Garden thread

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Replies

  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    natgurl95 wrote: »
    Those of you growing peas, did you soak the peas beforehand? I soaked the peas for 8 hours before planting, and they germinated in about 9 days.

    I usually don't plant peas. To me, they are not cost/space/labour worthy. But this year, I somehow ended up with a packet of cheapo American Seed Company peas from the dollar store. ($.25USD) I half-heartedly threw the dry seeds in some potting mix and watered generously. They all sprouted in 6 days and are growing like mad.

    I generally don't soak seeds before planting, but if I don't see more pepper sprouts soon, I may try the soak/wet paper towel method.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Any advice on forcing a sweet potato to root so we have plants this year? I remember trying last year with a regular store bought potato but all it did was rot. :/ Someone suggested getting organic potatoes?

    My mom always buys organic sweet potatoes and I'm not sure I've ever seen them sprout, unlike organic potatoes and onions, which do sprout this time of year especially.

    We always buy sweet potato "slips" for planting. These have a very short delivery window. We need to get on a list at our local nursery or buy online. ***This is also a better option because we can get breeds with a shorter growing window - 90 days is much more suitable for New England than 150.***

    Up here it's also a good idea to warm the soil ahead of planting, for example, with black plastic as described in the link. I've had good luck with Georgia Jets. My mom did not, which I attribute to her uneven watering - sweet potatoes tend to split/crack if they are very dry and then very wet. I am a much more disciplined waterer.

    https://www.mofga.org/resources/sweet-potatoes/growing-sweet-potatoes/

    https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/sweet-potatoes/sweet-potato-georgia-jet-prod000945.html

    I see some terrible reviews from last year - the slips do look pretty dead when they arrived but I put mine in water until they perk up and mine were fine.
  • ZoneFive
    ZoneFive Posts: 570 Member
    Very excited! One week after planting, I have little sprouts of eggplant (Ping tung and Astrakom), peppers (Ajvarski, jalapeno, Anaheim and poblano), and tomatoes (Brandywine, pink bumblebee and Principe Borghese). All of them leapt up in a hurry except the Astrakom and the Anaheim, which are moseying to the surface.

    I apparently oversowed the basil and the soil pellets will have to be split up before they go into the pots or beds outside. I use a lot of basil in cooking and in pesto, so I'm experimenting with Genovese, Emily, Rutgers Devotion and sweet thai basils.

    Oregano and lemongrass are sprouting happily. My other herbs are running slower: dill, thyme, chives, peppermint, spearmint and lavender.

    We have a big bed of bulbs in the front that we carved out of a swath of nameless ground cover that spilled over from our neighbor's yard. We have a few crocus, the daffodils are beginning and the tulips & lilies are coming up all green. Rain over the last several days and now it's sunny -- we should see some real blossoming starting soon.
  • Thoin
    Thoin Posts: 942 Member
    My neighbors grew the best tomatoes and all they used was an old plastic bucket. I forgot to ask what kind of soil they used before they moved. Anyone have success gowning tomatoes like this? If so I am interested in the process. The only sunny place is on my deck.
  • Thoin
    Thoin Posts: 942 Member
    Also what is the best way to grow cat grass?
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Any advice on forcing a sweet potato to root so we have plants this year? I remember trying last year with a regular store bought potato but all it did was rot. :/ Someone suggested getting organic potatoes?

    My mom always buys organic sweet potatoes and I'm not sure I've ever seen them sprout, unlike organic potatoes and onions, which do sprout this time of year especially.

    We always buy sweet potato "slips" for planting. These have a very short delivery window. We need to get on a list at our local nursery or buy online. ***This is also a better option because we can get breeds with a shorter growing window - 90 days is much more suitable for New England than 150.***

    Up here it's also a good idea to warm the soil ahead of planting, for example, with black plastic as described in the link. I've had good luck with Georgia Jets. My mom did not, which I attribute to her uneven watering - sweet potatoes tend to split/crack if they are very dry and then very wet. I am a much more disciplined waterer.

    https://www.mofga.org/resources/sweet-potatoes/growing-sweet-potatoes/

    https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/sweet-potatoes/sweet-potato-georgia-jet-prod000945.html

    I see some terrible reviews from last year - the slips do look pretty dead when they arrived but I put mine in water until they perk up and mine were fine.

    Thank you for that info. I appreciate it :)
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    I put in my cool weather crops last week-onions, lettuce, kale and peas. I also put in some new herb starts since things have gotten a little crazy in recent years and my herb garden has become unruly. I started some tomato seeds inside, but it's going to be a while before they can go out. A woman with a plot near mine put tomatoes in yesterday. It's still getting into the mid-30sF here, but she cheerfully called out, "It's never too early for tomatoes!" Hmmm... :confused: The deer have eaten most of my tulips, so I have officially given up on tulips. Next year: more daffodils.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    Thoin wrote: »
    My neighbors grew the best tomatoes and all they used was an old plastic bucket. I forgot to ask what kind of soil they used before they moved. Anyone have success gowning tomatoes like this? If so I am interested in the process. The only sunny place is on my deck.

