in Brooklyn, NY—he wasn't able to get any of them to germinate! 

But I know nothing of his general prowess in germinating seeds.

[FauxPas]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:49 PM, Smithy said:

I love nasturtiums. Unfortunately, they don't do well in our climate...except, possibly, for the very dedicated gardeners in my area. I am not one of those, at present. But they are delightful to look at and a nicely versatile table addition.

 

I like nasturtiums as well. I used to make infused vinegar with the flowers and leaves. The colour of the vinegar was lovely, nice to use in vinaigrette. I like the idea of the nasturtium butter at the same link, though I have not tried it myself. 

http://therunawayspoon.com/blog/2011/06/nasturtium-butter-and-nasturtium-vinegar/

 

[Martin Fisher]

On 2/1/2019 at 10:39 AM, DiggingDogFarm said:

Waiting on the Miracle-Gro. It should be here early next week.

The shed door is frozen shut, so I can't get to the air tubing!!! 

High temperature of 53° is forecast for Monday—so I should be able to get into the shed before I receive the Miracle-Gro. 

 

The Miracle-Gro arrived and the shed door opened! 

Edited February 2, 2019 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

FWIW,

Here Dr. Carolyn discusses her and Dr. Craig's experiences in reviving very old seed.

The reason I'm being extra careful in attempting to germinate the above mentioned seeds is that, back in 2016, I sent 150 "Baby Pequin" seeds to a guy in Brooklyn, NY—he wasn't able to get any of them to germinate! 

But I know nothing of his general prowess in germinating seeds.

 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...

 

[heidih]

The hardy just grow  -----without intervention

[KennethT]

Been doing some experimenting with some new equipment as I get ready to try some new crops.... 

Capacitive moisture sensor

 

Buried in some soaked and drained coco coir.

 

You would think that it would have an extremely high moisture content - but coir has an amazing air holding capacity... The moisture content is just over 30%.

 

ETA:  Whoops!!!!  I made a major math error in the coding of my controller which is providing those readouts....  Turns out that the humidity was more like 33% and the moisture was more like 82% - which is still good air holding capacity considering that it was completely saturated.

Edited February 4, 2019 by KennethT (log)

[Martin Fisher]

I'm TOTALLY lost when it comes to hydroponics! 

[robirdstx]

On 10/20/2018 at 3:07 PM, robirdstx said:

 

I had prepared this bed for planting last Spring, but the weather, travel and life interrupted my plans. So, today I finally planted the bed with the lettuce, spinach and radish seeds I had intended to plant last Spring.

 

 

Didn’t see much going on until recently. Must have had slow growing varieties! 😁 But now I seem to have a jump on Spring!

 

 

[KennethT]

10 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

I'm TOTALLY lost when it comes to hydroponics! 

Yields and flavor are amazing when it's done right... it's not the cheapest (especially as a small home hobby gardener) and especially compared with plunking stuff in the ground, but for me, growing indoors, it's the best - I never worry about soil borne diseases or pests and I have much more control over the health and nutrition of my plants... and you get huge yields (so your cost per harvest weight comes down), mainly due to the plant having everything it needs whenever it needs it, the consistent growing environment and lots of oxygen for the roots.

 

If you're interested, there's tons of info on the web... some great, some not so good...

[Martin Fisher]

35 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Yields and flavor are amazing when it's done right... it's not the cheapest (especially as a small home hobby gardener) and especially compared with plunking stuff in the ground, but for me, growing indoors, it's the best - I never worry about soil borne diseases or pests and I have much more control over the health and nutrition of my plants... and you get huge yields (so your cost per harvest weight comes down), mainly due to the plant having everything it needs whenever it needs it, the consistent growing environment and lots of oxygen for the roots.

 

If you're interested, there's tons of info on the web... some great, some not so good...

 

Once upon a time, I grew carnivorous plants.

I'm not against growing them again—hydroponically.

But we don't have the room, and I'm dirt poor.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Once upon a time, I grew carnivorous plants.

I'm not against growing them again—hydroponically.

But we don't have the room, and I'm dirt poor.

 

Grow hydroponically, save your dirt!  I too grew carnivorous plants, hasn't everyone?

 

[Martin Fisher]

28 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I too grew carnivorous plants, hasn't everyone?

 

I'm the only person in my family who's grown them.

