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Today at lunch I went out and checked on the cabbage transplants in the raised beds, they were fine.... The temperature was 36 with full sun, while I was enjoying the nice day outside I checked some of the other boxes, the lettuce and spinach were fine, along with the few beets that I had left in over winter. Then as I looked closely at the beets I realized that they were overrun with healthy aphids along their stems. I realize that although we have had nights consistently in the 20s the same things that are protecting my plants from freezing are preserving the aphids.

This makes me realize that year round gardening will require different tactics with respect to pest control. In the past I tried to use a greenhouse to accelerate my tomatoes, but caterpillars took over as soon as I opened up the doors. This type of thing may be controlled by very close monitoring, but when you are trying to minimize your time it becomes difficult. I don't have the solution now but it is clear that I need to figure out how to address these issues before spring arrives....
 
Was talking with the wife about inter-planting around the tomatoes this year, then the discussion moved to the grape vines (they grow great but we never get the fruit...) which act as a barrier between our back yard and the road (living on a corner sucks from a privacy perspective), she suggests removing the vines, but we lose the visual shield they provide. The yard is heavily sloped at that location, dropping 4 feet in 10, so if I want to add a few feet of garden I will need to do cribbing to remove the grade out to the property line and then add a fence or something along the top, it would give me about 24sq ft more garden space, but it would mean I would be acting like @Neb (abusing a shovel) for a few weeks. Might be worth it.... If I added a solid fence.

Back to the original discussion about inter-planting the tomatoes, if I were to increase the size of my tomato beds I could have a lot of extra space to grow things like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, turnips, beets, and radishes. Doing both jobs could increase my usable growing space by about 10%, I still need to figure out the cost of the project and the details, but it might be time well spent.... If I could get the job done by the end of April........
 
UrbanHunter said:
Today at lunch I went out and checked on the cabbage transplants in the raised beds, they were fine.... The temperature was 36 with full sun, while I was enjoying the nice day outside I checked some of the other boxes, the lettuce and spinach were fine, along with the few beets that I had left in over winter. Then as I looked closely at the beets I realized that they were overrun with healthy aphids along their stems. I realize that although we have had nights consistently in the 20s the same things that are protecting my plants from freezing are preserving the aphids.

This makes me realize that year round gardening will require different tactics with respect to pest control. In the past I tried to use a greenhouse to accelerate my tomatoes, but caterpillars took over as soon as I opened up the doors. This type of thing may be controlled by very close monitoring, but when you are trying to minimize your time it becomes difficult. I don't have the solution now but it is clear that I need to figure out how to address these issues before spring arrives....
Click to expand...
Diatomatius earth?

Ben
 
UrbanHunter said:
Was talking with the wife about inter-planting around the tomatoes this year, then the discussion moved to the grape vines (they grow great but we never get the fruit...) which act as a barrier between our back yard and the road (living on a corner sucks from a privacy perspective), she suggests removing the vines, but we lose the visual shield they provide. The yard is heavily sloped at that location, dropping 4 feet in 10, so if I want to add a few feet of garden I will need to do cribbing to remove the grade out to the property line and then add a fence or something along the top, it would give me about 24sq ft more garden space, but it would mean I would be acting like @Neb (abusing a shovel) for a few weeks. Might be worth it.... If I added a solid fence.

Back to the original discussion about inter-planting the tomatoes, if I were to increase the size of my tomato beds I could have a lot of extra space to grow things like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, turnips, beets, and radishes. Doing both jobs could increase my usable growing space by about 10%, I still need to figure out the cost of the project and the details, but it might be time well spent.... If I could get the job done by the end of April........
Click to expand...
We have a book titled "Carrots love tomatoes".

Speaks about companion crops.

Ben
 
Thanks @Neb , I have that book, but I have never had the time to put it to good practice...

I may modify the 2 beds on the patio to accommodate the addition of a couple of companion plants, The big shift will be the need to grow the tomatoes vertical and abandon my use of cages or at least change how I use the cages.

I did order some Diatomatius earth. I also watched a couple of videos on how to use and apply the same, looks like I can even apply it to the indoor plants (at least the one on concrete), because all my indoor plants are in containers I could make a dusting station, bring the plants to the station, dust, rotate, dust again, then return them to their proper station.
If the stuff arrives before the snow starts again I may go out and dust the inside of all my covered raised beds and then let it work for a couple of weeks.....

I picked up some small blank return address printer labels and 500 small plant identification stakes, the goal is to print plant labels and apply them to the colored plastic stakes which will stay with the plant for the entire season, the numbered tabs worked well when I had about 20 plants, once it got above 40 I found myself constantly running back to the legend sheet to figure out what I was looking at...... is that a leek, a green onion, or a chive????

