What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

if it warms early I'll turn it then, but otherwise, I just won't add as much 'stuff'----I usually add a lot, and if I added all that I normally do in the fall, it may do something to the roots

I found that adding blood meal helped with breaking down soil additives.

 

[lisab]

If it makes a difference, we've had a very, very mild winter here in Western Washington...typical of an El Nino winter. So, the soil isn't as cold as it usually is.

 

[Andre]

Me too, somehow . Anyone have any suggestions?

Just skip it and don't do it in spring time. The good reasons for doing it in autumn turn into bad reasons not to do it in spring. For instance getting old dormant but vital weed seeds exposed who love germinating in the right time for the season.

Moreover I believe you did your garden last year with a picture series?

 

[turbo]

If it makes a difference, we've had a very, very mild winter here in Western Washington...typical of an El Nino winter. So, the soil isn't as cold as it usually is.

If the soil is still workable and you want to spade in some well-rotted manure or compost, go for it. The reason that fall is such a handy time to incorporate amendments is that much of the garden spot has been cleared of plants, giving better access to the soil. Still, there is micro-biological activity going on in there, although at slower rates than when the soil is warmer.

I am pretty much constrained to fall when adding large amounts of manure, etc, because in the spring-time my lawn and garden are VERY wet, limiting truck and loader access. Apart from that limitation, I would have no hesitation to till in a truckload of rotted manure in the spring, before planting. One caveat - when added rich sources of nitrogen to your garden soil you may get the unintended effect of low yields from your chilies and sweet peppers. With excess nitrogen, pepper plants can get full and leafy, and resist flowering. It seems counter-intuitive, but peppers flower and set on fruit more densely when they are stressed (heat, semi-dry soil, limited available nitrogen).

 

[rewebster]

yeah--tomatoes can grow in a swamp, but peppers seem to like to be treated like a drier weather weed-----

that's one reason I had separated raised beds to keep the tomatoes apart---soak the tomatoes day and night, then give the peppers a 'rinsing'

 

[rewebster]

I have heard the same thing, but I have a hard time coughing up $35 for one male and one female vine. So many "cold-hardy" vines and trees just don't survive here. We are supposedly Zone 4, but I find that claims of cold-hardiness on the part of commercial nurseries are just hype, and can lead one into some very costly mistakes.

Ok---it may just be cheaper to buy them then--thanks both

 

[turbo]

yeah--tomatoes can grow in a swamp, but peppers seem to like to be treated like a drier weather weed-----

that's one reason I had separated raised beds to keep the tomatoes apart---soak the tomatoes day and night, then give the peppers a 'rinsing'

If you can, water the tomato plants in the morning, so that the water will run off/evaporate during the day. Leaving your plants damp at night can lead to late blight, powdery mildew, and other problems. Normally, that's not a problem here, but our cool wet summer caused a LOT of tomato and potato crops to fail due to blight, and lots of folks had to pull their green bean and tomato plants and burn them to prevent the spread of powdery mildew. If you'd prefer, you can lay perforated hoses on the soil right next to the tomato plants and water them without wetting the leaves.

One vector for blight was a large nursery (Bonnie Plants) that sold tomato seedlings to WalMart, Agway, garden supply shops, etc. They were contaminated with late blight spores, and in the damp summer, that spread to vast potato fields in Aroostook county, causing tremendous damage. Potato is the king crop up there. The public schools close for a couple of weeks during the harvest because sorting potatoes segregating diseased/damaged ones is labor intensive and they need all the kids they can get to help get the harvest in.

 

[Astronuc]

Last week, we had three or four nights where the low temperature was about 2 +/- 2°F. My kale plants did not freeze. Not only have they survived, they seem to be growing still. There seems to be some peripheral growth along the stalks.

Interesting plant.

 

[Dembadon]

My wife and I planted a wisteria vine in our backyard last summer. We are also using a trellis so that it won't fall in love with the nearby fence and rip it apart. Currently, there are no signs that it has survived the winter; it is completely brown. How hardy are they? We've gotten mixed responses from "professionals." Is it supposed to stay green through the winter?

We have a dwarf nectarine tree which has survived two winters here. It's a tough little bugger!

 

[dlgoff]

My wife and I planted a wisteria vine in our backyard last summer. We are also using a trellis so that it won't fall in love with the nearby fence and rip it apart. Currently, there are no signs that it has survived the winter; it is completely brown. How hardy are they? We've gotten mixed responses from "professionals." Is it supposed to stay green through the winter?

My parents have a wisteria vine that's been doing well for probably 40 years now. Here in Kansas we get sub-zero temperatures, so they are very hardy (once established I guess). However they don't stay green in the winter, but loose their leaves and appear to be dead until spring.

 

[MotoH]

My garden grows quite well, thank you for asking.

 

[turbo]

My garden grows quite well, thank you for asking.

Do you actually grow anything? If so, here is the place to share tips.

 

[Evo]

My parents have a wisteria vine that's been doing well for probably 40 years now. Here in Kansas we get sub-zero temperatures, so they are very hardy (once established I guess). However they don't stay green in the winter, but loose their leaves and appear to be dead until spring.

My mother and I both grew wisteria in Houston, TX and even there they lose their leaves and go dormant in the winter. I'm amazed that they grow here dl, but I did see a magnolia tree here and was shocked, it was huge.

 

[turbo]

There is a very pretty magnolia tree in back of the greenhouse on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono. They are tough trees with wonderful blooms. The organist in my old band was a horticulture major, and he lived in an apartment at the greenhouse, and kept an eye on things.

