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Things in pots dry out here so fast, usually too hot by this time of year, some veggies will not fruit above certain temps. Heckfire squirrels like to ruin everything too. Or any other kind of rodent. Thankful the possums have been keeping tabs on things this year.
Thanks for instructions!!!
Do you use buckets? Large flower pots? Do you use potting soil for your veggies?
What all do you grow in pots?
I am growing tomato plants in grow bags. Two in 10 gallon, 3 in 7 gallon. They are doing well but they must be watered very often. I also have rainbow chard and beets in a grow bag. They aren’t doing so well but I wonder if they are a cold weather crop and I planted them pretty late.
 
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I have squash bees & bumble bees & never had problem with any squash not make loads of fruit.
The squash bee tunnels in the ground, so no till is best, but any firm but not hard ground will do.
 
Thanks, @UrbanHunter . I thought I had bought some thinner fleshed cuke seeds but I can't find 'em! In fact, I think I had started some from seed. I didn't do well at my seed starting this year.
I love the ones I buy at the grocery so I'm sure I'd love them homegrown too. The English ones are really long, but I've been buying the ones that are 5-8 to a bag, about 4" long, very small for cucumbers but at least they don't have that nasty oil on them and taste bad. I quit buying the regular ones a few years ago.
Cucumbers are my favorite veggie though they really don't have much nutritional value. I like them with tomatoes, onion, fresh dill, olive oil, vinegar.
I grew 3 types of cucumber plants this year, I grew Gurneys tasty green hybrid cucumbers and Burpee space-master cucumbers indoors started in December, they did okay but not great. I lost some of my early sets died. The last sets were Ferry Morse Garden Sweet Burpless Organic Cucumbers, they are what is in the hanging planters and they seem to be doing well (the containers are about 2~3 gallon, and need to be watered often- twice a day (I taped over the drain holes but the water still leaks out) . They make a smaller cucumber and we are finding that by harvesting them early, they are very sweet and tender, we have not had to peel, just wash, slice, and eat.. Hope this helps. I am looking for more seeds so I can have a plant in the house this winter...
 
I have squash bees & bumble bees & never had problem with any squash not make loads of fruit.
The squash bee tunnels in the ground, so no till is best, but any firm but not hard ground will do.
Never heard of squash bees. A quick search shows they can be found as far north as Vermont. They are just as cute as any bee. I also found a vid on yt about the squash bee. They are not as much of a hive bee. Do you think they make good pets? I'm kidding. They are not aggressive. Yes, no till gardening! Thanks for the info, @joel .
 
@Patchouli I grow my stuff in these and an old refrigerator hubby took the guts out of and turned on its back
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I also found these "half barrels" at walmart this year for $15 each
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and have them on the back deck
 
Looking like we'll get our first ripe tomato of the season in a day or two. Sweet corn I almost plowed under because it was so patchy looks like I'll have fresh corn by the weekend. I am amazed at the speed it grew ears a week or 10 days ago it didn't have any and now the tassels are turning. When I noticed it starting ears I side dressed some of the plants with chicken litter with bone meal mixed in. Those plants look to be several days ahead of the ones I didn't side dress.
 
I envy @Biggkidd 's corn, I just don't have the space for it... I was able to harvest a few tomatoes and cucumbers today. I decided that my container squash needs some outside support because the plant is growing outside the pot and trying to pull the roots out. I used an old freezer wire shelf wedged up onto the container side and supported away from the container, in the process I found a squash ready to harvest. I also saw my first egg plant fruit of the year, don't you just love it when the plants get going. :) I went to HD this morning trying to find some specific seeds and get a fitting for my rain water collection system, (Note to self if you need to splice in a section of pipe you will need 2 unions, I got 1 :( ). When I got home I checked the Ferry Morse website and they had what I was looking for... the prices were just like in the stores and free shipping on orders over $35. I guess I am now stocked for next spring.......
 
You could never have too much seed. I planted all older seed this year for the most part. The only seed that didn't come up was cantaloupe. I've got 2 cucumber plants, 4 squash plants, and 6 tomato plants still left in the greenhouse that didn't go in the ground. I think I'll leave them in pots and see how long I can keep them going. There are two cukes on the cucumber plants. I noticed, too, the squash plants kind of are uprooting. I just put a little more dirt in. Put the tomato plants in five gallon sized pots and staked them. I should of done this earlier, as they are kind of twisted. I planted market more cucumbers this year, and we already have way more than we can eat. The neighbor kid and the chickens are getting some.
 
