Garden Thread

[Rambo John J]

Nice Rambo, thanks. Dem Blueberries like their potassium! So you don't put anything in the soil, or use some special soil, you just sprinkle that around where all you think their roots are, maybe once every 1.5 to 3 months, that sort of thing? I'm gonna guess since that is slow release I can use a good bit without worrying about it burning the plants.

Thanks!

It is basically a powder so I don't think it is time release, but the amount of water added or rain can spread out or speed up the time the roots tasted that nutrient boost.

Every month during the growing season is what I have been told for most berries.

Hey Rambo, do you think I can feed my blueberries with juice from Methane Mac? Diluted of course. I've been pretty apprehensive about it. But I read that teas fermented anaerobically are actually acidic, so maybe the perfect thing for blueberries?

I cannot at this time endorse and of Methane Mac's secretions as I am at zero experience with compost tea or anything the like. I would certainly err on the side of over dilution with an unknown product. Could/should PH test it IMO, show me what you're working with

 

[Homeslice]

OK, I have some cheap PH reader I bought the other day, but it was giving me crazy stupid readings. But it game me some powder to try and calibrate it. Let me try that, then I will post readings. Thanks!

 

[Papi Chingon]

It is basically a powder so I don't think it is time release, but the amount of water added or rain can spread out or speed up the time the roots tasted that nutrient boost.

Every month during the growing season is what I have been told for most berries.




I cannot at this time endorse and of Methane Mac's secretions as I am at zero experience with compost tea or anything the like. I would certainly err on the side of over dilution with an unknown product. Could/should PH test it IMO, show me what you're working with

Wouldn't PH readouts be inaccurate at best, unless testing runoff (obviously can't be done in ground, and could only be done in raised beds/pots)? I'm basing this on marijuana growing experience, not berries.

 

[Rambo John J]

Wouldn't PH readouts be inaccurate at best, unless testing runoff (obviously can't be done in ground, and could only be done in raised beds/pots)? I'm basing this on marijuana growing experience, not berries.

I only mean PH readings from "Methane Mac"'s compost tea, @Homeslice have you shown @Papi Chingon the engineering on "Methane Mac"?

I wasn't talking about soil, and I personally have taken zero PH readings on soil or compost tea in my life...I basically garden starting with good soil(often using raised beds) and adding composts and different fertilizers per year depending...

 

[Papi Chingon]

I only mean PH readings from "Methane Mac", @Homeslice have you shown @Papi Chingon the engineering on "Methane Mac"?

I wasn't talking about soil, and I personally have taken zero PH readings on soil or compost tea in my life...I basically garden starting with good soil(often using raised beds) and adding composts and different fertilizers per year depending...

I couldn't find acidic soil for my blueberries, so as mentioned, I just purchased a bail of peat and mixed a good amount into my kellogg's. I'm going to be buying elemental sulfer pellets in the future and adding that to the topsoil since it's time released and breaks down. I'd imagine if I planted into my natural clay soil, in ground, I'd have much bigger issues with ph in the immediate future.

 

[Rambo John J]

I couldn't find acidic soil for my blueberries, so as mentioned, I just purchased a bail of peat and mixed a good amount into my kellogg's. I'm going to be buying elemental sulfer pellets in the future and adding that to the topsoil since it's time released and breaks down. I'd imagine if I planted into my natural clay soil, in ground, I'd have much bigger issues with ph in the immediate future.

start regular soil is my thing, then just add acidic thru the life of the plant if it wants that

I buy basic fertilized soil in a small truckload and use it in beds/pots...then tweak the PH with ferts and compost


sidenote : my lady dumps coffee grounds in some garden beds, apparently that is some good soil and fert

 

[Papi Chingon]

start regular soil is my thing, then just add acidic thru the life of the plant if it wants that

I buy basic fertilized soil in a small truckload and use it in beds/pots...then tweak the PH with ferts and compost


sidenote : my lady dumps coffee grounds in some garden beds, apparently that is some good soil and fert

Coffee grounds absolutely lower ph of soil.

