OT -- Any gardeners out there?

tarheelmatt

NDG said:

My setup . . still a work in progress.  Raised bed for herbs & lettuce and side pot for tomatoes.  I have wood rods & velco for support, but not needed yet.

QUESTION: think my pot of cherry tomatoes (sweet millions) will be too close together?  I read only one tomato plant per pot . . but I went ahead and planted all three of these together thining cherrys are smaller.  Also, all three came together in one pot from the store).  Appreciate all the help.

I feel it will be too tight and would get two more pots for your tomatoes.  They will get rather large.  

Chubbs

@NDG here are two cherries at the front of the pic. Need more room to succeed 

NDG

Understood.  I will move the other two tomato plants.  In hindsight, I probably packed too much in my raised bed as well.  Live and Learn.

Chubbs

NDG said:

Understood.  I will move the other two tomato plants.  In hindsight, I probably packed too much in my raised bed as well.  Live and Learn.

You will be fine with that spinach and lettuce, etc. here is a small bed of lettuce from last year

NDG

Great, thanks Chubbs.  I just pulled MINT from my raised bed and put into a small pot.  I heard mint is extremely intrusive and will take over.  Guess I can put a second Arugula in now.

Legume

mint is great, we have a few types growing, but always in pots by themselves - it's the bamboo of herbs

Chubbs

NDG said:

Great, thanks Chubbs.  I just pulled MINT from my raised bed and put into a small pot.  I heard mint is extremely intrusive and will take over.  Guess I can put a second Arugula in now.

That is correct. It definitely takes over. Didn't see that in there so good call on the own pot

bboulier

@NDG Thin the tomatoes.  Transplant them to another pot if you have one.  Or, it looks like you have a big back yard.  Find a sunny spot, get a tall tomato cage, dig a hole, and plant a sweet million in a mixture of peat, compost, and vermiculite.  Good idea to add about 1/2 cup of hydrated lime to the hole and mix it in with the other ingredients.  Sweet Millions are very productive, but take up a lot of space.  Your yield will be much smaller with three in one pot than if you just tossed the other two away.

Legume

Lots of rain, lots of sun and we're making progress quickly.

tarheelmatt

Legume said:

Lots of rain, lots of sun and we're making progress quickly.

Looks great!  Like your planters!  

Fred19Flintstone

It's supposed to get down to 40 F here next Wednesday.  After that I'm hoping we're through with cold weather.  I'm planting next weekend.

MaskedMarvel

There's the backyard garden.  @Chubb's think I can cut across those peppers now? Also think I can replant the tips?

tarheelmatt

Garden is coming along well... 

Tomatoes are starting to get tall, cukes are about to fall and start running, and peppers are getting tall too.  Need to see when is the best time to top them.  @Chubbs ?  

Cilantro is already blown out, waiting for coriander I guess.  I think I give up on cilantro, the window of opportunity is small.  All other herbs are doing great though.  

fishlessman

still 2 more weeks to plant here waiting patiently

Legume

@tarheelmatt you need to pinch the cilantro to keep it from going to seed - like basil, keep pinching it and it will stay cilantro

edit - harvest with cilantro, keep cutting and using it, doesn't grow like basil but same idea

tarheelmatt

Legume said:

@tarheelmatt you need to pinch the cilantro to keep it from going to seed - like basil, keep pinching it and it will stay cilantro

edit - harvest with cilantro, keep cutting and using it, doesn't grow like basil but same idea

Thinking I could have waited too long.  I was reading on possibly doing that, but the article I was reading indicated to just let it turn to seed and let it drop.  I was wondering if I could have just cut it back, but didn't know.  Thanks for the tip!  

bem1

Here is mine (Denton TX):

Growing Broccoli, Jalapeños, Onions, Snap peas, Corn, & Red potatoes

Chubbs

MaskedMarvel said:

There's the backyard garden.  @Chubb's think I can cut across those peppers now? Also think I can replant the tips?

