Garden thread
Options
Replies
-
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.
I'm going to visit a gardening center soon and I definitely agree that you get way more seeds than you need in a packet, and I would and will buy seedlings in the future. In some cases seeds are good, such as my friend who shared her basil seeds with me and I offered her some of my seeds as well. I recently discovered ETSY and I'm somewhat addicted to "window shopping" there. I'm planning to buy some plants off there next month for my birthday. Strawberry is one and I want a plant, no seed, because I trust many of the growers and sometimes (not always) go with positive reviews. I don't know what else I'll get but I'm going to have some fun with it!
For strawberry plants, check to see if there is a local gardening group near you, like on FaceBook. Strawberries make "babies" and every spring and fall I give away plants. In my FB gardening group we give away lots of other plants as well.
I'll do that, thank you! I'd love to save some green 💵💚🌿!0 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.0 -
MiNinaLisa wrote: »
https://www.gardenguides.com/103499-save-cucumber-seeds.html
I found this, hopefully it'll work. Sounds like a lot of trouble versus buying seeds. 0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.
I'm going to visit a gardening center soon and I definitely agree that you get way more seeds than you need in a packet, and I would and will buy seedlings in the future. In some cases seeds are good, such as my friend who shared her basil seeds with me and I offered her some of my seeds as well. I recently discovered ETSY and I'm somewhat addicted to "window shopping" there. I'm planning to buy some plants off there next month for my birthday. Strawberry is one and I want a plant, no seed, because I trust many of the growers and sometimes (not always) go with positive reviews. I don't know what else I'll get but I'm going to have some fun with it!
For strawberry plants, check to see if there is a local gardening group near you, like on FaceBook. Strawberries make "babies" and every spring and fall I give away plants. In my FB gardening group we give away lots of other plants as well.
Is there a best time to divide the plants? This was technically my 2nd year of strawberries; the 1st year I hardly got any strawberries but this year we got quarts and quarts and they were great!! But now our strawberry bed is filled to overflowing with plants. Is it okay to wait until spring, after the snow has disappeared and the ground has warmed up some?0 -
moonangel12 wrote: »
Sadly I think that’s the case, looks very oak-ish to me@LoveyChar, do you know what type of lavendar that is? I know there are a bunch of kinds, most not hardy here. The ones I've grown have been narrow-leaved and thickly-leaved, gray-ish green foliage, and yours is very different, so I'm intrigued!
It was a seed (Sow Easy by Ferry Morse) but it only says lavender, not what type, on it. My daughter requested lavender to put under her pillow, as she heard it leads quickly to a peaceful lull. I'll be excited to see some flowers but not expecting any until spring (but not sure of that, either, as it may be sooner).
TBH, I think you have something that self seeded in your pot. The only lavender on the Ferry Morse sight has thin silvery leaves.
i was thinking the same. looks like a tree0 -
MiNinaLisa wrote: »
https://www.gardenguides.com/103499-save-cucumber-seeds.html
I found this, hopefully it'll work. Sounds like a lot of trouble versus buying seeds.
There also are a lot of hybrid varieties that don't produce viable seeds.
I don't plant enough to bother keeping seeds. I buy a packet and use it for 2 years. Yes, the second year the germination rate is about half of the first year but I still get enough for my use. I use seeds for beans, snap peas, carrots, green onions, spinach, and lettuce/greens. Everything else (herbs, tomatoes, potatoes) are either bought as bedding plants or perennial.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.
I'm going to visit a gardening center soon and I definitely agree that you get way more seeds than you need in a packet, and I would and will buy seedlings in the future. In some cases seeds are good, such as my friend who shared her basil seeds with me and I offered her some of my seeds as well. I recently discovered ETSY and I'm somewhat addicted to "window shopping" there. I'm planning to buy some plants off there next month for my birthday. Strawberry is one and I want a plant, no seed, because I trust many of the growers and sometimes (not always) go with positive reviews. I don't know what else I'll get but I'm going to have some fun with it!
