Growing vegetables [General]

2013 Feb 4
I was hoping to grow some heirloom tomatoes and scotch bonnet peppers inside/outside this year. I really am clueless so any advice on where to buy seeds, types of soils, size of pots , etc would be greatly appreciated. Last time I grew jalapeņos the squirrels ate them all...

2013 Feb 4
Unless you are planning to start your seeds indoors, you will want to wait and buy established plants. I've bought tomatoes & hot pepper plants from grocery stores, farmers market, dedicated garden centres, side of the road - just about everywhere. They all work.

I use very large clay pots which I bought at Ikea years ago for $20 each. I like clay pots because they breathe. I find the plastic pots can allow the soil/roots to stay too damp.

I use the best soil I can buy. I usually find dedicated organic vegetable soil for pots. I mix in compost with this. I buy my soil at a dedicated garden centre (Ritchies or Knippels). I will often top-up with similar soil bought at Loblaws garden centre.

You will water the pots a lot. If you tend to go away on vacation, you will want to invest in a watering system - Lee Valley sells a few options that will slowly water your pots.

For squirrels, I build a sharp pointy perimeter in the soil around the perimeter of the pots using wooden skewers. For tomatoes, I use a net over them. If the net rests on any tomatoes, the squirrels will find this out and take tiny bites.

My front porch gets full sun, so all my pots are there. My backyard gets partial sun, so I do put some things back there - but I've found the closer to the grass they more susceptible they are to insects and pests.

In the past I have done really big plantings and used giant rubber maid bins with holes drilled in. I've stopped using those because of mixed success.

For your first time, I would say keep it simple.

2013 Feb 4
Squirrels are rats with good marketing. A rat trap loaded with peanut butter will fix them and I am sure SmokerGuy would be willing to eat them.

Start with potted plants from a good nursery such as make it green or richmond nursery. Many folks have great success with them in full sun but be sure to check the soil so they do not dry out in the the heat of summer. You pay much more for a 1' - 2' plant in a nice big pot but for starting our, you are much better and being successful.

Starting from seeds has its challenges. Seeds only germinate at certain temps, damping off is a concern, plus the damn packets are expensive for only a few seeds to get you started.

2013 Feb 4
I haven't had any issues with growing in full sun - but it completely depends on the plants individual needs. I do however have to water/weed/tend to the plants every day. There is always something that needs looking after, so keep that in mind before investing in a lot of plants. How much time do you want to spend?

Pick your tomatoes carefully. How many tomatoes can you eat in one go? If you have one of the really fast small growing tomato plants (larger than cherry size, smaller than roma), you'll be picking tomatoes every day once they are ready! The big tomatoes take much longer before they are ready, so pick some plants to stagger them. I have more success with the small ones since they are ready to pick so quickly. The big tomatoes always die from stem rot or squirrels before they are ready. There is nothing as tragic as watching a beautiful, giant tomato gently ripen on the vine, only to find animal teeth marks on it one morning.

My jalapenos are never ready until the end of summer and then I have a big harvest. This is fine for us (we love them), but have a plan for storing/drying/cooking/freezing your work if you grow more than you can eat.

Herbs are a great thing to grow and do extremely well in pots. Don't waste your money on buying a pre-made pot with multiple herbs already planted in it, go to Parkdale Farmer's market and buy 3/$5. Buy lots of variety and stick them in any kind of pot. I neglect my herbs and then over-water and they still grow & grow.

My son's favourite thing in our garden are wild strawberries. They will take over very quickly, but ours gave off tons of fruit (enough for the squirrels and the kid) and they sent out a second crop in the fall. I started mine in a pot, but missed one shoot and they got into the garden. Thankfully, I don't mind the patch of ground they have taken over.

2013 Feb 4
Zym- I see from your link you were growing hops. Are you still growing it? Do you know if a cutting can be transplanted? I've been looking for a plant because I want it to grow to cover a chain link fence. I couldn't find any plants last year. If it would work and you don't mind sparing some, I'd love a bit.

Btw, hops are one of the few vines that school yards can use for cover on fences. Most other ones are toxic to some degree, but hops is on the safe list.

2013 Feb 4
Sure I can give you a cutting. Remind me in spring. Takes til year 3 to really get going. And you may want a few of them to spread along because hops like to grow up not out.

EDIT: and yes hops transplant well and are nearly impossible to kill once going. I basically do nothing to take care of mine and they grow gangbusters.

2013 Feb 4
His hops are the bane of my existence. They're the squirrels of the plant world -- multiply like crazy and always turn up where I don't want 'em. ;) Come by when he's not here and I'll give you more than a cutting.. LOL

2013 Feb 4
I grew 2 varieties of hops for the same reason, and have since spared no effort at ripping them out. They did a great job of covering the chain link fence quickly, then they raced out of the bounds of my yard, taking over a neighbour's hedge - I had to keep going over there and ripping out the runners - and it even ran over and started taking over an apple tree before I noticed. It's fairly invasive, so if you're going to plant it, be prepared to monitor it and keep it in check. I also found it very hard to remove once it got established. Very attractive though...

2013 Feb 5
Last year's heat and drought killed our container garden for the most part. Radishes did OK, Swiss Chard epic fail. Green peppers did ok, hot peppers did ok but not great, and yellow/orange peppers did terrible. Most of the peppers actually blossomed better at the end of the season, just before frost, which meant they didn't get a chance to fruit really. Lost 75% of the tomatoes to blossom end rot. The only thing that did amazing was the basil!

So this year, we haven't decided what exactly we're growing, but we WILL put in a drip watering system for our not-self-watering containers. Probably no hot peppers (or maybe one plant), more red/yellow bell peppers. I'm considering moving stuff from the front of the house (southerly exposure, no real shade) to the north side of the house (backyard, but have to protect from the dogs).

2013 Feb 5
Seed Starting 101 - have not looked at this myself yet to YMMV

www.seedlibrary.org

2013 Feb 5
wondering why you don't use your hops for beer?

2013 Feb 5
Too much of a PITA to pick. I do pick some from time to time and use though.

2013 Feb 5
We have a couple of strains growing like the weeds they are all over my parents place....we used to use one of them in our beer....

Also can offer cuttings....

2013 Feb 6
If someone want cuttings of goji berries in the spring, let me know.