I just thinned out the leaves on the tomato plants this morning.
Not only do I have a green thumb now but my other fingers are green too lol
Also watered the cantaloupes and the celery
Still want to do the watermelon plants
Both cantaloupes and watermelon are just now growing.
I don't know what is going on with things not growing right away like usual.
UV not strong enough? Too strong?
We've had perfect weather for growing despite the cold start earlier this year.
have no idea what is up
 
I envy @Biggkidd 's corn, I just don't have the space for it... I was able to harvest a few tomatoes and cucumbers today. I decided that my container squash needs some outside support because the plant is growing outside the pot and trying to pull the roots out. I used an old freezer wire shelf wedged up onto the container side and supported away from the container, in the process I found a squash ready to harvest. I also saw my first egg plant fruit of the year, don't you just love it when the plants get going. :) I went to HD this morning trying to find some specific seeds and get a fitting for my rain water collection system, (Note to self if you need to splice in a section of pipe you will need 2 unions, I got 1 :( ). When I got home I checked the Ferry Morse website and they had what I was looking for... the prices were just like in the stores and free shipping on orders over $35. I guess I am now stocked for next spring.......
You can plant corn much closer together in very small patches. IE: 25 stalks in a 5x5 area IF you keep it well watered and fed! Corn spacing has a LOT to do with it being a heavy drinker and feeder. When I often hand seed / plant small patches of corn closer than recommended I plant 1 foot apart in rows with the plants staggered. I have been known to plant long rows with the seeder too with 3 rows in 24 inches with beans between each set of three rows. Usually I leave 4-5 feet between each set of 3 corn rows. Just have to stay on top of water and fertilizer. The beans help a lot with nitrogen
 
Hey @WVDragonlady, how are your celery doing? I planted some for the first time this year, wife loves to have white celery but all mine appear to be a dark green. I'm glad you have green hands ;) mine are generally known for being brown or wilted.
Growing good. I have them in a partical shade until evening/late afternoon sun.
Mine are dark green also. I like those because it has a much better stronger intense taste to them.
I thought I saw in a seed catalog about some "self blanching" celery.
 
You can plant corn much closer together in very small patches. IE: 25 stalks in a 5x5 area IF you keep it well watered and fed! Corn spacing has a LOT to do with it being a heavy drinker and feeder. When I often hand seed / plant small patches of corn closer than recommended I plant 1 foot apart in rows with the plants staggered. I have been known to plant long rows with the seeder too with 3 rows in 24 inches with beans between each set of three rows. Usually I leave 4-5 feet between each set of 3 corn rows. Just have to stay on top of water and fertilizer. The beans help a lot with nitrogen
I grow corn 25 plants in a 4x4 raised bed. Good fo pollination. Did that in 4 beds planted a week apart and gave us 2 dozen ears of corn on the cob for family Sunday dinner for a month. The granddaughters help pick and shuck them.

Ben
 
I grow corn 25 plants in a 4x4 raised bed. Good fo pollination. Did that in 4 beds planted a week apart and gave us 2 dozen ears of corn on the cob for family Sunday dinner for a month. The granddaughters help pick and shuck them.

Ben
I might be able to squeeze 1 in next year, but that's about it, unless I want to give up okra.... nope, 1's the limit!
Unless I take @Biggkidd's advice and use them to support pole beans... yea that's it, it's not corn it's a bean support......
 
I might be able to squeeze 1 in next year, but that's about it, unless I want to give up okra.... nope, 1's the limit!
Unless I take @Biggkidd's advice and use them to support pole beans... yea that's it, it's not corn it's a bean support......
Might look up 3 Sisters planting.

So here's an odd one. Hubby planted his peppers in a bed along the side of the house where plants usually enjoy growing. Planted about a month ago. Added in some compost at the time. About 3 of his jalapeno plants look pretty good. The rest look to be about the same size as when he planted them. 🤔 Any thoughts? They get watered all the same etc.
I picked up 8 more plants yesterday and will plant them in my planters where I have only a few measly peanutbutter plants growing. Peanutbutter and jalapenos - companion planting at its finest 😅
 
I did a modified three sisters one year with organic fertilizer I planted corn six inches apart with squash in the middle & pole beans on the out side rows.
I was told to get full ears I had to plant four rows of at least four hills of corn each, because corn is wind pollinated, unless you do it by hand.
I am not doing that, I will buy corn first.
I planted watermelons, winter squash & gourds today,I am 60/80 days late, but I wanted to see if the bug pressure would be too much or if I can plant two crops a year.
Some winter squash will only last 90-120 days after picking, so the later you plant it the better.
If the dry weather & bug pressure is to much, I will use roll covers & drip hose next year.
Some people use BT spray & vertical vines to fight bugs, as well as hand picking when the vines are too large to cover.
Some varieties of squash & cucumbers are resistance to vine bore, fruit & leaf bugs.
 
