Gardening: (2016– )

[suzilightning]

Went to my community garden plot last night with the intention of using the communal rototiller, but it's apparently not back from its spring tuneup yet. So I dug a perimeter around my plot(s) - actually three adjoining 8' X 8' plots - since you generally need to do that after tilling anyway. Also, it gave me a chance to take a look at the soil. It seems decent...reasonably rich and friable, even after spring rains and a couple of years' disuse and compaction.

Sounds like Newfoundland has stayed with you all this time.

 

I had been trying to harden off my thyme and tarragon.  They will go out to day (about 68F; around 20 C) maybe tomorrow afternoon but there is a forcast for up to 3" of snow here Friday night into Saturday.  This is why when we moved here we were told not to plant anything until after 15 May.....

[TicTac]

A few things to note...

 

Jo - you now have dozens of lettuce seeds waiting to be planted - consider yourself lucky!

 

Ken - Looks like ol 'lime tree needs a new pot!  Been playing with cloth pots for some indoor gardening...ahem....they work really nice!  No plastic involved either, which is always a big BONUS!

 

I re-potted my 2x36 seedling tray's into plastic cups now, which will be their last housing until they return to mother nature.  That was quite a bit of work, but they are doing really well -

 

 

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, TicTac said:

Ken - Looks like ol 'lime tree needs a new pot!  Been playing with cloth pots for some indoor gardening...ahem....they work really nice!  No plastic involved either, which is always a big BONUS!

 

They all need a new pot!!!!  For the first week, I wanted them to stabilize after the 6 days they spent in a box during shipping.  Then I had to wait until my new chlorine filter came in because I am going to put all of them into coco coir in air pots, and coco has beneficial bacteria in it that roots love - plus, I'd be adding some more, which would all be instantly killed if watered with chlorine-y nutrient.  The fabric air pots are ok but I'm not really a huge fan as the bottoms stay wet for a long time and don't drain that well.  For some other indoor gardening that I've done, I used a different air pot called "Radicle Bags" which are made from food grade, UV stabilized PVC.  They don't hold any moisture so allow for great drainage - and the airflow through them is amazing. The plants loved them.  So I got some smaller ones, but I don't have enough yet for everything..  This weekend, I'm going to transition some of them to teh coco... definitely the lime and the curry leaf plant.  I think it'll also be time to start some seeds - I want to start my cilantro (the sawtooth is doing well, but regular cilantro has its place, certainly).  I also think that I'm going to grow some galangal some time soon.... that'll require a trip to the Korean H-mart... it'll be nice to have a tropical flowering ginger in the apartment, that will also provide great flavor from time to time!

[TicTac]

You are like the mad (in a good way) scientist of the indoor plant world, Ken!

 

I love it!!!!!!!

 

All of that is way above this dirt slinger's head!

 

 

 

 

 

[KennethT]

5 minutes ago, TicTac said:

You are like the mad (in a good way) scientist of the indoor plant world, Ken!

 

I love it!!!!!!!

 

All of that is way above this dirt slinger's head!

 

 

 

 

 

You'd be surprised how much info is out there about hydroponics.  Although I do think that my garden's level of sophistication for those other plants (temperature sensor, moisture sensor, humidity sensor, CO2 sensor and automated nutrient/water dosing, CO2 injection, humidity injection /  dehumidification, and air conditioning) was pretty cool.  Eventually, I'm going to get that back again with all of these herbs, but for now, except for the lights, all the watering is manual and I'm leaving the tent doors open since it's a comfy 75-77degF in the apartment and the light makes a bit of heat and my A/C system isn't set up yet.  Plus these plants aren't really day length sensitive - so while the light is on for 14 hours (which is like a tropical summer day), getting a little bit of ambient light on them during the "night time" is no problem.  It's a fun hobby for an engineer like me... too bad all those sensors are so expensive!

