The (New, Maybe Improved) Gardening Thread

[Kelric]

The cherry tomatoes are producing well - both the new ones and the ones that sprouted from seed in the garden. The indoor basil is going nuts despite harvesting it a lot and the outdoor mint is doing what mint does (one has an entire corner of the yard to itself and the other is in a container, but both are HUGE). I planted lemon cucumbers for the first time and the bastard has taken over the entire garden. It covered the very large sage plant and is now competing with the tomatoes and growing up their cages. Part of me wants to cut it back and make it stop, but the other part is intrigued by how large it has gotten and wants to see how much bigger it can get. I am absolutely planting it again next year but will put it in a container with a trellis rather than giving it freedom in the garden.

The leeks were happy, the walking onion plant I moved from my last house gave me enough baby onions to try and start spreading it out enough to earn the name of walking onion, and the kale was moderately succesful. My chive seedlings are struggling indoors, but maybe they will survive the winter and I can get them outside.

As for failures, none of my cucumbers gave me edible vegetables this year and I'm now 0 for 2 when it comes to trying them out. They failed a few years ago at a different location, as well. My cucamelon plants grew but I didn't give them a trellis and they've dried out too much and too often to give me any fruit as I put them in a window box when I think they needed pots with a trellis. I will try again next year as they're fun to eat. Lastly, I think my transplant strawberry is kaput: it gave me one berry again and zero runners this year. I'm going to try several new plants lumped together next year and see what happens - several people in the area have a variety that is very happy and will give some away for free.

I regret not having any compost this year, and want to try one of these next year if I can scrape up the spare change to afford it. I don't think worms in the basement is going to fly with the wife, so an outdoor compost bin that also provides food should be a nice compromise (and I can put worms in it!).

[Z-Corn]

So funny, I was JUST thinking about this thread!

Thinking about it as I did my first big harvest of tomatoes last night. We don't have a lot growing as I made a late decision to start a garden this year. I didn't start any of my own seeds and had to buy what was left on the shelves. All my plants are in pots on the deck. We have one plant each of these tomato varieties:

Super Sweet 100 - Growing in an EarthBox and taking it over. I pick a couple dozen cherries every day and we eat them all. Dinner the past two nights has been standing in the kitchen eating mini caprese salad mouthfulls. I used basil from the garden, fried halloumi cheese and balsamic glaze. I must have eaten 50 of the things...so good!

Black Crim - In the same EarthBox as the SS100 and getting choked out by it. Big, ugly fruits with lots of cracks and crinkles and catfacing. Great flavor.

Patio - Squat little plant bred for containers. Small, flavorless tomatoes that I will not grow again.

Sweet Deuce - If I had had more options when I bought seedlings I would not have bought this based on that terrible name alone. None of these have ripened yet although one green one did fall off and I will bread and fry that today.

San Marzano - These are killing it. Huge one pound plus fruits in clusters of 6 or 8. These will all become frozen pizza sauce for, as Kraken said, a cold February night when we need to remember this winter shit is only temporary. I've gotta make the first batch of sauce tonight...

I've got three jalapeno plants that are doing well. there are 100 peppers among the three plants. I've only picked one pepper from each plant as the goal is to allow them to fully ripen until they turn red and then smoke and dry them to make chipotles. I may be bumping into the first frost with these.

Various basil plants have already been processed into various pesto recipes. They go in the freezer too. Rosemary is doing well and lemon thyme is doing really well.

Having decent garden success has gotten me enthused already for next year. I got discouraged a couple years ago and had not planted since. I found the seeds I bought and never planted and seeing those varieties I chose back then has me excited to sow seeds in the spring.

The EarthBox has been a real success and I will add at least another one to the garden next year. They are not cheap but they do work really well on my deck.

[msteelers]

Most of our herbs and tomato plants died horrible deaths due to a combination of the brutal Florida sun, rampant bugs, and neglect.

Our mango tree produced fruit for the first time ever. The mangos were small, but tasty. We (my wife) cut up a bunch of them and threw them in the freezer for smoothies. I'm curious to see if next year the fruit stays small, or if they start to get bigger as the tree matures.

My lime bush didn't produce that much. Last year I was drinking Corona non-stop in an effort to make sure the limes didn't go to waste. This year there were just a few limes to pick, and they were dry. There's a good chance that raccoons stole some though. We saw a raccoon dart from that area one night when we went to walk the dog.

[Z-Corn]

I forgot to mention I am going to try growing garlic this year. I have two heirloom varieties on order that should arrive soon.

I will be planting them in a large plastic storage container and they will overwinter on the deck. Plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest day is the saying. Except I will be planting more likely on The Equinox.

Looking forward to maybe never having to buy garlic again and having scapes in the spring!

[mori]

Have to give the EarthBox a try. Would like to grow tomatoes and chiles next season. My basil is doing very well but parsley is really struggling. Last year it was the exact opposite. I would rather have parsley than a lot of basil.

[Z-Corn]

I got the five foot trellis with the EarthBox for growing tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes grew at least eight feet high before toppling over on themselves. They have kept growing just fine.