For strawberry plants, check to see if there is a local gardening group near you, like on FaceBook. Strawberries make "babies" and every spring and fall I give away plants. In my FB gardening group we give away lots of other plants as well.
Is there a best time to divide the plants? This was technically my 2nd year of strawberries; the 1st year I hardly got any strawberries but this year we got quarts and quarts and they were great!! But now our strawberry bed is filled to overflowing with plants. Is it okay to wait until spring, after the snow has disappeared and the ground has warmed up some?
Strawberry plants do not divide well (the actual plant) but if you do, early spring is the best time.
When you get a pup (the baby plant at the end of a runner) you should either put it so it is in direct contact with the soil or fill a seedling pot with soil and do the same thing. As soon as the pup produces a couple of roots into the soil, cut it from the mother plant and transplant it or give it away.
If you already have pups that have rooted on their own, they are safe to transplant in a better spot/share/etc. Many with an overgrown strawberry bed find that all the excess really are grown up pups rather than overgrown mother plants.1 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.
If you're mentally committed to gardening, one thing you could consider is buying some soaker hose (pretty inexpensive) laying it out in your veggie garden, then (optionally) putting a mulch over it and planting through the mulch. The mulch holds moisture in the soil, and you can hook up your hose to the soaker periodically to deliver water right near the plants. I still do this for ornamentals (no mulch, just lay them on soil), and like using quick-connectors on the hoses so I just click the connection in place, leave the water on for a couple of hours, then move the water hose to a different set of soakers.
The soaker hoses weep water along their length, and have a cap on one end to create the pressure that makes that happen. You can connect multiples of them for more length, and just leave the cap on the last one. They're black, not very visually intrusive even without mulch over. (I'm lazy, I leave them in place in the ornamental beds until they fail, which takes multiple years in my climate, one with real Winter. If one gets a single leak, I'll wrap that spot with sturdy tape (duct tape mostly works) and keep using it.)
This soaker/mulch thing may not be a great strategy in all areas, because (depending on mulch type) the mulch might make more rain run off vs. soak in, or encourage fungal diseases . . . but in a hot, dry area, those should not be big problems. Even here in Michigan, it worked well for me, though I tended to use easily water-permeable mulch or other strategies that let rainwater reach the plants easily.
Lots of things work as a mulch. Even multiple-layers of newspaper (preferably soy-ink-printed) will work, but it's not very aesthetic. There's paper mulch commercially available, or landscape fabric of various types (reusable). Plastic might lead to too-high soil temps in your climate, but topping it with a small amount of organic mulch would counter that (and save on the cost vs. using all organic mulch (straw, bark, leaves . . . ), unless you have lots of leaves from Fall or something like that).
Just a thought.2 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.
If you're mentally committed to gardening, one thing you could consider is buying some soaker hose (pretty inexpensive) laying it out in your veggie garden, then (optionally) putting a mulch over it and planting through the mulch. The mulch holds moisture in the soil, and you can hook up your hose to the soaker periodically to deliver water right near the plants. I still do this for ornamentals (no mulch, just lay them on soil), and like using quick-connectors on the hoses so I just click the connection in place, leave the water on for a couple of hours, then move the water hose to a different set of soakers.
The soaker hoses weep water along their length, and have a cap on one end to create the pressure that makes that happen. You can connect multiples of them for more length, and just leave the cap on the last one. They're black, not very visually intrusive even without mulch over. (I'm lazy, I leave them in place in the ornamental beds until they fail, which takes multiple years in my climate, one with real Winter. If one gets a single leak, I'll wrap that spot with sturdy tape (duct tape mostly works) and keep using it.)
This soaker/mulch thing may not be a great strategy in all areas, because (depending on mulch type) the mulch might make more rain run off vs. soak in, or encourage fungal diseases . . . but in a hot, dry area, those should not be big problems. Even here in Michigan, it worked well for me, though I tended to use easily water-permeable mulch or other strategies that let rainwater reach the plants easily.