[TicTac]

You would love this one client I was working with, Ken - they have node sensor technology for agricultural applications which automates the entire process based on the genetics of the plant being grown.

 

Very cool stuff out there.

 

And then there's old dirt farmers like me - KISS - just throw some compost and worm castings on for good measure when in doubt!

 

 

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, suzilightning said:

I had been trying to harden off my thyme and tarragon.  They will go out to day (about 68F; around 20 C) maybe tomorrow afternoon but there is a forcast for up to 3" of snow here Friday night into Saturday.  This is why when we moved here we were told not to plant anything until after 15 May.....

 

The corresponding date here is the Victoria Day weekend, which comes a week before your Memorial Day. That would be roughly a week later than where you live, give or take.

Edited May 7, 2020 by chromedome (log)

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, TicTac said:

You would love this one client I was working with, Ken - they have node sensor technology for agricultural applications which automates the entire process based on the genetics of the plant being grown.

 

Very cool stuff out there.

 

And then there's old dirt farmers like me - KISS - just throw some compost and worm castings on for good measure when in doubt!

 

 

Yeah, it's true - there is a lot of cool stuff out there.  With a $20 Arduino plus some sensors, I can do the exact same thing with a bit of programming.  That's what I'm eventually going to do with my herbs - once I move.  Each herb has different watering requirements (some, like the citrus tree and curry plant (which is technically a citrus) like to dry out between waterings while others want to be constantly moist) so that will require moisture sensors in some of the plants - others may just be dosed a few times a day which may waste a bit of water/nutrient but would otherwise require another $40 sensor per plant!  Also, some plants like full sun, others, like cilantro and sawtooth, like shade so I'll be getting/making new lights so I can light each group independently.

 

I think there's nothing wrong with KISS - more often than not, it just works, but it does require more of a daily effort.  Plus, I love building systems, so it's a lot of fun for me... and, I'm lazy and time constrained - I'd much rather put in a bunch of hours of work all at once when I ahve the time, then have to put in minimal time - less than 5 minutes on a daily basis afterwards than having to do 20-30 minutes every day...

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

 

The corresponding date here is the Victoria Day weekend, which comes a week before your Memorial Day. That would be roughly a week later than where you live, give or take.

 

Back in Salida, Colorado the saying was, "Don't plant tomatoes until all the snow is off Methodist Mountain." Turns out there's a little bitty crevasse that holds the snow longer than the rest of the mountain. I got caught by that once because we couldn't see the crevasse from our house. You had to go into town to see it.  Timing is vital when you're trying to get a jump on a short growing season.

[Toliver]

23 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

The rainy season is tricky--tomatoes planted out in the open turn black by mid-July after days of rain, and cloudy skies keep some things from maturing normally. But I don't care--I can do this year-round!

My brother grows tomatoes year round in San Diego. 

He is constantly in a struggle fighting rats from a nearby canyon who eat his tomatoes during the night. So he looks over his tomatoes daily and the minute he sees a tomato that has turned color by at least 10%, he cuts it off the vine and brings it into his house. He has a wicker basket (it provides air circulation) where he keeps the ripening tomatoes. Then once they fully ripen he moves them to a nearby sheet pan where they will eventually  be used in salads or whatever. Don't let them ripen on the vine if you can help it.

To hear your tomatoes turn black on the vine due to too much rain makes me sad.

[KennethT]

Finally got to repot 2 of the 5. The ones I repotted are both in the citrus family which means they like to dry out a bit between waterings as they are more susceptible to root rot than many other plants. This mix of coco coir and hydroton (expanded clay pebbles) in a Radicle Bag air pot should allow great drainage and superior airflow in the rootzone. The coco coir is reused from a previous crop and still has some small roots throughout. So I add some enzyme which dissolves dead cellulose to my nutrient mix which will help decompose the dead roots, leaving more air spaces for new roots.

[kayb]

The dirt has finally arrived. Now to get it shoveled into its appropriate places before it rains tonight. Hopefully I will get to plant everything by the end of this week.

