I bought some plants in Reno, just to watch them die.

[LeftyMom]

Okay, I actually got them in Elk Grove, but still. I am the worst gardener ever, and have proven repeatedly that I am the only human being ever capable of killing tomatoes and zucchini in the tomato capitol of the known universe.

But I'm a sucker for punishment, so every year I try again. This year I bought some kinda half grown plants instead of starting from seed, we'll see if that helps.

[zingaro]

1. Oh you have company.

I don't even have a black thumb. It's more like The Rot-Infesting Thumb of Flora Death.

I got an aloe plant the year I was married. That poor thing withstood so much and finally died a long-neglected death. I did have the decency to feel guilty. I want so much to grow things but simply don't have it in me.

Like you, I try every year. Mostly I just have the people around me care for the little plantlings.

I'll *root* for you, though.




Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

[LeftyMom]

6. I can't keep plants inside, or my cat will climb on anything to eat them.

So I got her a little thing of wheatgrass and put it near the floor, figured that would make her happy. She never touched it. :eyes:

[flvegan]

2. Dude, shut up!

I bought plants today. Get outta my head, woman!

I've scoped the yard, decided where I want 'em. They're "testers" to see if the dogs will kill/trample them. If they survive, I'll do more of the same.

[LeftyMom]

4. I'm a little more worried about the amount of sunlight in my yard- I might need to set up a shade.

Gawd, the amount of brainshare is too much. We're worse than Lost and Haruka. :scared:

[marzipanni]

20. Cages. You do need some wire cages. Not for your dogs, for your plants!

You can make them out of 6" welded concrete reinforcing wire, about 6 1/2 feet long formed into a cylinder and bend the ends around with pliers to clip it together.
We use several from year to year for tomatoes, eggplant, zukes, and any other plant which needs not to be tramped on by dog.
This photo gives the idea, but ours are wider and shorter-
http://140.254.84.203/wiki/index.php/Cage

[SeattleGirl]

3. I think MrSG could give you a run for your money, LM.

I take care of all the plants around here, 'cause if he even touches them, they die! :rofl:

[LeftyMom]

5. I'm a composting genius though.

That should count for something.

[flvegan]

7. Great at making fertilizer, eh?

:eyes:

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

9. You are in so much trouble.

Don't make me pin you down again. I mean, that worked so well last time. :rofl:

[SeattleGirl]

8. Of course it does!

I'm sure you have me beat by a mile on that, as I'm not yet very good at it.

[LeftyMom]

10. I took a class

The waste management district here does them, and hands out free bins when you complete them.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Hmm, I should check into that.

Thanks!

[LeftyMom]

12. You're welcome!

I need to do it again- I left my old setup in place when I moved.

[SeattleGirl]

13. Just checked the county site; they don't seem to have classes but

they do have online videos and info on how to compost.

One thing King County (where Seattle is located) just did was start a new kind of recycling. Now you can recycle things like pizza boxes and such, that you can't put in regular recycling, that they take to the County's composting site. That compost is available to residents, community gardens, etc., for use. Recycling is mandatory here, so I'm glad that they added this part to it.

[LeftyMom]

15. If you have an agricultural extension office, check there too.

Since this is farm country as soon as you get out of town and there's an ag college just up the highway we have lots of that kind of thing here.

We have a county composting program, but it's only for yard waste, no food scraps or anything like that. And they only pick up from single family homes, which is why I started composting in my old apartment. :(

[SeattleGirl]

16. Woohoo! Just found some local classes.

Thanks for the suggestion, LM!

[LeftyMom]

18. Glad I could help!

:hi:

[marzipanni]

23. My DH is a composter of the highest order

He made front yard and backyard compost bins out of 3 foot wide 2x3" welded fencing material cut to twelve feet long. (He says welded wire has more form than chicken wire and stands strong and true even half full)

You buy that at the hardware store, and little wire rings to fasten the ends forming a three foot tall cylinder about four feet across. (Hubby says that dimension is minimum size for capturing and generating the needed heat for fast decomposition.)

[wildeyed]

26. Composting is fun in a weird way.

I have a worm bin for kitchen scraps and cold compost out in the yard. A hot pile is more than I can manage, but maybe someday. A girl can dream, yanno?

