Gardening with Gamers

[Mal]

So yes, I finally made the gardening thread after a couple status updates. It seems that a few of you garden yourself so lets have at it!

 

As life rolls on, you might pick up a few hobbies besides gaming. Gardening is one of the most recent addition for myself. For me personally, I live in the ideal place to start learning with SLO's year round growing season and its strong agriculture background. For my first year, I decided to do potatoes and kabochas as my primaries.. Potatoes since they seem simple and kabochas since I use it in my curries so I had plenty of seeds to try it out with. I also transported some mint from my parents place via roots and some live plants to get started here. They're currently in pots/platters since I need to make a good home for them else they'll turn really invasive. I also gave some garlic a try in a pot. Of the four I had, only two remain but they're pretty healthy. I may plant some more for pest deterrent.

 

After the kabochas and potatoes are done, I plan on going further since I think I'll be in the house for another two-three years. Whoever comes after me might like what I have planned... if they keep the plants happy and let the in place drip irrigation work.

 

With regards with keeping plants happy, I've been composting as well. Almost most of my current plot is for composting since the original soil was kind of piss poor but now it seems way better. I also got a vermicomposting bin going. The worms after a week or two finally seems somewhat happy and are digging within the bedding and compost. With that sign, I added more worms just today.

[TheRevanchist]

I am waiting until September to plant my winter crops. Carrots, cabbage and some melons. I'm not sure about the cabbage, but I figure if ornamental kale grows here, then so should other winter greens. Right now, I have some tomato plants growing, and they are friggin healthy. I didn't amend the soil this year, so I will need to do that when I next plant (from seed).

 

Last year was brutal. Snails ate all of my basil. I got one leaf. One. The plant was big, but those snails were bigger. And so many of them that the beer trick wouldn't even make a dent. I put out the snail bait. I had a sea of shells. It was scary how many I had. They were all over my lemon tree, but I got them off of there. And, this spring I had the same thing. To protect my non-food plants, I had to use the snail bait. Another pile of shells and a hearty crunch everywhere I stepped.

 

I might be going to the kids' school this weekend and planting some flowers. They are redoing the library, and they need help with the landscaping. Fun!

[Mercurial]

Personally I find fire to be the most effective way of killing all pesky lifeforms in an area.

[Mal]

I actually need to figure out what are winter crop and what are summer crop. There are usually a few days during winter that can freeze so I am worried about that for when I restart in September. What I have planned so far is for some sort of melon or more kabocha, long/green beans and... something else. My general plan is laid out in here: http://imgur.com/a/Tsu7L#10

 

One thing I am going to amend is that I'm keeping the kabocha that has the female flowers. With that, I need to get a auto timer and hack together an irrigation system for my month long vacation during Aug/Sept. I could go full out with drip but I got no cash for hoses and such so I am stuck with a bent head hose. What I plan to do is have it water once a day or two for five minutes since the flow might be a tad bit stronger than it should. I have some bamboo-like plant which I pruned so I can use the trunks to channel the water to where I need it.

 

As for pests... I got earwigs that love my potato plants. I made a can trap for them which caught a slug... I'm not sure if that is good or bad. I also got a cat that roams around that love to dig into my beds and crapping on them. No bueno.

 

So... suggestions on my plans, plants and such?

 

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Since I'm on a roll...

What is the front plant and the background plant? I want to say the front is a potato since it looks so much like one but I can account for all my potato plantings. The rear plant I have no idea but it was invading my plants so I took it out with vengeance. The earwigs and such did the rest.

Edited July 3, 2012 by MaliciousH

[TheRevanchist]

Do you have a Western Gardens book? I could not get by without one.

 

On your first picture, the area you have in the box with the chicken wire is great! I want to do something like that. My gardening is more free flowing, as I place plants in randoms places in the mulch, but places that are conducive to the plant. The problem with partial sun in that the sun the plants do get has to be strong. I am not sure the weather is like that at your place. I know Pismo has a lot of overcast, so I imagine SLO gets the same?

 

In the second set of pics, you have an herby looking plant. That is most likely you potato plant. I have seen potatoes grown in the Midwest, but never out here. So keep me posted on that experiment. The other plant, I am not sure. Probably just a weed, though it is a nicer looking weed than what I normally see.

 

Have you thought about dwarf fruit trees? I think advocado is prevalent in that area, but needs a female and male, except for one variety of advocado. My lemon tree gives me lemons about 9 months of the year. It's not a a Meyer or improved Meyer. I cannot recall the variety, but it saves me a lot of money the way the wife uses those things (about one large lemon a day). You don't have a lot of room, but some dwarfs can grow in larger containers, which might help out.

