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Garden Geeks thread
- Thread starter leswp1
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walrus
Wind up workin' in a gas station
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Few weeks behind, have green tomatoes, some peppers, cukes are blossoming, zucchini are setting, beans are in full bloom. My tomatoes look like crap this year. Not much growth, I moved them around every year and have them in a corner which doesn't get sun until later in morning. Not sure if thats it or not?
Few weeks behind, have green tomatoes, some peppers, cukes are blossoming, zucchini are setting, beans are in full bloom. My tomatoes look like crap this year. Not much growth, I moved them around every year and have them in a corner which doesn't get sun until later in morning. Not sure if thats it or not?
FiveHole12
Registered User
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Lots of yellow summer and zucchini squash. Been picking and eating them for 2 weeks now. I should have been a squash farmer for a living. Have always had great success with squash.
Green tomato's on the vine. None ripe yet. Healthiest looking plants I've had in years. Getting adventurous... planted 12 different varieties this year, 2 of each.
3 sections of cukes planted. One section very healthy, the other two sections not as good, but they'll make it. No fruits yet.
Eggplant and herbs all looking healthy.
Lots of yellow summer and zucchini squash. Been picking and eating them for 2 weeks now. I should have been a squash farmer for a living. Have always had great success with squash.
Green tomato's on the vine. None ripe yet. Healthiest looking plants I've had in years. Getting adventurous... planted 12 different varieties this year, 2 of each.
3 sections of cukes planted. One section very healthy, the other two sections not as good, but they'll make it. No fruits yet.
Eggplant and herbs all looking healthy.
MadTownSioux
Fighting Sioux Hockey Fan
Re: Garden Geeks thread
1st jalapeno of the season harvested on Sunday. made a really good omelette.
1st jalapeno of the season harvested on Sunday. made a really good omelette.
Re: Garden Geeks thread
soaker hoses work much better. you can get an inexpensive kit of soaker hose - regular hose - connectors and set up a custom arrangement.
We put them in when we planted shrubs, very handy. also have them throughout the garden.
soaker hoses work much better. you can get an inexpensive kit of soaker hose - regular hose - connectors and set up a custom arrangement.
We put them in when we planted shrubs, very handy. also have them throughout the garden.
leswp1
New member
Re: Garden Geeks thread
This is the first time it has been this bad in yrs. Usually the plants on the hill are on their own and do just fine. Also the amount of hose needed to get to that area never mind populate the beds with soaker hoses would be ridiculous.
This is the first time it has been this bad in yrs. Usually the plants on the hill are on their own and do just fine. Also the amount of hose needed to get to that area never mind populate the beds with soaker hoses would be ridiculous.
Re: Garden Geeks thread
we have probably 300 feet of soaker hose and maybe 120 feet of non-soaker hose connections, on six different "circuits." Too much hose on one tap just doesn't work.
In some places, the hose is now "buried" below vinca and leaves so that you can't even see it. For the shrubs, we don't use it very often, just when it is really dry for a long time. It is just so much easier than dragging hoses and sprinklers from place to place.
We didn't lay it all out at once, it has gone through several expansions.
we have probably 300 feet of soaker hose and maybe 120 feet of non-soaker hose connections, on six different "circuits." Too much hose on one tap just doesn't work.
In some places, the hose is now "buried" below vinca and leaves so that you can't even see it. For the shrubs, we don't use it very often, just when it is really dry for a long time. It is just so much easier than dragging hoses and sprinklers from place to place.
We didn't lay it all out at once, it has gone through several expansions.
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FiveHole12
Registered User
Re: Garden Geeks thread
I started to lay down soaker hose a few years back. A few problems for veggie gardens...
Soaker hose requires about 10 psi to work properly. My well pumps out water at 70-90 psi. Need a pressure regulator to reduce the water pressure, but I need the 70-90 psi for the rest of the yard. Can be done, I had it figured out, but read below.
I have 15 raised box beds. Have to customize soaker hose and regulator per each bed. Took an hour to get half way through 1 bed with elbows and terminators, etc., and then realized I have to take this out every fall and reinstall every spring. This is so I can till the soil for the new growing season without destroying the hose. And what when I rotate the crops, which I do, so the soaker hose in one bed will be positioned incorrectly for a different veggie planting pattern the following season? Lots of work. So I tore out that soaker hose in that bed and scrapped the project.
I have a well with timed whirly bird type sprinklers that are simple and git 'er done. Takes 15 minutes to get it set up each year (two hoses, 3 sprinkler heads on top of 4' high pipe). 30 minutes of water (6:00am - 6:30 am), 3 days per week (M-W-F). Simple.
I can see where soakers work well with shrubs. Perfect for a veggie garden as well, just not very easy for my raised bed gardens. I'm with les on this one.
I started to lay down soaker hose a few years back. A few problems for veggie gardens...
Soaker hose requires about 10 psi to work properly. My well pumps out water at 70-90 psi. Need a pressure regulator to reduce the water pressure, but I need the 70-90 psi for the rest of the yard. Can be done, I had it figured out, but read below.
