Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[kalvis]

Wow! Sterilizing canning jars in the dish washer. That is a great ideal and would be a big time saver too! Just wish I had a dishwasher. Ha.

Tomatoes are just starting to turn red here. I ordered about 36 pound of canning tomatoes from my local farmers market. I canned (hot water method/cold pack) 22 quarts last year. This year I would like to can about 40 quarts. Because, I ran out of canned tomatoes in March.

I have grown my own tomatoes (garden). That is a lot of work and dedication (my dad always planted successful vegetable gardens). I admire all of you who are dedicated to your flower/vegetable gardens. I enjoy reading the accomplishments happening in your gardens. And the joy expressed in your words, when you watch the yellow bloom on your tomato plant turn into a green tomato then as you describe how it is turning pink then finally red! (I will start the bacon)

Looking forward to reading more of your stories!

 

[LadyL]

I mentioned here before, I used to have a Guinea Hen (male) named Boyd, and DH built him a coop. That's where I keep the tomato and pepper plants, inside so no medium or large critters can get to them. Even the chipmunks, which we suddenly have in our yard and who live in the flower garden, wouldn't be able to squeeze through the chicken wire spaces. The plants, however, have grown so tall that the tops of some of them are pushing through the top of the coop and growing outside of it. I suppose the birds will be helping themselves to whatever blossoms out there.

I feel like Jack and the Beanstalk (with tomato plants).

lol that's awesome

 

[LadyL]

something's eating our zucchini leaves!
I've googled and can't figure out what it is
I haven't seen the bugs - just the leaves have holes in them

 

[oviedo]

something's eating our zucchini leaves!
I've googled and can't figure out what it is
I haven't seen the bugs - just the leaves have holes in them

Mine are in a container tray but I’ve got to transplant them soon - my lanai is screened but now I feel like I need to go check my leaves For insects - my tiny tomato plant in the bucket is 6 feet tall now but doesn’t have many blossoms yet - need to research this - overall my containers are doing well and I’ve got green beans sprouting too !

 

[LadyL]

Mine are in a container tray but I’ve got to transplant them soon - my lanai is screened but now I feel like I need to go check my leaves For insects - my tiny tomato plant in the bucket is 6 feet tall now but doesn’t have many blossoms yet - need to research this - overall my containers are doing well and I’ve got green beans sprouting too !

ours went from a bag (outgrew that fast) to big rectangular containers
some other stuff has to be transplanted too

 

[Gardenista]

something's eating our zucchini leaves!
I've googled and can't figure out what it is
I haven't seen the bugs - just the leaves have holes in them

can you post a pic?

 

[Quiet Time]

I have a little tip I'd like to share...sorry if it's already been posted. I saw it on facebook.

To keep the squirrels, and other little creatures out of your veggie garden, they say to get some Irish Spring soap and shave a few pieces of the soap around your plants. They don't like the smell.

Another one I saw is to measure out 1 tsp. of epsom salt, add 4 c.warm water, and water your plants with it. (good for tomato plants)
It's supposed to produce more fruit due to the boost of magnesium.

My cherry tomatoes are starting to blossom like crazy, and showing plenty of little ones waiting to ripen.

 

[oviedo]

My green beans are coming in but the leaves aren’t doing well - thanks to those who explained about zucchini pollination I think I’m good there but the tomato in the bucket is ginormous and has few blossoms and 2 good sized tomatoes - not sure what I should be doing for that - when I started it was a 4” plant - so any advice will be helpful

 

[Gardenista]

View attachment 253582 View attachment 253583 View attachment 253584 View attachment 253585 My green beans are coming in but the leaves aren’t doing well - thanks to those who explained about zucchini pollination I think I’m good there but the tomato in the bucket is ginormous and has few blossoms and 2 good sized tomatoes - not sure what I should be doing for that - when I started it was a 4” plant - so any advice will be helpful

What’s your fertilization schedule and what are you using?

 

[oviedo]

What’s your fertilization schedule and what are you using?

