plants you can forget

14 years ago

what veggies can i plant in a empty lot and only water them when i can remember. also will plants growing next to a power plant turn in to cancer causing mutants(seriously).

thanks

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Comments (7)

vikingkirken
14 years ago
If you get reasonably normal rainfall, and you mulch them, you can plant-and-forget tomatoes, peppers, or winter squash... probably others as well, but I know those two from personal experience with my community garden. The main time that watering was important for me was when plants were first getting established.
jimster
14 years ago
Plants grown anywhere under any circumstances will produce mutants at a rate determined by certain probabilities. Plant breeding depends on that. Will the mutants, which will appear in future generations, cause cancer? Very unlikely. I have never heard of cancer caused by a vegetable.

Jim
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If anyone wants to know how their advice turned out: A website says we have "Merrimac Fine Sandy Loam". Observation reveals sandy gravel on one side of the property, a thin strip of compacted clay near the road. I did take ken_adrian's advice and contact my county soil conservation office. More helpfully, I found the New Hampshire State Nursery and the New York State Nursery. Great places. I planted three potted Beach Plum which all took. I planted a large number of bare root ones from the county, and a couple seem to be still alive (though it is too early to say). I planted a potted American Persimmon which is doing great, and two bare root ones that promptly died. I planted four paw paw, two of which survived, two of which fell prey to someone's weed wacker. One of the bare root Pitch Pine survived, none of the bare root Blue Spruce. This Spring I planted a number of bare root Black Walnut. One died, the rest seem to be doing great. (Best success rate in "plant and forget) so far. Also planted the NH State Nursery "Christmas Tree Package" of White Fire and White Spruce, which so far seem to be doing well (though it is too early to say...those were tiny.) I've gotten a number of potted English Holly, Blue Princess Holy and Blue Prince Holly, which survived. My transplanted rescue and mail-order potted American Holly have all died. Another of the original, developer planted maples died of wind damage. Many others have lost limbs. No salt issues, just wind.
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cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
I woul also say chili peppers small size squash/melons.
To help the situatin a bit, You plant them deeper at first and fill back around the stems until levelled. Then make a dish -like form aroun the plant, so it would collect and direct water to roots.

About the cancer issue, I believe that is not true. They have argued this case(overhead high voltage lines, trsnsformers, ..) to affect humans but I don't think it will do any harm to the plants such that eating them may harm humans or animals.
borderbarb
14 years ago
Depending on your climate, sweet potatoes are pretty easy to grow. I think maybe I'd stay with root veggies,'till you know more about possible airborn contaminants which may be attracted/accumulate under hi-voltage wires.

Are there earthworms in the soil under these wires? Gophers? Do animals avoid the area? I'm not kidding, sometimes animals/critters sense things we don't.
staticx
Original Author
14 years ago
well i like the winter squash idea,i have some woods and if i plant it on the edge will it climb the trees to get to the light or will the shade stunt its growth.

you people rock and are really an awesome heirloom of homosapian
jonas302
14 years ago
on the winter squash I would say both it will do some climbing and shade isn't helpful to any veggies but for the cost of a few seeds what can it hurt

For the other question I forget about a lot of things and sometimes they are still alive... In your case I wouldn't plan on watering them at all they will then develop deep roots and if you multch heavy the soil will stay more moist and there will be very little weeding
jimster
14 years ago
I had a three sisters garden (corn, beans, squash interplanted ala Native American tradition) last year. Shade from the corn was dense and the squash struggled a bit trying to grow but produced nothing. Squash needs sun and, for the most part, will not climb to get sun. The pole beans climbed, as you would expect, but they yielded poorly due to shade.

Jim

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plants you can forget

Comments (7)

vikingkirken

jimster

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cyrus_gardner

borderbarb

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plants you can forget

Comments (7)

vikingkirken

jimster

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cyrus_gardner

borderbarb

staticxOriginal Author

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jimster

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