Lots of things work as a mulch. Even multiple-layers of newspaper (preferably soy-ink-printed) will work, but it's not very aesthetic. There's paper mulch commercially available, or landscape fabric of various types (reusable). Plastic might lead to too-high soil temps in your climate, but topping it with a small amount of organic mulch would counter that (and save on the cost vs. using all organic mulch (straw, bark, leaves . . . ), unless you have lots of leaves from Fall or something like that).
Just a thought.
Thank you, I do have one now but I didn't when I first started. Still not really enough plants yet to use it often but I've got one. Im glad to know mulch can be made so easily, all good stuff I learn here...0 -
So disgusted...
This morning I was telling my husband how nicely my sweet potatoes are growing, despite rodents getting to them. I went for a walk tonight, told him I'd be back before it got dark to cover up my plants since these particular rodents seem to feed at night. Well it was 7:20 pm sun still up, 15 minutes ago and I went outside to see two humongous field mice running through my raised garden bed. I was screaming at them like a maniac. So freaking gross... I am so mad. They got one of my sweet potatoe plants AGAIN! Husband wants to set traps. He's worried they'll get into the house. Also, I have so many jalapenos that I can't tell if even five are missing. Turns out they're eating those, too, as I saw one lying down below my garden bed. They go in through the back and weave up like it's nothing.2 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.
If you're mentally committed to gardening, one thing you could consider is buying some soaker hose (pretty inexpensive) laying it out in your veggie garden, then (optionally) putting a mulch over it and planting through the mulch. The mulch holds moisture in the soil, and you can hook up your hose to the soaker periodically to deliver water right near the plants. I still do this for ornamentals (no mulch, just lay them on soil), and like using quick-connectors on the hoses so I just click the connection in place, leave the water on for a couple of hours, then move the water hose to a different set of soakers.
The soaker hoses weep water along their length, and have a cap on one end to create the pressure that makes that happen. You can connect multiples of them for more length, and just leave the cap on the last one. They're black, not very visually intrusive even without mulch over. (I'm lazy, I leave them in place in the ornamental beds until they fail, which takes multiple years in my climate, one with real Winter. If one gets a single leak, I'll wrap that spot with sturdy tape (duct tape mostly works) and keep using it.)
This soaker/mulch thing may not be a great strategy in all areas, because (depending on mulch type) the mulch might make more rain run off vs. soak in, or encourage fungal diseases . . . but in a hot, dry area, those should not be big problems. Even here in Michigan, it worked well for me, though I tended to use easily water-permeable mulch or other strategies that let rainwater reach the plants easily.
I have been thinking of a soaker hose but was worried a little about fungus so it is good to know you have success since you are in the same zone as me (5 correct?). Every spring, after I lay down my mulch, I get some mushrooms growing but by mid-June they are gone. I know their spores come in with the mulch. The year I had slime mold was the worst. It does not adversely affect anything, just looks like a big patch of grayish-yellow dog vomit under the tomatoes.
I do need to have access to a sprayer for my containers so I think I may do a splitter and have 2 hoses. I also have been kicking around having a mister for the hummingbirds since the feeder is in the garden and I have a lot of flowers that attract them. Each year I get more and more hummers.
All of this is in the future, though. My outdoor faucets leak and need replacing but I am replacing all my windows in October and need some electrical work done too. Finances for plumbing aren't there yet.
3 -
I have run a water conservation program for 20 years. There's better options that soaker hose, or as some call it "leaky pipe."
The problem with soaker hose is that it doesn't provide a consistent amount of water. That's partially because pressure drops from one end to the other. It's also because the holes aren't consistent. Over time they can also develop larger holes and cuts. To some degree, water moves horizontally in soil, so some of this non-uniform application resolves itself. Until recently, I did still use one length of leaky pipe to irrigate an area of grapes that I wasn't too concerned how uniform the coverage was since I'd laid the hose back and forth to use the entire hose just for the grapes. I've pulled the rest out of the ground.
