Well I finished my fence posts! HURRAY! I'll need to buy some nails to finish everything up. It's a little discouraging the way that everybody around me is telling me "how to do it." I'm the only one that EVER works the garden, and yet everybody else seems to have a criticizing opinion 8-(

Dad's not going to till today (he leaves for work in a few minutes). He thinks he might be able to do some tomorrow. Not getting the tilling done means that the onions will not be going in today

Dad fixed the broken hoe (with duct tape) and between my garden rake and my hoe we got the current stuff hoed and weeded.

Using the repaired hoe and rake, I might be able to break up the ground recently vacated by the onions enough to plant my lettuces. It's going to be a rainy weekend, which would be good for them.

DiGoRyKiRkE wrote:
I'd need to know the other variables that are missing. What plants were they? Where did you keep them? What kind of soil did you have them planted in? How often did you water them? How much sunlight did they get each day? Did you start the plants from seed, or from already sprouted plants?

fantasia_kitty wrote: Same questions as what DiGs asked. Need more info. If I were to guess, I'd say too much heat and too little water. That seems to be the number one culprit of baby plants dying.

They were tomatoes, herbs, peppers, onions, squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe. We keep then in the shade under our back porch. We watered them everyday in the morning. We put them in the sun for like 30 min. so they could get some light. And we did start them from seeds.

fantasia_kitty wrote: Funny you should ask because last night I was out planting grapes. They're not a plant I'd recommend for the novice gardener, they require a lot of attention and work. Again, same question as DiGs, what is it you want to know about them?

We were just wondering if they would be fun sometime in the future!
oh an thanks for the pictures of the squash fantasia_kitty

It makes me squeal with joy to see things living in the ground!

Thanks you all!

They were tomatoes, herbs, peppers, onions, squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe. We keep then in the shade under our back porch. We watered them everyday in the morning. We put them in the sun for like 30 min. so they could get some light. And we did start them from seeds.

OK, now that we have a little more groundwork, here's what I think happened:

My guess is that the tomatoes and peppers did not get enough sunlight. These two guys need a LOT of sun. In the heat you have to make sure to keep them watered (it actually hard to over water them once the plants are big) but they need lots and lots of sun

I'm guessing that your onions got root bound. Onions need to have a lot of room to grow. I've never heard of them doing well in pots (which is what I'm assuming you did seeing as they were able to be moved.)

I've never grown the others, but those are my diagnoses.

That's so weird Lady Lilliandil (re: your baby plants) because it sounds like you did everything right. What kind of soil did you use?

Re grapes: When my husband was little, he planted two concord grape vines near the chicken yard and those things took off. Nearly every year we get more grapes off of those things than we know what to do with (thankfully my sister-in-law makes lots and lots of tasty jelly ).
There's a lot more work that should be involved, but that's what happened with a couple vines that were left to their own devices. The one thing grapes really do need is something to climb.

ETA: Crossposted with DiGs....

My guess is that the tomatoes and peppers did not get enough sunlight.

I'm sure that's correct in Ohio, but we're talking Texas here. I find even in Kansas that "full sun" doesn't always mean full sun. So while a lack of sun would probably cause considerable yellowing, I just can't imagine that they'd shrivel up and die... I could be wrong.

I've never heard of them doing well in pots...

Actually, that's another good question. What were you growing them in Lady Lilliandil? Seed starting trays? Big giant pots?

DiGoRyKiRkE wrote:My guess is that the tomatoes and peppers did not get enough sunlight. These two guys need a LOT of sun. In the heat you have to make sure to keep them watered (it actually hard to over water them once the plants are big) but they need lots and lots of sun

I'm guessing that your onions got root bound. Onions need to have a lot of room to grow. I've never heard of them doing well in pots (which is what I'm assuming you did seeing as they were able to be moved.)

I've never grown the others, but those are my diagnoses.

The crazy thing is, is that when we put the poor things in the sun they fried in like 5 seconds. So we don't know what happened. We watered them like nuts too, right before we stuck them out there. We planed them in these seed starting peat pots for... well... seed starting

fantasia_kitty wrote:
What kind of soil did you use?

this seed starting soil. We think that maybe they did not grow because of the soil. Its super airy and light. When we planted the other stuff in the ground it came up right away, and our soil has lots of clay in it too. So... who knows??

Lady Lilliandil, let me tell you what I do since about the only difference between Texas and Kansas weather is that you get warm earlier than we do.

I start my seeds in Miracle Grow Potting Soil and plant starting trays. Make sure you pack the soil down, otherwise it is way loose and fluffy. (As a side note, I've purchased Jiffy brand potting soil before and I HATE it. Horrible stuff... Too much peat.) Water and then cover with a clear covering so you make a faux-greenhouse. If you have just a few individual pots, plastic sandwich baggies work wonders. Keep it in direct sunlight, like a south facing window, as much as possible. If it's above 50F, out they go. The sooner you can break them into full heat and full sun, the better they will do.