Um water ? That’s it and I talk to them help me please

 

[LadyL]

can you post a pic?

I'll try tomorrow. I use WS on the computer, not my phone so not sure I'll be able to figure it out on my phone.

 

[LadyL]

I have a little tip I'd like to share...sorry if it's already been posted. I saw it on facebook.

To keep the squirrels, and other little creatures out of your veggie garden, they say to get some Irish Spring soap and shave a few pieces of the soap around your plants. They don't like the smell.

Another one I saw is to measure out 1 tsp. of epsom salt, add 4 c.warm water, and water your plants with it. (good for tomato plants)
It's supposed to produce more fruit due to the boost of magnesium.

My cherry tomatoes are starting to blossom like crazy, and showing plenty of little ones waiting to ripen.

thank you I'll put irish spring soap on my next grocery list!

 

[Gardenista]

Um water ? That’s it and I talk to them help me please

You definitely need to fertilize. Here is a link with basics.

The Basics of Fertilizing Gardens | Vegetable Garden Fertilizers

 

[Gardener1850]

View attachment 253582 View attachment 253583 View attachment 253584 View attachment 253585 My green beans are coming in but the leaves aren’t doing well - thanks to those who explained about zucchini pollination I think I’m good there but the tomato in the bucket is ginormous and has few blossoms and 2 good sized tomatoes - not sure what I should be doing for that - when I started it was a 4” plant - so any advice will be helpful

I agree with Gardenista. Your leaves are looking a little yellow. That is often a sign of lack of nitrogen or something else nutritionally (it could also be because they are crowded in a small container and competing for soil nutrients). Fertilizers come in granulated form (slow releasing over time) or water soluble form (you mix with water and plants can absorb it faster through the leaves and roots). I would suggest fertilize with a water soluble fertilizer right after you transplant to new buckets and then use it again every week to every 2 weeks, depending on what is in your soil mix. Some people also put granulated fertilizer in the planting hole when transplanting but that depends on the soil you are using. If you use a premixed soil such as Miracle Gro formulated specifically for container plants, then it usually already has some fertilizer and you won't need as much fertilizer as if you are making your own mix of soil/compost/peat. I would suggest using something low and water soluble like a fish emulsion right after you transplant and then every week after that.

I'm a little concerned your plants are already too big to transplant but if you can carefully get their roots separated and give them a good dose of a water soluble fertilizer afterwards they could bounce back. Another tip is don't plant your zucchini deeper than they are currently. Make sure the soil level is even with the current soil level on the stems when transplanting. Tomatoes can be planted deeper and they will put new roots out if you bury the stem, but if you plant zucchini and squash too deep their stems can rot in the soil and then they wither and die. Don't give up, however, if your transplants don't make it. You probably still have time to grow new zucchini plants from seed right in the 5 gallon buckets you were planning to use- just grow 1 per bucket so that you don't have to transplant at all.

Here's a long video on everything you need to know about fertilizer (he talks about when to fertilize squash/zucchini around 133):

MOO

 

[mickey2942]

We give our plants a dose of fertilizer every other week. Now, they need sun, and heat. Nothing but more rain this week. I am going to check the zucchini flowers this weekend.

 

[Gardenista]

I agree with Gardenista. Your leaves are looking a little yellow. That is often a sign of lack of nitrogen or something else nutritionally (it could also be because they are crowded in a small container and competing for soil nutrients). Fertilizers come in granulated form (slow releasing over time) or water soluble form (you mix with water and plants can absorb it faster through the leaves and roots). I would suggest fertilize with a water soluble fertilizer right after you transplant to new buckets and then use it again every week to every 2 weeks, depending on what is in your soil mix. Some people also put granulated fertilizer in the planting hole when transplanting but that depends on the soil you are using. If you use a premixed soil such as Miracle Gro formulated specifically for container plants, then it usually already has some fertilizer and you won't need as much fertilizer as if you are making your own mix of soil/compost/peat. I would suggest using something low and water soluble like a fish emulsion right after you transplant and then every week after that.

