Vegetable Gardens: Tips, Advice, Questions, Tales, Pictures

[FoolKiller]

Awesome pics!

How did you settle your slug problem?

Well, I did the bowl of beer, but honestly after the initial slugs I didn't see many more. I think they may have come from Lowe's.

Now, I did early on find I had a black widow. I ran across it the same day I was putting up the moth balls. It is nesting inside a hole at the base of my siding. So I shoved a couple of moth balls in the hole with my shoe and then covered the hole with dirt. I hope they killed it.

I have also placed moth balls in my tool shed and other tight places that wasps were building nests and have managed to rid myself of wasps as well. I think that moth balls are my new gardening secret.

My next trick will be to find a way place them around my hummingbird feeder to see if they keep ants away.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Here in the Inland Empire in SoCal, we live in Black Widow Spider Country. Gotta be careful when slipping into shoes that have been outside all night long.

The trick to spotting them is waiting until nightfall. That's the only time when they come out. If you think you might have more, that's when to look for them.

Chances are you got plants that were grown where the black widows live. I didn't know if you guys back East got them or not, but I never thought you did.

They can grow quite big. I've seen them about the size of a nickle (body). With that little dog of yours, it's best to kill them all off.

 

[FoolKiller]

Here in the Inland Empire in SoCal, we live in Black Widow Spider Country. Gotta be careful when slipping into shoes that have been outside all night long.

The trick to spotting them is waiting until nightfall. That's the only time when they come out. If you think you might have more, that's when to look for them.

Chances are you got plants that were grown where the black widows live. I didn't know if you guys back East got them or not, but I never thought you did.

They can grow quite big. I've seen them about the size of a nickle (body). With that little dog of yours, it's best to kill them all off.

Yeah, we get them. This is isn't the first one I have seen in Kentucky. We had one outside my office at work, and I saw one in a state park near where I grew up. They are not as common as the brown recluse (aka fiddler spider), but they do live in the area.

Personally, we worry more about the brown recluse because the bite can have more long-term effects. Necrosis is not cool. A guy at my church got bit on the nose when I was a kid and it took plastic surgery to make his face look normal. However, with my heart condition I have a higher risk of a black widow bite being fatal, so I really do have to watch for both.

The problem with the black widow is that I was putting up moth balls and weeding between the rows of corn and I saw it just outside the hole. I tried to crush it but it ran in the hole too fast. I sprayed Raid House and Garden bug spray in the hole and shoved the moth balls in there. I look for it every time I am near there, but I haven't seen it since and I am not about to start digging around in the hole.

I may have to try your suggestion of looking at night.

It would be nice if the only spiders in our area that posed a danger to humans weren't small, dark, and sneaky. I much prefer the big fat ugly brown ones that hang a huge web up over my porch light. They are easy to find and kill.

 

[Joey D]

I have a bunch of green tomatoes, I wish they would hurry up and ripen as I'm getting sick of the store bought ones that taste rather meh. I have hot peppers though and my onions are going crazy. The wet warm weather we had combined with plant food made these things really jump. My herb garden is going well too, fresh chives and cilantro are excellent. Although I did have a problem with the dill weed dying on me, I think it might have been a bad planet to start with.

 

[Sniffs]

well, at least yours didn't get in WAY late this year. out plants have only been in the ground THREE WEEKS! hopefully, the peppers have time to actually grow. everything's in plastic this year, but that didn't prevent 6 tons of weedlings popping up

I about killed myself digging out the holes, and did some nasty dig damage to my hand (blinkin clay). I think i cleaned out 200 holes or so (i believe we're running a 50 by 75 foot plot). unfortunately, what they grow, i don't eat. my mother takes vegetables, and boils them to death, stews everything up, etc, so everything gets turned into soggy, tasteless mush (and tomatoes give me nasty heartburn). the one thing I DO eat outa the garden is gonna get cooked up as a winter treat for one person, so...

 

[FoolKiller]

And the squash and zucchini have started producing.

 

[Joey D]

It's a jungle in my backyard.

Wait! What's this!

Yup that's the first red tomato I've gotten, it's actually on my sandwich today for lunch and I can not wait to eat it. I am sooo sick of the crap Kroger's sells.

The pepper garden, I already got 7 banana peppers which I cut up into chicken salad the other night. Quite tasty. I'm going to have more coming in but I'm going to let them go longer so I can cut them up and pickle them for pizza. My jalapenos are coming in nicely too as are my bell peppers.

The herb garden. The dill weed ended up dying, which is lame, but oh well.

 

[Sniffs]

dude, old tip from a decorative grower. keep an eye on any mints. they're like the star of a Prison movie, they escape like THAT (snaps fingers).

