The Green Thumb Thread - Post your garden and growing hacks, tips and tricks!

Dont use see water. It does not work well for some reeson

Im wanting to start all kinds of veggies before the end of summer. I guess im going to try indoor and see how that gos.

Thanks for the tip lol

so far im good at getting everything to grow and keeping them alive but i feel like simply watering them isnt enough, especially the tomatoes. Since i have all mine in 5 gallon buckets i used bags of good soil and was adding 2 or 3 small trowels full to the buckets about every week or 2 and now that im out (ran out about 3 weeks ago) my plants seem to be moving really slow in terms of fruit. Lots of flowers but not much fruit yet.

BUMP for a doom break.

Gatorade, it's what plants crave!

Worm farm for nutrients! Cheap, fun and easy, I buy my worms at the bait shop. Check online to get started.

As for the peppers. You need to pinch off the first growth after it gets a few sets of real leaves. This causes the pepper stalks to form a Y shape, which in turn produces more leaf. More leaves equals more nutrients and more peppers. The peppers will be less likely to sun scald with the shade provided by the leaves.

Shake your pepper and tomato plants a few times a day for pollination and fruit set.

Soil test and get your Ca up. I'm shooting for about 85%. Peppers and such love Ca. Organic fert has some and gypsum if pH is good. Nitrate N early and about a month later. Get your P and K numbers with the soil test. Mg is hard to get rid of so don't add if you don't need and gypsum is good Ca to get rid of some. Plants love S and get good amount with the sulfates for micros or elemental S. You can build up good micro levels in a garden pretty easy. Containers use a good soluble fert, sprinkle it over the plants and water it in. I use one chealated with amino acids called megacrop. EDTA supposedly builds up in soil. Don't forget Ca. It has to be there early and add a little as you go. Good start.

If your plants are infested with aphids get some cigarette butts put them into water and with that brownish water spray your plants. It is very good natural insecticide. Good Luck with your garden!

For a cheap soil amendment epsom salt is the bomb, especially during fruit set.

When your peppers and tomatoes are fruiting they may need extra calcium to prevent blossom end rot, especially if they are in buckets.

I like tomatone by epsoma, but it can be a little pricey. During young growth your plants appreciate a steady nitrogen diet (nitrogen promotes leaf growth), depending on the soil you used and the balance of fertilizer in it you may need to start supplementing with some potassium and calcium which provide the nutrients needed for fruit production. If you had a nice balanced soil you may be ok, but I find that nutrients leak out of buckets faster than if the plants were on the ground.

If you start to see problems with fruit try amending with something like tomatone to provide the extra stuff they need. There are numbers on the side of any bag of soil.or fertilizer you buy. You want the first number (N-Nitrogen) to be the lowest number.

Thanks! My peppers are actually doing well, i been on top of pruning ect. My Jalapenos arent doing to well yet but they are flowering now.

I have tons of nightcrawlers in my yard, i was just youtubing compost with worms too!



I spent most of the last 2 days researching all that and will be doing more, thank you.



Yup, tobacco is supposed to be good but as of right now, i dont have any insect problems, thank god lol.



Almost every video ive watched and article ive read mentions Epsom salt. Thanks for the bag tip, i used a good potting soil, it was like $7 or $8 a bag? I will be getting more serious now though and i appreciate the reply.

This year my cousins wife sowed all the seeds and dropped them off at my house but now im really wanting to get into propagating.

Anyone else try starting watermelons in July?

here to read.

nice thread!

Tomatoes always feel to me like they’re doing nothing then suddenly there’s loads! I’ve switched to growing bush varieties, not as tasty but more productive that cordon types. And no faffing with side shoots or tying in to do.

I’m growing lots of root veg this year, mainly as they're easy and store well over winter. I’ve given up on salads and brassica as I’m not one for killing pests!

On the note about propagating, that’s when gardening becomes addictive lol! Buy heritage seeds so you can collect and save them year to year and if you want to have some fun, look up tomtato plants and give those a try!

I use grow bags for the following reasons:

1. No pests. I simply have no issues with common garden pests that I would otherwise have to deal with if plants are in ground.

2. No mole issues. Lots of moles where I live. Moles don’t actively attack gardens but their burrow systems are still passively detrimental, in my experience.

3. Amazing results! Seriously healthy, air-pruned root balls = production I was never able to achieve in-ground. For example, 4 sweet corn plants in 1.5 sq. feet.

As for peppers, magnesium is the magic. NPK is generally 4-5-4, but my plants just drip pepper fruit when using extra mg.

I also use rope trellis for tomatoes. It’s not really a trellis, just suspending the top part if the plant from overhead with a single cord or thin rope. That and pinching suckers when they first appear consistently produce indeterminate plants that are over 10’ tall in early September. I can hardly keep up with the harvest of them.