A better solution is "dripperline" or "drip tape." I think that's the generic terms. I think the first one was called Netafim, and it was a game-changer in efficient irrigation. It is a plastic pipe or tape with regularly-spaced pressure-compensated emitters. Depending on soil type, you can get them with different spacing of the emitters so you get a good, even, full coverage of water without any waste. Because they are emitters rather than just perforations, they provide a specific amount of water over time (rated in gallons per hour).
Of course you then also have to know what soil type you have so you can figure out how much water it can hold and run the system only long enough to refill the soil water reservoir so you don't waste water and leach all the nutrition you're giving to your plants.
You'll also want to flush the pipes from time to time, just like you would do with a traditional drip system. Traditional drip systems are also good approaches. One nice thing about the dripperline is that if you install it under mulch, you don't have get the mulch wet before water gets to the soil. You still get the benefits of mulch without having to water it. You can even bury it under the soil to reduce evaporation from the soil surface and maximize water getting to the root zone.
You'll want to have a water source other than an above-ground hose to feed the system unless you only water early in the morning before the sun starts baking. The water in a hose in the sun can get hot enough to damage your plants.
I actually find it's therapeutic to hand-water. That's usually what I do. The hard part is knowing how much to apply to fill the root zone reservoir but no more. I always want to encourage deep roots, especially for plants that can grow them. Tomatoes root two feet or more. Radish, not so much. So you might need to irrigate different parts of your garden differently.
TL:DR - look for drip tape or dripper line and skip the soaker hose.0 -
I have run a water conservation program for 20 years. There's better options that soaker hose, or as some call it "leaky pipe."
The problem with soaker hose is that it doesn't provide a consistent amount of water. That's partially because pressure drops from one end to the other. It's also because the holes aren't consistent. Over time they can also develop larger holes and cuts. To some degree, water moves horizontally in soil, so some of this non-uniform application resolves itself. Until recently, I did still use one length of leaky pipe to irrigate an area of grapes that I wasn't too concerned how uniform the coverage was since I'd laid the hose back and forth to use the entire hose just for the grapes. I've pulled the rest out of the ground.
A better solution is "dripperline" or "drip tape." I think that's the generic terms. I think the first one was called Netafim, and it was a game-changer in efficient irrigation. It is a plastic pipe or tape with regularly-spaced pressure-compensated emitters. Depending on soil type, you can get them with different spacing of the emitters so you get a good, even, full coverage of water without any waste. Because they are emitters rather than just perforations, they provide a specific amount of water over time (rated in gallons per hour).
Of course you then also have to know what soil type you have so you can figure out how much water it can hold and run the system only long enough to refill the soil water reservoir so you don't waste water and leach all the nutrition you're giving to your plants.
You'll also want to flush the pipes from time to time, just like you would do with a traditional drip system. Traditional drip systems are also good approaches. One nice thing about the dripperline is that if you install it under mulch, you don't have get the mulch wet before water gets to the soil. You still get the benefits of mulch without having to water it. You can even bury it under the soil to reduce evaporation from the soil surface and maximize water getting to the root zone.
You'll want to have a water source other than an above-ground hose to feed the system unless you only water early in the morning before the sun starts baking. The water in a hose in the sun can get hot enough to damage your plants.
I actually find it's therapeutic to hand-water. That's usually what I do. The hard part is knowing how much to apply to fill the root zone reservoir but no more. I always want to encourage deep roots, especially for plants that can grow them. Tomatoes root two feet or more. Radish, not so much. So you might need to irrigate different parts of your garden differently.
TL:DR - look for drip tape or dripper line and skip the soaker hose.
I agree that that's a better solution, but it's also logistically more difficult and a somewhat bigger commitment, IMO. Soaker hose is cheap, easy, better for most plants than top watering, saves water vs. top watering in many cases, saves time vs. hand-watering with hose let alone carried water.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your recommendation, either. It will be higher performing, for sure.
0 -
So disgusted...
