The Gardening Thread

[KilgoreTrout]

The Warden and I are getting ready to turn our thumbs green. Problem is, the only thing I can make grow is my beard. We're thinking of planting veggies in large pots (ty for the idea dcasper). Probably tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers to start. Hit me with your tips, gardeners!

I like roma tomatoes. When should I start them (indoors)?

What about the cukes and bell peppers?

Any suggestions for other fun veggies that we can grow in a big flower pot (remember, this is not OOT)?

[MrWookie]

Tomatoes will need a lot of sun. See about keeping them on the south side of your house. If they're right up against the wall, they'll enjoy some of the residual heat they get off it as the sun goes down.

[dcasper70]

You really have to work hard to fail at container gardening. Your yard will have the right sunlight somewhere, and that's where you put the plants.

Couple quick hits:

1) For tomatoes, I'd buy the biggest pot you can reasonably handle and prepare to repot the plants early. In a smaller pot, they tend to get root bound and take in all the water you give them pretty quickly. End result is more frequent watering, which can be a pain. Bigger pot, less root bound, less frequent watering, bigger plant.

2) Cover the top 1-2 inches with mulch of some kind. This will help the soil retain water on the really hot days. Again, less watering.

3) Local greenhouses probably have some decent plants ready to buy. I'd prefer to do that rather than starting from seed. You could probably get most of what you're looking for already and set them outside this weekend. If we get a cold spell (New England), you can easily pull them into your garage (aka, the 'smoking' room).

4) A normal sized flowerbox can easily sustain 3-5 herbs. No, not that kind of herb, silly. We usually have one with the Simon & Garfunkle mix.

5) Seperate 1 to 1.5 gallon sized pot for basil, cause basil friggin rocks! This will give you a 2-3 foot tall bush. More than adequate.

6) Do not plant mint in the ground unless you plan on moving during the late winter.

[Toro]

Since you are new to gardening I would not start your plants from scratch indoors. But instead would buy good healthy plants at a garden center. For tomatoes you're looking for healthy looking compact(not leggy) plants that already have some buds(flowers) on them.

Usual time to plant is Memorial Day when there is little to no chance of frost at night. Tomatoes unlike other plants can be planted deeper than they are when you buy them. I always nip off the bottom set of leaves and plant that portion of the stem underground. This gives the plant a better root system.

Miraclegrow is your friend, especially in pots where the nutrients tend to leach out quicker than a bed. Also in a pot, you will need to water as often as twice a day when it's hot and sunny.

[jfk]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers to start

[/ QUOTE ]

Of the three, tomatoes are probably the least suited to containers. While they're easy to grow in a container, the fruit you get isn't anywhere near as flavorful as a tomato planted in the ground.

A tomato plant can have roots which will extend 7-8 feet down. As has been mentioned, this can lead to a rootbound plant in all but the biggest containers.

Tomato flavor is generally best when you stress the plant a little in terms of water. Tomatoes can be treated a little like wine grapes. Once they set fruit you can either stop or severely limit irrigation. This makes the plant strive for its own water source and generally produces a more flavorful tomato (though with less overall production).

Too much water can produce a somewhat mealy tomato. Romas in particular are bad candidates for a container. If you're dead set on going the container route I'd recommend the smaller varieties (like cherry tomatoes). Something like a Sweet 100 or yellow pear do reasonably well in a container if you're mindful about your watering. If I remember correctly, indeterminates do a little better than determinates when containerized.

Both cucumbers and peppers are excellent candidates for container gardening.

As long as you're at it, you may as well add some herbs to the container garden. Herbs are very well suited to containers and can be an attractive garden feature as well.

[diebitter]

I cut down more vegetation than I care to remember 2 weeks back. Filled up my MPV 5 times, and took to the local dump. That's gardening and me done (except moving the lawn) for the year, I hope.

[Fishwhenican]

I have always really resisted gardening. Always thought it would be way too much work. I am still not too convinced that this is not the case.

But, now that we have a house and more yard than I know what to do with, I want to at least give gardening a try.
The folks who had the house before us had a nice spot for a garden all tilled up and one of our neighbors has a tiller we can use so I think I have those bases covered. There is a neverfreeze spigot very near the garden so watering it should be no problem at all.

I really love sweet corn and want to give that a try. I also will plant some beets since I love canned/pickled beets and want to be able to do that this fall. Not sure that I want to try anything else yet but would be open for suggestions on stuff that would be very easy to take care of and grow (potato's maybe??). I also would love to hear suggestion for which type of sweet corn to grow. I have been looking in a lot of catalogs and there are too many to choose from. Having choices is good but I have no idea where to start!

So, along with the "In the pot" tips, any other "in the ground" gardening tips for a complete beginner are welcome as well.

[FeliciaLee]

I felt the same way as you until I read on a cancer forum that gardening is great, low-impact activity that is good for recovery. It really is, too. For once, the doctors were right about something, lol.

The amount of work you put into it is very dependent on different things. Working the soil in Arizona is a snap, because there is no grass, and the soil just breaks apart in your hand. So digging is nothing. Not like breaking through six inches of Georgia clay or something.

Montana might actually be along those lines. Easier than midwestern or southern soil.

Also, gardening is so low-impact and work-at-your-will, that it doesn't seem to be such a huge chore. It's not like jogging, where you still have to somehow get home if you get tired a mile out.

I don't bother with corn. Corn is tough to grow here, and robs the soil of every nutrient. It's not worth it for me, but everyone is different.

Beets are awesome, but they are totally different out of the ground versus pickled and canned. You might love both (I do), you might not like them untreated.

Try to grow the variety of corn that is suited for Montana. Remember, you have very, very short seasons. The things you can grow there are extremely limited.

Ray Zee always has lots of thoughts on gardening in Montana. Look for his posts from last year and from the "spring planting" thread. You can also look through that thread for some other good ideas.

Good luck!

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[KilgoreTrout]

A lot of good info in this thread, many thanks for the replies.

So far, we've settled on buying plants from the farm stand, keeping them indoors until mid/late May (with some outside time on nice days), and container growing for the most part. The Warden had an idea to plant berry bushes in a good spot in the back yard, so we'll look for berry plants at the farm stand (Howe's in Paxton, MA, if any of you know it). We also decided to do one container with basil, rosemary, thyme, and parsley that will sit on the stoop near the kitchen door.

My father used to plant late season peas toward the end of July. He'd use whatever twigs and branches that fell from the trees on the property as ladders for the peas, and we'd be munching on them well into September. I may do that, but we have time to see how the rest of the project goes.

I'd appreciate some tips on how to select plants. Again, we're planning on tomatoes, peppers (mild varieties - the Warden isn't into capsacin), and cucumbers. We'll try some lettuce/spinach in the ground, too, but that will be a seed sowing exercise.

[Toro]

I've always wanted to try corn but heard that it was hit or miss. Well last year, I just grabbed a packet of seeds at the supermarket seed rack, sorry can't even remember the variety, and sowed a 10 x 10 patch.

Got a great crop of some of the best tasting corn I've ever had. And then had the cornstalks for some Halloween/Fall type arrangements around my lamp post etc.

I've also done potatoes before with great success. These are a lot of fun at harvest time when you stick the pitch fork into the ground and pry up the soil to find a nice bounty of taters.