Time for the annual gardening thread

[Mr. DS]

Some of you folks must be in some cold climates...

Yes sir, RI where unfortunately just recently warmed up from 50 degrees to 80 plus overnight.

[Andrew]

We had a frost a while back too, I don't think the tomatoes liked it much.  They're growing okay and a couple even have some tomatoes on them, even though they're just a foot tall, but the leaves have a yellowish look to them.  Lettuce, peas and spinach are doing fantastic.  My wife's already picking the lettuce and spinach.  Pole beans are doing pretty good, but just like last year, only about 1/10th of my bush beans came up.  I suppose I can try planting some more.  I'm sure the pole beans will provide more than we actually want, so I'm not too concerned.  My Jalapenos are looking kind of yellow too, even though I planted them after that night that it got below freezing.  I don't know what their problem is - too much water?  Too little water?  I want my Jalapeno poppers dammit!   

I don't let my tomatoes go to fruit until the plants get nice and strong.  Pinching off the flower bundles takes care of that.  As for lettuce and spinach, they tend to do fine in colder weather.  I've seen romaine growing just fine around here in December.

If you are seeing yellow leaves it could be a sign of too much water.  That's why I planted everything in mounds this year.  All the rain we had last year was too much and the plants were having problems.  If you have yellow leaves and are watering try not watering so much.

[Jack]

I don't let my tomatoes go to fruit until the plants get nice and strong.  Pinching off the flower bundles takes care of that.  As for lettuce and spinach, they tend to do fine in colder weather.  I've seen romaine growing just fine around here in December.

If you are seeing yellow leaves it could be a sign of too much water.  That's why I planted everything in mounds this year.  All the rain we had last year was too much and the plants were having problems.  If you have yellow leaves and are watering try not watering so much.

Thanks Andrew, I'll try not watering them so much.  I say after just watering them today    But I'll cut back in the future.

[Mr. DS]

Andrew is right Jack.  Last year all my pepper plant's leaves went yellow and that was do to overwatering due to rain.  Put away the hose Jack...put away the hose.   

Stopped by to see my choices in land plots.  I need to get my @ss there early Saturday to get the one I want.  My grandfather in law plows enough land for three people.  Its usually me and his cousin that end up sharing space.  I want to make sure I have enough. 

[CheezeFlixz]

  The worst was that something, I suspect a robin, when through the tomatoes and peppers and nipped them off just above the ground. 
Curse you, bird!  It's not a worm, it's a plant!

Actually it is a worm - a cutworm they do that to young plants. Strange they rarely do it to weeds though.


http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/m1225.html

[Jack]

Andrew is right Jack.  Last year all my pepper plant's leaves went yellow and that was do to overwatering due to rain.  Put away the hose Jack...put away the hose.   

I'll try, but I see all that dry, parched ground around my little plants and I just can't resist 

[Mr. DS]

Andrew is right Jack.  Last year all my pepper plant's leaves went yellow and that was do to overwatering due to rain.  Put away the hose Jack...put away the hose.  

I'll try, but I see all that dry, parched ground around my little plants and I just can't resist  

Just remember Jack, they're like kids.  You have to let them take care of themselves eventually.   They'll let you know when they need you.  

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Had the first crop today....Baby lettuce and radishes!  enough for lunch anyway.

[Mr. DS]

Ok, garden is officially in but I can't say I'm thrilled about the tomato plants my counterpart's girlfriend picked up.  They're a bit too thin but I'll give them a trial for a few weeks.  If no improvement I'm 86'ing them for some new stronger choices. 

[Mr. DS]

Ok final count...and I may mean it this time...

30 Pepper plants
24 Tomatoes
6 Eggplants
10 Broccoli
1 row of green/yellow beans
8 cukes
4 yellow squash

Pics to follow when it takes off.   Things are rather dormant now, waiting for a nice heat blast though it has been around upper 70s around here.  I'm out of my god*mned mind for planting so much.  I spent an hour hoeing yesterday and it looks much better now. 

[Jack]

I think you've got enough stuff there for the whole eastern seaboard Darksider 

I haven't been over-watering anything, you'll all be happy to know.  It's, um...been raining just about every day.    The spinach is already getting little seed pods on the top of it.  I told my wife to cut them off, but since she's the only one who eats the stuff, I guess I don't care if she does or not.  The peas and tomatoes are looking great, pole beans have got their feelers about 3' in the air, and my jalapeño and cayenne peppers are looking much better.  Carrots barely came up at all this year for some reason.  They did great last year.  Oh well, I think I ate enough carrots last year to last me into the next decade.

[Paquita]

What's this crazy rule about only planting in spring?  Is that just for seeds and veggies?  Can I still plant stuff from containers?  And does anyone know where I can find some kind of dictionary for planting terms?  I keep reading all these terms like "firm lightly" or "harden off" and I'm just assuming I know what they mean, but I don't.. and I fear the results I would get if I look them up online.

[Sleepyskull]

What's this crazy rule about only planting in spring?  Is that just for seeds and veggies?  Can I still plant stuff from containers?  And does anyone know where I can find some kind of dictionary for planting terms?  I keep reading all these terms like "firm lightly" or "harden off" and I'm just assuming I know what they mean, but I don't.. and I fear the results I would get if I look them up online.

I took 4 years of various horticulture classes in High School, so I can help a little bit.

Hardening off is gradually exposing your plants to the outdoors so when it's time to put them in the ground outside they can handle the climate.

[The Gravekeeper]

We just got most of our community garden planted (our first planting day was cut short thanks to a sudden thunderstorm) and I've gotta say...we're going to have a ton of peas. Which is fine by me; peas are one of the few veggies I'll happily snack on if they're fresh off the plant.

[Mr. DS]

Paquita...(actually anyone interested in gardening) if you can, pick up this book...
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Vegetables-Fruits-Herbs/dp/089721501X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276132874&sr=8-6

For me its a bit of a bible and its well written.  Hardly any unknown terms and its very informative.