I am hoping for a very organized garden this year, sort of a square inch approach (my compressed square foot method). Most of my career has been built on the concepts of miniaturization and cost effective schedule compression; so I guess what we do at work does follow us home, even if the technology space is totally different.
 
We had an indoor plant room in New Mexico that we grew alot of veggies in. It was a bummer when bugs started in. Some plants were a total loss, and I think our son the gardner, used an oil (zeem?) on the others that worked. I hear you about labeling. Sometimes I'm sure I know what I planted, then oh well.
You are very organized, Urban.
 
UrbanHunter said:
Thanks @Neb , I have that book, but I have never had the time to put it to good practice...

I may modify the 2 beds on the patio to accommodate the addition of a couple of companion plants, The big shift will be the need to grow the tomatoes vertical and abandon my use of cages or at least change how I use the cages.

I did order some Diatomatius earth. I also watched a couple of videos on how to use and apply the same, looks like I can even apply it to the indoor plants (at least the one on concrete), because all my indoor plants are in containers I could make a dusting station, bring the plants to the station, dust, rotate, dust again, then return them to their proper station.
If the stuff arrives before the snow starts again I may go out and dust the inside of all my covered raised beds and then let it work for a couple of weeks.....

I picked up some small blank return address printer labels and 500 small plant identification stakes, the goal is to print plant labels and apply them to the colored plastic stakes which will stay with the plant for the entire season, the numbered tabs worked well when I had about 20 plants, once it got above 40 I found myself constantly running back to the legend sheet to figure out what I was looking at...... is that a leek, a green onion, or a chive????

I am hoping for a very organized garden this year, sort of a square inch approach (my compressed square foot method). Most of my career has been built on the concepts of miniaturization and cost effective schedule compression; so I guess what we do at work does follow us home, even if the technology space is totally different.
Click to expand...
Check the labels stand up to rain and watering

Ben
 
Good idea. Or use a permanent black marker on the white tags and forgo the stickers.
Stopped at Menards today and loaded up on more seeds because I could. They had alot. Most packets were 39 cents to $2.19 a piece. They even had the mega pks of beans and corn seed for $4.
 
I will put one layer of packing tape over the labels, that should help with water-proofing.

I just don't want to hand write 500+ plant labels.... A fellow could make a killing selling pre-labeled markers with standard garden crops, I know someone is printing them for companies like Bonnie....
 
My order of Diatomatius earth (DE) arrived yesterday morning. At lunch time I went out and dusted the inside of each of the covered raised beds just as the snow was starting. After work I decided to dust some of the inside plants with the little "puffer" applicator that came with the DE, big mistake it was like a talcum cloud that would not clear, had to shut down the heater and use a fan to vent out the area. I don't know if DE is flammable when in suspension, but I had visions of a grain tower explosion... Note to self, Don't Do That......

I am thinking that for indoor plants a small flour sifter and a soft brush may be a safer method of application.....

For the covered raised beds I think the contained cloud may amplify the effectiveness as it hangs so long.....
 
DE isn't flammable and there is little chance of it igniting as a cloud. If you soak it with alcohol the alcohol will burn off and leave wet DE behind. Water is a product of alcohol burning.
 
SheepDog said:
DE isn't flammable and there is little chance of it igniting as a cloud. If you soak it with alcohol the alcohol will burn off and leave wet DE behind. Water is a product of alcohol burning.
Click to expand...
I am of the same opinion. DE is the skeletons of diatoms and believe it is mostly calcium carbonate like sea shells. It's effectiveness is mechanical in that is like razor wire to pests. It cuts up the joints and soft parts.

I can speak if breathing it is a good idea.

Ben
 
Amish Heart said:
My poor, sad, greenhouse plants. It's too cold in there.
But the cardinals have found out how they can get in to stay warm, so there's that.
Click to expand...

There are very few plants that I have found that can make it all the way through in my raised beds, parsley, spinach, onions and carrots; that's about it... My wife would be so happy hearing that you are providing a home for wayward cardinals......
 
MoBookworm1957 said:
Have grown hens and chickens in strawberry jar.
Click to expand...
Many years ago I answered a Craigslist ad for someone wanting their hen and chicks removed. I went and there were other people there. I dug some up, brought them home and planted them around my yard. Some of them grew to 4 inches across and I have had to thin them a few times because they will fill in and get crowded. Last spring, daughter asked if I could give her some ideas for May Day gifts for friends. This was something we did when she was growing up. I suggested that I dig up a bunch of those hen and chicks, and we plant them in various pots that we had. We ended up with around 30 pots that she gave to friends. It was a great thing for her to do, to help her and her friends get through those early days of COVID. It cost us little and meant a lot to all of us.
 
