What did you do in the garden today?

[Molpet]

saw dust as an alternative.

So long as black walnut wasn't in the mix.

 

[Jenbirdee]

cool!!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Therapy is good.



I used some compressed seed starter pots like those a few years ago. Maybe even the same kind. I was not very successful. I overwatered the plants and the pots got moldy. Totally my fault, but there you have it.

I like the idea of the peat pots. The ones I had you could plant in the ground when transplanting. If I had not killed all my starts, that would have a good deal. Because of all the mold damage from overwatering, I ended up having to compost everything.

Since then, I moved on to using net cups with slits in them and so far, have not drowned any more plants. I just bottom water the tray, the soil soaks up the water, and the slits help to air out the plants. Even if you overwater the plants by putting too much water in the tray, all you have to do is take the net cups out for a little while and they will drain out to a safe level. When I used the coir pots, they stayed too wet too long after overwatering and that is when I got the mold. It was totally my fault with coir pots, but the net cups are almost idiot proof and that is my level of gardening, unfortunately, I admit.

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I bought the heavy-duty net cups and they can be reused year after year. I am trying to reduce or eliminate the plastics I use in my gardening, but the bottom line for me is to have some success in growing the plants and I had failed with the peat pots. I was very successful with the net cups last year and will use them again this year for seed starting.

The theory behind the net cups with slits is that the plant's roots will air prune themselves when they hit a slit and therefore will not spiral around in the net cup causing the plant to get root bound. Indeed, that is what I experienced. The plant will then start growing new roots and you end up with a stronger plant for transplanting, full of lots of healthy roots. That was my experience last year and my transplants were the best ever coming from the net cups.

I’m working on minimizing the use of plastics since I heard reports that micro plastics are leaching into our food supply. That’s why I was interested in the coir starter pots. I know it’s difficult to abstain from using any plastics but I can reduce using them. I’m also avoiding peat based products since peat is not sustainable. I am curious to see how these work out.

 

[WthrLady]

I toodled around in shorts and a sweatshirt as it was sunny and 44'.
I painted and installed the owl house, 10 feet high- using the ladder in the bed of the gator. I found out I have no more shed paint. So that will need fixed when the new shed door is installed. sigh For now the owl house is go-away-green instead of dark olive, like the shed. (I still need to put a starling mirror inside.)
I saw the burn barrel had rusted through, so that was cleaned up and hauled to the curb with the old ashes. Then the ground needed checked for screws, nails, and barrel bits and then washed down.
The old hose that needed cut off the old other hose had to have it's end replaced, which I had a spare of. But no quick connects or naval jelly, so add those to the shopping list.
I broke the hoe last week. Add that to the shopping list.
The chickens wouldn't stay out of the mums I am overwintering, that I sat outside in the sunshine today. Before I could blink they ate all the new green off them- darn vegggie-saurus'. So those were put in the greenhouse. A delicious 85 in there. They'll love it. I'll water and feed them to wake them up next week.
I chased hens.
Looked at how I want to build a solar bird fountain for the herb garden.
Then called it a day so I could bread on to rise.
You have to ease into Spring.

 

[Sueby]

Thanks for the info. I just responded in another post about maybe using saw dust as an alternative. It just does not seem to have as many benefits as vermiculite does. But I am thinking maybe getting a 1.5 cubic foot bag of vermiculite at Menards for $19.00 and mixing in a good ration of free saw dust to cut down on the cost of my homemade potting mix.

Frankly, I'm also looking at the price comparison of commercial bagged potting mix now because my old DIY potting soil mix recipe seems to be even more expensive due to the high cost of vermiculite, and peat moss is no longer as cheap as it used to be, either.

I guess I will have to run the numbers to see if it still makes any sense to make my own DIY potting mix. It may just be easier, and less expensive, to buy commercial bagged potting soil at this point?

I went through a similar exercise a few years ago when I considered the cost of buying individual grains to make a chicken scratch mix. I found out that unless I purchased grains in large bulk quantities, there was no savings to be realized by mixing my own chicken scratch. I only have 10 chickens. It just made more sense for me to buy commercial chicken scratch at our Fleet store when they go on sale. And that was before COVID-19 and the price hike of grains at our local feed mill which have not come down even now.

I did the math & for what I need it's cheaper to make my own, not by much tho. A big part is that I have so much compost.

Yes, that’s why. Common to use as animal bedding. Such as cows or pigs - that’s where I see it used here.

We used to use it in the horse stalls if we could get it. The barn smelled soo good.

 

[Sueby]

naval jelly

 

[WthrLady]

I did the math & for what I need it's cheaper to make my own, not by much tho. A big part is that I have so much compost.

We used to use it in the horse stalls if we could get it. The barn smelled soo good.

I stopped making my own as the giant brick of promix the past 4 years has been far less exspensive than mixing my own starter.
Which reminds me....I should pick that up tomorrow.

 

[Sueby]

I used the promix last year & I have to amend it this year, it stayed way too wet for me. I paid $21.97 per big brick. I see people getting them for like 5 bucks at Walmart - but that stuff doesn't happen in CT.

 

[WthrLady]

I used the promix last year & I have to amend it this year, it stayed way too wet for me. I paid $21.97 per big brick. I see people getting them for like 5 bucks at Walmart - but that stuff doesn't happen in CT.

It doesn't happen here either.
I use a mister, pump sprayer to water my starts in promix. Once established, I water sparingly from the bottom.
Vermiculite alone was $15 last year.
The year before that I lost seeds and 10 days to improperly rinsed (by the company) salty coir.
The year before that, I couldn't even FIND two ingredients for my starter.

 

[gtaus]

I know it’s difficult to abstain from using any plastics but I can reduce using them.

That is my goal. I can live with reducing my use of plastic, but I don't think I am anywhere near totally eliminating the use of plastics, yet.

I’m also avoiding peat based products since peat is not sustainable.

I have read both pro and con articles about the use of peat moss. Especially in relationship to using coco coir. Does it make sense to ship coco coir halfway around the world if you have bogs full of peat moss that will last hundreds of years, or longer, depending on what article you read, and that peat moss is in your backyard? I'm all for using waste coco coir in gardening, but that fact that it has to be shipped so far to get to me in northern Minnesota makes me think coco coir is not the cure all that some want it to be.

Here is some of what I am talking about, ref: Fast Facts About the Current State of Peat Moss

Canada has been shipping peat moss to the U.S. since about 1900. So, let's just say over a hundred years. Yet in that same time, here is the usage reported in that article....

And a quick quote from the article: The Peat Report: A Case For Canadian Peat Moss

Sounds like peat moss is sustainable to me. I live in a border state with Canada, and it just seems to make more sense to use peat moss which is next door to us rather than shipping in coco coir from Hawaii halfway around the world.

I am curious to see how these work out.

They should work out fine for you. Just don't overwater them to death like I did with my peat pots.