openmic
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Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:08 pm
Location: Austin, TX 8b

OpenMic's 2015 3rd Garden Bed (Feedback requested!)

Hey HelpfulGardeners, I'm new to gardening. I've been lurking a few weeks and finally decided to come out and say hello to the community. I'm looking for feedback so I can become a better gardener.

This is my (and my wife's!) 3rd garden bed, planted 7/19/2015 in Austin TX, zone 8b. The bed is 18' x 2' x 1'. We used 16 cubic feet of Kellog's organic raised bed soil, 11 cubic feet of top soil. We layered the different types of soil, then mixed the layers together, and lastly topped off with 4 cubic feet of compost.

1/3 cup of epsom salt and ~2 lbs of Tomato-Tone mixed into the center of bed before planting. Thoroughly watered within an hour after being planted.

Each plant is 2' apart. From the north end; basil, basil, garlic chive, Anaheim pepper, Bell pepper, Better Boy tomato, strawberry, strawberry, strawberry.

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Last edited by openmic on Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ahl389
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Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:15 pm
Location: NY/NJ Zone 7a

For some reason I can't see any of the images :(

I used to live in Austin! I miss it dearly.

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Allyn
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Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:38 pm
Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast - zone 8b

It sounds lovely, but all the images are little red Xs. :( Thank you for putting in all the relevant location and tech info, though. That's vital information. Once the pics get sorted out, we'll see your garden. :)

openmic
Newly Registered
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Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:08 pm
Location: Austin, TX 8b

Sorry about the image mishap. I think I got it fixed.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The peppers, tomatoes and basil will want to have at least 6 hours of sun. The tomato will also need some kind of support.

Strawberries, I usually put them in their own spot. I keep mine in baskets since the slugs and snails love them and they like to be in the sun in the cooler months but I need to move them to partial shade in the summer. If I have them in the ground, I have to cover them with a light mulch during the summer.

The pepper is kind a yellow. I think it is a nutrient deficiency. What kind of fertilizer did you add to the garden? Most of what you added were amendments that were high in organic matter which is good, but not much in the way of adding nutrients.

openmic
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:08 pm
Location: Austin, TX 8b

Thanks for the feedback, imafan.

The peppers and tomatoes should get ~6 hours sun, but the basil might only get 4 hours. Our pecan might shade the basils' corner. I haven't done a full sun-measurement of this space yet but I wanted to try anyways.

I'll be sure to watch our for slugs and snails on my strawberries. I added strawberries to the bed because I wanted diversity of plants and the nursery I went to had a limited vegetable/fruit selection.

I too noticed the Anaheim was yellow but they were all yellow-ish at the nursery. I added 2 lbs tomato-tone, a mix of 3-4-6. I have some fish fertilizer, 5-1-1 but have not yet added any. I was waiting until the first blossoms because I think I read that somewhere....

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

You can wait to see if the fertilizer helps then. If all the plants were yellowish at the nursery, I suspect the plants are older and were in the pots too long.

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jnunez918
Senior Member
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 6:07 pm
Location: Austin, TX

:D hey Austin! I'm in cedar park. Did your plants make it through that bout of rain we had? My tomatoes never recovered. Just pulled them.

lexusnexus
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Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 4:06 pm
Location: MD Suburbs of DC, 7a

Hey, you have to do what you have to do. If you can't get all the sunlight you really need, give it a try anyway. Just don't get down on yourself if it doesn't work out. It's hard to cheat mother nature, she usually wins. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and require as much sun as you can give them to get the required energy to generate fruit. But, all you can do is all you can do.



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