OT -- Any gardeners out there?

Chubbs

Nice @DoubleEgger !! Get ready to add another bed next year. Gardening is like our egg obsession. 

DoubleEgger

Chubbs said:

Nice @DoubleEgger !! Get ready to add another bed next year. Gardening is like our egg obsession. 

Thanks @Chubbs. I'm sick of the prices for sickly looking veggies at the store. I feel like I'm getting robbed. I rather spend money on quality beef. 

blind99

@Firemanyz I did potatoes in a bag last year. They grew great. Seemed like a lot of work though. 

Lettuce and kale are in the ground now but too early for much else, here. 

Firemanyz

I bought the seed potatoes the other day. I'm going to try to do a little internet searching tomorrow about potatoes in a barrel. I have the barrel and the dirt and plan to have them planted by the end of the week. 

DalemarBGE

First time actual posting, as the iPad doesn't always cooperate for me. I got a LBGE for Christmas '12. glad to see a gardening post. my wife has a 15 x 15 foot plot in the community garden on campus, but I have been wanting to do a raised herb garden. any pointers?

Chubbs

Cleaned my sons bed of the spinach and cilantro and asked him what he wanted ( he is 3) and he said strawberries so in they went. This will be a fun little bed. 

theyolksonyou

@chubbs like + 1 billion. Way to get the little dude involved. 

chick533

Just had fresh grilled asperagus from the garden. Much better than store bought.

Chubbs

theyolksonyou said:

@chubbs like + 1 billion. Way to get the little dude involved. 

Thanks man. Yeah he loves working in the garden. A little too aggressive on the picking though! 

tz666

Garden growing in nicely

Chubbs

Nice @tz666. I built my fifth bed and planted it full of green beans this past weekend. Also got two more blueberry bushes 

tz666

We have 2 blueberry bushes, I wish they were as big as yous

4Runner

Chubbs said:

4Runner said:

Great.  Want to see the bug screen.   On a different note, I'm trying the Parrot Flower Power and so far I like the results. 

I assume you made it through the frost? What did you put on your plants?

Missed your reply.  Apologies.  I used 2 towels for my small earthboxes and an old sheet for the raised bed.  Just covered everything up that afternoon around 2 and my neighbor uncovered the next morning.   Growing strong.    First time with cucumbers.  

Chubbs

4Runner said:

Chubbs said:

4Runner said:

Great.  Want to see the bug screen.   On a different note, I'm trying the Parrot Flower Power and so far I like the results. 

I assume you made it through the frost? What did you put on your plants?

Missed your reply.  Apologies.  I used 2 towels for my small earthboxes and an old sheet for the raised bed.  Just covered everything up that afternoon around 2 and my neighbor uncovered the next morning.   Growing strong.    First time with cucumbers.  

I would suggest adding 1 TBS of baking soda to a gallon of water in a pump up sprayer and spray the cucumbers liberally. Helps with the fungal issues that come with them. Leaves turning brown, yellowing, etc. Do it every other week or so. 

4Runner

Thanks for the tip.  Will do. 

Roadpuke0

All looking nice. Planted my whole garden last Saturday and I think I may have Jumped the gun. Couple nights of low 30's coming. Hope the frost stays away. Caged all my tomatoes and real pain to try and tarp it. I'll keep my fingers crossed. 15 degrees below the norm:-( should have stayed with. The old mother days plant date for around here. 

4Runner

Good luck.  

tarheelmatt

Had another thread, but I'll add mine here since this really maybe the "offical" place. 

Chubbs

Looks great @tarheelmatt . The last thing I need in the ground are my watermelons. I am trying to find a solution to grow vertically that holds the support of the melon. I found a great idea on YouTube and will build it this week. I will post when finished then give a few pics of my completed garden. 

Chubbs

4Runner said:

Thanks for the tip.  Will do. 

