So TWW, it's February and spring is in the air! (woo I love the South!) Two days ago I planted carrots, lettuce, and broccoli seeds outside. Yesterday I started seeds indoors - tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapenos, summer squash, and cucumber!! I'm especially excited about the tomatoes because the seed packet was a blend of 5 different heirloom varieties. So I won't know for months what I'm gonna get!!

Post your plans and pics here! Pics to come, once my seeds sprout and I actually have something to show you.

PS has anybody tried these strawberry "growin' bags" or something similar? I ordered them but the second picture just looks too good to be true!!

2/24/2010 7:13:24 AM

I am going to give growing morning glories another shot and this time planting them in the Spring instead of the middle of summer. I also intend to get into the container gardening with some tomatoes and cucumbers. So is now the time I should start growing those but inside? My composting worms have been busy busy over the past few months so I should have some amazing soil for whatever I chose to grow!

2/24/2010 7:36:43 AM

How funny, today I spent all afternoon clearing out my containers so I could plant this weekend

Since I'll be moving in the summer I won't be doing anything intensive. One or two tomato plants, some herbs, peas, maybe a cucumber plant? I haven't decided yet.

Anyone into heirloom plants I highly recommend this site: http://www.amishlandseeds.com/

I bought my mom some seeds off there for her birthday last year and she really enjoyed them. She said the fruits and veggies tasted awesome too. Here's what I bought her:

Quote :

"I got my original seeds from an esteemed German tomato collection. I grow out and will be offering for sale again this year, another tomato from the same breeder, "Schimmeig Striped Cavern" or "Schimmeig Stoo". "Schimmeig Creg Tomato" is one of the prettiest tomatoes you can possibly grow."

Quote :

"d white tomatoes and have grown out many varieties. This is absolutely the purest white tomato I have ever grown! These have no pink, no blossom end marks, no yellow, just "pure-as-the-driven-snow" white flesh and skin."

Quote :

"I received my original seeds of this outstanding heirloom cucumber from my gardener friend Jimmy. The seeds of this creamy white variety have been passed from family member to family member since before 1900. Traced back to Eastern Kentucky (Magoffin County), then to NE Ohio (Summit County) and recently to SE Pennsylvania (Chester County).This cucumber vine is a vigorous grower and likes to be planted near a fence or trellis."

Quote :

"The Monticello Striped French Marigold offered here represents the species, or wild, form of the plant as it appears naturally in South America. It has a sprawling, almost vine-like habit to four feet with single, showy, yellow and burgundy striped flowers. "

2/24/2010 8:10:47 AM

i'll have to go get some soil, I've got a 5 gallon pot for growing, had a nice crop of tomatoes last year

if you could plant 1 vegetable & 1 herb, what would it be and when would you plant it?

2/24/2010 8:37:57 AM

I"m planning planning on planting cool weather stuff this weekend. going the container garden route. anybody know of a good place to buy gardening containers. I browsed Lowes website but didn't find anything.

2/24/2010 8:52:24 AM

We're doing the same as last year: tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos (not NEARLY AS MANY as last year), banana peppers (again, not NEARLY as many), watermelon, zuchs, squash, and pretty much all the popular herbs/spices. We are also going to try a row of corn this year as well, and probably will plant some seeds we got out of our pumpkins at Halloween to see what we get.

We also have 2 apple trees that always provide us with TONS of apples.

2/24/2010 9:58:13 AM

Yay! I'm glad you started this. My husband and I have been trying to figure out what we're going to grow on our porch this year. A lot less sun, and a lot less space than last year, so we'll need to be creative!

2/24/2010 10:19:43 AM

I ordered from http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html They're out of VA and their selection is tailored to the southeast.
I'm really aggravated that they were out of the lettuce I wanted (a heat and humidity-tolerant variety), and I forgot to add my carrots to the order

What I have seeds for:
de cicco broccoli
arkansas little leaf cucumber (for pickling)
giant bell pepper
serrano pepper (for drying)
principe borghese tomato (for processing/canning/drying)
long keeper tomato (these are picked late fall, and ripen throughout the winter)
glacier tomato (eating, and some canning)
sweet genovese basil ...I go through a LOT of basil. I'm going to use it fresh, freeze it, and dry it.
summer thyme (mostly for drying. I use it in fits and spurts)
greek oregano (again, to dry, mostly)

I'll get some of my mom's lettuce seeds.

Quote :

"I am going to give growing morning glories another shot and this time planting them in the Spring instead of the middle of summer."

I adore morning glories sooooo much.

That said, plant them on the other side of your yard, far away from any place you don't want them. We planted morning glories. Once. I know now why some people consider them a weed

I've got to get some more soil put down in our elevated bed (I'm only using the front one, because of how destructive and energetic our husky is, and I can't figure out a good, workable, cheap way to keep him out of that back bed.)
Otherwise, most everything will be in containers - I have soooooooooo many containers that I don't really need the back yard bed

I have kept my itty bitty rosemary plant alive through this winter, even with some heavy cutting in the fall for cooking. I hope it really fills out this year. I have changed my cooking recently to use less rosemary, and I miss it!

I need to look at the lightbulbs I have already, to see if I need to order any kind of grow light. I plan to start everything I can inside, because I don't have great luck growing from seed outside. I've got an aquarium I'm planning to use for the tomatoes, to get them up to temp. I found a really awesome guide for hours of light per day and temp req'd for germination, time from seed to transplant, and things like that that I don't have the URL handy for (visited on my laptop; posting on my desktop, and I'm not easily finding it via google...I'll post it soon)

I kinda wanted some melons and squash, but with the space limitation, I prioritized. If I *really* wanted to, I could till a spot for them in the front yard, but my husband has a nasty habit of mowing over in-ground beds...even when you can tell it's a garden. I'm still pissed at him for mowing over a rosemary plant.

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 1:05 PM. Reason : kj]

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 1:07 PM. Reason : sdf]

2/24/2010 1:04:23 PM

I've had basil, thyme and oregano growing indoors all winter, but it's time to re-pot. When I do that next week, I'm going to start tomato, zucchini, cucumber, jalapeno & rosemary seeds.

Other than that and a plan to lay sod on our little square of dirt of a yard, I haven't decided what I'll plant flower wise.

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 3:47 PM. Reason : ]

2/24/2010 3:46:03 PM

wow looks like TWW is going to have some great gardens this year!!

Quote :

"My composting worms have been busy busy over the past few months so I should have some amazing soil for whatever I chose to grow!"

I'm also doing a worm bin! however I use the vermiculite as a fertilizer rather than alone as soil. There's not enough of it to supply all my plants! The seeds I sowed outside I covered with vermiculite.

wolfpackgrrr, those are some gorgeous tomatoes! the white ones freak me out a bit though

Quote :

"if you could plant 1 vegetable & 1 herb, what would it be and when would you plant it?"

do you like eggplant? try Japanese eggplant (also called Ichiban) - they love hot weather and do great in the South. Plant it in late spring when all danger of frost is past. I grew it in 5-gallons last year and they turned out great. It grew so fast that every day when I got home from work it was visibly bigger! Make sure to fertilize once a month, containers lose nutrients pretty quickly. this is the eggplant in the front white pot



for an herb, I'd go with rosemary. It's a perennial and can live through an NC winter outside just fine. No need to plant it every year! If you want an annual go with basil. Fresh basil is delicious in so many recipes, and you can freeze pesto to enjoy over the winter.

Quote :

"anybody know of a good place to buy gardening containers. I browsed Lowes website but didn't find anything."

Lowes and Home Depot should both have tons of plastic planters for about $2 each. Don't know why it's not on the website. I prefer plastic b/c it's cheaper than ceramic and holds in moisture better.

Quote :

"A lot less sun, and a lot less space than last year, so we'll need to be creative!"

I'm mostly a veggie gardener but if you like flowers, Impatients are so pretty and grow great in the shade.

Quote :

"I've got an aquarium I'm planning to use for the tomatoes, to get them up to temp. "

FYI you can use an electric blanket or heating pad under the seeds to warm them up. also you can use any clear plastic container for a sort of greenhouse (like the plastic boxes you can get salad greens in)

2/24/2010 4:50:08 PM

PS I am SO EXCITED about my tomatoes! they're "heirloom rainbow blend," a mix of 6 varieties. I won't know which plant is which till they start to bear fruit!!!