 

[FoolKiller]

dude, old tip from a decorative grower. keep an eye on any mints. they're like the star of a Prison movie, they escape like THAT (snaps fingers).

Definitely. We planted some in our front flower garden and we have had to spray it back every year since.


Joey, that looks pretty good. Is the soil naturally black up their or is that something you added? Kentucky has a lot of clay so I am used to light brown dirt.

 

[Joey D]

Ya my mom planted the mints, I'm not really even sure what we are going to do with them. The herb garden is more of her baby while my dad and I tend to the normal garden.

The soil is fairly black up here, but we have one helluva compost pile that we mix in with the dirt every year to give it a kick in the trousers. There is also a lot of fertilizer on everything though, especially since it's been so cold and the plants wouldn't be doing so hot otherwise.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Good thread. This just happens to be the very first year we ever attempted a garden. We sectioned off a corner area of our yard. It is 8' x 8' so it is quite small. It is all total experimental so if we are able to eat anything I will be truly greatful. We started about 3 weeks ago and tried adding at least 2 plants per week. So some are quite a bit younger than the others.

We mixed in about 3 bags of Miracle Grow potting soil and even pour Miracle Grow fertizier onto the garden every 2 weeks. We plan to buy at least 2 more cucumber plants to place into the lower right corner and remove the weeds. Then it will be a complete mini garden. The entire experience has been very fun to watch the plants grow and sprout goodies.

The garden currently consists of these plants and yes its a little crowded.

1 Roma tomato plant
3 Cherry tomato plants (currently have about 9-10 green tomatoes)
8 Corn plants
1 Orange bell pepper plant (Twice as big as the pic)
1 Green bell pepper plant
1 Red bell pepper plant
1 Yellow hot banana plant (almost ready to eat)
1 Cucumber plant
There are about 100 Sunflower plants to the left of the flowerbed.

Just got finished installing an underground sprinkler system through my entire yard so that should help a lot.

Here are a couple pics. I will get better ones in the near future.
Most recent pic 6/9/09

The Orange bell 2 weeks ago

Yellow Banana 2 weeks ago

When we first built the garden area about 4 weeks ago.

 

[FoolKiller]

Is this the first year you have had those sunflowers? If not watch for any old seeds that may be in your garden area. Sunflowers are nutrient greedy, and some variants will actually put toxins in the soil around them to kill off any competition. Your garden is far enough away, but if you have any volunteers show up pull them out immediately.

Just know that corn typically only grows two ears per stalk, and then they are finished. So, definitely keep the corn safe from pests.


I have a love hate relationship with corn. It is easy to grow and tastes great, but pests love it and it has a very low yield.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

We have had sunflowers for the past 5-6 years. The more of them that are together the smaller they are. We did that on purpose. But you are right those things suck the living life out of everything and we decided this year will be our last with the sunflowers. Next year we will plant something else there. Our entire yard is already lined with flowers, plants, and about 30 outside lights so the garden was a nice addition to our little plantlife world. The underground sprinkler system was a nightmare to install becuase of this but now it will be much easier to water everything.

We are not too concerned with the corn. Our original plan was to only grow cherry tomatoes but the 4 tomato plants seemed so lonely by themselves. lol So we found ourselves buying something different every week to fill the 8' gap. haha

 

[FoolKiller]

PSA: Do not forget to check under all the leaves of your squash or zuchinni plants. I went out of town Saturday and Sunday and so I did one quick check Friday evening and picked everything I saw. When I got home Sunday I went out expecting maybe something might be ready again, and found that I missed one on Friday, right after an inch and a half of rain.

Soda can used for scale.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Holy crap. Maybe I should be growing some of those plants instead of the tomatoes. Mine still are not red yet but I do need to get an updated pic sometime soon. Everything is growing much faster now that we installed the underground sprinkler system.

 

[FoolKiller]

Holy crap. Maybe I should be growing some of those plants instead of the tomatoes. Mine still are not red yet but I do need to get an updated pic sometime soon. Everything is growing much faster now that we installed the underground sprinkler system.

I just had my first tomato and two green peppers come in. You planted yours late and in a colder climate.

And for the record, that is not good for eating unless you like a lot of zuchinni bread.

 

[Joey D]

Wow, that's a girthy zucchini....and no that is not what she's said.

Mine typically get that long, but never that girthy. I mean hell you could beat someone to death what that.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I just had my first tomato and two green peppers come in. You planted yours late and in a colder climate.

And for the record, that is not good for eating unless you like a lot of zuchinni bread.

