What are your garden plans for 2021?

[pepperhead212]

It's early May here, for planting tomatoes and similar items, though usually mid-May for peppers, since they need it a little warmer. I feel sorry for all those plants (not the idiots that buy them) that people plant too early, because of the "average last frost date" in the news. Don't they know what average means?

I got a lot more done today, starting with something that didn't get done - changing the blades on my lawn tractor. A while back, a friend (who has the same model) suggested that I change the blades, since they were over 2 years old, and he told me that Amazon had a deal on the blades, so I got them, when snow was on the ground, and he would change them for me, come spring. He jacked up the tractor, tilted it, and got under there, with his gun ready, to remove the nuts, and he told me they didn't need changing, or even sharpening! He was right - they were sharp enough for me to cut myself on! I pointed out that this is probably due to the fact that I pick up almost all of the branches, while he uses the mower to grind them up! Last week he came over and got those blades from me (and ordered me another set), because he had hit something that had bent one of his blades - he definitely doesn't take care of it!

I got some more SIPs refreshed today - still have 15 large, and 12 buckets to do. The buckets go faster, fortunately. I already have one 32 gal trash can filled with the mix I removed - that goes into the raised beds, eventually.

I got my larger 'tiller started today, and changed the oil in it, plus a few other maintenance things. Ready to go, once the plants are!

Both of those Ichiban eggplant seeds that finally sprouted, and I planted in the pots, have popped up now. So if those do well, I'll have 1 extra of each of the others (which I planted in the original ichiban pots), which some friends will get. Now, of all of the varieties of tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers I planted, the only one I have yet to get a sprout from is the Portugal fire pepper - new seeds this year! Funny thing - the other peppers that took the longest, and I got the lowest % with, were also new!

No more black aphids anywhere out there - I was checking the other 2 clusters of chives, as well as all those garlic chives I have, and no signs of them (fingers crossed).

 

[Vinylhanger]

Our normal date is May 1st. But checking the weather, we should be I. The mid 40's until after that.

Last year I got hit and it stunted everything.

Should be fine this year. Fingers crossed.

 

[blissful]

Pepper, I saw a woman (online fb) she said she sped up pepper germination to 3 days in her instapot, on the yogurt setting. Now, I didn't try it. I do use a heat mat, and it takes me 7-11 days to get germination. I don't know if that would work. I just wanted to pass on that interesting tidbit of maybe.


I read that peppers need the soil to 55 deg F outside, or it stunts them. I plant those last, close to June 1 in Wisconsin.


Also, a new appetizer for us here. 1/2 inch slices of eggplant, dipped in warm or hot sauce (not so peppery or very peppery), fine bread crumbs, baked on parchment 400 deg F for 30 minutes. Served hot, spread with a tofu white sauce lemon garlic, some salt, sliced tomatoes. They were a big hit here.

 

[pepperhead212]

blissful, I have never tried 110° (the usual yogurt temp.) for sprouting pepper seeds, but I usually do it at 85-90°, which is no problem. I have had seeds germinate in 3 days, and almost always I get an earliest one in 4 or 5 days, out of all the varieties that year. And I always wait until the air temperature is a minimum of 55° - usually around May 15, though one time, many years ago, I had to wait until June 1st, and other times I would harden them off much earlier, do to warmer temps, but mid-May is the norm for peppers.

I totally finished the SIPs in the back - only a couple left that I refreshed, but then I went around and leveled all of them. The buckets are easy, but the larger ones can be a pain. Fortunately, many were very close to level, and only needed a very small tweaking. Always important to level these things, though the homemade ones have 4 drain holes, so it's not as critical as with the EB. With the EBs, I try to get them level, or just barely tilting towards the drain side - if it tilts away, some of the soil mix could be constantly under water, which is not good, as we know with pots sitting in a tray, filled with water.

I got a couple more seedlings today, of those really late peppers, though most of their pots I have already filled with similar peppers, that I had extras of.

 

[caseydog]

I got my new herbs and peppers in the ground on Monday, and a new "Arctic Blast" came down from Canada, it it is forecast to go down to 34F overnight. DOH! I draped a sheet over my new plants to keep any frost from settling on them, so they will hopefully be okay.

CD

 

[pepperhead212]

I hope you don't loose anything, CD! This goes to all the rest out there in those crazy weather zones. This is why I actually started some things late, this season - despite the early warmth, often found, we sometimes get this unexpected cold, as well, sometimes after the early warmth!

My lemongrass started rooting, after just 8 days, which is about normal, on 2 of the 6 stalks.
Lemongrass is already rooting! It will be a couple of weeks until I plant them outside - usually 3 weeks, or a little longer, after starting.
First roots started on the lemongrass, on 4-21, 8 days after starting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Ive grown lemon grass for the past 5 + years. The plant always does very well, but the stalks are always much thinner than what I would ultimately buy in the store. Not sure if its just a lack of enough growing time to mature fully. But in general , the plant gets rather huge and looks very healthy.

