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  1. Dave2000

    Any tips on faster herb growth?

    Not sure about the exact temperature for most of those but your basil is going to bolt a lot sooner at 80F than if you kept it cooler. They don't necessarily need the soil as warm as some other types of plants. Using water soluble fertilizer shouldn't be much of an issue, you can always rinse...
  2. Dave2000

    Dill & Cilantro flowering

    I keep eating the leaves on my cilantro after it has bolted, but they get a touch of bitterness which goes away a bit if they're cooked rather than raw. They're in window boxes so once the seeds start to look mature I don't water them anymore as inevitably when I go to collect the coriander...
  3. Dave2000

    best lawn tractor???

    John Deere are pretty good, how old is it and what's been breaking? What grade of tractor are you looking for, something that's essentially a mower with a hitch hole on the bumper or a $2000++ class, or with a PTO or even hydraulics? Don't know if I can answer your question but I'd imagine...
  4. Dave2000

    Using a Small Wading Pool for a Garden?

    That can work, but I'd put holes in the bottom so there's no excess water buildup. What you linked is one approach but around here it would result in way too many mosquitoes unless the top were covered so they can't get to the standing water to lay their eggs.
  5. Dave2000

    banana peppers

    I freeze them while still wet from rinsing (and the puddle of pepper juice accumulating on the cutting board), so they have a protective ice shell on them which I theorize helps prevent frostbite like it would on some other foods. They thaw out to be fairly crisp raw, not as crisp as fresh but...
  6. Dave2000

    banana peppers

    Also, banana peppers don't get tough like a cucumber or okra would, at the largest they get they are still only crisp, no tougher than when small. I'm not so sure a pepper is ready to eat before it reaches full sized, maybe bells or jalapenos but there's a definite change in taste and texture...
  7. Dave2000

    Vegetable Container Garden

    Container size can be a personal preference. Consider how much space you have available, whether you need to (or have someone else reasonably, physically able to) move them around while the damp dirt is in them. That can be a pain once you get past a single-digit # of gallons capacity. Below...
  8. Dave2000

    Saving onions and peppers until tomatoes are ready

    You leave the peppers on the plant as long as reasonably possible, but at least till they are fully red-ripe. They will start to dry out some, the more the better to decrease smoking time but pick before they start to rot. Remove stems, wash them, and put them on the top rack of a smoker or in...
  9. Dave2000

    Saving onions and peppers until tomatoes are ready

    Agreed, this is just the start of your pepper harvest. Put them to another use or freeze for use in cooking later, then when the tomatoes are ripe you'll have more peppers ready to be picked... probably a LOT more then than now, considering the plant will be larger too. You might also consider...
  10. Dave2000

    GOPHERS! or is it moles??

    I'm not too far east of you, we never see gophers but plenty of moles. The moles often dig close enough to the surface that you see quite a bit of the tunnels but not so much with gophers. Moles leave little roundish dirt patches with a raised center while gophers make bigger mounds with...
  11. Dave2000

    banana peppers

    Presuming they're the yellow type, some I pick when the last hint of green is fading and some I leave until there's an orange blush... but I am partial to fruit ripened on the plant as long as possible, even jalapenos. Other times I pick as early as I can bare to because the plant can't stand...
  12. Dave2000

    tiniest bees

    I have lots of those. They and wasps are my primary pollinators.
  13. Dave2000

    Overwintering & Pruning Mystery Hot Pepper

    Now a little over 2 months later the weather is finally, consistently staying warmer. There's about 100 peppers starting and a few hundred blooms. I have to feel that not trimming it back more was the right choice.
  14. Dave2000

    Seed starting failures.. How many unstarting seeds is typical?

    I like to soak big seeds in water for a day, seems to shave at least 2 or 3 days off sprouting so if I'm not getting sprouts, the turnaround time to try again is decreased... and often I can see them starting to sprout already so I know the seed is good, plus if the seed floats I know it's bad...
  15. Dave2000

    aurrrrggg!!!!

    Where we used to live our back door neighbors had a large angry attack dog that would get through their dilapidated wood fence every now and then. I got tired of having to watch and wait till they got home to ask them to come get their dog so finally one day I just went out to pin it where we...
  16. Dave2000

    aurrrrggg!!!!

    Hard to say, they are... how should I put it? Not running a tight ship. We can't keep track of all the people that may or may not be living there, a car with flat tires sits in the driveway, they don't mow till you need a periscope to see where you're going, etc. I sort of feel sorry for them...
  17. Dave2000

    Soaker Hose and Mulch

    I never have luck trying to mulch with those types of materials. Maybe did it wrong but I always end up with mildew and mold because they compact too much and don't let any air in. Wood shavings from unprocessed trees would be good but not treated lumber. Depending on the soaker hose design...
  18. Dave2000

    aurrrrggg!!!!

    Last year I had a tomato plant on the side of the house where we couldn't see it without making a special trip that direction (blind wall, nothing else on that side of the house). The neighbor's 8 year old son and his friend picked all the tomatoes off and threw them at each other!
  19. Dave2000

    3D Printable Hydroponic Garden

    Agreed, complicated, expensive way to have low yield. Seems more like a scam in some ways or they just want an excuse to have someone else pay for the large 3D printer they want to use for something else.
  20. Dave2000

    MEN and thier "help"

    but if it wasn't noisy some of the time you wouldn't appreciate when it's quiet as much. :D
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