My experiment- thread # 3

Boca Bob, great gardens. I am glad to see your good photos. At first I was trying to figure out where your earthboxes were located, then realized around your pool. Pools are rare in this area. Everything sure looks to be g rowing very nicely. I too really like those sponge seed starters. I have used them for several years.

The snow is pretty much gone now here at my place, but when i went to Wenatchee, about 130 miles south of here, yesterday, I saw where it had snowed enough to turn everything except the hwy. white, but was gone when I came back home. I don't want anymore snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Donna

Ive always been curious if the screen blocked any of the sun that the plants needed. I start my daylily seedlings on the patio and just always wondered if that was ok. The screen does not seem to be a hinderance at all.

gardenglory- the pool screen which is quite open compared to true sun screen for growers seems to have no negative effect on growing. I'm growing inside and out and all the plants seem to be growing equal. The screen is actually helpful alittle during mid summer with the extreme heat we have. I know I can sit in the sun (tanning) longer inside the pool area compared to outside. The biggest advantage of the pool screen is it keeps unwanted bugs out!!!!! (Jumbo killer mosquitoes)

Somewhere in one of these threads you mention that you use the same mix for everything. (either Fafard mix or peat/vermecultie/perlite) Is this what you put everything in and then leave it there? I guess I am asking if this is what all those wonderful hardy plants are still in?

I have been using Miracle Grow Garden Mix, but if this is what is making that wonderful garden you have, I'm on it.

Also, how did you make your EBs? I have a real one that I can't decide what to put in it, but if it works I would like more.

2busygardening- For my real and homemade Earthboxes and the few regular planters that I have, I use Fafard mix #2.
And the plants stay in that mix from germination to harvest. My hydroponics (Hydrostackers(styrofoam white pots) are filled with a 50/50 mix of perlite and vermiculite.

I found a web site by some guy that shows you step by step how to make a homemade Earthbox. www.josho.com/gardening.htm or google homemade earthbox.

BocaBob

A few early week pictures :

One of three crimson sweet watermelons that took from hand pollinating

some just picked yellow beans

I can't believe how fast the ears of corn are growing. Just last week the tassles came out.

A couple of nice little zucs

Three days`ago I recieved my bare root strawberries. Look at the growth in a Earthbox in 3 days!!!

Bob -- I recieved my strawberries three days ago also. I planted them immediately in my EBs. Mine were bare root with no green showing but now all 24 have green leaves. Had to plant two of them in-ground but no green leaves as of this writing? The EBs do make a difference. I will attempt to plant my corn and okra. The okra is for my DIL as I do not care for okra. They grow well in my EBs and I plant six in one EB.

Strawberries!!! I'm awaiting delivery of 25 "Festival" day neutral strawberry plants.

What kind of strawberries do you-all have?

And I expect baby beginning tassles on my 18 day old corn very shortly. A 56 day variety I bought from Stokes seeds, in Canada. Bet it's quicker than 56 days, only waist high and making 'tops' already at two weeks.

how many plants did it take to make that pile of yellow beans?

Here are my 'Eversweet' strawberries, about six weeks after planting in an EZGro hydroponics set. I'm pinching blossoms on smaller plants, but allowing larger plants to keep the forming berries. This is one of the nicer plants. Many have 6-10 blooms that appear to be setting fruit.

This is what they looked like a month ago: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4577344

David

Molamola -- Sorry to take so long to answer your question! I bought "Tribute or Tribune"(forgot which one at this time) strawberrys from Nourse Farms up in Maine and they were specified for zone 10 as is my zone. I have tried others but they failed to survive our summer heat. If you have similiar problems this variety may work for us?

Tplant, Doesn't get nearly as hot here, the hottest I've ever seen was 96 and everyone was dying. August/Sept usually has 94 or so. Cooler last summer. The big buggaboo here is only a ten to twelve degree drop in temps between day and night. Plus long nights, 11 hours in Summer. Winter does get cool enough for tomatoes, they need to be planted in Sept.

