What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

In summary, we put in a huge garden and had a green thumb from the get-go. We still have a garden, although it's a little smaller now. We mainly grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. I've been a pretty avid gardener at times but not for eating, just for looking.
  • #2,976
I finally got around to planting the seeds sent by Rhody. I planted 15 of them, and 5 have sprouted so far. I can see a little white speck under the soil in 2 more, so I have somewhere between 33% and 50% so far (still hoping for more). I put them in peat pellets under a lamp to start them.

I'll pot them and post pictures when I get a chance.
 
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  • #2,977
NeoDevin said:
I finally got around to planting the seeds sent by Rhody. I planted 15 of them, and 5 have sprouted so far. I can see a little white speck under the soil in 2 more, so I have somewhere between 33% and 50% so far (still hoping for more). I put them in peat pellets under a lamp to start them.

I'll pot them and post pictures when I get a chance.

A little spritz of water morning and evening helps too, once a week, a weak application of miracle grow helps them get started, try to keep the top of the dirt as dry as you can, keeps down fungus and possible aphid's, they are looking for moisture. Be patient at this point, unless you can keep daily temps in 80's Fahrenheit, it is going to take the next 60 days to get them about this big. Here is a picture of my most robust Trinidad Scorpion pepper plant, it has the biggest stem, leaves and most developed root system. I would suggest the double clear cup method when transplanting, drill holes in the inside cup, water the outside one, place inside cup inside to absorb the water, the top of the soil stays dry that way. Water these when cups are dry and plant just starts to wilt, about 1/3rd of a cup in the outside cup of water is all that is needed, let it absorb. This works well. You do realize if you get ten full size pepper plants to maturity this summer if you play your cards right you are going to get over 500 peppers from them.

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8563/scorpion60days.jpg

Rhody... :-p
 
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  • #2,978
I'll give that a try.

I certainly won't complain about 500 peppers next summer. No way I can have temperatures in the 80s here, I keep my house ~64F. I was a little worried that it would be too cold for them to sprout, but a few of them did at least.
 
  • #2,979
I'm starting to select my plants for this summer. I'm going to take a chance and try a variety and hope the summer doesn't turn out cold again.
 
  • #2,980
It's still quite cold here. We had a day where the afternoon temperature approached ~70F, but then the next day the temperatures plummeted.

Just picked up this guy's book - http://www.felderrushing.net/

He has a garden in his truck! http://www.felderrushing.net/EnterTitletruckposters.htm

He travels with Rusty the Brown Dog. :smile:

He's different - http://www.felderrushing.net/easywatergardens.htm

His front yard - http://www.felderrushing.net/frontyard.htm - and
the backyard garden is at the bottom of the page.
 
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  • #2,981
I hope my garden grows well this year. Amy is going to take all the ghost seeds and see what she can do with them with a heat-mat and grow-light. She was very pleased with the Savina plants that I gave her last season, so I hope we do well with the ghosts. If I have excess garlic (beyond starting them for our needs), I'll get her started on garlic, too.
 
  • #2,983
Duke is a gardener. I have to watch him so that he doesn't help himself to the produce.

dukegarlic.jpg
 
  • #2,984
turbo said:
Duke is a gardener. I have to watch him so that he doesn't help himself to the produce.

dukegarlic.jpg

How did you train that fly to sit on his nose like that?
 
  • #2,985
lisab said:
How did you train that fly to sit on his nose like that?
I am a consummate fly-trainer. Flies don't live too long, so the time-windows for training are short.

Those rows behind Duke are filled with Red Russian and White German garlic. He'll help himself to raspberries/blackberries, but he is very good about not stealing produce from the garden. Though when you give him a garlic scape, you should count your fingers afterward.
 
  • #2,986
Astronuc said:
It's still quite cold here. We had a day where the afternoon temperature approached ~70F, but then the next day the temperatures plummeted.

Just picked up this guy's book - http://www.felderrushing.net/

He has a garden in his truck! http://www.felderrushing.net/EnterTitletruckposters.htm

He travels with Rusty the Brown Dog. :smile:

He's different - http://www.felderrushing.net/easywatergardens.htm

His front yard - http://www.felderrushing.net/frontyard.htm - and
the backyard garden is at the bottom of the page.

I think I have a new hero.

Love his FAQ page:

Q: Don't you care what your neighbors think?

A: Of COURSE I do - in the big scheme of things, it just doesn't MATTER a whole lot!

I used to be so self conscious of what the neighbors thought of me, I asked them what color I should paint my house. (After all, they're the ones that have to look at it.)

His truck garden has just given me an idea of a good use for 3 of my 5 boats. :devil:

But with only 4000 ft2 to work with, I think they'll all have to go up on the roof. :redface:
 
  • #2,987
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
 
  • #2,988
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
My wife will gladly give flowers to neighbors and visitors, but wouldn't feel too great about them helping themselves without permission.
 
  • #2,989
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
 
  • #2,990
Evo said:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
My thoughts, too. My wife has been building up a collection of perennials to decorate our front lawn. She'll gladly share flowers and split plants for people who want to grow their own, but please don't steal!
 
  • #2,991
That is no excuse, but logically she may have had dementia, and didn't know any better, Borg said her grandchildren were visiting, but he didn't say they were with her or how old. Just a thought.

Rhody...
 