This morning I was telling my husband how nicely my sweet potatoes are growing, despite rodents getting to them. I went for a walk tonight, told him I'd be back before it got dark to cover up my plants since these particular rodents seem to feed at night. Well it was 7:20 pm sun still up, 15 minutes ago and I went outside to see two humongous field mice running through my raised garden bed. I was screaming at them like a maniac. So freaking gross... I am so mad. They got one of my sweet potatoe plants AGAIN! Husband wants to set traps. He's worried they'll get into the house. Also, I have so many jalapenos that I can't tell if even five are missing. Turns out they're eating those, too, as I saw one lying down below my garden bed. They go in through the back and weave up like it's nothing.
My Garden Guard Cat
He's using the mulch by the back shed as a litter box, but I'm fine with that, because a wood chuck lives under there, and she used to tunnel into the yard from that exact spot.7 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.
If you're mentally committed to gardening, one thing you could consider is buying some soaker hose (pretty inexpensive) laying it out in your veggie garden, then (optionally) putting a mulch over it and planting through the mulch. The mulch holds moisture in the soil, and you can hook up your hose to the soaker periodically to deliver water right near the plants. I still do this for ornamentals (no mulch, just lay them on soil), and like using quick-connectors on the hoses so I just click the connection in place, leave the water on for a couple of hours, then move the water hose to a different set of soakers.
The soaker hoses weep water along their length, and have a cap on one end to create the pressure that makes that happen. You can connect multiples of them for more length, and just leave the cap on the last one. They're black, not very visually intrusive even without mulch over. (I'm lazy, I leave them in place in the ornamental beds until they fail, which takes multiple years in my climate, one with real Winter. If one gets a single leak, I'll wrap that spot with sturdy tape (duct tape mostly works) and keep using it.)
This soaker/mulch thing may not be a great strategy in all areas, because (depending on mulch type) the mulch might make more rain run off vs. soak in, or encourage fungal diseases . . . but in a hot, dry area, those should not be big problems. Even here in Michigan, it worked well for me, though I tended to use easily water-permeable mulch or other strategies that let rainwater reach the plants easily.
Lots of things work as a mulch. Even multiple-layers of newspaper (preferably soy-ink-printed) will work, but it's not very aesthetic. There's paper mulch commercially available, or landscape fabric of various types (reusable). Plastic might lead to too-high soil temps in your climate, but topping it with a small amount of organic mulch would counter that (and save on the cost vs. using all organic mulch (straw, bark, leaves . . . ), unless you have lots of leaves from Fall or something like that).
Just a thought.
Thank you, I do have one now but I didn't when I first started. Still not really enough plants yet to use it often but I've got one. Im glad to know mulch can be made so easily, all good stuff I learn here...
BTW: Another cheap-cr*p but ugly improvement for hilled things (like if you grow cukes or other vining things in hills) or individual plants like peppers/tomatoes is, at planting time, to set a plastic milk jug in each hill or quite close to each plant, slightly buried. Put small hole(s) in the jug bottom. (May take some experimenting to get the right size holes.) Then, water the plant by filling the jug, letting it seep out slowly. You can either cut the top off the jug for easier filling, and use very small hole(s), or keep the cap on the jug and loosen it just enough to let air in to replace the water as it drips out.
None of this is as attractive or functionally excellent as what mtaratoot is saying. I was kind of the queen of cheap improvised ugly gardening approaches. (My neighbors don't care.)2 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
I do agree with you about the water. However I need to clarify that I meant quantity, not quality, in this case. I'd water in June, and in subsequent months, in the morning. Heat and sun would dry everything up so soon and I'd water again and it would evaporate so soon. I just gave up after...probably after 10 days. Our grass was and is straw. This is not rare for our summers. Then September 1st, we got rain due to the hurricane and usually if we get any rain at all here, it's barely a 2 minute mist. But we got abundant rain for a few days, which is a rare blessing for us. It's nothing to have 105-110 degree days here in the summer. We've had higher, even. But it makes watering difficult, especially for vulnerable plants or seeds. I tried to plant plants that do well in heat. Sweet potatoes love the warm ground and I could probably get away with growing them here year round. I ran a Marathon down here in February on a 72 degree day and at my December college graduation in 2015, I wore a short skirt it was so darn warm. My dad has vacationed down here in winter months where we're sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts. Anyway, this rain is so nice. We're expected to get some today. Let it rain, let it rain.
