Star Nursery Blog: Seed Starting

Showing posts with label Seed Starting. Show all posts

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Fall Veggie Gardening 101 - Pssst... It's Easier Than You Think

Vegetables have been grown successfully in desert climates for many years. This is often a great surprise for gardeners that are new to the desert. Soil preparation is very important in producing crops here. For the home gardener a few basic rules apply:

Don’t try to garden in caliche or hard-pack clay! If you have an impermeable layer near the surface, build raised beds and fill them with a mixture of native soil and bagged organic material like Dr. Q’s Paydirt™ Planting Mix, or if you plan a larger garden try our pre-mixed landscape soil.
Use the right fertilizers for what you’re trying to grow. Leaf crops need lots of nitrogen; root and fruit crops like carrots and peas need less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. A Star Nursery sales associate can help you pick the right fertilizer. A good choice is Dr. Q’s® Tomato & Vegetable Food.
When amending vegetable beds, a mix of no more than one-half organic material to the native soil will suffice. To keep the soil fresh and viable, add more organic material each time you plant a new crop. Add Dr. Q’s® Gold Dust Starter Fertilizer, according to package directions, a day or so before planting.

Surface mulches help prevent weeds, conserve water and protect plant roots. Cedar Mulch will repel insects without the use of pesticides. Use them generously.
Pests can often be controlled by hand and sprays of water from the hose. The biggest pest in winter vegetable gardens, besides aphids, is usually the cabbage looper, which can be safely controlled with organic sprays like Spinosad ® or equivalent bacillus thuringensis (BT) product. ALWAYS FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS.
If your vegetable bed will be used again in the spring and summer, you may want to plan for some afternoon shade.

Here are some of the Vegetables For The Cool Season:

Beets (Dec through Jan– seed): Prefers sandy soil. Plant regularly for long harvest season. Harvest young; older beets tend to be woody.

Broccoli (Sep—seed; Oct thru Feb–transplants): Easy to grow; side shoots continue to produce long after the main head is harvested. Recovers well from extremely cold weather.

Brussels Sprouts (Sep-seed; Oct-transplants): Larger plant prefers good drainage. Pick cabbage-like heads when smaller than a golf ball. A single plant may yield 50-100 sprouts.

Cabbage & Kale (Sep to Nov—seed, and transplants):

Carrots (Sep.; Feb to May—seed): Choose short varieties unless you have excellent soil a foot or deeper, otherwise carrots will be distorted and stunted. Plant them often for fresh crops and harvest when young for best flavor.

Cauliflower (Late July-seed; Feb, Oct-transplants): Similar to broccoli. Use large leaves at the base to cover over developing head to keep it white, or it will mature purple or green (but still tasty).

Collards & Mustard (All year—seed/ transplants): Different plants with similar appearance, taste, and culture. Choose “hot weather” varieties if available.

Lettuce (All year–seed/transplants): Leaf lettuce, like Black Seeded Simpson and Romaine, can be grown all year. Head lettuce can only be grown in the cooler parts of the year and is more difficult. Plant every two weeks for a good, regular crop–favorite food of loopers, snails, quail and neighborhood cats…

Onions, Dry (Oct to Mar–seed or sets): Thin early; harvest next year after the tops wither.

Onions, Green (Sep to June–seed or sets): Easy from sets; plant regularly for a continual crop of young, sweet onions.

Peas (Nov; Feb—seed): Bush varieties are much easier to deal with. Try snap and sugar hybrids and choose heat resistant varieties if available. Prefer rich soil with excellent drainage.

Radish (All Year—seed): Gets pithy and hot fast, especially in poor soil. Plant small quantities every two weeks for a regular supply. Enrich soil for sweetest, mildest radishes.

Spinach (Sep to Oct; Feb—seed): Thin plants to 6 inches apart. Feed once during the season. Cut off at ground level to harvest, avoiding the extra grit that comes from pulling up the whole plant.

Tomato (Aug to Sep—transplants): Made possible by long desert growing season. Plant fast developing varieties like Early Girl for a late fall crop. May need to harvest green in late October or early November to prevent frost damage. Wrap in paper and store at room temperature. Will keep through most of the winter. Place in kitchen window when you want them—they’ll ripen in a few days.

Turnips & Rutabagas (Aug to Oct; Feb—seed): Grow turnips for a relatively quick crop; rutabagas if you want to store them. Both have tasty greens which can be sparingly harvested without hurting the developing bulb.

For More Information On Growing Cool Season Vegetables, Check Out Star Note #200.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

One Step To Healthier Plants, Better Soil And Less Water!

