Spring Garden Series

Penn State’s Lehigh and Northamption County Master Gardeners are offering classes to launch the vegetable gardening season.

If you are browsing those beautiful seed catalogs now, the first sessions on planning and seed starting should push you out of the winter doldrums. These timely topics are offered on February 24 in Northampton County and February 27 in Lehigh County.

The “Mission Possible” series in March “Mastering Home Vegetable Production” continues with planting, spacing, watering, feeding, rotation as well as pest management.

Small space? Container Vegetable Gardening will be covered February 27 in Lehigh County and March 10 in Northampton County.

Both locations will end with “Win with Tomatoes and Peppers”.

Each class costs $6 or $30 for all 6 hour-long sessions at one of location. Space is limited and usually fills quickly. If you are a beginning vegetable gardener or an old hand looking for a refresher or some new ideas, you can’t beat this deal.

See the brochure “Spring Garden Series: Victory in the Vegetable Garden” for all the details.

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Precision Drip Spikes

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Last May 30 I posted that I was going to try Precision Drip Spikes to help keep my potted pole beans and bush cucumbers watered during the summer.

I ordered a pack of four spikes for $16.95 from Gardener’s Supply. Each “Spike” consisted of a 7" spike to fit in the water bottle, a tiny hose and a small “dripper” spike. The water bottle is not included.

A numbered dial on the "dripper" spike sets the amount of water to be released.

According to the instructions, “When you plant the (dripper) spike the water outlet must not come in contact with the soil.”

The first thing that happened with the Precision Drip Spikes: The 2 liter bottle spike sunk in the soil and it was difficult to put the drip end in the soil without getting it too deep. I tried to prop the bottle on some flat stones and lean it against the pot. There was still an S-shaped curve in the hose. A smaller bottle didn’t work much better.

I fiddled around with it for weeks. If I got everything right, it worked well. Some times it created a vacuum and no water came out at all. I finally took them out. I think it takes someone with more patience than I have to get the Precision Drip Spikes working correctly.

I’ve read that some people cut the bottom off the water bottle which makes it easier to refill and eliminates the vacuum problem. I may try that next year.

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Fish Boxes

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I picked up three fish boxes from a local seafood store. Thanks for the tip on fish boxes Matriarchy. You can’t beat the price – free.

They are about the size of a small window box (24”L x 9”W x 5”D). I will need to punch holes in the bottom for drainage.

The boxes came with lids. I’ll have to figure out how to recycle the lids. They could be used as trays for potted plants.

I’ll reuse the soil from last year’s pots. I don’t know if that’s the best thing to do but it certainly is the cheapest. I may mix in some new potting soil and vermiculite. I’ll fertilize with fish emulsion.

I have all winter to select some plants for the boxes. I may plant some lettuce or herbs. Or, I may fill them with marigolds for a nice edge to the sunny patio. Or I may start with lettuce/herbs and change to marigolds later in the summer. Or, I may try something else entirely. What would you do with free planters?


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NOTE: The annual Lehigh Valley Flower and Garden Show at Allentown Fairgrounds Agriplex has been canceled for economic reasons as well as decreasing attendance. The show was originally scheduled for March 6-8, 2009. After 36 years, spring won’t be the same without it.
(LV Flower Show posts March 3, 2007 and March 7 2008.)

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Return on Investment (ROI)

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Years ago, when I was naive enough to think I could understand business planning and investments, I read a lot about Return on Investment (ROI).

This morning I picked beans from the potted pole bean plants. This is about the 5th or 6th picking. Not bad for the price of 4 bean seeds. (Of course I've not factored in costs of soil, water, fish emulsion fertilizer or labor.)

To me this is a great ROI - especially since the labor is free.

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Watering Container Plants

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Drip-it Pro Waterer (see May 11, 2008 post) was designed for house plants. I tried it with my vegetable container plants this summer. I have one in a pot of pole beans and one in a pot of cucumbers.

I filled the water containers about once a week. The 8” water bottle holds about 4 cups of water. It is simple to fill and use. The T-shaped “wick” sometimes fell out as I put the pronged cap on. But, they were easy to put back in place.

I still had to water once or twice a day in the summer heat. The water bottle may have helped keep the pots from completely drying out.

I think they will work for my large house plants while I’m on a 2-week vacation this winter.

