INTENSITY²
Start here => Free For ALL => Topic started by: garmonbozia on April 24, 2009, 06:32:55 AM
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I've still got plants on my porch.
I added Miracle Grow to everything a few weeks ago. The maple has got a whole new batch of big leaves and a few side trunks growing around the base. The tomato plants are about two feet tall in a four-gallon pot, but haven't blossomed yet. The red and green bell-pepper plants (those that survived) are about five inches tall in gallon buckets. No production from those yet, either. I've recently planted 60 seeds in peat-pots and Dixie cups (orange and yellow bell peppers, tomatillos, grape tomatoes, habernero peppers, pear seeds, and grapefruit seeds). Since it's so hot and dry now, I have to keep the peat pots in a thin layer of water in a shallow tray.
This is actually quite fun, and doesn't cost much.
This started last year with the maple, which (as an uprooted sapling) was about to get thrown out with the landscaping waste at place where I volunteer on Sundays. On a whim, I took it home, buying a pot and a bag of dirt on the way home. Symbolic, I guess... something to plant in the yard when I finally own my home (or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first). The pear and grapefruit seeds are just because I've always wanted to try growing a tree from the seed. The peppers and tomatoes are in hopes of having my own source of fresh produce later this year.
BTW, habernero peppers are something you don't fuck with unless you know what you're doing. Think jalapeños are hot, they ain't got shit on haberneros. I use them by boiling a slice or two of habernero with ramen noodles or other soup, to give it some "kick", then I take the habernero slices out and discard them before eating the soup. You only bite into haberneros if you're bat-shit crazy and enjoy extreme pain.
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That's great growing your own vegetables, especially the tomatoes. All the commercial growers fuck them up with that gas to turn them red when they're still not ripe. The hottest peppers I eat with any regularity are the serrano peppers, they are pretty spicy for my taste.
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I salute anyone that can grow plants in pots.
I can plant things in the yard and they thrive, put stuff in a pot and somehow I kill them.
The only exception was when I grew african violets, they were the only thing that did well for me.
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The tomato plants have outgrown their stakes and a couple of them look like they've got some flower buds on them. That's good. That means they're almost to the point where they can start producing. I'll have to get some long wooden dowels to replace the current stakes. Alot of the stuff in the peat-pots has sprouted, even in the peat-pots where I put pear seeds. It's too early to tell whether it's pear seedlings or just weeds that came with the potting soil. Of all the seeds I've planted, about 40% have sprouted. Still waiting to see if anything happens with the habernero and grapefruit seeds. Everything else has shown at least some signs of growth.
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Outstanding garmonbozia, you'll be eating good while others have to settle for chemically fucked with food. :plus:
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Replaced the tomato stakes with 4' wooden dowels as described. Those were indeed flower buds on them as well as one of the green pepper plants. Got two habernero seeds and one grapefruit seed to sprout.
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I have to fix my garden up this weekend and fence it. Last year my dogs ate my pumpkins and squash :laugh:
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Pets raiding your garden, too?
Mine's just in a bunch of pots on an apartment balcony, but one of my cats will pull up the sprouts if I don't watch her. I got the cats one of those "cat grass kits" from Target and that seems to keep their interest off the other plants.
The grapefruit sprout should be interesting to watch. I've always wanted to grow a tree from the seed. Of course, if I ever move out of Florida, I'll have to give it away to a friend or co-worker first. Citrus doesn't survive too far north of Florida.
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Pets raiding your garden, too?
Mine's just in a bunch of pots on an apartment balcony, but one of my cats will pull up the sprouts if I don't watch her. I got the cats one of those "cat grass kits" from Target and that seems to keep their interest off the other plants.
The grapefruit sprout should be interesting to watch. I've always wanted to grow a tree from the seed. Of course, if I ever move out of Florida, I'll have to give it away to a friend or co-worker first. Citrus doesn't survive too far north of Florida.
Unless you either moved to California or had a greenhouse.
I have started orange trees from seeds before, but like you said, they don't survive outdoors in the Southeastern US much north of Florida.
When I lived in California, my neighbor had an orange tree and a grapefruit tree with branches that hung over my back yard.
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Finally got a flower on one of my tomato plants. Several more buds to open soon.
