Nevadans?
- Thread starter SunnyDawn
- Start date
Good info!
This is the frost blanket I use. It's currently out of stock, but you can find similar things on Amazon or Moana Nursery. Just check ratings, and be sure the texture looks like in the picture, to allow in light.
http://www.burpee.com/gardening-supplies/garden-growers/floating-row-cover-prod001213.html
Sorry, I edited the previous post with the frost blanket stuff after you had quoted.
http://www.burpee.com/gardening-supplies/garden-growers/floating-row-cover-prod001213.html
Sorry, I edited the previous post with the frost blanket stuff after you had quoted.
Last edited:
Thanks, I do have one but it got beat up last year with the wind blowing it off and getting caught on the fence so i'll probably get some new ones. I need to get a few more supplies to start the rest of my seeds tomorrow. I'm optimistic about my gardens this year!
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I set about half of my seeds this week. I start most things indoors in this short season of ours. My tomatoes have been set (I do not use grow lights on them at first since studies have shown that a cool start makes them much stronger plants later on. Yes they will germinate faster with heat but they will also be weaker stemmed. I don't start fast growers like corn inside, they just grow too fast to keep in small containers. Plus root crops need a lot of space to grow so don't start them inside.
Leaf lettuces and spinach can be grown inside before transplanting but use a florescent shop light/grow light to help them along. A florescent light puts out the right type of light for plants and are a lot cheaper. Don't just put by a window, they will stretch toward the sunlight and get too leggy. Too much cold then too much heat damages these crops easily. They mature so soon that I just wait to set them but a few potted greens in the house can be lovely (especially the smaller varieties). I like cutting them directly from the pots inside the house to add to salads and other dishes. Lemon grass, baby spinach (like Tykee), red leaf lettuce, sweet basil, Italian parsley, butter lettuce etc etc do well inside in medium sized pots.
An old sheet and most any other light colored fabric can be used as a frost blanket. You can also use things like plastic milk jugs or 2 liter soda bottles (cut off the bottom and place over plant with a metal stake or thick wire poked through the plastic to hold it in place) over each plant, while they are small, to generate heat when a frost is fore casted. Red plastic has been shown to help tomatoes grow better. They aren't really sure why though.
Tomatoes are heavy feeders though and like regular deep watering. Chicken compost is great for them! You can plant marigolds between your tomatoes to draw bugs away from the tomatoes. The theory is that the bugs are drawn to the marigolds first and then they leave your plants alone. I haven't tried this though.
Every spring I put out lady beetles and praying mantis sacs. The lady beetles will eat a lot of the bugs that are already present and then they will leave. By the time the bad bugs are making a come back the praying mantises are hatching and they will stay and eat the bad bugs for the rest of the season. They are awesome!!! I don't use bug sprays cause it is not good for the other animals or for the beneficial bugs.
Oh jeez I could go on and on but there is sooo much to learn about gardening and it would take weeks to teach the little I know on the subject. I'm still learning myself as are all the gardeners that I know personally. It's a lot of fun putting a little work into a crop and getting so much great high quality produce back in return.
Oooh boy this took me a long time to type out! You folks have probably moved onto another topic by now!
Leaf lettuces and spinach can be grown inside before transplanting but use a florescent shop light/grow light to help them along. A florescent light puts out the right type of light for plants and are a lot cheaper. Don't just put by a window, they will stretch toward the sunlight and get too leggy. Too much cold then too much heat damages these crops easily. They mature so soon that I just wait to set them but a few potted greens in the house can be lovely (especially the smaller varieties). I like cutting them directly from the pots inside the house to add to salads and other dishes. Lemon grass, baby spinach (like Tykee), red leaf lettuce, sweet basil, Italian parsley, butter lettuce etc etc do well inside in medium sized pots.
An old sheet and most any other light colored fabric can be used as a frost blanket. You can also use things like plastic milk jugs or 2 liter soda bottles (cut off the bottom and place over plant with a metal stake or thick wire poked through the plastic to hold it in place) over each plant, while they are small, to generate heat when a frost is fore casted. Red plastic has been shown to help tomatoes grow better. They aren't really sure why though.
Tomatoes are heavy feeders though and like regular deep watering. Chicken compost is great for them! You can plant marigolds between your tomatoes to draw bugs away from the tomatoes. The theory is that the bugs are drawn to the marigolds first and then they leave your plants alone. I haven't tried this though.
Every spring I put out lady beetles and praying mantis sacs. The lady beetles will eat a lot of the bugs that are already present and then they will leave. By the time the bad bugs are making a come back the praying mantises are hatching and they will stay and eat the bad bugs for the rest of the season. They are awesome!!! I don't use bug sprays cause it is not good for the other animals or for the beneficial bugs.
Oh jeez I could go on and on but there is sooo much to learn about gardening and it would take weeks to teach the little I know on the subject. I'm still learning myself as are all the gardeners that I know personally. It's a lot of fun putting a little work into a crop and getting so much great high quality produce back in return.