Quote :

"Aunt Ruby's German Green, Dixie Golden Giant, Black from Tula, Brandywine Red, Big Rainbow, and Cherokee Purple"

2/24/2010 5:11:36 PM

i'm going to have a an actual yard this year, i'm looking foward to fresh vegetables. i'll probably get a late start (ie april-ish) but want to do cucumbers, peppers, an array of herbs, sweet potatoes, red skinned potatoes, maybe a row of beans and/or peas. i wish i liked tomatoes, but they would only go to waste if i grew them.

i have a lot of space for flowers and other ornamentals, but in its current state it all needs to be weeded and generally needs a lot of work to make it look nice. there is not shortage of other things that need to be done around the house, so I don't know how much I'll get to work on the cosmetic fun stuff this year.

2/24/2010 6:08:37 PM

^^^ hahaha yeah the white ones weird me out too. My mom said they were very mild with low acid.

Quote :

"if you could plant 1 vegetable & 1 herb, what would it be and when would you plant it?"

Tomatoes and basil. I use them the most and their companion plants

2/24/2010 6:34:18 PM

^ plus tomatoes and basil go together so well in Italian recipes!

2/24/2010 6:52:28 PM

I planted some bell pepper seeds this morning in peat. I'll be interested to see if they grow since they're from a shriveled dried up bell pepper from last year's garden.

What time of year should I think about planting my sunflowers if I do them? I never have good luck with them

Oh and who can tell me about growing sweet potatoes? I'm thinking about trying to grow purple sweet potatoes next year if I can get the starters through quarantine.



[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 9:07 PM. Reason : lol seeds]

2/24/2010 9:03:28 PM

Some more good places to get seeds:

http://www.appalachianseeds.com/
http://www.newhopeseed.com/
http://www.uga.edu/ebl/ssl/activities/pass/
http://www.heirlooms.org/

2/25/2010 8:00:49 PM

I saw some sprouts on the windowsill this evening. Sweet 100, Red Siberians, Brandywines, and cucumbers.

I started some cayenne and bell peppers on the windowsill at work. Gonna do corn, squash and pumpkins straight into the ground.

2/25/2010 10:00:02 PM

I want to try growing corn once I have a place to grow it. What kind of corn are you going to grow?

2/25/2010 10:20:04 PM

^^ ohhh I want to try corn so bad! I've always wanted to taste sweet corn straight from the garden - the sweetness starts to drop the second you pick it. The old timers say you should already have your pot of water boiling when you go out to pick the corn!! unfortunately I live in the burbs and the homeowner's association will surely be offended by the sight of corn

sounds like a great combo! have you thought of adding pole beans for the "three sisters" that the Indians used? The beans add nitrogen to the soil, and corn is a greedy nitrogen feeder.

http://images.parkseed01.com/parksgardens/pem000505/sistapem000505he.html

scroll down past the pics to see instructions on how to plant.

2/26/2010 7:11:32 AM

^^Silver Queen.

^I did corn last year and it worked great on it's own, but I'll take any excuse to plant more stuff. Imma give the pole beans a whirl.

I live in the burbs too and nobody said anything about my corn rows last year. I did make a point of picking some produce to give away to the neighbors that were right next to the garden side. And my HOA appears to be a little laid back (so far).

2/26/2010 9:09:15 AM

silver queen is delicious, but we always have problems with getting it to come up and when it does, it won't fill out like it should

2/26/2010 10:25:31 AM

I think it is. I could be wrong. At any rate, it's a white, sweet variety.

Anyways, last year I just killed the grass where I was gonna garden and jammed my garden trowel in every 8" or so and planted a kernel. It did pretty well. I have a sneaky suspicion that the previous owners put a lot of nitrogen/fertilizer down on the yard to try and get the bahiagrass there to green up better.

I've been adding compost and today I'm gonna get some soil samples taken and tested by the NC Ag & Consumer services, see what I've got going there.

2/26/2010 10:46:54 AM

lol we plant it with a tractor

2/26/2010 11:32:54 AM

Does anyone here employ companion planting?