If you're mentally committed to gardening, one thing you could consider is buying some soaker hose (pretty inexpensive) laying it out in your veggie garden, then (optionally) putting a mulch over it and planting through the mulch. The mulch holds moisture in the soil, and you can hook up your hose to the soaker periodically to deliver water right near the plants. I still do this for ornamentals (no mulch, just lay them on soil), and like using quick-connectors on the hoses so I just click the connection in place, leave the water on for a couple of hours, then move the water hose to a different set of soakers.
The soaker hoses weep water along their length, and have a cap on one end to create the pressure that makes that happen. You can connect multiples of them for more length, and just leave the cap on the last one. They're black, not very visually intrusive even without mulch over. (I'm lazy, I leave them in place in the ornamental beds until they fail, which takes multiple years in my climate, one with real Winter. If one gets a single leak, I'll wrap that spot with sturdy tape (duct tape mostly works) and keep using it.)
This soaker/mulch thing may not be a great strategy in all areas, because (depending on mulch type) the mulch might make more rain run off vs. soak in, or encourage fungal diseases . . . but in a hot, dry area, those should not be big problems. Even here in Michigan, it worked well for me, though I tended to use easily water-permeable mulch or other strategies that let rainwater reach the plants easily.
Lots of things work as a mulch. Even multiple-layers of newspaper (preferably soy-ink-printed) will work, but it's not very aesthetic. There's paper mulch commercially available, or landscape fabric of various types (reusable). Plastic might lead to too-high soil temps in your climate, but topping it with a small amount of organic mulch would counter that (and save on the cost vs. using all organic mulch (straw, bark, leaves . . . ), unless you have lots of leaves from Fall or something like that).
Just a thought.
Thank you, I do have one now but I didn't when I first started. Still not really enough plants yet to use it often but I've got one. Im glad to know mulch can be made so easily, all good stuff I learn here...
BTW: Another cheap-cr*p but ugly improvement for hilled things (like if you grow cukes or other vining things in hills) or individual plants like peppers/tomatoes is, at planting time, to set a plastic milk jug in each hill or quite close to each plant, slightly buried. Put small hole(s) in the jug bottom. (May take some experimenting to get the right size holes.) Then, water the plant by filling the jug, letting it seep out slowly. You can either cut the top off the jug for easier filling, and use very small hole(s), or keep the cap on the jug and loosen it just enough to let air in to replace the water as it drips out.
None of this is as attractive or functionally excellent as what mtaratoot is saying. I was kind of the queen of cheap improvised ugly gardening approaches. (My neighbors don't care.)
This is also good for thirsty things in soils that don't take up water that fast. Like tomatoes in clay. But best with a four- or five-gallon bucket!
I keep threatening to put a drip system together. I haven't done it, although I have some components. Hand watering lets me spend time with the plants every few days. Today I actually did overhead watering on the tomatoes because I wanted to wash the ash off of them. It's crazy out here right now. This is my street during mid-day:
5 -
I will be keeping the dehydrator INDOORS. Walking outside the air tastes like licking a black stick from yesterday's campfire. I wonder if my Chojuro Asian pears will have a smoky flavor; I loaded the drier up with 100 Italian prune plums a couple days ago.
They were done today. I took them out and filled it up with ripe pears.
I still have more plums to turn into prunes, but I decided I should get after the pears while I can. They get done in ten hours or so; the prunes take two days.5 -
Well, I don't know if it was just ashfall, or if it was the powdery mildew, or if it was just the time of year. My lemon cucumber quit putting on flower and was entering senescence. So I harvested all the remaining fruit, made some quick pickle, and cut away the vines.
