2012 Gardening Thread (Read 1516 times)


Prince of Fatness

    Squash - My luck has been bad.  I am told I should try the Ortho pesticide/fungicide stuff because mind seem to get off well then right when they start putting out fruit the plant quickly dies.  I am told a worm that gets into the stem right at the ground causes this.

     

    Squash Vine Borers.  They are the reason that I do not even bother planting squash until a week or so into July..  They've gone through their life cycle by then.  You still have time to do another planting if you want to.

    Not at it at all. 


    Feeling the growl again

      Squash Vine Borers.  They are the reason that I do not even bother planting squash until a week or so into July..  They've gone through their life cycle by then.  You still have time to do another planting if you want to.

       

      If I can find seed locally, I just might.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       

        Squash Vine Borers.  They are the reason that I do not even bother planting squash until a week or so into July..  They've gone through their life cycle by then.  You still have time to do another planting if you want to.

         

        Wait, you're saying, being 1st week Aug, I can plant some squash?

        Jeff


        jules2

          I really hope I can catch the 10K swim on TV.  

           

          I'd say "what dilemma" but what do I know, I am ~1/2 Scottish.... Big grin

           

          Or half British so,you have triple Nationality. The venue for the 10k swim is the Serpentine which is an amazing lake right in the centre of London on Hyde Park. Just off to check if I've got Vine Borer as its been like the 7 plagues of Egypt this year.

          Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.


          Prince of Fatness

            Wait, you're saying, being 1st week Aug, I can plant some squash?

             

            Yep.  If you cannot find seeds check Agway.  Usually in August they will get some plants in for folks to do a late season planting.  Squash they usually have.  You should also find cole crops there, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.

            Not at it at all. 

            kcam


              How deep did you sample? Your pH is pretty hot, most plants like it about 6, some plants love acidic soils 5 ish, don't know of anything that likes 8 much. If you can get it under 7 it will help alot. At 7.5-8 a good deal of your phosphate is tied up. It is not uncommon for lawn soils around here to be high pH as they didn't stockpile the topsoil when they did house pads and backfilled with the subsoil and around here the sub is very high pH. Solutions are not as easy, in a commercial ag setting I would apply high rates of Ammonium Sulfate, which I would use in your situation also but maybe some tree leaves incorporated in the soil or try and bring in a few inches of slightly acidic soil.

              What were your N P K numbers in ppm or lbs.? Did they do a Bray Phos test? Try to get your pH Under 7. Acidic soil is easy to fix, just a little lime (Calcium Carbonate). I applaud you for testing!!

               

              I took the sample from ~4" into the soil.  You're gonna laugh but I didn't use a soil testing service (though I may go that route) but rather one of the self test kits they sell at HD so no ppm numbers (or any real quantitative analyis - all subjective color matching).  I'm going to repeat the tests a few times to get an idea of repeatability before I do much else.  My soil is heavy clay and I will for sure be trying to incorporate organic matter (I do have lots of I can use).  I've read that soil balance isn't quite so critical IF you have a high organic material content in the soil.  If you don't have sufficient organic material then the correct soil chemistry is more critical.  


              Prince of Fatness

                My soil is heavy clay and I will for sure be trying to incorporate organic matter (I do have lots of I can use).  I've read that soil balance isn't quite so critical IF you have a high organic material content in the soil.  If you don't have sufficient organic material then the correct soil chemistry is more critical.  

                 

                This is my approach.  My 300 - 400 (guessing) sq ft garden gets a couple of yards of home made compost per year, plus about the same amount of shredded leaves, plus my neighbor has a chipper so I get stuff that he chips up on occasion.  I never fertilize the garden or try to alter the PH (have never had the soil tested).  My plants thrive so I don't worry about it.  I guess that I would consider testing my soil if I had a hard time growing anything but I don't so I figure why complicate matters.

                 

                I do the same with my lawn.  Instead of using synthetic fertilizers I will go to the feed store and buy soybean, corn, or alfalfa meal and spread that on the lawn.  The cost is about the same as synthetic.  In the fall I mulch the leaves into the lawn instead of raking them and putting them at the curb.  I also cut the grass higher than most people.  What I have noticed is that my lawn is softer under foot than my neighbors' who scalp their lawns and use synthetic fertilizers.  Because I cut it high, my lawn is always the last to brown out when it gets hot and dry during the summer.

                 

                Compost is black gold.

