Usually caused by a calcium deficiency, either because the soil is calcium-poor, or because the soil is too moist/overwatered, which prevents the plants from pulling calcium from the soil effectively.
Our soil is generally poor/clay heavy, and I had bad blossom end rot on my tomatoes and peppers the first year. I saved our eggshells all year, crushed them, and worked them in when I turned the soil over in the spring. I had virtually no issues with it the second year.
It looks like you can use lime, etc. to amend it, but need to get proportions just right. I wonder if you could use crushed oyster shells (farmers use it in chicken feed to up calcium), like I used the eggshells.
I've got basil growing in the kitchen window & a 4X4 square foot garden out back, buried in snow. I think I'm going to do a separate herb garden this year for basil, rosemary, mint, and oregano. In the SFG, several kinds of tomatoes, bush beans, lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, and jalapeño peppers. I'm going to give my rhubarb to my mom (we never eat it) and then probably grow some zucchini back there. I'd love to grow strawberries, too, but we'll see. DH and I disagree about the purpose of a yard. He likes it to be wide open, grass only. I like room for DS to play, but think the back yard should be functional for feeding the family, too. He doesn't like how a garden looks messy.
DH and I decided we will try our hand at gardening this year. Our neighbors always have awesome gardens so we feel a bit inferior but we know they will help us learn
I want to do lettuce, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, herbs, beans, carrots. That may be enough to see how bad we are at this
Post by mrsukyankee on Feb 11, 2014 12:06:16 GMT -5
We have a container garden in which I'm currently growing elephant garlic, sage, lemon thyme, rosemary, dill, chives and will probably also do some lettuce and tomatoes.
I only plant in containers, our yard us very shaded and we have clay soil.
I am thinking: herbs (basil, cilantro, chives, oregano, mint, italian parsley), cherry tomatoes, strawberries and carrots. I have a terrible black thumb and always end up killing one or two plants. There is no way I could start from seeds. Except for carrots, that seems to work.
Tomatoes, cucumber, beets, beans, squash, bell peppers, banana peppers, different types of hot peppers, lettuce, zucchini, kale, melons, strawberries, cabbage, and I'm going to plant a few grape vines this year.
For herbs, we're planting dill, few kinds of parsley, rosemary, lavender, mint, cilantro, thyme, oregano, tarragon, basil, chives, fennel, and sage.
Oh boy. I am slowly but surely turning my front yard into a wildflower/edible garden
Flowers All sorts of native plants! -Coneflowers -Snakemaster -Blazing star -Butterfly weed -Prairie onion -Asters
Edibles Genovese basil White Russian kale Costata Romanesco Zucchini Butternut squash Thinking about trying pink banana squash, need to find a seed source asst of radishes Detroit dark red beets Cilantro Various tomatoes that I will be buying- starting from seed last year was a pain.
Post by textbookcase on Feb 11, 2014 14:57:29 GMT -5
I have eggplant, basil, and rosemary still going strong from last year. I started seeds of: zucchini, jalapenos, sweet peppers, crookneck squash, more eggplant, kale, swiss chard, tomatoes, okra, cantaloupe, peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, chives, cilantro, parsley. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. Those are almost ready to plant in the ground, which I'll probably do sometime this week if I ever get the beds ready.
Post by stephm0188 on Feb 11, 2014 15:04:29 GMT -5
This year will be tomatos, bell peppers, carrots, and strawberries for sure. Beyond that, I haven't decided. Depends on if I add two more boxes.
Last year was so rainy that it was tough. My broccoli wasn't ready one day, then it rained, and BOOM. Flowered the next day. I was pissed. I did green beans and peas, but I didn't have enough to make it worth it for the beans, and the peas I wasn't sure when to harvest. I had a vole demolish my lettuce and spinach
I really want to plant some more roses. "Real" ones, not Knockouts. Although probably also more Knockouts in the front of the house b/c they are so easy to maintain and bloom almost year-round..
What is a Knockout? Does this mean you're not growing your plants from scratch?