I have 15 raised box beds. Have to customize soaker hose and regulator per each bed. Took an hour to get half way through 1 bed with elbows and terminators, etc., and then realized I have to take this out every fall and reinstall every spring. This is so I can till the soil for the new growing season without destroying the hose. And what when I rotate the crops, which I do, so the soaker hose in one bed will be positioned incorrectly for a different veggie planting pattern the following season? Lots of work. So I tore out that soaker hose in that bed and scrapped the project.
I have a well with timed whirly bird type sprinklers that are simple and git 'er done. Takes 15 minutes to get it set up each year (two hoses, 3 sprinkler heads on top of 4' high pipe). 30 minutes of water (6:00am - 6:30 am), 3 days per week (M-W-F). Simple.
I can see where soakers work well with shrubs. Perfect for a veggie garden as well, just not very easy for my raised bed gardens. I'm with les on this one.
St. Clown
Ideas Posted are Likely Not My Own
Re: Garden Geeks thread
You can buy products that are made to simulate the smell of predatory animals' urine. Or if you have a dog, teach it to urinate near the property line that the deer cross. I think blood meal is supposed to work too, though that may just be for rabbits (it's been a while since I've had to think about this). Blood meal has the added bonus of being good for your plants, too.
You can buy products that are made to simulate the smell of predatory animals' urine. Or if you have a dog, teach it to urinate near the property line that the deer cross. I think blood meal is supposed to work too, though that may just be for rabbits (it's been a while since I've had to think about this). Blood meal has the added bonus of being good for your plants, too.
FiveHole12
Registered User
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Don't use garlic oil. It coagulates the egg whites and clogs the sprayer. From experience.
Beat two eggs very well per 1 gallon of water. Spray your plants. Deer do not like the taste of the egg. I add a little garlic powder as well. They don't like that either. Been doing it for years. It works.
Don't use garlic oil. It coagulates the egg whites and clogs the sprayer. From experience.
We tried coyote urine. The deer laughed at us. Trying soap shavings.
leswp1
New member
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Have raised beds and a hardware cloth fence. Tried soaker hoses for one season and came away with the same result. Waaaay to much work for the little area I had. The hill garden has the added challenge of being down a steep hill through some dogwoods, lawn and a rock wall. Way too much time and logistics involved to work out a viable system even if I wanted to burrow through the Civil War era rock wall (which I do not)I started to lay down soaker hose a few years back. A few problems for veggie gardens...
Soaker hose requires about 10 psi to work properly. My well pumps out water at 70-90 psi. Need a pressure regulator to reduce the water pressure, but I need the 70-90 psi for the rest of the yard. Can be done, I had it figured out, but read below.
I have 15 raised box beds. Have to customize soaker hose and regulator per each bed. Took an hour to get half way through 1 bed with elbows and terminators, etc., and then realized I have to take this out every fall and reinstall every spring. This is so I can till the soil for the new growing season without destroying the hose. And what when I rotate the crops, which I do, so the soaker hose in one bed will be positioned incorrectly for a different veggie planting pattern the following season? Lots of work. So I tore out that soaker hose in that bed and scrapped the project.
I have a well with timed whirly bird type sprinklers that are simple and git 'er done. Takes 15 minutes to get it set up each year (two hoses, 3 sprinkler heads on top of 4' high pipe). 30 minutes of water (6:00am - 6:30 am), 3 days per week (M-W-F). Simple.
I can see where soakers work well with shrubs. Perfect for a veggie garden as well, just not very easy for my raised bed gardens. I'm with les on this one.
Give up.
Tried all the above. as well as human pee after steak dinner and capcasin. Still searching for an answer. The best one I have found so far is plant stuff they won't eat. This worked until we got groundhogs and bunnies. Between them, they freaking eat everything. Dam the people who decided to reject making the local farm down the way land trust. Idjits rejected it, developers are cramming in McMansions in what used to be fields. More wildlife lost habitat. They seem to have relocated to our yard.
FiveHole12
Registered User
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Here's another solution. I put these out in the fall when the deer are feeding heavily pre winter and during winter, when natural food sources are scarce. These protect my evergreen shrubs, but work in the veggie garden as well.
Wireless Deer Fence. https://www.wirelessdeerfence.com
There's a scented tube in the center of the shocker wires. The deer are attracted to it and when they touch their nose or tongue to it... Zap. Can always tell when one got zapped... you can see the the hoof prints in the mulch around the shrub and then the disturbed mulch after he got zapped, jumped and ran. Deer have a fantastic memory, and whenever they smell the scent that associates with them getting zapped, they don't even come in the yard anymore. I see them in my neighbor's yard looking over the stone wall into my yard. I put them out every year because the newbies haven't had the exciting experience yet.
They're pricey, but work very well. Lots of info on the site for other remedies as well.
The two methods I have posted work very well for me over the last 15 years.