                Not at it at all. 


                flatland mountaineer

                  I took the sample from ~4" into the soil.  You're gonna laugh but I didn't use a soil testing service (though I may go that route) but rather one of the self test kits they sell at HD so no ppm numbers (or any real quantitative analyis - all subjective color matching).  I'm going to repeat the tests a few times to get an idea of repeatability before I do much else.  My soil is heavy clay and I will for sure be trying to incorporate organic matter (I do have lots of I can use).  I've read that soil balance isn't quite so critical IF you have a high organic material content in the soil.  If you don't have sufficient organic material then the correct soil chemistry is more critical.  

                   

                  Good on your for testing and I bet you learn something with the kits. I think the pH test would be reasonably accurate, you can even buy small electronic devices to measure also. I can pretty much guess pH's on our soils by color and position on the landscape. Our soils that were eroded in the 1930's on some hillltops show a reddish color and high clay content a pretty good indication that there is a fair amount of subsoil on the surface. Yes adding organic matter will help, guessing your OM would test low. You are actually dilluting the high pH with the OM so correcting the pH to some extent.It would not be uncommon for leaves and other plant material to tie up some N until it breaks down then give you a big kick when it releases. I would add some Nitrogen in some form whether manure  or urea/ammonium nitrate cause NO3 is NO3 and the plant doesn't care whether it came from the southbound end of a northbound cow or UAN solution. Get the pH under control the phos will become much more available, reason I asked if they did a Bray 1 ( before I knew you did your own test) is not the prefered test for pH's over 7. High K levels will not hurt you unless extreme, just consider yourself fortunate. We have pretty high natural K levels here up to 500ppm so we can have our fertilzer blended without much K and save some bucks although I do like just a small amount in our starters to be readily available to small plants without very much root system development. In a commercial setting we tailor pretty exact amounts of each nutrient each particular crop but getting your pH right is probably one of most basic and most productive things you can do for your garden.

                  Good Luck on your efforts , now back to trying to figure out how to salvage whats left in this drought year for us.

                  The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!

                  Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.

                  Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that?  quote from Back to the Fut III


                  Feeling the growl again

                    While the wine grapes have about a month to go, the white table grapes were ready.  I did not feel like eating eight pounds of grapes this year, so I took a shot at making jam for the first time.  Not perfect....did two batches to get 10 jars...but I learned some lessons to make it perfect next time.

                    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                     

                    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                     

                      Just ripped up my "Mr. Stripey".  It was about 3 feet tall (half as much as some of my biggest plants), spindly, and has not had one flower on it.  (side note, this is the first time ever I have had tomato plants TALL than me...I'm 5' 10")

                       

                      I used the cage for one of my Rutgers, which has some fruit.

                       

                      Just picked my first "Jetstar".  Wonder what they taste like.

                       

                      Wow, sometimes these things grow fast.  I had a cuke yesterday that was 5 inches long.  Today it's 7 inches.  But it's thin, so I'm leaving it another day or so to see if it gets fatter.

                       

                      I've had "issues" with the cukes this year.  They aren't really climbing.  So, the cukes, while tasting OK and everything, are laying on the ground and are all sorts of weird shapes.  One actually grew into a circle.  With the ones that climb, when one sprouts, gravity does the work, and they come out nice and long, like you pick up in the store.

                       

                      Question...with the squash/zucchini...do  you just plant the seeds in the ground?  No making seedlings?

                      Jeff


                      Feeling the growl again

                         

                         

                        Question...with the squash/zucchini...do  you just plant the seeds in the ground?  

                         

                        Yes.

                        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                         

                        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                         

                          Yes.

                           

                           

                          Cool!  I'm there.  Going to buy a pack of seeds tomorrow.

                          Jeff

                          vegefrog


                            Malabar spinach is my hero! Planted it this year on a whim...I love it so much!!!!!!!

                             

                            Putting it in my smoothies, sauteeing it, in salads...

                             

                            If you live in the south and you need a spinach-like-veggie that won't bolt then this is for you!!!!

                             

                            I can send you seeds! Its easy to grow and pretty too Smile


                            Feeling the growl again

                              Cool!  I'm there.  Going to buy a pack of seeds tomorrow.

                               

                              I tried yesterday.  Can't find seeds locally.  Angry  Not sure I will have time to try again.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               


                              Feeling the growl again

                                I dug some potatoes for dinner today.  The Red Thumb fingerlings were the most died back so I dug two of those.  Yield was good, 6-8 fingerlings per bush.  I also dug two French fingerlings.  A meager 1-2 per bush.  They have not died back as much yet, so I'll give them some more time but it does not look promising for them.

                                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                                 

                                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills