A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Gardener's Chat ...how does your garden grow?

I love spring! So far I've been very busy getting ready for the growing season. I bought two dwarf pear trees, 2 semi dwarf cherry trees, 1 plum tree, 2 southern blueberry bushes. Then I planted 5 wild yellow plum seeds. Nothing has come up yet but I haven't given up yet. I've got 3 avacado pits in pots one has a stem the other two haven't split yet.

Then I planted 57 peppers of differing varieties, 19 tomatoes and 12 blue lake green beens. 9 of the beans have sprouted this week. So I am very excited.

I've also got a bunch of petunias up underneath the grow lights. Hopefully they will transfer outside come mid april or there abouts.

So how is your garden shaping up?

TK, I've planted a bunch of seeds in peat pots I got from Lowe's, some are the peppers you sent, and they sprounted immediately. I was excited. Then they shot up about 4 inches with on 1 or 2 leaves at the very top. Now 1 of them has fallen sideways. These are 5 inch pots. I thought I wouldn't have to transplant if I started with big pots. I'm going to put them outside tonight and see what happens. I just have better luck with plants. I planted peppers, squash, zuchinni, tomatoes and cucumbers. They sprounted in 2 or 3 days. It was less than a week. I thought it was miracle soil.

it is really strange when you have seeds that sprouts that quickly, isn't it? you just never know.
I cut way back on the amt of tomatoes I planted this year, so I have a big variety of veggies in my garden this time. tomatoes, orange bell peppers, hot bannana peppers, tomatillo (only one plant came up from the seed?) onions, pineapple, watermelon, okra, yellow squash (which has tiny squash on them already!), zucchini squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, cauliflower, garlic chives, oragano, cilantro (they are going to seed already), and basil. I plan on getting some canteloupe seed this week and getting them planted. and, I may do a few more onion. Oh, and I have broccoli also. they are huge, but haven't produced anything yet. they need to hurry before it gets too hot for them.

With silver bells and cockle shells and PRETTY maids all in a row.


Actually what little gardening I do I haven't started yet. I plan to put out Zinnias and bird friendly plants. My bulb and rhyzome plants are doing ok. My Cannas haven't sprouted yet My Daffodils are finished my Grape Hyacinths are at their peak and my lillies are coming up. My Mulberry trees are starting to leaf and already small scout flocks of Waxwings are hanging out. Waiting on the Mimosas now. Most of my Beautiful Weeping willow is dead now due to the drought two years ago. Only the center part has sprouted this year. 1/3 of it snapped off in a windstorm. I cut off 1/4 of what remained cause it was about to fall on the neighbors' cars. I THINK it MIGHT recover EVENTUALLY but I'm not sure.

Cricket, I want to start some beets and may do it but I think I'm too late. I've never grown brocolli but I keep saying I'm going too. It's sounds like you've got a big area. Okra alone takes up so much space and watermelons - whew.

Thorn, I threw out some zinnia seeds yesterday. I plant them every once in a while. They're like radishes, easy to grow.

And if you have silver bells what more do you need? :wink:

actually, my okra and watermelon are technically too close together. but, I tend to plant everything 18 inches apart. I haven't run into too much trouble doing it that way. hubby was out and about this morning and I asked him to pick up the canteloupe seeds for me. he also picked up more watermelon seeds. the watermelon he got are black diamonds. VERY large leaves on that variety. I'm gonna squeeze a FEW of them in the garden as well.
Oh, and canteloupe he got is treated with thi...r..w???? can't remember the word now, but I googled it and it's a fungicide. creepy! it says right on the pack not to eat the seed or use as feed. I found a couple of comments on the internet that said you could wash the chemical off before you planted. me no like chemicals in my garden!

hope you're going to post pictures.

only if we get a new computer, sheri. this old thing barely navigates through the garden helper and e-mail. it even locks up now a lot when I google the simplist things.

phooey

sounds like your light source wasn't close enough bestofour. Being outside hopefully they will improve. Just remember to bring them in if you get a cold snap down into the fifties.

I'm thinking of throwing out some lettuce and cabbage in my patch. Hopefully they won't get washed away in the April showers.

I've been out side planting flowers this morning, rain's coming and I like to plant before it rains then I don't have to water, my foot is killing me this morning, back when I was about 11 yrs old I stepped on a piece of glass and cut to the bone, 9 stitches (covered almost the entire pad of my foot), lately it's been hurting like a piece of glasss still in it. So I planted like 40- 50 packs of seeds and came on in, yesterday I got 2 bushes and some blubs give to me, a double rose of sharon, pink: and a bueaty berry. Planted both those yesterday.

Hi Cricket, you may be able to speed up your computer a little by running the disk defragmenter (start-accessories-system tools-disk defragmenter). It could also be that your anti-virus software is slowing the computer. Apparently some of the better anti-virus providers like Norton now do not slow your computer at all, but some of the others (like the one I use) do.

Tk, I read somewhere, I think, that I didn't have to worry about light until my seeds sprouted. Is that true?

I do need to run another defrag and clean up. It's been a few months. that always helps some.
Belinda, we have beauty berries that grow wild all over the property here. hubby rolls his eyes when I mow around them and prune them.
I planted 3 diff kinds of seeds over the weekend. we had one heck of a storm this morning. I'm sure they all washed away.

Cricket, they probably didn't wash away but will show up in the worst possible place.