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Here is another source for frost cover.
http://www.environmentalgreenproducts.com/store/agribon-ag-15-pr-16354.html
Google Agribon 15 for more. I bought a 10'X250' roll of it and have a ton of it left. I make blossom bags for tobacco plants out of it. A blossom bag is a lightweight bag that is placed over the blossoms to prevent cross pollination when producing tobacco seed. There is also a heavier weight material than the 15. I think it is Agribon 30.
http://www.environmentalgreenproducts.com/store/agribon-ag-15-pr-16354.html
Google Agribon 15 for more. I bought a 10'X250' roll of it and have a ton of it left. I make blossom bags for tobacco plants out of it. A blossom bag is a lightweight bag that is placed over the blossoms to prevent cross pollination when producing tobacco seed. There is also a heavier weight material than the 15. I think it is Agribon 30.
A bit of an update to what I have been up to.
Most of the stuff for our tobacco growing came in this past week. Not one order came in correct or complete so that is frustrating. I am waiting for people to reply to my e-mails. Hopefully I will know more about the missing items this afternoon. Otherwise it was a $1500 shopping spree for the electric fence, drip system and water supply line. We still have to get a second plant starting stand. The rack we use to start plants has 6 racks and each rack holds 92 plants. We are going to be starting about 1800 plants. That does not start until May though.
Until then we started a fun project. We are going to make take down recurve bows. One of the best woods to use in making bows is Osage Orange. Btu it does not grow around here. One of my tobacco growing buddies in Kentucky has lots of it. HE found me a good sized straight log and sent it to me. $45 in postage and this is what I got.
After several hours of figuring out how to get it cut and two days of trimming off three sides this is where we are at now.
Now we have to tolerate some waiting to let the wood dry out. Then we will cut a 2 inch thick by as wide as the log is board from the center of the log. This is the wood that will become the limbs of our bow. very strong but flexible wood. I am hoping to get the limbs for 5 bows from this one log. the rest of the scraps will be used in making the riser or handle of the bows.
Here is an idea of what sort of bow we are shooting to make. ah a pun. bow, shooting, get it?
We have also been setting up a 50 foot length of drip line with hundreds of emitters in it. I need to know just how many emitters can be put in one length of drip line before they will not work anymore. Hopefully all 1651 of them can run at the same time. I doubt it though.
Most of the stuff for our tobacco growing came in this past week. Not one order came in correct or complete so that is frustrating. I am waiting for people to reply to my e-mails. Hopefully I will know more about the missing items this afternoon. Otherwise it was a $1500 shopping spree for the electric fence, drip system and water supply line. We still have to get a second plant starting stand. The rack we use to start plants has 6 racks and each rack holds 92 plants. We are going to be starting about 1800 plants. That does not start until May though.
Until then we started a fun project. We are going to make take down recurve bows. One of the best woods to use in making bows is Osage Orange. Btu it does not grow around here. One of my tobacco growing buddies in Kentucky has lots of it. HE found me a good sized straight log and sent it to me. $45 in postage and this is what I got.
After several hours of figuring out how to get it cut and two days of trimming off three sides this is where we are at now.
Now we have to tolerate some waiting to let the wood dry out. Then we will cut a 2 inch thick by as wide as the log is board from the center of the log. This is the wood that will become the limbs of our bow. very strong but flexible wood. I am hoping to get the limbs for 5 bows from this one log. the rest of the scraps will be used in making the riser or handle of the bows.
Here is an idea of what sort of bow we are shooting to make. ah a pun. bow, shooting, get it?
We have also been setting up a 50 foot length of drip line with hundreds of emitters in it. I need to know just how many emitters can be put in one length of drip line before they will not work anymore. Hopefully all 1651 of them can run at the same time. I doubt it though.
Wow, Daniel, be sure to post tons of pictures as you work on the bow!
I use red plastic mulch. It's not too expensive, and I have really noticed a difference. It reflects the right kind of light onto the tomatoes for better growth. One of the ways I like to use it is on my bucket planters, where the site advises using a black garbage bag. Red is a much better idea. One thing to be aware of, though, is that it's impermeable. So if you make it a permanent mulch for the rest of the growing season, make low places and poke holes in those to drain water into the ground. At the end of the season, we ended up having a lot of moisture issues and should have taken the mulch off.
I've seen people start lettuce and spinach inside. I guess that's what you could call my current container greens, though they sit outside most of the time when it's not nasty out. It just grows so fast that I haven't considered "starting" it early. Lowe's and Home Depot sell lettuce that are already picking size, but seed reaches maturity in 30-45 days under the right conditions. I was going to do all my greens in containers, but decided to plant wild lettuce in the front flower bed, then get 2 good cuttings before digging it up and putting peppers and eggplants out there.
I agree with corn... direct seed only. There are some things that just grow way too fast to start inside, and you end up hindering them by letting them get rootbound as you wait for the right time, then transplanting them.
