Ramping Up The Spring Container Garden

[Allyn]

I started my seeds last month for spring. My tomato and lettuce seeds are a few years old so I started twice as many as I wanted hoping at least half would germinate. They all did, so I'll have plenty of salads in a few weeks. I put half a dozen Roma plants into 33-gallon SIPs last weekend and two varieties of head lettuce into tubs. I have Red Robin patio tomatoes and Heatwave varieties still to plant in SIPs. The Red Robins are fine in 5-gallon SIPs, but I'll need more 33-gallon tubs for the Heatwaves. My leaf lettuce and mixed salad greens are in Solo cups waiting to be planted in tubs this weekend. I have three blueberry bushes covered with buds that need to be up-potted into SIPs and a lemon tree, also covered with buds, that I'm wondering how much longer I can leave it in a 5-gallon SIP. My figs are doing fine in 5-gallons for now, so I don't need to up-pot them yet. I also have two dwarf Cavendish banana trees that might be okay this year to stay in 5-gallons.

I didn't have much luck yet this year with peppers. One green pepper sprouted, but I have more on the heat mat and check everyday hoping to see a little green appear. I'm also not having much luck with beans so far and only one honeydew has sprouted. There are a bunch of strawberries plants coming up that I want to put in hanging baskets this year. I need new chains for my baskets and new cocomat inserts. They're on the shopping list for the next trip to Lowes. The feed store I use is supposed to get four-cubic-foot bags of perlite and vermiculite in next week so I'll pick them up the next time I get chicken feed.

It was 80 degrees here today. I love the spring weather here, but it's always a race to get a good harvest before the brutal summer sun broils everything. I'm trying a piece of Aluminet shadecloth this year over the deck where I keep many of the SIPs. It's supposed to, not only provide shade, but also reflect the intense heat of the sun and the sun here definitely needs reflecting.

[applestar]

80° sounds like summer weather to me, or heatwave in spring! It sounds like your garden is well on its way

[Allyn]

80° sounds like summer weather to me, or heatwave in spring! It sounds like your garden is well on its way

Yeah, when I lived up north, 80° was summer weather. Here, it's spring weather. Yuck.