Looking Up

Hit up Home Depot for $10 worth of conduit pipe, pipe connectors, re-bar and netting, and ended up with this vertical gardening support. Pretty much followed the directions from "All New Square Foot Gardening," as best as I could remember them.

Everytime I hit that re-bar another inch into the ground, I held my breath hoping not to hit any utilities. Victory!

I'll be interested to see if it can hold up under the weight of my melons.

I just got supplies for one since I was sure to screw up the first one in one way or another. More to come though -- we are out of horizontal space so at this point the only way to go is up.

Don't really have a great before pic. This is the closest I can get:

The frame is now in the bed on the right. Previous frame was made of old tomato stakes, which is also what my square foot grid is at this point. That's next on the list. Well, maybe not next but it is on the list.

Like my current organic grass/weed killer? I'm planning to put the world's skinniest raised bed there and going to try to grow something using the fence as support. Sunflowers, maybe, though they might get so tall they shade the beds. Perhaps Zinnia or cucumber?

Teeny tiny tomatoes

The sweet pea currant tomatoes are about the size of raisins. They grow faster than one can pick them. Which is why I invited a friend over to do it for me.

After she had several hundred (pretty sure I'm not exaggerating) we let our girls make our dinner cook. Those tiny tomatoes go a long way when smothered in cheese and other nacho fixings. Mmm, good!

Adoption Day Instructions

The Hectaro Lagrimoso grow houses were overflowing this week as our tomato plants took off. I needed to make room for more plants so I distributed many of  my precious tomato plants to good homes. (Peppers = slow & not ready yet.)

There are a million websites that will tell you how to plant tomatoes, like this one or this one. But for those who have better things to do, here's a short summary of what to do with my babies:

1. Don't put them outside yet. I swear, do NOT do it or I will forever ban you from my list of suitable homes. Wait until it's warm. No earlier than Mother's Day, but if you can wait until Memorial Day, even better. The plants will not grow any faster if you put them outside, and you might even stunt their growth. I relearn this lesson every year.

2. Keep seedlings in a sunny place like a windowsill, or next to a sliding glass door.They need as much sun as possible. (I keep grow lights on 14-16 hours/day!) When the stem starts to grow towards the sun, turn them around.

If it is an especially sunny, warm day, feel free to temporarily put them outside. I move mine to the deck. But you have to bring them back in at night!  Put them in partial shade the first few times they have go outside.

3. Water them, but not too much. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings.

4. If your containers start to disintegrate or the plants just get too darn big for their peat pot, transplant into a larger container, but leave them indoors. If they get to be 10" tall and it's not yet warm enough, you'll have to transplant them into a larger pot (at least 4-6", but the bigger the better).

Curious what varieties you have? I actually remembered to label the plants this year, so you can look them up by using the search box here or find them elsewhere on the internet.

Go ahead and start preparing their outdoor homes. Turn the soil, add fertilizer if needed, buy and put out tomato cages and stakes, etc. (But do NOT put your plants out. I will mock you publicly if I catch you.) If you want to build some raised beds, now's the time. Each plant needs about a 3 foot x 3 foot space at minimum.

If you are growing in containers (pots), get the LARGEST pots you can find. Add all new potting soil because in such a tiny home they will need all the help they can get. I like Costco's Miracle Gro Moisture Mix. You don't have to water it quite as often, and at Costco you can get a huge bag for about $11.

You should definitely cage & stake plants in pots. Remember containers dry out fast and you will need to water almost every day, so make sure a hose can reach wherever you put your containers.

This concludes today's lesson. As we get closer to super-sunny-fun-time, I will provide more instructions for you to ignore.