I tried last year planting marigolds with my herbs to see if it would help with aphids but I'm not sure it made a difference.

2/26/2010 10:15:50 PM

I actually get quite a few good tips from our local morning news. They do a segment on gardening where an "expert" gardener takes phone calls. One was to blow all of our dead leaves onto the garden throughout the year. Yesterday they had an interesting one:

Spread the ashes from the fireplace on the garden before tilling it in the Spring. I wish I would have known that in the beginning of the winter, because we burn our wood stove pretty much every night. But we have started putting the ashes out there now, and we'll probably till toward the end of March.

2/27/2010 9:34:09 AM

I'm pretty new at gardening and have only done a few things in pots. I prefer to go to the farmer's market and just pick up some pretty established herbs, etc. to plant.
Is it too early to go ahead and plant these outside in pots, or should I just try to start some seeds off indoors first?

3/1/2010 1:12:27 PM

Quote :

"One was to blow all of our dead leaves onto the garden throughout the year."

Be careful with this one because if there are any fungi left on those leaves it will get transferred to your soil and subsequently to your veggies. At least that is what I was cautioned about while doing research on composting.

3/1/2010 1:31:05 PM

^^ depends.

Rosemary and oregano are very hardy and will do just fine. But others like basil, dill, etc can't tolerate frost.

3/1/2010 4:25:46 PM

just picked up my soil sample stuff from the NC Agronomic building

3/1/2010 5:19:09 PM

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/zip/1623619894.html

Quote :

"Plant pots for sale - FREE! Pick-up March 4th between 8 am - 10 am (620 Motor Pool Road, Raleigh, NC) Date: 2010-03-01, 3:29PM EST Reply to: sale-qcy77-1623619894@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Pick up between 8am - 10am, Thursday, February 18th for FREE plant pots to help meet your gardening needs. Pots go on a 1st come/1st serve basis; we cannot reserve or hold pots. Be here at 8 to ensure your stake – they do go fast! Gates open at 8 am so please no early birds with expectations to pick out your pots. Take all you will use! When: Thursday, March 4th, 8am - 10am Where: from I440, take Western Blvd toward NC State, Left on Gorman, Right on Sullivan, Left on Motor Pool, straight past gas station, signs will direct you left through NC State transportation vehicles, left through the gate to the area with plant pots, left out of the gate to the parking area. Contact NCSU Waste Reduction and Recycling for more information at 919-515-9421, or e-mail Recycling@ncsu.edu. See you Thursday! "

3/1/2010 5:43:09 PM

oh noooooo! I have bad news

my cucumber seedlings were growing sooo fast ... I was worried they're too 'leggy' so I repotted them pretty deep ... almost up to the leaves (I read on the internet you can do that ... treacherous internet!! ) and now the leaves are limp and it looks like my poor little cucumbers won't make it!!

I took out most of the extra dirt but I think it may be too late

3/2/2010 7:42:35 PM

3/2/2010 9:02:15 PM

3/3/2010 3:03:56 PM

Son of a! I bought some seedling herbs since it had started warming up here and now it's calling for snow next week

3/3/2010 7:59:00 PM

I've never grown anything, but i'm trying to grow several varieties of hot peppers and tomatoes... i'm going to make one of those gimmicky (but apparently effective) upside down tomato growers.

3/4/2010 1:11:03 PM

A friend tried a topsy turvy tomater thing last season. It didn't work so well. Keeping it watered and in enough sunlight turned out to be difficult.

3/4/2010 1:59:11 PM

how is it difficult to keep it in the sun and water it every couple of days?

3/4/2010 4:34:57 PM

I live in an apt complex where front and back doors are straight west and east... where should I plant stuff that needs a lot of sun??? Currently I have it on the east side lined up against the north wall.
Am I doomed?

3/4/2010 4:36:46 PM

unfortunately you'll get the most sun in a south-facing area. (since we're in the northern hemisphere, the sun comes from the south) In the summer the sun is pretty high anyway so the difference isn't as big a deal. Depending on how the shade from the building is, you might be OK.

3/4/2010 5:18:54 PM

Quote :

"We also have 2 apple trees that always provide us with TONS of apples."

