Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[lazy gardener]

Raised beds, hay bale, container gardening, table top gardening, hydroponics, trellising, deep mulching all lend themselves to gardening for folks who have physical limitations.

Then there are the ergonomically designed tools that make it easier to scratch and dig in the soil!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Let's discuss supplies and hardware! I need some grow lights, can anyone tell me what kind you have, use and recommend or do not recommend. Also is there a good place for bulk supplies like planting trays etc?. Retail prices stink!
And you can list companies you recommend for buying seed!
Come on people, lets talk garden!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use regular florescent shop lights, hung over shelves.

There's a local garden company nearby that I buy trays and cell packs, as well as my potting soil.

I like Pinetree for seeds, and I also order some tomato seeds from Totally Tomato, another Wisconsin company.

I also orders some bags to grow a few tomato plants in, I'm going to try a few to see how it goes.

The rest of my seeds I will buy locally at the farm store.

For flower seeds I have plenty left over. I'm sticking with marigolds and zinnias to keep it simple.

I'm currently looking at Burgess, my husband wants some fast growing shrubs to make the neighbors disappear.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I use regular florescent shop lights, hung over shelves.

There's a local garden company nearby that I buy trays and cell packs, as well as my potting soil.

I like Pinetree for seeds, and I also order some tomato seeds from Totally Tomato, another Wisconsin company.

I also orders some bags to grow a few tomato plants in, I'm going to try a few to see how it goes.

The rest of my seeds I will buy locally at the farm store.

For flower seeds I have plenty left over. I'm sticking with marigolds and zinnias to keep it simple.

I'm currently looking at Burgess, my husband wants some fast growing shrubs to make the neighbors disappear.

Man if we had bushes that actually made neighbors disappear, can you imagine how many we could sell? I am envisioning little shop of horrors plants chomping them down....
Yeah, i had shop lights at one point in TN for growing plants. What type bulbs do you use? I think i bought plant lights.
I need to go through and write down what seeds i have and what seeds i need.
Wow, we are nearly halfway through January! Spring, here we come!

 

[rjohns39]

cap, this time of year you'll probably do best with a shop light from your local box store. Mine is a 4' - 4 tube T-5 and the bulbs are in the sunlight spectrum. This time of year everyone has premium pricing on grow lights, mid summer they are on clearance. I did a lot of research before buying my LED grow lights and found a NASA study that identified colors of light that do best. I think mine have blue, green and red mixed in. discount hydroponics, greenhouse mega store generally have pretty good pricing.

I get my seed trays etc generally from peaceful valley and also love their seeds. I also use morgan county seeds and johnny's seeds. https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiY0oDT9NTYAhUET98KHRCSD-IQ0QwIJw&adurl=https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiY0oDT9NTYAhUET98KHRCSD-IQ0QwIJw&adurl=

This was the first seed starter I put together and it still works great.

 

[lazy gardener]

Shop lights with sunlight or daylight spectrum. I have metal shelving units in my basement, in front of a big double window, so they get benefit of flourescent AND sun. I hang the lights so that they almost touch the plants, and indeed, they sometimes do touch the plants. Don't forget to dose plants with fertilizer and epsom salt.

Seeds: Fedco seeds, plus bulk from my local feed store.

I also harvest seeds from the garden: Suyo Long, Fortex Beans, Kale, Parsley, Dill, Cilantro, Calendula, Lettuce, OP tomatoes, squash, OP melon.

Potting mix: Pro mix by the bale. Be sure to buy the one that has the bacteria or fungi in it to combat damping off.

Trees and such: St. Lawrence Nursery in NY. Also, Fedco Trees.

Drool material: Johnny's Selected seeds. Their catalog is an incredible source of information.

Potting trays: Blue Seal (my feed store) I also save a lot of pots from one year to an other. I have more 4" pots than I will ever use in my life time.

Fertilizer: 10 - 10 - 10 by the big bag. Miracle gro type: store brand from Walmart. Escargo or Sluggo type of slug control w/iron phosphate as the only active ingredient. Store brand from Walmart. There is also an other one on the market with spinosad added.

Flowers/herbs: Every year, I bring in some potted plants for the winter. This year, I have 3 different colors of geraniums, plus citronella, and rosemary. When I start my seedlings, I'll also take cuttings from the geraniums. That will provide me with lots of flowers. A few trays of marigold, zinnia, and dahlia will complete my flower beds, so I no longer need to spend money on 6 packs for summer flowers.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Man if we had bushes that actually made neighbors disappear, can you imagine how many we could sell? I am envisioning little shop of horrors plants chomping them down....
Yeah, i had shop lights at one point in TN for growing plants. What type bulbs do you use? I think i bought plant lights.
I need to go through and write down what seeds i have and what seeds i need.
Wow, we are nearly halfway through January! Spring, here we come!

I use regular old shop light bulbs, nothing special, plants do okay.

We can't see the closest neighbor because of the hedge row, but we can still hear them. They are obnoxious town folks who moved out to the country and had to build as close to us as possible. The often shoot guns for fun which frightens our dogs and annoys us. I wish they really would disappear.

 

[Cebarmlds]

I use regular florescent shop lights, hung over shelves.

There's a local garden company nearby that I buy trays and cell packs, as well as my potting soil.

I like Pinetree for seeds, and I also order some tomato seeds from Totally Tomato, another Wisconsin company.

I also orders some bags to grow a few tomato plants in, I'm going to try a few to see how it goes.

The rest of my seeds I will buy locally at the farm store.

For flower seeds I have plenty left over. I'm sticking with marigolds and zinnias to keep it simple.

I'm currently looking at Burgess, my husband wants some fast growing shrubs to make the neighbors disappear.

Pleaze! if you can find a way to make the neighbors disappear LMK !!!!

 

[CapricornFarm]

I bought four shop lights on sale at Lowes today. Bulbs for plants were $10 each, it seemed excessive so i will look online. I got a bag of soil to start plants. Thinking i will clean out part of the loft and grow stuff up there. Nice and warm when the wood stove is burning. Not quite sure how to keep the cats out of it... i was considering framing in part of the area for a walk in closet. That would work.

 

[chickmom3941]

Let's discuss supplies and hardware! I need some grow lights, can anyone tell me what kind you have, use and recommend or do not recommend. Also is there a good place for bulk supplies like planting trays etc?. Retail prices stink!
And you can list companies you recommend for buying seed!
Come on people, lets talk garden!

What size trays are you looking for, and approx. how many?