Make sure you get the underside of the leaves too. If you notice soft bodied insects, you can google a spray that uses antiseptic and dish soap with a gallon of water. This will keep the critters away so you can enjoy the cucumbers. In my last few years cucumbers have attracted more bugs than anything so just an FYI

Chubbs

Roadpuke0 said:

All looking nice. Planted my whole garden last Saturday and I think I may have Jumped the gun. Couple nights of low 30's coming. Hope the frost stays away. Caged all my tomatoes and real pain to try and tarp it. I'll keep my fingers crossed. 15 degrees below the norm:-( should have stayed with. The old mother days plant date for around here. 

Are they in raised beds or right in the ground? If plants are small you can put a bucket or 2 liter bottle with top cut off around them. If larger, you can build a quick hoop house out of PVC and drape a sheet over it. Good luck

4Runner

Chubbs said:

4Runner said:

Thanks for the tip.  Will do. 

Make sure you get the underside of the leaves too. If you notice soft bodied insects, you can google a spray that uses antiseptic and dish soap with a gallon of water. This will keep the critters away so you can enjoy the cucumbers. In my last few years cucumbers have attracted more bugs than anything so just an FYI

Roger that.  We did have a huge rabbit in the backyard the other night....I think it was lost pet though.   

tarheelmatt

Chubbs said:

Looks great @tarheelmatt . The last thing I need in the ground are my watermelons. I am trying to find a solution to grow vertically that holds the support of the melon. I found a great idea on YouTube and will build it this week. I will post when finished then give a few pics of my completed garden. 

That was my issue with cucumbers.  I used a trellis at first and that worked okay.  Had four sections of fence to extend my dogs lot if I wanted not used.  So decided to use that with a T-post to hold it up.  It has done a great job and the cucumbers run it pretty well.  

I need to remember to do what you said above for the cucumbers.  Mine, after a while will start to yellow and dry up near the ground.  

Legume

has anyone used compost tea to treat/prevent pest and non-pest issues w/vegetables?  our local organic nursery recommends this and even sells it, but I have no experience with it.  we had lots of issues last year, used lots of sulfur dust and other chemical solutions that were just so-so

tarheelmatt

@Chubbs what do you use to tie up your plants?  

Firemanyz

@Legume try pyrethrin it is a natural bug killer. You can get it on amazon. As for compost tea I would think its only good as fertalizer not as a bug killer. 

Firemanyz

@tarheelmatt for my tomato and cucumbers I use cages made out of concrete wire. They are very strong and hold up for a long time. I use 4.5 feet of wire for each one. After the rain today or tomorrow I will go take some pictures of them to show you. 

tarheelmatt

Firemanyz said:

@tarheelmatt for my tomato and cucumbers I use cages made out of concrete wire. They are very strong and hold up for a long time. I use 4.5 feet of wire for each one. After the rain today or tomorrow I will go take some pictures of them to show you. 

I already iluse a cage and t post, but I still have to tie some. Also, my tomatoes grow higher than my t posts and cages. 

Chubbs

tarheelmatt said:

@Chubbs what do you use to tie up your plants?  

Which plants? I make trellis out metal conduit and make my own trellis netting. I will send you a link if interested. For my melons I will make an A frame out of metal fence paneling. Plants beans under so the melons shade them and then slide bamboo into the squares in the paneling to make a "cot" for the melons to sit on. For tomatoes I train them up a string and use tomato clips

Chubbs

Legume said:

has anyone used compost tea to treat/prevent pest and non-pest issues w/vegetables?  our local organic nursery recommends this and even sells it, but I have no experience with it.  we had lots of issues last year, used lots of sulfur dust and other chemical solutions that were just so-so

Compost tea is great fertilizer and will green everything up. You can use natural products to get rid of bugs. The baking soda spray will treat fungus and dish soap and antiseptic will treat bugs. Think about dish soap drying your hands. If you mix 1 TBS of dish soap into a gallon of water in a pump up sprayer the dish soap will dry out the bugs (all soft bodied insects)