2012 Gardening Thread (Read 1516 times)


jules2

    Funnily enough this side of the pond we have suffered very cold nights with hot days, two weeks ago it was below 0C at night and upto 21C during the day I can't remember such a big variation before. Spaniel be very careful with leaf mold as in my experience it causes more harm than good unless it's been rotted for several years,

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


    Feeling the growl again

       Spaniel be very careful with leaf mold as in my experience it causes more harm than good unless it's been rotted for several years,

       

      I'm taking the advice from Mr. Finn.  It gets (much) hotter and drier here than there, so I think mold should be much less of an issue.  

      "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

       


      Prince of Fatness

        The leaves that I mulch potatoes with have been sitting for a good eight months before I use them, so they are at least slightly composted. Add to that it is june when I spread them. I find that they help keep the soil cool and moist, which the potatoes love. Then when I dig the potatoes up the leaves stay and act as a soil amendment.

        Not at it at all. 

        vegefrog


          44 is NOTHING.  It was colder last night (I am west of Indy).  We had a nice wind, which helps keep frost crystals from forming.  What you need to be afraid of is sub-36/38 degree temps with no wind in low-lying areas.  I saw no frost this morning.

           

           

           

           Yep they are all fine. I usually wait @ least 2 weeks past the last frost date for my area, and this year it was so warm I jumped the gun and planted the week after last frost date. It would be my luck that Charleston has a freak cold front in April!! 

           

          I am so spoiled by this mild growing season...I have something in the ground at all times and I plant weeks before my mom in Arkansas.

           

          Weeds...I expanded out from my raised beds this year for the tresllised cucumbers, malabar spinach and long beans. I tilled and mulched but the weeds are still popping up and out growing my veggies. Is there anything that is safe to kill weed, but not vegetables?


          Feeling the growl again

              Is there anything that is safe to kill weed, but not vegetables?

             A) Mulch the snot out of them.

            B)  Preen the snot out of them.

             

            The past few years weeds have always gotten well ahead of me.  I would till the ground a couple times before planting to try to kill the early weeds, but even with a couple applications of Preen the weeds would eventually get ahead of me.

             

            This year I am trying a different strategy.  Before anything goes in the ground, I will have at least two applications of Roundup on the ground.  Then I will also till.  I will mulch the potatoes with leaves...the rest, I will TRY to be dilligent in alternating between Preen and weeding until I have firm control.

             

            Michigan was so much easier...the weeds are way, WAY worse in Indiana...

             

            MTA:  Late, warm-season grasses are the worst.  They don't come up until after I have stuff in....and then it's impossible to pull the stuff.  given that grass is a monocot I SHOULD know if there is a spray that would hit the grass but not the veggies...but I don't...

            "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

             

            vegefrog


              Yeah, my "weeds" are grasses right now. I bet there is something on the market. I just hate buying all the expensive shit and using those chemicals on my food. I usually get by with just some roundup around my beds and sevin dust once or twice a year. This year is different though because I'm dealing with new ground. Under the trellises I have swiss chard and lettuce...that is growing fast but the grass-weed is still competing and my hand picking isn't keeping up. I am going to "mulch the snot out of it" and hope that works!!!!

               

              BTW: My husbands family lives in Loogootee, IN. I have to visit once a year Wink French Lick is nice!!


              jules2

                The reason I gave my warning was a guy next to me applied a lot,of leaves and then rotavated them in and very little grew that year I always try to work my ground a couple of times before sewing ( obviously this is easier with later crops ) as this triggers a lot of the weeds to shoot so they can be dealt with easier than if there are plants amongst them. I understand some organic farms work the soil at night in the belief that it is exposure to light even if only for a second that triggers the weed seed to germinate. http://www.answers.com/topic/one-year-s-seeding-makes-seven-years-weeding

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


                flatland mountaineer

                   

                  MTA:  Late, warm-season grasses are the worst.  They don't come up until after I have stuff in....and then it's impossible to pull the stuff.  given that grass is a monocot I SHOULD know if there is a spray that would hit the grass but not the veggies...but I don't...

                   Select or a generic equivalant is lableled for a lot of brodaleaf food crops and is very effective on grasses at very low use rates, 3-8 oz per acre (43560square foot for non farm types). We will sometimes lay down a light rate of Dual II for late season grass in corn right at canopy, check label for other crops.

                   

                  Preen is treflan as I am sure you know so shallow mechanical incorporation will help it ( It is pretty insoluble) There are some pretty good post-emerge products out there now ( like Raptor + Basagran) but I don't know if they have a home gardener equivalent or if you need a applicator liscense (restricted use) to buy.

