garden

[67440chrg]

Do you plant a garden? What do you grow? Hows it doing this year?

I grow squash zucchini cucumbers okra tomatoes peppers corn and cantaloupe.
My corn didn't make this year. Everything else is doing  good. I have lots of tomatoes but the plants dont have much for leaves. We got to much rain this spring and not enough heat but its catching up now. I always feel like summer is here when I can eat my first blt with my tomatoes.

[68X426]

In the past 40 years we have grown pretty much everything possible in our gardens.  Then had to stop last year, and again no garden this year, due to our drought.  It's for real here in Northern California, no water, no water, no water.  One tomato would cost me about $22 to grow, so can't do it.  Thank god we have a quality farmers market (out of the area farmers supply us).

So it's good to hear about any success in anyone else's gardens. 

Years ago I grew my own hops.  That's what I can brag about.

[Chad L. Magee]

This year, I grew mostly tomatoes, broccoli and cucumbers in my two small gardens.  There was a cool snap in June that warped the tomato plants, so I only have two out of ten that are producing well.  The rest have curled branches and are not doing well.  But, I have a bumper crop off of the two good ones.  Each has probably 15 to 20 tomatoes on right now.  I planted the cucumbers late and they are just now starting to fruit.  I have probably twenty dill plants that were volunteers from last years planting, each about 4 feet high.  That reminds me that I need to go out and harvest some of my rhubarb stalks to make some rhubarb crunch tomorrow.   

[Dino]

Same issue with the tomatoes here; not enough heat.  They're finally starting to grow though so we'll have some at least.  We're also growing watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchinis which are growing like mad, different types of lettuce, spinach, garlic, potatoes, peppers, green beans, beets, dill, parsley, other assorted herbs,...not sure if we're growing broccoli this year, we did last.  Lotsa goodies!   

[RallyeMike]

I don't garden food anymore for the same reason I choose not to brew beer. The grocery store and a bar are 4 blocks away 

Otherwise, my "garden" is a 28,000 sq-ft lot full of trees, hedges, flowers, rhododendrons, azaleas, and a thousand other things that need care. With the excessive heat this summer, it has been a lot of work.

[el dub]

I garden for the taste. The food from the store, especially tomatos, does not hold a candle to a fresh, home grown tomato .  My garden did real well.

[67440chrg]

Thanks for the comments.  I agree that especially tomatoes from the store cant compare.

[green69rt]

It's August in Houston and my garden is burning up.  I'll pick the last three tomatoes in  couple of days and then rip the plants out.  Other than herbs, there's not much left in my garden.  Next year I think I'll try squash or Zucchini.   

[AKcharger]

I'm clearing out my back yard at our new Florida house and plan a garden this fall but not sure what to grow yet, so since some of you guys seem pretty savvy two questions:

1) What would be the best, most "bullet proof" veggies to grow in Florida for a 1st timer?

2) I was planning to make a "raised bed" garden because they look more orderly (OCD) is there any pros/cons with those?

Thanks!

[67440chrg]

I dont know anything about Florida. But squash zucchini and cucumbers are easy growers and prob good to learn with.
I was told long ago by a old timer that if you see someone buying squash in the summer they have no friends because everyone wigh a garden grows then. Good luck watch for squash bugs use 7 dust at the base when you first see them

[el dub]

I'm clearing out my back yard at our new Florida house and plan a garden this fall but not sure what to grow yet, so since some of you guys seem pretty savvy two questions:

1) What would be the best, most "bullet proof" veggies to grow in Florida for a 1st timer?

2) I was planning to make a "raised bed" garden because they look more orderly (OCD) is there any pros/cons with those?

Thanks!

I don't know if this is a con or not but if you grow zucchini in a raised bed they take up about a 3 foot square of space, maybe a little more.  Same with summer squash.  Yellow straight and crook neck don't get as big but at least 2 foot square. That could turn out to be a lot of wood for your garden.  I grew my squash by planting 3 plants in one spot. If you decide to plant in soil, do a soil test to see how good the soil is.

[AKcharger]

...if you grow zucchini in a raised bed they take up about a 3 foot square of space, maybe a little more...
[/quote]

Oh, good point Dub, I didn't take into account the size of what I'm gonna grow, good tip!!

[67440chrg]

I had a raccoon eat 6 or more of my largest cantaloupe wensday night. I guess its time to get out the 22. I dont have problems in daylight but my wife lets the dog sleep inside. Anyone else hav problems with pests.

[polywideblock]

yeah flying foxes eat 3/4 of my mangos every year      and their protected 
                 

                     

people often ask if their as big as they look   

                   

[twodko]

HOLY BAT BATMAN! Are they really tha huge or is it just the perspective of the
picture.