I think you can. Maybe only do on one or half. I have never done it on them that size. I always do it before I transplant and cut top off and leave 3-5 true leaves. The idea is to keep them lower to the ground and bushier with new growth.  I think you will be fine. I wouldn't cut it in half. Just take the top "V" of leaves off if that makes sense. 

HDmstng

bem1 said:

Here is mine (Denton TX):

Growing Broccoli, Jalapeños, Onions, Snap peas, Corn, & Red potatoes

Nice looking garden.  One watch out though, it may not be a good idea to have soil up against the brick.  Water can potentially seep into the bricks and mortar joints.

TN_Sister_State

I have my starter garden planted. First house that had a yard to do so.

bem1

HDmstng said:

show previous quotes

bem1 said:

Here is mine (Denton TX):

Growing Broccoli, Jalapeños, Onions, Snap peas, Corn, & Red potatoes

Nice looking garden.  One watch out though, it may not be a good idea to have soil up against the brick.  Water can potentially seep into the bricks and mortar joints.

Right, so it's hard to tell in the pic, but the dirt is just below the brick next to the foundation.  Made sure of that when I put it in 3 years ago.  Plus, it drains really well so we're good to go.  Thanks for watching out for us gardners!

4Runner

Tomato planters.   My plants always over grow my stakes.  Would it be ok to trim the tops off and keep them in the 4ft range in height or would that do more harm than good?

galen

Aloha  Livng in Hawaii we have a saying: "Plant it and get out of the way"
Lots of Peppers, Celery. Rosemary, Chives, Onions, Tomatoes, Lilikoi and then there are the trees..Coconuts, Bananas (real one's) Papayas, , Grapefruit, Lemons, Limes,  Oranges..In other words something is ready all the time. The Lilikoi comes in two varieties.  Purple, or the Mountain type and beach front yellow.
Delicious over ice cream....
One Big Egg and a gasser so I keep busy with something all the time.
Have yet to find a BBQ restaurant that would match any on the mainland.  But will keep trying.
Son does a pig at least once a year.  Hawiian style.  Whole pig, lots of rocks and leaves and a large hole in  the ground where the pig cooks for a couple of days.  It's a lot more complicated than that statement but I'm sure you get the picture.
Aloha

Botch

Last summer I finally broke the code about container gardening (I was severely under-watering everything) and kept most of my plants alive for the entire summer, yay!
Earlier this spring I took a local class on container gardening, and today planted all my pots.  The bottom half was a mix of potting soil and perlite; the top half was a mixture of potting soil and coconut fiber; I will also be fertilizing weekly, (before I considered using fresh potting soil every year to be enough, I guess it's not).  I planted basil, thyme, sage, chives, marigolds, a cherry tomato, and bought a "citronella" plant to repel mosquites (I thought cintronella was a petrolium-based candle). 
Fingers crossed.  

tarheelmatt

Gardener in training!!

theyolksonyou

Mmmmmm dirt

tarheelmatt

theyolksonyou said:

Mmmmmm dirt

She was filthy, but loved it.  She only tried to eat the dirt once though.  

Chubbs

4Runner said:

Tomato planters.   My plants always over grow my stakes.  Would it be ok to trim the tops off and keep them in the 4ft range in height or would that do more harm than good?

Looks like you have plenty of room. I would let them grow as tall as they can. I usually only top my tomatoes if it is end of season and getting cooler and I have a ton of green tomatoes on. I do this so the energy goes into ripening fruit instead of growing foliage. I suppose you could top them it
just may stunt growth. Them again, if growing indeterminate tomatoes a sucker will grow and create a whole new main stem. If worried just sucker and keep one stem up. If gets too tall top it an see what happens. Good luck

bgebrent

We've got three raised beds, one at the lake currently full of Romaine, butter lettuce and jalapeño, and parsley, plus 2 in town (Sandy Springs) with 6 different breeds of tomato, squash, plus all of our herbs. Fresh is best, as you all know. 

tarheelmatt

Okay, @Chubbs , when do I cut these things?  They're already blooming on the top and some doesn't have the "V" going yet?