I have a greenhouse which gets insanely hot when hit by the sun so I can get away with putting my stuff out in January. The one thing I'd definitely watch is the colder temps. I try to bring seeds in when it drops below 50F. Once they're bigger they can fend for themselves. (Though obviously I still watch for freezing temperatures.)

I'm sure that sprouting and growing in the cool shade and then suddenly hit with the scorching Texas sun is what did them in. That's why I never start broccoli from seed anymore, because no matter how much I baby it, I always cook it.

Got a good deal of gardening done today (and I didn't even plan on doing so ).

-Found about 10 good pieces of wood that will make good cross posts for my fence. I still have to solve the problem of attaching them. Mom and I are going to Menards tonight; I'll see if they have what I need to finish the job

-After asking Dad to till about 3 more rows of my garden, I was delighted to find that he tilled about 100 square feet! The garden is now probably 5/8 of the way tilled.

-Got my lettuces in the ground. I could almost hear them sigh for relief after spending the past week and a half sitting in the garage still in their little plastic containers.

-I planted 4 dozen onion sets for green onions (which gave me two rows about five feet long)

-I planted 2 garlic bulbs (which gave me two rows each about four feet long)

-I went back into the riverbed and made some more stone markers for the newly planted stuff. Got those polished up and "markered"

-I watered everything due to the gorgeous weather today

Probably won't be much to report for the next week or so. A cold front is coming through tonight and it'll take temps from the mid 70's (as it has been for the past two days) down to the upper 40's. Some nights are going to be dipping down into the mid 30's, which means I'll have to pay very close attention to the frost advisories. (Which stinks, because after today, I have a lot more to cover ).

Not much else going to be going into the ground until mid-May (our last frost date) at which time the peppers, cucumbers, beans and tomatoes will go into the ground. The only thing I could foresee MAYBE getting put in would be the cabbages and broccoli. . . but I don't know whether or not I'm even going to plant those this year.

It's really exciting to go back and read y'all's beginning updates and how they are now.

I think the last time I updated in here was March, RE my dead tomato plants. (I'm sorry you've gone through the same thing, Lady Lilliandil! I hope you can find out the symptom and can get some more planted!)

I need to take an official count of everything I have, but there are a couple plants I'm not sure about, because I didn't take the time to label somethings, thinking I'd figure out what they were somehow. I did for the basil, okra, and parsley, but I'm unsure about everything else that I didn't lable otherwise. Also, with some herbs, I wasn't very careful with potting and kind of threw a large amount of seeds in a small container, something I'm unexplainably frustrated at myself for. >.> <.<

The tomatoes (the ones I started in Feb) are so beautiful and big! I have about 5 or 6 ones that are really tall. I had restarted some more tomatoes (mainly Alicantes and Romas) and some are coming up nicely.

The peppers are doing alright, but they haven't really grown much taller during the past couple weeks. The haven't been getting much sunlight, so could that be the problem?

I have some okra, too, that I planted but apart from being two inches, it hasn't really grown substantially. Might sunlight be the issue here, too?

I have some basil that's coming along beautifully! And there's some other stuff that's just having a ball, but I can't really tell what they are at the moment.

So, in March, our kind neighbours lent us their 4-tier greenhouse to keep the seedlings safe, so all my plants are in there. I've been bringing them out and leaving the flap unzipped for some time. They're not in a very sunny location, but most of those seedlings were started in pretty tough conditions/were already almost hardened off before I put them in the greenhouse, so I'm not *too* worried, although I'd better be on the safe side.

Good news, too! My everbearing strawberry plant that sat in the snow for who knows how long is actually abloom! (one teeny tiny strawberry has formed, too. ) I have a question for this thing: The flap attached to the pot when I bought the plant says that there are new plants and that new plants grow at the end of runners and can replace old plants. It looks crowded, too, and as if it can produce more if I repotted it, but i have no idea what to do. I cut one or two little branches off and put them in water to sprout roots, but I think I really need to repot it. ... but how should I start new plants to replace the old ones? Thanks in advance!

I know I need to till and dig, because I probably should put everything in the ground by next week.... *is really behind on it* Our soil is incredibly alkaline and hasn't been worked with in some time, so we bought some Moo-Nure to add to it. I really, really hope it'll help. Should I dig and add the Moo-Nure, and put the plants in the ground within the same day or the day after, or should I dig now, add the Moo-Nure, and then transplant the plants a little later than next week?

