ButterflyLady29
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Re: Help to start gardening and planting

If you are going to plant your onion plant that come from the seed outside or in another spot then the seed can be planted 2.5 cm apart. If you are going to leave them in the container they should be about 12 cm apart. I never tried them on toilet paper, just in the soil. And they can be grown in your 6 to 8 inch deep buckets. 7 cm from the sides and 12 cm apart would be good spacing.

Tomatoes need at least 5 to 10 gallons, bigger is better.

Garlic, the little segments are called cloves, the bunch together is the bulb. I had to look it up, a lot of people get the terms mixed up.

applestar, thanks for the pictures. I didn't get it either. I've tried to grow onions from the slice off the bottom but they always rotted. I'll have to try your pyramid next time.

TareqPhoto
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ButterflyLady29 wrote:If you are going to plant your onion plant that come from the seed outside or in another spot then the seed can be planted 2.5 cm apart. If you are going to leave them in the container they should be about 12 cm apart. I never tried them on toilet paper, just in the soil. And they can be grown in your 6 to 8 inch deep buckets. 7 cm from the sides and 12 cm apart would be good spacing.

Tomatoes need at least 5 to 10 gallons, bigger is better.

Garlic, the little segments are called cloves, the bunch together is the bulb. I had to look it up, a lot of people get the terms mixed up.

applestar, thanks for the pictures. I didn't get it either. I've tried to grow onions from the slice off the bottom but they always rotted. I'll have to try your pyramid next time.
Well, I am thinking to plant those higher plants first or that grow into trees or big seedlings, then later when I see that there are some areas left then I can think about those underground plants, and if you telling me that I need about 2.5cm apart for onions seeds in the ground that mean if I take for example 0.5mx0.5m area then I can plant about 20 seeds, if I can have about 1m square area then it may go up to 40 seeds, not bad, I may divide it into 2 halves, one for onions and one for garlic., but I feel that I can have them separated from the garden in containers so I can save space more for my growing up plants.

I really don't know if you have that list of what I want too plant and you have same my garden and my land house space what you can do then?!!!

ButterflyLady29
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I did look at your photos and garden plan. You need to add the size of your planting area. If you gave it and I didn't see it I apologize. I wouldn't plant the corn because it takes too much room for the little it produces. Corn is very easy to buy here. I would grow the tomatoes and peppers because the ones from the store don't taste good and are very expensive. I also would plant the raspberries and strawberries because those also are much better fresh. But you are in a very different climate and I am not familiar with what your stores offer. Here lentils are very cheap to buy but take up a lot of room in a very small home garden.

Some of your trees can be planted in large pots, I have citrus trees in pots because they have to be kept inside for our winter. I've also seen bananas in pots. I don't know about the mango and pomegranate. Mulberries become large trees and so do cherries, they need to be planted in the ground.

Onions and garlic, yes, about 20 plants in a 0.5m by 0.5m area. And yes, they can grow in containers. Garlic and onions grown for green onions can be planted closer. The 12 cm guide is for large onions.

TareqPhoto
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ButterflyLady29 wrote:I did look at your photos and garden plan. You need to add the size of your planting area. If you gave it and I didn't see it I apologize. I wouldn't plant the corn because it takes too much room for the little it produces. Corn is very easy to buy here. I would grow the tomatoes and peppers because the ones from the store don't taste good and are very expensive. I also would plant the raspberries and strawberries because those also are much better fresh. But you are in a very different climate and I am not familiar with what your stores offer. Here lentils are very cheap to buy but take up a lot of room in a very small home garden.

Some of your trees can be planted in large pots, I have citrus trees in pots because they have to be kept inside for our winter. I've also seen bananas in pots. I don't know about the mango and pomegranate. Mulberries become large trees and so do cherries, they need to be planted in the ground.

Onions and garlic, yes, about 20 plants in a 0.5m by 0.5m area. And yes, they can grow in containers. Garlic and onions grown for green onions can be planted closer. The 12 cm guide is for large onions.

Keep looking at posts, I submitted a draw plan of my garden selected area, and I think I did put measurements on that draw, even another member gave me another draw according to mine for suggestion, you should check out, it is maybe in page 2.

I have Mulberry trees already and I have pomegranate trees too, I didn't know about them but members helped me to identify them so those saved me some space in my garden.

About onions, sounds the pots and containers will be fine for them, I planted one onion in a pot and it is growing fine, also planted 2 cloves of garlic also in a pot and they are grown fine and keep growing, but I planted few onion seeds in container since about 3-4 weeks and it didn't show up at all, strange, so I will give it until end of this year say one more week, if nothing yet then I simple will try to sow the container again and plant the new seeds, could be that I planted them so deep, and the soil is so hard for the seeds to grow and germinate or getting the sprouted leaves out, anything can be the reason, same happened with one container which I planted with tomatoes seeds directly from a tomato after I cut it and took the inside juice with seeds, it has been nearly 50-60 days until I saw them germinated and just barely they sprouted, so maybe sometimes some seeds taking ages to germinate in the soil, I will give a try later.