 

To really tell what time of the year for plants, most cities/counties have a master gardener who is available to talk with. I have talked with the master gardener in our area about some basic plants, and they can give you detailed instructions and ideas of what can and will work for you locally. Sometimes the USDA also has some information available.

[Mal]

http://ucanr.org/sit...tables_-_Herbs/

 

Well. Look like I will have fun in this website then. Also I do have a lemon tree and a rosemary bush as well but since they were on site, I didn't mention them. Lemon trees are fantastic to have since I can use it for lemonade if I want a refreshing drink or I use it for other stuff like ginger ale. Now that I think about it, perhaps ginger would work as well. As for the rosemary... I love it. I am trying to make cuttings to give to my family. By the time I go back, I'll know for sure if the cuttings are good or not.

 

Edit: DUDE. Dude... Chinese veggies. I should totally look into stuff like Chinese broccoli and such. They cost an arm and a leg here but I could use some. Totally going to plant this out for September till March for the coming rotation.

 

Some veggies I am considering: Gai lan, watercress and cilantro.

 

I am getting afraid that I might overburden my soil if I keep thinking like this... must get a good compost system going. I emailed a local resturant that is looking for people to take their veggie waste and egg shells. So I should be fine. Must get my vermicompost to completion so I can get a second bin started.

 

Saving this here for future use: http://www.richters.com/show.cgi?page=./SeedZoo/seedzoo.html

Speciality plants.

Edited July 3, 2012 by MaliciousH

[TheRevanchist]

My buddy brought me a peach from his tree. Good and sweet!

 

I forgot to mention my mandarin tree. It's small, but the fruit is good. The problem is that it is in a isolated location, and remembering to water (instead of the drip system) is a pain. I think that is affecting the acid levels of the fruit, because it's very acidic.

[Mal]

I'm moving my worm bin back inside to stabilize the temperature. I am debating if I should remove some material so the worms that are there aren't overfed. That or make a new bin for a second level and have my current bin as a leachate bin.

I currently don't see any worms besides the ones in ball of compost/worms I got to bump up their population. It may or not be a good thing but with a little digging at certain spots, I do find worms within the bedding. They may be the adventurous ones of the worms I introduced or they could be my old worms. So its really hard to tell if it is good or bad.

 

I am also bringing it inside to warm it up so it could have some mites to help out the worms. Mites never seem to have taken hold in the bin but in my rosemary cuttings, I used compost from my bed and its still teeming with mites. I'm going to try to bring back up my bed compost to that level and introduce some mites, again, to my bin.

 

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I found a really old corrugated fiberboard outside today which I shredded up and soaked with aged water to be left outside for a few hours. It seems to have did the trick for my worms. I piled it on top of what I have and the worms are really digging it. I know the worms are after the microbes in the stuff they digest but I am wondering what did I do wrong with what I provided them (Lets call it "my base"). It has been around for a week or two already so it shouldn't be that poor in microbes unless something is throwing the whole system to hell... like pH.

 

To test it, I have been letting a pH test run for a few days on my base. My base mainly coffee ground based with coffee filters, tons of cardboard and perhaps some veg. Since the major pH player in my bin is the coffee grounds, I use that for my test. Initially it showed up as about 6.5 (ideal) throughout but now it slowly changes to 5.5 by the coffee grounds. I think its heading towards 5.0 which is what most worms can handle. Taking this in consideration... I wonder if my bin is dipping towards 5.0 at times.

 

The new corrugated fiberboard I used is aged and its pH should be more normal. So I think I am leaning towards my hunch. With that said, I am going to lime up my base soon. Egg shells with some more commercial grade stuff.

Edited July 5, 2012 by MaliciousH

[TheRevanchist]

We pulled off a red tomato here and there. Not much until now. Today, we pulled off four. And, if there were four, there are more on the way, especially with the heat turning up to the 100 degree mark where it should be.

[Mal]

I'm sort of glad SLO's climate is pretty moderate. It will heat up during the day but it almost always cools back down with coming of the onshore winds that brings the fog/haze.

Revanchist, you mentioned summer harvest starts today/yesterday. What are you and your family/company growing?

 

Personally updates:

Kabocha had it first female flower bloom today and the next one will bloom tomorrow. Luckily I have two male flowers about to bloom at the same time as well so that one is covered. As for my first one, I had to use so many old male flowers to pollinate her. I'll find out if the pollen grains are still viable in the four flowers I used by Weds. If it failed, the bulb will fall off. If not, it will grow. I am sort of worried about that one since I tore some of its petals but it should be fine. With those two pollination coming to a close, I am thinking of not even bothering to pollinate the remaining two developing female flowers so my plant can concentrate on the one or two current ones. I'll see.

 

Vacation irrigation plan wise... I should have a connector coming in tomorrow so I can use my current hose and a savage soaker hose I found in the garage. It only has a male end so the connector is a double female. If the connector works, then I have my vacation watering problem solved with an autotimer and all.

