What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

110?! I was already feeling lucky because we got a break from the humidity and heat today but now I feel even more lucky.

We're like this until Saturday.
He might feed and water, and come in for a break and hose them off about 8am. We'll hose again about 2 and again at sunset. No wind either.

 

[Farmer13]

I don't know exactly what you mean. I started off my seeds with the LED's only a couple of inches above the top of the soil. As the plants grew, I raised my LED's on their chain. Also, I have more than one shelf for seed starting and growing, so I was able to keep one shelf for seed starting and using the other shelves with the LED's higher for the growing plants.

I did not have any of my LED's 14 inches above the plants, nor turned down 50%. I supposed it depends on what the light output of the LED is? And I just bought shop LED lights on sale for half price, about $10 per 4-foot light, and not the "grow LED lights" that they sold for ~$60 or more per light. I did read the specs on the shop LED's I bought and the lumen output and the color balance were withing the plant growing spectrum. Good enough for me, and evidently, the plants as well.



Not sure what you think went wrong with your starts. However, my tomato plants got to be almost 12 inches tall before I transferred them to the raised bed gardens. They were a lot taller than I had expected. But their root system was in great shape because the net cups air pruned the roots and none of the plants got root bound like some of mine did back when I used solid walled pots.

I have become a big fan of using net cups for seed starts because I had great success with them. I plan on doubling my starts next year. I am even considering buying additional sizes of net pots.

I am also of advocate for bottom watering and letting the potting soil soak up the water it needs. This is the first year I did not drown out my seed starts. I think that all the open air around the net cup walls allows the plants to breath even if overwatered for a short period of time. In the past, I have drowned out lots of plants. Maybe it's a combination of experience with past failures and the net cups this year that made everything successful.

I found these LEDs on You tube ( @PepperGeek ) & saw healthy weeds growing out of pots with 4' pepper plants above them. It took some time to find the 14" above & 50 percent power directions to set my seedling grow up. It worked perfectly we just could have waited another 3 weeks to start them.


A fantastic new thing we added to our grow, last season.
Garden Friendly Fungicide a Biofungicide we use in the water & misting water for all seedlings from the start. Then all through the season with weekly sprays.

We use Coco Coir pellets to start the seeds & a half strength Miracle grow liquid
& have no Fungus gnats or Fungal problems. When seedlings get 2nd true leaves they go into 4" pots with an all organic soil mix we make until ready for transplanting time.

Zero plant problems with fungal or bacterial no seedling deaths.

I guess in the end nothing maters if you have a fantastic growing season.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNVFMJ5...id=1N6RFXXIOOMXV&amp=&sprefix=led+grow+lights

 

[karenerwin]

Happy ending. Any thoughts on prevention of future escapes?

We told the boys that they have to come in and go out through the basement! The dogs aren’t allowed downstairs. We keep it gated off otherwise they eat all of the cats food ( as well as clean out the litter box. )

 

[karenerwin]

Tomorrow starts a super hot week for us ( although we have been in an “extreme heat warning” already for a couple of days). All I did today was cut grass, pick a couple Roma tomatoes, and work on trimming up branches from the Hugh limbs that came down about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Acre4Me]

Wow, those butternut squash are great looking! What’s the big one in first pic?

I’ll look for the seed packet. I need to see if it’s supposed to turn color!

The butternuts have done well so far! More to pick-they aren’t quite ready yet.

 

[Acre4Me]

Picked beets and carrots.

Canned up beef stew, and garden potatoes. Lots of work to get that done, so not a lot of working in the garden.

Oh, and even standing in a chair, I was too short to get the hyacinth bean vines to go over the arch.

 

[akroberts1085]

My dad claimed that he wasn't allergic to poison ivy, and demonstrated once by rubbing poison ivy leaves on his arm.

Regarding sterilizing soil, I wonder if putting some soil/compost in a black plastic bag and setting it in direct sunlight would get it hot enough to sterilize?

That sounds like an interesting experiment. Not like I will ever try it but...

 

[akroberts1085]

Seriously, can you make pickled eggs from leftover pickle juice? That would be a big win for me.

Yes you can. My husband does it quite often. I'm not going to eat it but he likes it so yeah.

 

[akroberts1085]

D

But could you be sure you got all the roots/vines?

Dig around the vines and pour the boiling vinegar until you know where they end, then drown them in boiling hot vinegar. Just remember to have a good mask and maybe even a redneck, homemade PPE. I say that because that's what my son said after I told him to make sure he layered plastic bags before he went to his friends gpas house after finding out that he had passed due to COVID.

 

[akroberts1085]

Has anyone heard of monsterio delicio (sp?) plants? Grow in the tropics. Fruit tastes a cross between banana and pineapple! Who wouldn't? I followed my father there for a contract he had in Fiji, one time. Ate some. Nearly died. Amazing how urushiol and other weird chemicals want to "off" us. Taro also--had a feeling like a throat full of glass shards. A local man, Savea, told me you had to cook them first. Nice to know while I'm in Island ER.

I want some. I love bananas and pineapple juice. That would be an awesome treat for me. Forget about the family getting any I'll hide it from them