Corn will be treated later, from my another thread someone just mentioned that he saw corn was planted in a pot, so, let me ask, if you keep telling me about having a block for corn to success the pollination, then how about if I plant the corn in many pots good size big enough and put them all together next and closer to each other in a block form, will that work too? so in this case I can place all the pots in the sunniest location and it will save space from my garden, say I buy 25 pots, and put them in 5x5 matrix or block with enough spacing in between, isn't this gonna work?

I have 2 pots made of pottery, good big size, the man before me who rented my house bought them and left them for me, it contains dead plants, I don't know what, but I feel I really don't want to know and just remove it and plant something else, I was thinking about kind of citrus but not lemon, I have 3 lemon trees already in my garden, so I was more thinking about orange or mandarin or clementine, I was also thinking about apple, dwarf one, somewhere I saw that apple tree which is just standing in a pot and giving fruits, not that high, nearly 4-5 feet, I forgot what they call it, I was thinking one of those in one pot and the other is orange[or similar] fruit in another pot, what do you think? Those two pots placed just right in front to the side of my house entrance door.

Yesterday I was looking for to boil cowpea in water to eat, but to my surprise or shock I saw those small insects in that package after I saw some of them trying to survive from that boiling water, so I dumped that boiled one, and kept the pack as I was thinking to use the seeds in planting, not sure if it can be planted or it is clean after that insect invasion or I should get rid of it too, and where I can plant it if I can? I can't believe that I forgot to mention it in my wanted plants list, it will be good for me to have it too, and next time when I will buy it I will make sure I put them in a sealed jars or bottles rather than leave them in a plastic/nylon transparent bags.

Any details or information will help me, I keep researching ere and there, reading your posts, asking you, and keep reading, everything can be helpful for me, and I hope I can have a successful garden or plants, I am sure I will have failure which normal, but I won't give up, if it worked with some others then it must work for me too considering if same climate and environment.

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applestar
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If the package of cowpeas are dried peas, then I would suggest freezing them after placing in an airtight container or bag. A week to 10 days?

...I need someone else to confirm this will work to kill the bugs without harming what may be tropical species of cowpeas. (I would think so since seed banks freeze the stored seeds of all kinds.)

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Freezing will kill bugs, not necessarily all of the eggs. It depends. But washing the rice or beans takes care of that problem.
I don't know if the beans can be kept for seeds. If it was old enough for the bugs to hatch the beans were probably old to start with and if they were drilled by the bugs the germs may be damaged. But you can try. Bean seeds are good for about 10 years if properly stored.

You can plant corn in large pots but you still have to consider spacing. If your pots are small, corn will not grow very big. There are dwarf varieties of corn, but they still need a sizeable pot. If you plant corn too close then the pollen will not have room to reach the silks. You might have to bag the tassels and hand polinate if that is the case. In summer, only a couple of things will grow in the heat providing you have enough water corn, squash, beans, and cucumbers. None of the greens will do well unless they are grown in the shade and watered several times a day just to keep them cooled off.

In summer, I plant corn in my small garden. It takes up half the space. I let the butternut squash sprawl under them. I plant sunflowers on the periphery. I don't care for beans and I grow Asian long beans which can handle more heat than string beans and has fewer pests. You can plant bush beans which would not need a trellis. Pole beans will need a trellis or you can plant them after the corn has tasseled so you can use the corn stalks as a trellis. I would plant most of the garden with corn in summer. It is something I usually don't waste anything of and I grow it at a time when other things don't really like to grow anyway. Smaller things I can grow in pots because I have to move them to another part of the yard so I can control how much sun they get. Most of them will move to the front yard to get morning sun and afternoon shade or they will be grown under the citrus trees which I prune to open up the middle. That is how I handle growing in the heat.

I plant tomatoes and eggplant in large pots 20 inch pots. The tomatoes are in cages. Self watering pots save water and cut down on BER. I only grow heat tolerant tomatoes or cherries in summer. They produce the best when it gets very hot. Eggplant does not mind the heat but I only need one or two plants since they are so prolific and they spread so take up less space in pots. Hot peppers don't mind the heat they have to be at least 70 degrees F just to germinate nicely and they produce prolifically. Bell peppers will stop producing in extreme heat but are good up until you get close to 90 degrees F. Most of the Mediterranean herbs with gray leaves don't mind the heat. Herbs are expensive to buy and add a lot of flavor to food so they are the best deal in a hot climate. Sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender do well even in hot dry climates. Basil, shiso, fenugreek, cumin, borage, and some of the other herbs like cilantro need more water and can be grown when it is cooler. Basil does o.k. in the heat, it just needs more water and bolts quickly.

I have an overhead trellis and a fence where I let the gourds and chayote grow. Those vines are over 50 ft long and they are better if the fruit are off the ground. I only grow sugar baby watermelon. I can't eat a whole large watermelon so the 11 lb sugar baby is a better size and the vines are only 6 ft. Still, it yields poorly 1-3 melons max per vine, usually 1.