Now, strawberries, everyone knows you can't grow strawberries here! Ha, I'm going to fool them!

Corn, I have tasseling corn after eighteen days! Stokes seeds sell one variety that's 56 days, but they go nuts here. Plants are less than waist high. I just gave away half the seed, so I don't know which variety, but it's their quickest. My camera is on the blink, or I'd post a photo.

Isn't that funny that a Maine dealer is selling zone ten plants. I'll go look. I believe there's quite a difference between 'everbearing' and 'day neutral'

I did get a local nursery to get me the strawberries that I have now. Small, tart berries. I haven't taken very good care of them, but now that they have proven they'll fruit, I've improved my attention greatly! Wish I knew what kind they are. Back in Virginia, I grew Fairfax. Untouchable for quality, like huge wild strawberries.

Molamola -- Our climate is quite similiar as our temp never gets over 95*. All the strawberry plants that I have bought from local nurseries produced but not quality which I prefer as I put in a lot of time and effort for their growth.

The corn I planted on March 6. Short stuff! Yup, tasselling in twenty days, and barely waist high. Stoke's "Aladdin" bicolor. I chose this one for speed, it says 56 days. (yes, I need to mow the lawn!)

I go early, just after dawn, with a piece of typwriter paper, and knock pollen onto the paper. I dump it onto different ears than the individual I got the pollen from. Lots of honey bees, but they're not interested in me.

Strawberries are worth every bit of trouble they take! Nourse has one blackberry that claims zone 12? Is that a typo? I'm going to write to them and ask.

This message was edited Mar 26, 2008 9:57 PM

Bob -- How are your strawberries doing??

Hi Tplant- Been really busy at work and granddaughter has pneumonia(but getting better quickly). Here are some today's pics of my strawberries. No flowers yet, but nice growth. Also a few of my watermelons.

in a earthbox

another

another earthbox

one of 5 watermelons

another nice one

this one is hanging on a trellis

and last for now is my 1st tomato from my new batch almost ready to be picked

dreaves- your berries look great! I hope mine will be that nice in 6 weeks. Mine a 2 weeks now. Keep in touch

BocaBob

gardenglory - It took 6 bean plants to give me that first picking

BocaBob

Beautiful melons Bob! Let me suggest at this time a good mold spray as they are most susceptible at this stage. BT or Ortho would be good used as a bi-weekly preventative as you certainly don't want to lose them after all your work. The fungus comes on rapidly almost overnite so be aware?

Tplant - THANK YOU for the advice. I will buy the spray tomorrow!!!

Bob

I want that good looking tomato. I'm so ready for fresh.

Where do you get the BT. I have heard you talk about it before. Do you spray everything with it?

Gardenglory --- At Lowes or Home Depot. I even bought a hand fogger from Tomato Growers Supply and they also have the dipel dust or BT. It works very well as long as you continue to use it on a bi-weekly schedule or as suggested.

I have a brand new ( old/never used) hand fogger I got when I thought I had time for roses. I have really wanted to use that. Perfect.

Major garden envy. I lived in Orlando for twenty-five years, grew a lot of things in containers, and some in he soil, but never thought of corn. Your little farm is totally amazing. Where do you get your earth boxes when you purchase them.

Pamgarden- Thank you for the nice compliment!!!. I order the Earth boxes online @ earthbox.com because there is no retailer in southern Florida.

Bob

Bob, Is your season winding down? Your pictures are great and a real motivator. I'm going to invest in a couple of Earth Boxes. I will put them on my patio to keep the veggies away from the deer. I've got snow peas growing in straw bales at the moment(not on the patio), but they're only about 1" tall and I'm hoping to keep them from the deer. I pushed some spikey stems into the bales as a deterrant because I read they don't like sharpies near their noses. They'll probably have a good laugh when they come for my peas. I dare them to climb the steps to the patio to get at my EB's.

Pamgarden, you might be in for a surprise.