Gardening Widgets

Tried and tested: gardening widgets that work

Seedlings are Dead... Again...

So I transplanted my seedlings again to 2 1/4" trays last week, I then was called to go out of town on business for about four days. I left specific instructions for my wife on how to care for the  little guys and reserved to loosing 1/2 of them.

When I returned on last Sunday, everything was dead, except the miscanthus sinesis go figure. So the lesson I learned was to not start perrenials in the heat of summer. I will attempt again next year for spring with better results hopefully. I was forced to place the plants outside in the garage for those days I was gone, and I think the heat was what ultimately did them in.

The Bio-Dome from Park Seed did, ultimately do as designed and I suspect I would have had viable plants if a series of errors on my part had been avoided.

• First I had planted way too early, and honestly should not have even attempted this until the winter time.
• Second, I left the Bio-Dome cover in place for too long. It is supposed to be removed the moment the seeds have sprouted and green leafs are visible. I did not understand my mistake with this until I talked to a staff herbologist at Park Seed. This is done to reduce humidity and the chance of a fungal infection, I left mine in place for almost a week too long, and every sponge was coated in a white fungus which I imagine ultimately helped to do in the plants.
• Last, I moved the seedlings outside too soon. Being the heat of August in East Texas the temperatures can exceed three digits, and the little guys were just not ready for such a difference in temperature.

So I think that the seed growing from here out on perennials  will be done only in the winter, when I can use nature to help maintain a viable temperature.

Seedlings

The seedlings are starting to come along nicely! Those big guys you see are Arizona Sun Blanket Flowers and are coming in nicely. You will notice the slight mildew on the sponges, that was from me not taking the lid off of the tray soon enough. It does not seem to have had an adverse effect on them yet. The empty row there was the bad seed of Rudibekia Green Wizard.

Anyway....

Click it to see the larger version.

Garden Progress

Yeah I know it has been awhile, but seriously it is summer. I have been keeping busy, however. Primarily I built a new raised bed behind the house for flowers. I made it 12'x 8' with a 4' inset cut into one side giving it a "C" shape. This was finished a few weeks ago and was built entirely from free/recycled wood, but I have not had a load of dirt brought in to fill it. This weekend I plan on running some PVC out to it and installing a primary water line that I can attach some micro-sprinklers and drippers to later on.

Large Raised Bed Behind House

I also cut in a new foundation bed behind the house. This bed is north facing and has the benefit of getting a good bit of shade for the first 3/4 of the day. In it I planted a row of Purple Irises ups front as a border, Those are also four or five clumps of a really pretty red Canna that I was able to get from a gardener down in Groves, TX. In between those are several varieties of day lilies that I was able to get from my neighbor before they moved out. You can also see the new irrigation system made out of some scrap PVC. It is just a series of micro-umbrella sprayers, you can also see the old soaker hose I haven't picked up yet. For this bed I really wanted that manicured look, so I took the time to mark and cut out the sod surrounding the bed. That is why the PVC is a little too long now.

A good shot showing the cut edge of the foundation bed.

How it looks from the front right now.

 Down in the backyard, under one of the only shade trees I have (an invasive Tallow but what can you do?) I planted the excess of the Purple Irises and Caladiums that I had on hand. It is still a pretty dirty bed, and the grass really needs to be ripped out again. I am also planning on cutting in that manicured border like I did on the foundation bed. However, I am not certain how that will really look with the large root systems that are present. But either way it needs a lot more work.

Man that looks terrible right now! 

With my neighbors, and gardening buddies, Don and Dene moving away I was able to get Don's nice homemade starter box. This is the box he has been starting all of his plants in for the last year or so since he built it. It is roughly 4' wide and 2 1/2' tall and about 1 1/2' deep. He wired in a 100v lizard warmer and some old PC fans into the small box on the side. It is not being used right now because it is so damn hot really, but will be a life-saver this winter when coupled with my heating mats and 4' grow light.

Grow box, sorry for the crappy pic on this one. 

