First SFG and so far the radishes, beets and carrots are duds

14 years ago

I am hoping it's got something to do with getting a bit of a late start (beginning of April) and not something nutty with my SFG soil.

I did a search on 'dud' radishes and know it can be a variety of things. Aside from Mel's mix the amendments I've made are some low numbered organic fertilizer (about a week ago) and some Sevin (I know, *gasp*!) on my squash stems hoping to deter any borer beetles. The squash both have blossoms so that's good.

My lettuce was just ok. I picked the leaf lettuce but it really hasn't had time to replenish so I'm not waiting to see if it will keep going since spring is actually supposed to be here (yeah, what's with this cold weather!) and I want to use the squares for some other crops. So I can't really comment on how well anything else has done so far.

Please. Anyone. Tell me your first root crops failed but you went on to a successful garden!

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Comments (11)

ribbit32004
14 years ago
My carrots stunk.

Beets were just as bad.

I'm waiting to try again in fall.
momma_s
14 years ago
The only carrots that are doing well so far are the ones that I didn't presprout, and I remembered to add vermiculite to.

I started radishes 4 days ago, and they sprouted today--totally the wrong time for them too, but so far so good. I shade them from ~11am-6:30pm.

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
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I was wondering if the millipede deniers would show up. Alot of people think millipede are harmless to growing plants, and it most cases that's true. But in some cases millipedes are a terror. They particularly love to destroy plantings of peas, beans and corn. I dug up dozens of peas each one crawling with small millipedes. They had their bodies half-way burrowed into the pea. The peas themselves were live and not rotted at all, just being consumed by the ravenous millipedes. The tap root almost always completely consumed. Without any doubt, millipedes were completely destroying otherwise healthy germinating peas. Last year too. An an experiment I planted some test peas in various other beds. In the new beds the peas grew without incident. In the beds that have been composted for a couple years now, millipede damage was complete. They love compost and moist soil, it's an ideal environment. And in sufficient numbers they can destroy germinating seeds, peas in particular. I'm not the only one experiencing this: 1 2 3 4 I had been warned that Symphylan populations might build up and wreck my vegetable garden, and for a while I thought that might be happening. However, I only occasionally see a Symphylan or two. The millipedes were off my radar. I now suspect millipedes were behind problems I've had direct-seeding various crops. Something has been chewing their roots and stubbing them off, stunting the plants badly or killing them in the seedling stage. I'll now have to do some reevaluation. Millipedes are apparently very hard to kill, poisoned baits seem to be the best way. I'm not resorting to that yet, but I am also considering selectively dropping the use of compost and relying entirely on organic fertilizers such as seedmeals and mineral powders. I understand the benefits of compost but my peas will no doubt grow better without millipedes. Oddly enough, I did get a stand of peas going. I pushed the infested peas aside and replanted. The millipedes were happy to keep munching on the old peas while the new ones got a start. Some of the new ones were having trouble but not too many. Those that I pulled up while thinning did have millipedes on them, but only a couple. It seems the peas are able to deal with two or three but not 20.
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So far so good.. :)
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Comments (4)
crabjoe, welcome aboard, glad your garden is doing well. Now's the time to begin thinking about next year's garden. Set up a compost station and make yourself some nice soil amendment. Also this fall gather all the fallen leaves you can and bury them about a foot deep right in the garden. Use alot, around a foot thick. It'll look rather mounded if you use enough but by spring it'll be compressed and black and rich. Next spring turn in some composted, not fresh, cow manure and mix it with that layer of leaves that will have worked down. Add some blood meal, bone meal and greensand if you can get them (follow directions) and you'll have the richest soil in the neighborhood. If you've got compost going then use it as a mulch around the plants after they come up. Don't mix sawdust, wood chips, unfinished compost, etc. in the spring - it eats up too much nitrogen at that time. Believe me, if you feed the soil you've fed your plants. Oh, it's a good idea to have your soil tested if only to determine Ph. It's great to have it at 6.5 but not absolutely necessary. Best Regards.
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red carrot, white beet, watermelon radish . . .
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Catherine, I have only seen the persimmon in California's Central Valley & south. Here's what the CA fruit growers say: "Origin: The oriental persimmon is native to China . . . It spread to Korea and Japan many years ago . . . The plant was introduced to California in the mid 1800's. "Adaptation: Persimmons do best in areas that have moderate winters and relatively mild summers--suitable for growing in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 10. It can tolerate temperatures of 0 F when fully dormant. However, because of its low chilling requirement (less than 100 hours), it may break dormancy during early warm spells only to be damaged by spring frosts later. The leaves are killed by 26Â°F when growing. Trees do not produce well in the high summer heat of desert regions, which may also sunburn the bark." They are pretty trees but that tendency to break dormancy after only a few warm days looks problematic. I find it interesting that the persimmon is classified in 2 groups - astringent and non-astringent. Boy, they've got good reason for that! Apparently, the astringent varieties are not necessarily bad - they just require full ripening. Conversely, non-astringent types are not necessarily good. Confusing . . . I enjoy whatever they have in the produce aisle when they are still somewhat crisp. I could be wrong but it looks from Wikipedia that the American persimmon isn't grown for fruit - golf clubs and billiard cues yes, fruit, perhaps no. The pawpaw is a different genus & species. See, that idea that fruit trees take too long has come back to bite you (I don't really know if that was your thinking, Catherine, but I've heard that so many times from younger people.) My apple butter is from a tree that I planted as a young guy at my place then promptly dug up and moved to my father's backyard. It is now about 35 years old. Actually, it is the last of the dwarf/semi-dwarf trees I moved there. I bought an apple for Mom & Dad not long after they moved to that house. It has been gone 6 or 8 years now. The Northern Spy survivor once had a sister which grew but didn't want to make fruit. Dad always seems too willing to attack trees with a chainsaw to my way of thinking. That tree went out the gate about 10 or 15 years ago. The French plum was damaged by a lawn mower incident and then began to have serious peach borer problems. It was such a fine tree that Dad cut it down and replaced it. That 2nd plum is now about 20 years old and usually produces really well. The peach tree didn't have borer problems but fire blight weakened it every year. It died without ever producing a single fruit. We planted a doughnut peach a couple of years ago. It is going great guns as is the white peach in my own backyard. I had big hopes for that one this year but it still hasn't set any fruit - only about 4 years old now. One thing seems to be for sure, as night follows day, seasons follow season . . . Like sands through the hourglass . . . blah, blah, blah . . . but even a little tree on dwarfing root-stock can ripen boxes and boxes of fruit after the kids have grown up and left . . . Okay, so that means they have a reason to show up during harvest anyway. digitS'
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SFG Plan advice needed
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Comments (2)
Sounds like you have a plan for your garden! Just wondering how far apart these planters are. you mention the 4x4 bed is to the north of the 4x8. If it isn't far enough away, you may have some of your larger plants in the 4x8 shade out the 4x4 area and get lower yields. You certainly can place vining crops near the edge of the beds and have them fall out into the lawn. They will use up a bit of lawn space - so ensure you don't need to mow there! The amount of space you've allotted for each seems just fine too. So, just plant and I think you'll do good! Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog
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momma_s
14 years ago
Oh, and none of my lettuce made it to harvest (started early april--too late), but broccoli is doing well with being shaded too.
anniesgranny
14 years ago
Well, some had a good laugh when I glued carrot seeds, one by one, to a sheet of newspaper and then planted it in the garden...but guess what.

