2022 Garden Thread

[EatenByLimestone]

Tomato update. 17 days in the aerogarden. Maybe a week on the heat pad.

 

[clancey]

Looks great but mine one plant is taller--lol Here are my pictures-lol Brought home 3/24 and now it is 4/8...Just playing here . Your plant looks wonderful but my big boy will overtake--lol clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Tomato update. 17 days in the aerogarden. Maybe a week on the heat pad.

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Those look great! I bet they have some really long roots. I’d be working to pot them up before the roots get all tangled, though when I pot mine up, I often prune the roots so that they’re not too long for the little nursery bags that I use. Tomatoes are so resilient that it really doesn’t seem to cause a problem. If I can get them out of the Aerogarden when they’re small, great; if not, they do fine. Is it warm enough during the day to put them out in the sunshine, or is it still too cold for that?



This is what my tomatoes looked like the day before I managed to pot them up. It was a little later than I intended, but they did fine. Most are out in the garden now, buried deep, and the cherry varieties are just beginning to flower (just in time for the cold snap where our nights are back down in the forties). Overall, they’re doing well.

It should warm up again on Saturday night, so I’m looking in my onion beds to see if I can make room to get the peppers transplanted out.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Looks great but mine one plant is taller--lol Here are my pictures-lol Brought home 3/24 and now it is 4/8...Just playing here . Your plant looks wonderful but my big boy will overtake--lol clancey

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Very nice, Mrs. Clancey. I’m glad they’re happy inside.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

About a week ago I had my wife put an Amazon order in for 100 starter pods for the Aerogarden. They haven't arrived yet. Thats irritating! I think I've been spoiled by fast shipping, lol.

The pods were 28c each, the generic ones were 26. Not really enough of a difference to get me to try the generic.

The tomatoes are growing great! We'll have a bumper crop this year, I'm sure! The peppers are growing, but much slower. Maybe I took them off the heat pad too early.

Peppers do like warmth, but I find that peppers are just slow to get started. They take longer than tomatoes to germinate, to get their true leaves, to branch out. That’s not to say that they wouldn’t benefit from more warmth, but it’s just to note that peppers are just slower even in favorable conditions.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I've found the same thing. Our tomato seedlings are way ahead in spite of being started at the same time.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Tomatoes seeds germinate at a lower soil temperature than peppers. Peppers need a higher soil temperature.

Tomatoes: 65 - 85
Peppers: 80 or higher

Both with germinate at lower end of soil temps, but the peppers will definitely take longer.

The field was so wet today, I decided not to put in the 4th side of t-posts. Too wet and squishy! I did get them spaced with wood stakes for tomorrow. Instead, I thought with the ground so saturated, I would try to drive the 3 - 6-foot grounding rods (at 10-foot intervals) I need for the electric fence.

OMG! I got 2 of them all the way driven down WITH A LOT OF EFFORT, (using a post driver and then a sledgehammer) but the 3rd one hit the shale shelf we have traveling under our property. No matter how many hits with a sledgehammer, I could only get that one down 4.5 feet. However, I think that will be sufficient for grounding.

Tomorrow, I plan to get the 4th side of t-posts driven into the ground, then I can start running the welded wire fencing.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Grounding rods can be tough to drive! I’m sure yours will be far enough in. I’m not sure why they want them in so far.

Mrs. Clancy, your big boy tomato is never going to stop growing. It’ll be way bigger than mine!

 

[clancey]

OMG---That big--I hope yours and mine get big and strong and give us plenty of good tasting tomato"s--Yes... I was having fun with you. lol Last year I had a different plant and wow so many tomato"s I had and fed the whole neighborhood. lol...Hope I repeat it this year with this Big Boy Tomato plant....Can't wait to see your stuff in full bloom as well...thanks clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Mrs. Clancy, your big boy tomato is never going to stop growing. It’ll be way bigger than mine!

