Forums >Off the Beaten Path>2011 Gardening Thread
I just learnt last year it's not a good idea to plant cauliflower (or was it cabbage), The caterpillars just love that plant. One day it looks good, next day all the leaves are gone. I try not to spray stuff on the veggies, Roses and other flowers are fair game, I hate aphids and Japanese Beetles.
I poked around the rutgers coop site just a little bit last night - it was ok, maybe some stuff I'll actually print out. I just tend to like books better - with pictures I would love to take the gardener class they have - but it was in March. Maybe I'll poke around and try to find one around here, or maybe for next year at least.
Do you just put the potatoes in the ground? Yep, pretty much. About 4 inches deep 16 inches apart is what I do. If the potatoes are big I cut them in half, just making sure that there is an eye on each side. If they are smaller I just throw them in whole. Ones you bought from the store? or do you buy something "special"? The ones at the grocery store are generally sprayed with something that prevents them from sprouting. They sprout from the eyes. You need to buy seed potatoes. They are not sprayed. Do you have a local Agway down there? That's where I got mine. Call around different garden centers or nurseries and ask for seed potatoes. I would be surprised if you could not find them.
Do you just put the potatoes in the ground?
Yep, pretty much. About 4 inches deep 16 inches apart is what I do. If the potatoes are big I cut them in half, just making sure that there is an eye on each side. If they are smaller I just throw them in whole.
Ones you bought from the store? or do you buy something "special"?
The ones at the grocery store are generally sprayed with something that prevents them from sprouting. They sprout from the eyes. You need to buy seed potatoes. They are not sprayed. Do you have a local Agway down there? That's where I got mine. Call around different garden centers or nurseries and ask for seed potatoes. I would be surprised if you could not find them.
Yeah, I got an Agway. There are still plenty of farms down here.
Here's another question. I started tomato and peppers by seed. There are a few pots where I acidentally put in more than one seed, and, of course, more than one plant is coming up. If I twist them (or something) will they become one plant, or should I just pull the extras out?
Jeff
That's what the Rutger's link is. It is a cooperative extension, I believe, and they have locations throughout the state (I think). I have never interacted with them directly, but there is lots of documentation online that I have referenced.
Rutgers even has a few patented varieties of vegetables. Asparagus and, of course, tomatoes come to mind. I used to drive by their place in Cream Ridge on the way home from work.
Prince of Fatness
I would pull the extras out. BTW, when I plant stuff from seed, I purposely throw two seeds in each container, just as a safeguard in case one does not germinate. Most times I get two plants and pull one out. Sometimes I just get one. Very rarely will at least one plant not come up.
Not at it at all.
That ended up happening just because I was lazy. With my tomatoes, almost every pot has 2 or 3 sprouts in it. My peppers...not so much, I have a few that haven't sprouted at all, which is a bummer. I'm all about peppers.
The rosemary I started...out of the 18 pots, only 3 of them have sprouted. What the heck is that all about?
Took a look yesterday evening and noticed some potato plants. I also noticed a lot of weeds. Unfortunately all of my allotted time in the yard has been devoted to cutting the grass. With all of the rain we have been getting I have needed to cut it twice a week. Tomatoes go in within a couple of weeks. There was frost on the ground this morning so not yet.
Feeling the growl again
We just had what should be our last light frost yesterday. A couple years in a row when we moved here I made the mistake of rushing the garden in the first week of May....had to replant both times. Now I just wait a couple extra weeks.
The kitchen garden is worked and I put that black ground cloth stuff down and mulch on top...need to get some more mulch for it. What we put in there will be ZERO weeding, yay. I figure tomatoes and stuff will go in next week.
My tractor is down while I figure out a fuel problem, hopefully I will have the new filters in by next week so I can brushhog the bigger garden and get ready for corn....if it stops raining. I still have a spot by my pond that I haven't been able to get into to mow due to standing water.
Spud, just do like me and don't fertilize, it slows down the grass. Sure, after the really hard drought last year my lawn looks like crap but I only have to mow 1X per week. If I actually sprayed and killed the dandelions I would probably need to throw out more seed to make it look green again.
I have not checked the grapevines for frost damage, and the apple trees were flowering, so I hope it's all ok. I have been too busy planting 10 blue spruce in our windbreak (for the third time, stupid drought) and now 10 white pine (future Christmas trees) to look.
"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
Dude, we have had a lot of rain and enough warm sunny days that the grass is going nuts. I did throw some soybean meal down on the grass, but that is slow acting.
I've had problems with that black stuff. If not careful the clay underneath bakes and it is like walking on a brick sidewalk. I didn't mulch much over it .... maybe that keeps it from drying out as fast.
The mulch is because I was afraid of exactly the problem you described. I'm using the cheap light-colored mulch. It should be cooler on the plants than even the black soil here.
We have not had the heat problem with our lawn...that is next week but the last few have been unseasonably cool.
The potatoes are coming along nicely. It looks like everything that I planted came up. Over the weekend I mulched them with some shredded leaves. I will do that again after they grow some more.
I bought a few tomato plants and will put them in over the next several days. I also bought some annual flowers for around the house. We are not supposed to get frost for the next week so I think that we are just about out of the woods with that. Soon I will need to start thinking about getting some seeds to plant some squash and beans.
All this and I have to find time to mow the grass twice a week. It is growing like mad with all the rain we have been getting.
jules2
My potatoes are quite high and fingers crossed we don't get a frost as we can sometimes get them as late as early June this side of the pond.
My greenhouse and frame is stuffed to the gills as we have had hot dry weather for weeks and everything has grown too large too early and I don't want to risk putting the tomatoes, beans, squash and peppers out.
But the upside is that the asparagus has been wonderful and came in season at least two weeks early.
We urgently need some rain as we haven't had any for weeks. I have a 100 mile hilly sportif in a couple of weeks so no doubt we will have a cloud burst then.
Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.
Here's a question for you guys.
I have a tiny bit room left in my garden (and am actually thinking about taking the rosemary out and putting it in a container, which will give me even more). So I bought 2 cucumber plants for $1.50 each. What is the yield of these guys (on average)? I have room for 2 more. Should I "risk" it? I have heard horror stories about people being overrun with cukes and zuchinni.
Is two plants enough? They're only $1.50, should I go for two more? They are vining, so there's not really a real estate issue. They'll go up, not out. And, also, how high will they get?
And, yes, I know this all has to do with the variety I bought, just just give averages, if you would please.
Thanks
MTA: Some of my tomatoes are doing good. Some, not so much. Not that their dying or anything, but their shafts aren't that thick, and they're having problems standing up. The romas (plum) are the ones that are doing well. The regular old beefsteaks from Burpee are the ones that look a little limp.
My peppers, they are growing VERY slowly. They're only like 6 inches high, but seem to be healthy. Broccoli and lettuce, which I only got in last week, (yes, I know I should have planted these a month ago) seem to be good. Although I'm concerned because last time I did broccoli, it grew very well, but got eaten by some nasty bastard bugs.
Picture of my garden. Tomatoes in foreground. Spuds in the back. Hard to see the flowers but they are there. I should be able to dig some up by around the July 4 holiday. Still no squash or beans planted. I need to work on that.
MTA: Pay no attention to the shaggy lawn. I cut it after I took the picture.