 

[chromedome]

My daughter sent me this link. I'm not sure how big a plant you could grow in something the size of a coffee mug, but it's kind of cool in its rather precious way.
 

 

[KennethT]

16 minutes ago, chromedome said:

My daughter sent me this link. I'm not sure how big a plant you could grow in something the size of a coffee mug, but it's kind of cool in its rather precious way.
 

Interesting... there's a method of hydroponic growing called the Kratky system and is the easiest form of hydroponics with no pumps and basically no effort at all.  One of the guys in one the hydroponic focused groups on Facebook taht I belong to has been doing an experiment growing hers in a kratky setup using mason jars on his windowsill in his kitchen... so far, it's been working just fine....

[TicTac]

And then there is good ol dirt!!! 😎

 

[kayb]

Dirt is delivered and in the beds. Forecast is for rain today and tomorrow, probably a good thing, as I am staring at a Friday work deadline.

 

Fingers crossed for before the weekend is out.

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

 

On 5/7/2020 at 6:33 PM, Toliver said:

To hear your tomatoes turn black on the vine due to too much rain makes me sad.

Not just the tomatoes--the entire plant turns black and collapses into mush. So I have to grow them in pots at the south-facing edge of the portal to keep them out of the majority of the rain. Seems to work, but planting them out in the full-sun garden would be much better. But short of a temporary greenhouse type structure, I'm stuck with growing in pots. And we do have some pretty heavy hail during thunderstorms...

[kayb]

 

Finally, we're making progress. Empty bed will be green beans. A smaller bed, not shown, will be asparagus.  Planting those today. Then it's going to rain for a week.

[Shelby]

It doesn't take much to get me excited--especially now during this time.  I bought a new (to me) seed this year Pak Choi . I love this stuff.  We can get it at the Asian Market. I didn't think it would grow but it did!  It's super fast growing.  I wish I had planted more.  I think we have one more meal out in the garden still.  I bought more seeds today, but I think it might be too hot to plant them over the summer.  Maybe I'll try in the fall?

 

 

Also some peonies and asparagus in there

 

[TicTac]

Looks great, Shelby.

 

I have some Prize-Choy seeds which I did a few of last year, to mixed success (had a few huge plants that kept producing - I did not cut the entire plant but rather large leaves. 

 

Did you start yours indoors or straight from the ground?  I put a few seeds in the ground but I think far too prematurely.

 

Will have to revisit further.

 

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Looks great, Shelby.

 

I have some Prize-Choy seeds which I did a few of last year, to mixed success (had a few huge plants that kept producing - I did not cut the entire plant but rather large leaves. 

 

Did you start yours indoors or straight from the ground?  I put a few seeds in the ground but I think far too prematurely.

 

Will have to revisit further.

 

I put the seeds straight in the ground.  Quite a few of them didn't sprout....the seeds are so dang tiny they are hard to plant.  I think I got some of them too deep in the dirt.

[KennethT]

@Shelby Lots of different choi grow really easily indoors.  A while back (probably a year or two at least) I grew 3 yu choi in my southern facing windowsill garden for a long time.  I would only harvest the outer leaves, cutting near the base of the plant, and the plant continued to grow new ones for several months - maybe 6 months before it finally bolted?  From 3 plants, we had enough for a large serving for 2 people once a week continually....  I need to get back to that again, now that my indoor garden is getting up and running.....

[kayb]

Finally got the asparagus and green beans planted, in advance of today's expected rain. First time I've ever planted asparagus, so I went by the book -- mound of mixed soil, compost and fertilizer, roots spread down sides of mound, everything covered over. Soil is good and rich. Fingers crossed!

[Shelby]

First radishes and lettuce from the garden yesterday

 

[MokaPot]

@Shelby, love your peonies. They can be really expensive to buy at a florist shop. Is the smell peppery like how I remember?

Edited May 19, 2020 by MokaPot
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