My little garden!

Ok people, I just started growing some plants on my back porch, and I am totally new to gardening.

Currently, I have a Canby Red dwarf raspberry plant, a gardena, and a little trio of brightly colored cactuses. (I bought the plants to keep each other company and inspire each other )

I want these plants to live long, and be fruitful. I am rather mindful about watering thing correctly (especially the fruit and cacti), but is there anything else I should do for them besides fertilizing them in the spring (not the cacti).

I water the raspberry bush every other day. The cacti I water once a week. The gardena I water daily to every other day. I also plan on creating a little more shade for the gardena, as that posrch location pictured is south facing- 5 stories up! (LOTS of sun)

 

how do you water them?

how do you fertilize?

and do you have a soil testing kit?

 

I just feed them tapwater from the sink. It's potable.

I also sometimes spritz the raspberry and gardena with a spray bottle of filtered water.

I havent yet. I was told to wait to do that for both plants.

Nope. Any ideas on where to get one for CHEAP?

 

not sure where to get a cheap soil testing kit. The good ones are around 30$. Fertilize when the soil test tells you to, not before.

When you water, do you pour it on top, or do you sit the pot in a basin of water? The latter is the better way to water your pots. When the surface becomes moist, the soil is saturated. Helps cut down on nutrient loss.

are you trying to go organic? if so, you want to manage not just your plant, but your soil life.

 

Great info...

I don't know anything about soil or plant treatment! I am a total newb.

 

I'd say get a good book on organic gardening and commit to doing it that way. It's more involved but more fun too.

Basically you've got the plant, you've got anything alive you can see, and you've got the microorganisms: bacteria and fungi.

In a pot, most of the life you can see is a pest: aphids, caterpillars, root maggots, etc... You want to make sure that you don't kill all the fungi and bacteria though when you control the pest insects.

Nutrients, like nitrogen and such, pass through the microorganisms in your soil and become available to the plant. If there isn't enough of that going on you will have to add not just nitrogen, but AVAILABLE nitrogen that your plant can actually use. Raw plant material, for instance, is chock full of nitrogen, but in order to become available, it will actually steal available nitrogen for your soil. That is why organic gardeners are always making compost.

get a book though! and if you are interested, you could repot those babies with some companions.

 

wow,,ive never seen someone take container gardening to such extremes.. we have been growing organic here since 1992 and have had the soil tested twice..

its really not near as complicated as your making it out to be..

start a small worm composting bin for your kitchen waste,collect the worm tea,mix 12 parts to one with distilled water and water your plants with that. only water your cactus's when they are completely dried out.

when its time for transplanting to a bigger pot mix your worm castings with the existing soil during transplanting..

yes its that simple for thriving healthy container grown organic plants...

 

yup, good point.

I got my worm farm going in the basement. Great way to get compost with limited space.

You are doing everything I'm saying, you just don't know it. Your worm castings are full of available nitrogen, bacteria, and fungi. Having all that good stuff in your soil helps your plants resist the bad guys.

Maybe you're right, the soil testing is not necessary, but compulsive people like me have to know what is in the soil.

 

dude,, i been growing organically since 1986, we have a acre and a half of gardens.. and yes i know what im doing and how the process works..

just because im not over analyzing everything and explaining it like im teaching a college course does not mean im not well read and experienced in gardening organically..

gardening shouldnt be a text book process its not that complicated..

 

Compost! What a concept. My GF and I always debate on whether to throw organic goods in the trash, or to use the garbage disposal. The answer seems to be neither. Why didn't I think of this earlier!??!

My parents do some heavy gardening. I will ask around to get more tips. You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the ideas!

 

heres some simple plans for a worm composting bin.

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

when done properly theres no smell so it can be placed anywhere out of the way..

 

That's great, but why are being combative? No one said anything to your detriment. Like I said, your way is great. I'll say this, too: your way is better. You obviously know what you are doing, because you gave great advice. But I don't recall lambasting you, or said advice. You gave your take, I gave mine and they are both good. Personally, I feel the science makes the gardening interesting, and maybe you do too. Maybe you don't. So what? I laid it out the way i think about it, you laid it out the way you think about it. Sounds like I could use a bit of your way. That's the point of dialogue.

I'm obsessive. I can't help but tinker. I'm just as likely to ruin something with my testing and whatnot. Then again, testing led me to discover that the raised bed my landlord put in before I moved in was not "mostly compost" as she claimed it was. I started my garden after moving here, before even unpacking. I was short on time, and i had to plant, and as far as I knew it was great soil. Had I tested first, I could have amended it, and I would be in brussels sprouts already.

[insert olive branch here]

 

not to start a fight, but you should expect to do it incorrectly for the first little while, especially with a plastic bin. Depends on ventilation, but so far I've found I need a lot more holes in the bin than the plans recommend. I also get a good amount of leachate in my drain pan, so if you are planning on putting it in the kitchen, consider a professionally made bin. Mine's in the basement, so it doesn't bug anyone.

Hippie, is it true you can't put alliums in? I have been throwing garlic and onion scraps in the trash as i was told worms don't like 'em, but I wonder if it's really true.

 

you certainly have a uppity condescending tone to what ive posted so far in this thread for someone not trying to start anything..
i really dont play well when someone who was 8 when i started growing organically talks down to me.

so in answer to your question,you seem to think you know everything else,you surely should already know the answer to your own question...

if not,,look it up yourself...

 

alrighty then...

 

Ok, so I have a new addition to the bunch: An ALOE PLANT!

Looks like my storage space is going to be too small for a compost heap. Space is REALLY limited where I live, and I am/was wondering: Is there an alternative?

 

the worm bin that hippiehillbilly recommended.

It will take up very little room, and will have no smell once you get the hang of it. you can do it in a kitchen, basement, or just about anywhere that won't freeze or get too hot.

Remember to get it going about a month before you add the worms, and don't overfeed for the first month. But then don't forget to feed after that! I forgot to feed, and all my worms disappeared. They are back full force as I had enough juveniles and eggs, but it's taken a while.

You can order the worms online or meet someone with worms. Not just any worms, but red wigglers.

 

The only space I'll have is about 1.5 x 1 x 1 feet, will that be big enough? And it'll be outside too, with MUCHO sun exposure (potentially hot in the summers). I don't have any room in any other place inside.

If that small place will work, I'll have to try and scale back the ingredients.

Also, I saw that people on Craigslist are selling worm castings. It's expensive, but if it's as good as you say, maybe I can just buy some when I need it?

 

Worm castings can vary as far as quality goes. You should get in touch with the people selling them and find out. I they are eating manure they will be the highest quality possible.

Doesn't sound like the worm bin would work for you. They will cook in the summer.

 

Yeah, the only place I could put it is on a southward facing balcony that gets 100% sunlight. It gets pretty hot back there. Plus my place is VERY small. There's just no place indoors either. So, what would you recommend to a city dweller like me that needs a little castings from now and then? What should I look for when contacting Craigslist sellers? Just ask what the worms diet is?