There's quite a bit more, but I need to do some repotting and put everything down in an inventory for planning where I'll put them in the ground, so I'll share the list when I've done that.

Thanks, Digs, for sharing that bit about growing peas into a watermelon rind/orange peel. I'll have to try that sometime! Thanks for the idea!!

And thank-you Digs, and fantasia for enlightening me on hardening off tomatoes grown indoors. I think the tomatoes that died because of that will serve as a unforgettable lesson for me.

Some recovered, mostly the ones from the heirloom pack, I think, and I believe one Alicante survived, as well. I'm not sure about the Romas, but I did restart a good amount more and most of them are off to a good start. HOWEVER, I accidentally set covered jars in direct sunlight... and I think I cooked some of the seeds. Lovely. But, otherwise, things are looking pretty good! It's just getting them in the ground that's going to be a really hard task.

The haven't been getting much sunlight, so could that be the problem?

I would say "yes." Only because peppers are South American plants, and as such, they are used to a LOT of sun

I have some okra, too, that I planted but apart from being two inches, it hasn't really grown substantially. Might sunlight be the issue here, too?

Not so much here. Okra loves heat. No. . . it ADORES heat. It doesn't really take off until the temps hit at least 85+.

Mom and I went to Wal-Mart tonight, and I can check another "dream plant" off of my list! They had Elephant Ear Bulbs (Colocasia). The plant is a GORGEOUS foliage bulb that needs to be dug up in the fall. . . but I'm SOOOOOOOO looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about. . . here's a pic

Now that might be unrealistic. . . so here's what I'm expecting

We also bought two pretty pink annuals (which I can't remember the names of) and some lovely and cheerful orange poppies.

I haven't had much to report lately, I've been spending my spare time getting ready for my honeybees to arrive hopefully next week. Gardening has been put on hold. Here are the few little tidbits I can report.

FARM

~Pretty much everything I've planted has sprouted.
~My sister and I planted the "Three Sisters" garden last week and royally messed it up. (Well, she didn't really have anything to do with it, it was mostly me.) We didn't mark which mounds contained what and so about half of the area the squash, beans, and corn are all coming up in the same mound. *headdesk**headesk* So it may require some upcoming surgery to correct. That was a bit frustrating, but you know, lesson learned. Next year we'll try it again and MARK OUR STUFF.
~We spread ammonium sulfate on all of the farm currents and gooseberries in the hopes that it will spur them into production. They've been there for so long that there's probably no nutrients in the soil where they're growing.
~The two Peach Trees we planted are now staked so they'll hopefully grow straight up and produce lots of peaches.
~Speaking of which, almost all of the fruit trees on the farm have fruit on them.
~The grapes look good. Once the bees are in their new hives, building some structure for the grapes to vine up will be our top priority.

HOME

~ I've been waging war with the bermuda grass in my garden and I've actually been winning. We're gonna hit it with roundup sometime this week and put it in its place. We haven't decided on doing this for sure yet, but I think I'm going to reseed the garden area of my backyard with white clover. (We're wanting to order some for the bees at the farm. )
~As soon as I'm done with this post, I hope to go plant my peppers and eggplant. Or at least get started on it. The tomatoes will have to wait til I can get my structure up.

I think that's about it on my end.

I need to take an official count of everything I have, but there are a couple plants I'm not sure about, because I didn't take the time to label somethings, thinking I'd figure out what they were somehow.

I can attempt to help you if you want to post pictures on here or FB.

The peppers are doing alright, but they haven't really grown much taller during the past couple weeks. The haven't been getting much sunlight, so could that be the problem?

I can't quite remember what peppers you planted, but I can tell you that peppers are one of the pickiest plants to grow WELL. (They'll always sort of grow. ) It seems like they want it super hot for the plant to go crazy, but then they want it cooler to put on loads of peppers. Picky things. I have less trouble with hot and spicy peppers, but bell peppers usually put on peppers a week or two before our first hard frost.

Re: Strawberries: Um, you have some fertilizer right? If so, read the directions and add some of that to your pot. Repotting can be pretty tramatic to plants so you don't want to do it unless they're root bound. Instead, I'd suggest pulling out your little offshoots and put those in new pots.

I know I need to till and dig, because I probably should put everything in the ground by next week.... *is really behind on it*

I have a general idea of where you live and I can't imagine you're behind as of yet. What are your overnight lows? I try to wait until we're in the upper 40Fs/lower 50Fs.

Re: Moo-Nure ( ): Just mix it in when you plant stuff. About 50% soil and 50% manure unless otherwise specified on the bag.

@DiGs, have fun with those Elephant Ears! LOL

I have been coerced into posting in here ( @ FK ).

