The Gardening Thread

[chvrchbarrel]

I don't think we have ever had one of these but why the F not (inb4 'because it is february')

I want to start growing a little bit of produce this year - a little more difficult in an apartment, but not impossible! It seems like peppers are a good start (even though they apparently take awhile to germinate) because you can start them indoors 8-10 weeks before the cold season wanes and transplant them outside. 

Bell peppers may be ready to harvest by late spring / early summer if I plant soon; hot peppers take longer to grow.

But I will probably screw this all up! Whatever, maybe it will be fun.

Do ya'll garden? Have you attempted to start a small garden on an apartment balcony? Do you have any good community garden tales?

I'm sick of this weather.

[Deleted]

We're good at growing tomatoes and peppers, not much else. We had so many tomatoes last year that we now have a ton of salsa bottled.

[chvrchbarrel]

But how big is your 1-bedroom apartment's balcony

[Deleted]

Oh, and basil! I built a planter a couple years ago and it was one of my finest days when it didn't fall apart after we set it up.

[thebosma]

We tried to do a nice little herb garden on our porch last year but we got everything before some of the hottest days of the year and it ended up fucking everything up. We have a much bigger/nicer balcony now so we’re probably gonna attempt something fun out there this year.

[chvrchbarrel]

Herb gardens are how we found out that even home-grown thyme that is wilted and pathetic is FAR better than the dried out stuff in the spice shakers. Will continue this trend in 2019 for sure.

[chvrchbarrel]

Feb 12, 2019 10:22:59 GMT -6 scoots said:

We're good at growing tomatoes and peppers, not much else. We had so many tomatoes last year that we now have a ton of salsa bottled.

Real talk: do you have any advice for growing peppers? I am not totally garden-dumb, but fairly garden-dumb.

[Deleted]

Put them in a spot with a ton of sun and water them sparingly. They should do fine. I'd personally pick a smaller pepper unless you have room to use cages.

[chvrchbarrel]

Feb 12, 2019 10:32:14 GMT -6 scoots said:

Put them in a spot with a ton of sun and water them sparingly. They should do fine. I'd personally pick a smaller pepper unless you have room to use cages.

Thanks! I'm going to try to start them indoors for the 8-10 week period I've been reading is okay. Was thinking about starting with a section of banana peppers, and a section of jalepenos 

[Deleted]

Jalapeno and serrano peppers are pretty good to start with - once they start to sprout is when the more intense sun is needed, so your plan should be fine.

[alady]

I have had a successful balcony garden for the last 15 years or so AMA

My first suggestion is buy pepper plants not seeds

[chvrchbarrel]

Feb 12, 2019 11:16:45 GMT -6 alady said:

I have had a successful balcony garden for the last 15 years or so AMA

My first suggestion is buy pepper plants not seeds

Would love any and all tips!!

When do you begin your planting for spring/summer veggies? Are there other big advantages to buying plants other than it being (presumably) way easier? 

We have a long planter attached to our railing, and another planter on a small table in the sunniest areas outside. The sun exposure is great, but sometimes the heat just straight up fries what we plant in them :/

[alady]

It is so much easier to start with plants. I usually don't start until Memorial Day or thereabouts but since you're further south you could probably start putting things outside a month or so earlier, as long as it's well after frost.

1. Which direction does your balcony face?
2. How deep are the planters?

[chvrchbarrel]

Feb 12, 2019 11:27:33 GMT -6 alady said:

It is so much easier to start with plants. I usually don't start until Memorial Day or thereabouts but since you're further south you could probably start putting things outside a month or so earlier, as long as it's well after frost.

1. Which direction does your balcony face?
2. How deep are the planters?

We have one balcony that faces east, and gets great sunlight until about mid-June when a large shady tree comes all the way in. There's still some great sun over there and I feel like the shade protects the plants from straight-up frying but that's just a guess.

Another smaller balcony has railings that face both north and east with virtually no shade.

The larger planter we have is probably...6 inches deep? We also have some pots of various sizes. The smaller planter is essentially an herb garden planter. I am completely ok with buying more-appropriate planters.

[Deleted]

Oh yeah definitely start with plants. We have a great little nursery near our house that we've had great luck with. If at all possible, find something local and don't depend on Home Depot. "Support local" and all that, but we've had issues with the plants we've purchased from Home Depot, too.

[alady]

I would get some deeper planters for peppers, a good rule of thumb is however tall the plant is supposed to get, put it in a pot at least half as deep. So like if the plant is supposed to get 2' tall put it in a 1' tall pot. They will do much better if the roots have a lot of room to grow.

I don't think shade is bad necessarily but check on the plant label to see what it prefers. East facing is good, lots of morning light. North facing will get the least light. You might even want to move the plants around to see which spot they prefer.

I will think on some plants that love to fry for your railing planters.

[alady]

Agreed that I would avoid Home Depot.

[ultravisitor]

I have a black thumb.

[zircona1]

I grow some herbs in pots out on my back deck - basil, thyme, and parsley, mostly. I don't really have any tips, except that you can freeze thyme in a little Ziploc bag and use it during the winter. You can also freeze parsley, I used an ice cube tray.

[Deleted]

...

every post in this thread is a euphemism for [redacted], right?

[mookie]

In 2017, I dug up a dead busy right by our front door, and put in a little mini-garden spot. The flowers I put in did pretty well, and some actually grew back in 2018 (I didn't think some of them were supposed to).

Every time I've tried to intentionally grow any veggies, it's failed pretty horribly. We once got a little tomato plant at the Arboretum and just put it in a spot where we didn't think it would do anything. Of course it gave us tons of little cherry tomatoes. I need to try harder with the veggies.

[borracho]

we got one of these for our backyard 2 years ago and we've planted jalapenos and tomatoes and tomatoes grew fantastic but it's only 2 of us and we don't really cook a whole lot and the salsa we made wasn't that great. so we're gonna do flowers this year i think.

[alady]

I'm pretty stoked to have an actual yard to grow in this year 🙂

[monasterymonochrome]

Hello all. I bought a lavender plant from Trader Joe's and put it on my room's only windowsill that gets direct sunlight. Its been 3 weeks and George (my plant's name) hasn't died yet. Am I a gardener?

[chvrchbarrel]

Feb 12, 2019 15:29:51 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Hello all. I bought a lavender plant from Trader Joe's and put it on my room's only windowsill that gets direct sunlight. Its been 3 weeks and George (my plant's name) hasn't died yet. Am I a gardener?

You are a gardener, but as we've learned from Steve Perry, George might benefit from a last name.

[Deleted]

Nice weather started kicking in this week so I've been doing some work fixing up the backyard before we start planting things in about a month and a half. I guess I get it from my dad, but I love doing yard work and seeing the improvements - it's a nice feeling. When I get back from KC I'm going to attack the nuisance mint on the side of our house.

[alady]

Good luck.

[Deleted]

I think a flamethrower is perfectly reasonable, but my wife disagrees.

[monasterymonochrome]

Feb 12, 2019 15:29:51 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Hello all. I bought a lavender plant from Trader Joe's and put it on my room's only windowsill that gets direct sunlight. Its been 3 weeks and George (my plant's name) hasn't died yet. Am I a gardener?

Update: It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of George.  He was a good plant - and though his body may decay - the scent of his lavendery goodness lives on in our hearts.  

[c1916]

Mar 27, 2019 9:40:13 GMT -6 scoots said:

I think a flamethrower is perfectly reasonable, but my wife disagrees.

It can be done, but you've got to get that shit perfectly right with a flamethrower in order to get rid of the roots.