Anyone into gardening here? | Page 28 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone into gardening here?

matthew said:
Who has started their indoor sowing?
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Started soaking seeds last week and most of 'em sprouted and went into peat pods over the weekend.
I'm looking for suggestions for a good tomato variety that will harvest earlier in the season, something that can be used in salads or sliced rather than for making sauce. There is a Sheridan Nurseries nearby my work that I plan to stop in sometime this week to buy some seeds
 
A few years ago I tried out a variety called Green Goblin. I usually grow about 5-8 different varieties each year and this one has been my favourite so far. It's excellent for slicing. It is a green tomato with yellowish zebra looking stripes and the flavour is really nice - not too sweet or tart. I think it was a vining or indeterminate variety so allow it some space. When i do a google search, the images that come up show cherry style tomatoes for this variety, so I'm not sure what gives. I chucked a bunch in my compost bin and so the seeds come up every year so far all over the garden. If they come up again this year, I can give you one or two tomatoes to save the seeds for yourself.

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jdmsteR said:
Started soaking seeds last week and most of 'em sprouted and went into peat pods over the weekend.
I'm looking for suggestions for a good tomato variety that will harvest earlier in the season, something that can be used in salads or sliced rather than for making sauce. There is a Sheridan Nurseries nearby my work that I plan to stop in sometime this week to buy some seeds
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I like sub arctic plenty. It’s pretty early, disease resistant etc. I usually grow about 6-8 varieties with different harvest times. Some cherry toms and a few beefsteak varieties. I like tumbler and brandy wine varieties respectively.

For something different look for a variety called pineapple pig. It’s a yellow beefsteak. Amazing flavour but needs some looking after. Purple prince for a black tomato is good too. Really tasty. Shane's striped ones are tasty as well.
 
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Just started up this weekend. Gave the dormant tropical their spring jolt, cut a ton of ground cover, setup a dozen reapers and a dozen tomato cuttings in the cloner, potted a ton of bulbs from last year, and planted 6 flats of seeds.

I don't seed my veggies anymore -- I keep a few favorites over the winter because I like the strains then I clone them in spring. The nursery at Kennedy and 19th in Stoufville sells big veggie flats at great prices, they are a month older than I can do at home. I buy them late so then can go into warmer ground, makes my tomatoes mature much earlier.
 
My toms are about 8 inches tall. I think I started them way too early this year. My kitchen looks like a small rainforest.
 
Stokeseeds.com <- Great reference even if you don't end up buying from there.
 
So far I've started lettuce, radish, beets, onions, rosemary, basil (many varieties), spinach and oregano.

I direct sowed some lettuce, radish, beets and spinach outdoors in my cold frames under some hoop houses.

I'll be starting lots more indoors soon.
 
Lilies, dahlias started, sunnies I gotta wait a few weeks as those grow damn fast!

Oh and the bloody Christmas cacti are in bloom again. Sigh
 
I start sunflowers early I don't worry about them being floppy or leggy because they can be transplanted deep, right up to the top set of leaves. Less watering, earlier flowers and sturdier stalks.
 
Mad Mike said:
I start sunflowers early I don't worry about them being floppy or leggy because they can be transplanted deep, right up to the top set of leaves. Less watering, earlier flowers and sturdier stalks.
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I've never heard that for sunflowers.
 
Another sunflower trick is to dig them up when they are 3' tall. Lay them in a 1' deep trench of compost leaving 2 leaf nodes above the soil. The stalks will grow another 2-3', you'll end up with sturdy giant sunflowers at 2-3' instead of 6' in the air.
 
Are you sure you're referring to sunflowers and not tomatoes?

This sounds like some sort of sunflower witchcraft to me.
 
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
 
meme said:
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
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Embrace the colour yellow. I use the claw tool for a cathartic exercise. Keeps them down but doesn’t eradicate them. I wanted to get a propane weed torch but after some fire antics several years back with persistent ant hills and a large tank of gasoline the wife has mostly vetoed that one. No fun.
 
meme said:
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
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I recall reading that Buckwheat is one of the ground covering plants that can be used to build soil (green fertilizer) and chock out non-desirable weeds. I bought a big bag of Buckwheat seed a long time ago to try it, but my beautiful prize winning garden Toronto topsoil and ground water turned out to be far too badly contaminated by a long list of toxic waste materials, so I moved.
 
meme said:
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
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If you know a farmer they might be able to provide you with some broad leaf herbicide. Much stronger than the store stuff but technically illegal for them to provide to you.
 
meme said:
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
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have the same problem, acres of city park behind me, they stopped weed control 10 years ago, it's a sea of yellow.

I use a Weedex wax stick -- it's way easier than the extractors and it works great. I have never found them in stock, I order them thru the local Home Hardware, they get them in about a week. http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...dex-Dandelion-Stick/_/N-ntlmdZ2ppq/R-I5048913
 
meme said:
Seeing as it's 4/20, let's talk about weed(s).

Cannot eliminate dandelions. Have three fields bordering me. Will overseeding actually work? Have small front yard, if I buy a big bag (aka yards) of good soil and reseed will this actually choke out dandelions?

Battle to remove has been fought for 10+ years. I have one of those claw tools that removes them from the root but it doesn't work all that well. Plus my lawn looks like a weasel got at it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Do you mean claw tool like this?
61O7GdJv%2BJL.01_SL500_.jpg


Dandy's are too persistent and if you have neighbouring fields, then the seed drift will be perpetual and you likely have a ton of dormant dandy seeds in soil already. They won't really be controlled by just overseeding and topdressing, but in conjunction with hand-pulling (and making salads with it) and aeration, it should work. In order to choke out the dandy's you need thick dense grass and aeration can help here if your soil is compacted, because dandy's can do very well in compacted soil, while most turf species suffer. To get the thick dense grass you have to do the other things mentioned and hand pull the weeds.

Be mindful of the type of grass seed you buy. From smaller local nurseries, you should be able to buy specific varieties and then make your own mix (ie bluegrasses, fescues etc). If you are interested to go this route, here's a list of the most common Ontario turf species - don't use the bentgrass in there, but the other types are residential.

Some use corn gluten in early spring (re: right now) as a more natural pre-emergent style control, but be mindful that it also has an NPK of around 10-1-1, so it will also give a quick feed to mature plants if mis-timed in it's application and it also inhibits early root development for grass seeds germinating. It takes a few years to any measurable result w/ corn gluten, and that's in conjunction with other proper practices.

Simply put: handpull, aerate, topdress, overseed with the right species, water properly and mow higher once established.

And if you do only one thing here... Enjoy 420:)
 
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