I had almost 100% germination with three of the four varieties, slightly less with the fourth which was older seed. The carrots are 1" apart in all directions, but next time I'll possibly do a 2" spacing. I will begin pulling every other one in this bed as soon as they reach an edible size, and let the rest of them mature. Anyway, the method worked so well, and was much less time consuming than seeding them directly into the garden, it will be my preferred method of planting from now on.

For those of you who are impatient, these were planted 60 days ago and they still have a long way to go before they are big enough to eat. There are approximately 300 carrots in this bed.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden
greenbean08_gw
14 years ago
Granny,
I'm glad it worked well for you b/c I took your suggestion and glued my carrot seeds last week. I spaced them at 1" but I was sort of thinking I should have done 2". When I plant the other half I'll probably try 2".

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener
gardener_sandy
14 years ago
When you say the crops failed, what do you mean? Did they germinate and not produce or did they just not come up? How did you sow them? How deep? Did you keep the surface of the soil damp for a couple of weeks without letting it dry out in between waterings? Did they come up and make lush growth but no enlarged root? Tell us more.

Sandy
anniesgranny
14 years ago
"I spaced them at 1" but I was sort of thinking I should have done 2"."

Who knew they were all going to grow! Although I did have the same rate of germination last year when I glued them to the Kleenex ;-) It's a good thing we love baby carrots.

For those who would like to try this method, here is what I did:

I used Elmer's Glue...the white kind, which is water soluble. I just laid out the 12-inch square sheet of newspaper, grabbed a Sharpie pen and made the dots an inch apart in all directions, then put the dots of glue on the marks. I took a pencil and moistened (licked) the tip and picked up one carrot seed at a time and nudged it into the glue. It only took a few minutes, at the table while having my morning coffee! I let them dry over night before planting. I laid the sheets of seeds on top of the bed (damp ground....water the area before hand) and just barely covered them with some sifted soil. Then I laid boards over them until they began to emerge (check daily after the first week...when you see green remove the boards). After they were up a couple of inches, I could still see some of the newspaper poking out above the surface so I just took a few handfuls of soil and sifted a bit more over the top. I ended up with 336 seeds in a 1'x4' area, but I'd suggest cutting that amount in half. I've also made carrot seed tapes with 2" strips of newspaper, and I glued that seed with slightly farther spacing.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden
greenbean08_gw
14 years ago
If you don't want to lick a pencil, you can also wet the end of a round toothpick ;-)
angela12345
14 years ago
Did you put the sheets seed side up or newspaper side up ?
anniesgranny
14 years ago
Seed side up.
rj_hythloday
14 years ago
seed side up, doh! I made papers w/ brown paper towels w/ the kids a few months back. I have lots of extras and gave a few away. I only see one green in the three squares I planted.

Did you water to keep them moist? Or just count on the board to keep moisture?

I reseeded all of my lettuce and wild flower squares w/ a new mix of seed starting mix and have been misting daily. I've been misting the carrot papers too, but they are pretty old. I think I'll give it a few more days and put a new carrot sheets out.

First SFG and so far the radishes, beets and carrots are duds

Comments (11)

ribbit32004

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