During the hottest months, I only harvest. Planting is futile when it is 99 degrees F outside. Most plants don't like that. After I harvest. I add more compost and I solarize the soil. It amends the soil for the next time and solarization kills nematodes in the top 4-6 inches and keeps the weeds down. It also would require a lot of water to try to keep anything going in the middle of summer and we pay very high rates for water that doesn't even end up in the sewer.

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applestar
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Oh yeah. Good beans and peas will sink; bad bug eaten ones with hollow insides and tunnels will float.

You do have to consider whether the peas/beans were heat dried, in which case they won't be viable to germinate.

ButterflyLady29
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The pottery pots will dry out quickly in the sun and heat. If you set them in trays that hold water they would work well for your citrus. I've never done apples in pots but I have seen pictures of them. I think it would be nice to have big potted trees on each side of your doorway.

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Actually you have a large stone patio. If you put a shade over it, it would be more pleasant to be outside in the sun. Putting pots on that reflective surface will magnify the heat.

TareqPhoto
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For now, the weather is nice, and I think it will stay nice for another 4 months then slowly it will get warmer, and it will start hot maybe in late May, so there is almost nearly 5 months to worry about heat, so does that means most of my plants won't grow within those 5 months? I did read about some plants that grow and give fruits within 3-5 months, and later I can worry about heat when I will come/start, I will buy some kind of covering sheet or clothes to prevent that much heat, but the problem is not with heat itself, the problem is in the humidity, I stand in the shade but still sweat and feel so hot during summer, even sweaty inside the house if I didn't turn on the A/C, means there is more than heat itself even in shades.

I see most of my plants grown already, and the new planted cilantro in a container grown germinated already, but, there are few plants didn't, Parsley never germinated in different pots I plants, not even one. Onions in a container didn't germinate yet, or maybe it germinates but didn't show out of soil or sprouted, will leave it for little more time and check later, at least I planted one or 2 seeds of another variety of onion in a pot and it germinated and keep growing. Also I planted 5 germinates watermelon seeds in pots each individually, but they never came out of the soil yet, I thought once they are germinates then it will sprout I no time, but sounds something off killed them or stopped them not sure what. Also I planted citrus yellow lemon germinated seeds in smaller pots, 4 almost sprouted then I transplanted 3 of them to a bit bigger pot, but sounds they never grow enough at all, is it known for very very slow growing or it is gone?

And last but not least, I planted cluster beans one seed in a pot and also a cucumber in another pot, both were germinated seeds, and they grew like a hell, but, cucumber seedling died in no time after I saw 2 or 3 big leaves, either wrong watering or the pot was small for it to grow faster, and the beans seedling is died too maybe because the pot wasn't big so it didn't grow better, or it could be that watering it, the person who water my garden and plants just water direct on plants, maybe strong water coming out of the pipe, I feel all small plants couldn't handle that water pressure maybe, so I asked him to water my seedling and small plants gently and with plants watering jar, and I asked him if he can try hard to water on the soil not on the plant, so I hope this will prevent some problems with the plants.

Sounds I will try watermelon in the future in the ground rather than a pot, or, buying that big deep containers which are wide enough and plant 1 or 2 seeds at most and watch, and same with beans and basil, and I will take photos of my cowpeas in that pack and post here to show you, I was also thinking about washing it then store it in a sealed jars/bottles then in the fridge instead of freezer, if washing will eliminate the eggs then the seeds will stay clean and in fridge locked or sealed it won't be invaded by anything then, but not sure if the seeds didn't affect from inside too, the only way is to wash it and store it again better way and save in a fridge and take one seed in about 5 days or 1 week and try to plant it, if it works great, if not then I try with 2 more seeds at once each individually, if also didn't work then I have an option to test 5 seeds randomly from that stored as last test or just dump it all and buy new and store it better carefully from beginning.

Sorry I didn't post a drawing I made which has more details to my garden, but that draw is very complicated because it is full of lines and words and numbers, hope you can read clear and get a better idea about my garden and my plan, with the photos of my garden you can understand it better I hope, just later I will post that drawing by my hand.

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rainbowgardener
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Re:
" Parsley never germinated in different pots I plants, not even one. Onions in a container didn't germinate yet, or maybe it germinates but didn't show out of soil or sprouted, will leave it for little more time and check later, at least I planted one or 2 seeds of another variety of onion in a pot and it germinated and keep growing. Also I planted 5 germinates watermelon seeds in pots each individually, but they never came out of the soil yet, I thought once they are germinates then it will sprout I no time, but sounds something off killed them or stopped them not sure what. Also I planted citrus yellow lemon germinated seeds in smaller pots, 4 almost sprouted then I transplanted 3 of them to a bit bigger pot, but sounds they never grow enough at all, is it known for very very slow growing or it is gone?

And last but not least, I planted cluster beans one seed in a pot and also a cucumber in another pot, both were germinated seeds, and they grew like a hell, but, cucumber seedling died in no time after I saw 2 or 3 big leaves, either wrong watering or the pot was small for it to grow faster, and the beans seedling is died too maybe because the pot wasn't big so it didn't grow better, or it could be that watering it, the person who water my garden and plants just water direct on plants, maybe strong water coming out of the pipe,"

We are trying to help you learn, Tareq, but it is hard because you put so much in one post and there are so many possibilities. I think we could help more if you would put one or two questions in a post WITH PICTURES, so we could see what the pot looks like (always helps to put something in the picture to show the size scale) and what the plant looks like.

