Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Tamara & Group: Who said gardening was simple?? Actually it's not that tough and you'll get the "hang" of it quickly. Here are answers to Tamara's follow-up questions, that may be of interest to many of you:

"I have questions for the responses I got below:

> 1. If I wanted to do a full row of onions, how do I figure out how many that I'm supposed to put in the bed? (4" apart - JK)

T's RESPONSE TO QUESTION 1:
I just found in the Mittleider book that onions are to be 1" apart. Why do you have 1" here and 4" in the book, Appendix C? Did something change? Also.... I want to get my math straight (I'm not that good), so if it is really 1" then would I do this:
30' row x 12" = 360" ... plant onion every 1" so 360 onion plants
Is that right if it's 1" and only 1 per row, not 2 and not 2 alt?

(Jim) If you're growing for green onions they can be 1" apart (360 per row). If you're growing for bulb onions they should be 4" apart. In both cases you CAN grow 4 rows in a bed, rather than 2, if you are willing to do hand-weeding diligently. And you'll need to water the fertilizers in carefully, so they don't get on the plants and burn them.

> 2. Same questions for peppers as above. (12" apart in 2 rows - JK)

K's RESPONSE TO QUESTION 2:
In Appendix C, again, I see a difference. You said in 2 rows but the book says 2 alt. Is it 2 alt or 2? Again, with my math, is this right:
30' row x 12" = 360" ... plant pepper every 12" so 30 pepper plants
PLUS since it is 2 alt, then another 15 pepper plants so 45 pepper plants per 30' row (I'm using the book numbers being 2 alt, not 2 for this example). Is this right?

(Jim) Alternating simply means that on one side of the bed your row of plants starts at 0", then 12", then 24", etc., and on the other side of the bed your second row of plants starts at 6", then 18", then 30", etc. You end up with one less plant alternating the plants. Therefore you should end up with 61, rather than 62 pepper plants.

> 3. I've not grown potatoes before... can someone give me info on how to grow potatoes (like from the start -- is it seed or parts of the potato?). (parts of the "seed potato", including at least 1 eye per part - JK)

K's RESPONSE TO QUESTION 3:
Does this mean I can use store-bought potatoes and I'll get potato plants?

(Jim) You may get some, but most likely you won't do well, because the growers put something on them that inhibits their growth. You should buy "seed potatoes" that have NOT been sprayed, and are sold specifically for planting.

> 4. If I grow zucchini vertically, then can I grow more than 20 plants in a 30' row? I don't plan to do a whole bed, but I'm wondering because if I grow them vertically, they won't be taking up so much space, right?

> (Zucchini should be planted no closer than 18" - and 21" is recommended - so you should have only about 20 plants in a 30' row, even when you ARE growing vertically, and FEWER than that if you're not growing vertically. Also, you need to make sure you take off a leaf or two each week or so and keep everything off the ground and away from their neighbors - JK)

K's RESPONSE TO QUESTION 4:
Oh, okay!!! Wow, they do take a lot of room. Do you recommend vining up on them? And if I have some vining and some bush, do you think it should be 20 still?

(Jim) I don't know what you mean by "vining up", sorry. Zucchini are not vining plants, but determinates, and won't grow very tall. They still do better if they are staked or grown on baling twine strings to T-Frames and kept off the ground, because otherwise they lie on the ground and are subject to diseases, bugs, varmints, etc.

>5. What do you all use to get your seedlings going... dirt? Sawdust? Sand? (Yes - - - - Seedling production is best done in trays or "flats", on tables in a seedling greenhouse with full sunlight. And the soil medium should NOT be dirt, but rather a mixture of sand, sawdust, perlite, peat moss, etc. - JK)

K's RESPONSE TO QUESTION 5:
Do I still only use sand / sawdust / perlite mixture if I have seedlings growing for 6 or 8 weeks prior to transplanting? If so, do I use the weekly fertilizer since they will get no nutrients when not in dirt inside the 4" pots I'll be using?

(Jim) Growing seedlings in flats, trays, or any size pots is all the same, so far as procedures go. You put the prescribed amount of PP and WF in the soil mix, then you feed your seedlings by watering them with something we call the "Constant-Feed Mix". This is simply one ounce of Weekly Feed Mix dissolved in 3 gallons of water, and it is used every time you water, for as long as your seedlings remain in the greenhouse.

>6. If I use 36" wide rows not 18" do I just double the amount of plants? For instance, 1 bed of potatoes is 92 plants according to the book... would I double it to make it 184 plants?
>
> (No. 36" is not wide enough for 4 rows of most plants. If you want to double your plants you need a 4'-wide Grow-Box. In a 36" bed much of the space is wasted, or the plants are too close together and all suffer. For most varieties of vegetable plants a 36" bed is not a good choice - JK).

RESPONSE TO QUESTION 6:
Thanks! That is really helpful as I was planning to do 36" and now I know not to... great! :)

>
> Thanks for all your help :)
>
> Tamara Slack
> Seymour, MO
>

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