Update

[drivepirate]

Quick post before I head off to work. Last night I dug a new bed on the south side of the house. I am amended the soil with everything I had including lime and horse compost. Then and only then did I look up potato info and I read that your NOT supposed to add lime OR fresh manure. I planted the Russets anyways. We'll see.

About my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. They are getting thick and healthy in the 4" pots and it just got unseasonably warm for the next week. So I wonder if I should plant them in the hot sun, wait until it cools off, or plant them and go buy the stuff to shade them. I also wonder if I should mulch the beds I just seeded. I think the beans could push through but not sure about the beets. Also thinking about mulching as soon as I transplant the peppers and tomatoes.

 

[Randy]

A couple of days ago I heard one of the weather guessers say that with our weather patterns, it is highly unlikely we have to be concerned about frost from this point. That said, it's pretty safe to get the plants into the ground. I don't think you have to worry about shading though as long as they have their feet (roots) in moist earth. The nights are still getting pretty cool, so the ground temperature could still be low. If it is, the plants may not show much in the way of growth for awhile. When I have planted tomatoes they sometimes look like they just aren't doing all that well, but when the soil temperature gets up to what they like, they can really take off.

 

[drivepirate]

The nights are still getting pretty cool, so the ground temperature could still be low. If it is, the plants may not show much in the way of growth for awhile. When I have planted tomatoes they sometimes look like they just aren't doing all that well, but when the soil temperature gets up to what they like, they can really take off.

This makes me wonder if I should keep them in the 4" pots for another few weeks. They are growing well right now but I worry about them getting too root bound.

Also I have the beds prepped and composted but I never bothered to water them. It might be better to water and get things cooking but then again it might not matter...

I just realized that last night I planted my potatoes upside down (with the sprouts pointed down). Anyone think I should dig them up or will they figure it out on their own?

 

[mr_yan]

This is my first year with potatoes really but I know I knocked off a few sprouts when I thought I should move one of mine. While I can't answer your question I know if you do dig be careful.

For the tomatoes have you thought about floating row covers or low hoops? If they're small enough you can cover them with milk jugs that have the bottoms cut out. That is if you're really wanting to get them in the ground.

I just potted up my tomatoes and hot peppers from 1.5" peat pots to 4" plastic. While I think I can get mine in the ground with some babying I'll still wait 2 weeks here - northern Illinois. This is the reason I'm plotting / dreaming about getting a greenhouse for my backyard.

 

[drivepirate]

Update time!

Well the honeymoon seems to be over with the weather and the garden. In the previous weeks the weather was warm and about 75% of our seeds came up. We reseeded some pole beans and a handful of beets where the first round failed and then the weather went haywire. It dropped to daytime highs of 62 and night lows of 45 degrees. Also it started pouring rain and has continued heavily for the last 4 days.

Here is the peas and beans

This morning I was talking to a customer and I mentioned my tomatoes and that they must be hating the cold. The customer told me that it's not the cold but in fact the amount of water that is bad for them. This makes sense to me because when I think of tomato weather I tend to think of Florida.. Hot, humid and, not a lot of rain. So since I all ready had the hoops around the tomatoes I decided to toss some plastic over them. It couldn't really hurt at this point I don't think.

Last night I was looking around at ways to train cucumbers up a trellis. I saw some neat stuff but most of the ideas were going to co$t me some ca$h so I just put some sticks in the ground and tied them to the main trellis, then to the plants. I hope it works.

In watching the youtubes last night I saw a little about "suckers" and how to identify them. As I understand it these "suckers" are like an extra plant growing in the "armpit" between the main stock and a main leaf branch that don't really help the plant. I'm considering pinching these off from my tomatoes and cucumbers at least around the bottom. What do you all think?

My potatoes seem to be growing pretty fast. I'm not sure how often to "hill" them though. I have read books that just say "keep covering them" and others that say to hill your mound up every 6 inches. So I'm thinking I'll just mound em up every weekend until I run out of space or dirt. I'm proud of those little spuds. They aren't in the sunniest spot but they are growing and they look great! I'm thinking about planting coriander near the potatoes because I have read that it deters Colorado potato beetles.

I started 3 different squash, a coriander and, a heirloom pole bean in our mud room but nothing came up after 2 weeks so I moved them into the house and planted them again in more containers. One of the first squash came up the next day and has been reaching for the sunlight for the last 4 days but still no action on anything else.I hope they join the party soon

Out front I used my newly developed horse bedding compost/lime/slow release fertilizer technique around what is left of the lettuce from last fall and decided to plant carrots and parsnips all around it. I read that carrots help lettuce and I all ways wanted to try parsnips. The instructions on the parsnips say they are slow to germinate (24 days!) and a mole made a huge run right through their bed a few days after I sowed them so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they come up ok...

 

[Randy]

Moles are my nemesis here and they have taken a high percentage of my root crops. I never had good luck with squash until the soil warmed up to about 60 degrees. I have used those tomato cages for cucumber supports and they work very well. I have an old bedspring from a twin bed too that would work well but I don't need it.

 

[drivepirate]

I may go with tomato cages if my old trellis doesn't work with the cucumbers. I finally had a couple more squash come up. Do you all use some type of soil probe thermometer to check the soil? What do they co$t?

 

[Randy]

I have one for moisture content, but have rarely use it. It isn't that hard to pick up some dirt and crumble it in your hand. As gardeners, we often over water, so when I water I try and water deep and reduce the frequency. You are using a lot of containers though and that doesn't apply. I think a probe would be just the ticket for containers.