The 2022 Gardening Thread

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NY cat man

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The snow is almost all gone- for now, anyway- and the early flowers are making an appearance.
20220318_145250.jpg

At one time, this was a 5ft high snow bank.
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Dwarf crocus
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Another dwarf crocus
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A mix of tulips, gladiolus, and daffodils just peeking out.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I finally received my seed order that got delayed. I'm definitely doing a few potted things; but I may let my veggie raised beds rest. I'm still not sure.

But it's been warm. Very warm! I bought a packet of these "Warm Summer, echinacea" seeds. They are supposed to be started inside 8-12 weeks before your last frost. It's so warm this year I'm afraid I'm too late. They have mixed reviews on gemination anyway. I guess I can wait till fall and plant them then. I could have spent a lot more buying plants; but I've had them come damaged before so I'd rather not risk it!

I chose Del-Sol Hybrid Sunflowers too. And I'm going to try the corn you can grow in a deck pot for the fun of it.

My yellow crocus are already done but my purple are up now. The neighbor's daffodils are looking wonderful and I can see a blush of yellow on the forsythia too. My lilacs are budding also. It's definitely all giving me the itch to garden!! DH and I did spread composted manure around the lilacs and over the rhubarb patch already.
 

Norachan

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A mix of tulips, gladiolus, and daffodils just peeking out.
I bought a couple of bags of gladiolus bulbs yesterday. I don't have much luck with tulips or daffs, they don't like our monsoons. I'm hoping the glads do better. Maybe I should dig them up and let them dry out in the summer though.
 

Winchester

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Did an order to Burpee yesterday for corn, red beet seeds, onion sets, tomato seeds. Also some flower seeds.

Corn; Corn, Jaws Hybrid
Red Beets: Beet, Detroit Dark Red Medium Top
Onions: Onion, Big Daddy
Tomato: Tomato, SuperSauce Hybrid (I want it for sauce, paste, and marinara)
Marigolds: Marigold, Strawberry Blonde
Coneflower: Echinacea, Sweet Sandia (Got there just in time, it's out of stock now)

Purple and yellow crocuses are blooming. Daffodils are budding. And my hydrangeas are leafing out.
 

NY cat man

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I just started some seeds this morning. By the time the frost danger has passed, they should be ready to plant.
Tomatoes: Cherry Baby, Super Sweet 100, and Gardener's Delight
Cucumbers: Burpless Beauty
And the Common Milkweed. That one is the fussy one; it needs to be in the refrigerator, folded into a moist paper towel and sealed in a plastic bag for 2- 4 weeks, and then potted for another month or so before being planted outside. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
 

doomsdave

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I bought a couple of bags of gladiolus bulbs yesterday. I don't have much luck with tulips or daffs, they don't like our monsoons. I'm hoping the glads do better. Maybe I should dig them up and let them dry out in the summer though.
Hmm.

Curious to know more. Tulips are much fussier to deal with as a group than daffodils, in pretty much every way possible. Tulips are edible, they're not long-lived, and they're fussier about climate. Daffodils are like cast iron; they're not fussy about climate (I grew them in Ohio and they rock California, too), and they're poisonous, so rodents and deer don't eat them, though they have a few pests.

I'm curious, in particular, to know what happens to your daffodils? I would think that a nice nasty rainstorm would be just the ticket, like it was in Ohio.
 

vince

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Dwarf and Dutch crocus are blooming now. Glory of the snow and squill are just starting to bloom. My witch hazel in in bloom. Other bulbs are coming up. Trees are slobbering sap on my car. Spring can't come soon enough for me!
 

Winchester

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I have kind of a silly question. We have a bi-level; the basement is half out of the ground. We have a double window (south-facing) in one area of the basement and that's where we put planted seeds to germinate. But the basement is chilly.

I was thinking of buying a plant light for the seeds. Putting everything out in the WeShed on the table in front of a southwestern window. And using a plant light at night. The WeShed is considerably warmer than the basement and I'm thinking it would give them a bit of a boost. I talked to Rick about it, but he's hesitant; he's not sure if we're going to keep using seeds. I'm more of the "Let's give them the best shot we can to thrive" and then, once we see how it works, we can continue doing it that way.

What do you think about using a plant light? Worth it or no?
 

doomsdave

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I have kind of a silly question. We have a bi-level; the basement is half out of the ground. We have a double window (south-facing) in one area of the basement and that's where we put planted seeds to germinate. But the basement is chilly.

I was thinking of buying a plant light for the seeds. Putting everything out in the WeShed on the table in front of a southwestern window. And using a plant light at night. The WeShed is considerably warmer than the basement and I'm thinking it would give them a bit of a boost. I talked to Rick about it, but he's hesitant; he's not sure if we're going to keep using seeds. I'm more of the "Let's give them the best shot we can to thrive" and then, once we see how it works, we can continue doing it that way.

What do you think about using a plant light? Worth it or no?
Hmm.

A few questions:

What kind of seeds? Some are temp sensitive a lot more than others.

What are the temperatures?
 

Winchester

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It's 60 degrees F right now. 11:21 a.m. It gets chilly down there at night.

Peppers, tomatoes, red beets

Not too worried about the flowers.
 

doomsdave

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It's 60 degrees F right now. 11:21 a.m. It gets chilly down there at night.

