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Post by James on Apr 13, 2015 9:46:59 GMT -5
I am with brownrexx, "I only do outdoor cukes and they are direct seeded."
June 1 is the planting date for cukes in this country. They don't do well planted early when it is still cool. We always get temps in the upper 90s, but seldom does it go to 100. They do well in the heat as long as the ground is damp enough.
Sounds like you have some different challenges there. We do what we have to do, to get things to grow in our climates. Have fun with the cukes.
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Post by tbird on Apr 14, 2015 8:16:10 GMT -5
At least one Diva sprout breaking through the soil....
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Post by tbird on Apr 14, 2015 9:12:43 GMT -5
Just looked up the info on Johnny's
Diva is 58 days to mature and tasty jade 54. But those dates are from direct seeding, so - not from sprout appearance.....I'm hoping for some cukes soon!
Ha ha - they are only sprouts......
Now - the big question is where to keep them in the porch? If I put the big container on the top shelf and let them fall, or on the floor and let them climb?
Top would be better initially - as it will be warmer. But by June, bottom would be better because it'd be cooler....Either way - most of the container won't be in the sun through the window, but it will need to climb or drape into the sun....
I'll think about this...
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 7:42:31 GMT -5
gearing up for the first cuke! I think 2-3 days for this one: from the tasty jade plant. Diva is coming along....but nothing I'm eyeing for picking yet.
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 7:48:01 GMT -5
According to this thread (thanks for the data keeping!)
April 5th - put the seed into soil
April 11th - sprouts poked through
from johnny's website: Days to Maturity or Bloom: 54
I am 9.5 weeks from the sprout, so 66 days from the sprout.
Can anyone help me with the 54 days? Is that meant to indicate just to the first flower/ready to start producting, or first harvest?
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 16, 2015 8:26:03 GMT -5
It's an average of course and weather conditions will make a huge difference.
The first year I grew cabbage I kept waiting until the heads got bigger and then I noticed some grey looking leaves on the heads and then they split open. They had gotten TOO mature and the flavor was OK but not great.
Bottom line is that now with cabbage I write down the date I plant them and I figure that the DTM is the date they are ready for harvest. I have not had a bad cabbage since I started doing this.
With your cukes, I would guess that the DTM would be the day when the plant is "mature" i.e. ready to start producing fruits.
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 8:58:12 GMT -5
With your cukes, I would guess that the DTM would be the day when the plant is "mature" i.e. ready to start producing fruits. That would make sense. I hope another one gets started soon! Its going to be sad if I harvest the only cuke going, lol! there was an earlier one I was eyeing, but it dried up instead of developing.... to maintain container fertility, I am whirring up comfrey in the vitamix with the water, and watering with that. I did it about 2 or so weeks ago, and this past weekend. I think I will do that one time weekly going forward, now that they are ready to produce.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 16, 2015 9:25:14 GMT -5
I am not a container gardener and I don't know what is in comfrey but that sounds like a lot of fertilizing to me. I just read that article yesterday about how using too much compost can be too much of a good thing. I had never really heard that before but it may apply here.
Why don't you pop in a couple of seeds outdoors right now? Mine just germinated yesterday so there is plenty of time to grow now that it has gotten warmer.
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 9:38:14 GMT -5
Comfrey is generally considered a rather complete fertilizer - with some cautions that it is better for fruiting/flowering, and may encourage leafy crops to go to seed sooner. It isn't a whole lot of comfrey, maybe 1-2 leafs per plant. I figure I don't know what the time frame is on the the comfrey water to plant availability, so just do a bit each week.
I have been meaning to do some out of doors. I'm starting to get caught up a bit on the veggies. Transplanted the tomatillos today, and my lone sunflower.....but I have still to do my late started peppers, and a few herbs and then some flowers are in containers yet that I want to put into the ground. I did have a relatively lazy weekend, and can't get much done on a daily basis during the work week.
Once that is done, then I do want to plant another zucchini and some pickles and a cuke or two...
I do feel guilty if some are in containers waiting for a home while I am direct seeding others!
only 1 of 4 okra came through, so want to do a few more of those too.....
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Post by davidjp on Jun 16, 2015 9:52:28 GMT -5
I thought comfrey was supposed to be more potassium rich rather than complete in all nutrients, but could be wrong. Stinging nettles apparently are quite rich in nitrogen. I've never heard of whizzing them up in a blender but should work I guess. In the past I've just made a liquid with them and then used that as a concentrated liquid fertiliser. Fill a 5 gall bucket with comfrey leaves, then cover with water and leave. After a few weeks everything will have dissolved into a foul smelling black liquid which you can then use. Dilute 1:5 or 10. You can do the same with nettles but only the young ones as full grown nettles will have a lot of leftover vegetation at the end of it and I suspect are probably lower in nitrogen.
I know on some things days to maturity is sometimes written as days from planting transplant and I wonder if that's what they mean although that's not great info as so many variables involved.
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 10:32:31 GMT -5
I've never heard of whizzing them up in a blender but should work I guess. In the past I've just made a liquid with them and then used that as a concentrated liquid fertiliser. Fill a 5 gall bucket with comfrey leaves, then cover with water and leave. That all required too much planning and equipment for me! I use the whole leaves as a mulch, or into a hole with some compostables to bury, or the blender method for a quick application. And no foul smells. I mulched when I planted my peppers, and they dissolved into the soil within a few weeks. I've thrown the stems on top of the leaf cover on beds I haven't prepped as yet, and they just disappear pretty quickly too. this on comfrey: gentleworld.org/the-wonders-of-comfrey/#NPK ratio of Comfrey "The leaves are rich in nitrogen and potassium with a decent amount of phosphorus as well, making them a wonderful homegrown fertilizer. Researchers in British Columbia analyzed the NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) ratio of comfrey* and discovered that the leaves have a remarkable NPK ratio of 1.80-0.50-5.30. "
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Post by davidjp on Jun 16, 2015 11:44:00 GMT -5
Yeah it is pretty smelly, amongst the worse you will ever smell but once obtained the liquid keeps for a long time and i found it worked well for me. I don't do any more as I really can't justify growing a row of comfrey just for fertiliser and the water it would take to grow well here. If i was living in a non mediterranean climate with actual summer rainfall then i would definitely do it again, you end up with gallons of fertiliser, chuck in some nettles and you'll up the nitrogen as well.
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Post by tbird on Jun 16, 2015 13:16:40 GMT -5
chuck in some nettles and you'll up the nitrogen as well. Next year, I want to section off a quantity of the fall leaves, and then at planting time, I want to stuff the belnder with leaves, coffee grounds, and comfrey and whirr up to a sludgy consistency, and use that as my first layer of mulch....I'm thinking that that should provide balance sustained nutrients for a bit.
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Post by tbird on Jul 15, 2015 19:48:34 GMT -5
this one was delicious! tasty jade - living up to its name!!! no divas yet
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Post by brownrexx on Jul 15, 2015 19:53:11 GMT -5
Looks like the indoor idea has worked out well for you. My outdoor ones are flowering but I have no cukes yet.
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