Let the 2016 Games Begin

[lakngulf]

Since I took that picture it and all its friends have exploded with blooms.

We need a new picture!

[Allyn]

The reds and whites are Supercasades from Burpee. The 'blue' in the foreground that is just starting to open is a Whopper blue from Park.

[jal_ut]

I bought a Crosman Storm XT pellet gun. This little rifle is adequate to take out things up to the size of squirrels and rabbits. It would not take out a deer, but I'll bet it would get them moving if hit in the butt with it. Since it is not a firearm it is legal inside city limits that have rules about firearms.

[jal_ut]

Why do I get a double post?

[lakngulf]

Why do I get a double post?

That happens with me sometimes. You'll just to come up with more to say in the duplicate post. How's the weather? What determines how much water accumulates in your reservoir? Do you pay for water by volume or set amount?

On another note, my onion bed from the Utah shipment few years back continues to produce.

[applestar]

LOL! to jal_ut and lakngulf -- so far only times I've had a double post has been when there was some kind of a hiccup and I ignore a subsequent alert from the forum "Blah blah -- are you sure you want to post?" and hit submit. Usually something like either some one else has posted a comment already or someone else has EDITED my post (which always gives me a pause because *I*m the one who edit other people's posts, but judiciously and not without cause -- who would edit *my* post even before I posted it?)

...

@Allyn those are beautiful
Thanks for ID'ing variety name as well as source. I made a note, though I don't think
I can grow them this year. But these would be perfect for a front bed where I like to try to have red, white, and blue flowers blooming for the 4th.

[jal_ut]

The reservoir was a community project. It holds 13,000 acre feet of water when full. I have a couple of shares in the canal company and we hookup with a pipeline so my water is pressurized in a 4 inch pipe. The canal is up above me and there is enough fall to give it good pressure without pumping. There is a yearly maintenance fee.

[Meatburner]

Beautiful !

[j3707]

lakngulf, I'm already planning a greenhouse....hopefully I can start building late this year. I won't be heating the whole space, but I might consider some sort of setup to keep seedlings warm. Nice clipboard!

[lakngulf]

lakngulf, I'm already planning a greenhouse....hopefully I can start building late this year. I won't be heating the whole space, but I might consider some sort of setup to keep seedlings warm. Nice clipboard!

Good job, you will enjoy the greenhouse....

Face south, good heat source for those COLD nights, the shelves of grow lights will give some heat (some nights I will leave them on just for the heat), and install a temp triggered fan for those HOT days.

I am a bit immobilized after some knee surgery so I have created a mini-greenhouse in a nearby room. The windows do face south, but the little plants showed too much "leaning" each day trying to find the sun, so I added a couple of grow lights. This is also my alternative for very cold temps in Jan/Feb down our way, without having to heat the greenhouse.

[Taiji]

I love the petunias Allyn! They bring back a childhood memory of mine when I was a kid around 1959 and we were living right next door to the new/old house that we just bought a few months ago. My mom always had a long bed of petunias in front of the porch with taller zinnias behind. They were beautiful and so are yours!

[j3707]

Looks like a great spot for seedlings. No windows by my bench, electric lights only for me. I have a T5 fluorescent high output w/4 6500K bulbs. Bought the bulbs at my local "indoor gardening" place...I was amused that there was a distinct smell of weed about the clerk. Great resource though. I also bought a huge bag of perlite and one of coco fiber to make seed starting mix.

[imafan26]

My seed starting is off to a good start. A little too good. I thought the 2009 beefsteak tomato seeds were too old but I planted them anyway and I planted them thicker. I have already got 4 trays of kale, 4 trays of fennel with more seedlings left. I have about 4 or 5 trays of beefsteak tomatoes, 20 supersweet 100's , 1 isis tomato, a lot of won bok, maybe 4 trays. Assorted pepper seedlings also about 4 or 5 trays. Most of these were planted on New Years day. The chilies grow slow in cool weather they will be a problem down the road when they have to be potted up. The kale is already 4 inches tall. The won bok may have been planted too early and it is way more than I have space for to plant out. I have a few people who I can probably give some extras too. I know from past experience that I won't be able to sell 4 trays of fennel but they will keep a couple of months. I can put 4 of them in the herb garden and I can plant some of the extra peppers and some of the won bok in the open space that it in the garden now. The tomatoes are only going to be good for one sale and I cannot sell 4 trays of them. I only have space for one tomato right now. I am replacing the Livingston grape with Isis candy. I am keeping the napa grape, it is the better tomato. The third tomato pot now has string beans and I have two wild tomatoes in the garden.

