Lesson learned, wash the roots better
Amanda Tyner
6 years ago
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Lessons learned - 1st half of the season.
Comments (27)Hello drscott, One item that drew my attention is spacing in general and #7 in particular. SFG gardening has very little to do with simply growing things compactly. It must be in very good soil. Good soil is more central to the basic concept than space despite its name SFG. If you plant corn in ordinary top soil 1 foot apart I would not be surprised that corn would not do well especially since it is the prime example of nitrogen eating plants. If you are a bit careless with the soil SFG will disappoint and this has been an issue with me when all I had available was commercial compost since I had recently moved. I did have a box that seemed have some issues on the corners with some plants. If you have space and reasonably decent top soil then why not use the space you have? However don't plant in big rows which I think is universally foolish for home gardening unless one is going for a farm appearance. 4x4 beds or some such is far better for weeds, disease and soil compaction. I had come to this conclusion as a teenager when I did a row garden and 4X4 in ground bed side by side. However having done all the above including SFG, I would have to say SFG is the least amount of work. This includes container gardening which is a bit more work mostly because of watering for the exchange of the ultimate in flexibility....See MoreNewbie - Lessons learned this year!!! What have you learned?
Comments (27)Stage Rat, thanks so much. I googled it and that is what it is. I will go right out and dig it up. I don't want those in my flower beds. I wish all my flowers looked that healthy though. I forgot to mention lesons learned about which containers worked best for me. My favorite is the round containers that I get cakes or cookies in (also an excuse to buy them). I make newspaper pots, and they are so much easier to plant out than to try and get the babies out of a milk bottle or 2L bottle. I think the newspaper helps the soil also. I tear off the top as I am dropping them in the hole so that they don't wick away the water. All of mine that were planted that way are doing the best. Also, I put a small water bottle in the center and use plastic shower caps (16 for $1) from the dollar store on top of them--it works great. The second favorite is the 1/2 size stem table aluminum pans from Sam's. The shower cap fits on them also with a small water botter to hold it off the babies. I think I will learn many more lessons from the responses to this thread. Thanks again for helping me ID the plant. Also thanks to everyone who shared their lessons learned. It is a great help. Jeane...See MoreRain Barrels & garden tips & lessons learned?
Comments (19)For a reddish rain barrel on Amazon, see link below. One of the reviewer described well on how to use a rain-barrel: http://www.amazon.com/Upcycle-Gallon-Terra-Cotta-Rain-Barrel/dp/B005U6EU1Y "Kenneth L. Willitts says: It has three outlets, two of them one at the top and the other at the bottom are for hose connection. The other outlet is at the bottom and is fitted with a spigot, which can be shut or open and also has the ability to be connected to a hose. I keep the very top outlet connected to a soaker hose that goes into my garden, so if there is an overflow, it will go into the garden. I have three of theses and they are very easy to connect to any gutter system. The other important thing to consider and it is a good and bad problem, it has a nice screen on the top to keep dirty and trash out of the tank, but if you have heavy foliage the trash can block the screen, so about one a month, I just brush off the top and that solve that problem. Hope this helps. PS by the way if you were to connect two or more, use the top outlet connected with a standard hose with two female adapters, if you need help let me know. Ken" See below link for a reddish rain-barrel different from Amazon, it's 50 gallon Terra Cotta Snap Lid Rain Barrel, sold for $79.95, free shipping. Here is a link that might be useful: 50 gallon Terra Cotta Snap Lid Rain Barrel This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 11:28...See MoreLesson(s) you've learned this year (2015)
Comments (106)I learned having a vegetable garden is great! No kidding, it's my first year having my own. Pretty modest start, with a single 4'x8' raised bed, then again, I don't have a ton of estate on my small suburban lot. What I grew in there: two red tomato plants, three cherry tomato plants, one Italian, three cucumber plants, a few green beans, some shallots. Got a nice steady harvest of cucumber starting in mid-summer. Got plenty of tomatoes from all plants, but season was late for everything and still have lots of green ones on there, but they are plump and large. Have started to eat some a few weeks ago. Had our first frost a couple of days ago, but I cover with a tarp whenever there is a nightly threat. September weather has been really nice so far though, maybe not ideal for kick-starting the ripening process, but it's starting to get a bit crappier now, maybe things will progress a bit faster. I may have 50-60% of my crop still on the plants. I was lucky and did not get any significant pest or disease and I did nothing to prevent it really. For next season, I plan on having two more raised beds of same dimension as well as growing a few plants in large containers/buckets. I learned I should space tomato plants more than 12" apart, as I was told by someone who gave me seedlings. I should also figure out the support scheme before I need it. Same for cucumbers....See MoreAmanda Tyner
6 years agokcandmilo
6 years agoSammers510
6 years agoSusanne Michigan Zone 5/6
6 years agoSammers510
6 years agoSusanne Michigan Zone 5/6
6 years agoAmanda Tyner
6 years agoSusanne Michigan Zone 5/6
6 years agoAmanda Tyner
6 years agoSusanne Michigan Zone 5/6
6 years agoAmanda Tyner
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoAmanda Tyner
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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