What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

Uncovered the peaches today. There's a few flowers left on them but only time will tell if they remained viable or not.

Got the chicken wire up on the vertical supports for the pumpkin and watermelon that I'll be growing in the hoop house. I put down a thick bed of compost in those beds too. I still have 30 days or so before I expect to transplant my cucurbits.

Planted my romaine lettuce in the ground today as well. I still need to get more lettuce seed in the ground. I've been trying to stagger it for successive harvesting. I'll probably sow some lettuce seeds this weekend. Saturday should be nice!

 

[WthrLady]

Neighbor came over today to do my Spring AC check and clean (he's also my HVAC guy as well as neighbor) He lost all SIX of his hives this winter. UGH. I am crushed for him. Starting over and adding 6 more. He's about where I was at when I finally gave up.

 

[CNJ]

I ordered some white currant tomato seeds from Bakers Creek. They say its the sweetest tomato they have and it taste like candy. I am pretty sure this wild type tomato is resistant to TYLCV and should do well in my yard. It belongs to the Table spoon tomato family which is resistant to TYLCV.

Most of my Sun Gold tomato plants got stunted and I pulled them out, but I kept one since it set some fruit. I am curious on how it taste. I also, have one Sun Sugar left and its not stunted yet.

 

[Noralesong]

I am going to pot up some pepper and tomato seeds probably next week. I see you are using peat pots. How big are your pots and how long can you grow the pepper and tomato plants in them?

Also, I have heard that you should always bottom water the pots in those 10X20 trays. Is that what you do? I watched a YouTube video and they suggested filling up the bottom of the tray with about 1/4-inch of water, let the pots soak up the water, and then water again in a couple of days if the pots get a little dry on top. Does that sound about right?

I ordered some 3" net pots from Amazon based on some YouTube videos I have been watching. Because the net pots have slots cut out of the pots, the roots will air prune themselves. Supposedly, the air pruning of the roots allows the plant to grow stronger inside the pot and greatly reduces transplant shock later. Also, since the roots are air pruned due to the slots, you never have a plant get root bound. I have had some problems with root bound plants I have purchased at the stores. So, I went for the net pots this year.

Sorry for such a late reply! Yes, these were all I could find. I wanted to use pulp pots, but apparently this brand is reasonably sourced for peat pots.

These are the biggest I could find. 4" peat pots. I believe they were $5 for 6 after my discount was applied to the purchase at Lowes. Honestly, soil blocks would have been fine if I hadn't gotten too excited and started my tomatoes way to early. I planted these up because the tomatoes were starting to get a little root bound, but I know someone who has used the same soil blocks and had tomatoes a foot tall. They will be in these pots until they are transplanted in the ground in a little more than a month.

I do bottom water. I bought these trays at a local discount store (Ocean State Joblot) and water them 1-2 times a week depending on how they feel when I touch the top. My office is pretty dry, so it varies, but with spring coming it's about to get very humid up here. I bottom water A LOT more than 1/4 inch. I do more like 3/4 to 1". It takes them a day or two to suck it all up, but I don't worry about them getting root rot as much as a plant potted in plastic because of the organic containers or the soil blocks tend not to stay soggy and air dry well.

You are correct about the natural pruning with the net pots. The idea is similar with soil blocks and peat or pulp pots. You can reuse them which is the biggest perk. I used to work in a place where we used net pots in a hydroponic system to grow seedlings. I try to make things as easy as I can, even if my pots can't be reused. I can put these straight into the ground which is a perk of using biodegradable pots or no pots at all. Those pots will work well until you're ready to put them outside. Just make certain to harden off your plants so they aren't shocked by true sunlight, which can burn or kill them. I usually start putting my seedlings outside underneath a deck or on a covered porch where they'll get filtered sunlight and then some direct about a week before I plan on putting them in the ground. You can also use a pop-up greenhouse if you have one and just leave them in there until you're ready to plant.

 

[Paz]

My boss told me I shouldn’t give up, so I set five more of them. This time I used these gifi (spelling?) balls. I have two left, so I’m gonna get more grafts tomorrow.
Hopefully they grow roots.

 

[Sally PB]

The Egyptian walking onions are by far the most robust thing in my garden right now. Winter didn’t bother them at all, not even the couple of days we got into the teens each night. They’re starting to grow very well, I’m excited to see how they do.

My EWOs did fine in the winter even when the greens were severely browsed by the deer. It says a lot that the deer ate onions; usually they leave them alone, unless it's all they can find.