Good point, EatenbyLimestone. Big Boy is an indeterminate tomato. It will keep growing taller and wider until frost. Mrs. Clancey, you’ll probably need more support for that plant than you did for your Celebrity last year. (Celebrity, I think, is semi-determinate, so it doesn’t grow quite so much as an indeterminate.) You could use a vertical trellis of some sort or use twine to tie it to a tall stake. You’ve got a while to think about it, but I thought I’d mention it so that you can start thinking about it.

 

[begreen]

The Celebrity is a very prolific plant, but the Big Boy tomatoes will weigh more and need stronger support. I used to grow Brandy Boy which is a cross between Big Boy and Brandywine. Great tomatoes and huge. Our largest was over 2 pounds.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Nothing like a nice slicing tomato from the garden for a tomato sandwich! I can almost taste it, but I have some time to go before I can eat one, my tomato plants are about in the 4–5-inch range, and it will be another month before I can move them outside.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Once again, we were hoping to get the 4th side of t-posts up in the food forest yesterday, but it was sunny one moment and showery the next. I don't like working in wet grass with tools that are on extension cords, so we put it off for another day.

We relocated the trellis for the cucumbers, acorn squash and cantaloupes to another area that I think will work better. Also moved a few raised beds for better placement (ones we haven't filled yet). I built wire "hats" for the peach and pear trees to attached to their cages, so the deer don't reach over and help themselves to the tender buds.

Going to get out there today around 10; it should be 40 degrees by then. I am shooting to get the poles done on the 4th side, and perhaps start hanging fence wire, but I may be a bit ambitious on this plan for the day.

Got some seeds in from True Leaf yesterday, mostly replacements for ones I'm either out of or low on, but 2 that I want to try for the first time - butternut squash and celery.

 

[clancey]

When you do your garden area with the wire what size width of holes is it? I think if you would go a bit smaller in space this would be better--just thinking...clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

If I am understanding you correctly, Mrs. Clancey, the poles for the welded wire fencing are spaced anywhere from 6 to 6.5 feet apart. I believe it took 64 t-posts to enclose the food forest. When I put up the poles for the outside electric fence, they will be about 18 feet apart or so. I am figuring on another 20 to 25 t-posts for the electric fence.

If you are talking about the actual fence opening size, it is 1" x 2" openings.

We got all the work done today I was hoping for despite it being in the 40's, no sun, windy, with periods of something frozen. We finished putting in the last 100-foot side of t-posts, hung another gate, and got 100 feet of welded wire put up on t-posts. My body is going to pay for it tonight, though.

 

[clancey]

I use hard wire on my fencing for the birdies about a 1/2 or a 1/4th opening so that no critters can get through into the inside of the "fly pen" just wondering...Yea you going to be tired and your muscles will hurt as well. Your doing a big job but it will all be beautiful in the end--if it ever ends--lol I am going to try to make a garden spot area with hard wire and a large middle gate if I can but I have so many other things to do so right now I am not sure..Thanks...clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

The Celebrity is a very prolific plant, but the Big Boy tomatoes will weigh more and need stronger support. I used to grow Brandy Boy which is a cross between Big Boy and Brandywine. Great tomatoes and huge. Our largest was over 2 pounds.
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That is a beautiful tomato, Begreen. It looks perfect for a BLT.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

If I am understanding you correctly, Mrs. Clancey, the poles for the welded wire fencing are spaced anywhere from 6 to 6.5 feet apart. I believe it took 64 t-posts to enclose the food forest. When I put up the poles for the outside electric fence, they will be about 18 feet apart or so. I am figuring on another 20 to 25 t-posts for the electric fence.

If you are talking about the actual fence opening size, it is 1" x 2" openings.

We got all the work done today I was hoping for despite it being in the 40's, no sun, windy, with periods of something frozen. We finished putting in the last 100-foot side of t-posts, hung another gate, and got 100 feet of welded wire put up on t-posts. My body is going to pay for it tonight, though.

Congratulations on getting that fourth side in. I can imagine that you’ll be feeling it in the coming days, but in the coming years you will enjoy strolling through that food forest without having to wrap your plants because the deer will be on the other side of that fence.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I took my camera out to the garden this afternoon, and I thought I’d share few pictures of what’s been transplanted and germinating and growing.