Parsley seed takes anywhere from 10 days to nearly a month to germinate. All that time it needs to be kept warm (anywhere from 75-85 deg F, about 24 - 30 deg C) and damp but not wet. All small seed like parsley should not be buried, but just sprinkled on the soil, pressed down lightly to be in good contact with the soil, and then a very light, thin layer of soil just scattered loosely over the top.

And the potting mix you use makes a big difference. I think there was an issue about that when you started. Can you remind us what you are using now as growing medium to start your seeds in?

There is the answer to one of the six questions in that section I quoted. (Parsley, onions, watermelon, lemons, beans, cucumber). I will try to work on some more later, if no one else does.

The thing is each type of seeds has its own set of conditions it needs - temperature, light, moisture, etc. To be really successful, you have to approximate that set of conditions as closely as you can.

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rainbowgardener
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2. Onions. Here anyway, onions are not usually grown from seed, they are grown from sets or starts -- small, immature onion bulbs.

You need to have the right variety of onion for your climate. Here's something about the different varieties: https://bonnieplants.com/library/which- ... t-for-you/

Onion seed germinates best between 60 deg F and 75. (15.5 deg C to 24.) In these conditions, they should sprout in 7-10 days. But you have to watch closely. When they first sprout they are difficult to spot, looking like tiny, very thin bits of grass. All these seedlings need plenty of light once sprouted, but the onion seeds once sprouted benefit from some cooler temperatures. Once the sprouts are say 10 cm tall, they should be transplanted in to their own little pots, and later into the ground. They like acidic soil, pH down around 6. Onion roots are shallow, so they need frequent watering.

Onions are very slow from seed. In my climate, I start onion seed indoors under lights in January. Plant them out as soon as the ground can be worked in March or so, and the onions should be ready to harvest by end of summer, Aug or Sept. Again, your soil/ climate/ conditions are so different, you would be best off talking to someone local about varieties to grow, when to plant, etc.

TareqPhoto
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Ok, I am sorry for putting too many questions, I should put one by one, but I didn't want to start to many threads for each plant, I know you want to help, and you are doing great, even if you didn't answer completely I appreciate it, also it doesn't need to be a page long answer for each question, go like as following:

1. Onion, is...... [2 lines]
2. Parsley,... [1 line answer if possible
3. Corn [3-4 lines answer]
..........

I can read the headlines, I talked about the soil, and I think I started a thread about fertilizer somewhere but I didn't get any answer there, and the soil isn't bad because if many seeds germinated and growing it means the soil is good enough, it could be the seeds aren't good, or as you said the temp, so this is clear enough for me, what did germinate and grow I won't worry about it at all, and the one that didn't germinated I will read more about it and I will try to offer the best environment for germination and then I will see if it will work or fail, then I will have another discussion about it.

I feel that I am so excited about plants so I try to plant many variety plants, I try to get the advantage of our weather, if you avoid the frost or winter then I also try to avoid the summer, the best weather to us is between November up to April, I planted some 2 months ago or last month, they are growing, and our weather is not staying cold or cloudy or raining for many days, we are human need that cloudy or rainy weather sometimes, so good for plants sometimes too, at least if there is no sun but there is water, and water from rain is always clean or better than our water which could be salty, today we had little rainy little windy and so cloudy weather and the tomatoes is like suddenly grown happy under that weather, and the corn just sprouted 2-3 days ago and they are about nearly 2 inches, I feel our cloudy nice cold weather is good sometimes for growing, maybe not good for germinating, so I got that advantage few days/weeks ago when the sun is shiny and not very hot, good enough warmth, but now with cloudy the plant is growing fine, tomorrow or after tomorrow it will be sunny again, aren't the tropical climate is in this way, warmth/humid and water from rain?

I took photos most of my pots and containers that I wanted to show here 2 days ago, now I don't know if I should post those or take newer photos tomorrow and show those instead? from today to 2 days later plants are growing, what will happen later to them is not in my hand, I give them care of warmth or shade and water and whatever it needs, I still have long time to worry about my garden and plants, I just started 3 months ago, I thought I will never see one seed germinates, or it may germinate inside the soil but never show up/out of soil, but I was wrong, most seeds are showing me hope, this is a good sign for me so when my garden will be ready I won't worry about my seeds, then I have 2 options, either I start with new seeds that I saw the proof of germinating or just transplant what is grown already? Which will grow faster or fine, the transplanted seedlings or a newly planted seeds?

ButterflyLady29
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You have someone else watering your seedlings and planted pots and you don't know how they are doing it? That may be the problem. Some seeds require light in order to sprout. If hard watering covers the seed with too much soil it won't sprout. Hard watering after the seeds germinate will kill the young plants.

Which grows faster, transplants or seeds in the ground? That answer really depends on the plant. Tomatoes and peppers grow just fine from transplants but cucumbers and watermelon are set back by transplanting. And with any seedling/young plant, if the pot is too small and the roots run out of room it sets them back so they won't grow as quickly.

