HelpfulGardener.com

Hello, my name is Jake and I'm currently studying chemistry in Sonoma, CA.

I just recently became interested in gardening produce for consumption. I figured since I could buy a plant for $3 it would be worth it, plus I've kind of always wanted to expose my green thumb.

Anyways, the weather in Santa Rosa (wine country) is terrific for growing, so I started a few small planters and a garden bed in the last few weeks.

Here are links to a bunch of pictures I took. I am looking for any advice as to plant spacing, what type of plants grow well with what I have for pest control, and any other tips you want to throw my way.

All these pictures are very high-res so you can zoom in pretty far.




[url=https://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2294/plantbed.jpg]Plant Bed[/url] - here you can see an overview of the bed I put in today. The new dirt you see where nothing is planted, behind the green/white post, is only about 1-2in thick with cardboard underneath. I am prepping this area for onions, garlic, and other Fall produce.

Inside the plant bed:

-[url=https://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4633/tomatol.jpg]Tomato[/url] - 1 tomato

-[url=https://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8337/zucinni.jpg]Zucinni[/url] - 3 zucinni

-Marigold (yellow flower)




Small Planter with trellis:

-[url=https://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1479/jalapaneopepperscucumbe.jpg]From left to right: cucumber, jalapeno, cucumber[/url] - I am going to build a wooden offshoot on either side of this planter that will allow the cucumber to grow off the planter onto the ground.



Green Pepper Planter
-[url=https://img382.imageshack.us/img382/384/greenpeps5.jpg]Green Pepper planter and a marigold[/url]

-[url=https://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3695/greenpeps4.jpg]Green pepper close up[/url]

-[url=https://img170.imageshack.us/img170/6131/greenpeps3.jpg]Green pepper close up 2[/url]

-[url=https://img172.imageshack.us/img172/479/greenpeps2.jpg]Green Pepper Spacing[/url]


Basil Planter - What is eating my basil?

-[url=https://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6578/basil4.jpg]What's eating my basil?[/url]

-[url=https://img382.imageshack.us/img382/5045/basil.jpg]What's eating my basil? 2[/url]

-[url=https://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6117/basil2x.jpg]What's eating my basil? 3[/url]

-[url=https://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5647/basil3k.jpg]Basil spacing[/url]



Thanks a bunch!

My basil is looking similar to yours. Also my green bell pepper is getting eaten. I've been looking daily for slugs and caterpiller and have found a few. I think that Bonide Organic Thuricide (BT) Insecticide is helping out some. I did find one victim caterpillar and he was in fact 'blown up' as they claim this stuff will do. https://www.google.com/products?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=HQD&q=bt+insecticide&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=KrZaSq_RGZP2sQOtkN2DCw&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4


I'm growing all of the same things this year too, and it is also my first year. I planted last weekend and some of my stuff has nearly doubled in size. Good luck!

awesome, thanks cody

good luck with getting those pests out, I started checking last night for slugs but haven't found any yet. I'll keep my eye on them