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  • #76
    Re: Garden Geeks thread

    Originally posted by Carter View Post
    Very cool indeed! So how many tomatoes do you ultimately plant in your garden? We usually have around 8 plants.

    We usually put in 24 - 36 and grow them vertically. We don't use cages, instead we use bamboo poles that go up around 10 feet or so (long A-frames). i pinch off the side branches so there is only 1 main stem until around 4' to 5' off the ground, and the plants are around 12" apart.

    In good years we'll have enough tomatoes to eat, to give away, and to make sauce (around 5 gallons). However, the past two year's we've had blight. This year we are trying 16 tomatoes 24" apart instead. Put them in the ground yesterday.
    "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

    "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

    "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

    "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

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    • #77
      Re: Garden Geeks thread

      Garden planted today. Peas, beans, lettuce, broccoli, and squash.
      Embrace the hate.

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      • #78
        Re: Garden Geeks thread

        Originally posted by nmu_27 View Post
        Garden planted today. Peas, beans, lettuce, broccoli, and squash.
        Yeah, I tilled on Tuesday, and when my wife got home from work she set out the plants. Tomatoes, hot peppers, broccoli, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. On Friday, I planted the wall-o-beans, and we set out some more rhubarb plants. A question for the other gardeners. When we set out the broccoli and kohlrabi, I went down to check it the next day. One of the plants looked completely wilted, leaves just flat on the soil. When I touched them, I realized they'd been nipped off right at or below ground level. Over the next 2 days, about 3 more plants met a similar fate. So what's doing this? Each plant has 2' high chicken wire around it, which keeps bunnies out. It also largely discourages birds. Is there some kind of bug that bites off these plants? Or is it perhaps brave birds?
        "This world is your world. Take it easy, but take it." - Woody Guthrie

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        • #79
          Re: Garden Geeks thread

          Originally posted by Carter View Post
          Is there some kind of bug that bites off these plants? ?
          Yes on the bug but for the life of me I can't remember whats it called. I remember what my parents used to stop it from happening though, a square of tar paper, maybe 4 inches, one slit to the middle, slide it over the stem and leave it. The tar paper surrounds the stem and touches the ground
          I swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell.

          Maine Hockey Love it or Leave it

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          • #80
            Re: Garden Geeks thread

            Originally posted by walrus View Post
            Yes on the bug but for the life of me I can't remember whats it called. I remember what my parents used to stop it from happening though, a square of tar paper, maybe 4 inches, one slit to the middle, slide it over the stem and leave it. The tar paper surrounds the stem and touches the ground
            Thanks for the insider knowledge!
            "This world is your world. Take it easy, but take it." - Woody Guthrie

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            • #81
              Re: Garden Geeks thread

              Cut worms, or in my case voles.

              Update on the plant sale at church. 420$. Absolutely blown away! Most we have ever made!

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              • #82
                Re: Garden Geeks thread

                Cut worms, correct. You can also slip a cardboard tube around the seedling, maybe an inch long, 1/2 in the ground, 1/2 inch out, cardboard tube from paper towel roll or toilet paper or make your own. It will dissolve after awhile but once seedlings get going. I'm thinking the tar paper deal stops another type of worm from laying eggs at the base of the seedling. I should have written all that stuff down Lots of tricks to organic gardening and I saw quite a few but if you don't have the problem you forget about them.
                Last edited by walrus; 05-20-2012, 06:04 PM.
                I swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell.

                Maine Hockey Love it or Leave it

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                • #83
                  Re: Garden Geeks thread

                  Originally posted by walrus View Post
                  Cut worms, correct. You can also slip a cardboard tube around the seedling, maybe an inch long, 1/2 in the ground, 1/2 inch out, cardboard tube from paper towel roll or toilet paper or make your own. It will dissolve after awhile but once seedlings get going. I'm thinking the tar paper deal stops another type of worm from laying eggs at the base of the seedling. I should have written all that stuff down Lots of tricks to organic gardening and I saw quite a few but if you don't have the problem you forget about them.
                  You can also use a sleeve of knee high with the toe cut off.

