Gardening- For those who love to grow.

**rjk** · April-12-09, 03:01 PM

Any advice for a 1st time potato grower?

I'm thinking of having a raised bed separate from my vegetable garden.
How many potatoes could I get out of a 3'x6' bed?

Thanks.

**cycledetroit** · April-12-09, 08:12 PM

I also am trying Potatoes for the first time this year. I have been reading a lot about growing them in a bag, a garbage can, or a stack of old tires. I think I am going for the tires, because I can paint them, and they might look cool. Here is a link. .. http://www.kiddiegardens.com/growing..._in_tires.html

**eriedearie** · April-12-09, 08:35 PM

Sounds like this guy knows his potato growing stuff.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4418748_cure-potatoes.html

**jams** · April-16-09, 09:14 PM

Nothing of relevance to say at this moment, other than bump.

**sumas** · April-18-09, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by GOAT

I have scale on all of my Euonymous plants. Hoping to spray dormant oil to kill the bastards but it I don't get them all then I have to spray an insecticide which is now banned by the OnTaliban gov't in Ontario.

This is not fun because I have a lot of Euonymous in my landscaping.

If anyone else has had this issue let me know how it turned out. Thanks.

I worked as a gardener for a couple with extensive landscaping. Lots of Euonymous in seven different gardens. One beautifully trained hedge on a stone wall developed scale. I tried everything known to man to save it. Nothing worked.

Fotunately it did not spread because I cleaned my shears with rubbing alcohol after pruning each shrub. I also did root injection fertilizer to help the health of the other shrubs Also use dormant oil religiously on non infected planting too as a preventative measure.

**sumas** · April-18-09, 06:26 AM

This weather is driving me nuts. Have lots of customers lined up for work but between snow, rain and just plain cold we are two weeks behind schedule. Now I look at the forecast for next week and it will be rain, rain and more rain.

This weekend will of course be beautiful. Weekends are when we work free for community gardens, friends and family. We are spending two days at a friends doing a major yard clean up. I know I am whining but I can't do my service to community if income from paid work is limited to a few days a week.

This year I will be doing a large veggie garden. I am a whiz at landscape design and maintenance of evergreens, flowering shrubs and ornametals but have always sucked at the practical things. I hope people will share advice on kitchen gardens here.

Also thanks for sharing info on rain catchers. The tip on vegetable oil was intriguing.

Thanks Sumas

**reddog289** · April-19-09, 12:08 AM

Sumas, I know what you mean. The last 4 Saturdays have been beautiful, Yet I myself have been pre occupied with other projects. Hopefully next weekend will be good. I,m looking forward to this year in the garden,Eventough it has been a 50/50 year with my planting/seedlings so far.
Potatos might be in the future in my garden yet it might be hard to convince a few friends/family to get them to eat the spuds because they were not grown in Idaho.

**Maof** · April-22-09, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by GOAT

I have scale on all of my Euonymous plants. Hoping to spray dormant oil to kill the bastards but it I don't get them all then I have to spray an insecticide which is now banned by the OnTaliban gov't in Ontario.

This is not fun because I have a lot of Euonymous in my landscaping.

If anyone else has had this issue let me know how it turned out. Thanks.

I too had a problem with scale on my euonymous. Used everything that was recommened [[volck oil spary, myalathon, etc.) to get rid of it to no avail. Not sure if I didn't get to it in time or what but nothing worked. I ended up pulling them out.

Now does anyone know anything about Zoyzia [[sp) grass? I have lived here 10 years and all of a sudden, it came up last year. I've read that it's put in as "plugs" and that some people love it because it becomes very thick and green but, I don't like what it looks like now and in the fall. I guess I'm just curious as to why, all of a sudden, it appeared and how to stop it from taking over the whole lawn.

**slick** · April-23-09, 11:09 AM

Who knew it was going to be 25 degress this morning with a light frost, at least in the Lansing area.

How will the garden grow. Supposed to warm up, last saturday I planted beet, lettuce and radish seeds. I have seen the seedling covered with snow before so not a problem.

Good luck on your garden

**Det_ard** · April-23-09, 12:48 PM

1/4" of ice on the bird bath this morning. The only thing I'm planting right now is grass seed.

**reddog289** · April-28-09, 01:56 AM

Got a question for anyone out there. Who starts there plants off as seeds? and what has worked better for you, The Jiffy disc or peat pots? My Jiffy disc seem to be doing better then the peat pots. Any info would help, Thanks.

**sumas** · April-28-09, 04:38 AM

I rarely start from seed but when I do, I use a medium labeled ziplock bag. I fill 1/4 to 1/2 of the bag with vermiculite and dampen. Throw in the seeds. I put them in indirect light and then the window sill after germination. I turn the bag once in a while and check to make sure the vermiculite stays damp. This works best for larger seeds. Doing it this way saves lots of room. Using a tweezer, some times I direct sow and other times I transplant into newspaper cups I make. The news paper cup can be planted with the seedlings. It is cheap, easy, saves loads of space and it is energy efficient using natural light.

This year for my planting, I plan to use Soil Moist, it's a little pricey but a little bit goes a long way. It is a polymer that collects water then releases it back to plant roots as the soil drys. It is safe for use with veggies. Saves a lot of watering and is more efficent then lots of rain buckets. One note, if too close to the surface it will bubble up when loaded with water and be visible. Plant it deeper than your plant roots.

**jams** · April-28-09, 08:51 PM

As the weather has gotten warmer and my wallet is thinner, I'm experimenting with sowing seeds in open, prepared soil, thinning and transplanting seedlings as they reach 2".

