New Grower advice needed...
mikeamondo
10 years ago
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planatus
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojohnnp
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
New roses grower... all tips and advices are welcome
Comments (12)Thanks all. Most of the credits go to my husband who prep the flower bed for me last year. The bed was raised a foot and half and he filled it up with top soil with peat moss. I believe the top soil have some composted manure added. Last Fall he shredded dry leaves and covered the whole bed with with. We're both new at gardening. So everything is guess work for us. In Spring I gave them a little Scott's rose food. I'm thinking about trying milorganite but I'm doing some research on that right now. Do you have any suggestion for good rose food? I do get yellow leaves, usually at the bottom. I usually pull them off and spray the plant just a little once a month. Also, some of my roses are slowly growing and no bloom. I got some tea roses that were impacted by the harsh winter and just woke up. Also, 5 bareroots from David Austins that I acquired at the end of April. Anything I can do to speed them up? This post was edited by Joopster on Tue, Jun 17, 14 at 9:52...See MoreNew grower needs advice
Comments (2)If you are planning on growing commercially, the only really good current up to date book is Hydroponic Crop Production Lon Dalton and Rob Smith There is a description at http://www.alabamahydroponics.com/GH/store/books/books.htm If you are doing hydroponics as a hobby, there are many sources of information to get you started....See MoreAdvice for new market grower with a microfarm?
Comments (22)I was up and through Peoria a couple weeks ago on my way over the Dadant's in Hamilton. We are a little south and east of you - the home place is between Decatur and Champaign and I live down in the Mattoon-Charleston area. We do two markets in Decatur and one in Monticello during the season but know a fellow that has been IIRC to the Riverfront Market in Peoria (meat seller) and liked it OK. Bloomington is a bit farther from you but has a really good market, as does Springfield. I really do not know much about the smaller markets in that area but U of I Extention had a website listing a bunch of them. As you probably have figured out the easy part of our job is the growing - marketing takes a little more work. My observation has been that the first year or two you need to work on building your customer base. In an established market people know who they have dealt with in the past and IIHO tend to favor them at least for their primary purchaces. After people get to know you and your produce you'll develop you own following - especially if you can find a nitch product that others do not have. That means your going to have to sell yourself as much as your product. I try to greet as many of the people walking by with a simple "Good morning" or something to that effect. Most respond back; quite a few will stop and engage you in conversation. That both creates the potential for a purchace and makes your booth look busy. Busy looking stands tend to draw more people. Learn as much as you can about your produce and be willing to share that in a concise way. As far as the organic draw - I really could not say. My gut says that most of our customers are more interested in the freshness and locality of our produce than if we are or are not organic. That is going to depend a lot on the market so you may find different. One thing to do is look into taking WIC and Senior Nutrition Farmer's Market vouchers. They are easy to do and free to sign up for but it takes a little time to get set up. It opens another avenue of revenue and frankly are great programs. Tom Here is a link that might be useful: Illinois Farm Direct Market Search...See MoreAdvice for a New Grower with a Struggling Azalea
Comments (7)Hi Ken, Thanks very much for the reply. I think it's obvious, but I'll stress for the record that this is very much a learning period for me. I have no real history with working with plants so much of what may seem obvious to some (re-potting while a plant is in flower) is very much a case of "didn't even know to ask" for me. It's very much trial and error. I'm just trying to be cautions enough so that the "errors" don't completely kill the plants! To answer your first question, yes, this plant was in flower when I bought it in Early Oct and stayed in flower more or less all that month. I found and attached a photo of the plant from Oct 6 which was shortly after I bought it. I have no idea whether or not it's normal in Z9. I just bought it because I liked the leaf/flower size and blossom color and am filling in blanks as I go. I noticed the same thing that you pointed out, that the lower branches which were shaded by the uppers were less damaged. That is part of what lead me to believe this was the result of too much sun. I'm glad to hear I might at least me figuring out how to tell a little bit about what is happening with these plants. So my next challenge is to monitor the water for this Azalea without going overboard. I've read that Azaleas do not like too much water, but also can't handle completely drying out. In your experience, is it better to water a potted Azalea and err on the side of doing it less frequently with more water, or water more frequently with less water at a time? I've also read that the Azalea wants to go dormant over winter so I should cut back on the water about now. Does that sound correct? At any rate, if this one comes back in the spring I'll be very happy. Trimming isn't an issue. My eventual hope is that I'll eventually be using this one for a bonsai so there will be plenty of pruning and shaping, but I want to get used to caring for it as-is first....See Moremikeamondo
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojohnnp
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomikeamondo
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoplanatus
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agosoilent_green
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojohnnp
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowcthomas
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoplanatus
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agosoilent_green
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agolargemouth
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowcthomas
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agozeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
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