The biggest deal for me personally, however, is the seed that is currently growing inside. I received the Park Seed Bio-Dome system a few weeks back and had been waiting on a grow light before I started anything. Here it is fully loaded with 120 seeds. Everything has sprouted, or is about to at least, with the exception of the row on the far left hand side. That is Rudibeckia Green Wizard, and for some reason is either not growing at all or is taking it ever-loving time with it. I will add a list of what is in the seed starter at the bottom of the post.

The Park Seed Bio-Dome illuminated by a T5 grow lamp.

I was also able to get a number of red, white, and pink Geraniums from my neighbor before they moved and a huge double potted Hosta. They are all doing well now after one was decimated by some white fungus. I sprayed the others and they perked up significantly. Dene also gave me her ornamental pepper plant which produces small grape like peppers of all sorts of colors.

Some Giant Hostas and a small herb pot.

Moss Roses are doing fantastic! The empty pot actually has some mystery bulbs sitting until late winter.

Some of the Geraniums.

The ornamental pepper.

Sorry for the image quality on these, it is bloody bright here until 9pm so I take what I can get. And I knew if I didn't do it now I would just put it off longer and longer.

I will provide some more updates on the seedlings as they progress.

The Seeds Planted

• Stokes Blue Astor - 20
• Butterfly Bush - 10
• Arizona Blanket Flower - 20
• Rudibeckia Green Wizard - 10
• Miscanthus Sinesus - 20
• Lavendar Munstead - 20
• Cornflower Magnus (Echinacea) - 10
• Salvia Superba Blue Queen - 10

Sudden Seed Death Syndrome Hits!

So everything thing in the seed trays was fine until this past weekend. I woke up to the lavender starting to dry up and die one by one on Saturday morning. By that evening 50% was dead. Today only a few are left, and they don't look too good.

Best I can figure is that I had was is called "damping off" occur. This is due to one of several types of fungus that propagate when the trays are too moist or overcrowded, which the lavender surely was. I added in a touch of fungicide to the water, but I think it was too little too late.

Since I cannot afford to purchase all the plants that I want to, I am going to have to try and get this seed thing down pat first. So I went to Park Seed company and ordered one of their Bio Dome seed starting kits. These are supposedly the best way to start seed and have no trouble with damping off.

The new seed tray should be here at the beginning of next week and I will start a whole slew of perennials at that time following closely to their instructions. I think these will be done indoors, with a spare heating pad I have laid underneath it. I might go so far as to buy a grow lamp also. My thoughts on this is that even if I spend a few hundred getting the seed operation going good, they will save me hundreds of dollars with the first set of seedlings that actually take hold. And since I purchased the giant 120 cell Bio Dome, I should be able to get a pretty quick ROI.

I also got in some AlgoFlash liquid fertilizer that I can use for pretty much anything, including seedlings. So as long as I keep to the instructions, I should be OK. I guess we will have to see.

Gladiolas are Starting to Bloom

The Mystery Gladiolas are starting to bloom now. The first several are all similar to this, another is more of a peach color but hasn't come out full bloom yet.

First Batch of Tomatoes is Here!

These are the tomatoes that I picked yesterday and today. The breakdown of what there is follows the pics.

These are Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifters

The bunch on top are cherries, the two on the bottom left are Julliettes, and the lonely one on the bottom right is a Porter.

The Mortgage Lifters from the top weighed in at:

• 8.3
• 7.9
• 7.4
• 6.5
• 6.1
• 5.7
• 5.3
• 3.9
• 3.4
• 2.1

The Cherry variants from the second pic weighed in at:

• 3.0 for the Cherries
• 1.7 for the Julliettes
• .8 for the lone Porter

That is 56.6 ounces (about 3.5 pounds) of Mortgage Lifters and 5.5 ounces of Cherry variants.

Not bad so far, and more are ripening every day. I did loose the biggest tomato yet to a caterpillar, but oh well. This is a learning process anyway.

We Have Germination!

This sure makes up for the destroyed tomato! The Lavender Munstead that was seeded last week is germinating! I counted just two small green stalks emerging from the seed just a few minutes ago. I guess I can grow from seed after all! This is awesome!

Attack of the Killer Caterpillars!

