Yes, don't try too hard. Add leaf and grass clippings into your soil in the fall so they break down over the winter and add nutrients to your soil for the spring automatically. Keep in mind these are usually not hybridized to look perfect in your location's environmental conditions and it is normal for them to look less than healthy for a couple of weeks in the early stages. Be patient and let them do their thing. Also be sure to have your soil tested by your local extension agent to make sure you have a good balance of the primary nutrients you should have for vegetable growing. Testing was less than $12 in my state and results are good for three to five years. It's worth it and gives you more specifics than just your pH.

diclemeg, This year I am growing the "Orient Wonder" yard long. I totally love the taste. They have a 'nutty, bean' flavour. They are more chewy than pole beans. Most of the recipes state that they should not be boiled but stir fried. I have boiled them and they were OK but not great. I stir fry them in olive oil or canola oil and they taste great. Tender - no strings. I grew Chinese Red Noodle and Liana last year --- it was my first year and I picked them too soon. This year I picked them when they were almost the thickness of a pencil -- much better flavour and texture. They are prolific and mine are still producing. The "yard long" name is not accurate - in most cases. They should be picked when they are about 18-20 inches long. In my garden the ants love the vines but do not seem to do any harm to the vines. There are no aphids on my plants so I do not know what the ants are doing. The vines grew to over 10 feet this year. It is a fun plant to grow. DL

Final analysis of the project to use hanging milk jugs as shown in the picture. There are 3 problems: 1) The milk jugs are not large enough for a cucumber plant; 2) The jugs do not retain enough water in hot weather; and 3) The plastic deteriorates too quickly and the handles break and the jugs fall from their support. I harvested a few small cucumbers, but the plants did not do well.

Container gardening is a very different thing from inground gardening. It has its own set of guidelines for success. So the first thing in your plant that jumps out at me is that your plan doesn't comply with even the most basic guidelines for successful container gardening - no rocks in the bottom, soil-less mixes only to insure proper drainage, liquid fertilizers rather than granular or dry to avoid nutrient-leaching issues, size of the container relative to the root mass size, etc. etc. So I would suggest some reading about the specifics of container gardening - see their forum here - and re-evaluation of your plan. I'd also be concerned about the ability of the milk jug handles to to deal with all the weight of wet soil and the plants over any long period without giving way. The weight is greater than the weight of a liquid gallon and the jugs break down with heat and UV exposure. Like all other legumes, beans aren't real nitrogen-tolerant (leads to all leaves and few beans) so worm castings wouldn't usually be recommended for use with them. As for spacing/#of plants per jug - it depends on the amount of actual production you want. In general container plants need more spacing between plants than they would need inground simply because they are contained and have limited water and nutrients available. 3-4 seeds in each jug could easily be over-crowded IMO without lots of extra care. Dave