 

Worm bin looks to be rocking now. Mites have colonized the bin as well so they'll be helping to chomp down at the bedding and material as well. The worms themselves are really active as well. So now its really is a waiting game. In the mean time, I am making two new bins for future use with prepared bedding. I also got a regular compost pile (by a hot tub...) going. It just a mass of yard clippings from the front with tons of leaf litter. I hope eucalyptus leaves are not THAT bad since a good deal are Eucalyptus leaves. Time will tell and by the weekend I'll test it temperature to see if it running warm or not. I'm going to heat this pile up.

[TheRevanchist]

My employer is in the fruit/vegetable/pet food business. Specifically, at our location, canning tomatoes, and, come the spring, zucchini! I have had the zucchini before, and it is actually a good product, so I'm excited about that.

[Little Pirate]

Hey, Malicious, do you know which plants would be safe to keep around cats? I was thinking of a hanging plant because it would be harder to reach for them, but I still want to make sure it's non-toxic because they're bound to find a way in it sooner or later.

[Mal]

Nope but I found this:

http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/plant-list-cats

 

Tons of plants on both side of the list. I know orchids can have a hanging variety but I am not sure how well it'll do indoors. I'll look up more later.

[Mal]

So, after two days I finally looked some stuff up. Orchids seems to be in the clear since I see a couple in the non-toxic list and none on the toxic list. How well they grow and keep depends on the kind you get and where you live. Vine plants are sort of mixed when it come to toxicity but if anything grows well in pots, it has to be vine plants. Just check the list and maybe as the local animal place. Lastly catnip them everyday.

 

In other news, something chewed off or pulled out one of my potato plants. There was a party here last night so it may have been a drunk dude but it may have been an animal or bug since a person would have killed the entire patch. Since this potato plant was so weak, it don't have any tubers it seems.

 

Kabocha wise, my initial female doesn't seem to be taking off but it doesn't seem to be aborting. The other two are taking off. It is sort of surprising on how fast they can develop.

 

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Modified my bin since I was getting swarmed by fruit flies. Now I added a nylon screen to the side vents. Now this hopefully will keep them out of the bin. If not, I'm going to get creative. I also change the stands to some super cheap small plastic bins instead of using a cardboard box. Hopefully in a week they'll all clear out.

Edited July 18, 2012 by MaliciousH

[TheRevanchist]

I picked up this gardening app. Going to give it a test spin and see what it has to offer, since it's free on Amazon today.

 

Damn, I love free!

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007TML2EK/ref=mas_ty

[Mal]

Kabocha update: Only one left. The initial failed to pollinate. The secondary failed for whatever reason and my lone survivor is growing nice and big. All other flowers are aborting or dying before they mature. I guess this plant only wants one kabocha... I hope any future squashes I grow will be more bountiful.

 

Potatoes are potatoes... I repotted my first set of mint plants and at a good time too since it was getting to the point of root bounding. I might repot my other set to give it a nice start.

In a similar fashion, I repotted my lone rosemary survivor and what I think is strawberry sprouts. I doubt the strawberry will amount to anything so late but its worth a shot.

 

The worm bin is being a worm bin. I'm giving it time to develop which may be another month or two. In that time I may start a new bin.

[Mal]

After being away for a month, I come home to this:

 

My weak ones exploded and my normal plant is rebounding with different shaped leaves. If you look closely though, you can see powdery mildew everywhere so I went on a pruning spree. I came up with this clump which I fed to my worms.

 

With that all said, I got three more squashes in development. I may have three others, two of which you can see in the photos. Fun times. My mature squash may be about ready for picking. The stem is corking up. I'm going to wait a bit to see. So I guess winter planting is cancelled.

 

Also, all my potatoes died. I may have overwatered them so they root rotted. I haven't check yet but that is my theory.

Edited September 18, 2012 by MaliciousH

[TheRevanchist]

Geez! That mildew went to town on your plant. I hate that crap. Only good cure for it is full sun, but it's too late for that.

 

At least the bugs and slugs have been kept at bay. And the squash looks good.

 

My tomatoes are done for the summer. I had a good crop, but also discovered a local organic farmer who has really good deals on a nice variety of small tomatoes (cherry tomato size). Next year I will be planting primarily Pink Lady tomatoes and getting the rest from the local farmers market.

 

In the next few weeks, I will be planting some carrots from seed. Hopefully that goes well. Also will be throwing down some poppy seeds. Those I will just throw down seed and water.

[Mal]

Yeah, after seeing what it has done, I can appreciate just have evil powdery mildew is. I think if it is still hanging around, it can only get worst with the cold, rainy winter on its way. Not to mention the nightly fog. Bug wise, I seen a slug trail but no obvious sign of major damage.