Well I have managed to keep the birds out, but now I am fighting a battle with caterpillars! The victim in this case was set to be a really nice Mortgage Lifter. A little brown splotchy caterpillar had burrowed in around the stem and done this damage in just a few hours. Needless to say I was upset.

So, in trying to keep the garden organic as possible, and since I have fruit to harvest in a matter of days, I am going to try the diluted soap trick. Evidently you can fill a water spray bottle with 2 drops of Dawn and spray everything with it. Supposedly, the buggies don't like the soap protecting them which can then be washed off harmlessly once picked.

Next year I think I am going to supplement the garden with some tobacco plants though. That should keep most of the pests away as well.

Here is the horrifying caterpillar damage. Be careful, it isn't pretty.

Letting the seed trays get a little sun

The big one is the lavender I planted the other day. The two smaller ones are garlic chives and butterfly bush that were planted yesterday.

The late plated Mystery Day Dahlias and Caladiums are Coming Up

I planted these way too late in the season, but they are finally coming through. Four of the eight dahlias are breaking through now. The caladiums are doing things a bit faster. Both were planted the same day.

My Mystery Gladiolas are Going to Bloom

My mystery bulbs that were planted in the wrong spot are going to bloom! I can't wait to see what color they are now.

My First Container

So this is my first container that I have done. It is an orange coleus, periwinkle, blue carpet juniper, ambrosinia, and corkscrew. I thought it came out pretty good.

Lavender Munstead Sown

I got my seed in yesterday and against better judgement I wanted to sow something so the lavender was chosen. I also got these nifty CoCo One-Steps seed starting medium. Hopefully in about 2 weeks I should have some lavender seedlings.

First Victim of Bird Attack

A 5.2 oz. Jetstar tomato. The netting will go up today.

The First of the Peppers

First of the Peppers!

This morning I was able to get the first small bunch of peppers in earnest. My sole banana pepper bush did well and I was able to pick five one ounce peppers from it, five serrano peppers weighing in at 3.2 ounces total, and a lone jalapeno pepper also at one ounce.

The serrano bush is doing well and I should have some more from it in another day or two. The banana pepper bush has some other blooms on it, but given the size of these peppers and the smallish stature of the bush, it is easily the smallest in the garden now, that I suspect it to be awhile before I come across many others. The jalapeno bush still has another eight or nine left on it, some which should be ready in a few days. Not bad all told, but I am still disappointed in the size of these "Mammoth Jalapenos." They really just look like regular jalapenos to me.

The Tomatoes are Almost Ready

A pair of Cherry Tomatoes and a small Porter

This morning I was able to pick 3 ripe tomatoes, two cherries and a smallish Porter at 3.2 oz. total. I also picked about 4 Serrano peppers over the weekend. It is a meager start but in another week or so the tomatoes should start ripening in bulk. All of the big tomatoes, the Mortgage Lifters mainly, should start turning soon, and some of those are downright huge. We had a good bit of rain here over the weekend which is why that Porter has split.


On another note, I made a huge seed purchase for flower and vegetables at Park Seed Company over the weekend. Hopefully, it will be in a few days from now and I will show my ideas and plans for the yard and the fall garden.

Hello.

Short Intro

OK. So I am kinda new to this whole gardening thing, but I really enjoy it. So much so that I feel like pestering the rest of the world with my lackluster success and the continued learning curve that is gardening.

What has happened so far? 

The First of the Season

This year I planted only tomatoes and peppers in the vegetable garden. My theory is to get some awesome salsa out of them. This is really my first good year, the previous two years with vegetables was somewhat lackluster due to completely moronic mistakes. But this year I'm doing something right. So I have a whole mess of different types of tomatoes mixed together tightly with about six varieties of peppers. 

So far so good too! I'm attaching some pics of what will be the first fruit harvested in earnest. I've already picked two or three tomatoes, but the bulk of them are about to start turning in about another week or two.

My topsoil here is pretty sandy and has a tendency to solidify on me after a good rain. Because of the sandiness, and my complete inability to grow a tomato over two inches last year, I mixed in a good bit of cotton seed meal about two weeks before planting. That seems to have done the trick. I also sprayed them with some MiracleGro a few weeks after planting. Either way they are doing great as far as I am concerned.

Pics and More after the jump...