Amkuska's 2025 Garden

[Moon888]

Well AMKuska, like you and your husband I learned the hard way to label the container-- and not the lid!!

Here is my two cents. I use Craig LeHoullier's advice (he wrote the book Epic Tomatoes) for starting tomatoes, which is to get the seeds going two months prior to transplanting them outdoors. In our area that would be April (although I do start some earlier as part of experiments that I like to conduct, and also for early cold-tolerant varieties). Per Jamie at Quail Seeds, tomatoes are 'Movers' and they need to keep going once they hit their stride. https://www.quailseeds.com/blog/movers-divers-sprinters-and-sprawlers-a-guide-to-seedlingsI

And you have my sympathies. It was a difficult year for tomatoes here in the Pacific Northwest. Many of us are hoping for a better crop next year. Do you happen to know the name of the variety of tomato that caught your daughter's fancy?

That is good to know, thank you : )

 

[flowerbug]

You are very fortunate to have ladybugs; I get over excited to see one in a blue moon : )

with so many soybeans being grown in this region at some point the asian lady beetle was imported on purpose to help with aphid problems. the original lady bug species is also still around. until i got the house sealed up better they were a real problem as i could get hundreds of them off the windows inside each day for weeks at a time. now we have a few that still get in each year but i don't have to spend too much time removing them.

 

[AMKuska]

Hi @Moon888 ! Glad you're finding my little corner interesting. I see you're from Australia. What is gardening there like?


Woke up in a hurry this morning. A juvenile raccoon was trying to raid the chicken coop. I didn't realize it until my 3 chihuahuas, who are way too small to take on a raccoon, went pouring out to take on the raccoon.

The raccoon leapt over the fence to escape my dogs, and apparently had no idea there's a dutch shepherd in the yard next to mine. No more raccoon. Dutch shepherd is not hurt but for a tiny scratch on his paw he got running through the blackberries.

 

[AMKuska]

Growth on the seedlings not in the root riot cubes are positively dismal. They're 8 days old and haven't even put out true leaves yet.

The tomatoes that I started in the root riot cubes are huge and healthy. So much so, they're probably going to outgrow the tent before planting time. The peppers are growing more modestly, but are definitely developing at an appropriately fast rate.

Even though I may have to discard these tomatoes, I'm really happy with the outcome. I think this likely narrows down my slow growth problems to the seedling starter/potting soil I'm using.

What does everyone use for good growth and healthy starts?