What are your garden plans for 2021?

[taxlady]

I have just ordered some pepper seedlings. All I know about them is that they are in peat pots and organic. One pot will be jalapeños and the other one will be chili peppers. Should I harden them off before leaving them outdoors? How warm does it have to be at night for them to be okay?

 

[pepperhead212]

Peppers prefer the lows to be above 55°, though a few hours below won't kill them, if hardened off well, which does help. Usually the plants you order were grown in greenhouses, so the sun usually doesn't bother them.

 

[taxlady]

Peppers prefer the lows to be above 55°, though a few hours below won't kill them, if hardened off well, which does help. Usually the plants you order were grown in greenhouses, so the sun usually doesn't bother them.

Thanks. Yes, they were grown in a local green house. They will be arriving with my grocery / produce basket.

 

[taxlady]

I just checked our weather forecast. Doesn't look like I will be able to count on 55°F overnight until Sometime in June. So, I get my pepper seedlings on Tuesday. Should I start hardening them off right away, or should I wait a bit? How long is a reasonable amount of time to harden them off?

 

[pepperhead212]

TL, Hopefully, those peppers are grown in cooler conditions up there in the greenhouses, and they are more used to cool weather, and won't have to wait until June to plant them! Years ago, I had to wait until June 1st to plant a few times, and even then, it was getting below 55 some nights - I just planted anyway, because the plants were so rootbound, and most were getting flower buds! They were stunted some, but eventually came back.

Good luck with yours!

 

[Vinylhanger]

Most of my starts have stunted this year. We had a string of very warm days and very cold nights beginning of May.

I was impatient and since I was too cheap to get the 4 inch ladbrook soil blocker to transplant my starts, I went and just put them in the ground.

Bad idea. They are just now starting to come around.

The ones still in the 2 inch soil blocks are doing much better than the ones in the raised beds.

Gardening. Always an adventure.

 

[pepperhead212]

I finished planting my peppers today, and from what I just saw, they are going to like it out there - the first day in the 90s is supposed to be Thursday! I don't like the heat, but my peppers love it - what I always remind myself when too hot out there!

I planted 3 Giuzeppi Numex, and one Ancho Ranchero, and two of each of the following: Hong Gochu, Thai Vesuvius, Superthai, Jyoti, Hanoi Market, Big Chili Numex, and Jalafuego. I had a number of extras leftover, after I had taken the ones out for my pepper friend, so I texted a guy I know from work that loved peppers (hoping he still had the same number!), and he was thrilled that I remembered him! I told him that I hate wasting pepper plants, or any, for that matter.

I also sprayed almost everything with some Messenger today - only because of the small size of the plants (I started with tomatoes, but had more than half left still), and I had a gallon of spray. This is Harpin Protein, which is a safe spray for us and beneficial insects (though not OMRI listed), that basically does to a plant what a vaccine does to us - triggers the plant to form its own antibodies against various things. I'll see how it works.

I also put another valve in my irrigation setup - one on the row of tomatoes and eggplants, where the asparagus/ginger are on the next row. I wanted to turn off the water to the tomato/eggplants, and water the ginger/asparagus section with a long soaker.

 

[cookwewill]

I started to harvest some vegetables already Here is a nice head of lettuce that I picked from my raised beds yesterday. Apparently there were some seeds left in the soil from last year so I got some early lettuce to enjoy.

And here is my secret weapon for making the most AMAZING chicken/beef soups, anyone know what it is? I bet this herb is not that known worldwide.

 

[pepperhead212]

cookwewill, Is that some sort of cutting celery, or Chinese celery? That's something I try to grow in my hydroponics, for the off season (for soups), since I don't always keep regular celery around, plus, it has an intense flavor.

Those tomatoes are growing like they are on steroids! Yet, the weather has been very cool, until this week. The great majority of them are growing incredibly well (only 3 of the 36 don't look real good), and I found several more varieties with flower buds already. And 5 of the plants have opened flowers - both 42 days and Kustengolds, and one of the Cherry Brownies. I don't remember them starting up this soon before, even starting a few early, and putting under cover. I buzzed the blossoms again today - I haven't seen many bees or other pollinators yet, even on my chive and sage blossoms, which are usually loaded. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. This was a couple of days ago, and there still weren't many today.
Italian sage flowering, 5-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

im trying little leaf. I started them from seed. o be hones, they're not thriving n the cells, so I got them in the ground hoping that they will take off with the warm weather and ill give them a boost . I already planning non getting a flat of kirbies from the local nursery before hey run out ( can have aa season without pickles). what usually happens is I pick up the flat, the ones I planted take off, and im stuck trying to find room for 24 plants that I have no room for.