 

[Rambo John J]

Coffee grounds absolutely lower ph of soil.

Good to know

She only puts them in beds/areas that are inactive/unplanted
I always add a few different things(depending on what will be planted) to the bed as/after I turn it each year
Tonight is 37 degrees and will be warmer from here on out so it is time to switch to full garden mode

Crazy how you live in a year round grow zone like that, very interesting to me

 

[Papi Chingon]

Good to know

She only puts them in beds/areas that are inactive/unplanted
I always add a few different things to the bed as/after I turn it each year
Tonight is 37 degrees and will be warmer from here on out so it is time to Garden

Crazy how you live in a year round grow zone like that, very interesting to me

Organic marijuana growers have used coffee grounds for a long time due to the ph necessities of those plants. They aren't anywhere close to the requirements for blueberries though. I personally wouldn't add coffee grounds to any of my raised beds since dropping the ph for anything other than perhaps strawberries would defeat the purpose. In ground though, if used sparingly and leeched well, it may be a non-issue if used sparingly over a large area. My raised beds would be extremely vulnerable to ph fluctuations, but fortunately everything I choose to grow (other than this new blueberry venture) thrives with the soil mixture, compost occasionally, and organic garden tone fertilizer. All I have to worry about is watering, which I really have to be on top of in the warmer 6 months of the year. In hotter months it's an issue of watering over the top midday to cool off the lettuce for example, and sometimes watering soils twice a day just to keep them cool. It's a labor of love.

 

[Homeslice]

Papi, details of Methane Mac can be found here:

General - What are YOU doing on a day-to-day basis to DESTROY THE FREAKING WORLD????

But basically, I compose all my food scraps, weeds, clippings from trees I get when I'm out walking, etc. etc. in Methane Mac. Then use its sweet, sweet juices to water my plants (diluting it, of course). All this while helping to destroy the world at the same time.

But I read recently that composting this way ANAEROEBICLY in water actually makes the mix acidic, which would be good for blueberries. Have to try and PH test it, however.

 

[Homeslice]

By the way Papi, the kid (6 years old) saw your profile pic the other day and started busting out laughing. Said it was the funniest baby picture he has ever seen. So thanks for that haha!

 

[Papi Chingon]

Papi, details of Methane Mac can be found here:

General - What are YOU doing on a day-to-day basis to DESTROY THE FREAKING WORLD????

But basically, I compose all my food scraps, weeds, clippings from trees I get when I'm out walking, etc. etc. in Methane Mac. Then use its sweet, sweet juices to water my plants (diluting it, of course). All this while helping to destroy the world at the same time.

But I read recently that composting this way ANAEROEBICLY in water actually makes the mix acidic, which would be good for blueberries. Have to try and PH test it, however.

I've seen this method, or at least one similar used on a video before. I would personally be worried that organic toxins would potentially make me sick without proper time for aerobic curing.

 

[Papi Chingon]

I went to a garden store today to pick up some plants to deck out my mom's small veggie garden I set up for her last year. It seemed like a fun thing to do for her on mother's day. I got some herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and some other stuff. Well, I couldn't help picking up some stuff for myself, and unfortunately my walk around the nursery led me to the fruit tree section (expensive section) and now I've got rio red grapefruit, oro blanco grapefruit (white flesh, seedless), and eureka variegated lemon (pink lemonade lemon). I also picked up some strawberry plants to replace my bare root Albion that never took (or were DOA), so I've now got sequoia and quinault, both of which are everbearing. Tomorrow I'm going to be a busy bee with the bare root fruit trees I need to soak and get into a home, digging out the bare root dead strawberries and replacing them with the strawberry plants, then planting some tomatoes.

