First time gardener needing advice! :) LONG POST!

[Chem]

hello everyone, I just joined this site today (I posted a hello message in the newbie forum) in hopes of getting some help/tips on my first garden. I do not know much about "proper" gardening but I did start my first garden and so far it is looking great! I am unsure of a few things and hopefully someone here can help and guide me. I have been working real hard on this garden and do not want to mess anything up. I will post some pictures along with the questions for a better visual for those of you out there that might be able to help me. I should mention that I live on the space coast in florida. right now the weather has been great and I have not had to deal with any severe cold weather
ok here is what I planted: carrots, pole beans, jalapenos, squash and baby tomatoes. I think they are called grape tomatoes.
I cleared my land and used several bags of top soil and cow poop than planted my seeds. everything has been growing great but I'm at the point where I do not know what to do next or when certain veggies are going to be ready.
here is my first question!
my squash seems to be growing great. it started producing orange flowers and little baby squash grew from them. but the flowers are drying up and falling off. is that normal? also how much longer do you think (given the picture included) it will take til I have to harvest them and how will I know when they are ready?
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g3.jpg[/img]
second question:
my pole beans are out of control! I had to rig up some posts and used some old pvc pipes laying around to control the growing. the beans seem to be wrapping around them just fine but now I am seeing little white flowers bloom and I am confused as to what they are? also I am unsure of when they will start to grow bean? and gow tall are this beans going to grow? here is a picture of the flowers. can someone please explain to me what those flowers are and when to expect the beans to start growing?
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g9.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g11.jpg[/img]
ok on to the next question:
I have planted jalepenos and they are growing but they are not growing as large as the other veggies I planted. I am not sure if this is normal or not. also can anyone tell me from the picture I am posting when to expect them to start growing?
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g6.jpg[/img]
and yet another question!:
I have planted carrots and since they grow underground I am clueless as to when they will be ready to harvest. they seem to be growing great but can anyone tell from this picture when they will be ready to pick?
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g7.jpg[/img]
and my final question!:
I planted little grape tomatoes (that is what I think they are called) and from what I heard they should have been growing at a more speedy rate than what mine look like. everything was planted at the same time yet my tomato plants are not all that large and have yet to produce anything. can anyone tell by this picture when to expect them to grow tomatoes and about how much larger the plant should be before I expect to see them growing?
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g12.jpg[/img]
any input anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated. I am totally new to gardening and I am very excited! I would like to have a veggie garden all year round. in the spring I plan on trying to grow different herbs . this is really addicting! also, I am sorry for the overload of pictures and questions. I am just really unsure of many things since this is my first garden and I really do not want to mess anything up. thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I hope I didnt bore anyone too much!

[rainbowgardener]

Welcome to the wonderful world of gardening! Glad to see your enthusiasm for it. I'll try to take some of these questions a little bit at a time.

Starting with the squash. Squash produce separate male and female flowers. The female flowers are recognizable because they come with a little baby squash fruit already present behind them. If the flower is pollinated then the baby squash keeps growing. If the flower is not pollinated, often the baby one keeps growing for a little while anyway, gets an inch or two long and then withers up and drops off. In any case the squash flowers only last a day or so and then new ones come. It is typical when it just starts blooming for it to produce only male flowers for the first couple weeks or so.

Beans are seeds, the seeds of the bean plant. Like other seeds they only appear after the flower. The flower gets pollinated and then starts making seeds. After the flower is done and dropped off the seed pods will appear. Basic biology. Flowers and then seeds where the flowers used to be.

Peppers are slow growing, but I can tell from the pictures your peppers and tomatoes are planted WAY too close together. That's why the tomatoes and peppers are not doing as well as they should. They will not grow that way they will compete with each other for light, water, nutrients and will all be stunted or die. You are going to have to thin a whole bunch of those out. Just cut the weaker ones off at ground level, so you don't disturb the roots of the ones you want to keep. Did you look at the spacing guidelines on your seed packets? To start with now, thin the peppers down to one plant per foot. You will probably need to thin them more later once they get bigger, but you will be able to tell more later which are the healthier plants. If they do well your pepper plants will get to be at least 3 feet tall and a couple feet wide, so they need room to grow.

The tomato plants need to be one per 18" to start with. Also they are in danger of getting shaded out by the faster growing bean plants. Tomatoes need full sun. They need to be staked or caged (see Sticky at the top of the Tomato growing forum on supporting tomato vines) and it is better to get your support system in place while they are young, so you don't injure roots trying to add it later. I don't know how big the plants of the little grape tomatoes get; I haven't grown any. Full sized tomato plants may get to be 7 feet tall and bushy.