My dilemna, it is really hard for me to cull plants, especially healthy ones, but I do have space limitations and it really isn't reasonable to waste time planting more than 2 trays of tomatoes even for back up. It means I have to throw away a lot of good seedlings. I probably even now have way more fennel than I can possibly use. Should I just close my eyes and just chuck them?

[applestar]

Face south, good heat source for those COLD nights, the shelves of grow lights will give some heat (some nights I will leave them on just for the heat), and install a temp triggered fan for those HOT days.

I am a bit immobilized after some knee surgery so I have created a mini-greenhouse in a nearby room. The windows do face south, but the little plants showed too much "leaning" each day trying to find the sun, so I added a couple of grow lights. This is also my alternative for very cold temps in Jan/Feb down our way, without having to heat the greenhouse.

Can't keep this ol' gardener down for long, eh? Looks like a nice simple set up for most people even if this is only temporary for you. (Hope people are taking notes )

I hope you recover quickly from the surgery and are feeling better soon!

[applestar]

J3707 As long as they get the light and warmth they need (well and water) that's all little seedlings need. The seedlings will grow stronger if you can put them outside when temperature/weather allows (but bring them back in if too cold). Your description of the clerk made me laugh.

It helps to have a little fan blowing on them especially if they don't get to go outside or the sun to "scorch" them a little.

[j3707]

Hey lakngulf, I hope you heal up quick. I got my seed flats set up in the garage today. I'm heating them from beneath using incandescent bulbs controlled by a thermostat. Hope it works out as intended. I've got 5 flats and already wishing I had more space...

Thanks for that tip about the fan applestar, I will set one up.

[lakngulf]

Hoping for an early spring

Here we are with five inches of cold rain last night, temperatures dropping and ice and flurries tonight. Some areas north of here will have a little snow. Hope my grandkids can enjoy some sledding.

Meanwhile my little indoor seed starting station is producing. These tomatoes are hoping for an early spring, or some timely up-potting until time to go outdoors. Also, you can see some rattlesnake bean sprouts that I tested for germination. Looks like these seed are good and ready to go.



On another note, this guy welcomed me home recently:

[JC's Garden]

Just read this thread. Wish we had a like button. I would have worn it out.
You guys are way ahead of me. Down here in zone 8, I'm still planting different stages of my winter garden. Nothing going on in my greenhouse but microgreens for my wife's business. She's a personal chef.
Looking forward to catching up on the tomato and pepper starts but the salad greens I'm getting keep me happy. Oooo, forgot about the snow peas, sugar snaps, watercress, radishes and such. They've been good this year.
The crazy warm weather were having has been driving me crazy. Summer predators gone but the pest hung around too long and killed it with my turnips and mustard. That's real bad for a Georgia boy. We've had some good freezes so things are returning to normal.
Haven't been on here as much as I would like but my 91 year old mother needs me and I'm sure this crowd understands. I'm still kicking, just not as high.
Here's to a great 2016.

[lakngulf]

Just read this thread. Wish we had a like button. I would have worn it out.
...
Haven't been on here as much as I would like but my 91 year old mother needs me and I'm sure this crowd understands. I'm still kicking, just not as high.
Here's to a great 2016.

I always enjoy the posts about JC's Garden. Thanks for putting the facebook link in your signature. Here's hoping for a great 2016 for us all. My Mom will be 91 in March. She still lives at the old farm house where I grew up, and still loves to garden. Several of my posts feature what is happening with her garden. Again this year I plan to include several tomato plants alongside her peppers, tomato, egg plant, okra and corn. They just do better when she watches over them!

Hope your Mom is doing well

[jal_ut]

"Shooting is out, no shooting in this county within a quarter mile of a residence, the sheriff would be out real quick and I'd be in deep doo doo"

I suggested a pellet gun. I don't think they fall under the firearms shooting laws in most localities. You may want to check that out. Some of the nice pellet rifles are quite amazing and will easily take out critters up the size of Rock Chucks. They would get the attention of a deer too. Do go to your local sporting goods store and check one out.

