2024 Garden Seeds and Starts

[SwampDonkey]

Well, my seeds for 2024 from Vesey's should be here in 3 business days, got the tracking number today.

I need to expand the garden a little bit to give extra room to the tomatoes and peppers this year, as well as onions. Not more than 15 x 25 feet though. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cukes are my biggest crops. I want to space the tomatoes more, not really grow more of them. Try to give them more light from all sides. I'll start my onion seeds soon and some winter lettuce, dill and basil.  8)

Happy gardening

[21incher]

Getting ready to fire up the grow tent next week for the winter lettuce.   

[thecfarm]

I built my own tomatoe cages.
I used 1 inch cedar. Should of went with 1½ inches. But they work good. I think 16 inches across and 6 feet tall and 8 inch legs to go into the ground. Cross members every 6 or 8 inches. Them things do not fall over!!!!
I think I space them about 3 feet apart. Next year I'm going 4 feet.
Good luck with the seeds.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah I make my own stakes to. Where I cut wood there are lots of maple and ash tops to make them. They last a few years actually. A handy electric saw like Jeff's he videoed (different brand) makes stake cutting a breeze. I use cotton twine tied around the stakes as the tomatoes grow up. My stakes are usually 4-5' above ground. I don't get particular on the lengths as long as I have around 4 feet above ground at least.  But I have been planting them a bit close. I have one variety that I have quit this year. They used to grow maybe 24" tall, for some reason they are more like elderberry bushes. I don't think the seed is what it's suppose to be or else the ground is a lot richer here. The package says 24" in height. Even my squash is twice the size they advertise, so take it for what it is I guess. :D

[SwampDonkey]

A few greens coming along.

Radishes, lettuce, basil, beat greens.

[randy d]

We have one Bing tomato that is going on 1 year old and some lettuce that is just starting to come up and a jar of lentils that we are sprouting.

[SwampDonkey]

Have had some lettuce, radishes, and basil this week from the grow tent. I've got some spinach started and more lettuce as well. 

[21incher]

I just started some greens.

Whowee got lucky twice

[beenthere]

Bypassing the forum gallery?

[21incher]

Yes. I can upload to it but something goes wrong posting from it.

Directly from the pc no problem
[url="https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/34694/DSC05131.JPG"]
 From the gallery no but the link is active if clicked

[SwampDonkey]

Hot peppers, some blooms appearing.



Second crop of radishes

[SwampDonkey]

Peppers are setting some fruit.



Talon Onions are starting.

[21incher]

I just started my Alyssa Craig onions. Last week we finished off the ones in the root cellar and they stayed real good for a big sweet onion.

[SwampDonkey]

I've still got about 5 lbs of garden onions from last season. The damp cold weather during the summer affected them greatly. Talons do best as transplants.

[SwampDonkey]

Not long now...hotter than jalapenos.



...and no I didn't loose the tip of my finger.  Just bent toward the camera.

[21incher]

Wow your green thumb is showing  .  My onions broke through and almost time to move to big cups.

[21incher]

Finally starting seeds today. Better late then never. Hopefully the weather breaks in the next 8 weeks.

[SwampDonkey]

Planted some more radish the first of the week. This is the third crop. They are all up now. Been eating hot peppers off the plants for a couple weeks. They are not all that hot yet, none are fire red yet.  I only grew two for now. I pick a few leaves of lettuce and dill for salad. And have some baby spinach leaves to mix in.

The onions are coming along. I planted a cuke for fun, I see some buds out now, the flowers will open soon and I'll Q-tip them and see what comes of it. 

I won't plant stuff for out doors until Mid April for the peppers and May for the tomatoes and nearly June for cuke and squash sets. This gives the vine crops a 2-3 week jump and they transplant well. Nothing can be planted here before 15th of June except onions. Put them in in mid May. By the look of the rain all this week, it will all be hydroponic gardening this year. 