I did a little bit of gardening yesterday. One of the flower beds here was getting a little "weedy" and so I used our garden weasel to break up the ground again. In so doing, I found that the ferns I planted last year actually survived, and are coming back up! This surprised me, because they didn't do very well last summer, and I didn't think they'd do well this summer. In an attempt to help them out, I moved them to an area that gets more water, but which drains fairly well. (They're down by my bleeding heart bush).

Speaking of that, it's not doing the best, but it does have a solitary bud on it, so it's at least not dying.

After breaking up the ground, and putting some Preen down (that stuff is amazing by the way!) I planted my three elephant ear bulbs around our chimney. I absolute cannot wait to see how they do!

After that, I planted my mom's newest acquisition (another dianthus) in the spot vacated by last year's verbena plant. Nothing that has ever been planted in that place has done well (I think the soil is too stony), but we'll see how it does.

And then I rounded out the afternoon by planting the last three violas that I purchased nearly a month ago. They were starting to get heinously root bound in their plastic containers, so here's hoping that they can pull through, spread, and thrive.

That's about it on my end.

I have been coerced into posting in here ( @ FK ).

Yeah, there was a lot of begging and pleading and a few thinly veiled threats...

Nothing that has ever been planted in that place has done well (I think the soil is too stony), but we'll see how it does.

Add compost!

Well, I got 3 eggplants and 3 peppers in the ground, mulched, and well watered the other day and they all look super happy. I started off trying some cool design so I could separate the hot peppers from the mild peppers with eggplant, but then I realized I had messed up (well, my discovery of a patch of that evil Bermuda grass messed it up) so now it's going to look really random and jumbled. Ah well. I plan to hit that Bermuda pretty hard with some round up today and hopefully that will take care of it. I also plant to put in my last eggplant and three peppers. And I MUST MUST MUST get my Basil and Parsley in the ground today too.
The tomatoes... I haven't quite figured out where I want to put them yet, I just know I want them to grow up this leftover piece of horse fence I have. I did that at the farm last year and I really liked the way it looked (well, before everything died from the heat, that is).

My husband must have gotten sick of my whining cause he convinced another couple coworkers to take some plants off of my hands. I sent in another 8 plants with him this morning. So now I only have 48 plants to stick out at the farm and 15 here (6 of those are planted). That's all.

Yesterday was mostly spent at the farm working on bee stuff, but I did plant the replacement Liberty apple tree. By the way, I have to put in a good word for Gurney's, they replaced our apple tree and gooseberries that didn't survive the heat last year for free, no questions asked. I think they only do that for their trees and fruit bushes, but even so, that's really nice of them.

Guess what y'all!!
My squash plant is growing a little squash on it!!!! WooooHoooo its been like a month!!! After like 4 billion flowers it finally has something growing on it!!!

Our zucchini sprouts have 3 to 4 little leaves on them!!

6 cantaloupe sprouts came up on one mound!

We are going to buy a watermelon sprout to put in a cantaloupe mound that did not come out and we are getting a tomato, and a pepper one for our barren cucumber mound.

We are also going to edge our garden in a little white picket fence!!

I can't wait!!

I had a radish out in my garden! WOO HOO! I went out to check them today (nearly sinking in the muck and mud that resulted from the rain we've gotten overnight and all morning), but there it was! It was about as big around as a quarter (is this typical for Cherry-Belle?), and it had a little bit of heat associated with it.

I more or less planted the radishes to give away as gifts, because a lot of the people I know love them. . . but it's nice to know that I'm able to grow a root vegetable without incident

@Lady Lilliandil, That's awesome about everything sprouting. You're definitely having a fair bit of success.

@DiGs, I saw the pictures of your radishes on Facebook, they look great.

Well I posted above about my husband taking in another round of plants for his coworkers, another lady there saw them and was like 'oh, do you have any more?' so I sent in another four tomato plants for her yesterday. I'm finally getting down to a reasonable amount of plants, but I still have several extra Cherokee Purple and Random Heirloom tomatoes.

Yesterday I discovered that one of my Sun Gold cherry tomato plants has two tomatoes on it that are already bigger than peas. I need to get my tomatoes in the ground asap!
We finally sprayed the backyard with Roundup last night (die Bermuda grass!!!) so that will take a few days to kill things off, after that, the tomatoes can go in.
The stuff for the farm... I'm just going to have to take a couple days this week to go up and plant things like mad.

ETA: Taking all of the plants to the farm today. I have 9 tomatoes and 1 pepper left here (my tomatoes and my sister's tomatoes and pepper). The greenhouse has been significantly reduced in plant life. Until next year!

ETA April 29, 2012 @ 12:08pm CDT: My sweet potatoes came yesterday. I hope to stick them in the garden very soon. It's a little mucky right now since we got RAIN last night and early this morning.