Help a gardening newbie?

[Shelli_wnj]

Hello all! I am not only new to gardening, but to this forum as well. I am trying to be thrifty by growing some of our own veggies, but as I am learning, gardening can be expensive! So far, I have purchased a few tomato plants (that aren't doing so well. The leaves are turning brown), a pepper plant, a parsley plant, a basil plant, carrot seeds, green bean seeds and organic soil. I had planned to make a container garden out of them. i also want to buy seed potatoes and grow them in 5 gallon buckets as I read about on another frugal website. Does anyone have any tips for me? Oh - also, we have a raccoon who seems to visit my house every night even without the garden - right now I have the plants on a tray and bring it in every night, but I want to plant them in their containers this weekend and don't know what to do about the raccoon. Thanks for any ideas!!!
Shellie

[never2late]

It's good that you're putting the plants out in the daytime as they do better if you try to "harden" them a bit to the weather before moving outdoors completely. Are you making sure to keep them well-watered now? During this first initial period outside they will dry up very fast from the sun and wind. Make sure that your containers have drainage holes in them before planting. As for the raccoons, not sure what I would do. You could maybe try putting some mothballs on the top of the soil in the pots. My biggest problem with pots was the barn cats that found the flowers I had in them to be a really nice bed to lay in. So I took the wooden shish-kabob sticks you can buy in the grocery store and stuck them into the planters so the sharp end was up and left them stick out about an inch. The cats didn't like getting poked and subsequently stayed out of the planters.

There are lots of more knowledgeable people at FV that may be able to give you some better ideas. Good Luck!

[Trentt]

What are nighttime temperatures like there? Peppers, tomatoes, and the basil need consistent warmth. If it gets below 50 degrees they will just stop growing until it warms up to conditions they like. If there's any danger of frost, keep doing what you're doing now. These three plants are quite tender and anything below 32 will kill them.

I don't know what kind of tomatoes you bought, but not all do well in containers. I've had best luck with small-fruited determinate varieties (cherry tomatoes, pear tomatoes, grape tomatoes, etc.). Other varieties, not so great ... I'd get 2 or 3 tomatoes and that'd be it. They need room.

Peppers also need room for air to circulate around the plants and the developing fruit, but peppers are also susceptible to sun scald. So the best thing to do is to plant them far enough apart for ventilation, but close enough together so that their "shoulders" rub when the plants grow. 12" - 16" is about right. That way the foliage from the plants forms a canopy that shades the fruit from the sun. You could try planting your green beans in a border around the peppers, which would also shield the pepper fruits (and also fix nitrogen in the soil, which bean roots are notable for).

It is hard to outwit a raccoon. Give the suggestions above a try. Another possibility is to plant marigold seeds around your containers. The foliage has a distinctive odor that repels many animals.

Carrots are easy to grow, but need soil of very fine tilth to develop straight taproots. If they encounter rocks or clumps of soil, the roots will split to grow around the obstacle and you get misshapen carrots.

With tomatoes, don't underestimate the size of the mature plant when you look at the baby you have now. They grow rapidly and get huge, so give them giant containers with plenty of space and support. If the leaves are withering, your plants may be potbound, too dry, or too wet. Keep them well watered but not sodden. They need a drying-out period between thorough waterings.

[Judi Dial]

A few things. Along the frugal side, you don't have to BUY seed potatoes, you can use sprouted potatoes from the kitchen. No, you won't have the rooting compound (you can buy it) but it can make baby (or larger) potatoes from something that you aren't maybe going to use anyway.

There's all kinds of information available online about gardening, try gardenweb as one of the best I've found.

When you replant that tomato (if you haven't already) lay down most of the stem underground, it will grow roots from it. Take all but a few of the leaves at the end off, lay it down flat and with the leaves you left poking out of the ground, cover the rest of it with soil, tamp it down, water it until the ground is lightly damp, not wet, and there you go.

I got the tomato technique from an old Dick Raymond gardening book. See if your local library has any of his stuff, simple, easy to do techniques that work.

Also, I know of people who've used coffee grounds as potting soil. I add mine to my vegetable garden.

IHTH!

Judi

[Pemberleyan]

You need to know what zone you are in. Do a search for plant hardiness zone and find yours on a map. I am in zone 8a, where potoates should be planted in February, a good two months or more before tomatoes and peppers.

Seed potatoes from the kitchen have usually been sprayed with a chemical to inhibit sprouting and will therefore produce very little yield.

www.idigmygarden.com is a great place to get information.

[Shelli_wnj]

Thanks, guys! I learned (from you and the wonderful websites you provided) that my containers are not NEAR large enough. I am going to plant two of the plants in it and get more containers! I may skip potatoes this year, I was supposed to plant them last month. :-( Oh, well. I will try the carrots, tho.