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Finally got a flower on one of my tomato plants. Several more buds to open soon.
Cool.
I bought two tomato plants, two pumpkin plants, two zucchini plants, and a yellow squash plant, all in little peat pots, and planted them in my small garden.
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We recently bought three Earthboxes and are giving one to our neighbors. We're planning to grow tomatoes and perhaps strawberries or blueberries. We chose Earthboxes because they are compact yet have high yield potential of veg and fruits.
http://www.earthbox.com/
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I have to fix my garden up this weekend and fence it. Last year my dogs ate my pumpkins and squash :laugh:
:lol: My buddy has an American Bulldog that is about 100 lbs and I was visiting and Warren had placed two pumpkins of a green ( when ripe ) variety on his living room floor and his dog Max munched about half of one before he was full. It was hilarious watching him scarf it down. Later Warren told me Max had severe shits and flatulence the next day.
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The green pepper plants have produced flowers. Ants have been climbing up into the flowers. Are they pollinating or doing damage?
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Probably doing damage. I wouldn't trust the fuckers.
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Have you checked the plants for aphids?
The only kind of ant that would hurt the pepper plant that I can think of would be the leaf cutter ant, but sugar ants might be attracted to honeydew produced by aphids.
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I got home from a trip and found green bell peppers growing where the first few flowers were, and many more buds waiting to produce. Alas, these plants are finally producing food. The ants only seem interested when there's a new flower on the plant.
I have not checked for aphids. I've been more concerned with my upstairs neighbor letting his dog piss on their balcony and drip onto mine. The tomato plants and the maple tree aren't looking quite so good as the pepper plants. However, within the next few days, I am moving into a duplex apartment with a fenced backyard. That means: no upstairs neighbor, more direct sunlight, and access to flying creatures (bees, hummingbirds, bats, etc.) that act as pollinators.
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I got home from a trip and found green bell peppers growing where the first few flowers were, and many more buds waiting to produce. Alas, these plants are finally producing food. The ants only seem interested when there's a new flower on the plant.
I have not checked for aphids. I've been more concerned with my upstairs neighbor letting his dog piss on their balcony and drip onto mine. The tomato plants and the maple tree aren't looking quite so good as the pepper plants. However, within the next few days, I am moving into a duplex apartment with a fenced backyard. That means: no upstairs neighbor, more direct sunlight, and access to flying creatures (bees, hummingbirds, bats, etc.) that act as pollinators.
That's pretty gross for the neighbor to let his dog do that.
I think that peppers like more heat than tomatoes, so that might be part of the reason they are doing better.
The new place sounds like it will be much better for gardening. How big will your new back yard be?
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1/4 acre.
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Wow, you could have a big garden if you wanted to.
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Well, I thought I heard them say 1/4 acre, but that just doesn't sound right. Probably more like 1/10 acre. It's a 900 square foot duplex, and the back yard of the model unit looked roughly the size of the apartment plus a little.
Whatever the case, at least it's got a yard. Any yard is better than no yard.
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The move is complete, and the formerly "urban" (apartment balcony) garden is now in the dirt of a real backyard. The maple tree (sapling) has shown signs of improvement with lots of new leaves that are a deep burgundy-red color when they first bud out, gradually fading to green. The other plants all seem to have improved. I thought the tomato plants had died, but they've got new growth branching off from growth I thought had died. Some of the bell pepper plants are still in pots, now alongside the fence. These have produced five peppers so far. Tree frogs like to sit around on top of the peppers. There are eight more bell pepper plants (yellow and orange) that are planted in the ground. They're still sprouts, but I'm hoping they'll reach productive size before the end of summer. The same with five habernero plants. The soil here is very sandy. I had to add some bagged soil atop when first planting. Hopefully that's enough.
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That sounds good to me. I guess you must be watering enough if the maple tree is putting on new growth and so are the tomatoes.
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We check every day to see if the plants need water. It rains often (this being Florida in the summer), but even then it gets so hot that we go ahead and hose down the plants if it hasn't rained by the time I get home from work in the afternoon. Also, despite the sandy nature of the soil, rainwater accumulates in spots during a rainstorm (and is quickly absorbed into the ground soon after).