Garden Log

[jacob]

We had 6.4lbs of turnips this year. They did not impress me that much. In general, root vegetables don't do well in our garden. Carrots are downright pathetic for example. We only get a few fingerlings out of that each year. I suspect the soil still contains too much clay. Working on it though.

[George the original one]

Carrots are downright pathetic for example. We only get a few fingerlings out of that each year. I suspect the soil still contains too much clay. Working on it though.

With clay soil, select the thick carrot varieties rather than the long slender nantes variety found in stores. Beyond that, I'd think it is probably a question of germination and feeding. Don't mix fertilizer into the soil if you expect the carrot to grow straight; always apply fertilizer to the surface.

[davtheram12]

I live in a rather small apartment but have still managed to save plenty of plants people throw out. They are all doing wonderfully after some transplanting, fertilizing and watering. I honestly don't know what many of them are but my DW loves the extra color and vibrancy it brings to our apartment.

I've also been growing an avocado tree since July 2017. Started off as a pit and is now 8 feet tall with lots of foliage. It's still in a large pot but some day I'll likely transplant it at the in-laws. Likely within the next calendar year I'll graft branches using my friends fruit bearing avocado tree. Im a little too impatient for the tree to bear it owns fruit naturally.

I also saved a thai chile plant this past season. The plant was rather tiny (<6 inches tall with an ~4 inch branch diameter) but I still managed to harvest over 100 peppers. Tiny as the peppers were they were very spicy! Approximately 50-100k scoville heats units. Plenty hot for most purposes. I do have a few Carolina Reapers stored in my freezer for next growing season. Those will be much too dangerous to eat (1.5 million average scoville heat units) but its a very unique looking pepper I'd like to attempt growing.

[white belt]

Does anyone have any experience growing dwarf fruit trees or berry perennials in containers? I’ve done some research and can pick up some fruiting age/size plants for $20-30 each, so I’m considering getting a dwarf cavendish banana, some kind of dwarf peach or plum, and a blackberry plant. I’m going with containers because I’m supposed to move this summer and they are easier to deal with on rental properties. Supposedly the bananas can grow in Zone 8, but I’m expecting to have to bring it inside for the coldest 4-5 months if I want it to produce fruit. The others should be able to stay outside through the winter.