 

After eating tons of tomatoes as is, I find that I actually really like them that way. Cherry sized ones I can just pop in my mouth as a snack or I can enjoy a larger one like a plum/apple. So I'm planning on planting my own tomatoes next year. What kinds would you suggest, Revan? Space shouldn't be an issue since I will be using large pots.

[TheRevanchist]

Big boy, pink lady, and a wide variety of cherry tomatoes. Pink lady has a lot of flavor and is pretty meaty.

 

For the cherry tomatoes, there are a bunch of different types. I recently found out about a chocolate cherry (brownish color, not taste). The sweetest cherry ones are usually the orangest ones you can find. But, I haven't seen too many bad cherry tomatoes. Anyway, the color contrasts with the red, brownish, and orange colored cherry tomatoes is pretty.

 

Edit: and don't try to grow the San Marzano style tomatoes. They just don't taste right from the California soil. Try a pear-shaped variety as a substitute for that.

Edited September 18, 2012 by TheRevanchist

[Mal]

Kabochas are officially done since while cleaning up the area, I snapped the vine on my bigger one while the smaller one lost all its leaves and buds so it was finished. No idea what to do with them now since they are pretty immature. I suppose I can leave them outside and see how it goes. Worst comes worst, they become worm food. With the area cleared, I finally could lay down my drip line just right. Now I'm just laying stuff down to decompose for a month or two. I might throw in some legumes or something to add stuff back in.

 

Speaking of worms... my newer bin got invaded by black soldier flies larvae. Boo on me for leaving the bins open. Oddly my first bin was spared. Compared to the worms, these guys are insanely fast eaters. So they can out eat my worms. Hell, I found one boring(sp?) through a carrot piece I threw in there. Nice clean hole. With that said, I think i can harvest the first bin now after letting it dry out a bit. Also here's a picture of a mass of larvae I scooped out.

 

They sound so squishy. One inch of squishiness.

[TheRevanchist]

I'm done for a spell. I may start up some seeds on Thanksgiving weekend, as the kids should have some fun planting some carrots and spring veggies & fruits.

 

My rosemary plant up and died, too.

 

But, on the brite side, my lemon tree is doing fantastic! Another bountiful year coming in January. And, my tangerines are starting to turn colors, so those should be ripening here pretty quickly.

 

On a fresh vegetable theme, we bought 6 pumpkins this year: 2 for carving, 2 for the pumpkin puree (pies), and 2 for the seeds. Last night I cut up one of the ones we were to puree. The texture was too soft, so I just harvest the seeds from it for roasting. YUM!!

[Mal]

So its Dooms Day and nothing happened... to us. My worms on the other hand, as I found out last night, gone through Wormah's Flood due to all the damn rain and after all my precautions. Yes, there are drainage holes but by Wormy Jesus did I lose tons of nutrients and I bet tons of worms. The odd part is that its includes the much more seal container too! Now I watch helplessly as a fucking downpour threatens them yet again. I added a ton of egg cartons to soak up the water but man... poor worms.

 

Lastly... in my experience thus far, black soldier fly larvae are impossible to get rid of. They just pupate and have at it right in the box.

[TheRevanchist]

Now that the temps are going to dip below 32, I am winterizing my citrus by added a thick layer of mulch around the base of the trees. To ensure that the frost damage is minimum over the next few days, I might put some plastic sheets around the trees (though that is hard with a 18 ft lemon tree). My lemons just came in these last few weeks, so hopefully they survive the cold. It would be a shame to see hundreds of ruined lemons sitting on the ground, when we go through 1 to 2 a night until summer, when the tree no longer has ripe fruit (the variety of tree allows for a long season of lemon production).

[Mal]

The cold has been quite... cold. Massive amount of frost/ice on cars in the early mornings. I personally haven't checked the lemon tree or any of my potted plants. My mints should be fine (I should restart their pots since they're slowing down) but my small rosemary was slowing down and showed some signs of yellowing.

 

Anyways, I'm gearing up for starting up some seedlings. I just ordered seeding stuff. At the moment I'm sure about winter squashes (2), some marigolds (to ward off pests for everything I'm going to grow. Targeting horn worms and burrowers) and 4 tomato plants (Will be in buckets. Thinking of cherry/grape type). I don't have any seeds besides some bitter melon seeds, so I can go for two and that should be it.

 

All lettuce and Brassica I can get at Farmer Market or wait for any trip back to the Bay Area for Asian kinds.

 

Edit: Got this guy for the squash. http://the200acres.m...products/lakota

Revan, if you like, I could send you some of the seeds if you feel like growing this. Also on the tomatoes, do you think a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket will work for a fully sized tomato plant?

Edited January 13, 2013 by MaliciousH