I had planted beets underneath. Some had sprouted, but they didn't look so good. I went ahead and planted some more. I also replanted more beets, spinach, radish, snap peas, and lettuce. There's a few places in the garden where the spinach are already coming up. The bed with snap peas looks reasonably good. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to put a few more seeds out now that we had a good soaking rain. The soil was very nice and soft, and we're going to have some decent weather with rain and warmth for a while.
I picked the last four gallons of Chojuro pears today. I read they can hold for five weeks, so I'm going to pick the most bug-free specimens and put 'em in the fridge to eat over the next month. The rest will go into the dehyrdator.
I picked the last of the prune plums a few days ago. They're all done.
I made care packages for some neighbors. Each got a pint of cherry tomato quick pickle with a few varieties of tomato plus a few green tomatoes. The green tomatoes are an experiment. I love pickled green tomatoes, but I've only ever done them as salt fermented, not vinegar quick pickle. I also loaded them up with some dried Chojuro pear, some dried prune, and a wee little bit of crispy dried raspberry. I packed up some fresh Chojuro for the neighbor that didn't get any yet.
I was pleasantly surprised when one of the neighbors left me several big, ripe, fat, juicy heirloom tomatoes of some variety or another. So delicious. Many of my slicing tomatoes have blossom end rot. Then I got a special delivery of a hunk of Stromboli made with garden-fresh basil pesto, garden fresh zucchini, garden fresh fennel, and homemade red sauce. They "cheated" and bought some pre-made dough. It was delicious.
I'm getting a few figs now. Yum! I hope they keep coming and I can beat the starlings to 'em.
All of this is possible now that the bad air has, at least for now, moved off. It's so nice to smell the autumn in the air. I have one pumpkin that's fully orange, and a second that's just starting to get color. I went out a month ago and scratched some art into the second one. It's scarred up, and it will already have a "face" even without carving it next month.
How's YOUR garden?3 -
@mtaratoot Wow, impressive with how much you do!!
We got a good frost the other night so I picked most all the vines/plants out. I've been freezing tomatoes like crazy and still have several cucumbers in the fridge to eat. I ended up with 10 small pumpkins, with 2 that are still green. Green peppers were a waste of time because I think we only got 4 off 1 plant.
I have a question: I've still got a couple dozen big tomatoes on the vines out there and even though the plants themselves look dead, the tomatoes are green and look okay; will they still ripen up or did they probably get ruined in the frost?
Everything was slow to come this year so it took them longer to ripen. 0 -
Regarding green tomatoes; a couple things:
First, if there's any color on them at all, you can ripen them inside. In my climate, it's recommended to do a final ripening inside anyway. Even most of the summer, we have cool eve. If nighttime temperatures drop to the 50s or lower, the fruit makes starch instead of sugar. Bringing the fruits inside to ripen makes them sweeter than letting them ripen on the vine. That's not the case everywhere, but it is here. Even if there's no color, they will probably ripen if you keep them in a warm place out of direct sunlight.
Second, you can use them green. Two staples are pickled green tomatoes and fried green tomatoes. Fried tomatoes are a treat, but I don't make them. For pickling, I prefer to ferment them in a salt brine. Wash the tomatoes, remove any green stem, prick one or two tiny holes so the brine can get in, and put them in a five-gallon bucket with a salt brine. Put a plate on top of the fruit, and weigh it down with a jar of brine or a plastic bag filled with brine. You want to keep the fruit completely submerged. Check twice a day and remove any odd growth. When they are done, you can jar them (if you already have jars because that's what nobody can find now) and keep them in the fridge or you can process them to make them shelf-stable. You can also just make vinegar pickles, but I find fermented pickles way tastier. The lactic acid that is created from bacteria is a milder tasting acid, and the results are probiotic if you don't process them. I think you can quarter the tomatoes before pickling, but I like to do them whole. Definitely prick a hole or two - I didn't do that one year, and the whole batch rotted.
I am curious how the green cherry tomato quick pickles will turn out. If they're good, I know I have SCADS of them left on the vines.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 916 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions