Greens
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Re: New to gardening! Help with my first attempt PLEASE

Alright I now have all 11 holes dug. ive made some minor changes as far as what I'm growing and plan to act on some other changes ive made. Let me just list (hopefully in short) what I'm doing:

In the beginning I planned to get some bags of compost and manure, perlite, worm castings, peat, kelp meal, garden tone organic fertilizer, bat guano, and fish emulsion. I was to dig 11 holes and amend the existing clay (removing a little) and dig 2x2x2' holes, rows spaced 2' apart and refill ea. hole with the amended mix. Ive done this and the soil is cooking in the isolated holes (ive also punched in holes in the bottom and sides of ea hole with the fork end of a hammer before refilling). Now lets look at what I'm planning on growing:

Brandywine Pink tomatoes
Garden Sweet Hybrid cucumbers
Hot Peppers: Hot Salsa Mix...5 different variety pack

Those are my main 9 holes. 3 holes for ea veggie. The other 2 holes are for Ozark Strawberries (planted those today). The soil here was not amended quite as much.

I'm still considering tilling rows leaving my mix in the holes. Also I was thinking about staking some black plastic down through my 2' walkways to keep the grass from growing in the garden.

So...I'm sure ive missed something but I'm starting to relax knowing that a good chunk of the work is done. Been an exciting 3 days for sure but its not time to quit yet. What's everyone think and any suggestions, comments, or advice is always appreciated. (Again, I'm considering tilling rows. Ill need to rent one for a few hours, most likely from this local rental shop only a mile or two down the road. :mrgreen: ) Thanks again for all the help so far. I'm hoping to learn more from all of you!

EDIT:Sorry, I forgot to take pics of my plot again today but I will make sure I do tomorrow...for anyone who was waiting for those :lol:

imafan26
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Make sure that you put the trellis for the tomatoes and cucumbers in when you plant them.

Plant the tallest plants on the north side so they don't shade the smaller plants.

I hope you are skinny and have good balance. Two foot paths are a little tight but doable.

Mulching will preserve moisture and help control weeds.

You have done a lot of work. Frankly, instead of digging 2 ft holes, I would have just put everything in containers or raised beds. (It is what I do :hehe: ). My soil is compacted clay too, it would take a jack hammer to get through it. When it rains, it is slip and slide and mud between the toes time. When it dries it is cracked and hard. When it is wet it sticks to everything.

Greens
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Yes I am thin and great balance :lol: also sorry to hear you got clay too. I always thought it was tough but my dig wasnt nearly as stressful as I was thinking it was going to be. Maybe its because its early spring or something. Depending on how this goes, I may container everything next year (didnt realize that was a thing :o ). Got a question for ya...What are treils?

Greens
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As promised here are some pics of what ive done so far. Not 100% done yet but very close. Also, I know only 2 strawberry plants wont yield much but we just wanted to try a fruit and thought strawberries would be nice :D
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The back 2 holes ( closest to the house) is where the strawberries are going to be, next row tomatoes, next row cucumbers, last row peppers (this is best seen in pic 2)
The back 2 holes ( closest to the house) is where the strawberries are going to be, next row tomatoes, next row cucumbers, last row peppers (this is best seen in pic 2)
photo.JPG

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Royiah
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A trellis is something you use to hold up your plants like a stake for tomato's and a fence of sorts for cucumbers and or vining plants. I used a chain linked fence for mine because I had a ton of spare stuff at my house. You can really use anything to hold them up just depends on what kind you want and for what plant.
You'll want to put the cucumbers on one end of your garden because they are probably going to be the largest of your plants. Mine went all the way up my trellis and fell over it and reached about halfway down before they died. And that was my first year growing them. O:)
Tomato's will be the next tallest followed by the peppers and strawberries in that order. All of these plant are sun lovers so you want to make sure all of them get plenty of it. So sticking a tall plant in front of a short one wont be a very good idea.
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Old pic. Towards the back of the pic you can see some red poles by the tomato's those are my tomato trellis. I have one for each. There are a ton of different ways to hold a tomato up.
Old pic. Towards the back of the pic you can see some red poles by the tomato's those are my tomato trellis. I have one for each. There are a ton of different ways to hold a tomato up.
100_2722.JPG (53.68 KiB) Viewed 2761 times
Pic from last year but its still the same except I'm using it for my tigger melons now. Put up a bigger one in my other bed. They don't have to be this big though. :P
Pic from last year but its still the same except I'm using it for my tigger melons now. Put up a bigger one in my other bed. They don't have to be this big though. :P
100_2716.JPG (54.34 KiB) Viewed 2761 times

