Damping Off

For all my planning I am still having a rough start this year.  I started my seeds in a mix of potting soil and mushroom compost.  I knew that what I should have was peat moss, and probably a few other things like perilite and vermiculite, but I used what I had.  This is another one of those lessons that it is better to learn from someone else's mistakes than to risk losing time in your own garden.
Damping off is a term used to describe sudden seedling death.  It can be caused by a lot of factors, but preventing it is easy, and I knew that to begin with!
1. NEVER use soil to start seeds.  Always use a sterile soil-less mix, purchased or homemade, but it must be sterile.  Peat moss is difficult because it absorbs water and forms a dense structure, that when dry, is impenetrable. You must keep it thoroughly moist at all times, or your seedlings will die from dryness associated with the brick like nature of the peat.
2. Don't over water.  The fungi that can cause these dilemmas thrive with excessive moisture.  While germinating it is important to keep the mix constantly moist, but as the seedlings emerge, tapering back to moderate watering and light (1/2 strength) fertilizers will allow the little plants a chance to stand up on their own.
3. Be Sterile.  washing all of your seed trays, pots, spades and scoops with a 10:1 water/ bleach mix, will help to prevent spread of fungi and any related spores or bug eggs or other pests.

Some information I found at this site, states the following;
Damping-off

Not only will controlling your watering help to prevent fungus gnats, it will prevent the second most common problem, damping-off. This condition is caused by several fungi such as Phtophtora and Pythium. These fungi live at the soil line, just where air meets the moist soil surface.

When your potting soil is kept continuously moist by overwatering, the fungi attack your seedlings. The telltale symptom is a constricted stem, just at or below the soil surface. Once seedlings are infected, they tend to fall over at the soil line.

As mentioned, allowing the soil surface to dry out will go a long way in preventing this problem. If, for some reason, your potting mix remains wet for an extended period of time, look to your kitchencabinet to help prevent the disease. Cinnamon powder is a natural fungicide and has been shown to be particularly effective against damping-off. In addition, Weak chamomile tea (after it has cooled) is another natural fungicide


Honestly I did not know that there was much to be done for it at this stage.  Not all the seedlings are infected, some are, some aren't.  And prevention is always the cure.  I figured my only alternative is to cut my losses, and begin anew.  This may also be why I have no tomatoes sprouting as well.  Which is of more concern, because my leafy greens can be started all season long, but tomatoes have to been in like YESTERDAY....


I have to get to work, but I thought I would throw that out there.
My broccoli and Brussels sprouts have a few seedlings that are bent at the stem, preventing water or nutrients to help sustain them.  I have used unsterilized pots, unsterilized soil, and let my daughter over water.  Basically I have done everything that you are not supposed to do, and learned the hard way, yet again. It's a good thing out livelihood does not depend on the earliness of our garden...because I blew it!  I guess I will be going to the hardware store now!

Propagation Box

Yesterday I had the most clever gardening/recycling idea I have had in a long time. I call it an invention when I come up with a clever way to do something I haven't thought of before. And this one is pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.

My brother and I were poking around in the garden, not really doing much of anything, we cleaned up the raspberry patch and filled the bird baths but that was pretty much it. As I stood there looking at my yard (which is quite a mess), and my garden, I looked at the frame of our old skate ramp in a completely different way. I had looked at this thing several times and wondered what it could be used for in the garden. I thought about using it for a raised bed or potato bin, but the framework is treated wood, and I couldn't bring myself to let it be in contact with the same soil that my food is growing in. (this is OLD treated wood, BTW, not the new less harmful stuff).

So I had an epiphany....It was going to be my new green house.

You really can't call it a cold frame, because it is at least 4' tall if not a little taller. But it is very much the same principal. It is like a really sunny window, outside...I guess. I call it a propagation box, mini-greenhouse, or maybe even a "germination station" which is actually something else (I think a heated, lidded flat for seed starting, I dunno). The front is two stationary windows, and the rear is the same but the windows are hinged.

