Fertilizing Cucumber Seedlings - Don't

This year is the first year I've had much success with seedlings.  I tried last year, but my little plants were miserable because I didn't know what I was doing.

This year, I have been much more successful, but I'm still learning from my mistakes!

I decided to give my plants a little fish fertilizer because I watched another gardener do it in his video for his tomato plants.  Mine were still kind of small, the leaves seemed to be withering, so I thought maybe they needed a little food.  It helped the tomato plants a little....

Afterwards, I read that it is not necessary to give seedlings fertilizer until they are more mature.  I was giving it to all of my seedlings and it especially had a negative effect on my cucumber seedlings.  I won't do this again!  Compare the dark green leaves with the yellow-green leaves.  Half the seedlings are dark green, the other half are yellow-green.  I did decide to put some of the yellow-green plants in the garden, but I am also going to put in some seeds to start some new plants.

Setting Up the Vegetable Garden

This has been an extremely busy time.  For more than a week, I have been gradually exposing the seedlings to higher and lower temperatures, as well as more and more hours of sun.  It's made for a lot of running around, since many afternoons have been both rainy and sunny.  I have been watching the weather reports to make sure that the plants never sat outside below 50 degrees.  They have been getting maximum sunlight, too, so I have had to make sure the plants didn't dry out.  All and all, they have gotten used to being outdoors.

The weather report said the cold nights were over - meaning not really going below 50 degrees, so I decided to start putting the plants n the ground.  I had fertilized the soil weeks ago, so all I have to do is dig the holes, add a little fertilizer for each plant (3 T).  It's an organic fertilizer for tomatoes and vegetables.

 

 

So far, I have planted 9 Bellstar Tomatoes, 7 Yellow Pear Tomatoes, 8 cabbage, 8 eggplant, 8 bell pepper, 8 watermelon and 7 cantaloupe plants.

 

 

For the tomato plants, I cut off the lowest branches, as they seem to suck up a lot of the plants energy/food, but won't bear fruit.  At least I don't think those branches will.  I read on a gardening website that it's good to do this, as well as plant a bit of the tomato plant's stem in the ground - I think this is so it will grow more roots and strengthen the plant.

 



So, now some of my concerns:

1. Only after I put the plants in the ground did I discover that the next 2-3 days are going to be cold.  One of the nights will actually dip down to 38 degrees!! I think I may try to cover the seedlings at night to protect them.  I'm not sure how yet, but I'm going to have to act fast.
2. I did not rake/level the garden as thoroughly as I should have, so it is pretty uneven in parts.  I'm not sure how this will effect the plants, but in the fall I'm going to rototill everything! I would have/should have done it this spring, but as always, I just can't seem to get to everything.
3. I'm worried about pesky critters eating my plants.  I still haven't figured out how I'm going to enclose this huge garden....
4. I did not even think to leave paths between the rows of vegetables, so it's going to be a little challenging moving about the garden.  I have only planted half of the garden, so I will be sure to leave myself more room when I plant the rest.
5. I did not put any stakes in for the tomato plants and am considering doing it this weekend so I don't disturb the roots later.

Potting Soil

This is the first year that I have ever had any success with growing plants from seed, but what a learning experience it has been!

One of the challenges I always face is "damping off" , or "root rot", due to over-watering.  This year (aside from my first try at pepper plants) everything has gone really well, thanks to peat pellets. I tried 2 different kinds, peat and soil pellets and like the peat pellets better (I lost a whole flat of marigolds using the Jiffy pellets).

I noticed that the seedlings I transplanted first have done so much better than the seedlings I did in the following weeks.  I think it's because of the potting soil.  The first potting soil I used had a slow-release fertilizer incorporated in it.  Then, when I ran out, I was tempted to buy a really cheap potting soil called Jolly Gardener.  Well, this gardener isn't feeling too jolly!

The second potting soil was damp in the bag, and felt really heavy.  I think the dampness hurt the roots, because the plants have pretty much stopped growing.  I have tried a new potting soil called Fox Farm Ocean Forest (FFOF) which has been touted all over gardening forums.  Still, my seedlings seem dejected.  I think the longer the seedlings sit around in their peat pots, the more they lose energy to grow.

One of the biggest questions I have had is how and when to fertilize the plants.  Again, the first potting soil with the slow-release fertilizer seems to have worked best.