As far as raised beds go I'm OCD too and what I found that worked best for me
especially with my fused spine problems was a raise bed thats truly raised.
I made mine with stacked redwood 2x12's, plumbers strapping around
each corner and 3" galvanize drywall screws then capped the top with
redwood 2x4's for a fIrly comfortabke place to sit while I'm working.
This makes it 24" high.
Recently I watched one of those gardening shows wher this guy was
laying in his first proper vegetable garden. He used this rough 6x6
that I think they said were cedar, stacked 4 or 5 high like a log cabin
laid over a double layer of galvanized mesh.
They bored holes down through all of these timber at
The corners and drove 1/2" rebarinto it to hold everything together.
The up front cost was spendy I'm sure but if you want a fairly
permanent raised bed(s) that's they way to go. Wouldn't have bulging
2x12's rotting out after a couple years.
I would have gone that route if I'd seen that program before I built mine.

[green69rt]

I had a raccoon eat 6 or more of my largest cantaloupe wensday night. I guess its time to get out the 22. I dont have problems in daylight but my wife lets the dog sleep inside. Anyone else hav problems with pests.

It's a constant battle between me and the local wildlife on who will enjoy my tomatoes.  First it was birds but bird netting fixed that.  Then the squirrels found my garden so I build a wire cage around the tomatoes.   The field mice found all the little gaps in the cage that I had to plug.    Here in Houston, all the critters seek out any food water source available.  Tomatoes are a good source for both.

[polywideblock]

               " HOLY BAT BATMAN! Are they really tha huge or is it just the perspective of the picture"

                                                                               

                 

[Lord Warlock]

Now that's a Bat!  looks like a fox bat, imagine he likes any fruit or tomatoes nearby.  We have bats here, but they are the mini sized ones that eat mosquitos not tomatoes, but we do have rodents, and lots of birds.  Haven't set up a garden here would have to cut down a free growing tree to get the direct sun, or cultivate in front of the spare garage.  (can't do that)

[472 R/T SE]

I attempted a garden for the 1st time this spring.  I'm getting a greenhouse from Harbor Freight for next year.

I couldn't get in my backyard this spring.  My scooter spins right at the gate so I had to use 5 gallon buckets & 10 gallon planters & put everything on our deck.

I'm into hydro.  The water tomato plant went absolutely nuts one week during a heat wave but I think it's got root rot now since it's not uptaking water anymore & leaves are all drooping.  It has about a dozen on it & a couple are starting to turn red so it's not completely dead.

I was losing my moss out in the front yard so I planted 6 little guys hoping they spread like before.  Also planted about 8 strawberry plants.  We also have these little maple tree seedlings that sprout up from the neighbors tree.  I have 4 & one that's in a pot that's about 4' tall.  It started out tiny like my current ones.
Then I'm germinating sunflower seeds currently.  Next door neighbor said they'd take some so I'm trying to spread Kansas love around.  I have a couple 6' in pots now.  It's neat how they follow the sun.

My other tomato plant is in a 5 gallon bucket.  It's been real slow growing. 

We've set all kinds of records for heat up here this year.  The most consecutive days over 90 is what killed me.


I lost a real nice cannabis plant in water, root rot and another water plant due to PH being way too low, my fault.  I didn't know that warm reservoir temps meant no oxygen.  So I insulated both water plants tubs.  My big hydro cannabis tote never gets above 75 degrees even when it's 100 plus.  The real hot days I throw frozen water bottles in to cool the water.

I have a good size tent in my garage where another cannabis is growing.  I just switched it to 12/12 so it's starting to bud.  It's a Sativa so it'll take about 10 weeks to finish flowering.


But next spring I'm hitting it hard.  I'm gonna build a path to the backyard.


Sorry so long.  But this garden thing is really all I tend to lately.  No interest in my car.  More than anything I'm learning what not to do so hopefully next year is more successful. 

[Lord Warlock]

didn't want to mention cannabis plants...those are part of the secret garden inside the garage. I can offer a few hints on that type of growing.

Hydro is good, but aero is better and a lot simpler to set up a small to medium sized setup.  I have a 6ftx6ftx3ft space with two plastic storage tubs, with a pvc pipe running just above where water line would be, leaving 3 inches for sprinkler heads to spray whenever lights are on.  There is an equalization tube at bottom of each tub, two or three sprayers in each tub for coverage, and 3 inch holes, about 21 of them drilled on the lids.  A single sodium 250 to 400 watt bulb, and neons during the baby sprout stages. Plenty of air, and the tubs hold about 30 gallons at a time each.  Usually I have pretty good luck with the setup.  A pond pump pushes water from the bottom of one tub into the sprayer tube that runs through both tubs about 2/3 of the way up from bottom.