Been away for a few days on business, so my wife has been on seedling watering duty. hope she didnt kill anything ( or everything)

 

[pepperhead212]

Those chinense peppers, that I started early, will need hardening off soon! There are some slower ones, but even those are getting large. The smaller peppers, started on 4-1, are to the right on the first photo. Not that large, but taking off now, and they still have 3 weeks to go out, normally.
chinense peppers on 4-23, started on 3-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Slower chinense peppers, on 4-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Fortunately, the weather is supposed to get warm for a while now, but I'll still have to see what May is supposed to be (though, of course, that is a long shot).

Here are the tomatoes - started on 4-5 - and eggplants - started on 3-27. Many of the eggplants sprouted slowly, and some of the tomatoes simply grow slower, depending on the variety. But the tomatoes are doing well, for just planting on 4-5! This is why I can't imagine planting them as early as some do, unless they will be in a pot like those large peppers, by the time they go out!
Tomatoes on 4-23, started on 4-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplants in front, a few peppers in back, and more tomatoes on the right. 4-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'm thinking of putting one of those lemongrass stalks in one of those bucket SIPs, since I have an extra one, and the region where it is normally grown is wet a lot, so they might like the constant moisture.

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I re-potted my smaller kaffir lime tree, A.K.A. Makrut lime; this, and my other indoor plants all seemed to need re-potting this year. I thought it had been 3 years, but it was only 2 years, I found out on another forum. Today, I didn't finish my SIPs, due to the wind - would have blown the covers away, as I would be trying to cover them. Plus, making the soil mix would not have been easy, with the perlite and vermiculite blowing all over. I already had the mix made up for re-potting the kaffir lime trees, so I did the smaller one today. It was definitely rootbound, with some roots growing upwards, into the mulch. This soil mix I made with 2/3 peat, and 1/3 coir, plus some perlite, a little less vermiculite, some granular diatomaceous earth, some DE powder, for the upper few inches, plus some mycorrhizae powder, to inoculate it. The lime tree was put outside a couple of weeks ago, when I trimmed it considerably, brought indoors the last couple of nights, due to the cold, and I trimmed it even more. Looks a little scraggly, because I trimmed all the branches I had to, that were growing on top of each other. It will recover quickly, as always, and I had already seen several areas of new growth, triggered by the first trimming.

This tree is around 10 years old, or a little older. The larger one (which I still need to re-pot) is 20 years old.
The rootbound kaffir lime tree, showing the roots that had grown up, into the mulching medium. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A couple of the leaves are showing a little sunburn, since putting it outside a couple of weeks ago, but nothing serious.
Kaffir lime tree, finished with the Re-potting. 4-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Yesterday I was finally able to open up and check on my leaf cutter bee nesting holes, to see if any took residence over the winter months ( Instructions said to check on them once the dandelions start to appear, and they did).

Overall, there were 20 cocoons. 19 of them had already hatched ( Im sure last summer) and 1 that has over wintered, and is back out there waiting to hatch this year. Im excited it worked out. Wish I had more, but im guessing they found some natural nooks and crannies to store there cocoons. ( I have a lot of dead bamboo poles that I store and use for the garden, which have holes of similar size and would be perfect for a bee to take residence in. Below are pictures of cocoons that have hatched and the one intact one.

I am trying my luck at the mason bees ( in addition to the leaf cutters ) the year. The mason bees are a cooler weather, earlier season bee that will be great for my fruit trees ( peaches, pears , nectarines and plums have already bloomed and apples are just starting). Masons make their cocoons out of mud whereas the leaf cutters out of leaves, and are warmer weather bees which will help my garden out for the rest of the season.

 

[bethzaring]

Brand new raised bed and irrigation system with irrigation test.

 

[pepperhead212]

betuzaring I like that irrigation system! I have all of my plants, even the potted ones on my deck, hooked up to drip irrigation in some way (I just hooked up all of the timers yesterday, though too early to use them). Are you in a severe drought in your area? Another gardener I know in northern NM said that they are in one of the worst droughts ever this year, and air is so dusty in her area that it looks like a polluted urban area like Peking. I hope your area is better!

I started hardening off my tomatoes today - just 90 min, in somewhat cool (56° when put out) and breezy, but I have had an oscillating fan, on and off on a timer for a while, to help strengthen the plants against the wind.
Hard to believe these were only planted 3 weeks ago! Pinky Blast (a compact variety) was the smallest - only about 3", hidden in this somewhere, and a few other smaller ones, but most grew very well.
Beginning to harden off the tomatoes, on 4-26 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The extended forecast shows no signs of cold weather in the beginning of May, like last season. Still a couple of nights in the high 40s left in April, but most nights are well into the 50s, or even the 60s - even maybe ok for slightly early peppers.

