Winter Garden

[maskedsonnet]

After what felt like an unreasonably hot summer, fall is finally moving in and I'm ready to start some gardens up again. Just got some new pepper seeds in the mail today - I'll be planting Pot-a-Peno, Mexican Sunset Hot Banana, and La Bomba for the peppers. I'll probably do at least 1 tomato, haven't decided which one yet. Gonna start small, with just 4 machines running, because it's still getting fairly warm during the day and all the LEDs really make it hard for my AC to keep up when it's hot out. I never thought LEDs got all that hot until I had 15 machines going in the same room. You could feel the temperature change walking into that room!! I think from now on I'll probably be gardening during fall/winter/early spring and terminating for the summer, much as I love it, it's been nice having a break!!

I'm also going try again with garage gardening, on a much smaller scale - going to plant 2 pots out there with zucchini! I tried it a couple times in the AG and the plants were just too big. There was no way to really get good air circulation around the leaves, packed tight as they were in the confines of the machines, and eventually developed mold in the centers of the plants. Hopefully, a pot with plenty of space to spread from will eliminate that problem!!

[maskedsonnet]

Got the machines planted! Decided on Dwarf Pixie Striped tomatoes to go with the pepper plants

And also the garage squash! Left will be Cavili and right will be Easy Pick Gold. We'll see if anything comes up!!

[lynnee]

Glad you're active again, maskedsonnet!

I had to cut back on my AGs for the summer, too. The room where they are gets full sun in the afternoons, and that plus the LEDs really heats the room (3 Farm 12XLs, 6 Bounties).

Love your photos, as always!

[maskedsonnet]

It's crazy how much they heat the room up! I'm suddenly really glad that room doesn't get full sun though, I can only imagine how much worse that makes the heat!

[maskedsonnet]

The easy pick gold is eager to get started! First time I've had something in dirt come up before the AG.

[maskedsonnet]

Had a productive morning for gardening!! I'm really glad I only started 4 gardens though, because the week after I started them my boss gave me more development opportunities that are going to take me out of town a lot this month. 4 is probably all I'll be able to manage!!

The Hot Banana and Pot-a-Penos both came up and look great!! La Bomba pepper and Pixie tomato never germinated. Fed the peppers that came up, then cleaned the other machines and re-started the La Bomba and Pixie.

As for the garage zucchini, the cavili never came up. Instead of re-planting, I moved the pot off to the side and left the empty spot for the pomegranate tree that winters in the garage, so I don't have to set up a separate light and water station for it when it's time to bring it inside. Can just shove it into the empty spot! Staked the Easy-pick, raised the light, and refilled the water tank. Also mixed some AG nutrients with some water and fed it, the edges of the leaves are a bit yellow.

Soon as the dryer finishes with my last load of laundry, I'll be on the road again!

[swimmom500]

Not to get off topic but…. Have you had any pomegranates on your tree? I just planted one in a pot this summer and it’s growing like crazy. I wasn’t sure how long it takes to actually get a pomegranate though!

[maskedsonnet]

I've had this tree for about 4 years, and I've mostly resigned myself to just keeping it as decoration. It's beautiful, it has beautiful orange flowers in the spring, but it never sets fruit. Maybe it will in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. Your plant may be different though! My dwarf pom was an off-shoot of one I gave my parents, and very much an experiment. Theirs DOES produce fruit, and they've had it around 8 or 9 years. I'm not sure how old it was when I bought it, but it was already fairly large. My tree is about the same size now, so maybe in another year or two it'll start producing fruit.

The fully outdoor, in-ground pom I planted this year DID set 1 fruit, which was delicious. This was its first year in-ground, hoping for more fruit next year!! The nursery I bought it from said that it's a highly productive variety, even with only 1 tree. We'll see!

[swimmom500]

I guess I can be hopeful for fruit in the spring. I planted mine a few months ago and the height has doubled. Width wise it’s doing even better. The width has quadrupled and there are so many branches. When I planted it there were only 2 branches.

[maskedsonnet]

No pics yet because they're not big enough, but the pixie tom and La Bomba pepper are both up this time!

