What did you do in the garden today?

Minanora said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I've never seen this technique before. @chickengr and @Swiss what benefits do you see with this method? Do the seedlings still get transplanted into larger pots?

I can see the pro of not having to up-pot, and adding roots from the stem like when you bury a transplant in the garden.

But I feel like it's making a leggy seedling in the beginning and not allowing the original root ball to expand like it would if it got up-potted as it grew. Also risking dampening or other disease issues for such young seedlings.

Do you guys think the tomatoes grown with this method do better than a traditional start?

Eager to learn.

ETA: I assume when you add more soil you're not lifting the plant and adding below the roots. Rather, burying the stem as it grows up out of the cup.

Also ETA: does this method work better for specific varieties or types of tomatoes?

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Great questions! I've never seen tomato plants grown this way either.

Swiss said:

got to harvest one asparagus spear today!

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Yay! We’ve harvested 3x now - and they are sweeter than what you get in the store! Maybe it’s the variety (“Millenium” I think is the variety), maybe bc it’s so fresh.


My time is spent with the goats. Little orphan Annie gets milk several times a day. But it’s a process bc have to get mom or Aunt into milking stand for her to nurse. They (moms) need treats. Mom Molly runs off into chicken run to steel a bite or two of chicken feed if I lose hold of her collar! Aunt Roxie stands longingly at the outer door staring at dandelions. Today Annie was disbudded. She did great at the vet and he gave her a pain shot that lasts 24 hours. The boys are almost two weeks past their disbudding.

A couple of cute pics of Annie outside.



Still havent started tomatoes. But, maybe today (I’ve said that before).

We bought some limb spreaders from Stark to spread some limbs on some of the older trees. I’ll also need to pull some down with padded wire.

The lentils I planted in a raised bed are sprouting!

The Marshall strawberries I planted last year are looking great! Leaves are so glossy! I’m looking forward to some berries!

@WthrLady my Rhubarb also tried flowering year 2. I split some of them this year, but the ones I didn’t split are trying to flower. Cut off the flowers/entire flower stalk bc the take all the energy, and provide no value, but you probably already know that.

Minanora said:

Thank you! I wish they were each on their own automatic zone control valve. But that would be overkill, says DH. 4 are on one valve, two on another, then my berries have their own valve. Our water volume is pretty poor so I was able to justify splitting them up a bit. That was a labor intensive project, I'm glad I'm finished.

I'm counting the new drip lines as a separate project. 1/4" barbs are torture. I'm not even half way done with that nightmare. Trying to push through, it's easy to think about saving this one for fall. Who needs vacations or regular working hours, I can hand water, right?

Anyway I pulled almost all of my onions today. Nearly every one went to flower. So I'm going to chop them up and freeze bags of them. I was hoping to get bigger bulbs but eh, I'll start seed this fall and try again. Garlic is doing great though.

The weather is whiplashing again. It was 65 today, 88 yesterday.

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There's a tool for that.
OR you can use a very small Phillips head screwdriver, pinch the 1/2 inch tubing so it's firm, and gently poke a guide hole for the 1/4 inch barb.

chickengr said:

not sure about @Swiss but I do the same. as seedlings grow I add more soil.

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Me too. As the stem get longer I add soil. Everywhere the soil touches stem, the plant grows roots, making for a VERY strong, Very water efficient plant.

Acre4Me said:

@WthrLady my Rhubarb also tried flowering year 2. I split some of them this year, but the ones I didn’t split are trying to flower. Cut off the flowers/entire flower stalk bc the take all the energy, and provide no value, but you probably already know that.

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I'm growing it for the beauty of the plant.
DH doesn't care for it to eat.
I can't stand it. It's celery with a better PR firm in my opinion. LOL.
But it is stunning in the herb garden.
======
I went out this morning to dead calm winds and decided to put the shade cloth over the greenhouse and the shade cloths up in the garden. Half way through the first shade in the garden, Nebraska woke up and the winds started to howl. I swear.
I planted the French marigolds I picked up yesterday, the salvia, a deep pink one, and a 'I can't remember what it is, but hummingbirds love it' plant. LOL
I suppose I'll put the two other tarps away for the day, and move on to another project.

Swiss said:

I got to harvest one asparagus spear today! It was from a wild patch. I cooked it up with some store bought asparagus, and it tasted significantly better than they did!