UrbanHunter said:
My order of Diatomatius earth (DE) arrived yesterday morning. At lunch time I went out and dusted the inside of each of the covered raised beds just as the snow was starting. After work I decided to dust some of the inside plants with the little "puffer" applicator that came with the DE, big mistake it was like a talcum cloud that would not clear, had to shut down the heater and use a fan to vent out the area. I don't know if DE is flammable when in suspension, but I had visions of a grain tower explosion... Note to self, Don't Do That......

I am thinking that for indoor plants a small flour sifter and a soft brush may be a safer method of application.....

For the covered raised beds I think the contained cloud may amplify the effectiveness as it hangs so long.....
Click to expand...
Sooo....

Inquiring minds want to know.

Is the DE working?

Curious

Ben
 
Neb said:
Sooo....

Inquiring minds want to know.

Is the DE working?

Curious

Ben
Click to expand...
Yes, the DE works much better than the Neem oil for long term control of the aphids. I am finding that a light dusting on the soil also seems to stop the spread of the aphids, it also kills those fungus mites....

Yesterday was a nice day, mid 40's so I checked on the raised beds, the spinach and lettuce are really growing well, the transplanted cabbage is not growing as aggressively as the ones in the house but it is still alive. Today it is back in the 20's and we are expecting snow and ice again. I guess it will be a week or so before I can work in the garden. The wife wants me to remove the grape vines, they only feed the birds.... If I remove them, install a privacy fence, and make a set of raised beds in their place I can increase my growing space by about 36 sq feet, which is a lot for my postage stamp sized lot.

On Saturday I planted my tomatoes and bush bean varieties in starting trays, they appear to be sprouted today... 3 days, not bad... they will need to be thinned and transplanted into larger containers by the end of the month.

I am admiring my foot long cucumber, which hangs just above my personal computer desk, it is so cute :) I have a dozen smaller ones on the vines, I am finding that the plants are now drinking lots of water, about 10 gallons per day.... when you water by the cup you notice the change. The indoor tomatoes and bell peppers now have blooms on them, we have had 2 harvests of the indoor bush bean, the snap peas are not producing as well.

I will have to move one of my growing stations as it blocks the doorway to the son's room and he called yesterday saying he in coming home for a visit tonight... I am glad I put it on wheels....
 
Got my growing station moved, and the son is home with access to his room, everyone is happy -ish.... Yesterday was sunny, just above freezing outside, so I took out some of my containers and dusted them with DE, next time I go to HD I will get a large concrete mixing tray to put my plant containers in when I dust them with DE, that way I can collect the over spray and re-use.... I found that it is best to remove the leaves closest to the soil when dusting a container, the aphids like to collect on the soil under the dying leaves.

We harvested some sugar peas yesterday, the wife and I ate them like candy. :)

I need to find some more robust growing trays, I have the Jiffy ones and I have some poinsettias in one, and I noticed it leaking.... not good. I hate to spend a lot of money on growing trays, but at this point I would like something that will last several years.....

All of my tomatoes are up now, I have 7 varieties, a couple are intended for a friend of mine, but I might keep a couple of plants. I will have to transplant them into larger containers very soon. I am thinking about getting a couple of tubes of 16 oz party cups, drilling a 1/2" hole in the bottom and using them as growing pots....

I keep looking at my outside garden space trying to figure out where I can expand, even a few feet will make a difference at this point. I think moving my water storage from horizontal to vertical stacking will buy me about 30 sq feet. I keep hearing about inflation coming our way, it could make food production a much more valuable resource in the near future....
 
Since we had mentioned pest control I am sharing pictures of the preying mantis egg cases I found today.

20210225_151059.jpg


20210225_151200.jpg


20210225_151631.jpg


Yeh. Hard to spot in the pictures. Just as hard to spot them in the wild. ;)

Ben
 
other day before all these storms hit it was 39f and raining so i hit the woods planting wild goods in my effort to rehab forest plant life.planted about 6000 seeds.

worked on my mini indoor seed starting box as well. i think its better than last year. my buddy has a greenhouse business here and has spoiled me for decades starting plants for me. he is getting older and health failing so i have to look to future when i dont have access to that for transplants. eventually i want a greenhouse. but thats a ways off on wish list and not needs list as of now.
 
I was able to squeak in a fruit tree and small fruit order last night when on line ordering opened up. I was able to tentatively get almost everything I wanted. The only blackberries that would survive here, were not available to me.

Its still a crap shoot, but I had to leave my last orchard attempt, behind. Now growing conditions will be even harsher, so will the digging and soil ammendment requirements.

With any kind of luck, I will get to eat one fruit before I or the trees give up the ghost in the distant future.
 
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