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ButterflyLady29 wrote:You have someone else watering your seedlings and planted pots and you don't know how they are doing it? That may be the problem. Some seeds require light in order to sprout. If hard watering covers the seed with too much soil it won't sprout. Hard watering after the seeds germinate will kill the young plants.

Which grows faster, transplants or seeds in the ground? That answer really depends on the plant. Tomatoes and peppers grow just fine from transplants but cucumbers and watermelon are set back by transplanting. And with any seedling/young plant, if the pot is too small and the roots run out of room it sets them back so they won't grow as quickly.
I asked him not to water my seedlings or pots/containers anymore, if he will do then by that garden plastic watering can I bought or even smaller spray cans, in all cases I asked him to water on the soil directly rather than on the plant/seedling itself, hope this will prevent most problems I may face later.

About which growing faster is because if I will make my garden ready then which is better for me, plant new seeds to start over again, or just transplant what are grown already? the garden will be big room and deep for each plant, there are trees so it means deep enough, for that I asked which will grow faster, the new seeds I will plant or the transplanted seedlings as I feel they won't grow much further in pots or containers, and wanting them to continue growing in better beds, so that I was thinking about transplanting them, and not sure at what level/point the transplanting is fine or it may damage the plant.

ButterflyLady29
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Transplants, a few questions;
have they been outside close to where you want them in the garden?
what plants are you planning to transplant?
how big are they?

Transplants must go through a process called hardening off. It's where the plant that was growing in a sheltered location is gradually introduced to the area where it will be planted in the garden. If you take a baby plant that is growing in a pot where it doesn't get much real sunshine or wind on it and suddenly plant it in a very sunny and windy area it will die. It's just not accustomed to a full day of sun and wind. You have to set the plant in the pot in it's new location (or very close to it) for an hour or so the first 2 or 3 days, then leave it there for 2 or 3 hours for 2 more days, then 3 or 4 hours for another 2 days, until it's used to being outside all day. Cool nights can set plants back too. I like to put mine out in the evening before sunset and bring them in just after dark. This gives them time to get accustomed to being outside in the weather.

Some plants don't like being transplanted. Melons, cucumbers, watermelon, and squash do better when planted where they will grow. Those seeds can be sprouted before planting.

How big are the plants? Some plants do better if they are bigger. Peppers and tomatoes are easier to transplant if they are larger. Those bigger plants can tolerate the hardening off process better than small plants. Lettuce and spinach are better if transplanted when small.

You ask which will grow faster. This depends on what the plant is. Tomatoes and peppers grow better and faster as transplants. Cucumbers, beans, sunflowers, and melons grow faster and better as seeds planted directly into the garden. All of your root crops, radish, carrots, turnips, beets, and so on, need to be planted directly where they will grow. When you transplant any plant the root system is damaged just a bit. This doesn't affect some plants but the root crops don't produce well if the root is damaged.

Do your seedling containers have drainage holes in the bottom? If they do the best way to water them is from the bottom. You set the container in a larger container of water and let it soak up water from the bottom.It's called bottom watering. Don't let the water come over the top of the seedling container Bottom watering will not wash the seeds out of the soil or damage newly sprouted roots.

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Even without seeing your seed starting set up or knowing what your potting mix is like, I would be willing to bet that all the things like watermelon that failed to germinate, it was because they were over watered. Seedlings are tricky, because they can't be allowed to dry out, but they easily rot out if kept too wet. The bottom watering BirdLover suggested helps to maintain that uniform moist but not wet condition (as long as it is only a little water in the bottom!).

Here's a nice article on growing watermelon from seed, with all the temps already in Centigrade:

https://www.agrisupportonline.com/Articl ... _seeds.htm

It says:
The optimal temperature range for successful and uniform germination is a constant 23 - 25°c for the first three days after sowing. However, good results have also been observed at 30°c (day) and 20°c (night).
at 23 deg C it will take about a week for germination. If you can get the soil temp up to 30 deg C, they should sprout in 3-4 days.

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It sounds like this is going to be a learning process for both you and your gardener.

If you are not watering them yourself, which is a good time to observe their state of health and their general environmental conditions, knowing direct cause and effect of what you did vs. didn't, you will need to be in close communication with the gardener, even observing HOW h/she is doing it and giving direct instructions or even demonstrating. This will also give you better understanding of how best to accomplish the task.

Also, it's also necessary for you yourself to look at them at least once every day, especially during seedling stage, unless your gardener can make the necessary observations and know what to do.

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rainbowgardener
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continuing down the list: 3) watermelon

Watermelon (and other melons) are best planted directly in the ground where they will grow. They sprout quickly and grow fast and they don't particularly like being transplanted. But you need to have good, loose soil and the soil needs to be warmed up to at least 20 deg C. At that temperature, they will sprout in just a few days.

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Ok, about transplanting, all my plants in pots or containers are out facing all the weather conditions, sunlight, rain, wind, we got 2 rains within 2 months and before yesterday it was really raining medium, so my plants all of them except the one that is in shade apart from weather a bit are adjusted to the outdoor weather already, but I am not sure about at what level or point the transplanting can be fine, I mean some plants can keep growing after transplanting because they are still young or smaller, or it is the opposite as the plant is strong enough so it can be transplanted without problems?

