The Gardening Thread

#1,076
#1,076
Go aeiou said:
Sorry, I need to write in more complete sentences.
Most of us in the eastern half of TN(I'm in Nashville) have clay soil. I amended mine by adding leaves and grass clippings 12-18 inches deep. I still add more every fall.

Oops, sorry. I thought you were talking about vegetable gardeneing.
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No worries. I'm extremely grateful for any tips. Ive made a nice black soil, but its only about 6 inches at most. Tilled areas
where beds are. But, in future will definitely amend with (not store bought) organic matter.
 
#1,078
#1,078
Pretty sure I am not supposed to see fruit this early. All three of the tomatoes have small fruit already.

Some of the pepper plants are growing quiet well. 4 onions have sprouted, and see one squash, and maybe one okra.
20240427_073042.jpg
 
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#1,079
#1,079
Jackcrevol said:
its orange clay in upper ne tn.

i'm not even close to being an expert. don't have a soil testing kit. so relying on google.

either way it isnt fun
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No, I completely believe you. I was just curious, and I’m not surprised that there are alkaline areas in the east. It just depends on your underlying bedrock type.

It might take a few years (few rounds) of adding serious amounts of organic matter, but you’ll get there. And the cool think is that clay soil is inherently very fertile due to its chemical structure, so once you can get its tilth and texture opened up, you should have some good soil for gardening!
 
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#1,080
#1,080
LouderVol said:
Pretty sure I am not supposed to see fruit this early. All three of the tomatoes have small fruit already.

Some of the pepper plants are growing quiet well. 4 onions have sprouted, and see one squash, and maybe one okra.
View attachment 637587
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How long ago did you plant them? Sometimes tomato seedlings flower (too) early when stressed, but that one looks pretty happy.

If you do want to encourage more vegetative growth on the plants, you can pick the green fruit now and even then flowers to remind the plant what it’s supposed to be doing at this time of year. Maybe add some high nitrogen fertilizer like blood meal for now. Just be sure not to accidentally pick off or break the growth tips.

If you have a chance, consider a good watering and then mulching around the plants (pull the mulch back from the tomato stems.) That’s a lot of bare soil looking for trouble there (weeds, water loss, etc)
 
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#1,081
#1,081
Jackcrevol said:
No worries. I'm extremely grateful for any tips. Ive made a nice black soil, but its only about 6 inches at most. Tilled areas
where beds are. But, in future will definitely amend with (not store bought) organic matter.
Click to expand...
Surprisingly, 6 inches is enough for most vegetables, if that’s what you’re growing. 8 is better (I know, TWSS)

You can also thickly plant daikon radish seed this fall. That’s Japanese radish, and its monster roots work like biodrills, breaking up the soil over the winter. Pull them in late February or so and add compost down into the holes you made. You’ll have some mighty happy earthworms, and it’s one way of breaking up tenacious clay soil.

Warning: when you pull them, you can leave them on top of the soil to down. But boy, do they stink for a week or so.
 
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#1,083
#1,083
Does anybody know of a good watering regimen for newly planted peach trees? I’ve tried Google, but there seems to be a lot of differing opinions. Mine are small, about 2-3 ft tall.

@VolNExile @GVF @Go aeiou
 
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#1,084
#1,084
LouderVol said:
Pretty sure I am not supposed to see fruit this early. All three of the tomatoes have small fruit already.

Some of the pepper plants are growing quiet well. 4 onions have sprouted, and see one squash, and maybe one okra.
View attachment 637587
Click to expand...
Just like @VolNExile said, you can pick off fruit growth early in the cycle to encourage more vegetative growth. This will/should increase yield on down the road (none now, but more later). Also, high nitrogen food with low K and P will also help encourage vegetative growth over flower/fruit growth. You still want some K and P when feeding with higher N fertilizer because those 2 nutrients help the plant fight off diseases. High K and P fertilizer helps with flower and fruit growth.