Peppers, tomatoes, red beets

Not too worried about the flowers.
Hmm.

Tomatoes and peppers in my experience really appreciate a bit more heat than you'll have. I'd suggest getting a heating mat, and some plastic insulating foam and some of those mini-greenhouse thingies for best results. The good news is they take the cool a lot better once they grow, they just have to sprout.

Beets are much more cool tolerant, though I've never grown them.

The foam and insulation will matter because if you don't, you'll run the cable and run run run run it, and it won't get warm because the cool surroundings suck up all the heat, particularly if it's soil and/or stone like many cellars are. If you can put things on a wood frame that will help too.

I'm in California now, but I used to raise oodles of seeds back in Cleveland, which is much like where you are. (Mass?)

EDIT: As to the plant light, you can likely do without, since the window faces south. That said, if you have one, use it. I think heat is a much bigger concern.
 

Winchester

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Thank you, doomsdave doomsdave . I do think the chill is going to be a problem. I'd much rather put the planted seeds on the table by the window in the WeShed for several weeks. It is much warmer out there. The seeds don't necessarily need a lot of light to sprout, but once they're sprouted, they'll need it to grow.

Now to convince my husband that it may be too cold in the basement.

Thanks much!
 

doomsdave

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Thank you, doomsdave doomsdave . I do think the chill is going to be a problem. I'd much rather put the planted seeds on the table by the window in the WeShed for several weeks. It is much warmer out there. The seeds don't necessarily need a lot of light to sprout, but once they're sprouted, they'll need it to grow.

Now to convince my husband that it may be too cold in the basement.

Thanks much!
You're welcome.

Even here in California providing enough heat in the winter can be a challenge. You can also put the seed trays on the coils of your fridge, or on top of a heated aquarium.
 

susanm9006

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Unfortunately the day after I posted that ground was nearly clear we had a full day of continuous rain, followed by snow. Now the ground is so waterlogged at least a couple weeks before it can even be walked on.
 

susanm9006

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I have kind of a silly question. We have a bi-level; the basement is half out of the ground. We have a double window (south-facing) in one area of the basement and that's where we put planted seeds to germinate. But the basement is chilly.

I was thinking of buying a plant light for the seeds. Putting everything out in the WeShed on the table in front of a southwestern window. And using a plant light at night. The WeShed is considerably warmer than the basement and I'm thinking it would give them a bit of a boost. I talked to Rick about it, but he's hesitant; he's not sure if we're going to keep using seeds. I'm more of the "Let's give them the best shot we can to thrive" and then, once we see how it works, we can continue doing it that way.

What do you think about using a plant light? Worth it or no?
I have used them for my leeks which have to be started very early. I didn’t buy a special lamp, though, just the bulb that has the right kind of light for plants. Cool is okay, at least it had worked for me.
 

NY cat man

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I have my seeds started in the basement, as that's the only place where they are safe from the cats. It is usually in the mid-60s there, I have a grow lamp set up on a timer, and an inch-thick foam mat underneath the trays to insulate them from the (relatively) cold floor. If I had my druthers, I would place them in a south-facing window, but I fear that the wrecking crew would make short work of them.
 

NY cat man

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My luck is running true to form. I could find no Cherry Baby tomato seeds locally, so Michele got some- at an exorbitant price, mind you- online. Yesterday, while looking for something else at yet another place, I came across a seed display and there, on the bottom of the rack, facing a narrow aisle, they had 4 packets of them for $4.19 each, so I bought 2 of them, which will go in the refrigerator for next year.
 

di and bob

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I start all my seeds on a heat mat, my tomatoes came up in three days, they really like it. I splurged a couple of years ago and bought a double-decker grow light stand from Wayfair (Growers Supply Co.) It has 4 two-foot-long LED growing bulbs on two levels. It looks SO much nicer, I can put it anywhere. Chrome and white. I love that I can adjust the height of the lights easily, keeping them a couple of inches above the plants. MUCH more sturdy plants growing them this way!
 

BellaBlue82

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I'm trying to be extremely patient with the weather... I typically cultivate my flower bed in front of the house in early spring, and then have a portable greenhouse for my herbs in the back. I planted them once in the ground, lol that was a mistake. So they stay in planters now.
But this year, I'm hoping to start the vegetable garden again in the back yard. Our yard is small, but we'll do raised beds to make it easier on me. And since it's just the two of us, I won't need too many plants out there. It's just waiting on the cold nighttime temps to disappear before I go full tilt!!
 

MoochNNoodles

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I just picked up some seeds while I was out. DH seemed to want to skip the garden this year so we can do some things away from home. But then he asked if I was planting corn this year so… So I bought seeds. And this watering timer.
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Last year I paid my godson to water things for me. I would still need someone to hand water my potted flowers and plants; but hopefully this will simplify a lot.

Has anyone used something like this? I may see what Lowes or Home Depot have along these lines and read more reviews. Most were decent to good reviews for this one.

I went with 3 kinds of beans, 2 carrots and 2 peas. I already got the corn you can grow in pots from Burpee online. I may still get corn since this watering system should help. As long as I can plan harvests accordingly. :paperbag:
 
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