This damn Indiana weather. It is June. I was slow getting plants started indoors so now I am slow getting them matured for the garden. I will post some photos tomorrow. I am 90% all planted. Cabbage, Brussel sprouts, carrots, and celery are doing great in the raised beds. Green beans are not germinating well at all, but the sugar snap peas are doing pretty good.
Cucumbers, squash, and zucchini are growing like crazy, but so are the weeds. :)
I put my starts in a little late compared to last season.
Everything took off pretty well and the plants are in the garden with duel sprinklers.
The cabbage, Brussel sprouts, celery, and broccoli are doing very well in the new raised beds.
More Photos coming soon.
January after a snow storm
I have still have jalapenos growing in the Rainpoint Hydro. I planted the seeds in July and they were flowering and producing before the end of August. They have turned out to be some of the hottest Jalapenos I have ever had and they are full of flavor.
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| Close view |
The main, larger plant is producing about a dozen jalapenos a month. The more I pick them the faster they seem to grow. I pulled 6 peppers from the plant on January 4th and in just 7 days, I have 7 more peppers that could be harvested. They tend to be more on the medium to small size, but they pack a big punch.
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| Full view both plants |
So back before Halloween on October 26th, I put together another Hydro pot using my own grow lights, a store bought tote, and a small circulating pump for a tile saw. I planted yellow pear tomatoes and red cherry tomatoes on Oct 26th and 2 sweet mini-peppers a week later.
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| hydro tote |
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| sweet mini-peppers |
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| tomatoes |
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| Both hydro systems |
Sitting here during a July 4th rain storm.
The garden is doing well. Putting down a weed barrier was well worth the cost. I have already harvested a nice batch of onions. Have pulled a few ripe cucumbers. The sugar snap peas are podding and the green beans are flowering. I am going to have a lot of tomatoes and peppers!
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| From June 12 |
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| From June 25 |
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| Beans and peas |
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| Peppers |
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| Tomatoes |
The tomatoes got totally out of control and never flowered. The Jalapeno plant produced some really HOT peppers but it wasn't consistent, or to my liking.
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| Starting over |
Garden updates, squirrels, and hydro learning curves
Cooked a batch of asparagus from the garden yesterday. It was really fresh and really good. If this weather keeps, there will be a lot more this next week.
A little ground squirrel has been night stalking my tomato and pepper seedlings. I have lost 7 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants in the battle. I patched every hole I could find in the garage and he still got in. Now using a loud radio at night and covering the plants with a thin painters plastic. For now he seems to have given up.
74 days with the hydro plants. The pepper has basically gone dormant, no growth for the last couple of weeks. The two tomatoes however continue to grow like crazy but I still haven't seen any flowering. I will probably have to do some more research on growing with hydro and lighting hours, pruning, etc..
Cucumber seedlings are ready for transplant and I have way more than I will need. It is amazing how much faster the seedlings grow with the heat mat under their tray.
Only one more month before taking the plants to the outdoor garden...
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| asparagus 4/13/24 |
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| asparagus 4/13/24 |
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| squirrel robbery |
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| cucumbers 3 days after planting seeds |
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| cucumbers and lettuce 7 days after planting |
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| hydro plants day 74 |
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| hydro plants day 74 |
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| 1 month until planting outdoors |
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| all the plants are doing well |
Day 21 & 22
I purchased some heating pads for the seedlings and my peppers are starting to sprout while a lot of the tomatoes are ready for transplanting.
I got a first good till on the outdoor garden yesterday and cleaned up the asparagus patch. Asparagus is already popping up.
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| Asparagus |
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| Tilling the garden |
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| lots of sprouts |
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| finally getting pepper to sprout |
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| some ready for transplant |
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| a few tomatoes transplanted |
