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Gardens, Lawns and Such...

Started by chefist, June 10, 2015, 09:46:44 PM

chefist

Quote from: sydtron on June 11, 2015, 12:35:30 PM
And here it is fully populated.  I think the tomato plants are too close together. But it was our first go around here at home.

Looks awesome! don't forget the rock dust!

sydtron

Rock Dust???  Im not sure what yoh mean.  I do fertilize every two weeks with a mix of epsom salt, and fish fertilizer.  Mixed in a large watering bucket. 

chefist

Quote from: sydtron on June 11, 2015, 01:02:49 PM
Rock Dust???  Im not sure what yoh mean.  I do fertilize every two weeks with a mix of epsom salt, and fish fertilizer.  Mixed in a large watering bucket.

add it to your normal mix...you will be amazed!

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 07:56:09 AM
Are you in St. Louis? Citrus love heat n outdoors for sure...

Yeah, just north of St. Louis. It gets all the heat it wants and does ok overwintering inside (it's part of a container garden, supposedly the strain is designed for containers). I've got the fertilizer dialed in. It's now all about the water, if I water it even slightly too much it will drop its leaves and sit there for a month before putting off new foliage. The good news is that it does actually produce lemons. I've had it for three years now and each year it produced a healthy crop considering that it's in a container.

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 01:15:49 PM
add it to your normal mix...you will be amazed!

Azomite is possibly the single biggest secret in gardening. That stuff has like 73 micronutrients in it. I was blown away by the results when I started amending my soil with it.

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 08:53:22 AM
About those tomatoes! Tomatoes really don't bloom above 90%. No blooms, no fruits...I have short spring and fall tomato season here in AZ...winters get too cold at night and summers too hot in the day....great for peppers though!

Yeah, and it still hasn't hit 90 yet here. I'm still harvesting lettuce, which is astonishing for this area which should be a steamy, hot and humid jungle by now.

I always try to catch a blooming window in spring where the temperatures favor the tomatoes. I started my tomato and pepper plants in February, so they were ready to bloom as soon as the last frost date passed. I got them in the ground within a week of that expecting the hot weather to hit and it hasn't yet which has resulted in my plants going nuts with the blooming for several months now.

In a way though it's a good thing. I have a group of rare Italian heirloom varieties that I intended to save seed for isolated and they just went nuts.   

chefist

Quote from: SciFiAuthor on June 11, 2015, 01:54:15 PM
Yeah, and it still hasn't hit 90 yet here. I'm still harvesting lettuce, which is astonishing for this area which should be a steamy, hot and humid jungle by now.

I always try to catch a blooming window in spring where the temperatures favor the tomatoes. I started my tomato and pepper plants in February, so they were ready to bloom as soon as the last frost date passed. I got them in the ground within a week of that expecting the hot weather to hit and it hasn't yet which has resulted in my plants going nuts with the blooming for several months now.

In a way though it's a good thing. I have a group of rare Italian heirloom varieties that I intended to save seed for isolated and they just went nuts.   

Sometimes you catch a break...I have those collards and swiss chard now for over 2 years! Which is almost unheard of...I have a pepper plant that is 3!

Does anyone grow garlic?  I seem to have picked up white rot from a variety I got at a local farm.  I tried to replace the soil around the affected plants, but I think much of my garden is now contaminated.  I've read it stays in the soil for decades.  It's sad because I've gone to some trouble to collect about a dozen varieties.

paladin1991

Quote from: nbirnes on June 10, 2015, 10:14:29 PM
... my bouche would be so darn amused with this ...

Not gonna say a thing.  alright I will.  Try saying this with a vaguely euro accent.

nbirnes

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on June 11, 2015, 02:23:59 PM
Does anyone grow garlic?  I seem to have picked up white rot from a variety I got at a local farm.  I tried to replace the soil around the affected plants, but I think much of my garden is now contaminated.  I've read it stays in the soil for decades.  It's sad because I've gone to some trouble to collect about a dozen varieties.

That indeed sounds sad. I will ask my brother, who is a master home-garden farmer. He grows many kinds of garlic and will have sensible solutions for soil amendment and such. He will know. There's always a way.

Quote from: nbirnes on June 11, 2015, 02:30:20 PM
That indeed sounds sad. I will ask my brother, who is a master home-garden farmer. He grows many kinds of garlic and will have sensible solutions for soil amendment and such. He will know. There's always a way.

