Back to Eden Gardening and Hugelkulture and other non-conventional garden methods

[Intheswamp]

You're very welcome!
Ed

 

[animalspooker]

I've been trying container gardening the last couple of years as I have trouble with my soils in my actual garden. The container plants seem to really take off, growing like wild, and then it's like someone hits a switch and they stop. My tomatos have done awesome, covered with little green tomatos, but now they've seemed to stop growing and my tomatos just sit there and don't turn red? What gives? Are they running out of minerals with their limited soil? Can anyone help/make suggestions?

 

[chickengr]

I've been trying container gardening the last couple of years as I have trouble with my soils in my actual garden. The container plants seem to really take off, growing like wild, and then it's like someone hits a switch and they stop. My tomatos have done awesome, covered with little green tomatos, but now they've seemed to stop growing and my tomatos just sit there and don't turn red? What gives? Are they running out of minerals with their limited soil? Can anyone help/make suggestions?

tomatoes need time to ripen. I am not an expert so I hope someone else will tell us more.

I have a problem with container gardening due to heat.

 

[igorsMistress]

Tomatoes need plenty of leg room. Pots should be at least 18" tall and wide, wider if you can.
Choose good potting soil and don't over water. If your soil is good you shouldn't need to fertilize.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sometimes magnesium is an issue and can be fixed with a little epsom salt put into the soil at their base and watered in.

 

[jtsail]

I've been trying container gardening the last couple of years as I have trouble with my soils in my actual garden. The container plants seem to really take off, growing like wild, and then it's like someone hits a switch and they stop. My tomatos have done awesome, covered with little green tomatos, but now they've seemed to stop growing and my tomatos just sit there and don't turn red? What gives? Are they running out of minerals with their limited soil? Can anyone help/make suggestions?

even if bad garden soil is not a problem deep water culture buckets are the highest producing way to go but it is a little fussy and take some experience to get expert at but best of both world is dutch bucket as in the link i will try to put here total maximize plant with less bug and less problem for the best bucket go with black so that as little sun light go to root as possible but get plastic spray paint white for out side of bucket only in order to not cook root by hot sun light on black bucket no need for all the fancy hose you will see in most of the video in the link just simple bucket filled with perlite that can be reuesed for ever just drill a pencil size hole 2 inch from bottom of bucket and every few day add more water with fertalizer til just a little statr to come out of the hole very simple and very very good

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dutch+bucket+tomatoes

 

[lazy gardener]

My corn experiment seems to be succeeding. i pulled the wood chips back, exposing the cardboard, broke through that, sowed about 6 sprouted corn seeds, then covered them over with chips. They have broken through the chips. If the crows leave them alone, I may actually get a picking of short season corn. The beans (sowed in 2 rows in likewise fashion) have yet to break through, but I've seen promise when poking around in the rows.

 

[chickengr]

My corn experiment seems to be succeeding. i pulled the wood chips back, exposing the cardboard, broke through that, sowed about 6 sprouted corn seeds, then covered them over with chips. They have broken through the chips. If the crows leave them alone, I may actually get a picking of short season corn. The beans (sowed in 2 rows in likewise fashion) have yet to break through, but I've seen promise when poking around in the rows.

have you tried 3 sister system: corn, beans and pumpkin?

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, I have and was totally not impressed with it. For the simple reason that the varieties I grow, and the purpose I grow them for does not match the varieties and purpose of the Native Americans who designed this system. They planted beans which were meant to grow until the seeds ripened. Their corn was also a long season crop, standing in the field until it was dry. Pumpkins... well, they are pumpkins. The Native Americans could plant their three crops, and aside from perhaps some early weeding, the crops were left to stand until fall harvest. No wading through the pumpkin leaves to harvest those tender French Filet beans. No daily checking the corn as it is ripening so it can be harvested at that perfect tender sweet stage. My beans are meant to be harvested early, need to be harvested daily, and the vines grow 6' tall, would grow 10 - 12' tall if I had the support available. No way could corn support that growth. And corn: that's a challenge all by it self. It needs a head start in order to not be over shadowed by the other 2 crops. Not possible in my short growing season. Pumpkins... I don't care for them. Prefer squash. Squash is a good substitute in the 3 sisters. I have let it run through the corn, but not planted it WITH the corn, there is no way I could expect a corn harvest if planting with the squash. Finally, I don't have the garden space.