  • #2,992
Evo said:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
:smile: OK, that made me laugh. I don't know what she was thinking but now that we've confronted her, I hope that it won't happen again.
 
  • #2,993
rhody said:
That is no excuse, but logically she may have had dementia, and didn't know any better, Borg said her grandchildren were visiting, but he didn't say they were with her or how old. Just a thought.

Rhody...
She was elderly and walking with two children about three and four. I didn't talk to her so I don't know what her mental state is. I suspect that the little girl started picking flowers and grandma may have gotten caught up in the moment. She knows better now I hope. If not, I'm pretty sure about which house they're visiting and I can have a more extensive dicussion with the homeowners. :wink:
 
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  • #2,994
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
Maybe she figured that they were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #2,995
Astronuc said:
Maybe she figured that were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
Yes, suddenly she was no longer in a neighborhood, but in a mountain meadow.
 
  • #2,996
Astronuc said:
Maybe she figured that were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
Evo said:
Yes, suddenly she was no longer in a neighborhood, but in a mountain meadow.
:smile: You're killing me, Evo. You obviously have some strong feelings about flowers.
 
  • #2,997
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
OK, that's way over the line.
 
  • #2,998
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
So what was their response? Did they offer to pay you? Daffodils bloom once a year. I say cut to the quick, break their kneecaps.

One year I decided to plant dafodils, tulips. and hyacinths. I spent days digging up and de-clodding a bed all around the front of the house. I added new soil, conditioners and bone meal, I paid a fortune for imported bulbs. I finally got it all planted and put a little fence border around them.

One day before they were about to come up, I went outside and the neighbor's mutt was loose again and had dug up and chewed every last bulb, well, except the last one he was still chewing. These people were just totally clueless. If they hadn't come up yet, what damage did he do?
 
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  • #2,999
Evo said:
So what was their response? Did they offer to pay you? Daffodils bloom once a year. I say cut to the quick, break their kneecaps.
I did too much of that in my younger days. I try to turn the other cheek now.
 
  • #3,000
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.[
Hmmmm. :rolleyes:

:smile: You're killing me, Evo. You obviously have some strong feelings about flowers.
Just don't pick her peppers!
 
  • #3,001
AARGGH, I was editing my post and someone messed it up!

I went to the dentist and I am in pain. And part of my face isn't moving. And I'm allergic to my hypo-allergenic eye makeup and my eyes are swollen and burning.
 
  • #3,002
This was fun. Thanks for the support. I've got to go though - my wife has two feet that she claims are in desperate need of a massage. :wink: Hope you're feeling better soon again Evo.
 
  • #3,003
Astronuc said:
Hmmmm. :rolleyes:

Just don't pick her peppers!

Oh God, Astro, wouldn't that be a hoot, grow a monster trinidad scorpion tantalizingly close to the street, property line. I can just imagine what some poor unsuspecting soul would do when they took a good bite out of one of those suckers. Oh, the pain, building and building for ten minutes. Ok, I am having way too much fun here and only semi-serious.

Rhody... :devil: o:)
 
  • #3,004
Evo said:
One year I decided to plant dafodils, tulips. and hyacinths. I spent days digging up and de-clodding a bed all around the front of the house. I added new soil, conditioners and bone meal, I paid a fortune for imported bulbs. I finally got it all planted and put a little fence border around them.

One day before they were about to come up, I went outside and the neighbor's mutt was loose again and had dug up and chewed every last bulb, well, except the last one he was still chewing. These people were just totally clueless. If they hadn't come up yet, what damage did he do?

Dang Evo. This happened to me, albeit it was one of my X's who managed to get a couple hundred dollars worth of bulbs dug up and gone while I was at work. :mad:
 
  • #3,005
Grandma and granddaughter just rang my doorbell and dropped off some new daffodils. Apparently the little girl was the guilty party. It was pretty funny seeing her hide behind the fence while she apologized.
 
  • #3,006
Borg said:
Grandma and granddaughter just rang my doorbell and dropped off some new daffodils. Apparently the little girl was the guilty party. It was pretty funny seeing her hide behind the fence while she apologized.
Good, I'm glad to hear that some people still do the right thing. Maybe there is hope.
 
  • #3,007
Evo said:
Good, I'm glad to hear that some people still do the right thing. Maybe there is hope.
It definitely warmed my heart. :smile:
 
  • #3,008
Daffodils are tough! One of my neighbors claims that they have to be allowed to blossom and put out greens every year, or the bulbs will not be able to survive. Tell that to the border of the daffodils on the north end of my garden that I mow every year with my John Deere, and which come back every year without fail. There are others planted nearer the road (and subjected to road-salt and other stresses) that flower every year. Some flowering plants are pretty tough.
 
  • #3,009
Borg said:
It definitely warmed my heart. :smile:
What a sweet evil little child... hehe... :biggrin:

Rhody... I know, I know, stop poking threads that should fade naturally, sorry, I couldn't resist.
 
  • #3,010
I have a saw-whet owl in the woods on the other side of my back-yard pond. He's been calling regularly, looking for a mate. Very monotonous call that sounds like back-up alarm on heavy equipment. They are tiny, but can kill lots of mice and voles, especially when their chicks hatch and need to be fed. Luckily, there are a lot of pileated woodpeckers up here, so nest-holes in trees are plentiful.
 

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