There's a chance I'll be moving for work in a few months, which has me VERY nervous. I have so much stuff, and the AGs take up an entire bedroom all by themselves!! Finding a new house with room for them all has me pretty nervous. If it DOES happen, my job provides relocation services that includes packing, loading, moving, and unloading everything, along with storage until I find a new place, so that's making me way less anxious than I normally would be. I plan on enjoying the 4 gardens I've got running for as long as possible!! And ending just before they come to pack it all up.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, I really want this job!!!

[slw]

Good luck with the job, MS!!   Sounds exciting!

[maskedsonnet]

Well, the interview went really well, and the person in charge of selection already thinks highly of me (she's my boss's boss now and will be my boss if I land the position. Turns out interviewing is easier if you're already comfortable with the person asking the questions!). So outlook is good, I'll know for sure in a few weeks!!

 

[LoveSalads]

Oct 22, 2024 9:09:15 GMT -5 maskedsonnet said:

Well, the interview went really well, and the person in charge of selection already thinks highly of me (she's my boss's boss now and will be my boss if I land the position. Turns out interviewing is easier if you're already comfortable with the person asking the questions!). So outlook is good, I'll know for sure in a few weeks!!

 

That's awesome hope you get exactly what you want.

[maskedsonnet]

The plants are doing really well! Going to keep these guys going for as long as I can before the move. Hoping to get a handful of peppers, at least, before then. There are flowers on the hot banana and both of the pot-a-penos!

The La Bomba and Pixie tom both came up on the second try!

[swimmom500]

Was your farm trellis purchased from Aerogarden? The one that came with my Farm is impossible to put up. I can get the 2 long pieces attached but when I try and attach the short pieces the long pieces are pulled off. The short pieces are too short to fit front to back. Yours looks different than mine.

[maskedsonnet]

Yeah it was the trellis that came with the farm - when I get home from work tonight I'll post a better pic of them! They do require some fussing with but they work well for me.

[slw]

Oct 30, 2024 6:12:26 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

Was your farm trellis purchased from Aerogarden? The one that came with my Farm is impossible to put up. I can get the 2 long pieces attached but when I try and attach the short pieces the long pieces are pulled off. The short pieces are too short to fit front to back. Yours looks different than mine.

The newer Farm trellis has a type of "clamp" fitting instead of the magnets like on the originals.  They have metal fittings that clamp to the posts, and the cords are like small bungi cords. 

[swimmom500]

Oct 30, 2024 13:03:58 GMT -5 slw said:

Oct 30, 2024 6:12:26 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

Was your farm trellis purchased from Aerogarden? The one that came with my Farm is impossible to put up. I can get the 2 long pieces attached but when I try and attach the short pieces the long pieces are pulled off. The short pieces are too short to fit front to back. Yours looks different than mine.

The newer Farm trellis has a type of "clamp" fitting instead of the magnets like on the originals.  They have metal fittings that clamp to the posts, and the cords are like small bungi cords. 

Unfortunately mine came with the magnetic one. I did order a trellis during the sale. I will have to see if that one is different. Thanks!

One other question- I am putting 2 jalapeño plants in the farm. Which holes do you put them in? Way too many choices with 12 pod openings. I recently put an Orange Hat in a Harvest and now I am thinking I chose the wrong hole since it is growing wide. Now I am second-guessing myself on these peppers.

[slw]

When I have 2 pepper or tomato plants in a garden, I usually put one in a right side back corner and the other in the left side front corner.   I don't think it makes much difference but I try to space them out as much as possible. 

[swimmom500]

Oct 31, 2024 23:18:05 GMT -5 slw said:

When I have 2 pepper or tomato plants in a garden, I usually put one in a right side back corner and the other in the left side front corner.   I don't think it makes much difference but I try to space them out as much as possible. 

Thanks. I will move mine today. I initially started these in a Harvest intending to plant them outside. I just don’t feel they will get enough sun outside this time of year even though highs are in upper 70s and lows in high 60s-low 70s. They are about 6 inches tall but still movable as I just put them in one side of the farm the other day. Started some green beans using the paper towel method to put in the other side.