If you have more room, you could dig a few of the excess plants up and transplant them somewhere else, but you would need acreage to grow all the plants you have, if they were properly spaced. So you will need to be brutal on the thinning.

Your carrots also need a lot of thinning, ending up being at least 4" between plants. But you can probably wait a little bit, until they start being baby carrots and then eat your thinnings! That way you will know what stage they are at. You can harvest and eat your carrots at any time from tiny baby carrots to full grown grocery store size. It may take them as much as six months to get to grocery store size.

Gardening takes some patience and persistence and there's a lot to learn, but you are off to a good start!

[rainbowgardener]

Mg zipped her response in while I was typing mine! But you can see that our advice is similar, both about the thinning and about developing some patience and just letting your garden develop on its own time...

I only grow full size tomatoes. I start them from seed indoors under lights (because I'm in Ohio where our growing season is a lot shorter) about mid February. I transplant them outdoors mid April and if all goes well, start having ripe tomatoes mid June. That's just to give you some idea of a time line; takes me 4 months to ripe tomatoes. Grape tomatoes might be a little quicker and it is quicker, if your weather is such that you can just plant outdoors to start with. The peppers are even slower. I start them indoors earlier and it is later, into July, before I have harvestable peppers. So that makes 5 months from seed to harvesting peppers, including the germination time.

[jal_ut]

Good responses so far. I will just comment that your garden looks great. You are doing somethings right. Follow the recommendations given and you will do well. Welcome to the forum and to a great adventure.

[Chem]

thank you all for the awesome tips! sorry it took me a few days to update (this holiday season is keeping me busy!) but I did read and take your advice rainbow & marlin
it was very hard for me to "thin" the carrots/jalapenos/tomatoes lol I felt bad ripping them up from the ground. when I decided to start growing a veggie garden I did not buy the seeds from packets. I was actually given them from a neighbor whos garden inspired me. she had the seeds in little ziplock baggies so I just planted them everywhere and I did not know that certain veggies need proper spacing. but you learn as you go! I don't mind trial and error. its all a great learning experience!
since I last wrote this post my squash has been growing at an extraordinary rate! those little suckers are getting huge! and I did notice what you meant by male/female. I paid more close attention and seen 2 flowers with no squash at the end. for the most part I would have to say almost all of them are little baby squashes! I have one in particular that is about 5 inches long already! I'm very excited about that one and cannot wait to eat it! I have done everything organically in this garden so I cannot wait to see how they taste!
since I thinned the carrots/toms/jalapenos down I took another picture to show you all. do either of you (rainbow or marlin) think I thinned them enough? here are the pics:
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g16.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g14-1.jpg[/img]
I was also wondering, is it possible to re-plant the tomatoes that I uprooted? or will they just die? I noticed that when I was thinning the carrots down that NOTHING was growing when I uprooted them. is that because they were too close together?
the beans are doing excellent! that is what I am most excited about! steamed beans are my favorite veggie and I am looking forward to them the most
I did find something odd under one of the leaves today. I'm not sure if this is normal but it is the first time I have seen this. I hope they are not eggs from those pesky caterpillars that have been eating my leaves! I most have pulled off a couple dozen so far! here is a pic of the little round balls under my bean leaves. please tell me that it is normal:
[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g15.jpg[/img]
I really do appreciate all the help you both have given me. today is weeding day! I could spend all day gardening
and thank you for the positive encouragement jal_ut! I look forward to having a garden all year round. I really want to try potatoes soon!

[rainbowgardener]

Definitely you can replant tomatoes you dig up, if you dig them up gently with plenty of dirt around them. Bury them a little deeper than they were before.

But you would have to have tons of room to be able to replant as many plants as you have, and then you would have a huge garden to care for. I wouldn't get carried away with replanting things at this point.

Carrots are definitely looking better.

The pepper plants next to them are looking a bit pale and spindly and still a little too crowded. But I'm thinking the pale and spindly is more from too much shade. It looks like they are getting kind of shaded out by the (very healthy!) beans. Do you have a sunnier spot you could move a couple to? Peppers grow pretty well in containers, one plant to a two or more gallon container, if that would help you put it in a sunny spot.

Tomato plants look better than the peppers, but similar things apply - still too crowded and too many plants and probably too shaded. (The tomato plants grow faster than pepper plants, so have a better chance of catching up but still...). If you wanted to put a tomato plant in a container, use a five gallon container.