 

[Papi Chingon]

Got the bare root trees potted up and mulched

Same with my strawberries

 

[Papi Chingon]

I just potted up some new dwarf citrus:
Valencia orange
Variegated eureka lemon (pinknlemonade lemon)
Meyers lemon
Rio red grapefruit
Oro blanco grapefruit
Bearss lime
I'm going to add one more and I'm not sure if I'm going with cara cara orange, or another morro blood orange (have one of those around the corner by my lettuce beds).

It was more of a project than I thought it would be because I needed to chop the shit out of my cacti to give me some space to work with. About an hour and a half of dealing with that with puncture wounds and scratches to prove it.

 

[sparkuri]

Amazing

 

[Papi Chingon]

I reset my beds today and planted out a few tomatoes, a ton of lettuce, then repotted some herbs with fresh soil, and potted up a few more strawberries. My back hurts.

 

[Rambo John J]

View attachment 102779
View attachment 102780
View attachment 102781
View attachment 102782
I reset my beds today and planted out a few tomatoes, a ton of lettuce, then repotted some herbs with fresh soil, and potted up a few more strawberries. My back hurts.

Nice
what are your daily highs and lows during the summer

 

[Papi Chingon]

View attachment 102779
View attachment 102780
View attachment 102781
View attachment 102782
I reset my beds today and planted out a few tomatoes, a ton of lettuce, then repotted some herbs with fresh soil, and potted up a few more strawberries. My back hurts.

Nice
what are your daily highs and lows during the summer

Highs are mid 80's and lows are about 70 at night. Last summer was an odd one with much colder than normal Temps, actually it was the entire year.

There's the last of my lettuce for a month and a half.

 

[Rambo John J]

View attachment 102779
View attachment 102780
View attachment 102781
View attachment 102782
I reset my beds today and planted out a few tomatoes, a ton of lettuce, then repotted some herbs with fresh soil, and potted up a few more strawberries. My back hurts.

Highs are mid 80's and lows are about 70 at night. Last summer was an odd one with much colder than normal Temps, actually it was the entire year.
View attachment 102783
There's the last of my lettuce for a month and a half.

Ok
That makes sense, you must be nearer the coast than I
A container plant gets hot up here, the roots get roasted a bit

 

[Papi Chingon]

Ok
That makes sense, you must be nearer the coast than I
A container plant gets hot up here, the roots get roasted a bit

Yeah, just a few miles from the coast. We get into the 100's on occassion, but not too often. 90's for sure a few times in August, but it's not like it's the entire month.

 

[Papi Chingon]

@Rambo John J, to keep a pepper from fruiting do I only need to pull the flowers, or do I pick the little pepper "balls" as well? I spent wayyyyyy too long today picking flowers and balls, and then it dawned on me that perhaps I only really needed to take the pollination away. I want the plants to get a bit more size before fruiting and this is the second time I've gone through this grueling task.

 

[Rambo John J]

Yeah, just a few miles from the coast. We get into the 100's on occassion, but not too often. 90's for sure a few times in August, but it's not like it's the entire month.

We get some heat waves up here(70 miles inland/south end of a valley) that will stunt and stress trees and gardens that are planted in pots.

@Rambo John J, to keep a pepper from fruiting do I only need to pull the flowers, or do I pick the little pepper "balls" as well? I spent wayyyyyy too long today picking flowers and balls, and then it dawned on me that perhaps I only really needed to take the pollination away. I want the plants to get a bit more size before fruiting and this is the second time I've gone through this grueling task.

I think in your environment(very similar to our peak season environment) they will continue to build size as well as produce fruit and flowers. I don't pick any peppers or blossoms unless they look unhealthy.

That said I have never dabbled in picking blossom/micropeppers to promote growth

 

[sparkuri]

We get some heat waves up here

I will pray for you

 

[Rambo John J]

I will pray for you

haha
it isn't the same as what you get
not sure I could deal with humid and hot
I would probably sweat pure water

and by heat wave I mean 5-8 degrees hotter than what I personally would like my environment to be.