Almost the planned area is nearly done, I just need to identify 3 more trees to decide which to remove or which to keep then I will start planting directly to the ground, either new seeds or transplant some seedlings.

I will try to go with only those corps and few plants they grow up, I will leave those growing to the ground later or to another place or another plan such as watermelon or cantaloupe or lettuce.

I will post photos of the plants so far in pots and containers sooner or later, then you can tell me what I should do next.

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rainbowgardener
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People have different ways of doing things, but I like to have big, sturdy, healthy plants for transplanting. Gets them past a lot of dangers that way. So my transplants, depending on what it is, are often a foot tall and leafy.

As far as your beans and cucumbers that sprouted, then died. If the pots were very small seedling pots, like the 4-5 cm wide ones, and you weren't adding fertilizer regularly, then they might just grow until they ran out of nutrients. But more likely it was a watering issue. Over-watering kills more seedlings than anything else!

TareqPhoto
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It is not a problem, I just stated last year late months, and all were as tests, happy to find that I can plant something, I thought [stupidity] that I can't grow anything in my country except those very hot resistance trees and most of them I don't like to eat fruits, didn't know there are plants I like to it can be grow in my country as well, and even more surprise to find out that many plants I thought it will never grow in warm sunny weather actually turned out to be a sun loving plants such as tomatoes and sweet corn, I really thought that I can't grow some vegetables or herbs, but once I talked with the person who first made me to think about planting told me how lucky I am to live in a sunny warm/hot country for plants.

I will try to plant in my garden what I already mentioned I need, and those I tested them out of the garden in pots and containers and even in cups, and all those are left outside in same condition of my garden, in fact I just need to fertilize my garden so it can be a rich soil then I can plant things permanently to grow, I don't feel sad if some seeds grown successfully or sprouted and some didn't, at least I got a great idea about which can be germinated in any condition and which doesn't, and with those which didn't germinate or sprouted then it will force me to find out or search about why it failed, it is always fun to learn and to correct mistakes, almost 90% of seeds germinated and that is enough for me to make me happy, if 90% didn't germinate then I will really feel sad and disappointed.

Watering is an issue then if over-watering, in fact I really don't know how to water plants properly, for me it is not enough someone saying just give water enough but not saturated, or make it wet but not too much water, how can I know how much volume or water level needed to each plant? maybe I over-water it or I may give it too less water then it will die slowly[gradually] without knowing it, so I really want to know the proper amount of water needed to each plant in whatever space they are [pots, containers, ground,....etc], and always I read about making holes in pots and containers in the bottom side for drainage, so isn't this helping me if I over-watering the plant then the extra water should be drained through those holes and keep the plant away for over-watering? also how many times to water it, or to check if it is wet so no need to water it everyday, I water my plants only once everyday because it is not hot no warm weather nowadays and it doesn't dry quick, but maybe I don't need to water it everyday as well, but I am not keen about checking if the soil is wet or the plant doesn't need water anymore until next time soon.

Last thing, about those not germinated sees, I will read more about it but what made them not germinated at all when other too many seed did germinate successfully even in worse condition or soil? I planted 4 seeds of onions, 1 of them is a type [white I think] and it germinated and grown fine, the other 3 is another one type [red or violet] and none germinated although they are in one container with spacing in between, and I made that soil in the container better mixed, the other with one seed was planted in a potting soil that doesn't have any sand or any fertilizer, strange if that made it to work more than the mixed one, but I will check it out sooner or later, and the container is bigger size than the pot which one seed of onion germinated which is another confusing, and parsley never germinated in any pots [all small/medium size] regardless what soil I used, I even bought a container so I can have plenty of parsley in it than a smaller sized pots, but if it never germinated then what the point for another bigger sized beds?!!!

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rainbowgardener
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Wow... I really don't know what of all that to try to respond to. You will get better with trial and error and learning what works for you. I can't tell you how to water, because your climate is so different from anything I have experienced. But to be successful, you will need to get over this:

"but I am not keen about checking if the soil is wet or the plant doesn't need water anymore until next time soon." The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. That means you need to be out there, paying attention, checking on how things are doing and what they need.

I also really recommend keeping some records. Next year you won't remember what you started when, indoors or out, at what temperature, etc. If you want to learn and get better, you need to know what you did before, what worked and what didn't.

I do have to caution you a little. Certainly people grow a lot of things in your country and you can too. Crops that come from Egypt include rice, wheat, corn, cotton, sugar cane, beans, citrus fruits, grapes, tomatoes, and potatoes. But some things like tomatoes, even though "sun lovers" don't really do well with very high temps, especially above 90-95 F (30-32 C). Look for heat resistant tomato varieties.

TareqPhoto
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rainbowgardener wrote:Wow... I really don't know what of all that to try to respond to. You will get better with trial and error and learning what works for you. I can't tell you how to water, because your climate is so different from anything I have experienced. But to be successful, you will need to get over this:

"but I am not keen about checking if the soil is wet or the plant doesn't need water anymore until next time soon." The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. That means you need to be out there, paying attention, checking on how things are doing and what they need.