You still aren't really thinking about what these plants are going to look like when they are full size.. have you seen mature tomato plants? They are HUGE.

Also, what are you planning to do with all those tomatoes? One full size tomato plant probably produces 40 -50 tomatoes in a season. Your grape tomatoes, one plant will (if all goes well) produce hundreds. I don't think grape tomatoes would be very easy to can. But that is of course if all goes well and it won't go well until you get them in full sun and un-crowded.

But for just starting you are doing great! You've succeeded in producing tons of happy seedlings.

Oh and the round things on your bean leaves are eggs of something, possibly bean beetles. Almost definitely something you don't want. Just wipe the eggs off, whenever you find them.

[Francis Barnswallow]

You can definitely tell that that is Florida soil.

Check under the leaves of your plants at least 2 to 3 times daily. It gets pretty bad down here during the summer/fall when it comes to destructive insects.....believe me this year was a bad one for me.

Oh and this:

Your garden looks great, and especially for a first-time gardener. I think you have a natural talent for this!

[rainbowgardener]

Here's a picture I found for you:

https://cyrano76.buzznet.com/user/photos/big-tomato-plants/?id=44113951

Those plants behind him are Tomato plants!

Your grape tomatoes won't get that big, but still you need to make room for them!

[Tilde]

Welcome to ash tray gardening! That soil/sand of ours, huh?

Looks like you got a great start, and whoever slung those seeds your way did a good mix for you. The advice above on thinning I agree with and look good.

Based on this, I say GET SQUISHING!

[img]https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/chemcopout/g15.jpg[/img]

those are not welcome in the garden.

I didn't see it mentioned here, but I was recently advised you know the carrots are ready when the tops push out of the ground.

Other than that I'd get some mulch down - something without chemicals like straw (not hay) or some pet bedding (non treated) of a pine or other shaving sort. A thick layer will help keep the weed population down and the soil cool as we kick out winter and start to heat up (not that its been that cold anyway).

Still, frost can happen - might want to nip to an inland garden supply store for a frost blanket or two. I tried to get some locally without much luck, I had to go further inland where gardeners are more likely to be (and where its more likely to freeze).

Good luck.

[DoubleDogFarm]

(not hay)

?

Eric

[Tilde]

I've read articles that indicates its got a lot of seed - so you'll get hay growing.

[rainbowgardener]

Just helping you get an idea of what the plants typically look like, I know that is hard if you haven't grown them before.

Here's a picture of one of my green pepper seedlings this year:

green pepper (8" tall x 10" wide)

[img]https://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt102/rainbowgardener/7seedlings3-11.jpg[/img]

(you can click on the picture to enlarge it)

It was then two months from when the seed was planted, but growing under lights in my basement in a small pot, because it was still another month away from when our weather would be warm enough to put it in the ground outside. So if I lived somewhere warm and could have planted it outdoors in the ground to begin with, it would have been considerably bigger in that amount of time. But it gives you a sense of what a healthy green pepper seedling looks like.

[lorax]

And here's what your grape tomatoes have the potential to do in your warm climate. This is one plant, 4 months old, and it's got over 15 feet of vine. It overran the 8' pole I staked it with, and I had to run it on tomato twine. That particular plant, just the one of four that I grew, produced about 550 tomatoes and finished with 25 feet of growth.

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/DSCN3259.jpg[/img]

This is the kind of flower bunch and fruit tress that grape tomatoes produce.

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/DSCN3116.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/DSCN2896.jpg[/img]

[rainbowgardener]

So lorax grew 4 grape tomato plants and that was thousands of little grape tomatoes. I grew 5 full sized tomato plants this year and that was a couple hundred or so regular tomatoes. Because tomatoes keep producing (and producing and producing...) you only need a few plants. So you are way better off to have a few very healthy plants than a whole bunch of stunted, sickly ones. Keep being brutal on the thinning!

Give us an update, when you get a chance!

[rainbowgardener]

It's closing in on a month later. Any updates on how your garden is doing?

Those of us in cold weather climates, who are just getting ready to plant our first seeds indoors, like to see pretty garden pictures!

[GardenRN]

Don't know how I missed this post originally, but I was glad I caught it today It was fun reading someone's thoughts and worries an an obviously BRAND-NEW gardener! lol. It was like stepping back in time to my own first garden.

Your garden is looking great chem! Hope you get as much out of the hobby as we all do.