Houston, We Have Lift-Off!

Mojo · February 14, 2011

Translation: we have begun bed prep for plant-out in a few weeks.

The weather was simply too nice to ignore. I went out to Southwest and picked up manure and soil conditioner. (They had 6" transplants out but all hybrid.) And then yesterday it was still sunny and so I cranked up the tiller* and did some serious working-in.

And about that time the 3 1/2 yr old came out and wanted to help Daddy. Oh Lordy, what can I have her do at this point? So we went inside and found some squash seeds and planted them in the sunny spot of the New Bed. If they come up, great; if not, oh well, I have more. (Patty-pan, if you must know...)

No plant-out until March 1, at least. Inevitably it WILL get cold again, probably in about ten days, and I am not having my 'maters stunted again.

(* I am in-ground and working with what used to be clay, so no snarking about the worm killer tiller. Besides, they're getting manure; the survivors will be living fat and happy.)

erlyberd · February 14, 2011

Well mojo I have plent yof free snow if your looking for any! Your not aquamojo by any chance are you? As in cichlids?

erlyberd · February 14, 2011

Well mojo I have plenty of free snow if your looking for any! Your not aquamojo by any chance are you? As in cichlids?

ArcherB · February 15, 2011

Sounds like you've got a plan, Mojo. My parents live in Houston and have had absolutely no luck growing tomatoes. They think it's because their yard is mostly shaded by trees. I never thought of shade as a problem in Houston. With the heat and high humidity, I always thought the plants would appreciate a little shade. I guess the plants need DIRECT sunlight, regardless of the temperature.

I've been working on my beds since early December, but I was working on a deadline. See, Austin has the Christmas tree recycling program every year around mid-January. I'm cheap so I get all I can. This year, I hauled three full truck beds home. That means I needed to have all my amendments tilled in, weed stop down, bed edges set up and everything else ready to go before I started trucking in free Christmas tree mulch. This year, however, they had the fresh Christmas tree stuff as well as several large piles of donated, well aged shredded cedar as well, so I got the bonus plan.

It's really frustrating. Now that I have everything ready to go, I'm finding Craigslist ads for free leaves and manure. Leaves I can spread on top of the existing mulch, but if I am to use the manure this year, I have to rake the mulch off, scrape off the composted mulch from last year and the new stuff that has settled and then dig up the red clay to replace with the manure. I've done this to a few planting spots but there is no way I'm going to do this for the 100 feet of planting area I have. The digging is hard enough. Having to deal with six inches of mulch and two inches of compost doesn't make it any easier. My beds will just have to do with what they have and anything else I collect will go into the compost pile for next year.

As for the worms, I've noticed that they seem to be hanging around the red clay. I don't really find a whole lot toward the top where the soil has been pretty well amended. Does anyone know if if this is due to the recent cold pushing them deeper or do worms really prefer red clay?

b54red · February 15, 2011

Worms don't like the cold. They will go really deep if the soil gets very cold. I wish I could get more of my tilling done on really cold days because it cuts down on the worm slaughter but it has invariably been too wet every time it has been cold for the past two months. Now it is dry enough and it is also nearing 70 with nice sunshine so I guess the worms will take a big hit when I mix in my manure and other amendments.

RinTinTin · February 15, 2011

Don't worry too much. Worms multiply rapidly if there is an abundance of food for them. By feeding your soil, you are inviting them to party.

FILMNET · February 15, 2011

No Till garden for me again this year, way to many happy worms in the dirt last spring, this year, last fall, i loaded the dirt with lime, compost left some salt march hay on top , covered with black plastic. Now if the snow would melt, the black plastic might warm the ground up for the guys, But NO WAY- 54 inch's of snow has left 24-30 frozen hard on the ground here.

Mojo · February 24, 2011

My gut is now saying that we are not going to see another frost here this year. And I got word from the greenhouse that my plants are ready for me.

