Green Beans

Although not a really significant source of nitrogen beans can still help other plants to grow and hopefully make some tasty beans in the process.

A study by Roger Luiz Da Silva Almeida et. al. published in March 4, 2012 in the Iranica Journal of Energy & Environment concluded "The nitrogen level used in this study positively influenced the plant growth."  So, it can't hurt.

The seeds planted were about 4 years old and every one of them sprouted. I guess I kept them well. They've been in the fridge in sealed plastic bags the entire time (except when we were moving).

Next week there's supposed to be a nice warm day or two that I can use to put these guys outside for a bit of fresh sun.  February isn't going to be too high in the sky so I'm not too worried about scorching the leaves.  The beans really do prefer a bit of sun though and would be good for them.

To be sure I've also got plant food for them, you can't rely entirely on beans you know.

Natural Potting Soil

There are a lot of potting soil recipes out there. Most of them require some sort of purchase since, at least, I don't have any perlite or moss on me. Ok so I do have moss but it's spanish moss which is really good to put on top of soil to keep moisture in. I recomend starting with dirt. I don't really care what kind of dirt since I'm going to be adding things to it to make it more useable anyway. Add to that an equal or slilghtly more compost. If you don't have any compost then you should start making some today. I'm sure you have some kind of something that can be composted. Start one on your apartment baclony if you have to. This is where your nutrients will come from. Seeds will sprout in almost anything but they need nutrients to keep growing. Finally add some coarse sand to the mix. About as much as you added dirt. Beach type sand is good. It your sand is too fine it will not drain properly and can become packed and hard. The reason we added sand in the first place is to help drainage and keep the soil pliable. Coarse sand gives water a path to travel down not only for drainage but also to get to the roots. Good drainage is important because the soil needs to have air in it as well. If it is full of water then the plant's roots can't breathe properly. Remember that no matter how good you soil is, if your pots are infected then your plants might die anyway. Always clean your pots.

Ice Gardening

Working in the garden at around 4:00 in the afternoon in the middle of July isn't what most people have in mind. It's hot and we're all too used to our air conditioners blasting 60 degree air at us. If however that is the only time of day you have for gardening, you either suck it up or you don't garden. If you do garden, one of the best things to have on hand is a nice cold glass of ice water.

I say,"Don't be stingy!" Your plants want some too. I know, don't water between bla bla bla.... But who says they want the water. What they really want is a bug hunk of ICE. That's right, they wish it was in the 60's too. No room temperature water for them, and the boiling stuff that comes out of the hose is murder. You might as well uproot them and bake them in a oven.

To get the best results, use a block of ice not crushed or cubed. The block will stay cold longer and keep the ground moist and cool for the thirsty plants for at least an hour. Combine this with mulch and your plants will love you.

Bolting Broccoli

I wasn't sure if anyone would actually ask me anything but yesterday I opened my email quite late in the evening, around 11:00, and there it was, an email.

Reatha wrote to me the following:

"Hi! You told me to e-mail you with questions. Talking to a friend at church this morning, we are both having problems with our broccoli plants going to flower (seems like) too soon. Any suggestions? Thank you."

Well, I have had the exact same problem. I like to plant something and just let it grow the first time to see what happens under normal conditions. I really like things that just grow without me having to nurture it alot.

The thing about broccoli is that it likes cool weather. If you need a jacket then broccoli is thrilled, at least as much as a plant can be. It can take below freezing temperatures and likes it. This is a winter vegetable as far as eating the florets goes. Once it gets above 70 degrees it thinks it's time to make babies which means all that lovely veggie goodness you have come to know a broccoli becomes yellow flowers. This isn't bad as long as you want seeds for more plants next season.

To solve this problem there are a few things you can do. Depending on the temperature depends on how much you need to do. The object is to keep the roots cold enough that the plant doesn't think it's warmed up yet.

First off you can mulch around the plants to insulate the ground. As long as the average temperature, that is day and night, is still well below 70 then this may be enough.

Second, you may need to water frequently. Let the waterhose run for a little bit so that the cool water from the underground water lines starts to come out so the cool water can bring the ground temperature back down.

Third, and this is something I have done just to keep moisture in the ground is to use ice. Don't worry about killing the plant. What will happen is that the sun will melt the ice and nearly freezing water will saturate the roots.

Once again this goes back to my citrus growing. I had my lemon tree on the back porch of the office where it was getting hot and I probably needed more dirt in the first place. I realized that our ice maker made an entire bin of ice every day and I figured that it needed to be used. So, I poured it on the dirt making sure it wasn't against the trunk and there you go. It kept the soil moist for hours during the hot part of the day.

Soils

I can't stress the importance of soil type too much. I just lost another few plants to poor soils not draining. They wouldn't drain and the plants rotted.

ROTTED!!!

It really sucks. But, I put them out to decay in the compost pile. I figure it needed some non organics in it anyway.