2013 Garden Start and Plans

[sio2rocks]

Hi everyone,

This will be my thread for the 2013 growing season. I just seeded all my early season crops out in the garden today and last weekend. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, marigolds, and periwinkles are started inside and growing fast.

Outside list: onion bundles-Texas Super Sweet 1015, White Granex; green onions-White Lisbon Bunching; radishes-German Giant, White Icicle; chard-Bright Lights; lettuce-Buttercrunch, Grand Rapids; spinach (real and related)-Bloomsdale Longstanding, New Zealand, Red Malabar spinach.

Still to start inside and out: Grey Zucchini, Dark Green Zucchini, Burpless Bush Zucchini, Straight Neck Yellow Squash, Straight Eight Cucumber, Burpee Hybrid II Cucumber, Blue Lake Pole Bean, Purple Podded Pole Bean, Earliserve Bush Bean, Sponge Gourd Sweet Honey (edible), Eagle Pass Okra, Clemson Spineless Okra, Red Burgundy Okra.

My Tomato List (kind of excessive) can be found at: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=26265

Will continue to update as I work and to address new gardening problems and successes.

Looking forward to a great year,
Colin

[sio2rocks]

Update 3/5/13:

Have moved the earliest tomato starts outside on the warmer days and inside my hot house when its windy or cool. At night if it is going to be cold they come back inside. Managed to get a few aphids on some of my pepper plants (probably from over wintering eggs in some of my containers ). Treated them with a combination pyrethrin/neem oil spray. Seem to have killed all but a few stragglers, will reapply in a few days. Tomatillos have really shot up and have started to put on buds. Will pinch them off once a little bigger.

Almost ready to plant out under my high tunnel once this last cold front moves through. Hopefully on Thursday the 7th. This year instead of staking I will be using the Florida Weave with three plants between T-posts. To add extra support I am putting some tension between interior posts near the top using ~14 guage braided steel wire and screw tensioners like the ones used on fencing or guy wires. The outside posts will have guy wires to tether them at an angle away from the tomato row. Will see how it all turns out.

Next update will be after planting out and construction of my Florida Weave system.

Colin

[Redbaron]

Your plants are way ahead of mine! But at least mine sprouted except for a few stragglers.

I have been watching close to the 30 day extended forcasts. Timing is critical in getting the plants in the ground outside. Since we have the same weather and are only a few miles apart, when do you expect the plant date to be?

[sio2rocks]

Scott,
I'm really not sure at this point since the weather has been going back and forth a lot recently. Last year I planted out on the 8th and 12th and on the 9th we had a low of 31 at my house and I had to cover my early ones. This year I started a bit early expecting the same weather as last year. I think I will plant my largest starts out tomorrow and Friday under the high tunnel and wait till the weekend to see what the weather will do Sunday/Monday. If it looks good Sunday I will plant all my others Sunday-Tuesday. If not I will wait until late next week. I have been saving lots of gallon jugs if I need to cover them for a night later this month I can.

Colin

[Redbaron]

They say tuesday will get to 27 +/-

That's pretty cold for tomatoes.

But after that supposedly pretty good weather here on out.

[sio2rocks]

Yeah I also heard from the weather service that it will only be 33 F on Tuesday so I'm not sure anyone knows this far out. Lately they have all be wrong until the day before so not sure what I will end up doing. Good thing is I have ends I can put on my high tunnel and a little tiny heater that will warm it a few degrees above what it would be. I should be ok if I have to baby them through a cold night or two under the plastic. Outside is a completely different story. I probably won't be able to plant outside the high tunnel until Thursday or Friday next week unless the forecast is wrong and they change it significantly for Monday/Tuesday. Only time will tell. I'll keep posting when I hear new things or make some decisions. I didn't lose any last year and I don't intend to this year.

Colin

[sio2rocks]

I planted out some of my tomatoes in the high tunnel and stuck my larger transplants I have been hardening off in it too. Since it has been cold here today I put my end caps on the tunnel and found my old electric oil heater and stuck it in the middle of the tunnel. With it on and the outside temp at 37 F the temp inside is ~55-60 F; just about right. So tonight when the temp drops to 28 F it should be 45-50 F in the tunnel. I think it is working well. I don't even need frost cloth or covers this year. After Monday night I can start planting out in the main garden and in my pots as I think the weather is going to stay warm soon.

Colin