I've no good windows indoors to start seeds, as I had in the past, so it's interesting to watch a garden from seed in open soil grow.

**reddog289** · April-29-09, 01:44 AM

Thanks Sumas and Jams, I experimented this year. I started stuff out this year in peat pots, My tomatos started out good , Peppers not so good, I picked up a window sill greenhouse with the jiffy disc, Every thing seems to be doing good , Now the Tricky part for me hardening up the plants.Last 2 yrs my garden has had seed started in the house plants, seed started in the garden plants , and store bought and given to me plants. My BEST producing plants were the ones I got for cheap near the end of the planting season. Sumas were do you get vermeculite? I know my Grandpa used it in his garden.

**jams** · April-29-09, 06:26 AM

I found this site and plan to build one this week to start my tomatos and pepper seeds outside.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil..._for_under_25/

**Mackenzie68** · May-02-09, 10:48 PM

I went to the Plymouth Green Street Fair today. There were some nicely set up rain barrels from a Michigan company. 616 283 3104. They had a 55 gallon with an overflow valve, a brass faucet at the base and a clever screen at the water intake. $79.95 for that one, ten dollars more for a 65 gallon setup. Nice folks, their booth is on Main Street near the Home Depot booth. I didn't pick up their literature, and the web site I wrote down is generic for the fair and not running.

They suggest switching back to the original drain pipe after the growing season and say to drain the drum, leave the faucet open and just lay it on its side for the winter. When in use it should be on blocks or bricks about 18 inches high so you can get a bucket under the spigot.

I didn't ask about any potential leaching of roofing materials, probably worth checking into for the veggies.

**reddog289** · May-03-09, 01:13 AM

I should have listened to my cousin and went to the Green Fair. Have to put up my gutters on the garage, But better get my cousins gutters cleaned out first she has two rain barrels that she wants to get running.

**sumas** · May-03-09, 03:00 AM

Vermiculite can be found at any garden center. Anyone have good advice on growing green peppers? As mentioned I am a whiz at growing anything pretty but useless at growing eatibles. I have good luck with herbs, cherry or grape tomatos and hot pepper plants but no luck with much of anything else. Advice please!

**Mackenzie68** · May-03-09, 08:53 PM

I went browsing last night to see how the rain barrels stacked up and found this
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/ board. I didn't read extensively but it looks interesting.

About the barrels I saw at the Green Street Fair in Plymouth: they compare favorably to what I saw on line. I went back and got an actual flyer today. His web site isn't up yet, too busy making barrels. phone is 616 283 3104. Email is todolistdave@yahoo. Name is David Smith He is planing a trip back with barrels with drop off in Dexter and I think Northville. He can haul 40, already has orders for 24. He will paint them any color Krylon Fusion or Rustoleum Plastic you want.

I didn't have the cash budgeted to order one and he doesn't know my name so I'm not benefiting from this. His website will be www.gogreenstep.com, when he gets the time to work on it.. You might suggest trading web design skills for a barrel or two.

**Mackenzie68** · May-03-09, 09:06 PM

The only thing I actually bought at the fair was Grow Rite Pellets. Compost pellets [[100% organic) smaller than erasers on pencils. Made in Clare, they need only one application a year and should do a nice job of rejuvenating the potting soil I've been using in containers for the last two years. They are distributed by Sullivan Corp. in Bloomfield Hills. www.sulli.com I'll let you know how the tomatoes do when the time comes. I used Vigoro synthetic last year, this smells better already.

**reddog289** · May-04-09, 12:49 AM

Sumas Thanks for the info, and as for the green peppers can't say much as I only had one california wonder gp plant in my garden last year. I plan on having more. Mine was in the back part of my garden which receives most of the sun. Because I don't belive I am planting corn this year ,That area will have my maters and peppers.
Mac68,As I heard from my cousin alot of info was to be had at the green fair. I will try to find out more on where she got her rain barrels.The compost pellets are something else I need to look into.
I normally work afternoons, and don't like to wake up early,But this is the time of year where things change and with my third year of planting my own garden. I can actully say that I will look forward to the last day of school and going on days for a few months.

**reddog289** · May-04-09, 01:03 AM

Good thing I went to this thread tonight, and thanks to Mac68 and that helpful gardening deal, I got info on my newly accquired Lilac bush. Now gotta figure out the best place to put it.

**jams** · May-04-09, 05:59 AM

Prepping the soil is the key, it's not pretty and takes patience but the results are worth it. I've three beds planned for tomatos, just mud now, but I've added egg shells and compost for the last month, but I expecet a bumper crop this summer once I actually plant the seedlings.

**redvetred** · May-04-09, 04:14 PM

Checkout craigslist for rain barrels. Some food grade ones are less than $50 including hardware. Focus on food grade ones as you don't want to introduce chemicals, petroleum or detergent into your garden. It is time to plant your potatoes and getting late for onions.

**jams** · May-04-09, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by redvetred

Checkout craigslist for rain barrels. Some food grade ones are less than $50 including hardware. Focus on food grade ones as you don't want to introduce chemicals, petroleum or detergent into your garden. It is time to plant your potatoes and getting late for onions.

Thanks for the tip, I just put new gutters on my garage with the plan to add the 2 rain barrels as I can afford them.

My neighbor decided to replace decades old garden bricks with Home Depot's generic stuff and offered me the old bricks, damn, those old weathered bricks look good defining the various beds