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bluesgardenI managed to snap off one of my tomato plants this evening as I was bringing them inside, a persimmon orange. *scowl*
However I survived my gardening class last night! The class was almost full and there were a surprisingly wide variety of attendees - young to old and a couple of ethnicities (which is notable for this area). It was held at Simpson Garden Park, which is a former church the city purchased. It has some gorgeous plants in bloom, a couple of which my camera captured before the class started at 6:30.
Overall, the instructor (the owner of a local greenhouse) approached it as a combination between a commercial grower trying to deal with the widest cross-section of the public/customer base, an educated agriculture scientist, and plain old common sense, which was entertaining. I learned a few things I'll be putting into use, he said some things that I disagreed with (I really don't think you need to buy lettuce starts, they grow just fine from seed), and it was a good experience. I even have some notes behind the cut, which you might find educational. There are a few asides in [brackets].
Notes
→ Area soil is derived from the breakdown of limestone, which has a naturally good pH. The city water is 8.4 - 8.8 pH, country water averages 7ish pH. The desirable pH range is 6.0 - 6.8; in this area below 6.0 (more acid) there is too much iron available in the soil while above 6.8 (more basic) there tends to be too much iron tied up for the plants to use (iron necrosis).
→ Fertilizer: NPK - Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium; tomatoes are 'luxury' users of potassium. [I have a large trash can of wood ashes out beside the shed, handily enough. No, wait, they're from D, so I better make sure that they're actually from wood.] Organic matter and compost also add some potassium.
→ Blossom End Rot is the result of an imbalance between calcium and water. [This has been called under debate, but calcium is the long prevailing wisdom.] Prevent by adding garden gypsum. Lime also works, but it changes the pH whereas gypsum does not. Gypsum also helps to break up clay soils.
→ Low nitrogen or potassium can be indicated by the growth form of cucumbers: if they taper off at the stem end (rather than being fully rounded) then the nitrogen is low. If they taper off at the blossom end, then the potassium is low. [I think I got those down right.]
→ Organic matter notes: 1 inch chicken manure (high in ammonia) = 3 inches of cow manure = 6 inches of horse manure; for leaves, go easy on oak which are highly acidic; mulch is excellent for clay soil [\o/] - avoid nut trees (especially walnut) with their killer hormone; pine needles are highly acidic (which is handy, because pine trees prefer a highly acidic soil).
→ Disease (the controllable: alternaria, white mold on beans, and downy/powder mildew on squash/pumpkins) and insect (aphids, beetles, and worms) control - for me, it boils down to copper and neem oil, both of which are very safe. The copper takes care of the diseases, the neem oil takes care of all the insect issues other than vine borer (for that, you would have to use a commercial product like Sevin). I'm not sure what he meant by 'worms' - presumably not night crawlers. Caterpillars, maybe? [One he didn't mention was diatomaceous earth, which was the only thing we used last year - a late season effort against the tomato hornworm.]
→ When using a pump sprayer, add a few drops of dish soap to each gallon in order to break any involved surface tension.
→ Fertilizer application July-ish (mid-season). [He seemed to advocate adding organic sources because they also add organic matter, but I don't see how that would work in an established garden. Hopefully this will be clarified in tomorrow's class. I will probably use Miracle-Gro, just because I have it on hand.] ONLY apply fertilizer to ONE side of the plant, do not ring the plant. That way, if there's a sudden bit of rain/watering and you've maybe used too much, it will only kill off the roots on one side rather than compromising and killing off the entire plant.
→ Weed controls include mulch, newspaper, weed mat, compost, grass clippings, straw, Preen (a commercial product), vinegar, propane torch, and manually. Turning over the garden at the end of the season is an excellent weed control.
end notes
One last thing: my seed potatoes arrived today!! There's still a good week and a half before they go in the ground (I'll pre-sprout them first and let them grow some eyes), so they're just hanging out on the kitchen table for now. :)
However I survived my gardening class last night! The class was almost full and there were a surprisingly wide variety of attendees - young to old and a couple of ethnicities (which is notable for this area). It was held at Simpson Garden Park, which is a former church the city purchased. It has some gorgeous plants in bloom, a couple of which my camera captured before the class started at 6:30.
Overall, the instructor (the owner of a local greenhouse) approached it as a combination between a commercial grower trying to deal with the widest cross-section of the public/customer base, an educated agriculture scientist, and plain old common sense, which was entertaining. I learned a few things I'll be putting into use, he said some things that I disagreed with (I really don't think you need to buy lettuce starts, they grow just fine from seed), and it was a good experience. I even have some notes behind the cut, which you might find educational. There are a few asides in [brackets].
Notes
→ Area soil is derived from the breakdown of limestone, which has a naturally good pH. The city water is 8.4 - 8.8 pH, country water averages 7ish pH. The desirable pH range is 6.0 - 6.8; in this area below 6.0 (more acid) there is too much iron available in the soil while above 6.8 (more basic) there tends to be too much iron tied up for the plants to use (iron necrosis).
→ Fertilizer: NPK - Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium; tomatoes are 'luxury' users of potassium. [I have a large trash can of wood ashes out beside the shed, handily enough. No, wait, they're from D, so I better make sure that they're actually from wood.] Organic matter and compost also add some potassium.
→ Blossom End Rot is the result of an imbalance between calcium and water. [This has been called under debate, but calcium is the long prevailing wisdom.] Prevent by adding garden gypsum. Lime also works, but it changes the pH whereas gypsum does not. Gypsum also helps to break up clay soils.
→ Low nitrogen or potassium can be indicated by the growth form of cucumbers: if they taper off at the stem end (rather than being fully rounded) then the nitrogen is low. If they taper off at the blossom end, then the potassium is low. [I think I got those down right.]
→ Organic matter notes: 1 inch chicken manure (high in ammonia) = 3 inches of cow manure = 6 inches of horse manure; for leaves, go easy on oak which are highly acidic; mulch is excellent for clay soil [\o/] - avoid nut trees (especially walnut) with their killer hormone; pine needles are highly acidic (which is handy, because pine trees prefer a highly acidic soil).
→ Disease (the controllable: alternaria, white mold on beans, and downy/powder mildew on squash/pumpkins) and insect (aphids, beetles, and worms) control - for me, it boils down to copper and neem oil, both of which are very safe. The copper takes care of the diseases, the neem oil takes care of all the insect issues other than vine borer (for that, you would have to use a commercial product like Sevin). I'm not sure what he meant by 'worms' - presumably not night crawlers. Caterpillars, maybe? [One he didn't mention was diatomaceous earth, which was the only thing we used last year - a late season effort against the tomato hornworm.]
→ When using a pump sprayer, add a few drops of dish soap to each gallon in order to break any involved surface tension.
→ Fertilizer application July-ish (mid-season). [He seemed to advocate adding organic sources because they also add organic matter, but I don't see how that would work in an established garden. Hopefully this will be clarified in tomorrow's class. I will probably use Miracle-Gro, just because I have it on hand.] ONLY apply fertilizer to ONE side of the plant, do not ring the plant. That way, if there's a sudden bit of rain/watering and you've maybe used too much, it will only kill off the roots on one side rather than compromising and killing off the entire plant.
→ Weed controls include mulch, newspaper, weed mat, compost, grass clippings, straw, Preen (a commercial product), vinegar, propane torch, and manually. Turning over the garden at the end of the season is an excellent weed control.
end notes
One last thing: my seed potatoes arrived today!! There's still a good week and a half before they go in the ground (I'll pre-sprout them first and let them grow some eyes), so they're just hanging out on the kitchen table for now. :)