                   

                  Labels can be found on Greenbook.net.

                   

                  As far as the exposure to light thing, If that were true we would have no weeds in our no-til crops, certain species of weed it might make a difference, I don't know, never heard anything about it in my training. Length of night controls maturity on a lot of broadleaf crops however.

                   

                  I am not a CertifiedCropAdvisor so these are intended as recollections of my experience and not a recommendation per se. Alot of the products we use as commercial producers are lower use rate and safer than what a homeower can buy at the Home Depot.

                  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

                     Select or a generic equivalant is lableled for a lot of brodaleaf food crops and is very effective on grasses at very low use rates, 3-8 oz per acre (43560square foot for non farm types). We will sometimes lay down a light rate of Dual II for late season grass in corn right at canopy, check label for other crops.

                     

                    I am not a CertifiedCropAdvisor so these are intended as recollections of my experience and not a recommendation per se. Alot of the products we use as commercial producers are lower use rate and safer than what a homeower can buy at the Home Depot.

                     

                    The issue is finding such sprays in homeowner quantities.  It is generally a huge pain to go anywhere but Lowes or similar here to find stuff and they don't have what I need.  I buy glyphosate in bulk through family that still farm and a jug will last me 3 years.  Veggie tolerances also vary a lot more than standard crops.  Admittedly if I invested the time I could find the answer but I haven't looked that hard.  Wink

                    "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

                     


                    flatland mountaineer

                      The issue is finding such sprays in homeowner quantities.  

                       Yaa for sure, I give some away to friends that are not restricted use and in their original containers, ie a little bit in the bottom of a jug. Some people I wouldn't give anything stronger than coke cola too if you know what I mean.  I can't legally repackage and I have a commercial app liscense so am really careful not that I wouldn't be anyway.

                      I think Select would work for you if your dad or his neighbors would save you some. It will take roundup ready volunteer corn out of soybeans so it is widely used and in my experince is pretty easy on the labeled crops. They want crop oil with it but you could substitute cooking oil.  It has a really broad vegtable label so I think it might be useful for you. http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ld837005.pdf and like I said pretty good crop safety if your sprayer isn't terribly accurate. My biggest problem is I can apply 90 foot wide at 15 mile per hour with my big computerized sprayer much more accurately  than my little hand garden sprayer that is real easy to get too much or too little on.

                      Hope this helps good luck.

                      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

                        have day off today & looks like the 2nd & maybe last of dry/warmer weather for awhile (again) here in Seattle area.  will be getting out & "starting" to weed & prep garden.  abit late this year because of the late wet/cooler weather (again).   yesterday was warmest day of the year at near 70!    forecast today is 65 & dry with rain moving in again tomorrow (& rest of week).  May be a few weeks still for warmer weather crops to be planted outside, so might get some started indoors.  Will be spending extra time with yard care & garden prep as this is a terrible Spring for weeds & moss.  Looks like the worse in several years.  Spent extra time/$'s on yard maintenace last year with nothing to show for it this year.  ugh!  pretty much starting over.  2 mornings ago it was 31  at 6:00, yesterday it was 53 at same time.  Hopefully last of frost is over.

                         

                        have to start on pressure washing walkway/driveway/sports court as the weather has wreaked havoc on them as well too.  alot of extra work this year!!    a little each day as not so overwhelming.


                        Feeling the growl again

                          Crap.  We escaped the couple near-frosts last week, but it looks like we will have two consective nights down to 32 mid-week.  Nothing I can do to protect the grape vines.  Sad

                          "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

                           


                          Best Present Ever

                            Crap.  We escaped the couple near-frosts last week, but it looks like we will have two consective nights down to 32 mid-week.  Nothing I can do to protect the grape vines.  Sad

                             It's been hard to resist planting tender things early but we've had some near-freezes and are due for another one.  I'm glad I haven't put out non-cold-hardy things.  Local strawberries are on track to be ready about 3 weeks early, but all the farmers are very nervous about a hard freeze.  Damn weather.  Hope the grape vines make it through. 

                            vegefrog


                              I hope they are ok Spaniel Sad  I just hate that. Crazy weather!!!


                              Prince of Fatness

                                Crap.  We escaped the couple near-frosts last week, but it looks like we will have two consective nights down to 32 mid-week.  Nothing I can do to protect the grape vines.  Sad

                                 
                                Watering or covering?  As I recall you have quite a few plants.  That's one nice thing about having a smaller garden.  I've gone out on cold mornings to water tomatoes so they would not get bit.

                                 

                                I put all of the potatoes in today.  Now I wait a month or so to put the warm season stuff in.

                                Not at it at all.