Gardening: (2016– )

[dcarch]

7 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

Yes  Love those beans!!

 

Can you just plant..  those from Rancho Gordo?

 

Yes you can.

 

I think you should start seedlings indoors. If you plant the beans outside, there is a chance those beans may become dinner for garden critters.

 

dcarch

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My first tomatoes are turning red.

 

I came home tonight to letter from the rental agent to please remove the planters from my balcony immediately.

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

My first tomatoes are turning red.

 

I came home tonight to letter from the rental agent to please remove the planters from my balcony immediately.

 

That sucks. Does it mean straight dirt on the balcony?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

That sucks. Does it mean straight dirt on the balcony?

 

Seriously I don't know.  I'd be the first to admit I have a lot of plants in a small space, but I am not the only one with a lot of plants who lives here.  Two years ago the rental agent told me that two of my planters needed to be removed by order of the owner because she (the owner) thought they looked too heavy.  At that time the rental agent said the rest of my planters were fine.  Years ago I checked with the township building inspector who told be these balconies were rated for an obscene amount of weight.

 

However even if I wanted to remove the planters, the larger ones I could not move myself.  I'm more physically challenged than I used to be.  And at the moment I am terribly upset, more so than I wish to admit on a public forum.

 

 

[dcarch]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

My first tomatoes are turning red.

 

I came home tonight to letter from the rental agent to please remove the planters from my balcony immediately.

 

 

1. Google "grow plants in perlite".

2. Show your rental agent a planter with perlite, it  weighs nothing. 

 

Enjoy your first tomato.

 

dcarch

 

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

 

1. Google "grow plants in perlite".

2. Show your rental agent a planter with perlite, it  weighs nothing. 

 

Enjoy your first tomato.

 

dcarch

 

The problem with perlite is that you'd then be growing hydroponically - so you'd have to feed them a complete nutrient, rather than just water or water with some "plant food".  While it's certainly doable (I've been a big proponent for a while), it does have a learning curve.

[rotuts]

i had an issue w planter on my balcony

 

finest tomatoes vis the 6th floor :  facing south , no bugs etc

 

in 5 gallon buckets

 

the issue for my area was that the buckets were on the balcony's ledge if you will

 

they might have fallen off and hurt someone

 

I built a plank ' shelf '  next to the balcony's ' ledge '

 

so the buckets were 1 foot be neigh the ledge

 

that was a fine.  tomatoes didn't care enough to argue w me.

 

ask Id say

 

' ledge = the railing to keep you from falling.

[dcarch]

7 minutes ago, KennethT said:

The problem with perlite is that you'd then be growing hydroponically - so you'd have to feed them a complete nutrient, rather than just water or water with some "plant food".  While it's certainly doable (I've been a big proponent for a while), it does have a learning curve.

 

Actually, Googling "perlite growing" will lead to many ways of incorporating perlite, not only growing in pure perlite. Mixing perlite with compost is still much lighter than growing in soil.

 

BTW,. a couple of months ago, by pure chance, I had an opportunity to visit a huge commercial roof top growing operation at lower Manhattan.  I don't remember the address and name of that operation. They use a lot of perlite.  

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chromedome]

Unfortunately, all of those helpful suggestions assume that the building's owners/management will be rational and open-minded. That is a very, very large assumption.

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

 

Actually, Googling "perlite growing" will lead to many ways of incorporating perlite, not only growing in pure perlite. Mixing perlite with compost is still much lighter than growing in soil.

 

BTW,. a couple of months ago, by pure chance, I had an opportunity to visit a huge commercial roof top growing operation at lower Manhattan.  I don't remember the address and name of that operation. They use a lot of perlite.  

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, if you're mixing perlite and compost, you wouldn't need the extra nutrients...  and I'm not surprised that the rooftop grow was growing in perlite - was it a vining crop like tomatoes or cucumbers?  It's very common to grow those in perlite because perlite holds a good amount of water (so it doesn't need to be watered constantly) and is inert and won't affect the pH of your nutrient.

[dcarch]

On 7/17/2019 at 9:34 AM, KennethT said:

and I'm not surprised that the rooftop grow was growing in perlite - was it a vining crop like tomatoes or cucumbers? 

 

Based on what I saw, I think they do good business supplying to restaurants all over NYC.

 

On 7/17/2019 at 8:32 AM, chromedome said:

Unfortunately, all of those helpful suggestions assume that the building's owners/management will be rational and open-minded. That is a very, very large assumption.

 

Not much to do with building owners and management. More has to do with liability lawyers. (I am guessing) They write clauses in the leases and for insurance companies.

 

dcarch

Edited July 20, 2019 by dcarch (log)

[chromedome]

True enough. Though the net practical effect is the same.

