Damping-Off

We were wondering what the heck was effecting some of our seedlings just as they started to grow. It was the same story every time, things would be going great then poof the effected seedlings would just topple over looking like something possibly delicately nibbled around the stem like an insect version of a beaver.

Josh found the answer quite by accident while perusing one of the many books covering the house. This wasn't a new breed of insect but the very well known phenomenon called "damping off". Different fungi cause this and there is no cure but it's entirely preventable. Jerry Baker suggests 6 easy steps to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

1. Clean your seedling containers thoroughly with warm soapy water.
2. Use soilless seed starting medium
3. Plant your seeds in small containers and gradually transfer them as they grow
4. Water your seedlings from the bottom
5. Give your seedlings intense light and a little air movement, which will help strengthen the stems
6. Mist the seedlings with Jerry Baker's Damping-Off prevention tonic (4tsp. chamomile tea, 1tsp liquid dish soap. Mix in 1qt boiling water, let steep at least 1hr, strain and cool. Mist the seedlings as soon as heads appear).

Another great use for eggshells

So this might gross out some of you but after enjoying our chickens eggs we dry out the shells, crunch them up and feed them back to our mostly lovely ladies. It provides them with calcium as well as a little bit of grit. Lately we have had so many eggshells that the extras have been making it into the compost bin, which is where I'm sure most of yours go but did you know they also can benefit your garden in another way?

If you crush them, then soak them for 24 hours you can pour the water right onto your plants to provide much needed calcium. This is especially beneficial to tomatoes and peppers.

Thanks Jerry!

San Diego Wildflowers

Are in bloom all over the city. Lupines are popping up everywhere I look, even lining the freeways. Because of the good amount of rain this year all the hillsides seem to be bursting with color. You must get out and see this before the summer heat takes it's toll. You don't have to venture very far, all of these pictures were taken within 10 miles of Downtown San Diego!

This trail can be accessed at the north end of Regents off of the 52 freeway. It is part of Rose Canyon, at the site of the proposed Regents Road Bridge.

Live from Earth Day San Diego 2010

It was great to meet all of you who came out and picked up free seeds and seedlings today! Let me know how it grows!

Friday Night Lights

Yes I spend my Friday nights in the garden and no I'm not checking to see if my plants are safe. Well actually I am, I have read that it's best to scour your garden at night for pests under the cover of darkness. Well we gave it a try and had great success. We found 7 slugs, mostly on the Marigolds (it's true what the say they are great slug attractors) and 1 snail. Overall a very successful night!

Coffee Grounds Good For The Garden?

I'm sure we have all seen the free "Grounds for your Garden" in our local Starbucks. Coffee grounds sound like a good soil amendment, I know they always make me feel better, if only for a short while. But are coffee grinds actually good for your vegetable garden? I found a very informative article on Gardens Alive that had several good points:

Raw grounds straight into the soil.

First it's "not recommended [to add] raw ingredients [to your garden] before composting". Seeing as "coffee grounds alone are highly acidic [they would be] best for plants like blueberries that thrive in very acidic soil". Because grounds are so high in acid and nitrogen you "risk creating a 'mold bloom' where you spread them".

Okay, then I will compost the grounds and add them to my blueberries.

The author recommends "adding a cup of agricultural lime [or hardwood ashes] to every ten pounds of grounds before you add them to your compost pile".


Well grounds do have lots of good nutrients right?

Typical grounds contain "1.5% Nitrogen...also alot of Magnesium and Potassium, both of which plants really like, but not a lot of Phosphorus (the fruiting or flowering nutrient) or calcium, a mineral that many plants crave, and whose lack helps explain the recalcitrant acidity".

Here in California they mention it might do more good than bad due to our high alkaline content. I think most organic soil amendments in moderation, mixed with a compost pile that has good levels of green and brown, will do more good then harm.

Bake seedlings at 350 degrees for two hours....

I must be honest; I have never owned a greenhouse. Being from Southern California, I have never really experienced what most people refer to as "seasons". That being said Josh has been eager to find some sort of housing for the seedlings after they inexplicably jumped off their perch on to the ground in his office (trying not to take it personally). Josh found a great portable greenhouse that wouldn’t take up much space, would house my seedlings and would give us a place to grow some summer crops in the winter.

It arrived the day before yesterday and it was perfect. Josh quickly set it up and placed it out on the balcony. I couldn't wait to get my seedlings into their new home so I promptly placed them on the shelves and zipped it up tight seeing as it was a cool overcast day.

I went about my day and while casually walking by the new greenhouse two hours later I couldn't help but feel a nice cozy warmth emitting from inside. I looked inside and gasp in horror as all my seedlings were wilting under the immense heat. I frantically zipped open the door and a microwave popcorn like steam was released from within.

As if they were on fire I quickly dosed everything with water practically drowning them in the process. The pumpkin and eggplant seemed quite pleased with the new temperature but the carrots and tomato were lost. I couldn’t help but wonder if they believed this was a payback for their stunt in the office. I almost think these seedlings and I might have too much past baggage and it might be better for us both to move on.

Whatever does end up happening, one thing I will probably not be caught doing until the dead of winter is zipping up the new greenhouse.