Greens
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ok I see. so I have setup these tomato cages for all my plants. I suppose these would be my trellis then. Hey, btw I noticed in your pics that those plants are real close together. Will you have issues with that later on? Ive had discussions on this thread about roots a bit already and have been curious about other people's setup here @ HelpfulGardener :D Unfortunately I have not seen many gardens and the ones I have seen I most certainly was not interested at the time. Looks nice though. I like the 1st pic ya got there. What are those plants you have growing down the sides of your bed? Not the tomatoes...I think youre showing me tomatoes :oops:

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Royiah
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I never had that problem with them this close. Its actually not all that close to me. Though it may seem like they are in the pic. The bed is a 4x12 and most people like to have 4x8. I don't really worry as much about roots though I do make sure to give each plant a bit of room. Bit of a guessing game really.(I tend to guess right. :lol: ) I found that the 2 1 2 1 with tomato's is good and gives all the plants plenty of air circulation and easy to get to. (Plus it looks nice. :D) I do the same with peppers except I can put them closer and in the end have more peppers then tomato's in each bed.

Yep a trellis for each tomato. :) I'm still experimenting on what I like best this year I'm going to combine the poles I have now and a round tomato cage for the base so I can let it produce more per plant. I tend to keep mine pruned.

Yeah their tomato's! :lol: Those are basil plants Their really good as a companion plant with tomato's. And their good for cooking with too. :mrgreen:

I'm going to take some more recent pics soon and post them later on a new thread. It might give you a better Idea of what you might like to do in the future. O:)

imafan26
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Check out the sticky on the tomato forum on tomato support methods.

Plant spacing can depend on variety and type of plant. The seed packet will be your guide to plant spacing.

Determinate tomatoes like celebrity are not pruned. If you prune off the leader, you will not have many tomatoes. Determinates are short, spread sideways and produce most of their tomatoes all at one time.

Indeterminate tomatoes produces tomatoes over a longer span of time. They are very big plants and can be 7-8 feet or more. Indeterminates produce more suckers and can be pruned.

Square foot gardening spacing allows one vine per sq. foot on a trellis with suckers pruned off weekly.

Most recommend 2-3 ft spacing depending on the variety.

Root competition is not as much of a problem if you provide enough nutrients. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and are usually side dressed anyway.

What becomes more important as the plants fill out will be air circulation. Tomatoes are very prone to fungal and bacterial diseases. Making sure they have good air circulation helps with controlling that. Trellising tomatoes keep the fruit off the ground and take less space than tomatoes that are allowed sprawl.
Taking the leaves off the bottom of the vines can help slow down some of the fungal problems. Pruning suckers helps to circulate air and allows for closer plant spacing.

I have problems with fruit flies and birds so I have to bag fruit and use bird netting especially on large tomatoes.

I grow one tomato in an 18 gallon container. My trellis is 7ft tall Concrete reinforcing wire that is wrapped around two of the tomato containers and a third container is placed between them. The length if stretched out would be about 3 containers in an eight (8) foot row.

The photo is of my Cherokee Purple tomatoes that I grew in 2011. I made the bags from tulle from the fabric store. I was told some people use paint strainer sacks instead. That year I had one Cherokee Purple, one Sungold, and one unknown cherry. I got over 50 lbs of fruit from the one plant. The birds got a lot of them too. I had to pick them at first blush.

https://s1325.photobucket.com/user/imafa ... ple?page=1

Greens
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Good looking plants all around. I plan to mess around a bit with training to maximize my yield as well. Good to know its possible to get 50lbs of tomatoes off 1 plant!

Ive just dug a small 6ft bed or so maybe only 4-5" deep for my lavender. Gotta get the garden smelling nice too :mrgreen: How does lavender fair in the veggie garden? Any pros to having it out there? Also how does my bed sound for lavender 6'x6"x5". Real shallow small bed (at least compared to how much ive already dug).