 

[KennethT]

Is there a purpose to growing carniverous plants, more than just the fun or novelty of it?  I know very little about them, other than the fact that they are carniverous, as the name implies.  Do they get all of their nutrients from their digestion, or do they need some from roots as well?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Is there a purpose to growing carniverous plants, more than just the fun or novelty of it?  I know very little about them, other than the fact that they are carniverous, as the name implies.  Do they get all of their nutrients from their digestion, or do they need some from roots as well?

 

I suppose if you were a murderer looking to dispose a body...other than that, fun and novelty when you are 12 years old and reading Darwin.

 

http://amzn.com/B00086TPX4

 

As I recall they get mainly nitrogen from digestion.

 

 

[heidih]

My local 99cent store had carnivorous plants for a hile. I'd place them net to the fruit bowl. Lovely symbiotic relationship. (fruit gnats)

[Martin Fisher]

I think pitcher plants do well hydroponically. I'm not sure about others.

I grew several different types when I was a teenager.

I bought from a nursery exclusively devoted to carnivorous plants.

[chromedome]

The pitcher plant is Newfoundland's official flower.

 

Which, I suppose, tells you everything you need to know about the province's population of stinging and biting insects.

[haresfur]

On 2/4/2019 at 11:51 AM, KennethT said:

Been doing some experimenting with some new equipment as I get ready to try some new crops.... 

Capacitive moisture sensor

 

Buried in some soaked and drained coco coir.

 

You would think that it would have an extremely high moisture content - but coir has an amazing air holding capacity... The moisture content is just over 30%.

 

ETA:  Whoops!!!!  I made a major math error in the coding of my controller which is providing those readouts....  Turns out that the humidity was more like 33% and the moisture was more like 82% - which is still good air holding capacity considering that it was completely saturated.

 

 

I've been looking into Arduino recently. A person I know programmed all his father's garden beds with moisture sensors and irrigation control valves.

[haresfur]

My curry leaf tree. I have to keep it in the car port during winter. It was a nicer shape until an apprentice dropped his ladder on it when he was servicing my evaporative cooler. Luckily he didn't break any pots or I would have left the kid up there.

[TicTac]

23 hours ago, KennethT said:

Yields and flavor are amazing when it's done right... it's not the cheapest (especially as a small home hobby gardener) and especially compared with plunking stuff in the ground, but for me, growing indoors, it's the best - I never worry about soil borne diseases or pests and I have much more control over the health and nutrition of my plants... and you get huge yields (so your cost per harvest weight comes down), mainly due to the plant having everything it needs whenever it needs it, the consistent growing environment and lots of oxygen for the roots.

 

If you're interested, there's tons of info on the web... some great, some not so good...

 

While I agree with you on most points here, especially yields and ability to control the environment - I have to disagree with you on the flavour topic.

 

There are certain flavours one cannot get without soil.  Especially healthy (ideally, 'living') organic soil.

 

One a separate topic - I am curious as to suggestions of when I should start my seeds for our outdoor garden (first year doing so, we live in Southern Ontario)...

 

 

[KennethT]

2 minutes ago, TicTac said:

 

While I agree with you on most points here, especially yields and ability to control the environment - I have to disagree with you on the flavour topic.

 

There are certain flavours one cannot get without soil.  Especially healthy (ideally, 'living') organic soil.

 

One a separate topic - I am curious as to suggestions of when I should start my seeds for our outdoor garden (first year doing so, we live in Southern Ontario)...

 

 

That's why I said "when done right"... many hydro growers optimize for yield, not for flavor.  The biggest problem with greenhouse grown hydro crops is the genetics they use.  The best heirloom tomatoes would have a relatively low yield in a greenhouse, and would be at high risk for mold, rot and pests.  Greenhouse growers have much higher costs than field growers, so they need to have high yields to make it pay.  I grew a Goose Creek heirloom tomato plant in my living room - it gave the best tomatoes that I (or anyone else who tried them) had ever tasted... but I lost usually half my crop to blossom end rot, which is not atypical for heirlooms grown indoors.  Most greenhouses grow hybrids that compromise flavor for disease, salt and pest resistance.

[KennethT]

5 hours ago, haresfur said:

My curry leaf tree. I have to keep it in the car port during winter. It was a nicer shape until an apprentice dropped his ladder on it when he was servicing my evaporative cooler. Luckily he didn't break any pots or I would have left the kid up there.

This is amazing.. now you have me wanting to grow a curry tree!!!  How did you start yours?  I've heard that you can root a branch pretty easily, but have never tried...  How old is this one by now?