Would you like to have healthier plants, better soil and use less water? Regular use of mulches can give you all this and more.

What, exactly, is mulch? Mulch is organic or inorganic material that is used as a protective covering placed around plants to prevent evaporation of moisture, insulate roots, and prevent weed growth. It can be coarse or fine and even consist of rocks in some landscapes. “Compost” is mulch that had completed the composting (or decomposition) process. Mulch is for surface applications only, while compost can be used as a mulch or planting mix.

Regular use of mulch also helps drainage and improves the soil. Most mulches release natural humic acids when broken down by soil microbes. These acids neutralize alkali deposits frequently found in our native soils and make nutrients more readily available to plants. Mulch also cools the soil while reducing water use during the hot summer months. Some mulches like bark and rock are highly decorative in the landscape. Others can also be used as amendments to improve soil at planting time. Here are examples of the most common mulches normally used in our area:

Dr. Q’s®Paydirt™ Premium Planting Mix and Mulch is a peat moss based, a fully composted product with a small charge of long-lasting organic fertilizer added. It is free of sewer sludge and adds to soil structure, over time, when used as surface mulch. Best when applied as a 1 or 2-inch layer twice a year in spring and fall. Specially formulated for our tough desert soils, Paydirt™ is also the best soil amendment available! Mix it with landscape soil to get all your plants, flowers and vegetables off to the best possible start.

Humus Gro and Top Dressing are fully composted, humus-based products that give a rich color to the soil surface when used as mulch. They also break down naturally when used as surface mulches and release beneficial humic acids. These products can also be used as seed covers and soil amendments. Apply 1 or 2-inch layer in spring and fall to provide maximum benefit to plants.

Bark mulches insulate the soil from heat and cold as well as control evaporation. Coarse, medium and large bark mulches are especially useful in high-wind areas since they aren’t likely to blow around like fine-grained products. Apply a 2-inch layer around plants and in shrub beds. Do not mix bark mulches into the soil. They remove nitrogen during the composting process and can cause plant stress if used incorrectly. Scatter fertilizer on top of the bark when feeding your plants. It will speed composting while providing proper plant nutrition.

Bulk or bagged rock is a decorative landscape product that doubles as mulch by reducing evaporation from the soil in covered areas around desert shrubs, trees and cactus. Rock is normally applied in 1 to 2-inch layers. Since it is highly heat-reflective, be careful when using it around traditional plants. Leave a 2 or 3-foot circle around those plants and use bark or humus-based mulch instead. If using rock over a large surface area, keep in mind that sandstone rock decomposes into the soil rather quickly, while quartz rock does not.

Grass clippings and leaves are frequently used as mulches by the home gardener. If using these materials, do not mix them into the soil as they remove nitrogen while undergoing the natural composting process. This can cause severe plant stress. Consider building a composting bin (wire fencing works well). Add the leaves and clippings, sprinkle with a high nitrogen fertilizer like Ammonium Sulfate (21-0-0) or a commercial compost starter product. Water and turn the pile over every 2 weeks or so. You’ll have a fully composted mulch in about 6 weeks which will be fine to use around your flowers, trees, and shrubs.

For more information on keeping your plants healthy, check out Star Note 900A!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Use These Tips For Your Best Garden Ever!

Don’t try to garden in caliche’! If you have an impermeable layer near the surface, build raised beds and fill them with a mixture of native soil and bagged organic material like Paydirt™ Planting Mix.

When locating your vegetable bed, choose a spot with good air circulation. Avoid excessively windy areas or reflective heat sources like south or west facing walls.

Use the right fertilizers for what you’re trying to grow. Leaf crops need lots of nitrogen; fruit crops like peppers and tomatoes need less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. Dr. Q’s Vegetable and Tomato Food is excellent, as well as our Earthworm Castings.

Surface mulches help prevent weeds, conserve water and cool plant roots. Shredded Cedar Bark repels insects! Use them generously.

Most pests can be controlled by hand and sprays of water from the hose. The biggest pests in warm weather vegetable gardens besides aphids are caterpillars, cabbage loopers and horn worms. These can be safely controlled with Bio-Worm Killer® or an equivalent bacillus thuringensis (BT) product. Be conservative in applying chemicals. Use the right ones, and ALWAYS FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS.

If you want to start your own seedlings instead of purchasing transplants, add a 6 to 10 week lead-time depending on variety. For example, if you want tomatoes, you should start them indoors in mid January to have them ready for a late March planting.

For a list of warm weather vegetable, check out Star Note #205.