Oh great thanks  :).  Much obliged.  I've read I can trick the parasites into coming out by leaving the soil barren for six months and then spraying with a garlic solution but it doesn't sound very effective.

nbirnes

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on June 11, 2015, 02:32:11 PM
Oh great thanks  :).  Much obliged.  I've read I can trick the parasites into coming out by leaving the soil barren for six months and then spraying with a garlic solution but it doesn't sound very effective.

Parasites are easily tricked, I would imagine. They only want one thing, after all. Like many on this thread, my bro has managed to push the seasons with potatoes in the dead of winter and lots of companion planting maneuvers.

People who garden must learn to handle disappointment. I'm content with just editing the things the deer let me grow.

chefist

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on June 11, 2015, 02:23:59 PM
Does anyone grow garlic?  I seem to have picked up white rot from a variety I got at a local farm.  I tried to replace the soil around the affected plants, but I think much of my garden is now contaminated.  I've read it stays in the soil for decades.  It's sad because I've gone to some trouble to collect about a dozen varieties.

Too much moisture...they prefer drier soil...that is why Cali does such a great job for garlic...less water! I grow it here in AZ, super dry even though I irrigate...garlic grew like 3 times the size of those in the store...and I used the store cloves as my starter! Oh, use the rock dust! Master Gardener Secret! ;-)

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on June 11, 2015, 02:32:11 PM
Oh great thanks  :).  Much obliged.  I've read I can trick the parasites into coming out by leaving the soil barren for six months and then spraying with a garlic solution but it doesn't sound very effective.

It can work. I had a friend that successfully did it . . . but it took two seasons because he wanted to be absolutely sure. He found a source for disease-free bulbs and then ground them up and added them to a watering can. Then he treated the infected soil with the solution several different times and it worked for him. The key, apparently, is that the parasites detect that there is an allium growing nearby through a chemical signal and then germinate only to find that there really isn't an allium there and then they die off. After a few times doing this all the parasites theoretically germinate and die off before finally going extinct. Unfortunately you can't grow any alliums while you do this. Even the presence of wild onions/weeds might mess it up and allow the parasites to reproduce.

The good news is that you can grow non-alliums like beans or lettuce or whatever in the soil while you treat it. The garlic juice won't bother them and in fact makes a good anti-rabbit spray.

chefist

Quote from: SciFiAuthor on June 11, 2015, 02:48:47 PM

The good news is that you can grow non-alliums like beans or lettuce or whatever in the soil while you treat it. The garlic juice won't bother them and in fact makes a good anti-rabbit spray.

Also make sure you have worms in your beds! They basically recycle the soil and get rid of many molds and fungi in their digestion. 

nbirnes

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 04:02:08 PM
Also make sure you have worms in your beds! They basically recycle the soil and get rid of many molds and funguses in their digestion.

That's fungi for ya. I chose my science experiment based on that one word. And agar-agar, of course. You can always count on the fungus among us.


chefist

Quote from: nbirnes on June 11, 2015, 04:12:40 PM
That's fungi for ya. I chose my science experiment based on that one word. And agar-agar, of course. You can always count on the fungus among us.

Thanks, Nancy i corrected the plural form of fungus...I'm a chemist and chef...I never could write for Cosmo! ;-)...LOL

Here an old PP I did at a conference...I'll dig up some old articles I've written for trade publications...you'll find it very boring! LOL


https://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=ben+lyles+inkjet&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#channel=fs&q=ben+lyles+inkjet+pdf

chefist

Quote from: nbirnes on June 11, 2015, 04:12:40 PM
That's fungi for ya. I chose my science experiment based on that one word. And agar-agar, of course. You can always count on the fungus among us.

good reading for falling asleep...now MV owns it! LOL

paladin1991

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 04:23:24 PM
good reading for falling asleep...now MV owns it! LOL
Ben Lyles?  BEN LYLES?  BEN FUCKING LYLES?  YOU are that BEN LYLES?

Holy......Never heard of you.

chefist

Quote from: paladin1991 on June 11, 2015, 04:54:47 PM
Ben Lyles?  BEN LYLES?  BEN FUCKING LYLES?  YOU are that BEN LYLES?

Holy......Never heard of you.

That guy is an asshole! Forget about em....

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on June 11, 2015, 02:32:11 PM
Oh great thanks  :).  Much obliged.  I've read I can trick the parasites into coming out by leaving the soil barren for six months and then spraying with a garlic solution but it doesn't sound very effective.