I am strongly considering doing some late plantings in July, maybe even some in August. I want to try replacing a bed of onions that are about done with some of the taters I have that are about ready to dig. I will have to see how the eyes are developing before trying this. I also want to start some more cabbage, brussel sprouts, califlour, peas, green beans. I'm also considering a late planting of corn.
Wife harvested more green beans and our first okra today. I picked some wild blackberries tonight and they are just getting started.
 
We just got in after a nice rain. Our 5 late blueberries are starting up about 2 weeks after our 3 early ones ran out. We picked over a quart.
I pruned all of them in the winter pretty heavy for the first time. It kicked the early ones in high gear. The later ones don't have as many berries, but they are much larger. We had some close to dime size tonight. Lots of new shoots coming up under neath as well. Looking good for the future.
 
We picked the first half gallon today. I need to prune my blueberries, some are over six feet, got a lot of new growth & I need to thin out some of the old growth. Remove more sucker & put them into rows, some of the plant are over 20 years old, the varieties are over 35 years old, all I know is the are rabbiteye blueberries. The Lady I got them from, said her husband planted them & he had past 15 years before she gave them to us.
I got some low limb layer plant from another guy, do not know the name of them.
I have Brite Blue, Woodard, South land, O'neal, Premier & Austin.
I want to get Krewer,Tatin, & Vernon.
 
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@WVDragonlady those containers are huge.
So for anyone who is using containers for actual vegetable gardening, how deep do you have your soil if it is not a root vegetable? Do you always put gravel in the bottom and have holes in the bottom of container? Just curious because everyone uses different methods. What everyone is growing is impressive. If my temps stay cool enough here, maybe I will be able to get some stuff growing, gotta keep it off the front porch, too sunny.
 
My smaller outdoor containers all have drain hole, on some cheep pots I put drain holes about 2" from the bottom so they can drain but hold some water. The cheep 4-6" deep concrete mixing tubs have drain holes added at 1 end about half way up the side to drain, I fill them to the top with soil so they don't hold as much rain water drowning the plants (not because of the roots need the soil). Even my hanging cucumbers are only in about 8" of soil, their containers have some drainage but they need watering every day (some times twice a day) and feeding every other week or so...
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For my smaller indoor containers, I do not have drains, but I have to watch my watering very closely. You can kill a plant very quickly with too much water...
 
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Those big containers only have hardware cloth on the bottom to keep mice and moles out.
All the other containers have a drainage hole I cover with a broken piece of crockery of some kind so the water drains but the soil stays. I've also used coffee filters before too
I've been filling my containers about 3/4 full and it seems to work okay

You can grow food in almost anything. I've watched videos online of people making bottle gardens and growing food that way
Doesn't have to be fancy things. Whatever will hold the soil and you can have drainage
 
Got my first ripe tomato yesterday. I was trying to move it a little to get a better look since it's in the middle of a dense bush 4 ft tall and 3ft wide It just fell of in my hand. lol guess it was ready. I'm growing them in a raised bed with composted wood chips for planting medium and some chicken litter, bone meal and wood ash added. Should have corn by the weekend from the look of things.
 
Got my first ripe tomato yesterday. I was trying to move it a little to get a better look since it's in the middle of a dense bush 4 ft tall and 3ft wide It just fell of in my hand. lol guess it was ready. I'm growing them in a raised bed with composted wood chips for planting medium and some chicken litter, bone meal and wood ash added. Should have corn by the weekend from the look of things.
You can go in and cut out a bunch of those leaves to get air and light into the plant.
I just had to do mine
 
The parsley seems to have slowed down to a halt and I made a newbie mistake. Thought that to be on the safe side it might be a good idea to plant a few seeds close together. But after learning a bit more, they compete for nutrients and they don't want to grow any taller or bigger than where they are now.

@UrbanHunter 's vertical garden trellis thingy in a previous picture gave me the idea to build one. Not as big. Start small and we'll see.

The watermelons are growing nicely though, so is the garlic. I planted aubergines and just waiting for them to sprout.
 
The best meal I ever ate, we caught the Catfish, cleaned & fried them, fresh corn, fresh tomatoes & corn bread.
The corn & tomatoes were picked while the fish cooked, corn mill store bought.
All cooked outside in a lean to type shed, outdoor kitchen.
 
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