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Gardener’s Supply “2-Week Plant Sitters” http://www.gardeners.com/Drip-It%20Waterer/17519,default,pd.html
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Container Plants

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The containers are finally planted! ¾ of the cuttings are in the ground. A week of rain has made trying to plant anything somewhat of an adventure.

Speaking of rain, the big yellow iris is completely schmooshed. The picture was taken a few days ago when the rain-schmooshing was just beginning. It’s sad that we won’t get to enjoy them this year.

I planted some vegetables in containers again – pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) and bush cucumbers (Bush Champion). Last year we had loads of beans. The bush cucumbers got mildewed and didn’t produce much after the first crop. (see 9/8/07 post) It will be interesting to see what happens this year. I'll try less plants to reduce crowding - 2 instead of 4.

I bought two Drip-It Pro watering devices from Gardener’s Supply. Hopefully, they will help keep the plants watered during the summer. I’ll let you know how they work out.

Zinnia (Burpee Candy Cane and Giant Flowering mix) and sweet pea (Burpee Streamers) seeds were planted in the large patio pot. Several other pots got various coleus, impatiens, cana, diamond frost and dusty miller.

The porch pot is a red, white and blue combination – Impatiens ‘Dazzler® Red Star’, Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost®’ and a pretty blue plant that was a gift from a friend. I don’t know the name of the blue plant. It reminds me of lobelia. There won’t be much color for Memorial Day but I’m hoping to have a pretty pot by the 4th of July.

I mix the soil in a wheelbarrow and either wheel the soil to the pot or carry it in a bucket. Even though I put a few empty soda cans in the bottom, the pots are too heavy to move when full. Wooden plant dollies are under the pots on the deck.

I use whatever garden/potting soil I can find on sale. I add some soil from my dirt pile, a little sand and a bag of perlite. The mixture is usually light and fluffy.

I’ll be fertilizing with fish emulsion if it ever stops raining. I wish I could save some of this rain for August.

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2007 Garden

As I looked through the garden photos from 2007, I found some winners and some losers and a few that were a little of both.

Losers

The pot of Double Flowering Tuberose (Polianthea tuberosa) did not bloom (again). I promised myself if there were no blooms in 2007, they would be compost. But, I've the pot away for the winter (again). (see December 29, 2006 post). We’ll see. I get plenty of green leaves and lots of new bulbs each year, but no blooms. I don't know if I'm ready to give up the challenge.

Lobelia 'Crystal Palace' started with a few pretty, bright blue flowers in a pot with zinnias. They never developed into much. I’m not sure if it was the competition from the zinnias or the shade from the zinnias or the hot, dry summer. I've tried nasturtiums and petunias in the bottom of this patio pot. Neither one worked very well. I’ll be looking for a different cascading plant this spring. I may try some of the bright sweet potato vines.

In the middle

Container Vegetables. The cucumber (Bush Champion) plants produced a normal amount of cukes before they were overcome with mildew. I may try a mildew resistant variety this year. The beans (Kentucky Wonder) were a success producing beans into fall. But, keeping the containers watered was a problem in the hot, dry summer. I will be researching watering methods and gadgets this winter.

Making aerobic compost tea was easy enough to do. (see July 7, 2007 and August 8, 2007 posts) I think I got some good results on the roses. I’m not sure how valuable it is as a soil amendment. I’ll be trying it on a portion of the lawn next spring. At the very least, I got to stretch my valuable compost a little further.

Sweet Pea (Sweet Dreams & Streamers Mix) took a long time to germinate. Half of them turned brown and withered. The other half produced a fair amount of flowers. The flowers were almost exclusively lilac colored with few exceptions. There was no noticeable fragrance.

I’ll get to the winners next time.

Container Vegetables

The container vegetable experiment this summer was a moderate success. (see July 4, 2007 for variety and method) Both the cucumbers and beans were very tasty.

The beans did well and are still flowering and producing – a regular bean machine.

The cucumbers produced a moderate number of cukes into July. Production slowed in August to a standstill. The leaves became grey with mildew but new shoots are coming out of the base of one plant now. I don’t know if there will be any late crop cucumbers but it is flowering. Next year I may try a mildew resistant seed (with a cage?) or try to replant for a late season crop.

The greatest problem with container gardening is water. In the hot days of July and August, the pots needed water 3 or sometimes 4 times a day. There are a few things on the market to help with this problem - water absorbing polymers and drip/wick systems. I will most likely give it another try next year with a better watering system.

The best thing about container vegetables - they are right outside your door and there is little to no bending to harvest them.