Greens
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Hey everyone! Got an update. Finally I get a chance to rest. don't think ill be doing much more to it today or for the next couple weeks...unless it needs a bit of upkeep. Here are some pics of my "pretty much" finished garden plot. Thank you all very much for all the advice, info, and conversation. I hope to keep this thread going so that way throughout the growing season here I can refer to it and ask more questions later. Again you have all helped me so much and wish me luck!
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Ive added 2 trellis up against the house. They are hard to see in this pic but they are there. This is where I plan to grow Ivy
Ive added 2 trellis up against the house. They are hard to see in this pic but they are there. This is where I plan to grow Ivy
Ive added this shallow 10ft bed. Its only about 5" deep. This is where I plan to grow Lavender
Ive added this shallow 10ft bed. Its only about 5" deep. This is where I plan to grow Lavender
image (3).jpeg

imafan26
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Looking good.

check out the herb forum on growing lavender. There are several post on it. This is just one.

https://helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15744

Greens
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Location: Indiana

imafan26 wrote:Looking good.

check out the herb forum on growing lavender. There are several post on it. This is just one.

https://helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15744
very helpful thank you. since my bed is so close to my main plot of veggies, I most likely will not have to water my lavender bed at all. Well not "at all" but with the plastic down and the rain coming in soon and Indiana's humidity particularly in the summer, I shouldn't really ever need to soak the bed. Just allow them to absorb moisture from the air. Light water every now and again. Thanks imafan. Helpful link.

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ElizabethB
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Hi Green,

Welcome to the forum. I know I am late responding to your post but hopefully this will help you with future planting.

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-32.pdf

The publication gives you planting dates for different crops. When I plant seeds I ignore the plant spacing recomendation and space my seeds for the mature size. Where it says "thin to" on the package.

In general I try to stick to recommended varieties. I have wandered off that course this spring by planting tomato varieties not usualy seen in south Louisiana. I did call the seed company first and asked for recommendations to meet my criteria - south Louisiana, indeterminate and meaty.

I may have shot my self in the foot but oh well. My garden is is small so it is only a few plants. No big loss if they do not work out.

Your garden looks nice. Good luck

Greens
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hey everyone! Its been about a week now since the seedlings broke ground. Ive started them off in solo cups with a 1:1 mix of compost and peat (some were about a 1:1:1 mix manure, peat and potting soil). Just thought id make a quick update and hopefully keep this thread alive.

I planned to germinate 6 seeds of each of my veggies and to use the best 3 seedlings from each group for transplant around May 10th. (I used plastic ziplocks to cover cups and create a humidity dome "like" effect for germination only.).

Out of the 6:

-6 Brandywine Pink tomatoes have sprouted :D
-4 Burpless Garden Sweet Hybrids have sprouted
-2 Hot Pepper Variety seeds have sprouted (I think... tomato and pepper sprouts look similar to me.).

I'm waiting patiently for the rest. I have 18 of these cups all together under 2x40watt 4' fluorescent tubes (5500K). Hopefully, this will be enough light to rear them until transplanting outside (I suspect some of the cucumber seeds have failed to germinate, so as of today there are only 12 seedlings.).

Anyways, not a lot going on here but want to keep documenting for later. I wish the rest of you luck this season and Happy Gardening! 8)

Greens
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Location: Indiana

ElizabethB wrote:Hi Green,

Welcome to the forum. I know I am late responding to your post but hopefully this will help you with future planting.

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-32.pdf

The publication gives you planting dates for different crops. When I plant seeds I ignore the plant spacing recomendation and space my seeds for the mature size. Where it says "thin to" on the package.

In general I try to stick to recommended varieties. I have wandered off that course this spring by planting tomato varieties not usualy seen in south Louisiana. I did call the seed company first and asked for recommendations to meet my criteria - south Louisiana, indeterminate and meaty.

I may have shot my self in the foot but oh well. My garden is is small so it is only a few plants. No big loss if they do not work out.

Your garden looks nice. Good luck
Hey Elizabeth thanks for the warm welcome. As for your tomato selection this season I'm afraid I don't know much about different varieties and when and where they should be grown...YET, but I commend you for trying something different. Also, thanks for the kind words about my plot :o After some researching a bit on whether or not to do beds or holes. I chose holes. For some reason it just seemed easier for me to do it that way (not that digging those holes was easy buuuuut...). I had some family and friends over last week and some think its not going to work. I had asked why and came to find out they had never seen anyone do it like this before and that was about it. I say they don't know jack :lol: So in a way we both are trying something different :D

Anyways, thanks for the replys and hope to hear from you again in the near future.

gardeningwithe
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Location: Tennessee - 6B

How did your garden turn out in the end? Do you think you'll do it the same next year or have you came across adjustments you would like to make over the course of the growing season? I have in ground beds, but notice every year I change a lil something. Gardening is an evolution for some and others find what works for them and stick with it :). I'd love to see any photos you have of things growing! Neat looking garden!



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