Don't be afraid of yellowing leaves during flowering stage, the plants focus all their energy on the flowers or fruit, they do need a few non droopy ones to get sun or light though.  We don't have good soil here so growing in dirt isn't very good, its mostly sand with a little topsoil thrown in to hold the grass on top.  Cacti would do well, but landscape plants have to be survivalists to get through the harsh temps.  Warm water does just fine here since it gets aeration going thru sprayers that spray directly on the roots.  If they need more, I just add a aquarium pump to pump air into the water near the pond pump that shoves water to the sprayers.  Usually I have to add water once a month, and usually once about halfway through flowering.  I use hydro fertilizers mixed for 60 gallons at a time.  This last grow I made a  mistake not flushing out the system in the beginning and the leftover water that was high in nitrogen kind of made the 4 inch tall plants thin and weak.  Won't make that mistake again.  

[polywideblock]

put an aquarium "air stone" with pump ( quit cheap to buy and run ) in your warm "water"  plants love the warm nutrient and the air stone keeps it fresh and seems to keep the root rot at bay 

[Lord Warlock]

agreed, its what I have on the end of the aquarium air pump hose.  Can get them at most pet stores.  My biggest problem is vertical height, at 4 to 5 feet they are close to the light and will fry any plant that touches it for long.  Have a couple white widow females that act like they are reverting vegetative, topped early because of height, and widow don't like topping.  May start 20 but usually get about 6 or 8 to flower, 4 thru harvest.  But its pretty much a set it and forget it system, don't have to do much besides wait for water to run low and the pump will tell you when it needs more.  Also its a small setup for personal use only.  I installed an exhaust fan but almost never run it, any odors aren't an issue in a detached garage.  

Taking care of a garden outside would be better for me though, I'd like to grow corn, tomatoes and maybe a watermelon and some strawberries, I spent quite a few summers on my grandfathers farm in Missouri, like to grow things.  Landscaping doesn't do it for me anymore.  Get tired of pulling grass, can't grow grass where I need it, but it grows great in the beds.  I'd have to build an elevated box to keep grass out of it.

[472 R/T SE]

I didn't know you could run a deep water culture without air stones.  I've run at least 2 in each bucket/tote since I started.  Pumps are 300 gallon.

This is my 3rd cannabis grow.  I have a medical card even though it's legal now in Washington state.  It made the wife happy.  My prescription allows me to have 15 plants & something like 24 ounces at once.   The cannabis got me started with the fruits/vegetables.


Running out of head room is an issue I'm facing currently with my tent plant.  When I tie them away it opens up the center & basically just pulls the branches/leaves away from their light source.  I try to top them in the vegetative state although I was forced to on about 4 branches.  We eliminated the ratchets between the top of tent & light hanger so I got about 8 more inches.  I think within 2 days they had already started eating up that space. 


This was my insulation job to keep the temps down & brought it back from root rot.  I built little dollies for all my outdoor water plants so that if the weather is crappy towards the end of flowering I can roll them inside.  This badboy is hard to move around for me though.  I might have to break out my electric scooter.     


 

[472 R/T SE]

My winter grow will be CBD heavy strains 2 see how much it alleviates my back pain.  20mg of Oxy & 60mg of Morphine daily since I was paralyzed, started off 5mg & 10mg.  The cage they built around my spine is what they figure is causing so much pain.

1.5 years ago I had my last epidural injection.  I'd had about 12 so far.  I ended up with a Staph infection of my blood.  Chunks of infection stuck in the epidural spacing producing immense pain.  They tried antibodies but finally had to open me up & cut away a piece of my spine so they could get to it.  I had the 2 strokes in June '06 & was in a coma for 5 days but this infection came the closest anything has to date to putting me in the ground.

My left side was strong.  I used to shift weight to the left since I could stand freely for about 15-20 seconds using the left leg to steady myself.  I could walk with crutches, ugly but doable.  

I lost everything I had worked for a decade to get.  

I've gained back some but it took a long time.  No stronger side than the other anymore.  When I got out of the hospital I had a pick line in my arm giving dosages of antibodies 24/7 for 2 months.  Well when you're an L1 paraplegic you have no bowel or bladder control so I was constantly crapping myself.  Antibodies give some folks ( me ) loose stools.  2-3 times a day for 2 months.  I couldn't go anywhere or do anything.  Nothing worse than stripping down with a diaper full of wet bowel over the bottoms of my legs and try to get your feet out when you have no control of them.  

So...I gotta try something different.

[Dino]

I work with a lot of patients that rely on Mary and most really like CBD so fingers crossed!  You won't get a high from it either.