The egg solution didn't work? Wow. I have a bunch of deer around here and they don't eat anything I've sprayed.Tried all the above. as well as human pee after steak dinner and capcasin. Still searching for an answer. The best one I have found so far is plant stuff they won't eat. This worked until we got groundhogs and bunnies. Between them, they freaking eat everything. Dam the people who decided to reject making the local farm down the way land trust. Idjits rejected it, developers are cramming in McMansions in what used to be fields. More wildlife lost habitat. They seem to have relocated to our yard.
Here's another solution. I put these out in the fall when the deer are feeding heavily pre winter and during winter, when natural food sources are scarce. These protect my evergreen shrubs, but work in the veggie garden as well.
Wireless Deer Fence. https://www.wirelessdeerfence.com
There's a scented tube in the center of the shocker wires. The deer are attracted to it and when they touch their nose or tongue to it... Zap. Can always tell when one got zapped... you can see the the hoof prints in the mulch around the shrub and then the disturbed mulch after he got zapped, jumped and ran. Deer have a fantastic memory, and whenever they smell the scent that associates with them getting zapped, they don't even come in the yard anymore. I see them in my neighbor's yard looking over the stone wall into my yard. I put them out every year because the newbies haven't had the exciting experience yet.
They're pricey, but work very well. Lots of info on the site for other remedies as well.
The two methods I have posted work very well for me over the last 15 years.
Re: Garden Geeks thread
Hmm...
It works really well for our vegetable garden, we have separate beds with paths in between (including some raised beds) and sprinklers watering the path just seemed wasteful to us. You have a well, we pay for water we use, so that there is an economic incentive for us to reduce waste.
For pressure regulator, a circular disk with a small hole in it works really well for us. It came with the kit. You just place it inside the female connector like a washer.
We do not use elbows in the beds, merely snake the hose back and forth in serpentine. Just lift it up in the spring, till the soil, put it back down again.
Also, only the vegetable garden soaker goes directly to the water supply. for the others, I have a long piece of thin rope attached to the end of each soaker (so that I can find it), then drag the supply hose over and connect it.
For some plants, you don't want the water on the leaves in hot weather, I forget why (for roses, I think there is risk of a fungus of some kind).
The one problem is leaks. That can be annoying, you have to cut out a small section and then reconnect the ends. Not a problem in some areas, really challenging in others because of restricted access.
Different things for different layouts in different parts of the country. One other factor that you might have to deal with in fifteen or twenty years is the physical labor of dragging the hoses around. You can scoff at one age and then nod your head at another. I don't mind it (yet) but for my wife it is different. A long hose full of water is heavy for her and there are lots of places to water.
I started to lay down soaker hose a few years back. A few problems for veggie gardens...
Soaker hose requires about 10 psi to work properly. My well pumps out water at 70-90 psi. Need a pressure regulator to reduce the water pressure, but I need the 70-90 psi for the rest of the yard. Can be done, I had it figured out, but read below.
I have 15 raised box beds. Have to customize soaker hose and regulator per each bed. Took an hour to get half way through 1 bed with elbows and terminators, etc., and then realized I have to take this out every fall and reinstall every spring. This is so I can till the soil for the new growing season without destroying the hose. And what when I rotate the crops, which I do, so the soaker hose in one bed will be positioned incorrectly for a different veggie planting pattern the following season? Lots of work. So I tore out that soaker hose in that bed and scrapped the project.
I have a well with timed whirly bird type sprinklers that are simple and git 'er done. Takes 15 minutes to get it set up each year (two hoses, 3 sprinkler heads on top of 4' high pipe). 30 minutes of water (6:00am - 6:30 am), 3 days per week (M-W-F). Simple.
I can see where soakers work well with shrubs. Perfect for a veggie garden as well, just not very easy for my raised bed gardens. I'm with les on this one.
Hmm...
It works really well for our vegetable garden, we have separate beds with paths in between (including some raised beds) and sprinklers watering the path just seemed wasteful to us. You have a well, we pay for water we use, so that there is an economic incentive for us to reduce waste.
For pressure regulator, a circular disk with a small hole in it works really well for us. It came with the kit. You just place it inside the female connector like a washer.
We do not use elbows in the beds, merely snake the hose back and forth in serpentine. Just lift it up in the spring, till the soil, put it back down again.
Also, only the vegetable garden soaker goes directly to the water supply. for the others, I have a long piece of thin rope attached to the end of each soaker (so that I can find it), then drag the supply hose over and connect it.
For some plants, you don't want the water on the leaves in hot weather, I forget why (for roses, I think there is risk of a fungus of some kind).
The one problem is leaks. That can be annoying, you have to cut out a small section and then reconnect the ends. Not a problem in some areas, really challenging in others because of restricted access.
Different things for different layouts in different parts of the country. One other factor that you might have to deal with in fifteen or twenty years is the physical labor of dragging the hoses around. You can scoff at one age and then nod your head at another. I don't mind it (yet) but for my wife it is different. A long hose full of water is heavy for her and there are lots of places to water.
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