I'm a little concerned your plants are already too big to transplant but if you can carefully get their roots separated and give them a good dose of a water soluble fertilizer afterwards they could bounce back. Another tip is don't plant your zucchini deeper than they are currently. Make sure the soil level is even with the current soil level on the stems when transplanting. Tomatoes can be planted deeper and they will put new roots out if you bury the stem, but if you plant zucchini and squash too deep their stems can rot in the soil and then they wither and die. Don't give up, however, if your transplants don't make it. You probably still have time to grow new zucchini plants from seed right in the 5 gallon buckets you were planning to use- just grow 1 per bucket so that you don't have to transplant at all.

Here's a long video on everything you need to know about fertilizer (he talks about when to fertilize squash/zucchini around 133):

MOO

Agree with all of this. Great point about planting tomato plants deep. Sometimes I even pinch off the lower branches so I can bury them even deeper. This makes the plant much sturdier.

Re: zucchini, I always plant 3 seeds and then snip off 2 after they start growing, leaving the sturdiest plant to grow.

 

[Gardener1850]

Agree with all of this. Great point about planting tomato plants deep. Sometimes I even pinch off the lower branches so I can bury them even deeper. This makes the plant much sturdier.

Re: zucchini, I always plant 3 seeds and then snip off 2 after they start growing, leaving the sturdiest plant to grow.

I totally agree it's best to plant 2 to 3 seeds per container and then simply thin them down to 1 if all the seeds grow. It's better than planting only 1 and waiting around for seeds that might not grow. But the advice to thin seedlings is really hard for many new gardeners to follow through and do. I understand as I still get a little emotional when I have to thin my seedlings by cutting them off, but I do it. The alternative to thinning is that either your plants won't flourish and don't produce because they are in too small of a space or you separate the extras and end up with many more plants than you need (as I'm sure you know ). Squash and cucumbers don't transplant as well as tomatoes in my experience so I thin the squash just as you said- by cutting the smallest ones.

This year I separated and up-potted my extra tomato seedlings because I was using decade old heirloom seeds from my seed collection that I couldn't replace. I had over seeded to make sure some grew and I didn't want to waste any that sprouted. They started in yogurt cups and then I carefully separated and up-potted the extras to red solo cups. Most of the thinned extras survived just fine- that was a new thing for me to do but it's not too surprising it worked as tomatoes are pretty resilient/easy to transplant in my experience. But now I have 20 extra tomato plants in red solo cups that are about 6 inches tall and need to be transplanted soon. But I'm out of garden space. I'm giving some of them away to friends and putting the rest in 10 gallon grow bags on my patio. These are also my second round of tomatoes. The first wave is growing in the garden beds and are already 6 feet tall and loaded with green tomatoes. I wanted lots of tomatoes this year so I could make sauce and it looks like I will have more than enough. Maybe I'll can some salsa this year too.

 

[LadyL]

Ok well I got logged in on.my phone but can't figure out how to attach pictures of my plant damage. Is there a WS app cause this is really annoying.

 

[Gardener1850]

Ok well I got logged in on.my phone but can't figure out how to attach pictures of my plant damage. Is there a WS app cause this is really annoying.

I don't know how to do that technical stuff on a phone but I have a suggestion for your plants. If you are not seeing any bugs on them during the day, then go outside at night with a flashlight and lift up the leaves to look. It could be slugs or snails, which only come out at night to eat your leaves. If you find slugs on the plants you can knock them off into a cup of water with salt in it to kill them. Then put some shallow containers with beer around the plants in your garden. The beer attracts the slugs and they drown in it. Hope you figure out what is eating your plants!

 

[Gardenista]

Ok well I got logged in on.my phone but can't figure out how to attach pictures of my plant damage. Is there a WS app cause this is really annoying.

Click in the comment box, then you click the button that says Upload a File and go from there.