I also really recommend keeping some records. Next year you won't remember what you started when, indoors or out, at what temperature, etc. If you want to learn and get better, you need to know what you did before, what worked and what didn't.

I do have to caution you a little. Certainly people grow a lot of things in your country and you can too. Crops that come from Egypt include rice, wheat, corn, cotton, sugar cane, beans, citrus fruits, grapes, tomatoes, and potatoes. But some things like tomatoes, even though "sun lovers" don't really do well with very high temps, especially above 90-95 F (30-32 C). Look for heat resistant tomato varieties.
You are right, but I mostly not into plantation or gardening too much, I just started but I have other things I am busy with these days, and those tests in pots aren't the best I will have, but something to start with, and slowly I will do more and have more time for plants later, not in rush, and the site here could be a big help or assistant for me too, even after 1 year I can come here and read my posts so I can remember things, and within 1 year sure I will learn more and more.

I agree about very high temp, even we are human can't stand that very high temp, and that time of the year I will make sure to provide some kind of shades for my plants and watering more, I have some trees in my garden survived the high temp, even I remember that the end of summer still high temp last summer [2015] I moved to my house and the person didn't water the garden and I didn't water it too for a bit, so about 1 month or more the trees or plants didn't have water under very high temp, but once I water them most plants/trees came back to life, but I will not forget them for next years in summer for sure so they can grow or live/survive better with me than before, it is life after all with the plants, in very cold winter or very high temp summer the trees or plants should die temporarily so they will wake up again in fall in our country or in spring in your region.

Again, we have nice weather only not in summer, and our summer is long, say from May until October it is bad time, then simply we grow out of that time, I started 2 months ago and I still have 3-4 months before the heat start, so I hope by May when it is warm the plants grown good enough or even some giving fruits by then, then with heat it may slow growing or die in peak summer, but I don't think all plant will die at once in very hot summer if I water them good enough, and this coming summer will be another test also to see which plant can survive and which can't, I will try to take care of my plant nowadays until summer so I can have stronger or healthier plants in summer, if some die or failed then simply I will grow them again after summer earlier this time to have more time before another summer [2017,.....]

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applestar
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I like your approach -- yes, gardening is a continuing cycle of seasons and learning, and each plant has individual requirements that you will learn in time.

It sounds like you are on the right track, and learnings which crop to plant when to their best advantage sounds like a priority. You may very well have off season in the height of the summer in the same way we have our off season in the depth of the winter.

Don't be afraid to plant in the ground though, especially if temperature and rainfall are favorable.

Also, just because a seed will germinate and grow a little seedling doesn't mean the soil is good -- yes good enough to favor germination, but the seed gets its initial energy from the seed itself, which usually turns into the first pair of (seed) leaves. Once that energy/nutrients are depleted, and first feeder roots grow, the plant needs nutrients from the soil, and in a limited soil volume and biosphere of a container, that is depleted quickly, whereas the micro-and macro-cosm in the soil are working to recycle nutrients in the air and soil.... Plus the roots can range farther out to seek nutrients and water. When even that is depleted, you as a gardener have to supply the necessary building blocks to make the soil fertile again.

TareqPhoto
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applestar wrote:I like your approach -- yes, gardening is a continuing cycle of seasons and learning, and each plant has individual requirements that you will learn in time.

It sounds like you are on the right track, and learnings which crop to plant when to their best advantage sounds like a priority. You may very well have off season in the height of the summer in the same way we have our off season in the depth of the winter.

Don't be afraid to plant in the ground though, especially if temperature and rainfall are favorable.

Also, just because a seed will germinate and grow a little seedling doesn't mean the soil is good -- yes good enough to favor germination, but the seed gets its initial energy from the seed itself, which usually turns into the first pair of (seed) leaves. Once that energy/nutrients are depleted, and first feeder roots grow, the plant needs nutrients from the soil, and in a limited soil volume and biosphere of a container, that is depleted quickly, whereas the micro-and macro-cosm in the soil are working to recycle nutrients in the air and soil.... Plus the roots can range farther out to seek nutrients and water. When even that is depleted, you as a gardener have to supply the necessary building blocks to make the soil fertile again.
I am already keep going with my plants, I just got lazy last few weeks or say 1 month, I forgot to post about the rest of the trees plants I still have in my garden that is taking a place in the planning area, the man who watering my garden and clean the yard already removed most of the weeds and grasses, still not fully removed as new weeds grown and because we had 2 or 3 times raining during 1 month so I will give it a last sowing to remove more weeds and I will start immediately regardless if the weeds may damage or affect my seeds, unless I transplant, in all cases I am not looking for using mulch as it is a nightmare to find them and using papers mulch is giving bad look, what is easy to get there in your country may not be as easy here, and I am suer they will charge for mulch even non used or throwing one and I have to drive around to find free enough amount, the only thing I will do is I keep or the man keeps removing the weeds/grasses manually.