February 14, 2011	#1
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	Houston, We Have Lift-Off! Translation: we have begun bed prep for plant-out in a few weeks. The weather was simply too nice to ignore. I went out to Southwest and picked up manure and soil conditioner. (They had 6" transplants out but all hybrid.) And then yesterday it was still sunny and so I cranked up the tiller* and did some serious working-in. And about that time the 3 1/2 yr old came out and wanted to help Daddy. Oh Lordy, what can I have her do at this point? So we went inside and found some squash seeds and planted them in the sunny spot of the New Bed. If they come up, great; if not, oh well, I have more. (Patty-pan, if you must know...) No plant-out until March 1, at least. Inevitably it WILL get cold again, probably in about ten days, and I am not having my 'maters stunted again. (* I am in-ground and working with what used to be clay, so no snarking about the worm killer tiller. Besides, they're getting manure; the survivors will be living fat and happy.) __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

February 24, 2011	#8
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	My gut is now saying that we are not going to see another frost here this year. And I got word from the greenhouse that my plants are ready for me. __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

February 14, 2011	#2
erlyberd Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: CT Zone 5 Posts: 186	Well mojo I have plent yof free snow if your looking for any! Your not aquamojo by any chance are you? As in cichlids?

February 15, 2011	#4
ArcherB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Austin TX Posts: 200	Sounds like you've got a plan, Mojo. My parents live in Houston and have had absolutely no luck growing tomatoes. They think it's because their yard is mostly shaded by trees. I never thought of shade as a problem in Houston. With the heat and high humidity, I always thought the plants would appreciate a little shade. I guess the plants need DIRECT sunlight, regardless of the temperature. I've been working on my beds since early December, but I was working on a deadline. See, Austin has the Christmas tree recycling program every year around mid-January. I'm cheap so I get all I can. This year, I hauled three full truck beds home. That means I needed to have all my amendments tilled in, weed stop down, bed edges set up and everything else ready to go before I started trucking in free Christmas tree mulch. This year, however, they had the fresh Christmas tree stuff as well as several large piles of donated, well aged shredded cedar as well, so I got the bonus plan. It's really frustrating. Now that I have everything ready to go, I'm finding Craigslist ads for free leaves and manure. Leaves I can spread on top of the existing mulch, but if I am to use the manure this year, I have to rake the mulch off, scrape off the composted mulch from last year and the new stuff that has settled and then dig up the red clay to replace with the manure. I've done this to a few planting spots but there is no way I'm going to do this for the 100 feet of planting area I have. The digging is hard enough. Having to deal with six inches of mulch and two inches of compost doesn't make it any easier. My beds will just have to do with what they have and anything else I collect will go into the compost pile for next year. As for the worms, I've noticed that they seem to be hanging around the red clay. I don't really find a whole lot toward the top where the soil has been pretty well amended. Does anyone know if if this is due to the recent cold pushing them deeper or do worms really prefer red clay?

February 15, 2011	#5
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Worms don't like the cold. They will go really deep if the soil gets very cold. I wish I could get more of my tilling done on really cold days because it cuts down on the worm slaughter but it has invariably been too wet every time it has been cold for the past two months. Now it is dry enough and it is also nearing 70 with nice sunshine so I guess the worms will take a big hit when I mix in my manure and other amendments.

February 15, 2011	#6
RinTinTin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Seattle Posts: 581	Don't worry too much. Worms multiply rapidly if there is an abundance of food for them. By feeding your soil, you are inviting them to party.

February 15, 2011	#7
FILMNET Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: North Charleston,South Carolina, USA Posts: 1,803	No Till garden for me again this year, way to many happy worms in the dirt last spring, this year, last fall, i loaded the dirt with lime, compost left some salt march hay on top , covered with black plastic. Now if the snow would melt, the black plastic might warm the ground up for the guys, But NO WAY- 54 inch's of snow has left 24-30 frozen hard on the ground here.