Inside are a few 2x4 shelves for flats. On top is another window, also on a hinge and some framing, to close it in.

This thing is COMPLETELY recycled. The only "new" parts are the hinges (2 for $1 at Sutherlands) and the door pulls (also 2 for $1 at Sutherlands). Total investment...maybe $5, but could have been free, because I have hinges around the house and maybe even a door pull, so if I could have found the items, it would have been completely free!

Even some of the screws were reused! It came together quite easily, by reusing all the lumber that came off of the original ramp, there was very little cutting involved, mostly just trimming and shimming.

I apologize for not having "before and after" photos, It really came together too fast to think about that!

The plan now is:

1. Caulk up all the seams and air leaks. Also, clean and caulk individual window panes.
2. paint exterior with durable, weather-proofing paint.
3. paint interior white, to reflect light.
4. ? line inside with shiny foil????

And then it will need to air out for a few weeks.

This is the most exciting project I have done in a while. And it is literally built from trash! I had been saving these windows since we built our house, for cold frames, or something like that. But with the ease that we were able to put this together, I know that this was supposed to be the fate of my junk! LOL! And I am pretty proud of my little ghetto greenhouse!

Seasons and Seasons of Cold Wet Weather

Wow! I can't believe it has actually been 3 cold, wet seasons since I tried to start this little blog and attention has been mostly just on my gardening last summer. I could have put in a few posts through these dark days, about fall deer season....(which was a flop for me, but I had the pleasure of butchering my husband, and brother's deer). Along those lines, my deer skinning and salting skills are definitely improving, and although I didn't get any further in the process than simply fleshing and salting, it does look nice and workable for next season......

Winter was just filled with good hot food and lots of daydreaming about sunnier, warmer days....
I have been looking into canning and food storage, drying, bulk cooking, freezing and vacuum sealing.....(it's all relative, I tell you!)

But alas, I should have followed through on my indoor growing plans....here it is mid April and I have just set my tomato seeds in a few days back and still have no light! And the weather intends to stay poor for warm weather crops for a while....so maybe there is time!

I did try to throw in some sprouted potato, but I would be willing to bet that they rotted in the cold! I have some pea sprouts ( I intended to use as a early season cover crop) that are about 2 inches tall.....That is bed # 1...which is likely to be dug up in the near future and planted out with something different.
Bed #2 is prepared for cantelope and tomato when it is warmer. I have 12 little tomato pots seeded...6 italian heirloom, 6 amish paste...those were healthiest and tastiest of the 4 varieties from last year. I hope to get a few transplants when it warms up to supplement my varieties and hopefully make the harvest a little earlier.

BEST NEWS:

1. In the last few weeks I put in a dwarf lodi and a dwarf granny smith apple. I also put in a North Star Cherry. It is naturally dwarf and self fertile. I should be getting some flowering crab apples as well...hopefully that will cover my bases as far as pollen goes....

2. I put in 2 'nugget' hops rhizomes. One has already sprouted (it was the larger of the two).
I am already regretting not having the supports in!

3. I expanded my last garden bed, and dedicated it to my 20 Jersey Knight Asparagus crowns!!
there was only a half dozen or so out of the lot that were especially small...but they had sprouted! :( They are in their trenches, awaiting their next layer of soil and compost!!!

These things make me so happy!!!
I know it will be YEARS before I have fruit or asparagus spears, but the way I look at it, I have been waiting YEARS to plant a fruit tree, especially granny smith!! :) If I wait anymore YEARS without planting some food, that is that many more years I won't have done it!! SO there you have it....
Plans are expanding in my mind for more and more TREES, fruit for me and my little birdy friends. But the planting I have already done makes me very proud, and I can't wait to celebrate Arbor Day....but I plan to plant 10 trees instead of one!

Well, that is all for now....I will try to update more often!