Thats the problem up here ni Michigan. We always have to worry about the frost in late May early June. Heathers brother planted a huge garden last year about the middle week of May. A week later we got frost and everything died. So the general rule of thumb up here is to wait until after Memorial weekend which is what we did. Then as Joey said, we have to worry about the frost in September/October.

I would like to plant it earlier next year and somehow try and protect it from the cold. Whats the best way to pretect it from frost? Just put plastic over the garden? Ours is only 8'x8' so it seems like it would be easy to protect. ALso when is the best time to water? At night or early morning? I just cant wait to see the first orange and red tomato. Our yellow banana pepper has to be getting close. I dont know how to tell when plants are ready to eat. I dont want to pull them to early but also dont want to wait too long.

 

[FoolKiller]

I would like to plant it earlier next year and somehow try and protect it from the cold. Whats the best way to pretect it from frost? Just put plastic over the garden? Ours is only 8'x8' so it seems like it would be easy to protect.

My mom used to use a bed sheet in her flower garden. She would put it out at night and take it off in the morning. You could probably cover your entire garden.

ALso when is the best time to water? At night or early morning?

Most people suggest early morning, however I usually do mine at night just because of time. Although, I know some that never water unless we are in drought conditions. This year I have only needed to water in my hanging containers.

I dont know how to tell when plants are ready to eat. I dont want to pull them to early but also dont want to wait too long.

The tomato will be easy to tell due to the color change. Corn is typically when the silks turn completely brown, but it is suggested you feel them for plump, or full, kernels. Cucumbers you judge by size, based in the variation you have.

If you buy them as seeds they will tell you on the seed packet what size any of teh planst should be. If you buy them as live plants they should have a little tag that should say. If you don't have these then google and you will get about 1,000 different tips.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Water only during early morning. Never at night. If you water at night, fungus will/can grow and kill the plants, grass, or whatever...

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Ok thats what I though. Thats why we have been the new sprinkler system set up to water in the morning before we go to work. 👍

I just need to figure out a way to get rid of some of the weeks in our grass. I have always been nervous using fertilizer because I didnt want it to burn the grass.

 

[FoolKiller]

So, what do you do with a giant zuchinni?

You give it to your wife and let her make six loaves of zuchinni bread.

And we still have 8 cups of shredded zuchinni in the freezer.

I am having one of the small loaves as part of my lunch today. Yum yum.

EDIT: And don't worry too much about the calories obtained in eating that much at once. She used Splenda, so it is diabetic safe and lower in calories.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Dang that is awesome and great yield from one item.

Our garden seems to be taking off like crazy since we installed the underground sprinkler. Our first Roma Tomato started to peak out and is about 1" long. Also spotted a few cucumbers starting to grow along with quite a few peppers. I really need to get some pics. Its been very exciting. I also think we have at least 18-20 cherry tomatoes but they are not orange or red yet. I think we might end up eating the yellow banana pepper by this weekend. Just cant wait any longer. Not sure what we will have it with, but we will figure it out. lol

 

[Joey D]

Mmmm...zuchinni bread is awesome. I haven't had any in ages.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I love zucchini bread. I made it all the time when I was a teen. Now, I usually make a blueberry bread, or cranberry or banana bread.

I haven't had luck with Splenda. You cannot perform the 'creaming method' of baking with that stuff.

 

[Omnis]

You probably should've sold your zucchini if it was that large.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I bought my last 2 plants last night to fill the lower right corner of our mini garden. I will try to get updated pics our garden this weekend. Our roma tomato plant is just going all over the place. They were also out of the tomato cages so I had to use a small stake. I dont really like the stakes very much. I prefer the cages.

-Strawberry plant
-Grape Tomato plant

 

[FoolKiller]

-Strawberry plant

I'm not sure how much decent growing time you have left in the year, but strawberry plants are haelthiest if you cut their flowers for six weeks (some say the entire first year) so they can get well established and then give you much better berries.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

We only have about 2-3 more months before it starts getting cold again. So I dont expect much from these plants. Its just fun to watch them grow.
I am hoping that our tomatoes at least produce something we can eat. There are a lot of green tomatoes and we are just waiting for them to turn red. I think we might wait another week or so before we eat the Yellow Banana pepper. The tag we stuck in the ground sais the pepper should be about 4-6 inches long and about 1" in diameter so its not ready yet. Its just so hard to resist eating it. lol

 

[FoolKiller]

Regarding the tomatoes, I have only had one come in so far. A guy who lives near my office grows a whole bunch in his backyard and sells them out of his driveway, but I saw a sign the other day that said, "Still no ripe tomatoe." His spelling, not mine. So, it may just be something odd this year.