Garden Diary 2009: Think I Want to Go All Hydroponic

I love not Having to Water my Plants. The tomatoes are growing so fast now. I am thinking I should convert my entire garden to Hydroponic.

My other Plants Are doing well. It has been reaining every several days. That is helping to keep them healthy.

Garden Diary 2009: Hydroponic Aquaponic Wick Tomato Plants

I decided to turn the tomatoes I started into hydroponic tomatoes. I was able to slide the root system out of the pot. I cut a strip of an old towel and fed part of it into the drain hole of the pot and ran it up the inside of it. I put the root system back in the pot making sure the end of the towel stuck out just above the dirt.

I cut a hole in the top of the storage container and fed the other end of the towel through the hole. I made sure there was plenty of towel to reach the bottom of the container. I filled the container with water and liquid feed miracle grow. I believe the container is 18-20 gallons. I am hoping the water will last most of the season. I think If I have to fill it again half way through the season, it will cause some sort of root rot. We will see.

I placed the top in place with the towel soaking in the water in the container. The tomatoes in their pot sat flush over the hole. The roots will grow through the holes and along the towel to the water. I should have some really nice tomato plants in the next few weeks.

Garden Diary 2009: Bush Beans and Tomatoes are Doing Great

My Bush Beans and Tomatoes are doing great. I need to take some time and separate and repot my tomatoes into bigger pots. I am thinking about planting one of them in a hydroponic wick system this year to see how they grow.

The Cucumbers and Cabbage is growing well. Growing a little on the slow side. I think that is because I am forgetting to water them.

Basil is growing really well. The spinach I was growing didn’t like the move to outdoors. It just kind of died so I pulled them.

Something has been eating my broccoli. Think it might be caterpillars, but I am not sure.

Garden Diary 2009: I Wonder if I Should be Cutting the Spinach to Make it Grow

The leaves are getting bigger on the spinach. They are growing a lot slower than I thought they might. I am wondering if the leave will get bigger and greater in number if I cut the older leaves. I’m not sure. I might conduct a little experiment.

The broccoli is growing nicely outside. They seem to have taken nicely to being moved. I pulled some of the old leaves that browned on me. We will see what they do over the next few weeks.

The other seeds I planted are coming up. I have marigolds, bush beans, tomatoes, and cabbage. I look forward to their continued growth.

Garden Diary: Transplanting Broccoli and Planting Tomatoes, Cucumbers and More

I planted all these pots over the weekend. I hope they come up. The night I planted them we had some nearly freezing temperatures. That was what the storage container was about. I placed the container over the pots. The broccoli I didn’t bother to cover. They are supposed to be cold hardy.

What I planted: Beefsteak Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Cabbage and Bush Beans. I also transplanted the Broccoli to the big green pots. They seem to have survived the ordeal.

How to Reseed Your Yard the Cheap Way One Section at a Time.

My backyard needs to be completely reseeded. It is full of mud and weeds. The problem is I don’t have the funds to pay for that much seed, straw, fertilizer and the rental or purchase of a gas powered tiller. The following are the steps I took to reseed a small section of the backyard.

I didn’t do it, but you might spray some weed and grass killer over what might be growing right now. I didn’t do it, but it might keep other stuff from growing faster than your new seed. As for me, I am planning to spray Wee-B-Gone on the lawn after the grass has established itself.

Step One: Thoroughly soak the area you want to reseed. If it is not wet, it can be very hard to break up, especially if you have red clay for a back yard like me.

Step Two: Find a way to break up the ground. I personally had a garden claw in the garage. It costs about $20 at the mega hardware store. It costs a little money, but it works better at breaking up the ground than a shovel. The only thing that may work better is a mattocks. Whatever yard tool you may have in the garage or shed, use it to break up the ground. Make sure it is not clumped together any bigger than marble or golf ball size.

Step Three: Spread the seed. I have a handheld spreader that I used. You can use your hand if you don’t have a spreader. You might also see if you can borrow one from a friend or family member. The seed should be pretty thick on the ground. I figure there should be a seed about every quarter inch or so, but don’t get too accurate. It will grow as grass grows.

Step Four: Cover the seed with straw. Make sure the straw is thick enough to hold in water, but not so thick the grass can’t grow through it. You can get the straw in bales for about $4. I plan to reuse the same bale over and over on different sections as I seed them.

Let me know if this helps. Make a comment if you think there should be something else I should include.

Garden Diary: Windowsil Box is Growing into a Success

I am excited today. I have 2 more Spinach up out of the soil.

The leaves on the spinach have not giveven any more trouble.

The Broccoli is about ready to move to their own pots.

Garden Diary 2009: Streching to the Sun and Clipping Leaves Already

The last day or so the leaves on my spinach plant have been wilting. I am not sure why. I think either I am watering it too much or not enough. I am not sure which. I guess it could also be the cold weather. Inside the house has been between 60 and 69 degrees over the past week. When we lost power last week because of the snow storm that went through the area, we stayed with family who had a fireplace. I noticed the temperatures fell to 55 degrees inside the house. It still should noe have been enough to cause any damage. I will keep watching them and clipping any leaves that are showing any damage.

The broccoli is doing well. I think they are starving for more sun. They are streching towards the window. I am going to give the weather another 2 or 3 weeks before I transplant them to pots and move them outside.

Spinach is Sprouting Leaves Like Crazy

I am amazed by the speed in which these plants are growing. If they keep growing they way they are, I will have a lot of great spinach to eat in a few more weeks. Check out the picture. There are 3-4 new leaves on each of the plants since the last picture I took nearly 7 days ago. I can only imagine what the plant is going to look like next week.

A Few of My Spinach are Growing Large

I am about 80% sure these are the spinach that I planted in this box. I planted 6 of them (Actually there were 6 holes, I planted 2 seeds in each hole). These are the only two that came up. I am figuring that they are kind of old seeds so I am rather lucky that any of them came up at all. I bought these seeds at the beginning of last season. I didn’t plant them all last year so they have been in storage all winter.

They are growing well. I am planning to leave them in the grow box. If the others don’t come up, I am thinking about planting another herb or something in the growbox next to the spinach.