What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

I'll likely start my tomatoes and peppers later this month for big transplants, especially since I'll be able to move them to the greenhouse in March/April where they'll have more room and plenty of natural sunlight.

That said, I'm thinking about my seed starting medium... I have a few bricks of coco coir I'm planning to use. Is just coco coir good for the starts? And then use a soil/compost mix when up potting?

I'm specifically asking because last year we had an issue with fungus in the tomato starts that wiped them all out and I had to restart with limited success. I blamed it on compost and old peat moss being included in my soil mix. This year I Pam's to go with just straight coco coir, but now I'm wondering if there's any issues there to be aware of - I'm a bit worried about excess moisture that could cause rot and not sure of the ph/alkalinity and if that might pose a risk. So thoughts???

 

[WthrLady]

I'll likely start my tomatoes and peppers later this month for big transplants, especially since I'll be able to move them to the greenhouse in March/April where they'll have more room and plenty of natural sunlight.

That said, I'm thinking about my seed starting medium... I have a few bricks of coco coir I'm planning to use. Is just coco coir good for the starts? And then use a soil/compost mix when up potting?

I'm specifically asking because last year we had an issue with fungus in the tomato starts that wiped them all out and I had to restart with limited success. I blamed it on compost and old peat moss being included in my soil mix. This year I Pam's to go with just straight coco coir, but now I'm wondering if there's any issues there to be aware of - I'm a bit worried about excess moisture that could cause rot and not sure of the ph/alkalinity and if that might pose a risk. So thoughts???

It CAN be great to start. I got a bad batch. It hadn't been properly washed and was so salty, it killed everything.
When I did use it, I added some perlite or vermiculite to lighten it up, some of both is best and then used soil coir mix at the first up potting and then just compost soil on the 3rd.
Now I just use promix from Menards and I'm done with it. It got hard to find the individual components there for two years. Promix is readily available, and I usually buy it in early March to avoid the rush.

 

[CNJ]

I'll likely start my tomatoes and peppers later this month for big transplants, especially since I'll be able to move them to the greenhouse in March/April where they'll have more room and plenty of natural sunlight.

That said, I'm thinking about my seed starting medium... I have a few bricks of coco coir I'm planning to use. Is just coco coir good for the starts? And then use a soil/compost mix when up potting?

I'm specifically asking because last year we had an issue with fungus in the tomato starts that wiped them all out and I had to restart with limited success. I blamed it on compost and old peat moss being included in my soil mix. This year I Pam's to go with just straight coco coir, but now I'm wondering if there's any issues there to be aware of - I'm a bit worried about excess moisture that could cause rot and not sure of the ph/alkalinity and if that might pose a risk. So thoughts???

I have started seeds at the same time with rock wool and a peat mix. The seeds in the rock wool have already sprouted while nothing came up in the peat mix. This got me thinking because I use the same peat mix to grow them out. I conclude it has something to do with how deep I plant the seed in the peat mix. I use a moistened chop stick tip to pick up each seed and then I poke it in the peat mix 1/4 inches. When I poke in the seed it comes off in the hole. The problem may occur when I bring the sides in to bury the seed and tap it down with my finger. Next time I will just poke it in and leave it as is like I do with the rock wool cubes.

However, if I had a choice I would use rock wool, I prefer the small tapered ones instead of the square ones. The tapered ones work better for me, I think the square one is not as fluffy.

I take off the germination cover and put them in the sun as soon as they spout and push out their starter leaves. I use liquid fertilizer at half strength after they harden. If I use Miracle grow tomato mix it needs to be 1/4 strength of the instructions. I tested it with my EC meter and compared it to Master Blend.

The miracle grow mix has something in it that adjusts the ph to 5.50 in my location. In comparison, I need to add citric acid to adjust the Master Blend formula to 5.50.

 

[jerryse]

47 days until spring. Tomorrow morning is the last cold morning for awhile here. Highs in 40s and 50s coming. Got some seeds in the mail. I have been getting outside on these sunny days.

 

[igorsMistress]

I'm convinced my ducks are clueless when it comes to weather... They don't care whether it's raining, snowing, or the middle of an ice storm...they sit outside in the open air. In addition to their coop, they have a walk-in shed (to keep their food bowls out of the weather) and a repurposed child's playhouse which would give them place to get out of the wind and weather. They don't use any of them...

My chickens, on the other hand, are divas. They don't like walking on the snow and ice. They have several places to go, in addition to their coop, to stay out of the weather and they use them religiously.

That sounds about right. My ducks wouldn’t use the coop at all after they grew up.

 

[igorsMistress]

I washed the potting mix off of my Better Boy tomato plant and stuck it in my 25 gallon kratky trash bin. It seems to be handling the sun, so I won't cover it. It has been in the trash bin for 2 days, I think its going to make it.........................

I am going to take off all the suckers and let it grow as long as it wants.

View attachment 3392835

I’m guessing that silver thing helps keep rain and bugs out the water?

 

[Acre4Me]

It’s ON!

My southern friend came over for coffee. She likes to garden a bit. She talks about her southern (mostly rural KY) upbringing often - memories of foods, plants, lack of snow, etc.

I showed her my cotton and peanut seeds. She looked shocked and said, no way-you can’t grow them things up here (her southern accent increased at this moment).

Hmmm… now I’m really determined!! Lol, she’s sweet and would think it’s great if I succeed. She just doesn’t think “them things” will grow successfully here.

 

[TJAnonymous]

That sounds about right. My ducks wouldn’t use the coop at all after they grew up.

We make ours go in at night, but unless they are laying or brooding they come out as soon as the automatic door opens and stay out... I do love them though... Such characters. They are especially funny when they are "spying" on me. They will hide around the corner and peek around to see what I'm doing and then tell the others. It's hysterical

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm getting such bad garden fever right now. I want to start seeds but it's still a little early....

 

[TJAnonymous]

Oh, and I need to go buy a new wheelbarrow now. One of the horses stomped ours into oblivion last night...