PS: Calcium is good for plants growing large fruit. Not sure if large tomatoes need it, but I know it’s good for large peppers like bells.
 
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#1,086
#1,086
zhangliao04 said:
Does anybody know of a good watering regimen for newly planted peach trees? I’ve tried Google, but there seems to be a lot of differing opinions. Mine are small, about 2-3 ft tall.

@VolNExile @GVF @Go aeiou
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I don’t have the space to grow fruit trees, although I envy those who do.

Some references from NC Extension (Google your own state):

North Carolina Production Guide for Smaller Orchard Plantings | NC State Extension Publications

North Carolina’s climate and soils are well suited to grow many types tree fruits. This publication will focus on the three main tree fruits produced for market in North Carolina: peaches, apples, and pecans. In addition to these main crops, information on pears, persimmons, plums, nectarines...
content.ces.ncsu.edu

I checked several references, and they all said one inch of water per week during the first year’s growing season.

Edit to add: I was wondering how on earth you know when it’s gotten an inch of water and found this from Illinois Extension. Duh and d’oh!
To find out how much rain your garden gets in a week, make a rain gauge. Take a clean soup can with the top cut off. Put the can out in the middle of your garden. After each rain or watering, use a ruler to measure how deep the water is in the can. If the water you measure adds up to one inch or more for the week, your garden is okay. If not, you'll need to water to make up the difference. Record the amount of rain each week in your journal.
Click to expand...

How Much Water is Enough?

extension.illinois.edu extension.illinois.edu
 
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#1,087
#1,087
VolNExile said:
I don’t have the space to grow fruit trees, although I envy those who do.

Some references from NC Extension (Google your own state):

North Carolina Production Guide for Smaller Orchard Plantings | NC State Extension Publications

North Carolina’s climate and soils are well suited to grow many types tree fruits. This publication will focus on the three main tree fruits produced for market in North Carolina: peaches, apples, and pecans. In addition to these main crops, information on pears, persimmons, plums, nectarines...
content.ces.ncsu.edu

I checked several references, and they all said one inch of water per week during the first year’s growing season.

Edit to add: I was wondering how on earth you know when it’s gotten an inch of water and found this from Illinois Extension. Duh and d’oh!

How Much Water is Enough?

extension.illinois.edu extension.illinois.edu
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That’s actually pretty genius. We typically use ours for grease holding so we aren’t sending it down the sink.

The 1” per week is what I found most as well along with watering 3x per week. Seemed excessive. I watered it with a gallon of water on Saturday and then again yesterday morning. And now it’s raining (was not in the forecast yesterday). Hopefully they don’t drown 😂.
 
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#1,088
#1,088
zhangliao04 said:
Does anybody know of a good watering regimen for newly planted peach trees? I’ve tried Google, but there seems to be a lot of differing opinions. Mine are small, about 2-3 ft tall.

@VolNExile @GVF @Go aeiou
Click to expand...
My peach (and apple) I planted in the fall came out very healthy looking this spring. Then over the course of one weekend lost alot of leaves. My fault. Since we had lots of rain going back to the fall, I assumed I could not worry about new tree watering. Wrong. They were stressed and dropped leaves. Best watering for new trees, bushes, etc., advice came from my garden center owner. "Forget rainfall. Stick your finger down into the root ball near the trunk. If it's on the dry side, water it. 3-6 months proper watering in before it's on its own." So now I go out about 3 times a week. Do the finger test. Give it a couple gallon when required. Looks like some leaves may be coming back. They did not go completely bald.
 
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#1,089
#1,089
zhangliao04 said:
That’s actually pretty genius. We typically use ours for grease holding so we aren’t sending it down the sink.

The 1” per week is what I found most as well along with watering 3x per week. Seemed excessive. I watered it with a gallon of water on Saturday and then again yesterday morning. And now it’s raining (was not in the forecast yesterday). Hopefully they don’t drown 😂.
Click to expand...
The surrounding soil will draw water away from the new root ball. Don't be fooled by high rains. See my above post. My root balls were dry even with wet soil around the trees.
 