Another suggestion, while you treat your soil you could always grow your garlic in containers. I've done that successfully before with Spanish Roja garlic.

sydtron

Thanks for the rock dust tip. When do you work it into the soil?  I dont know about garlic. But mom has had the same little patch of green onions since I was a kid! They just keep comming back. And they are great straight out of the ground!

chefist

Quote from: sydtron on June 11, 2015, 05:04:40 PM
Thanks for the rock dust tip. When do you work it into the soil?  I dont know about garlic. But mom has had the same little patch of green onions since I was a kid! They just keep comming back. And they are great straight out of the ground!

Anytime! the beginning is easiest but you can do it whenever! it does not burn the roots so you can't overdo it...

nbirnes

Quote from: chefist on June 11, 2015, 04:19:27 PM
Thanks, Nancy i corrected the plural form of fungus...I'm a chemist and chef...I never could write for Cosmo! ;-)...LOL

Here an old PP I did at a conference...I'll dig up some old articles I've written for trade publications...you'll find it very boring! LOL


https://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=ben+lyles+inkjet&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#channel=fs&q=ben+lyles+inkjet+pdf

Hold yer horses, there. Cosmo mangled my words and added clever stuff. I have yet to scan in a copy because I sort of lost the original. It was Caitlyn-cover scary.

I will read your articles with great joy, because you can even make garlic interesting. Come on, ink jets!

PathoJen

Quote from: SciFiAuthor on June 11, 2015, 01:45:20 AM
I have a love-hate relationship with a potted lemon tree. The fucker drops its leaves if I water it a drop too much. I have never met a more temperamental plant. I serenely walk through my garden in the evenings with a beer, but when I get to that SOB I give it the finger.
haha! I know what you mean about potted lemon trees. I have meyer trees., those are the best lemons on the planet., but it's very persnickety. Granted, it's not very warm were I live, it's still is a son of a bitch. Sometimes it will tease me and produce a lemon or 3, and then other times it will just sit there and act like a twig stuck in the ground.

SciFiAuthor

Quote from: PathoJen on June 11, 2015, 05:38:25 PM
haha! I know what you mean about potted lemon trees. I have meyer trees., those are the best lemons on the planet., but it's very persnickety. Granted, it's not very warm were I live, it's still is a son of a bitch. Sometimes it will tease me and produce a lemon or 3, and then other times it will just sit there and act like a twig stuck in the ground.

Mine is a meyer lemon as well. Fantastic little lemons, and mine does produce quite a few each year but it goes through its leaf loss fits. They're like very slow, long, drawn out temper tantrums. Then the leaves grow back, it flowers, and I get 5-10 lemons and then another tantrum.

PathoJen

Quote from: SciFiAuthor on June 11, 2015, 05:50:13 PM
Mine is a meyer lemon as well. Fantastic little lemons, and mine does produce quite a few each year but it goes through its leaf loss fits. They're like very slow, long, drawn out temper tantrums. Then the leaves grow back, it flowers, and I get 5-10 lemons and then another tantrum.
5-10 is a decent yield. I don't know about where you live, but I live in Southern California, and we have no seasons, so when the tree does produce, it will do it all year. It really never goes dormant.

nbirnes

Quote from: PathoJen on June 11, 2015, 05:51:56 PM
5-10 is a decent yield. I don't know about where you live, but I live in Southern California, and we have no seasons, so when the tree does produce, it will do it all year. It really never goes dormant.

After about 10 years in SoCal, I finally met a kumquat tree and I went wild. You can eat right through the tangy thin skin and the combination of sweet and sour is something like Sour Skittles. Beware of too many, though.

albrecht

A side-note, Azomite, makes me think I heard of this stuff on C2C before (as a miracle supplement) or something darn close to it. I recall even some wishy-washy disclaimer by a guest or caller about how it works great on gardens and farm animals but "not approved" wink-wink for humans.

By the way, in most States have Ag-extension agents that can give free advice, often they will also do soil testing (do several if your property is large) for free (or have free specials during some of the year) you pay shipping. Now, usually, these guys will be in the "mainstream," that is non-organic, for the most part- but that is changing somewhat in some circumstances. But they still can tell you about your soil and then you can research organic/alternative options to remedy/improved based on that data. Also your smaller, independent nursery often have people who have good advice (bring in samples of leaf, bug, etc)....and AM Radio gardening shows. Sometimes even the callers have good advice, old-time tricks, etc.

PathoJen

Quote from: nbirnes on June 11, 2015, 05:58:18 PM
After about 10 years in SoCal, I finally met a kumquat tree and I went wild. You can eat right through the tangy thin skin and the combination of sweet and sour is something like Sour Skittles. Beware of too many, though.
I know they are DELISH!

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