I am really a fan.

The only trick is choosing a proper growing medium, you need something that wicks water well, and then setting it up properly by packing the corners of the box with your growing medium. I used Pro-Mix HP with mycorrhizae. I set mine up exactly by the book with the exception of adding calcium citrate and Epsom salt once a week to fight blossom end rot. Other than that it's just been watering twice a day.

If you have BER you need Cal Mag!

[Jaymann]

This year's crop:

[Jeff V]

We can start growing that next summer. Don't think we will.

Our garden plants are mostly stunted so far, but tiny pepper plants are producing fruit. We have some tomatoes, none near harvesting. Herbs are doing okay. Okra, lemongrass, kangkong (which I imagine will do even less well now that we'll be entering drought season) and sweet potatoes are doing just okay. Cauliflower is making lots of leaves, no head yet.

[Kraken]

I upgraded my dope room from fluorescent tubes to LEDs to make up for having to cut back to just 12 plants. They are loving the new lights, but the two that have flowered so far were both male.

Tomatoes are having a good summer.

[Z-Corn]

This year's crop:

Needs Cal-Mag.

[Z-Corn]

Yesterday I noticed a dreaded tomato hornworm in my plants. I bought some Thuricide, which is a beneficial bacteria, to deal with that one and the ones I wasn't seeing. I decided to leave this one as a warning to all the others when he died in a day or two.

I go to water this evening and there that bugger is, now covered in parasitic wasp larvae dying an even worse death than the Thuricide will give him. If I'd known the wasps were gonna help me out I could have saved the $10!

[Jeff V]

So the other day my wife harvested a zucchini the size of my forearm from the garden. It accompanied 3 meals on our recent camping trip. Cherry and grape tomatoes are starting to produce. Used cherry tomatoes along with Italian parsley (that's running amok right now) and zucchini in pasta last night and my wife loved it so much she ordered that I make it again for her lunch at work tonight. All of the cauliflower plants have heads growing.

[Kraken]

It's been a banner year for tomatoes here. June had just the right amount and timing of rain to swell the emerging fruits to optimum size, and they've been ripening for the past two weeks. I'm especially pleased to have larger plum tomatoes, as the dinky little ones are a pain to peel and seed. Gonna have to can them or make sauce next week. The determinate plants are already dying or dead, having run their course.

Everything else is average to sub-par. A volunteer vine revealed itself to be pumpkins -- not something I would bother to plant, but as a compost survivor it's welcome. Squash plants were just starting to put forth when they got the double-whammy of borers and powdery mildew, but they're in the unfashionable shady part of the garden and weren't getting pollinated anyway. I really ought to rent a chainsaw and take out some low tree limbs next year.

The big ol' pot of Italian Vegetable Stew that I'm making tomorrow will use up my eggplants, peppers, beans, squash, and will make a dent in the tomatoes, but they're going to keep coming in faster than I can use them up for another week or so.

[Isgrimnur]

I just got a pole saw for under $100.

[dbt1949]

I've saw them for less than that.

[Kraken]

I did not know there was such a thing. Truly, the 20th century is a wondrous place! I generally try not to accumulate new possessions, but buying one of those wouldn't cost much more than renting a chainsaw from the Tru-Value, and it would reach high enough without involving my wobbly step ladder. Sold!

[Isgrimnur]

Chain saws and ladders don’t mix well, so I’ve been told.

[Jeff V]

Chain saws and ladders don’t mix well, so I’ve been told.

Needs beer to bring it together hilariously

[Isgrimnur]

[dbt1949]

He's too olde for a Darwin award.

[em2nought]

He's too olde for a Darwin award.

Looks like he at least had the good sense to rethink that endeavor.

I'm getting a visitor who might want to grow a garden here. I might get some good Thai food out of the deal!

I upgraded my dope room from fluorescent tubes to LEDs to make up for having to cut back to just 12 plants.

Are people allowed to have dope rooms in some states? I'd think this thread would have really taken off already?

[Kraken]

He's too olde for a Darwin award.

Looks like he at least had the good sense to rethink that endeavor.

I'm getting a visitor who might want to grow a garden here. I might get some good Thai food out of the deal!

I upgraded my dope room from fluorescent tubes to LEDs to make up for having to cut back to just 12 plants.

Are people allowed to have dope rooms in some states? I'd think this thread would have really taken off already?

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

[Daehawk]

Harbor Freight has pole saw for under $50 right now.

https://www.harborfreight.com/95-in-7-a ... 11,106,925

[Z-Corn]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

[Jaymann]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

Same in CA. Though I'm not sure how you "lock up" plants in your yard.

[Z-Corn]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

Same in CA. Though I'm not sure how you "lock up" plants in your yard.

A lot of people here use something like a dog kennel or run. Chain link fence on 5 sides basically. And then a lock on the door to the kennel.

[UsulofDoom]

Harbor Freight has pole saw for under $50 right now.

https://www.harborfreight.com/95-in-7-a ... 11,106,925

I have one. Works good but you need oil for the blade. Therefore when not in use, the oil can leak out.

