What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

The Buttercrunch lettuce is going gangbusters. I put seeds in the soil last Saturday night. They are already an inch tall! I went ahead and transplanted them to their new container.

In comparison, the Ice Queen lettuce has hardly even broken the surface....

 

[Sueby]

Nice to know @TJAnonymous, I just planted a bunch of the buttercrunch In the aerogarden.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Rabbits chewed right through the plastic mesh on me before. There was a big hole about 18" wide that a rabbit made and happily (not for me) went in and out.

I don’t worry about rabbits here. The coyotes and bobcats keep them under control. I see one bunny for a little while every late Spring and they are usually in a bed of clover happily munching.

 

[CNJ]

I’m willing to experiment regardless

You might need citric acid if your water is neutral. Its cheap and available on Amazon. A little goes a long ways, just a 1/4 teaspoon in my 5 gallon bucket drops my 7 neutral PH to 6 PH. I think 5.50 to 6.50 PH is good for tomatoes. and lettuce. Plants have a harder time taking up nutrient in a high PH. environment.

Also, API on amazon sells a 3 drop PH test that range from 5 to 9. I didn't get the electronic one because I would have to calibrate it with their one time use packet, I figure its easier to do the 3 drop test. It didn't make sense to me. However, I got a cheap EC tester and use it often to determine the strength of my solution.

 

[CNJ]

I may just turn part of the sun garden into a shade house with a sloped solid roof to keep water out.

There are ways to keep the water out, like my dome covered 25 gallon trash bin from Walmart, its water proof. Rain water will have a hard time getting into it with its sloped cover and 1/2 inch gromet hole. I will drop the plant in the hole without any pot.

 

[chickengr]

I cannot read all the posts. I bought 14 fruit trees.

 

[igorsMistress]

You might need citric acid if your water is neutral. Its cheap and available on Amazon. A little goes a long ways, just a 1/4 teaspoon in my 5 gallon bucket drops my 7 neutral PH to 6 PH. I think 5.50 to 6.50 PH is good for tomatoes. and lettuce. Plants have a harder time taking up nutrient in a high PH. environment.

Also, API on amazon sells a 3 drop PH test that range from 5 to 9. I didn't get the electronic one because I would have to calibrate it with their one time use packet, I figure its easier to do the 3 drop test. It didn't make sense to me. However, I got a cheap EC tester and use it often to determine the strength of my solution.

I have a meter and some Up and Down on hand for pH adjustment but I also have citric acid because I use oxine here and need that to activate. I can buy it in the canning section at the grocery store also. Thanks for that tip!

I haven’t tested our water in a long time, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t neutral.

 

[igorsMistress]

There are ways to keep the water out, like my dome covered 25 gallon trash bin from Walmart, its water proof. Rain water will have a hard time getting into it with its sloped cover and 1/2 inch gromet hole. I will drop the plant in the hole without any pot.

My shade garden is fully enclosed including the top, but the roof doesn’t slope. The only time we get much rain in there is when we have a gully washer. They can produce some damaging winds, strong enough they moved the coop off the foundation and moved the shade garden as well. While a trash can or two will probably work in the interim, I’m not so sure that as a long term solution. Also, a covered garden there would keep googles eyes from prying quite so much because it will block part of the view to my backyard from that damn camera car.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

 

[allenw]

Fair enough... But I've also worked within many of the federal government agencies so I say this from personal experience and knowledge. Many, I repeat, many agencies are compromised as far as objective or even honest data. In fact, FDA has a large testing facility about an hour from my house and I personally know numerous people (all scientists) who work there. Most would tell you that the industry is very incestuous....meaning that people constantly go back and forth between employment wise from FDA and the very companies they "approve" products for. Especially around the FDA there is a LOT of corruption. It should NOT be this way but we haven't had a functioning watchdog against corruption for decades. So just because FDA or any other government agency does not "codify" any particular claim does not always mean there is no substance to the claim.

BTW, I resigned from my government work last year because I couldn't tolerate the corruption any longer.

If you sponsor a research project your product will do well, pretty commonly accepted knowledge.