Yesterday I transplanted eggplant, a few varieties of peppers, and a couple of basil plants. I’m hoping that our cold nights are past, and I wanted to get these into more soil. They look like they are settling into their new homes just fine.



If you look closely, you can see the flowers that are beginning on the container tomatoes. These are my earliest blooming of the plant I set out at the end of last month.

My pole beans and some seeds from my salad mix that I recently sowed are starting to come up. Each morning I’ve been filling a couple of watering cans from my rain tanks and gently soaking the bed.

My tillage radishes have pretty much all started to bolt at this point, but I’m really enjoying the blooms and hoping that they’ll be helpful in attracting beneficials to the garden when there isn’t much else in bloom at this point. The range of colors from white to pink to lavender has been really delightful to see.



I have cucumbers sprouting indoors that I need to pot up soon. I’m hoping I can get to it early tomorrow morning.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Added soil to the starting trays. I’ll start transplanting the tomatoes tonight. They grew a ton in the last few days and I’ll have to cut their roots heavily. I’m not overly worried though. I generally bury them deep once they hit the garden. They’ll have plenty of roots by then.

The peppers grew a lot too!

And maybe most important, the aerogarden supplies I ordered came in! Just in time!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Shout out to my wife for saving 20 something quart containers from takeout orders of soup! Lol

 

[clancey]

Lime you have a smart wife and she plans ahead..Yes.. All your gardens are looking just wonderful and so healthy looking as well..Here is my picture of my garden. clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

We got another side of fencing up today. This one was harder to do since it was on flat ground and then up the hill. We couldn't make a straight run. As the hill progressed, we had to cut the fencing in to sections and overlapped it on some of the poles to accommodate the rise in the hill. It took most of the day, but we have two sides covered.

I have to go back and secure the 2 sides on 3-4 points on each pole. Then, we have to run a 2-foot apron out from the fence along the ground to keep diggers out. I'm hoping in another week, we'll have all the wire fencing up, fully attached, and along the ground. After that, I can run the electric fencing.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Good work, @Dan Freeman.

We had great weather this morning as it was cloudy with some humidity in the air, so it was wonderful for getting my cucumbers into soil. Their roots had really grown too long, though the top growth is slow, so they look funny in their big bags, but I have no doubt that they’ll make use of that space before I get them to my garden. They spent the day outside today, mostly in the shade, since the sun did come out this afternoon.



(The non-cucumber plant is another start of Mexican Mint Marigold which can be grown as a tarragon substitute in hot climates. I’m trying to get it started this year as I didn’t succeed with direct sowing last summer.)

We had thunder and lightening last night but no moisture that could be measured at ground level, but I could feel the humidity in the air. Normally “refreshing” is not a word I associate with humidity, but it has been so, so dry here, that I really found it felt wonderful to be out in slightly moist air this morning. There is a slight chance of storms tomorrow, the edge of what sounds like it could be a bad system for others. I certainly don’t want violent weather for anyone, but we really could use the rain down here. Thankfully some did fall last night on a large wildfire in the area (not a danger to us personally) and helped to keep it from spreading overnight.

@clancey , thanks for the picture of your garden. It’s looking lovely. I especially like how the sunlight shines through the tomato leaves in that particular shot.

 

[clancey]

That's exactly what I liked about the picture but did not see until the printed printed on the screen,,I figured you all would like it...That mint plant baby looks really healthy and maybe this year it will make it. Personally I do not think that the Texas weather will change for the best although it will get warmer in time but cold for now...Just saying no proof..lol.lol. On the cucumbers I see two adorable little leaves with a small one started so they are looking real good. We lived in a rented acreage and we planted cucumbers and I used to spray the caterpillar off the plants with water. "Being organic at that age",. and one day we had to leave within a week---true story here and this was "down south", so we packed knowing we had to leave our garden and we took one last look right before we left and there was one cucumber that was large enough to eat and we split it in two and "yummy yummy" it tasted so so good and it was small but pretty...clancey