[Kraken]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

IDK, I've always grown indoors so it never came up. The law says: "The plants must be grown in an area that is equipped with a lock or security device. The plants cannot be visible from a public place without the use of binoculars, aircraft or other optical aids." So I suppose outdoors is technically OK.

[Jeff V]

So you can just surround your weed garden with taller grass?

[Z-Corn]

So you can just surround your weed garden with taller grass?

It needs to be locked up though. I'd say more to protect you from rippers than to be compliant with the law. Especially this time of year. Now is when people start sleeping in their gardens every night.

[Jeff V]

My produce garden is really only in view of neighbors. There's already tall crab grass shielding the view from neighbors on the other side of the yard...I'd plant 6' ornamental grass if I was seriously considering this. I'm not concerned about any of the neighbors wandering into my yard to inspect my crops. Then again, this is a pretty well-behaved 'hood infested with families with small children.

Give it a decade and those children might grow into a problem.

[Kelric]

My tomatoes are not doing as well as last year, though the plants themselves are bigger. A few cherry tomato seeds came back and were a surprise but those plants are tiny.

My sage plant filled my garden with babies and I gave a bunch of them away but will move the remainder in the next few weeks to the front yard to fill in some gaps out there.

I need to move my leek and French tarragon (which has taken over my plot) and am going to build a separate bed soon just for strawberries since my one plant I brought from the last house and three I purchased this year have spread like crazy.

[Jeff V]

My one strawberry plant tried to take over the herb box (competing with tons of chives and Italian parsley that's also run amok). This is the same box that contained a massive sage plant when we first moved in...but I don't have much use for sage and when it didn't bloom the following year, it was introduced to Mr. Firepit.

Oddly, a large tomato plant sprung up far away from the garden, obliterating a rose plant right outside the patio door. It has lots of flowers, but so far no fruits. We're getting a few cherry, grape, and stunted roma tomatoes so far. The pepper plants remain tiny, they are producing bell peppers and banana peppers, but my wife hasn't been using them. Cucumber production has been slight (only 2 so far) and the zucchini seem to have shot it's collective wad on a single arm-sized squash. Kangkong is doing well despite it being drought season, okra has only generated a couple. Lemongrass is doing ok, as are sweet potatoes (which my wife harvests the leaves). Looks like we're going to get 5 decent cauliflowers. I think I will send some to Lord Mortis.

[Kelric]

You probably killed off the sage too quickly - I find it takes FOREVER to rebloom. I don't have a lot of use for it either but it is easy to grow, so my parent plant has met the compost bin and the babies have been allowed to do their thing.

[Jaymann]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

Same in CA. Though I'm not sure how you "lock up" plants in your yard.

A lot of people here use something like a dog kennel or run. Chain link fence on 5 sides basically. And then a lock on the door to the kennel.

I brought mine inside since I am not building a cage in my back yard for a few plants. They are starting to flower anyway. I have a six foot fence, but theoretically someone could peek over without renting a helicopter.

Oh and bolt cutters can go through chain link fence like butter.

[Kraken]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

Same in CA. Though I'm not sure how you "lock up" plants in your yard.

A lot of people here use something like a dog kennel or run. Chain link fence on 5 sides basically. And then a lock on the door to the kennel.

I brought mine inside since I am not building a cage in my back yard for a few plants. They are starting to flower anyway. I have a six foot fence, but theoretically someone could peek over without renting a helicopter.

Oh and bolt cutters can go through chain link fence like butter.

You realize that MA and CA are almost like two different states, right? Your law probably says "LOL whatevs".

Plus, JeffV is growing bell peppers. If I had pearls and a fainting couch, I'd clutch them and fall there.

[Jaymann]

In MA we can grow up to 6 plants per adult with a maximum of 12. They are supposed to be kept indoors under lock and key.

No provisions at all for outdoor grows? Here you can do it as long as it's locked up and your neighbors can't see it.

Same in CA. Though I'm not sure how you "lock up" plants in your yard.

A lot of people here use something like a dog kennel or run. Chain link fence on 5 sides basically. And then a lock on the door to the kennel.

I brought mine inside since I am not building a cage in my back yard for a few plants. They are starting to flower anyway. I have a six foot fence, but theoretically someone could peek over without renting a helicopter.

Oh and bolt cutters can go through chain link fence like butter.

You realize that MA and CA are almost like two different states, right? Your law probably says "LOL whatevs".

Nah, I looked it up, it is identical (except for the number of plants) to what you quoted. Probably somebody cut and pasted.

[Jeff V]

Plus, JeffV is growing bell peppers. If I had pearls and a fainting couch, I'd clutch them and fall there.

My wife occasionally uses them in things I don't eat. I figured she'd find use for them. I figured wrong, they are currently starting to decompose in the veggie basket on the counter. I'll have to give away the rest.

I even planted some toxic weed for her and she even admitted it tasted too poisonous for consumption. Methinks I'll introduce it to Mr. Firepit.

[UsulofDoom]

Any suggestions on keeping deer away? They are killing my plants.

[Jaymann]

Any suggestions on keeping deer away? They are killing my plants.

Lion piss?