Gardening tips. repost with update 2-1-12 Smoknjoe

Ok sitting in an old country store you can learn alot from the old people that sit there and talk about the old days. They say that a checkerboard is the death of a store but I believe it is the life of it. I am privilidged to sit and listen to the talk and to also play a round or two with the gents. The old farmers and the young alike gather and talk and share knowledge and secrets of the green thumbs.

I have also been privilidged to have been in the beauty shop (working on stuff) and listening to the ladies exchange their gardening tips there also. You gotta know how to steer the conversation to this. Doesnt take long before you get a boatload of recipes, phone numbers and tips on flowers vegetables and spices.

So here are a few gems I have gathered from them all.

Tomatoes....... Plant the plant DEEP. All the way to the first set of leaves on the stalk. It makes the plant force more roots out to support and sustain it better. Also calcium tablets or antacids (TUMS ROLAIDS) that have calcuim place them either below or three inches from the plant. The plant uses the calcuim to help the stalk and also to help the plant resist mold. Also a smidge of sulfur is good for this. Also get some paper cups, not styrofoam, knock the bottoms out of them. Place it over and around your tomatoe plant. This will keep cutworms from cutting the tender shoots down. They cant crawl over the cups. You can leave the cups on for life or carefull cut them away later on in the year.

Also if you have patience and the time you can use a razor to cut a drinking straw down the side and carefully wrapping it around the stalks of your plants. I tried that but its too hard. Plastic wire wrap from a autoparts store works great for that cause it does come in a larger size.

Also some aluminum foil wrapped gentley not crushed onto the plant will deter the worms.

And I have been told that a teaspoon of Epsom salt to each plant keeps the fungus at bay! Tomatoes are best eatin while standing in the garden with some salt and pepper to make the taste. And I love the smell of the young plants when they are bundled. Very invigorating.

Here is a recipe for young tomatoe transplants. 3 to four cups of compost. A half cuip of Epsom salt. Half cup of powedered milk. 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Sprinkle a handful this junk mix into eachhole. You can also apply some powdered milk every two weeks afterwards to ward off mold and black spot.

Peppers........ Cayenne, bell, jalepeno you name it they need it. Sulfur. Ever smell a pepper when you cut it. Has that really really light rotten egg smell. Thats the sulfur in the pepper. The hull of the pod uses the sulfur in its celluar walls.

Carrots........ If you got some potted plants in the house then plant the carrots in them. Space saved in the garden for one and the carrots will be watered. I plant about six seeds in each flower pot along with the regular flowers. I can thin them out if I need to but I do that from time to time when I get the munchies. Eat yer heart out Bugs Bunny!!!



Watermelons pumpkins canalopes....... Lots of discussion here. I have heard so many ways to plant and do that it aint even funny. But the basics that most agree on or do is make a cake of dirt about three foot across and eight inches high. Some do it different They make a doughnut instead of a cake. They plant about four seeds in the center. When the vines appear pinch off the runners unitl you get a vine about five foot long. Pinch the flowers off till there are only two per vine. Train the vines on the cake or doughnut. When the melons appear place them where they wont roll off the cake or doughnut. Since the melon is elevated off the dirt moisture tends to gather less on it and cause them to rot.

When it rains if the cake is done right or the doughnut then the center should have packed downwards into a funnel shape and the water is directed to the center. When the "pigtail" on the melon turns white or starts to brown a little then the melon is ripe. Some do the thump method. You thump the melon with your finger while placing it next to your ear. The more hollow it sounds the more ripe.

Cucumbers...... I train mine to fences. Makes it easier to pick them. You can plant them anywhere from 2 foot apart to four feet apart if they are on the ground. Remember cucumbers are thirsty by nature. Always pick the cukes when they are the proper size. Trying to get them bigger just makes the plant work harder and it kills it by sending a signal to the rest of the plant that the cuke has matured. If the plant makes golfballs then you havent got enough fertilizer. Miracle grow really wont do the job here. I suggest a teaspoon full of Osmocote to each plant if this occurs. Jab a stick down into the dirt about six inches from the plant base. Pour in the Osmocote and cover it up. Water as normal.

Ok even wierder is this. Harboild some eggs. Crack but do not peel the egg. Bury it 4 inches below the dirt and plant your seeds about two inches from it. The plants will take off faster due to calcuim and sulfur compounds in the decaying egg.

Spray some vanilla extract and water onto your cukes to keep the cuke bugs out.

