first go at a garden. cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkin are taking over. at the rate theyre growing they will take over everything in short order. if i trim these back to keep them contained in the box is that going to mess them up?
Tomato that we bought already started is kicking ass. The one in the pot...so so.
Lettuce is kicking ass, as are all the herbs, and one strawberry plant I accidently bought, or possibly shoplifted somehow. I didn't plan to get it, but there it was when I got home.
Sunflowers are rocking (wife's favourite flower, so I plant em every year).
Kale and brocolli are kicking ass too, zucchinni is right out of hand. Couple sprouty potatoes from the back of the cupboard worked out pretty good.
Corn is coming along, pumpkins and squash are sprouted, and growing. Nothing spectacular, but doing well.
Carrots I blew it on thinning, but they are valiantly fighting the zucchini for domination of that box.
Prep for the boxes was 6" of fresh lawn clippings, which packed down when I put 4" of horse stall scrapings over it, then dirt on top.
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That is some good growth and big battle for real eatate/sunlight. Pruning the lower branches of the tomato plants would help with air flow and upward growth.
I could never get carrots to grow right in regular soil with other plants. They need airy soil that's heavy in perlite and peat moss.
A few questions:
What's the plastic for?
How hot has it been?
What kind of soil?
How often do you water/fertilize?
Are there drain holes?
The problem with the tomato is it's so fruit heavy it can't stand up anymore. It was almost to the top of the cage before it blew up with fruit. I've had good luck with carrots, even in buckets.
They are called earth boxes hold about 2 gallons of water in the bottom
plastic is to slow evaporation and reflect sunlight
We have been into the low 90*
I can't remember if I used bagged top soil, or straight peat moss or a combo
Fertilizer and a layer of dolimite comes in the kit and was added per instructions
yes there is an overflow
Found something this evening reservoir that I filled this morning was empty, so either there is a hole in the bottom or evaporation is more than I counted on.
We also get a lot of wind ordered a wind cover I am screwing to the deck rail tomarrow to see if that helps and I am thinking about some kind of shade.
I have never had this much trouble planting into the ground
A couple things come to mind. Soil in raised beds, especially small ones, heat up faster than ground soil and this can bake the plant roots. The plastic is not helping the heat escape. Temps in the 90's would really heat up and dry that soil. I would suggest a layer of straw or mulch of your choice instead of plastic which will help keep it cool and contain the moisture. Also small beds like that with fruiting plants are gonna need consistent fertilizing because the nutrients are gonna deplete pretty quickly.
Agree on the heat went with the boxes because we were supposed to be gone the first two weeks of July, to birthday parties for my Aunt and Uncle in Az, but the beer virus cancelled that
fertilizer is on the opposite side of the plants full length of the box and about 2 inches deep
I kept hoping they would pull out, but I guess i am going to have to get a bit more proactive, I am going to move everything into the same area where I can run drip lines and run them on a timer
I bet they will bounce back in a day or two with a good fertilizing.
I am on my 3rd bean harvest. I would guess around 15 lbs of beans so far but I do have roughly 75 plants. I got radishes growing under a grow light and doing great and also randomly placed in the beds outside. They are a 25 day crop so I keep planting it and harvesting. My leafy greens are growing faster than I can consume them. Zuchs are popping up. I have a shit ton of toms but still green. Black, red, blue, and strawberries are all popping up and getting eaten.
I planted a 2nd wave of leafy greens and butter lettuce this past week.
My onions are failing though.
that is a lot of green beans. we have 5 bush plants and they are way larger than we anticipated. what is the protocol on them, do you rip them out and start over every year or can you keep them going year to year?
I like beans cuz they are easy to grow and provide alot of fruit plus I can freeze what I don't consume. Beans are annuals so you replant em every year.
I sow indoors early spring and start a new batch every two weeks so they keep producing till temps drop. We are gonna grow a few plants under the light during winter.
Well damn now my bean plants are yellowing. I wonder if it is a nutrient issue.