[Shelby]

I didn't say anything about this when I did it because I wanted to see if it worked first.  We've always had those awful corn ear worms get into our sweet corn.  Most all of the ends were usually gnawed up and then you'd find one of those ugly worms and have to pick it off and squish it.  Ugh.  Anyway, I tried something new this year and it seems to have worked!  Basically the instructions tell you to put 5 drops of corn oil mixed with a BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) on to the silks of the corn just when they start to turn a bit brown.  The oil acts as a barrier to the eggs that the moths lay that turn into the worms.  Adding the BT makes sure to kill the worms as they begin to eat the silks.  

 

I did switch up the instructions a bit. The 5 drop method seemed to fiddly so I took a clean spray bottle and filled it with the corn oil (holds about 19 oz.) along with about a 1/4 tsp. of the BT.  Shake it well.  Do one squirt per ear on the silks that have started to brown.  

 

We've picked 4 ears so far and not a hint of worms.  We will see if that trend continues and I'll update here.

 

[dcarch]

Will be squash overwhelmed the next few days. They are coming! They are coming!

 

dcarch

 

[Okanagancook]

I am not sure how many I have squirreled away in the vegetable drawer 😲

currently looking for a Mexican zucchini and tomatillo dish to make for dinner because the tomatillos are coming!

[IowaDee]

dcarch, I suspect you are related to Giuseppe Arcimboldo.   I have  always wanted some of his prints to hang in my kitchen and now egulleters have  their own version  

[dcarch]

4 hours ago, IowaDee said:

dcarch, I suspect you are related to Giuseppe Arcimboldo.   I have  always wanted some of his prints to hang in my kitchen and now egulleters have  their own version  

 

dcarch 

 

[Shelby]

No corn worms, but I did find huitlacoche 😁

 

[rotuts]

lucky you !

[gfweb]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:54 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

My first tomatoes are turning red.

 

I came home tonight to letter from the rental agent to please remove the planters from my balcony immediately.

 

Didn't you go through this before?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

Didn't you go through this before?

 

Yes.  A couple years ago the owner of the apartment complex objected to two white plastic planters that I had.  She had the rental agent make me get rid of them, which I did eventually.  At that time the renal agent told me the rest of my planters were fine.

 

[Okanagancook]

I may have whined before that this year's garden is an absolute bust.

My Cherokee Purple plant has three pint-sized tomatoes and my Early Girls maybe 3 to 5...normally 20 or more.  The cherry tomato plants aren't bad. Likewise the cucumbers suck...just three off four plants.  I have given up weeding.

But, you can't keep a good zucchini plant down and my two are producing some lovely ones.  These are a different variety but I like them because not many seeds and nice firm flesh.

And.....never underestimate nor neglect your compost pile....Best produce so far.  This morning I harvested a huge amount of lovely New Zealand spinach.  There's a small tomato plant in there.  The other bin has a large squash plant plus two others 😁

 

Our neighbour got some spinach and cherry tomatoes in exchange for some lovely peaches which my brother's dog was very interested in. 

 

 

[KennethT]

49 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I may have whined before that this year's garden is an absolute bust.

My Cherokee Purple plant has three pint-sized tomatoes and my Early Girls maybe 3 to 5...normally 20 or more.  The cherry tomato plants aren't bad. Likewise the cucumbers suck...just three off four plants.  I have given up weeding.

But, you can't keep a good zucchini plant down and my two are producing some lovely ones.  These are a different variety but I like them because not many seeds and nice firm flesh.

And.....never underestimate nor neglect your compost pile....Best produce so far.  This morning I harvested a huge amount of lovely New Zealand spinach.  There's a small tomato plant in there.  The other bin has a large squash plant plus two others 😁

 

Our neighbour got some spinach and cherry tomatoes in exchange for some lovely peaches which my brother's dog was very interested in. 

 

 

Sorry to hear about your issues - what happened this year?  Too hot/cold, rain?

[TicTac]

@Okanagancook - Do you pull the 'shoots' off your tomato plants?  Were those started from seed inside or purchased?

 

I started our tomatoes this year from seed indoors under a good LED.  Stalks are between 1-3" and each plant has well over a dozen 'maters and the grape/cherry varieties are going nuts.

 

 

[dcarch]

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

 

 

Our neighbour got some spinach and cherry tomatoes in exchange for some lovely peaches which my brother's dog was very interested in. 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

This morning I harvested a huge amount of lovely New Zealand spinach.

 

Yes yes! I recommend New Zealand spinach to everyone. Very tough and prolific. No problem with hot weather.

My NZS completely choke out all weeds.

 

Having NZS for dinner tonight.

 

dcarch