Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Share your favorite photos with us here. Instructions on how to post them can be found in the first post within.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old January 29, 2016   #16
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

And here's all the growing the hollyhock babies had done by about 5 yesterday evening. I forgot to take a picture this morning, but they'd grown even more and about three poppies looked to be starting to sprout. I counted about 27 hollyhock sprouts so far out of the 108 seeds I planted. No special treatment right now other than being under the plastic cover of the seed starter tray (which I'll remove once I see some more poppies sprouting). They're just under the LED lights hanging above my kitchen bar, I don't have a warming mat or grow lights or anything like that.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_20160128_164613.jpg (219.5 KB, 217 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20160128_170708.jpg (223.7 KB, 218 views)
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.

Last edited by TexasTycoon; January 29, 2016 at 08:10 AM.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #17
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

I'm going to plant carrot seeds tomorrow morning or Sunday. I've been reading a few things that say you should add sand to the potting mix for carrots - is this true? If so I'll have to go get some sand on the way home tonight.
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #18
kath
Tomatovillian™
 
kath's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: zone 6b, PA
Posts: 5,664
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasTycoon View Post
I'm going to plant carrot seeds tomorrow morning or Sunday. I've been reading a few things that say you should add sand to the potting mix for carrots - is this true? If so I'll have to go get some sand on the way home tonight.
Still buried in snow and experiencing the cold of winter, I've been enjoying your thread, Kelly!

Here's what I've heard with regard to carrot and sand. Some people recommend mixing your carrot seeds with sand in order to be able to sow them more thinly in the rows, thereby cutting down on the tedious job of thinning them later. I've also heard of people making a shallow trough for sowing and then covering the seeds with a shallow layer of sand so that the seeds have an easier time breaking through the soil after germination, but this is only if the natural soil has a tendency to form a hard crust when dry. The fluffier and less rocky the soil, the easier the carrots can form long straight roots. Carrot roots tend to fork when they come in contact with stones and debris. My guess is that adding sand to some soils may loosen it up a bit. People that have heavy soils tend to grow the varieties that are thicker and stubbier or the ones that are shaped like golf balls, I think.

Since you're growing in a container mix, I'm not sure how the sand would help, if the soilless mix is peat-based.

Not sure if this is helpful to you, but that's all I can say about carrots and sand.

kath

Last edited by kath; January 29, 2016 at 01:59 PM.
kath is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #19
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kath View Post
Still buried in snow and experiencing the cold of winter, I've been enjoying your thread, Kelly!

Here's what I've heard with regard to carrot and sand. Some people recommend mixing your carrot seeds with sand in order to be able to sow them more thinly in the rows, thereby cutting down on the tedious job of thinning them later. I've also heard of people making a shallow trough for sowing and then covering the seeds with a shallow layer of sand so that the seeds have an easier time breaking through the soil after germination, but this is only if the natural soil has a tendency to form a hard crust when dry. The fluffier and less rocky the soil, the easier the carrots can form long straight roots. Carrot roots tend to fork when they come in contact with stones and debris. My guess is that adding sand to some soils may loosen it up a bit. People that have heavy soils tend to grow the varieties that are thicker and stubbier or the ones that are shaped like golf balls, I think.

Since you're growing in a container mix, I'm not sure how the sand would help, if the soilless mix is peat-based.

Not sure if this is helpful to you, but that's all I can say about carrots and sand.

kath
That is very helpful, thank you! I think I'll hold off on running to get some sand this time around. I'm starting to venture into the overthinking-it territory and that's not what I want to do this year.