[Brad_bb]

I've had terrible luck in the past with seeds.  They'll come up and be looking really good, then suddenly they all start dying.  Tried the plastic covered grow trays, then no trays in my kitchen.  Maybe the tent is necessary to keep a constant environment?  And the grow light.
I watched your vid 21incher.

[SwampDonkey]

Starting to ripen, so that means things are heating up.    Flaming Red.

[SwampDonkey]

Cukes on the vine soon. 

[Chuck White]

What "number" fertilizer do you add to the soil for good producing cucumbers?

The last couple of years I haven't had much for production, and last year we were dealing with some sort of blight!

[SwampDonkey]

I use triple 10 here, but I use lots of rotten manure mixed in. I lime to, I have enough lime in the barn in sealed bags for 15 years, maybe 20.  I only grow a 4 x 8' frame worth and maybe half that again. Way more than I can use. I usually have to pick up a buggy full to toss into the compost heap by fall.

[newoodguy78]

What "number" fertilizer do you add to the soil for good producing cucumbers?

The last couple of years I haven't had much for production, and last year we were dealing with some sort of blight!

Chuck it's almost impossible to pinpoint proper fertilizer without soil tests, that said a rule of thumb I go by is as follows. For vine crops the numbers of the fertilizer should increase as you read them. You don't want much nitrogen or all you'll get is leggy plants with not much fruit.
The first number feeds the plant, second feeds the flower and the third feeds the fruit. That's a very layman's description of what's going on.
In our soils I started using a 6-15-21 blend with phenomenal results. Paying attention to the plants and what stage they're at can pay big dividends in yield and plant health as well as saving money at the same time.
For instance if the plants are looking a little wimpy and setting flowers the need for nitrogen is very little, it's a better time to focus on phosphorus and potassium.
Good luck 

[SwampDonkey]

I believe I will start my garden peppers this weekend. 

So far, only one cucumber is fertile and growing. It's about 7 inches long now I think. I have just one plant. 

[21incher]

Finally got outside and started cleaning up. Best compost ever

[newoodguy78]

Great looking compost 21.
We've been busy here trying to get veggies started earlier this year. Had some hiccups but we're getting through them.
Started pumping water and moving sprinklers before 3 this morning to try and save the first planting of sweet corn from freezing.Tried planting it through plastic then covering it with remay. Got decent germination considering this year's weather so far. Long term forecast seems to look warmer which will be nice. Hope everyone has a good season.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

I built my own tomatoe cages.
I used 1 inch cedar. Should of went with 1½ inches. ...

I got maters in the ground, and 2 cedars stacked up next to the mill!
I was going to save those logs until I know What I'm doing with the mill... but I could gain a lot of practice making 1.5x's...
And there's easily a half-dozen of them just waiting for me to cut them down!

Beans and pea's started sprouting, corn went in the ground last weekend.
I'm trying a small batch of Barley this year. I have a pair of Crystal hops plants producing... I just need to find a special kind of friend, !
I've tried the wine-making thing, I'm trying to avoid becoming a brewer, but it's like there's a pull of gravity or something?. If they legalize it down here I'll never get any work done! 

 -K

[SwampDonkey]

Sturon onion sets arrived today. I need to transplant my pepper seedlings to bigger pots this weekend. Every seed germinated. The older peppers seem to be having another flush of blooms. I have not eaten all of the first bunch yet, probably 6 or 8 left. 
Happy gardening.

[SwampDonkey]

I did get a second fertile cucumber off the vine recently.

Here are my peppers coming along. They won't go outside for another month.



Hand for scale.

[Otis1]

I'm pretty new to gardening, last year I had one 4x8 raised bed and this year I added another one. Everything that I planted from seed did pretty good and a couple store bought tomato plants. Last year I tried indoor starting a couple kinds of tomatoes, couple of peppers, and eggplant. Only had a little success with the tomatoes. That was coupled with experimenting with straw bales.