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                  • #84
                    Re: Garden Geeks thread

                    For cut worms I use the type of paper they wrap meats in at the butcher shop... the kind of paper with a waxy coating on one side. I cut 2" wide strips and staple them loosely around the plant stem. 1" under ground, 1" above. The cutworms don't hurt large stems, only the thin stemmed young transplants. The paper biodegrades over the summer. Wax paper would work also but longer to biodegrade.

                    Planted tomatoes, cukes, summer and zucchini squash, onions and eggplant this weekend. Spinach and beets have been in the ground a while.

                    FWIW... I planted 24 tomato plants and didn't protect against cut worms this year. I'm gonna be bummed if I lose them.
                    'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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                    • #85
                      Re: Garden Geeks thread

                      We used to just put a nail in next to the stem. We were told the cut worm is a bug that wraps its body around the stem and the nail prevents them from doing that. I don't know if that worked, or we just didn't have the cut worms around.

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                      • #86
                        Re: Garden Geeks thread

                        Originally posted by nmu_27 View Post
                        Garden planted today. Peas, beans, lettuce, broccoli, and squash.
                        Planted in the last 2 weeks: Potatoes, corn, watermelon, carrots, pole and bush beans, onions, hot and sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

                        Long-term goodness: Hops, currents, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb.

                        My next-door neighbor told me he came home late Friday, and his headlights picked up 5 big fat rabbits patrolling the edge of the garden. Time for a pellet gun!
                        Fighting Sioux Forever

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                        • #87
                          Re: Garden Geeks thread

                          Originally posted by MadTownSioux View Post
                          Planted in the last 2 weeks: Potatoes, corn, watermelon, carrots, pole and bush beans, onions, hot and sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

                          Long-term goodness: Hops, currents, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb.

                          My next-door neighbor told me he came home late Friday, and his headlights picked up 5 big fat rabbits patrolling the edge of the garden. Time for a pellet gun!
                          If you like eating wild rabbit, that'll work.
                          If not, try planting some marigolds around the perimeter of the garden.
                          Another solution, which works for deer as well... beat 2 eggs to 1 gallon of water (I use 6 eggs for my 3 gallon sprayer). Beat the eggs very well so they don't clog the sprayer. Optional: I also add a little garlic powder. Spray on on your plants and the deer and rabbits won't eat them. I does work and a lot cheaper than store bought solutions. Only problem is you have to spray again after a rain.
                          'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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                          • #88
                            Re: Garden Geeks thread

                            got the outdoor stuff in Saturday, already had the tomatoes, grapes, peppers and dill in the greenhouse going. Already had the strawberries and garlic going outside. Saturday planted the potatoes, squash, cukes, carrots, leafy greens, beans, peas, snap peas, sunflowers, dahlias, basil and then got a solid inch of rain on Sunday. Need some sun to dry things out a little, I've had it happen before where all the seed rotted in the ground. Hoping for a good year.
                            Huskies are very intelligent and trainable. Huskies make an excellent jogging companion, as long as it is not too hot. Grooming is minimal; bathing is normally unnecessary.
                            USCHO Fantasy Baseball Champion 2011 2013 2015

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                            • #89
                              Re: Garden Geeks thread

                              Tomato plants have wilted in the recent heat. Pretty much done until the weather cools down in the fall. The main mission this summer will be to help the new grapefruit, lemon, apple, and peach trees survive their first summer.
                              Originally posted by Priceless
                              Good to see you're so reasonable.
                              Originally posted by ScoobyDoo
                              Very well, said.
                              Originally posted by Rover
                              A fair assessment Bob.

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                              • #90
                                Re: Garden Geeks thread

                                Planting this weekend. Haven't really thought about what, besides cucumbers, basil and dill. Strawberries are looking good so far - I might actually get berries.

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