I decided this year to try to grow some of my own vegetables. Nothing crazy, just a few things that I think I can grow out of pots (and indoors
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Are you a vegetarian? If you are, depending on how strict you are about it, I have a recommendation. There's this stuff that they sell that's some kind of ground up fish juice that's fantastic for plants. You just use a little bit and dilute it with water and then water your plants with it. It stinks and it's made of fish guts, but it makes things grow like the dickens.
that fish thing sounds good, thanks for telling me about it! I think I'll wait to use it until I move the plants outside. The last thing I want is for my apartment to sink of fishes. ewwww.
The fish stuff is nasty and I've never seen any evidence that it works any better than miracle grow. You don't want to overdo it with miracle grow, a dose once a week is probably fine if you planted in fertilized potting soil.
A few points of advice: - both the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers will need very frequent watering once it gets hot. The tomatoes will just wilt when not watered enough, but the cucumbers may look fine but will be relatively dry when you cut them open. - the cucumbers will attempt to invade all available space, the tomatoes may as well depending on the variety, so get some wire cages to go around them - Spend the $15 to get decent lights (see that other post) and a timer, that way you won't get annoyed with forgetting to turn on/off lights
(welcome to one of my mostly useless skills that comes from having grown up on a farm)
I tried growing some stuff awhile back, but the only "non-pre-fertilized" soil Home Depot had was this random topsoil that spinach would not grow in. Heck, I'm not sure I ever got anything to grow in it that wasn't pre-planted in some other kind of dirt.
I just used general potting soil. Nothing special. I don't even know if its good for veggies. But its what I had a big bag of and so far it seems to be keeping things alive.
My mom always told me that seeds were a waste of time and not to bother with them, but there's something really neat to me about taking a tiny little seed and growing something from it. I've certainly had my share of failures with seeds too, but I just wanted to try it. The radishes are doing well, at least :)
It's easy and cheap to start from seeds, and if you want, you can stagger your planting so you have ready-to-pick stuff for a longer amount of time. That's a pain to do with finding/buying seedlings, albeit it is tougher to get stuff to grow from seed.
ooh, I like the stagger idea. I've read that there are different radish varieties that grow at different times of year, but I'm thinking that I might be able to just keep growing this seed packet all year long if I keep it indoors.
man, if this actually works that $1.50 for the radish seed packet will be totally worth it. :)
In New Orleans I had great luck with starting things from seed because it was so warm and we had tons of sun, but in Bradford, it was too cold and cloudy and nothing wanted to stay alive! This year I'm just buying already started plants since my seed starting trays were torn up and I threw them out in NO. Next year maybe I'll try the old egg carton method.
Be careful with potting soils, though! I had one that had a lot of sand and it wasn't so good for some plants. I found that Miracle Grow worked best, but maybe the Martha Stewart (use so many parts of peat, topsoil, etc) method would work better.
thanks for the potting soil warning--I'll be sure to check it out and see what kind it is and whats in it. I haven't seen any sand, it seems to mainly be just really soft dirt with little pieces of bark/mulch in it.
That stinks that you can't start from seeds. Mine are actually all growing from primarily artificial light. The way our apartment is situated we get little to no sunlight. So I put the plants by what windows I can and leave spotlights on them. I'm not sure how well it will work, but the radishes seem to like it at least :)
in the kitchen its just the indoor spot light bulb. Should I be getting special lights for my plants? I don't want to spend a ton on special lighting for them but I'm willing to invest a little if it means happy plants.
I'll have to check what kind the ones in the kitchen are. I know for sure we have fluorescent bulbs in the laundry room. maybe they can live on top of the drier for a little while :)
Enjoy! I like gardening, but I keep f*$&ing moving, which makes it difficult.
If for some reason your plants don't do well, the first year growing any one thing should be considered your "learning year." Next year you can fix whatever went wrong. See: the time I put impatiens in full sun and they got tall and spindly.
"learning year" thats a nice way of saying "you are a vegetative murderer! you suck and your plants suck" hehe, jk. :)
This will definitely be a learning year for me. I'm sure I will kill off many a plant but I'm trying to avoid that. Yay for the internets providing me with lots of information to help me avoid plant deaths the best I can.
I'd really love to have a proper garden someday. I've thought about trying in our back yard but eh. I'll wait until I have a house. In the meantime, its potted plants all the way!
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that fish thing sounds good, thanks for telling me about it! I think I'll wait to use it until I move the plants outside. The last thing I want is for my apartment to sink of fishes. ewwww.
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A few points of advice:
- both the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers will need very frequent watering once it gets hot. The tomatoes will just wilt when not watered enough, but the cucumbers may look fine but will be relatively dry when you cut them open.
- the cucumbers will attempt to invade all available space, the tomatoes may as well depending on the variety, so get some wire cages to go around them
- Spend the $15 to get decent lights (see that other post) and a timer, that way you won't get annoyed with forgetting to turn on/off lights
(welcome to one of my mostly useless skills that comes from having grown up on a farm)
Reply
I tried growing some stuff awhile back, but the only "non-pre-fertilized" soil Home Depot had was this random topsoil that spinach would not grow in. Heck, I'm not sure I ever got anything to grow in it that wasn't pre-planted in some other kind of dirt.
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My mom always told me that seeds were a waste of time and not to bother with them, but there's something really neat to me about taking a tiny little seed and growing something from it. I've certainly had my share of failures with seeds too, but I just wanted to try it. The radishes are doing well, at least :)
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man, if this actually works that $1.50 for the radish seed packet will be totally worth it. :)
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Be careful with potting soils, though! I had one that had a lot of sand and it wasn't so good for some plants. I found that Miracle Grow worked best, but maybe the Martha Stewart (use so many parts of peat, topsoil, etc) method would work better.
Happy gardening!
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That stinks that you can't start from seeds. Mine are actually all growing from primarily artificial light. The way our apartment is situated we get little to no sunlight. So I put the plants by what windows I can and leave spotlights on them. I'm not sure how well it will work, but the radishes seem to like it at least :)
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in the kitchen its just the indoor spot light bulb. Should I be getting special lights for my plants? I don't want to spend a ton on special lighting for them but I'm willing to invest a little if it means happy plants.
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If for some reason your plants don't do well, the first year growing any one thing should be considered your "learning year." Next year you can fix whatever went wrong. See: the time I put impatiens in full sun and they got tall and spindly.
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This will definitely be a learning year for me. I'm sure I will kill off many a plant but I'm trying to avoid that. Yay for the internets providing me with lots of information to help me avoid plant deaths the best I can.
I'd really love to have a proper garden someday. I've thought about trying in our back yard but eh. I'll wait until I have a house. In the meantime, its potted plants all the way!
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