Best thing I did this year for my garden.... - Page 3

Crandrew · June 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedln

Would someone please explain the green onion thing as if you are talking to a toddler who is still wetting his diaper.

Ted

Buy green onions. Cut Dow to desired height. Leave at least 3 inch from roots to top. Submerge in glass of water so root structure is covered. Place in sunny window. Within 1 week it should regrow. Rinse and repeat

Jeannine Anne · June 23, 2012

The green onion thing.

Take some green onions,cut the bottom 4 inches or so of a few plants, use the bits you cut off fpr whatever you like.

Put the rest (which is the white bulb part and the length of green you left on) into a jar of water as you would with flowers,with the green part sticking out.

After a couple of weeks the green will re grow, cut and use it , it will grow again.

So if like me you don't use a bunch of store bought onions fast enough and you end up chucking them, and you use the green bits a lot, then you can keep them going quite a while.

Put 4 or 5 to a jar and you will have lots of green for a good long time.

XX Jeannine

June 23, 2012

Jeannine,

Thank you! That is great information. I've always grown a lot of onions. I planted 600 this year. Our daughter sometimes calls and asks me to pull a few onions and drop them off along with her regular ration of tomatoes and other veggies, at her house when we are in town. I typically grow for size for cooking and hamburgers. She has always preferred the smaller onions. One day she asked me to stop cutting the green tops off before I bring them to town. The greens are her favorite part and I didn't know it.

I just sent her an email with your description enclosed so she can have perpetual onion greens.

Now I have another question about onions. In spain, they cut large onions in half with the roots on the bottom of one half and the remaining stem on the other half. They bury the onion hallves about six inches deep in a trench with the cut sides up. A few weeks later each layer of the large onion produces new green tops above ground. After they have grown for awhile, they are harvested and each onion layer has become a green onion with all of them attached into a large clump of green onions. They wash them well and roll each clump up in wet newspaper and place many rolls over hot wood embers in an earthen pit and cover the entire thing with dirt. After about one hour, they remove the rolls and eat the steamed onions which have a good wood smoke flavor. I've always wanted to try this and wonder if anyone on this forum has done it.

Ted

Jeannine Anne · June 23, 2012

Ted, I don't think they are perpetual as eventually they will stop growing but you can maybe get three harvest out of them. If you have them in jars of water at differnt stages it woukd seem to though XX Jeannine

dipchip2000 · June 23, 2012

Ted

I buy green onions in the spring and plant them among my tomatoes. I usually harvest about 6 or 8 at a time to eat. When cleaning them I cut off roots plus about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of bulb. I then go out and punch a hole in my tomato bed with my finger and replant the roots. If I am diligent in doing this every time, I will have green onions til frost. Little known trick that really works well.

ron

roper2008 · June 23, 2012

Started spraying my tomato plants before blight appeared. I've used
Seranade and Daconil. Helps a lot. Now I just have to deal with
the rats.

mrsmimiwhite · May 2, 2013

we call ours a butt buggy

b54red · May 2, 2013

Started using UltraSorb to start nearly all of my seeds. It is so easy to use and the results have been phenomenal.

Grafting some tomatoes to see if they will help with my fusarium problem. It is a bit too early to tell but if it works it will be the best thing ever for growing heirlooms in my soil.

Bought a nice supply of liquid fertilizers from Urban Farms. I'm not sure how well they are working as it is early yet but things are looking good and they are the easiest fertilizers I have ever applied. Just pour some in a hose end sprayer with an adjustable ratio control set to a tablespoon to a gallon and just walk around watering and fertilizing at the same time. No muss no fuss.

Bill

Tom A To · May 2, 2013

Finally got the whole garden converted to high-quality, in-line drip system.

BucksCountyGirl · May 2, 2013

So far...my best move was definitely adding soaker hoses to the beds. I've also started my Daconil regimen early to make sure I don't end up with issues in June. Here's hoping!