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I like to eat them raw when I water my plants. If there are only one or two, they don't make it back into the kitchen. Have you tried them raw?

Exploring Seed Germination Alternatives

I am exploring a number of different ways to germinate seeds to make best use of my limited space for starting plants for later transplanting in my gardens.

I have been dropping 2 or 3 seeds into a 3-inch net pot filled with potting soil and hoping for the best. Maybe one comes up, maybe both and then have to cut back one, etc...

Picture of 3-inch net pots...



This has become one of my favorite seed starting methods because the cup holds enough potting soil that I don't have to up-pot the plants for the 8 weeks I keep them inside the house. The slits in the pots allow me to bottom water them. The slits also result in air-pruning the roots and I don't have to worry about my plants getting root bound with roots spiraling around inside a solid pot. Healthier roots make for better transplanting and my plants last year did not suffer when I put them into the garden.

The only downside that I have using these 3-inch net pots is that they take up much more room than smaller starter 6-packs, for example.

Also, I have a bunch of older seeds that I want to use up. I don't think it works in my favor to drop those old seeds into these net cups and maybe some will germinate, maybe a lot will not, but in the meantime, mostly take up lots of room on my shelf under the lights.

I watched a number of YouTube videos on ways to germinate seeds before putting them into potting soil. One method that looked promising was the paper towel in the baggie method. But I did not like the fact that I could not see the germination progress of the seeds in the folded paper towel inside the baggie. Plus, it seems that the seeds start to grow into the folded paper towel and you could easily damage the seed when you removed it for potting.

Last night, I came upon a YouTube video that suggests a better way to germinate seeds using a modified paper towel baggie system. This guy uses small plastic condiment containers with lids for seed starting. He puts the paper towel in the bottom, adds water, then places the seeds on top of the paper towel. He says that the seeds will germinate and because they have room in the cup to grow, they don't get all smooshed like in the baggie method.

Because the paper towel in the condiment cup is only on the bottom, not folded over the seed, you can easily look through the lid to see if the seeds are growing, or not, and if some are ready for potting. Then you just pick out the seeds that have geminated and started to grow for your potting. Just about guaranteed to have 100% success rate at that point!

I have lots of small plastic containers that would work great for that method. I think I will give it a try. I am just wondering if anyone else is familiar with this modified paper towel baggie method and if they had any success using it?

Here is the YouTube video...

Smokerbill said:

@Swiss , very nice plants you got there. Why is there so little soil in the tomato pots?

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chickengr said:

not sure about @Swiss but I do the same. as seedlings grow I add more soil.

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Minanora said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I've never seen this technique before. @chickengr and @Swiss what benefits do you see with this method? Do the seedlings still get transplanted into larger pots?

I can see the pro of not having to up-pot, and adding roots from the stem like when you bury a transplant in the garden.

But I feel like it's making a leggy seedling in the beginning and not allowing the original root ball to expand like it would if it got up-potted as it grew. Also risking dampening or other disease issues for such young seedlings.

Do you guys think the tomatoes grown with this method do better than a traditional start?

Eager to learn.

ETA: I assume when you add more soil you're not lifting the plant and adding below the roots. Rather, burying the stem as it grows up out of the cup.

Also ETA: does this method work better for specific varieties or types of tomatoes?

Click to expand...

WthrLady said:

Me too. As the stem get longer I add soil. Everywhere the soil touches stem, the plant grows roots, making for a VERY strong, Very water efficient plant.

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I quoted all these posts in order to respond, but @WthrLady beat me to it! I was planning to add soil as they grew, but life got in the way and it seemed like they grew this tall overnight!

cj2024 said:

I like to eat them raw when I water my plants. If there are only one or two, they don't make it back into the kitchen. Have you tried them raw?

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I tried a store-bought one raw, and thought it tasty. I should have taken a bite out of the wild one! Next time!

Chicks are doing amazing! They had me giggling yesterday because I opened their brooder and put my hands in with palms up. A couple climbed up and tried to roost, and one even started climbing up my wrist and forearm! They are practicing flying. Currently, there is only one chick that is distinct from the rest due to having dark wing bars (yes that is one of our dogs staring at them through the window because she wants to be staring at and sniffing them constantly):