This year I am doing a little better with my indoor starts. They still don't look like they're as big as they should be by now. I have been starting seeds in small "greenhouse" type things. Should I be starting them in larger nursery pots? My setup is a wire rack shelf with grow lights and heat mats. I can easily turn that into a tent if I need to. A full grow room is not in the budget right now. Most of what I am trying to grow is seeds from Baker Creek. 

Just looking for suggestions, thanks.

[newoodguy78]

Are your plants root bound? Meaning if you pull one out it would look like a solid mass of roots. If they are that could definitely be holding them back.
Depending on your location and when they can be planted I might recommend transplanting them to bigger cells if that's the case.
FWIW when I pull some of our starts that will be transplanted to the field I'm looking for a nice healthy plant that pulls easily from the cell and a root mass that is a 50/50 mix of roots and soil. And everything stays in the shape of the cell.
That's the gauge I use.
Too early and you'll pull the plant with no soil on it too late it's a solid white root mass.
Also before putting them in the ground, setting them outside for a few days to acclimate helps take some of the edge off of transplanting. Good luck would be curious how your garden does this year.

[newoodguy78]

Otis1 I did a little poking around looking at Baker Seeds. Pretty interesting stuff. 

While I'm a fan of heirloom seeds and like to see people keeping them going, one thing you can't do is compare them directly to hybrid commercial type varieties. 

In my experience heirlooms are different in how they grow and how they produce. 
Just don't want to see you get frustrated with growth rates. The heirlooms you have most likely will not grow as fast as commercial varieties fed a lot of fertilizer that are more than likely what you see at your local garden center or box store. 

[SwampDonkey]

Good luck with your plants. Don't over water them.

I planted a bunch of tomato seed on the weekend, 50 cells. I'll not plant all them, I pot over the strongest looking ones of each variety. I'll have more space this year, to space them out more. I'm guessing 36 plants will go in. More plum variety for sauce, last year they bore heavy. So don't the big beef variety I use, trouble with beef they take a long time to ripen unless we get lots of heat along with the water. 

[Otis1]

Thanks guys. I think the problem is that I have been comparing them to the ones you get at the garden center. You're right these are not hybrids and it makes sense that they will be slower growing. I think next year I will just start them earlier. I also think that this round was stunted because of the seed starting medium. I used a coconut coir and I think it just doesn't have the nutrients that a soil based mix has, I ended up giving them a small amount of fertilizer and once the roots were good I repotted them into a soil mix. It seemed to help. 

In the future should I continue to start them in the small 1" x 1" cells or should I just start with a 2" pot? All my starting pots are clear so I can see the roots and moisture. How many hours of light should they get, I have mine set to 12 on & 12 off but I think maybe I should go to 18 & 6? I did about 12 of each plant planning on only using the strongest ones and maybe giving a couple away to friends.

I have a decent amount of experience with house plants so I know about not overwatering and being root bound, so I know that's not my problem. Sometimes plants are frustrating but I enjoy learning a little bit with each attempt. 

[thecfarm]

Tomatoe plants, once they get some size to them, should do fine.
Unless they get some disease after they are planted.
In fact, the way the growing season has been here for the last 10 years, I almost could plant some in mid July for a late crop.

We had a greenhouse for 3 years, selling seedlings and flowers. A customer wanted the best tasting tomato. I directed to one of the heirlooms one. But told him they would not look like a store bought one.
He wanted nothing to do with that. 

[Otis1]

Part of the reason I'm trying the heirloom varieties is because my dad always says tomatoes don't taste as good as they used to and I agree. My grandma had a neighbor that grew one that he absolutely loved. I have no idea what variety it was and he is long since passed. I'm just trying to grow him some good tomatoes. This year I'm trying the mortgage lifter although it's not looking great. 

Because I lack the experience, I have been using an app called Planter on my phone that lets you layout your garden and shows what plants are beneficial to each other or what plants are combative. It also shows calendar dates for starting and transplanting based on your location.