Last week, I started getting extremely concerned because I noticed some of the tomato leaves looking a bit shriveled, and I discovered some tiny bugs floating around.  Someone at the garden center told me that I probably have fungus mites, due to dampness.  Darn that Jolly Gardener! Her recommendation was to bring the plants up out of the basement to get some air and dry off.  So that's what I did.

Any way, here is a photo comparing two tomato seedlings, both sown on April 6th.  What a difference!

In all fairness, the plant on the left was sitting in a peat pellet for at least 2 weeks while I waited for it to develop true leaves.  I'm not sure why some of the plants grew so much quicker than the others.

Update on Blueberry Bushes

I put in my blueberry hedge in September.  Well, it didn't take long for the critters to discover them, and they immediately devoured the tender stems:



I recently surveyed the damage and could see that if these bushes are going to survive, they are going to need protection of some sort.  This picture shows nibbled branches:

I also needed to amend the soil, because the soil test reported that this soil is too alkaline.  I added some "Holly Food", which is good for blueberries, too.  It needs to be applied again in a couple of months:

So, I picked up some wire mesh and constructed some "cages" yesterday (April 22).  After I amended the soil, I buried the bottoms of the cages in the soil and covered them with some dirt and mulch, to help keep them anchored:

Today, I went out to inspect them, and I discovered that some creature was trying to dig under the cages!!! Four of them!!!!

I was glad to know that I had protected these plants.  Well, later in the day, I caught the creature in the act:







Guilty!

"Who, me?!"

Yes, you!

I had to put Shadow in the house after he did it again.

Anyway, like the fruit trees, I never got around to pruning the older blueberry bushes, and will have to make it a priority next March.  It's not the end of the world, but neglecting the bushes sure won't bring much fruit.

Incidentally - one of the biggest mistakes I made was buying such immature plants.  I should have paid more to have bigger plants, then we'd be eating blueberries so much sooner.  I'll be lucky if I get blueberries in 3 to 5 years!

Too Late for Pruning Fruit Trees, and Other Mistakes

Unfortunately, I have been so busy for the past couple of months that I never set aside enough time to prune my fruit trees.  This is unfortunate, because this is their second year in my yard, and I have never pruned them.  Fruit trees need to be trained while they are still young to encourage good framework.  They will be healthier, stronger and more fruitful in the long-run.  Fruit trees are supposed to be pruned while they are still dormant, but I saw today that all of my trees are in bloom.  The ideal time to prune fruit trees in Massachusetts is late March.  I have no choice but to wait until next year. This is already on my March To-Do List, but next year I will be sure to make it a priority.

I did take time to examine all of my trees today.  So many issues.  For starters, I have the wrong pruners.  These have a blunt edge.  I need to get pruners that have 2 sharp edges.  Also, I'm supposed to keep these things clean!

 

 

I noticed that most of the trees have multiple central leaders instead of one, and that most of the trees have very narrow crotch angles, which means that the trees are susceptible to breakage in storms.  This tree needs to be thinned out, but it already has buds.  Also, I need to start putting weights on some of the branches to encourage them to drop, creating wide crotch angles:

 



This tree has multiple leaders and needs to be corrected next year:

I also discovered other signs of abuse and neglect.  For instance, I just got around to removing the tags from all my trees.  Shame.  Also, I need to put mulch around the trees to protect them from weed-wackers and lawn mowers:

 

 

Lastly, I need to get some tree wrap to protect the trees from deer, mice, and sun.  My plum tree has suffered from either deer rubbing against it or sun-burn - not sure which.  I intend to wrap them as soon as possible and put wire mesh around all the tree trunks.  Also, some of the trees trunks are being chewed by mice or voles:

 

 

 

The pests can be brutal.  I didn't realize baby trees were so vulnerable.

 

Before I went out to prune the trees, I reread my post from early April about pruning fruit trees.  However, I didn't feel like I had enough information, so I did a little more research.  Here are some other useful sites:

 



http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/pruneapples.html

 

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A1959.pdf

 

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-to/prune-apple-trees.htm

Scattering Annual Flower Seeds in the Perennial Bed

I have been dying to grow poppies for years, but have never had any luck, even when I've purchased the plants from garden centers.  They never do well, and they never grow back the next spring.