Steve Magruder · May 3, 2013

For this year, I'd say:

1) Deeply tilling the garden soil for the first time. Last year, I just garden-weaseled the soil and especially worked the ground around the plant. I need soil more ready for future years, although I suspect this year's production won't be as good as possible due to disturbing the soil structure so much.

2) Going organic with amendments and fertilizer, although I suspect I will have to use Daconil to deal with fungal issues, based on past issues.

3) Growing a lot of heirlooms I haven't tried before, but sounded great from my research. In fact, I'm growing all heirlooms (for tomatoes) this year.

4) Planting my tomatoes with the trench approach. This is supposed to greatly enhance rooting.

5) Spacing out my plants much better, since I greatly increased the size of my garden space.

6) Using human hair to keep critters away.

7) Using crumbled eggshells with plantings, although there seems to be schools of thought that suggest this doesn't do much. I figure, though, it's worth trying.

8) Using a less expensive approach to mulching around plants, using grass clippings and newspaper rather than woody mulches, which probably leach too much nitrogen from the soil anyway.

Steve Magruder · May 3, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by BucksCountyGirl

So far...my best move was definitely adding soaker hoses to the beds. I've also started my Daconil regimen early to make sure I don't end up with issues in June. Here's hoping!

Can Daconil be used on plants I just put into the ground? The idea of using Daconil for early prevention has the ring of a good idea.

BucksCountyGirl · May 3, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Magruder

Can Daconil be used on plants I just put into the ground? The idea of using Daconil for early prevention has the ring of a good idea.

I sprayed it onto my plants a day after planting this year and they seem to be doing just fine! I used the premixed type sold in a trigger bottle last year and it was really thick and hard to apply. This year I bought the concentrate and a pressure sprayer so I can get a nice even mist. So far so good! You do have to re-apply after heavy rains, but you don't have to worry about time between application and harvest for tomatoes. You can pick right after you spray. Below is the sprayer I ordered this year...worth every penny!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Steve Magruder · May 3, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by BucksCountyGirl

I sprayed it onto my plants a day after planting this year and they seem to be doing just fine! I used the premixed type sold in a trigger bottle last year and it was really thick and hard to apply. This year I bought the concentrate and a pressure sprayer so I can get a nice even mist. So far so good! You do have to re-apply after heavy rains, but you don't have to worry about time between application and harvest for tomatoes. You can pick right after you spray. Below is the sprayer I ordered this year...worth every penny!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I started using the concentrate last year, and it's a great value. When it's mixed, it looks like milk. I have a Roundup pressure sprayer that worked very well. It's just that last year I probably started too late, and only slowed the fungal problems. Using Daconil as a preventive measure sounds great. I'll apply it after this weekend's rains that we're expecting.

Thanks for the reply!

COMPOSTER · May 3, 2013

Only time will tell, but so far not turning under my cover crop and turning the first inch or 2 of my soil into dust. Its been so dry around my neck of the woods lately it's a little depressing. We have a deficit of 4+ inches of rain already. Guess its better than having snow.

May 2, 2013	#39
Tom A To Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Pilot Hill, Ca. Posts: 307	Finally got the whole garden converted to high-quality, in-line drip system. __________________ -Dennis Audios, Tomatoville. Posted my final post and time to move on.

May 2, 2013	#40
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	So far...my best move was definitely adding soaker hoses to the beds. I've also started my Daconil regimen early to make sure I don't end up with issues in June. Here's hoping! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