[Allyn]

I cleared most of the flowers out from under the lights and they're outside in hanging baskets. That freed up the seed trays for four varieties of tomatoes, four varieties of lettuce (leaf and head), parsley, two varieties of beans and two varieties of peppers. Also something called Par-Cel which is supposed to look like parsley but have a celery taste. The beans sprouted almost immediately and are growing so fast, I can literally watch them grow (and I do mean literally, not figuratively.) The beans are going to be ready for the SiPs lickity-split but the tomatoes I started last fall are still using them. The tomatoes are putting out new blossoms so it looks like they're still going strong. I'm thinking about planting the beans with them and give them their own string to climb..

[lakngulf]

... Also something called Par-Cel which is supposed to look like parsley but have a celery taste. The beans sprouted almost immediately and are growing so fast, I can literally watch them grow (and I do mean literally, not figuratively.) The beans are going to be ready for the SiPs lickity-split but the tomatoes I started last fall are still using them. The tomatoes are putting out new blossoms so it looks like they're still going strong. I'm thinking about planting the beans with them and give them their own string to climb..

I have never heard of Par-Cel. Interested in how that turns out.
What are SiPs?

I agree with you totally on how fast the beans can take off! I planted these primarily to test germination, but they look too good to throw out.

[imafan26]

I grew par-cel. It is more like parsley with a celery flavor. You would grow it like parsley. I actually did not get too many to germinate and in the end I got cutting celery which is easier to grow. Cutting celery was more warm tolerant and it has a very strong celery taste. It is not good for eating celery sticks but good for using in soups, sofrito, or mirepoix for building a flavor base.

I transplanted a few more seedlings of Thai tiger eggplant, long purple eggplant, chervil, fennel, curly parsley, Early Girl tomato, Beefsteak tomato, and more yellow bells. I ran out of media and I have to see if I can get more. I still have more seedlings to pot up.

My seedlings of superchili were diseased so I had to cull them. I checked my mother plants and they all had white flies so I pulled them too. I will have to grow new chili mamas for super chili, Hawaiian chili, Bhut jolokia, and Trinidad scorpion. In the meantime I will have to find more clean seeds.

[Allyn]

...What are SiPs?

sub-irrigation planters.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 21&t=60946

So far, I'm with imafan on the Par-Cel. It sounds like an interesting idea, but I'm not having much luck getting any to sprout.

[imafan26]

The parcel was like parsley it took up to 28 days to sprout, the media needed to stay moist and the seedlings were relished by slugs. I get better luck with the parsley family when I soak the seeds overnight in warm water first to soften them. I plant in compots so I use a 4 or six inch pot with premoistened potting soil. I put the seeds on the top of the medial and I just sprinkle a light layer of potting soil on them. I get a paper towel and water through the paper towel. I keep the towel moist or damp. after a couple of weeks, I will start to peek under the towel and see if anything has sprouted, when the sprouts show up, I remove the paper towel and bottom water until the sprouts can stand up on their own.

[lakngulf]

I keep the towel moist or damp. after a couple of weeks, I will start to peek under the towel and see if anything has sprouted, when the sprouts show up, I remove the paper towel and bottom water until the sprouts can stand up on their own.

I wonder if that trick, along with soaking the seed overnight, would help with pepper and eggplant germination? I have a flat of pepper seed (a) under grow lights (b) on a heat mat and (c) under a dome. I noticed this morning that a couple of sprouts are showing, but flat has been seeded for quite some time.

[catgrass]

Lake-I find that both peppers and eggplant take much longer to germinate than tomatoes. Usually a week -10 days later. Both like good warmth to germinate. I usually don't start my eggplant seeds until first of Feb, because they like it warmer in the garden.

[lakngulf]

Lake-I find that both peppers and eggplant take much longer to germinate than tomatoes. Usually a week -10 days later. Both like good warmth to germinate. I usually don't start my eggplant seeds until first of Feb, because they like it warmer in the garden.