/jealous

We were supposed to close/move in to a house a week ago but it has gotten delayed until (hopefully no longer than) the end of this month. We were so anxious to get in there and get a garden going! We both love fruits and vegetables and although I have never grown any myself I am excited to start.

We definitely were thinking of getting 1 gala and 1 fuji apple tree for the backyard. Beyond that, she has a huge list of vegetables she wants to grow so I'm going to let her pick some from those I also would like to do watermelon and/or cantaloupe.

3/5/2010 11:25:35 AM

When should I start growing my tomatoes and morning glories? Should I start them inside first in little cups or planters and then transfer them outside to the large pots when they are big enough or just do like last year and put the seeds in and hope for the best?

3/7/2010 7:21:08 PM

^^ If you like figs I recommend starting a fig tree. By far the easiest fruit tree I've had experience growing.

3/8/2010 12:00:20 AM

started my seeds yesterday. they're hanging out in trays on a fold up table in our bedroom by the window. I did tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, rosemary, dahlias, zinnias, daisies, butterfly flower and marigolds.

i transplanted the basil, oregano & thyme that were growing in small pots to one great big one. they're still indoors for now, but I'll be moving them outside once we're clear of the last freeze.

i've decided i'm going to move my day lilies (I have 9) that have been in pots for nearly 8 years in to the ground. i think they would look great in our front flower bed. they're already starting to show their cute little leaves in their pots, so again waiting til the last freeze to put in the ground.

3/8/2010 9:12:24 AM

Quote :

"my cucumber seedlings were growing sooo fast ... I was worried they're too 'leggy' so I repotted them pretty deep ... almost up to the leaves (I read on the internet you can do that ... treacherous internet!! ) and now the leaves are limp and it looks like my poor little cucumbers won't make it!! I took out most of the extra dirt but I think it may be too late"

Most of my cucumber seedlings bit it as well. I dunno why, but every couple of days one of them just wilts. I got more seeds though, so Imma just do another set of them.

3/9/2010 11:13:02 AM

sounds like damping off, which is a fungal infection.

next time make sure you are using fresh, sterilized potting mix and not soil or old dirt that a plant died in previously.

3/9/2010 12:03:49 PM

I don't think it was an infection, it happened so fast. It was literally the same day that they started to die on me. There may be hope, they're sprouting a 'true leaf' so maybe they'll make it after all! I'll start a new one and compare, I think the ones with the near-death experience won't be as hardy.

3/9/2010 5:18:37 PM

My cucumber, dahlias, zinnias, and butterfly flowers all have little sprouts

3/10/2010 8:53:17 AM

nerdchick, my advice was for modlin. you transplanted too early, disrupting the root apex before it was fully formed. if you want to try again, start your seedling in a cup less than half full of soil. After it has produced a true leaf, sprinkle very fine potting mix up to the cotyledon and pack down lightly. dont transplant until it has a few real leaves and roots for best chances. get more intense light on your seedlings to curtail legginess next time...

[Edited on March 10, 2010 at 2:13 PM. Reason : ]

3/10/2010 2:09:53 PM

Well FWIW I'll be starting to work my way into the gardening world this season. I have a long weekend this weekend and have been doing research the past couple weeks. Since I live in an apartment (luckily mostly south facing) I'm going to go the hanging (topsy turvy) route.

I'm making these myself and am going to invest in 3-4 5-gallon buckets at lowes and drill a hole in the bottom of it for the plant to stick out the bottom of.

For my hanging plants I was considering 1-2 types of tomatoes, pepprs, and maybe cucumbers (don't know a whole lot about growing the last). Also, I had planned to have an herb plant or two growing from the top of each bucket (basil, thyme, oregano).

Anyone have any tips/suggestions for me. Should I invest in growing from seeds or is picking up the seedlings an ok way to go?

Comments appreciated!

ALSO! This has been nagging me...anyone know the rough weight of one of those buckets filled with soil (damp I guess)?

[Edited on March 10, 2010 at 2:56 PM. Reason : PS]

3/10/2010 2:52:19 PM

1 gallon=.1337 cubic foot

5 gallons=.67 cubic feet

estimate damp soil at 80 pcf, that's about 55 pounds.

3/10/2010 4:29:52 PM