My wife and I are planning our garden now and will order seeds soon. If the economy stays in the tank, it's going to be very tough finding popular seeds later in the year, so we'll order early and store the seeds in one of the freezers until we're ready to start our seedlings in the greenhouse and/or direct-seed into the garden. Last year, the germination rate for pickling cucumbers was very poor and I had a hell of a time finding more seeds. Lots of people planted gardens last year, and many of them lost their seeds to poor germination in the cold wet soil.

 

[MotoH]

It is a family garden, but our carrots and cucumbers grow excellently. Must be the soil and the weather since we just water them.
to keep deer out of garden: Use irish spring soap. deer absolutely hate it.

 

[dlgoff]

My mother and I both grew wisteria in Houston, TX and even there they lose their leaves and go dormant in the winter. I'm amazed that they grow here dl, but I did see a magnolia tree here and was shocked, it was huge.

Probably not as shocking, but Mimosa Trees also grow here in Kansas.

BTW Did you move? Haven't seen you around much lately. You okay?

 

[Evo]

Probably not as shocking, but Mimosa Trees also grow here in Kansas.

BTW Did you move? Haven't seen you around much lately. You okay?

Haven't moved, but I've been sick.

 

[dlgoff]

Haven't moved, but I've been sick.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you are feeling better. Maybe we can chat a little tomorrow.

 

[Evo]

Sorry to hear that. I hope you are feeling better. Maybe we can chat a little tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to chat.

 

[turbo]

My head is swimming after spending much of the afternoon buried in seed catalogs. Too many choices. Since my garden was torn up during the time when I should have been planting garlic, my neighbor gave me the use of his garden-spot for my garlic. He's putting an addition on his house next year, and won't have time to do gardening. I'm planning on planting extras of everything to supply him and the family with vegetables during the next season. Now, if we can only get a "normal" summer. When the septic work was all done, I tilled 14 yards of coarse sand and 14 yards of rotted cow manure into my garden spot to improve drainage and add nutrients back to the soil. I haven't used any chemical fertilizers or pesticides on my garden spot, just manure, compost, etc, so the soil is nice and black and rich.

The previous owner knew NOTHING about proper gardening, and he added lime every year, and dowsed everything with Miracle Gro. I did a soil test the first year and found that the garden spot was so alkaline that I had to pay $$$ for powdered elemental sulfur just to get the pH down into a reasonable range.

Another old fellow up the road has been doing the same foolishness, and his wife asked me to test their soil. Once again, too alkaline. Some people have no understanding of how pH can affect the availability and uptake of nutrients, and you can't teach them if they are set in their ways.

 

[rewebster]

Haven't moved, but I've been sick.

my, oh boy (girl), not good!----hope you're feeling better soon----is it the flu?

 

[Evo]

my, oh boy (girl), not good!----hope you're feeling better soon----is it the flu?

No, I'm falling apart.

 

[Evo]

Ok, I promised to post some pictures a week or two ago, here they are.

I thought the way the snow was melting was interesting, so I got my camera, and luckily just when I went to snap the picture, a bird ran over and looked down, just in time to give the photo some interest, look at those cute toes!

This is the one I mentioned in chat. I was taking pictures of the snow and snapped these two one after the other. Oddly there appears to be a fog in the first shot which is gone a few seconds later in the second shot. Could the fog be a camera glitch, it seems to be thicker in some areas, I just thought it was strange.

 

[rewebster]

its the ghost of your pepper plant

(probably the furnace venting)



are you getting some help or do you need it right now?

 

[Evo]

its the ghost of your pepper plant

(probably the furnace venting)

No, that's a post on the outside of my patio, there is nothing else there.

 

[rewebster]

it may have been snow falling from the bird leaving the plant---the bird is flying away, its in the upper right hand corner, in front of one of the trees near the snow line


are you getting some help or do you need it right now?

 

[Evo]

it may have been snow falling from the bird leaving the plant---the bird is flying away, its in the upper right hand corner, in front of one of the trees near the snow line


are you getting some help or do you need it right now?

The bird flew off from another point on the patio.

Help with what, the picture?

 

[rewebster]

Haven't moved, but I've been sick.

No, I'm falling apart.

are you OK?

 

[Evo]

are you OK?

I'm getting old.

 

[rewebster]

I'm getting old.

meaning? what?---you don't want to be a grandmother someday?

 

[baywax]

I'm getting old.

Hello Evo!

you know you're getting old when you say "I'm getting old" so... stop that!

the fog looks like its on the lens... like a drop or a smudge.

 

[Evo]

the fog looks like its on the lens... like a drop or a smudge.

But the second clear picture was taken about 10 seconds later, so that's not it either. I was just randomly snapping pictures of the snow that had objects with which to gauge the depth. The picture taken a few seconds before the one with the fog was perfectly clear also.

 

[turbo]

I just ordered my seeds for next summer's garden. I have about 1/2 of what I'll need already in the freezer, and many of the seeds I needed are for things that we'll be starting in the greenhouse that we would normally buy as seedlings or direct seed. Tomatoes and chilies will get stated from seed, and pickling cukes, and squash will get a head-start in the greenhouse instead of waiting for appropriate soil temperatures for germination after direct-seeding.

I'm pretty psyched about gardening this year, especially after seeing the quality of the soil after amending it with manure and sand and deep-tilling.

 

[Evo]

Looks like it will be awesome turbo. I hope the weather is more cooperative this year.

Of course the groundhog did predict a late spring.

 

[turbo]

Looks like it will be awesome turbo. I hope the weather is more cooperative this year.

Of course the groundhog did predict a late spring.

I don't care if it's a late spring, as long as we get an actual summer this year. Chilies need sun and warm temperatures to do their best. I can live with a light crop of tomatoes, etc, but I NEED chilies. I ordered habanero, jalapeno, and Hungarian wax. The Hungarians are fantastic for making stuffed peppers with spiced hamburg and rice, tomato sauce, and melted cheese. Mmm. Also very nice for stir-fries.