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#1,090
#1,090
VolNExile said:
How long ago did you plant them? Sometimes tomato seedlings flower (too) early when stressed, but that one looks pretty happy.

If you do want to encourage more vegetative growth on the plants, you can pick the green fruit now and even then flowers to remind the plant what it’s supposed to be doing at this time of year. Maybe add some high nitrogen fertilizer like blood meal for now. Just be sure not to accidentally pick off or break the growth tips.

If you have a chance, consider a good watering and then mulching around the plants (pull the mulch back from the tomato stems.) That’s a lot of bare soil looking for trouble there (weeds, water loss, etc)
Click to expand...
I was doing weeding when I took that pic. Its normally not that bare. And I was also building a levee around the base to trap water. It now stays wetter than the rest.
 
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#1,096
#1,096
Tin Man said:
Google maps is showing three locations in the Asheville area.
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mustve expanded. there were vacancies when we lived there, 2011-2013. There are none now.

Early Girl Eatery & City Bakery are two that come to mind near Charlotte/N Asheville. There's also a Vegan place, 'Plant' maybe?
 
#1,097
#1,097
Jackcrevol said:
mustve expanded. there were vacancies when we lived there, 2011-2013. There are none now.

Early Girl Eatery & City Bakery are two that come to mind near Charlotte/N Asheville. There's also a Vegan place, 'Plant' maybe?
Click to expand...
I remember the first Biscuit Head having lines out the door throughout the morning hours. Being visitors with an agenda, my wife and I elected to break our fast elsewhere. Despite HCA’s takeover of Mercy Health’s facilities, Asheville is still on our list of possible communities for relocation when my wife joins me in retirement.
 
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#1,098
#1,098
Tin Man said:
I remember the first Biscuit Head having lines out the door throughout the morning hours. Being visitors with an agenda, my wife and I elected to break our fast elsewhere. Despite HCA’s takeover of Mercy Health’s facilities, Asheville is still on our list of possible communities for relocation when my wife joins me in retirement.
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Sounds like you've seen the dilemma. Town meant for 30K, well close to 100K.

Its almost exactly 2X's cost of living as Maryville City. Which, has a higher cost of living than where we are, in Johnson City. At some point, only the affluent can afford to live in your City. So it becomes haves, and have nots, - a City of people taking care of the haves. No real manufacturing, or industry.

Asheville, to be blue. Isnt of the working class. ASU, UNCW alumni second homers flock there.

That said, we got married in Brevard. Nice town, near Hendersonville. Also. Waynesville, also also...and Candler (Nudge nudge).
 
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#1,099
#1,099
Jackcrevol said:
mustve expanded. there were vacancies when we lived there, 2011-2013. There are none now.

Early Girl Eatery & City Bakery are two that come to mind near Charlotte/N Asheville. There's also a Vegan place, 'Plant' maybe?
Click to expand...
early girl is good. there is a Cat Head Biscuit place pretty close to that too that was good. can't remember if that was actually the name or not. but also had really good breakfast, especially the biscuits unsurprisingly.
 
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#1,100
#1,100
LouderVol said:
early girl is good. there is a Cat Head Biscuit place pretty close to that too that was good. can't remember if that was actually the name or not. but also had really good breakfast, especially the biscuits unsurprisingly.
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Not familiar. But seldom visit now. Quit drinking, so have no reason to bar hop.

There used to be a place in Haw Creek (E Asheville) called Ruby's, which became Haw Creek(side) Taphouse. I'm not a BBQ guy, but this place was on point. One of few places that has Pisgah on tap. Anyway, at the time was owned by City Bakery folks. Come to find out, unsurprisingly that bread is their main deal. One of the reasons those burgers, sandwiches, and crossaints are so good around town👍🏻 They make the bread for all these restaurants!

Edit: Its still open, but under diff ownership.

Place has skeeball, volleyball, pool, bball, decking. Its very fun.
 
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