Cabbages, collards, brussel sprouts.... Bury the plant all the way to the first set of leaves. Paper cup the plant carefully to avoid the cutworms. After you do this just forget the cup.... Its on the plant for life. Watch carefully for the green worms that love to eat the hearts out of your plants. Dust with sevin dust or super ten. Wash before you cook them real good.

OK on these transplants above and maybe some below if you put a small handfull of quaker ats to the transplant hole it will (a) hold or retain more water (b) rot and provide nutrients to the growing plants. You can prolly mix oatmeal and powedered milk togther and this will help to kickstart the plants. They will get the calcuim they need, moisture and food at a later date. Dont know about the Epsom here. A smidge might be good. Too much can cause hard!

Beets...... are like teenagers. Needs lots of room and lots of food. They love a lot of fertilizer. I have been told to put 25 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer to a 10ft by 50 ft plot. Rake or till it in good. Plant the beet seed. Water every other day. Stop watering when the leaves get to about 1 inch to two inches long. Let nature water them until the leaves are five to six inches long then water every other day. This is so the beet wont put its energy into the leaves. Thin the shoots with a three inch wide hoe. Quick swipes between plants while you walk will thin them accordingly. They are supposed to have three inches between the plants. I have been told you can pull them out to thin them. Plant the pullouts in the same rows as your tomatoes just two between each plant. Just water good for a few days afterwards.

Peas.....crowder, field... Dont fertilize these. If its possible plant these wherever you had a cornfield or cornrow at. Corn is a heavy feeder so there wont be a lot of nutrients left. If the pea has fertilizer it will put this into the leaves and become a bushy plant. No food then it puts everything in to the pods in an effort to survive.

Onions..... I have always planted them with the taters. Between every hill of potatoes I will put one bulb. By the time the taters (red ones) are ready to be dug so are the onions.

Mustard and turnips..... Just plow the garden and sling the seed. They will grow anywhere. Just make sure to keep an eye on them for the mites. You will see holes appear in the leaves. A light dusting of Sevin dust should kill them off. Wash good.

Nematodes...... Cheap way is mix about two cups of clorox to a gallon of water. This should cover a 10ft x 20ft plot. Nematodes will kill out your plants quick by eating the roots. If the roots is cracked or scarred when you pull a plant up thats dying (not from cold snaps) then you have nematodes.

Sulfur..........If you dont want to buy a bag of garden sulfur and you only have two or three plants that require sulfur then use Three Torches Matches. They come in a box and have red tips. Just push the matchsticks headfirst down into the soil or bury them an inch below the rootball. A box per plant will suffice. Sevin dust or Super Ten..... this is the last year you will be able to get it in five or ten pound bags. They will now come in one or two pound canisters. Use appropiatley and store out of reach of animals and children.

Inedible suprises for bugs..... Mix 1 tablespoon of Dry Mustard or Hot Dijon Mustard in a quart of water and spray the leaves of the plant. Hot taste!!!

Plant bulb food boost. Bone meal is good I heard this one from one of the older women. Mix half a 5 lb bag of bone meal with same amount of fireplace ash and Epsom salts. This mix dolloped over your flowers and onions will make them grow like wildfire.

Azaleas and flowering shrubs can do with this. About three foot out and all around the bush pour a mix of apple juice (1/2 quart) with about a gallon of water with a 1/4 cup of epson salt. It will make your bush bloom heaver and brighter. Seems there is a recurring theme for Epsom salts......

Gardenias love vinegar. So pour your pickle juice or some vinegar onto the plants root base and they will flowere even more.

If your vegetables have black spot or mold then I suggest you place them in a bag and dispose of them with the trash. Composting them or letting them rot on the vine infects your garden

Fertilizer.... If you use fresh manure you can apply it directley to the soil in Jan or early Feb. Till it in very good. This needs to be done at least 2 mos proir to planting in your garden. Fresh cow maure can scald your potatoes in the ground so the earlier in the winter you can fertilize with manure the better. You can also mulch the manure but same principal applies to time and tillage. Horse manure is gentler on plants and soil. It doesnt have a long breakdown time either. You can apply it and plant two weeks later instaed of 2-3 mos later. Chicken manure... is pure nitrogen. It will make the plants emerald green and all but doesnt provide nutrients it reallys needs. If you get this from a production chicken house beware that there are a lot of seeds in theirs and that means more weed pullin for you.

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