May 3, 2013	#41
Steve Magruder Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: Louisville, Kentucky (Zone 6B) Posts: 89	For this year, I'd say: 1) Deeply tilling the garden soil for the first time. Last year, I just garden-weaseled the soil and especially worked the ground around the plant. I need soil more ready for future years, although I suspect this year's production won't be as good as possible due to disturbing the soil structure so much. 2) Going organic with amendments and fertilizer, although I suspect I will have to use Daconil to deal with fungal issues, based on past issues. 3) Growing a lot of heirlooms I haven't tried before, but sounded great from my research. In fact, I'm growing all heirlooms (for tomatoes) this year. 4) Planting my tomatoes with the trench approach. This is supposed to greatly enhance rooting. 5) Spacing out my plants much better, since I greatly increased the size of my garden space. 6) Using human hair to keep critters away. 7) Using crumbled eggshells with plantings, although there seems to be schools of thought that suggest this doesn't do much. I figure, though, it's worth trying. 8) Using a less expensive approach to mulching around plants, using grass clippings and newspaper rather than woody mulches, which probably leach too much nitrogen from the soil anyway. Last edited by Steve Magruder; May 3, 2013 at 11:48 AM.

June 23, 2012	#32
Jeannine Anne Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 1,553	The green onion thing. Take some green onions,cut the bottom 4 inches or so of a few plants, use the bits you cut off fpr whatever you like. Put the rest (which is the white bulb part and the length of green you left on) into a jar of water as you would with flowers,with the green part sticking out. After a couple of weeks the green will re grow, cut and use it , it will grow again. So if like me you don't use a bunch of store bought onions fast enough and you end up chucking them, and you use the green bits a lot, then you can keep them going quite a while. Put 4 or 5 to a jar and you will have lots of green for a good long time. XX Jeannine

June 23, 2012	#33
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	Jeannine, Thank you! That is great information. I've always grown a lot of onions. I planted 600 this year. Our daughter sometimes calls and asks me to pull a few onions and drop them off along with her regular ration of tomatoes and other veggies, at her house when we are in town. I typically grow for size for cooking and hamburgers. She has always preferred the smaller onions. One day she asked me to stop cutting the green tops off before I bring them to town. The greens are her favorite part and I didn't know it. I just sent her an email with your description enclosed so she can have perpetual onion greens. Now I have another question about onions. In spain, they cut large onions in half with the roots on the bottom of one half and the remaining stem on the other half. They bury the onion hallves about six inches deep in a trench with the cut sides up. A few weeks later each layer of the large onion produces new green tops above ground. After they have grown for awhile, they are harvested and each onion layer has become a green onion with all of them attached into a large clump of green onions. They wash them well and roll each clump up in wet newspaper and place many rolls over hot wood embers in an earthen pit and cover the entire thing with dirt. After about one hour, they remove the rolls and eat the steamed onions which have a good wood smoke flavor. I've always wanted to try this and wonder if anyone on this forum has done it. Ted

June 23, 2012	#35
dipchip2000 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma Posts: 664	Ted I buy green onions in the spring and plant them among my tomatoes. I usually harvest about 6 or 8 at a time to eat. When cleaning them I cut off roots plus about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of bulb. I then go out and punch a hole in my tomato bed with my finger and replant the roots. If I am diligent in doing this every time, I will have green onions til frost. Little known trick that really works well. ron

June 23, 2012	#36
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	Started spraying my tomato plants before blight appeared. I've used Seranade and Daconil. Helps a lot. Now I just have to deal with the rats.

May 2, 2013	#37
mrsmimiwhite Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: idaho Posts: 4	we call ours a butt buggy

May 2, 2013	#38
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Started using UltraSorb to start nearly all of my seeds. It is so easy to use and the results have been phenomenal. Grafting some tomatoes to see if they will help with my fusarium problem. It is a bit too early to tell but if it works it will be the best thing ever for growing heirlooms in my soil. Bought a nice supply of liquid fertilizers from Urban Farms. I'm not sure how well they are working as it is early yet but things are looking good and they are the easiest fertilizers I have ever applied. Just pour some in a hose end sprayer with an adjustable ratio control set to a tablespoon to a gallon and just walk around watering and fertilizing at the same time. No muss no fuss. Bill

May 3, 2013	#45
COMPOSTER Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Connecticut Posts: 252	Only time will tell, but so far not turning under my cover crop and turning the first inch or 2 of my soil into dust. Its been so dry around my neck of the woods lately it's a little depressing. We have a deficit of 4+ inches of rain already. Guess its better than having snow.