I know about fertilizing the soil, but I was talking about start the seeds in soil, not meaning when the seedlings sprout and grow, if I planted those seeds in salty pure sand will they germinate? this is what I was talking about, and if the soil mixed I use is good enough then all what I do is just water it and add fertilizer, if the soil isn't good from beginning it may not help growing even with fertilizer and water, no?

I didn't take photos recently as I was busy and lazy, but soon I will do and see what I should do next, it is a new year and we still in nice weather season so I think it is time to plant something suitable for this season before it is getting warmer and summer start later.

TareqPhoto
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An update:

I hired or brought one person who is experienced in gardening [not a master or top experienced, but he was doing gardening or farming for almost 5-6 years] and I asked him to prepare my garden on the area you know about, and he did prepared it good enough, I am not sure his way is good or not, but I didn't wait too long just because of weeds or grass, but he said I just dig enough depth and those grass are dead, and most weeds he removed by hand too, so he just sowed the ground, added the potting soil to mix with the existing sand and some fertilizers too, then he planted seeds and transplanted all tomatoes seedlings, I hope those transplanted seedlings will keep growing then.

Also I made a block for corn, he planted the seeds but not sure he measured proper spacing, but at the end, I start something is better than I keep waiting long and thinking too much about how to do when and where.

In that planned area I already planted the following:

- Tomatoes
- Corn
- Cucumber
- Cowpea
- Lettuce
- Watermelon
- Garlic

And soon I will continue with more plants as following:

- Onion
- Melon
- Maybe Pea

Not sure what else I should grow, that garden told me or suggested to go with Spinach, or okra [ladyfinger] or even cabbage/cauliflower, but I don't eat any of those, my wife sometimes like to eat a dish that has an eggplant as a recipe, but I won't grow that in my garden, so once I am done with those I may think to prepare another area if not invading most of that side yard space to keep it simple and enough space to walk around.

I forgot to say that I bought a seedlings of lemon [citrus] that has one lemon fruit small existing so hope it can produce more fruits soon, I was going to buy another seedlings not this which has more flowers, but I decided to go with a seedling that has already a fruit even small, well keep it. Also I bought a mango seedlings, and I just removed one tree[or seedlings] of what I have in my garden that is almost closer to my planned area beds, and I planted that mango seedlings in its place after that gardener removed that previous tree completely from roots and digging deep, sounds the ground is deep enough, he did dig around 2 feet to put that plant and same with lemon seedling.

I will post photos later, I was taking some photos when all my plants/seedlings are still in pots/containers, but I think I better ignore that and just take new photos of latest update as soon as possible.

imafan26
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It sounds like the gardener you hired did know what he was doing. He amended and pulled the weed and fertilized before planting.
Different plants have different needs for water and it depends on how well your soil drains. The soil in the pots will not be the same as the one in the garden. Some of the seeds that did not germinate or dampened off in the pots may do better in the ground.
Talk to the gardener about putting in a drip watering system. You will waste less water and you can use different emitters to control the flow rate. How long you keep the system on will depend on how long it takes to saturate the soil down 4-6 inches. You have to test that yourself.

TareqPhoto
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imafan26 wrote:It sounds like the gardener you hired did know what he was doing. He amended and pulled the weed and fertilized before planting.
Different plants have different needs for water and it depends on how well your soil drains. The soil in the pots will not be the same as the one in the garden. Some of the seeds that did not germinate or dampened off in the pots may do better in the ground.
Talk to the gardener about putting in a drip watering system. You will waste less water and you can use different emitters to control the flow rate. How long you keep the system on will depend on how long it takes to saturate the soil down 4-6 inches. You have to test that yourself.
In all cases I started regardless he knows what he is doing or not, and all what I have to do now is just wait and watch, he made some kind of lines higher than the ground of the garden where I planned and kept lower area as beds for water, so he plated seeds and seedlings all around those higher lines [kind of small mountains/hills form].

Not sure if I really need to make that watering system as long I am not using the whole garden area, and it may cost me another budget and then I may need to provide another outlet of water, and if I use it for entire of my garden then it will give not that nice look, I don't think they will install something as hidden watering system or invisible, and I am sure they will not make underground type, so I will keep it as it is with manual standard watering way, the person who was renting my house and made this garden didn't make that system first place since long time, so I am not going to do it just yet now.

I remember in other house where I was living for almost 5 years we planted smaller seedlings and smaller trees and we were watering it regular way manually, and now the tress are high like it is a jungle, so within 5 years plants grown crazy, not all of them but most are, and I already have few tress tall in the backside of the garden, means they are doing fine without that watering system or network, and I know it is making life with watering system and I still like to have it, but not now, I can wait and see if I will need it as a must.

Now I have to think about the outside garden or space for plants, still didn't decide which plants I will grow rather than the 2 I am sure about, so I will watch this site so I may get an idea here or there.

imafan26
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Hand watering is fine if you have the time and dicipline to do it.

TareqPhoto
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imafan26 wrote:Hand watering is fine if you have the time and dicipline to do it.
There is a person who is coming to my house everyday except Friday to water my plants and clean my yards [and sometimes my car too]



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