 

[pepperhead212]

I just planted some bottle gourd seeds, that sprouted very quickly (actually, less than 36 hours in the petri dish), after soaking overnight in a 250 ppm solution of GA-3. The seeds of the one variety I bought in 2016, and 4 of the 6 have already sprouted! I bought the new variety Alok this season, because the "long" variety (a generic term on the seed packet) I grew last season produced nothing but female flowers early on, with no male blossoms! The opposite of our usual winter squash - too bad these aren't edible. When males appeared, the females were scarce. Hopefully, I won't see that again.
5 year old Dhol bottle gourd seeds, sprouting in 36 hours after soaking 12 hours in GA-3 solution. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

New Alok bottle gourd seeds, sprouting in 36 hours, after soaking 12 hours in GA-3 solution. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These, and similar cucurbit seeds, I plant in Jiffy pellets, placing the sprout down, and in a couple of weeks, when roots start growing through the surface of the pellet, they get planted outside. Soon, I'll be doing this with the winter squash, as well.

 

[bethzaring]

betuzaring I like that irrigation system! I have all of my plants, even the potted ones on my deck, hooked up to drip irrigation in some way (I just hooked up all of the timers yesterday, though too early to use them). Are you in a severe drought in your area? Another gardener I know in northern NM said that they are in one of the worst droughts ever this year, and air is so dusty in her area that it looks like a polluted urban area like Peking. I hope your area is better!

A person here in Northern New Mexico has to have irrigation to grow anything. I also am in a severe drought at the present time. Considering snow pack was minimal this winter I expect to see it get worse. Last year we had 6 inches of rain. Our monsoon season never materialized. July is generally our monsoon season ( I still smile at the thought of monsoon in the desert) and so far this year all storms have passed us by. I spend a lot of time monitoring soil moisture in my garden! Something like the eye of the master fattens the calf sort of thing.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Brand new raised bed and irrigation system with irrigation test.

I wish I had done mine that way.

I did mine with one long trunk line and then individual emitters on each plant.

Took way too long, and this year they won't be in the same place. Now I need to plant this week and then adjust them all.

 

[pepperhead212]

Those 2 trays of tomatoes are out again this morning, almost no wind, but intense sun! I'll leave them for 2 hours today, and maybe take those large peppers out briefly.

This morning I found 2 bitter melon seeds sprouted in the petri dishes, in under 2 1/2 days. These seeds are notoriously slow, and difficult to germinate, due to the thick hulls - I've gotten some packets that say they are "overpacked", due to the low % germination, warning people about this problem. Some people actually sand off part of the hull, to help the water permeate them! I soaked these for 24 hours in a 250 ppm solution of GA-3, and in under 2 1/2 days, 2 of 4 of the new variety had sprouted. I have 2 other varieties - these are 1 and 2 years old, and I'll see if this helped them.
2 bitter melon seeds sprouted in under 60 hours, after soaking in GA-3. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I wish I had done mine that way.

I did mine with one long trunk line and then individual emitters on each plant.

Took way too long, and this year they won't be in the same place. Now I need to plant this week and then adjust them all.

I have most of mine like you describe, too, with emitters put on the 1/2" line, where the plants are. The lines with the emitters in them I use for greens, and other close together plantings, but they don't work well for the squash, and things like that, or where I have plants with varying spaces in a row - those kind you have to change!. And the 1/4" emitter line is only good for up to 30" lengths. They have 1/2" tubing with emitters, but they start out at 12" apart. For my garlic, I use the 15 mil T-tape (various names out there), which soaks slowly, but evenly, and works for the 40' closely spaced plants, with a row on both sides of it.

 

[pepperhead212]

I cut the first asparagus because it was just getting too tall, with just a few very small ones finally popping up. I put those large peppers out, to start hardening off, and they are getting large! Some are larger than some varieties get the entire year!
chinense peppers hardening off, 4-27. First large asparagus stalk in front. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I 'tilled a bunch of paths in my garden, to turn the weeds under, plus the row for my squash, which I covered at the end of last season to solarize it. I re-used the landscape fabric for the 3rd season - will probably be the last time, and it doesn't owe me anything! I put a smaller length in the front, and added some more irrigation line and emitters, to fill the space - this year I will have even more plants!
Row for squash, and a couple of gourds, tilled, covered, and set up with irrigation. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[cookwewill]

Finally it's not freezing during the night in my part of the world so I can give my raised beds a bit of love they deserve

I will seed some radish, peas and parsley during the weekend. Tomatoes, green peppers, kohlrabi... coming soon And some onions too of course... can't wait to dive my hands into the soil again

 

[larry_stewart]

Picked my first radish today. Its a new purple variety Im trying. Almost the size of a golf ball. Its a shame I dont like radishes, but its one of those ' feel - good' crops. First of the season, usually do well and hopefully setting the trend for the rest of the year.

Sadly this radish is as large or maybe even larger than any beet I've ever grown.