After having peppers and egg plant over a heat mat and under a dome, I finally got some germination on banana and bell peppers. Tiny, tiny, but it's a start

[imafan26]

This year has been warmer than usual. I have started peppers and eggplant. I am waiting on the really hot peppers though, they just like the temperature to be really warm at least 70 degrees consistently. Bhut Jolokia germinated better close to 80 degrees.

[lakngulf]

This year has been warmer than usual. I have started peppers and eggplant. I am waiting on the really hot peppers though, they just like the temperature to be really warm at least 70 degrees consistently. Bhut Jolokia germinated better close to 80 degrees.

We have had some great temps the last three or four days, highs in the 70s. Fantastic. Would have been great to get some of my plants outdoors for a brief time, but logistics would not work, so they all stayed put in South window.

Our average last freeze is mid March, and the soil temps in the garden are not up until later. So my early plants will have to be up-potted to avoid getting "leggy". Peppers, on the other hand, should be just right.

[catgrass]

My tomatoes are twice as high as my peppers-and it appears all 8 of my peppers have come up. Will start eggplant this weekend.

[lakngulf]

I don't think I have ever gotten 100% germination on peppers, but happy with what I get.

Don't these tomatoes look good. They first popped out on Dec 27. When I transplanted to 4in pots I put them as low as possible so I get more soil around the stem as they grew. Also, I keep them pretty close to the lights, and in the south window. I may have burned a couple of plants with the closeness of the lights.

This picture is from the outside looking in. It is a prettier site than the picture will show. I see I got a lot of the screen.

[Taiji]

Those are nice looking plants. I'll second the use of a heat mat. I always had terrible pepper germination until I finally started using a heat mat. Then I couldn't believe my eyes at how fast they sprouted! I'm still a few weeks away from starting anything, but I'm gettin' ready!

[jal_ut]

Too early for me to start tomatoes. I had to plant something though so planted some hot pepper seeds. They take longer to get going. So far just two have germinated. Give it some time..............

[lakngulf]

Too early for me to start tomatoes. I had to plant something though so planted some hot pepper seeds. They take longer to get going. So far just two have germinated. Give it some time..............

Truth be known, it is TOO EARLY for me to, but I couldn't help it!

[applestar]

[lakngulf]

Oh my, look at these temps predicted for our area over the next few days. I had a flat of Butter Crunch lettuce that was sprouting in the greenhouse, but I have now moved it to the heated side room. Many of those plants that had begun to bud during our unseasonably warm days will take a hit this week. I know for many of you these are get outside and play temps, but for us this is pretty cold.

[lakngulf]

The Good and the Not So Good

Here is a picture of a couple of flats I have in the "grow window" this morning. Some good, some not so:



On the left are some great starts of Butter Crunch lettuce. I had some seed in the frig from years back and decided to give it a try. Was please with germination and the little seedlings are taking off. Get a little past these February COLD temps and I will put some outside. Butter Crunch makes a great leaf for sandwiches and salads.

On the right is an experiment, kinda working. I normally use Miracle Gro potting soil for starting seed. This year from the farm I hauled in a couple trailer loads of "compost" which is soil piled up around the hay feeding area from a couple years back. I pile up the soil with my tractor front end loader and allow it to "mature". These loads of dirt still had some straw structures, etc that made it look a lot like the potting soil I buy (I have often complained that some potting soil looks like potting sticks). So I decided to try it for some tomato seeds.

As you can see I have some good tomato seedlings, but I also have LOTS of unwanted sprouting. Could be rye grass, but most likely sticker weeds. Soil is rich so the seedlings should do well but way too many weeds. I remember that my Mom used to bake the compost to kill the seeds.

[Peter1142]

I have Leeks and Onions growing. Starting artichokes and hot peppers tomorrow! I have a full journal blog going this year, link in my signature.

Just when I thought the mild winter would let my figs and artichokes survive, it is brutal out there this weekend. High like 15F, Low -7F. Ugh. At least it will provide a good kill to pathogens.

[imafan26]

We just had our first sale of the year yesterday. I put out almost 700 3.5 inch vegetable and herb starts (28 trays). It was an exhausting day, but a good one. I have room again on the bench so I can start planting more seeds again. I also have to up pot some of the peppers, onions, and eggplant.