    It mightn't have been the soil as much as added nutrients. I use MiracleGro with my container veg in plain old garden soil and get beautiful results. This year, along with the usual tomatoes, I'll be trying container eggplants for the first time.
  • TheIncredibleMissE
    TheIncredibleMissE Posts: 30 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    This year I did NOT soak my peas. Some years I do. One thing that I've also done is put them between two sheets of paper towel and get that all wet and put it in a plastic bag. As the acrospire begins to emerge, I just tear the paper and plant the pea, paper, and all. That way it doesn't disturb the tiny new hair roots.

    Ooh that's quite clever. I've done the same sprouting popcorn for microgreens but usually separate the from the paper. This is much simpler.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,473 Member
    Thoin wrote: »
    Also what is the best way to grow cat grass?

    I just stuck them in a pot, the cats pig out then I add a little more seed and put it outside until it grows a little and then bring it back in. It grows pretty fast which is nice! I'd love to hear how yours does.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,473 Member
    I've been the mad planter this year, I already have an herb garden and one of my tomato plants never died so I'm watching to see what the pieces of it do, it actually looks pretty good! I discovered my area has a Take a Plant Leaf a Plant stand and have been to more than one, I brought home cactus, succulents, and a bunch of flowers so far and left a ton of rosemary and mint for people. So far I think every single snap pea seed grew, have green beans going, squash, zucchini, Armenian Cucumbers, then a bunch more herbs I just ordered. I have 8 new tomato plants and planted Japanese purple sweet potatoes and put the leftover leaves in water so I'll see how they do, I've never grown potatoes before. Loose leaf lettuce and microgreens are happy as can be and cat grass is doing great!
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    @mpkpbk2015 Wow, you're a serious gardener!! Wish I had your inspiration and green thumb. :/

    Would love to see the flower garden at it's growth height!!
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    @mpkpbk2015 Wow, you're a serious gardener!! Wish I had your inspiration and green thumb. :/

    Would love to see the flower garden at it's growth height!!

    Reenie thank you so much, I will definitely come back to the thread then. I wasn't sure from checking out the other post if it was for vegetable gardeners or not. I am starting to dabble in herbs but it's more for companion planting and to keep the bad insects and rabbits away from my plants. I promise I will post again when I get everything out of the garage and back in the backyard where it belongs. Have a wonderful day. 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌼💐🌻💮
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,473 Member
    @mpkpbk2015 WOW, incredible! I don't know much about flowers but just discovered the Take a Plant Leaf a Plant stands in my neighborhood where people trade and have been getting flowers to try. My peonies are just about to open then I have a bunch of different seedlings but nothing like you! One of the stands is at a house with an amazing wildflower garden, I have some things from her then my lavenders are in bloom so I'm taking bouquets to everyone. I've recently picked up a snapdragon, pincushion, Bachelor Buttons, dwarf rosebush (last one died but the plant was discounted and looked sad so I brought it home) then started Cosmos, Marigolds, Calendula, Echinacea, Chamomile, and Borage. I have my veggie, herb, and succulent/catcus stuff going as well.

    I've been helping out at the food bank, I wish I could post pictures here but they always detach with my phone for some reason. I prepped cardboard for lasagna gardening/weed control then said I wanted to get dirty and worked the chicken manure into the dirt around the rows of peas. I'm disabled and can't stand long so I came home covered in dirt from scooting around on my rear!

    Next Saturday I'm planting oak trees at a park in Folsom then if I'm worn out I'll come home or go to the food bank again. I'm helping get plants and props for the food bank garden this week which will be fun.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    Thank you, I love my flowers. This year I decided to do some companion gardening with herbs to ward off rabbits and aphids and other pest. So I have been testing out some Red chili pepper, Sage, Peppermint, Yarrow, Basil, Penny Royal, Spearmint and Citronella . They are all aromatic and my garage smells really great right now I going to miss the fragrance when I move everything outside. I volunteer at our local food bank too. I wish we had an exchange or trade group in my neighborhood that sounds like fun. I post from my laptop I can never get anything to upload from my phone on to MFP. I used to grow Roses until the rabbits in my area destroyed all my babies. And Roses are very work intensive to have rabbits destroy so I gave up and went to things I can hang out of their reach. Nice chatting with you. Take care and happy planting.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    edited April 2021
    Deciding where to plant this year's sweet peas.

    The full sun location would mean placing them nearer to the road where ramblers, bicyclists, and other pests frequent. The part sun location would see sun only from dawn until about 1-2pm, but would be close to my home (fewer pests) and benefit from the morning sun reflecting off a white stucco wall. Full sun garden would mean having to build a trellis. Part-sun garden would allow me to merely lean a few poles against the wall.

    Which would be better?

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    MsCzar wrote: »
    Deciding where to plant this year's sweet peas.

    The full sun location would mean placing them nearer to the road where ramblers, bicyclists, and other pests frequent. The part sun location would see sun only from dawn until about 1-2pm, but would be close to my home (fewer pests) and benefit from the morning sun reflecting off a white stucco wall. Full sun garden would mean having to build a trellis. Part-sun garden would allow me to merely lean a few poles against the wall.

    Which would be better?

    Both. Then you'll know. 😉
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    Both. Then you'll know. 😉

    lol I was actually thinking of doing just that! I have lots of seeds - so best not to waste them.