One of our instructors at the WMMGA told us how she scatters a variety of seeds in her gardens at this time of the year - late March/early April.  Some of these seeds are annual poppies!

So, using Tracy's instructions, I scattered poppy seeds, cleome seeds and foxglove seeds.  I was hoping to scatter some snapdragon seeds, but I never got around to purchasing any.

Tracy told me that I would have to rake up the mulch so the seed would have contact with the soil, and that I should run the rake over the soil a little bit to rough it up.  So, as I started to rake up the mulch, I realized that I would have to clear away all the oak leaves that had gathered during the end of the fall and winter.

There were actually a lot more leaves than this, but this is all I captured on my camera.  See all the green poking through!  Any way, it took me about an hour to rake up all the leaves.  I got a space among 4 rose bushes and the largest butterfly bush ready for the seeds.  What I didn't realize was how few seeds I would get in each packet, and I only purchased one packet each.  If I'm successful with this venture, I will buy at least 2 packages of each next year.

Tracy reminded us that it's very important to learn what the seedlings of each flower plant looks like, so that they won't be mistaken for weeds and yanked out.  After the seedlings have become a little larger, then we can replace the mulch.

April 7
I looked around the perennial bed yesterday for signs of life, but saw none.  It's been dry.  Our well hadn't been opened yet... I don't know if I was supposed to get out there and water.  I got the impression that you just scatter the seeds and voila!  Instant meadow of wildflowers.  It did rain tonight, and the next few days are supposed to be sunny and warm.

April 9
I scattered some seeds that Lynn Puffer gave me:  moonflowers and cleome.

May 6
Still no signs of life.  I read somewhere that the seeds need soil in order to grow, whereas my perennial bed is mostly mulch.  I did try to rake it away, but obviously not good enough!  Also, I read that foxgloves do best in "dappled shade".  This bed that I picked is in full sun.  Well, back to the drawing board!

Pepper Seedlings and Damping Off

April 1, 2013
Well, these peppers have been very challenging.  I have already discovered a couple of mistakes that I have made, but not before I have lost almost a dozen seedlings.

First, I waited too long to uncover the seed flat, turn off the heating pad, and place it under a grow light.  As a result, the seeds that emerged experienced root rot, or "damping off".  I didn't realize that I have to do this when the seedlings first emerge.  I thought I had to wait for most of them to emerge.

Second, I was watering the plants too much.  The problem actually began when I first sowed the seeds, because the planting medium was difficult to water.... the water floated to the top.  In the future, I will moisten the medium before I plant seeds, and then I will water from the bottom.  The first time I watered from the bottom, I filled the flat 1/2 full of water.  This saturated the soil, which is not good! Now, I pour only a little bit of water underneath.

I went to Sixteen Acres Garden Center to purchase a fungicide, because one of my books recommended it; however, I couldn't find anything that is specifically for seedlings.  Someone at the garden center said to put the seedlings in a sunny window to let any fungus dry out.  I did exactly that when I got home.  Thankfully, it was a sunny day, and the little seedlings responded beautifully.  They seem to do better in the sunlight than under the grow light. 

I was very discouraged at one point and almost threw the whole flat out, but this morning I discovered that many new seedlings have emerged.  So, even though some of the seeds germinated in just one week, many of the other seeds required two weeks to emerge.  I'll need to remember this when waiting for any seeds to germinate! 

The other day, when I was feeling discouraged, I picked up a new packet of pepper seeds and a tray with pellets.  I'm not giving up!  I am determined to learn how to grow healthy pepper plants!

April 2
Still discouraged.  The seeds continue to sprout, but the leaves and roots continue to rot.  I picked off 3 more seedlings today out of the flat, and saw fungus on one of them.  The soil looked dry, so I added a little water, but it turned out to be too much water. I still have roughly 30 seedlings/sprouts.  A few look really healthy.  I'll be happy if I can get a half dozen healthy plants.  We'll see....

April 5
I have decided to scrap the whole tray, except for 3 seedlings that seem OK.  The rest all show signs of rot.  Very depressing.  I took the 3 remaining seedlings and stuck them in a jar with some damp paper towels and put them in a sunny windowsill.

April 6
I am going to try to plant each seedling in its own pot and see how they do.  Not expecting much.