Ive also heard oof country fair and Wisconsin 58. Not sure why I didnt get the seeds to try them, but ll likely doo it next year, or maybe for the second planting.

Bacteria wilt is the worst . not much you can do other than watch them shrivel and die. Ive had a plant for two here and there over the years, but last year I got clobbered . I got a decent first harvest, but then one by one they crapped out.

This year ive got thee surround in my arsenal along with some "trap" from gurneys that claims it helps just cause im desperate not to experience I again.

 

[pepperhead212]

Bacterial wilt is my problem when growing cucumbers - they are fine, one day, next morning, they are totally wilted. I have to grow county fair; I have tried little leaf, but had little production in it. The Wisconsin 58 did great last season, despite not really being resistant. I think it's something about the hairy leaves and stems, that makes them somewhat resistant to the insects that spread the wilt.

I am trying some harpin spray this year, but I'll have to get something that is not resistant to grow, to see if it works. It supposedly is like a vaccine, kicking in the plant's immune system against fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases, and this came to mind with the bacterial.

 

[larry_stewart]

I have tried little leaf, but had little production in it. .

Crap, I went all out on the little leaf. %100 of my kirbies. I think im gonna run out and get whatever they got and supplement about %50 so I dont wind up with too kirbies at all.

Ive usually grown Burpee Picklers with no issues at all until the last few years ( progressively getting worse).

 

[pepperhead212]

Hopefully you'll have better luck with the Little Leaf than I did. I used to grow various types of cucumber varieties, with no problems, but the started showing up, slowly, at first, but eventually killing any non-resistant variety - i.e. non County Fair! I was thrilled to find another supposedly resistant variety in Little Leaf, but it didn't pan out. I thought it just didn't have enough leaves to supply the energy, but it must work for some, or it wouldn't be on the market!

 

[Kathleen]

I started to harvest some vegetables already Here is a nice head of lettuce that I picked from my raised beds yesterday. Apparently there were some seeds left in the soil from last year so I got some early lettuce to enjoy.

And here is my secret weapon for making the most AMAZING chicken/beef soups, anyone know what it is? I bet this herb is not that known worldwide.

Is it lovage? I had a huge lovage plant that use to come back yearly. Am thinking of growing it again. It was wonderful in many things.

 

[larry_stewart]

I cant believe the size of my radishes. I wish I liked them. If my beets Gott that big I'd be excited. thats not even a joke, this radish totally dwarfs any beet Ive ever grown

 

[Kathleen]

Everyone's garden is looking great. I would love to grow radishes or beets. Honestly, I never have luck with most root veggies, but I love them!

 

[cookwewill]

Is it lovage? I had a huge lovage plant that use to come back yearly. Am thinking of growing it again. It was wonderful in many things.

Yup, it's lovage! A few leaves of this plant make a huge difference, I'm adding it to basically any soup I cook. It's also possible to freeze the leaves in fall, so I always make a huge stock of 'em to "survive" winter

 

[Kathleen]

Yup, it's lovage! A few leaves of this plant make a huge difference, I'm adding it to basically any soup I cook. It's also possible to freeze the leaves in fall, so I always make a huge stock of 'em to "survive" winter

I adore lovage. I really should plant it again.

 

[Kathleen]

My garlic leaves are half dead or almost all dead, but the bulbs are teeny-tiny. Thoughts on how to get larger garlic heads?

 

[pepperhead212]

Kathleen It sounds like it's too late for this year's crop, but for next season's planting I'd get a soil test. Maybe there is a shortage, or excess amount of some nutrients - if you just add fertilizer, it could be adding too much.

Even though they have a few green leaves, you'd probably be best to harvest them now. The ones that are totally dead have very little storage time, as each green leaf left gives them a layer of paper, for storage. I usually harvest when there are about 60% green, some say even more than that.