What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

Anybody grow 'purple hyacinth beans'? Wondering if they get invasive with their self seeding, and how seeds many I should plant to have them climb a garden gate arbor 4x4 post on each side with roughly 4ftx1ft 'roof' of 2x3 slats.

I have and the were not invasive.

 

[jerryse]

Had to pickup some meds. Stopped at the greenhouse. Bought creeping red thyme. All their perennials were $15. Plant addiction gets expensive. First 2 pics are Dames rocket - Hersperis Matronalis spelling may be off. Pic 3 is wild columbine and last is oriental poppy seedlings. Perennial seedlings a cheaper way to support my plant habit.

 

[Smokerbill]

Beets, to make pickled beets...

Beets, I got!

Of course, you are missing DILL. How can you forget DILL?! Ha? And garlic.

I forgot that also have 9 garlic plants growing. I planted garlic last year, but most stores (Home Depot???) are ignorant about garlic, and they sell it in the spring when it needs to be planted in the fall. Anyway, I planted garlic last spring, it came up and immediately died. I scratched through the bed and found a couple of small bulbs that I ate. And early this spring, there were 9 garlics growing there. The bulbs layed dormant for nearly a year before growing again. I'll use these bulbs as seed stock for growing a better garlic bed, planted this fall.

And Dill. I got the seeds and I'll plant them. Also, my basil plants look terrible, so I'm going to direct-plant basil seed in the garden today. I also have cilantro seeds to plant. And marigolds. And zinnias. The garden needs some color (and pollinator magnets) too.

 

[Smokerbill]

I need tomato help. Here are some pics of tomato plants that I put in the ground a few weeks ago. They were slighty root bound in the pots and turning yellowish before I planted them. In the ground they went through some cold temps, near 30, but I had a plastic greenhouse cover (4 mil plastic film) over them. Anyway, now they just sit there. Staying yellow, not growing. I think that my soil has too much organic matter in it, too, which I guess can be a problem.




Here's a pic of the bed, along with new tomato plants I put in the ground yesterday. New plants are in the foreground, struggling ones in the back. They were not rootbound, and they were recently repotted and in a vigorous state of growth. Probably an ideal state for tomatoes to be in when set out in the garden.



Here's another pic o the struggling plants. That's a row of basil between the tomato rows, and it's also yellow and struggling.


The new plant do look great, so far. I hope they continue to thrive.

 

[Smokerbill]

Garden tour....

Tomatoes and basil, some are struggling

Kale, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts (I think) and lettuces.



Crocosmia, garlic, lavender, parsley, lemon balm (left side path) and mint (right side path) Chives are struggling behind the garlic fronds.



And peas, along with seedling beets, chard, turnips, carrots, radishes, and a few lettuces mixed in. Cucumber bed in background, though not sprouting yet.

 

[Smokerbill]

I think this full spectrum two lamp grow light I got from Amazon is better than the Ferry Morse single fluorescent grow light and they cost the same with free Prime shipping.

The tomato seedlings started off under the Ferry Morse grow light, but they were getting leggy, so I took them outside for a few days before this new light came in the mail.

The reason I wanted to grow them inside is because I don't want them to get bitten by an insect that is carrying the TYLCV virus. I plan to graft a Mochi Cherry onto a resistant Yellow Apple cherry plant.

I started some French lettuce in one dome tray and 6 Jolene and 6 heat loving Roma tomatoes in another dome tray, both have the TYLCV resistance. I got the Roma seeds from a local seed company.

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I bought these grow lights through Amazon in January and they work really well. Full spectrum, with cable hangers (no stand though), and each one is one square foot in size. I hooked them up into a mechanical timer to start the seeds out on 18 hours a day light, then as they grew I cut the hours of light back somewhat, to around 14 hours a day.

I place the lights about 6 inches over the seeds as they sprouted and all were short and stocky. My first attempt at growing seeds, using regular incandescent bulbs made the seedling tall and spindly- probably 6 inches tall. I threw out those plants.

 

[JedJackson]

I bought these grow lights through Amazon in January and they work really well. Full spectrum, with cable hangers (no stand though), and each one is one square foot in size. I hooked them up into a mechanical timer to start the seeds out on 18 hours a day light, then as they grew I cut the hours of light back somewhat, to around 14 hours a day.

I place the lights about 6 inches over the seeds as they sprouted and all were short and stocky. My first attempt at growing seeds, using regular incandescent bulbs made the seedling tall and spindly- probably 6 inches tall. I threw out those plants.

View attachment 3506366

I had the same problem with tall and spindly seedlings using artificial lights indoors, so I will definitely consider getting these lights.

 

[Smokerbill]

I had the same problem with tall and spindly seedlings using artificial lights indoors, so I will definitely consider getting these lights.

I paid for a couple years of warranty, too. With all those LEDs I'm sure one or two will go out, so I figured paying for extra warranty period was worth it. $5 I think.

And these are bright. I looked directly at the light once when I first got them, and I'm pretty sure they kind of burned my retinas! My eyeballs stung for a couple of days, so be careful! LOL

 

[jerryse]

I need tomato help. Here are some pics of tomato plants that I put in the ground a few weeks ago. They were slighty root bound in the pots and turning yellowish before I planted them. In the ground they went through some cold temps, near 30, but I had a plastic greenhouse cover (4 mil plastic film) over them. Anyway, now they just sit there. Staying yellow, not growing. I think that my soil has too much organic matter in it, too, which I guess can be a problem.

View attachment 3506302
View attachment 3506303

Here's a pic of the bed, along with new tomato plants I put in the ground yesterday. New plants are in the foreground, struggling ones in the back. They were not rootbound, and they were recently repotted and in a vigorous state of growth. Probably an ideal state for tomatoes to be in when set out in the garden.

View attachment 3506306

Here's another pic o the struggling plants. That's a row of basil between the tomato rows, and it's also yellow and struggling.
View attachment 3506311

The new plant do look great, so far. I hope they continue to thrive.

View attachment 3506320View attachment 3506321

Here is what I learned about rootbound plants. I used to buy tomato plants and take cuttings to root. The cuttings grew faster than the original plant because it was rootbound. Planted deep or horizontal in a trench they grow new roots. Breaking up the root ball a bit when planting also helps. The cold did not help them. So they have had a rough start.

 

[JedJackson]

I paid for a couple years of warranty, too. With all those LEDs I'm sure one or two will go out, so I figured paying for extra warranty period was worth it. $5 I think.

And these are bright. I looked directly at the light once when I first got them, and I'm pretty sure they kind of burned my retinas! My eyeballs stung for a couple of days, so be careful! LOL

Will do. The warranty sounds worth it. The lights I used were not as advertised on Amazon. Little clip on things. Cheap, but ultimately useless.