It would be possible to do an adaptation of the 3 sisters, by providing poles, or some other support for the beans. You could also substitute peas for the beans. And bush varieties of squash could be planted at the perimeter to provide the desired coon deterrent. However, I find it a joke to expect squash or any other crop to deter a coon from a corn feast. Cucumbers could also be used as a substitute for the pumpkins.

One 2 sisters planting that I like very well is corn and potatoes. An other is corn and strawberries. I also have volunteer potatoes that often sprout in the bean planting. Those 2 crops play well together.

In the orchard planting, the green beans are now sprouting well. I have some space left over in the area, so am hoping to plant some beets and swiss chard, perhaps some cilantro also.

 

[ladyearth]

Yes, I have and was totally not impressed with it. For the simple reason that the varieties I grow, and the purpose I grow them for does not match the varieties and purpose of the Native Americans who designed this system. They planted beans which were meant to grow until the seeds ripened. Their corn was also a long season crop, standing in the field until it was dry. Pumpkins... well, they are pumpkins. The Native Americans could plant their three crops, and aside from perhaps some early weeding, the crops were left to stand until fall harvest. No wading through the pumpkin leaves to harvest those tender French Filet beans. No daily checking the corn as it is ripening so it can be harvested at that perfect tender sweet stage.
My beans are meant to be harvested early, need to be harvested daily, and the vines grow 6' tall, would grow 10 - 12' tall if I had the support available. No way could corn support that growth. And corn: that's a challenge all by it self. It needs a head start in order to not be over shadowed by the other 2 crops. Not possible in my short growing season. Pumpkins... I don't care for them. Prefer squash. Squash is a good substitute in the 3 sisters. I have let it run through the corn, but not planted it WITH the corn, there is no way I could expect a corn harvest if planting with the squash. Finally, I don't have the garden space.

It would be possible to do an adaptation of the 3 sisters, by providing poles, or some other support for the beans. You could also substitute peas for the beans. And bush varieties of squash could be planted at the perimeter to provide the desired coon deterrent. However, I find it a joke to expect squash or any other crop to deter a coon from a corn feast. Cucumbers could also be used as a substitute for the pumpkins.

One 2 sisters planting that I like very well is corn and potatoes. An other is corn and strawberries. I also have volunteer potatoes that often sprout in the bean planting. Those 2 crops play well together.

In the orchard planting, the green beans are now sprouting well. I have some space left over in the area, so am hoping to plant some beets and swiss chard, perhaps some cilantro also.

saw a video on youtube..
a lady had a neighbor with a tree service. She had plenty piles of "chips"
at about 3 yr she planted in the gorgous chips and it was so rich and good growing her veggies etc in the composted 'chips"
I defintely did the cardboard and chips method. Had the best garden.. no till..Gardening. Just made a nice hole in the cardboard and put in my transplant or seeds....Marked each with a upside down large 5 to 12 oz paper cup(bottom poked and cut out.. and two wooden shish kabob ticks this was back in2011 my front yard garden..
yall might try "Gardenweb" website. such knowlegable people there there are gobs of various topics there...
I got most of my mulch free from the previous winters icestorm damaged. It was a C list free ad. the large pile was less than a mile from my house. so I made quite a few trips >put the shredded chipped mulch in empty drywall buckets.. Plus also haunted local big box store broken mulch bags.. they marked them 1/2 priced!!!!
Im doing container gardening this year all well most pots are on my aluminum CL trailer.... got so many large pots wont all fit on there. Put on the hail netting tonight... all held up from( Cl find, too) large yellow plastic gas line tubing
just my two cents chiming in...