This year, they're protected by the fence we put up last summer, so they didn't get even a nibble. They are VERY hardy.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Finally having more Spring-like temperatures. It was 40F when I got up this morning. Of course, it will still be dropping back below 32F overnight for the next few weeks. My asparagus bed is no longer covered in snow and ice and the bed I will be planting my kale in this year is snow free as well. Unfortunately the garlic bed is still chilling under 3 or more inches of snow. The highs will get near 60F today with rain showers so this will get rid of most of the snow cover. I put on my snow boots and did the pruning of the peach tree yesterday. I really cut it back a lot to keep it a manageable size/height. If I don't get a big peach harvest this year, no worries. I still have 6 or more pounds of peach slices in the big freezer. I also started Kale, Pak Choy, sage, thyme and lavender seeds. All the trees are budding up fast now and I suspect an explosion of pollen any day now. We already have some seriously high tree pollen so it looks like an intense allergy season for us. Heading to Lowes to pick up some food grade buckets then hopping over to TSC to pick up chicken feed and shavings. I've decided to spare my old muscles of carrying the 50 pound bags of feed from the garage to the chicken coop. I can break the load down to half the weight then and save me some muscle strain. It also let's me grab one of the big storage barrels inside the coop to convert into a rain barrel. I bought the kits to create 3 rain barrels so now I only need to buy one more trash barrel. I still need to install gutters on the potting shed, but it's still too muddy to put a ladder up to do that. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the big garden area this weekend to set up the hoops on 2 of the beds. That's so great to hear you are getting ready to move onto your new property @Elyrian1. Congratulations. Time to get busy. Have a great day all.

 

[Sammster]

My tomato seedlings are starting to get bigger. One of them made tiny flower buds. We are many weeks from setting out into the garden. Should I pinch the buds off?

 

[Sueby]

Depends where you live, warm places: fall. Cold places: spring

So am I warm or cold? Lol. Zone 6b if that means anything to you, I know you aren’t in the states.

Neighbor came over today to do my Spring AC check and clean (he's also my HVAC guy as well as neighbor) He lost all SIX of his hives this winter. UGH. I am crushed for him. Starting over and adding 6 more. He's about where I was at when I finally gave up.

I saw on the nightly news they has a big breakthrough & have come up with a vaccine for bees, I guess they can vaccinate the queen & she spreads it to the rest. Obviously it doesn’t protect form everything, but they think it will help some. I only caught the tail end so I don’t know when it will/if it will be rolled out. But heres hoping it’s a good start.

Good morning gardeners. Finally having more Spring-like temperatures. It was 40F when I got up this morning. Of course, it will still be dropping back below 32F overnight for the next few weeks. My asparagus bed is no longer covered in snow and ice and the bed I will be planting my kale in this year is snow free as well. Unfortunately the garlic bed is still chilling under 3 or more inches of snow. The highs will get near 60F today with rain showers so this will get rid of most of the snow cover. I put on my snow boots and did the pruning of the peach tree yesterday. I really cut it back a lot to keep it a manageable size/height. If I don't get a big peach harvest this year, no worries. I still have 6 or more pounds of peach slices in the big freezer. I also started Kale, Pak Choy, sage, thyme and lavender seeds. All the trees are budding up fast now and I suspect an explosion of pollen any day now. We already have some seriously high tree pollen so it looks like an intense allergy season for us. Heading to Lowes to pick up some food grade buckets then hopping over to TSC to pick up chicken feed and shavings. I've decided to spare my old muscles of carrying the 50 pound bags of feed from the garage to the chicken coop. I can break the load down to half the weight then and save me some muscle strain. It also let's me grab one of the big storage barrels inside the coop to convert into a rain barrel. I bought the kits to create 3 rain barrels so now I only need to buy one more trash barrel. I still need to install gutters on the potting shed, but it's still too muddy to put a ladder up to do that. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the big garden area this weekend to set up the hoops on 2 of the beds. That's so great to hear you are getting ready to move onto your new property @Elyrian1. Congratulations. Time to get busy. Have a great day all.

Question…I’ve been trying to think of ways to move feed that don’t involve carrying 50lb bags, whats your plan with that? just open the bag & what, carry it in buckets or something? DH is having his ankle replaced this summer so that leaves 2 of us unable to carry over 10 lbs. We are a hot mess.

My EWO are coming to life too, if I didn’t say that earlier.

Feeling better today, going to try & sow some lettuce right now!

 

[Sammster]

Question…I’ve been trying to think of ways to move feed that don’t involve carrying 50lb bags, whats your plan with that? just open the bag & what, carry it in buckets or something? DH is having his ankle replaced this summer so that leaves 2 of us unable to carry over 10 lbs. We are a hot mess.

This is what I do.
Best of luck to your DH!