[bicentennial_baby]

14. Ok, talk to me about your soil, fertilizer, sun, etc.

I'm a badass gardener of tomatoes, zucchini, and much more. Talk to me. :)

[LeftyMom]

17. Sun- probably too much and hot as a mofo. Soil- kinda clay-ey, but not too bad.

Our shrubs and stuff do fine, so I assume it's not too bad.

I mostly got tomatoes, peppers and squash. Oh, and an eggplant. I love eggplant. And some corn. :)

[bicentennial_baby]

19. Ok, the tomatoes and peppers loooove sun, but

they have to be really well watered in the early morning and evening. Never water in the hottest part of the day. Squash, plant in small hills if you can, for better drainage, and water like the tomatoes and such. Do you use any fertilizer? I doubt you're into using manure, so, compost is good. With a clay soil, rototill deep, get that soil really aerated at the beginning, as it will tamp down considerably over time. Use a liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks or so, like organic liquid seaweed concentrate. The plants love it, just water them with it during an evening watering. Dilute it correctly, and water as much towards the base as possible, so you don't burn the leaves. Corn, weed, weed, weed in the first month.


Eggplant, I've never made that work yet...Dunno why, but I haven't. :shrug:

:hi:

Also, don't plant peppers where tomatoes are, and vice versa. Like, don't plant the peppers where the tomatoes were last season, as they can share virii and make new plants sick. And, if you get slugs, put out cups of beer sunk into the soil, and they'll fall in and drown. They like beer :D

[LeftyMom]

21. No slugs in the back yard.

We have slugs and snails forever in the front yard, but it's more shaded and they really seem to like the enormous gardenia hedge.

[bicentennial_baby]

22. My strawberry patch was a slug oasis...

Needless to say, they were no match for me, as I had spent a year babying those plants to get them to fruiting...I miss my garden, badly.

[wildeyed]

24. I start well every year, then lose interest about mid-july.

It starts getting really hot and buggy, so unpleasant. Then I get behind in watering, the weeds creep in and plants start to get out of bounds. One year I had this really weird squash vine that got so big I finally went at it with hedge clippers....

But I did it again today, too. Planted four tomatoes, a hot pepper and basil, put the ground hose in an mulched it up really nice. Maybe this year I will stay on task. I tried to really limit the number of plants I bought this year. Usually I lose my mind in the plant section and come home with waaaay too much.

Wish me luck, too :)

[bicentennial_baby]

25. Black plastic will cut down on the weeds considerably...

And it also helps to keep the soil hydrated :)

[wildeyed]

27. Will it make the ground too hot?

I guess if I put some mulch over top of it, that would keep down the heat.

I actually have some red plastic in the shed. Supposedly the red reflects up to the tomatoes and causes them to fruit earlier. Maybe I will give that a go. :crazy:

[bicentennial_baby]

28. It makes it hot, but if it's adequately watered,

it should do a steam thing, where the moisture that's coming out of the soil in the heat hits the plastic and drips back down onto the soil. Poke small holes in the plastic at regular intervals for aeration too. :)

[LeftyMom]

29. This story has hit the media!

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/36582

[flvegan]

30. So have your other activities

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html#anchor7

[LeftyMom]

31. I seem to recall I had some help with that.

:eyes:

[billyskank]

33. That was you??

:o

:P

[Deep13]

32. My mother also has a black thumb.

Plants have a hard time crawling to the faucet for water.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. Where you live, if you're concerned about sun, rig up a shade cloth shelter.

I have instructions for making a simple portable shade shelter for young plants. When I find them I'll PM you. If you're planting the the ground that should be all you need for the tomatoes, Zucchini is much more sensitive to heat if you forget to water (not that I know this from experience. Much.) If you plant in containers, even very large ones, you may want a shade shelter for the whole season.

on edit: I see you have CA adobe soil too. Amend with compost like crazy. Assuming you're planting in the ground, water every other day until the plants look sturdy (first month) then for the eggplant, toms, and peppers cut back to twice weekly, but water deeply. This encourages deep, thick roots and makes the plants a big more tolerant of the blasted heat.

We also use seaweed concentrate at planting to get the plants off to a good start, and fertilize monthly with Whitney's or Dr. Earth organic veggie food. Don't know if those pass muster for vegans but they are effective.