Whenever my seedlings can, they go right outside. Well, as long as it's above 38 degrees and the wind isn't going to kill them. A little wind and brisk temperatures do make them stronger. I invested in grow lights last year, when I started them and then we had NO good weather over a few weeks, and the tomatoes weren't doing well at ALL! Bringing them inside, with no grow light, for just 2 days showed an intense impact. Especially when I didn't have enough natural light for the volume I had started. Last year, I downloaded Weatherbug onto both my desktop and my husband's, so I could watch the temperature even when he was on the computer. It was so difficult to get good sun with all the cold weather, that whenever the temps said 38, everything went right out! I got a lot of exercise, especially since I started some bucket potatoes in March. In mid-April was when Russ had his heart attack, and all of the sudden it was just me, carrying everying out every morning, in at night, and rushing home to save my plants whenever a really nasty wind kicked up. But it was all worth it.
I should try mantis sacs. My main worry... will they just be chicken food? The chickens won't be going in the garden at all while it's tender, but can go in once everything is above 18 inches.
For good fertilizer, don't forget to hit Aubrey up for some coffee grounds. They're full of nitrogen! You can make a "tea" out of coffee grounds and compost, and leaf-feed them. Before putting any cow, chicken, or horse manure on the garden, make sure it has composted for a few months. Rabbit manure can be used fresh, though. It's great, like slow-release pellets... just sprinkle it at the base of the plant.
Just like you, Sunny, I could go on and on!
I use red plastic mulch. It's not too expensive, and I have really noticed a difference. It reflects the right kind of light onto the tomatoes for better growth. One of the ways I like to use it is on my bucket planters, where the site advises using a black garbage bag. Red is a much better idea. One thing to be aware of, though, is that it's impermeable. So if you make it a permanent mulch for the rest of the growing season, make low places and poke holes in those to drain water into the ground. At the end of the season, we ended up having a lot of moisture issues and should have taken the mulch off.
I've seen people start lettuce and spinach inside. I guess that's what you could call my current container greens, though they sit outside most of the time when it's not nasty out. It just grows so fast that I haven't considered "starting" it early. Lowe's and Home Depot sell lettuce that are already picking size, but seed reaches maturity in 30-45 days under the right conditions. I was going to do all my greens in containers, but decided to plant wild lettuce in the front flower bed, then get 2 good cuttings before digging it up and putting peppers and eggplants out there.
I agree with corn... direct seed only. There are some things that just grow way too fast to start inside, and you end up hindering them by letting them get rootbound as you wait for the right time, then transplanting them.
Whenever my seedlings can, they go right outside. Well, as long as it's above 38 degrees and the wind isn't going to kill them. A little wind and brisk temperatures do make them stronger. I invested in grow lights last year, when I started them and then we had NO good weather over a few weeks, and the tomatoes weren't doing well at ALL! Bringing them inside, with no grow light, for just 2 days showed an intense impact. Especially when I didn't have enough natural light for the volume I had started. Last year, I downloaded Weatherbug onto both my desktop and my husband's, so I could watch the temperature even when he was on the computer. It was so difficult to get good sun with all the cold weather, that whenever the temps said 38, everything went right out! I got a lot of exercise, especially since I started some bucket potatoes in March. In mid-April was when Russ had his heart attack, and all of the sudden it was just me, carrying everying out every morning, in at night, and rushing home to save my plants whenever a really nasty wind kicked up. But it was all worth it.
I should try mantis sacs. My main worry... will they just be chicken food? The chickens won't be going in the garden at all while it's tender, but can go in once everything is above 18 inches.
For good fertilizer, don't forget to hit Aubrey up for some coffee grounds. They're full of nitrogen! You can make a "tea" out of coffee grounds and compost, and leaf-feed them. Before putting any cow, chicken, or horse manure on the garden, make sure it has composted for a few months. Rabbit manure can be used fresh, though. It's great, like slow-release pellets... just sprinkle it at the base of the plant.
Just like you, Sunny, I could go on and on!
Lot of good info, Missy and Sunny. I will keep asking my questions all season so I can get more than just tomatoes growing this year. I have always planted marigolds amongst my veggies and in some years i've done nasturtium, mint (in containers), etc. It's worked well to keep pests away. I don't use any pesticides, either, and stick to natural fertilizers. I have a new in the package red plastic mulch that I bought years ago with good intentions. I'll have to try it this year for the tomatoes. Can peas go in the ground now? I'm thinking they are also a cold season crop. I am not messing with corn. Some crops are not worth it to me and that's one. I tried it one of the first years in our house and it was so small. Just not the right spot for it, I'm sure. I'm thinking buckets will work well on the south side of my house. It's concrete there so buckets would be a good fit and it gets tons of sun. I'm going to build a few raised beds for the front yard this year as well as it gets good sun most of the day.
Daniel, you have some big projects going on! Please do post more pictures on your progress on the bows.
Well, this grant isn't going to write itself, so I need to get back to work.
Daniel, you have some big projects going on! Please do post more pictures on your progress on the bows.
Well, this grant isn't going to write itself, so I need to get back to work.
Right now is the right time for peas. In fact, I'm glad it's finally warming up in the next couple of days, because I need to get those babies planted!
The only reason I'm doing corn this year is that we have a second garden going on. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth it to us, either.
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