I've had a couple pop up since the storm and amazingly enough, they popped up where they were supposed to. they're so tiny and were expecting a freeze tongight. oh well, I guess that's why there are so many seeds in a pack!

It depends on the seed. Some need light to germinate some do not. You have to research each kind of seed separately.

I just got told that I shouldn't have started my beans inside. That by the time I want to transplant them they will be root bound. Oh well, live and learn lol.

I was wondering how everyone's gardens here in the south did last night? we were just a couple of degrees above the record low for that date here! we got a light frost a month and a half after our 'avg last frost date'. WOW! my plants did fine. we had just a bit of ice here and there but maters, peppers, squash, canteloupe all did fine. I had a few zucchinni with a few crunchy brown leaves just at the bottom, but they look like they'll bounce right back.

It looks like everything weathered the temps here but I'll keep an eye on things just to be sure.

I've bought more plants for the yard. Now it's back to focusing on the veggie garden.

just looking out the window everything looks ok. It's 32° right now got down to 28° last night. Sometimes things look good until it warms up - then they wilt.

I got cukes and corn sprouting.My tomatoes and tomatillos are growing slowly.I'm preparing a bed for habanero peppers.

That sounds great enrique. My beans are quite tall the paparika peppers are sprouted and the tomatoes. But the other peppers are still being slow.

TK, I thought paparika....like the dried spice, was a combination of various peppers?
my tomatoes plants are a foot high and fat and happy!

Pretty little maids.

You are so bad.

I suppose paparika certainly could be a mixture. I just have the one kind and I do notice a difference in flavor but I think it is just that the stuff from my own peppers is fresher. But, I'm no expert on the subject.

I started my tomatoes much later than I usually do because I usually start them to early and that is a problem. Unfortunately when it was the time I wanted to start them I injured myself and that set me back a few weeks. But I'm sure they will be fine.

I think thorny is great. I was wondering if anyone would recite any of the poem. WTG thorny.

thorny always has something funny and clever to say!
I got a bit bold with when I started my maters this year. I've been lucky that the cold nights we are still having occasionally hasn't shocked them or even killed them. My pineapples are certainly not happy looking out there! I made a big note in my gardening journal to not put them out so early next year. I'm not afraid they will die, but I am afraid I've ruined any chance for any of them to produce anything this year.

You can grow pineapples? WOW!

I shouldn't be allowed around a garden center I really shouldn't, lol.

I went to wal-mart to cash a check and spent 2/3rds of it in the garden center.

I got 2 almost black pinks, 2 six packs of verbana mixed colors, red, yellow and white tulips, 1 pot of daffodils, a big pot of pink thrift for around the mailbox and one pot of the yellow sedum for the bank between the street and the fence.

And it's all planted if you can believe that. Since it rained late last night the ground was nice and soft.

Now if I can pull it off I've got some flower on the far side of the property that I want to move to that bank out front. That and I need to remove all the dandilions out of there. It's just that it's approaching the heat of the day and I'm tired. Along with my ankle paining me for trying to use the shovel. Hopefully it will improve so I can get more done.

You've been busy Tammy. Did you have "heat of the day" today? Not us. The wind is blowing 60 miles an hour and it's a little chilly. I planted some white petunias I bought a couple of weeks ago but that's all because of the wind.

We had a fierce storm last night. My yard looks like a tornado went through.

It was a nice day got up to 73 in the house.

I forgot to mention the peacock Lilies, Dahlias, and dusty millers.

I'm trying to figure out where to put them but that's another post.

I'm sorry to hear that about your yard.

My wooded area holds on to any litter that blows through. I have a lot of cleaning to do because of it.

Tammy, I was just thinking about you yesterday when I was looking at my Dusty Miller. I remember how you like it.

Well.......that is yet to be seen.
I got a pineapple plant two years ago. it was already in bloom and immdiatley produced a pineapple. small, but very tasty. They produced several babies, and now I have six plants. They say, it takes the plant three years to produce fruit. this year SHOULD be my first year at really growing my own, but they are pretty unhappy and shocked from the cold nights.

I do really like the background look of dusty millers. It will be awhile for my babies to get to a size to make an impression but I'm happy with them.

Today I planted the dahlias, peacock lilies, and peruvian daffodils.

Then I put bloom boosters on all the daffodils and tulips that didn't flower yet. I don't know if it will do any good but I figured it couldn't hurt.

where did you end up putting your peacock lillies?

did you plant your dusty miller from seeds at your new place? Seems i remember you used seeds once before.

The peacock orchids are at the house end of my garden bench in the shade. They should like it there.

Today I got one bunch of petunias in the sidewalk bed. It isn't full looking yet but I have to say I'm making progress.

I also planted the hycinthia that I forced this year. I'll be interested in seeing if it makes it. It's a white one.

Some friends are suppose to come over and help me tonight. I hope they show up. It would be nice to get a leg up on this project.

it's 10:06 PM. Wonder if your friends showed up to help.

They showed up at 3:00p.m. and stayed until 5:00p.m. They really helped me accomplish a lot of work. I'm so glad to have the dead tree cut down and both of the downed trees cut up. And having the shed organized what a benefit. Along with having the yard mowed and the blue lake beans, and half of the petunias planted. It feels like things are comming along now. I also got the old broken hose thrown away and I've started to work on the drip hoses to get them back into working order. I hope I can otherwise I'll be buying more of the silly things.