I'm glad I can share a little bit of green with those of y'all who won't see any for a while yet! It's supposed to be in the mid 70s here all weekend, but next week it will drop down to the 50s (and lower at night) which should be better for my carrots. We've had an unseasonably warm winter so far, so I'm glad it's at least allowing me to get things growing sooner.
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #20
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Kelly take it for what it is worth.
Carrots can thrive in crappy soil they dont give a hoot what their roots look like.
We give a hoot what the roots look like because we want to eat them.
Any good loose well drained potting soil will do just fine.
Just make sure it is fertilized with a well balanced fertilizer and dont worry about the pH too much they can grow in a wide range up into alkali of around close to 8 but better around 7.
I know this because I have done it.
Monster mammoth carrots if you give them room to grow.
Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #21
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Kelly take it for what it is worth.
Carrots can thrive in crappy soil they dont give a hoot what their roots look like.
We give a hoot what the roots look like because we want to eat them.
Any good loose well drained potting soil will do just fine.
Just make sure it is fertilized with a well balanced fertilizer and dont worry about the pH too much they can grow in a wide range up into alkali of around close to 8 but better around 7.
I know this because I have done it.
Monster mammoth carrots if you give them room to grow.
Worth
Good to know! I've got a few different fertilizers laying around, I'll need to take a look at them to see which will work best. Not something with a lot of nitrogen right? I don't just want a bunch of carrot greens! Would liquid fish work well? I'm hesitant to try it on root veggies because I'm worried that they'll end up tasting like fish!
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old January 29, 2016   #22
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasTycoon View Post
Good to know! I've got a few different fertilizers laying around, I'll need to take a look at them to see which will work best. Not something with a lot of nitrogen right? I don't just want a bunch of carrot greens! Would liquid fish work well? I'm hesitant to try it on root veggies because I'm worried that they'll end up tasting like fish!
Kelly I was going to show you a picture of this years wild carrot grown in what most people would call poor soil but I know better.
The root is as straight as can be.
But pictures wont upload.
Just as long as it has everything in it I wouldn't worry about it.
I have no idea if you are organic or not.
If you are I would highly recommend you go buy a bag of Plant Tone https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...AIpygRqSyi8Brg and a one gallon jug of Lady Bug Johns recipe liquid plant food.
The Natural Gardener nursery in south Austin where I get mine.
You know where it is.
http://www.ladybugbrand.com/our-prod...lizer-3-1-5-2/

This is all you will need trust me.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 2, 2016   #23
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

Boy oh boy do I have updates!

Saturday morning, I planted a handful of carrot seeds in a big pot with some all purpose veggie fertilizer mixed into the MG potting mix I had. The poppy seeds finally woke up on Sunday. So many little sprouts. I'll thin once I see true leaves. I planted some cilantro seeds on Sunday too. I've grown it in-ground before, but never in a pot so we'll see how it does.

Pictured are what the flowers sprouts looked like yesterday afternoon, the two peppers and one blossom on my jalapeno plant, the pot I planted the carrot seeds in (forgot to take a picture of the cilantro pot), and the Satsuma tree. I think I overwatered the tree though, it's starting to lose leaves which are turning brown everywhere but the veins. I think it'll make it, just need to let it dry out a little bit and I pulled it back closer to the apartment in case it was sunburn I was seeing.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 20160130_132047.jpg (225.6 KB, 191 views)
File Type: jpg 20160130_132059.jpg (187.2 KB, 192 views)
File Type: jpg 20160130_132113.jpg (237.0 KB, 192 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20160130_141523.jpg (183.5 KB, 192 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20160201_170929.jpg (285.6 KB, 192 views)
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 5, 2016   #24
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

How are the seedlings doing some of them looked kind of long?

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 5, 2016   #25
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

2/5: hollyhocks (top) are still shooting up, no true leaves yet and a few are having difficulty shedding their seedcasings. Poppies are looking somewhat scraggly, but I blame the mister bottle for that for spraying too hard. I also need to figure out something to prop them on so they can get window sunlight soon.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 12644663_10206863699409812_140280767941310782_n.jpg (405.8 KB, 171 views)
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 5, 2016   #26
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

If they dont get full sun or under lights they will be goners it may already be too late.
Bottom water.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 8, 2016   #27
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

I put the seedlings outside during the day both days this weekend and they're out there again today, taking them in at night since it's been chilly. Watering from the bottom seems to be helping, but the poppies are still looking a little scraggly.

Also I'm pretty sure I killed my satsuma tree by overwatering it. So we'll be purchasing a new one from a local nursery. Almost all of the leaves are dead or dying and falling off, it was doing better when I was neglecting it.
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 11, 2016   #28
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

4 carrot sprouts counted yesterday, and two sage sprouts (finally!). Pictures later today.
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 11, 2016   #29
TexasTycoon
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTycoon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b
Posts: 1,157
Default

My MIL was warning me on Monday that hollyhocks attract mice when they go to seed. Since I live in a first floor apartment that back to a fence which has fields behind it, should I be worried?
__________________
-Kelly
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn
Bloom where you are planted.
TexasTycoon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 11, 2016   #30
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

You have a long way to go before they put out seeds.
Mice are attracted to anything.
My whole area is loaded with mice living in the woods.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:32 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★