Does anyone know if it is too late to plant tomatoes and hot peppers in earthboxes?? Life has been a little crazy so I haven't had a chance to do any planting.

Thanks!

MikeW665 wrote:Does anyone know if it is too late to plant tomatoes and hot peppers in earthboxes?? Life has been a little crazy so I haven't had a chance to do any planting.

Thanks!

Seeds? Seedlings? If seedlings, no go right ahead. Seeds, maybe but check the guidelines you probably have more than 60 days of warm weather ahead of you.

Signed, a newcomer to gardening and earthboxes

OOopppsss....Seedlings. I'm thinking about re-trying what I planted last year and I hope we have a better growing season.

5/27 Update:

1) my Thai chile seedlings will be going into either containers or into the front bee/butterfly garden this weekend at some point. Really.

2) My Asiatic lilies will be blooming shortly. This is approximately 2 full weeks ahead of last year - not to mention that they are about a foot taller, for some reason. Whoa.

3) The container potato experiment continues; the russet container brood is now nearly three feet tall, larger than the in-ground plants ever got last year, and about to go into bloom (!). Craziest thing I've ever seen, no joke.

4) Speaking of the bee/butterfly garden, spent a couple of hours this afternoon weeding, chatting with admiring neighbors and cheerful passers-by, planting been balm seeds (thanks and a big fat shout-out to One Seed Chicago!), and sharing the space with flitting pairs of Red Admiral and Monarch butterflies and a lot of honeybees. The latter were going wild over the blooming 'Snowflake' catmint - much easier to work with color-wise than the standard purple:



Good day in the gardens.

MikeW665 wrote:OOopppsss....Seedlings. I'm thinking about re-trying what I planted last year and I hope we have a better growing season.

Absolutely not too late if they're already started. It's been very different so far, so all is looking much better in terms of tomatoes and peppers for this summer.

I'm keeping a close eye of the Weather Channel radar, as I have a lot of things to get in the ground today in the bee/butterfly garden. All the robust newbies are from the Evanston f-market: two beautiful strawberry plants (a partial replacement for the failed batch from Burpee $#%&#$!!) from Nichols, and a white coneflower and a buddleia (from the flower guy between Nichols's and Klehm's booths). Interestingly, my total expenditure for all four plants - which if all goes well, should be around for quite a while - was ten bucks. Also found some unusually healthy 'Purple Ruffles' basils for a buck each (from the vendor I call the Sparty Guy, extreme SW corner of the market, next to the Metra train embankment) but those are destined for a decorative container, and ultimately a basil-flower vinegar.

A good haul, with long-term benefits for both me and for the 'hood - and the 'hood's favorite flying bugs? Ultimately priceless.

The last week or so of hot weather bodes well after a miserable 2009. Tomatoes are at least a foot taller than last year. Fingers crossed !







Total roundup for 2010 ....

Tomatoes: Brandywine (2), Green Zebra (2), Jetsetter (new this year), Beefsteak (new this year), Black Krim (new this year), Mortgage Lifter (new this year), Patio Cherry (new this year)
Peppers:Chili de Arbol, Sweet Banana, Red Bell, Yellow Bell, Super Chili, Poblano, Hot Banana, Scotch Bonnet (new this year), Habanero, Jalapeno, Cayenne, Melrose (new this year)
plus: Celery, Celeriac (new this year), Carrots, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts (new this year), Basil, Parsley

Wow! Cukes, Watermelon, cow peas, & okra from seed all took off while we were away for the holiday weekend. This is my first attempt at gardening & these are in Earthboxes. I'm actually going to have to thin these babies.

My gardening is, as previously, limited to pots on the balcony, but it's a fairly large balcony, and I'm having a good time. Repeats from last year include sage, mint, thyme, cilantro/coriander, tarragon, basil, and chives. I've got a number of alliums --in addition to the chives, there are onions, shallots, and garlic. I'm also trying arugula for the first time, and I'll be interested to see how that goes. Anyone else have experience with arugula? All the info I have is on the seed packet -- but I'm hoping that's enough.

Good fun -- and I love watching things grow.

Cynthia wrote:My gardening is, as previously, limited to pots on the balcony, but it's a fairly large balcony, and I'm having a good time. Repeats from last year include sage, mint, thyme, cilantro/coriander, tarragon, basil, and chives. I've got a number of alliums --in addition to the chives, there are onions, shallots, and garlic. I'm also trying arugula for the first time, and I'll be interested to see how that goes. Anyone else have experience with arugula? All the info I have is on the seed packet -- but I'm hoping that's enough.

Good fun -- and I love watching things grow.

I grow a lot of arugula every year b/c it's my fave green--it grows like a weed--key is to harvest before it bolts (flowers) and gets bitter!! Dress with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt and a tiny grind of pepper and I'm in heaven

boudreaulicious wrote:
I grow a lot of arugula every year b/c it's my fave green--it grows like a weed--key is to harvest before it bolts (flowers) and gets bitter!! Dress with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt and a tiny grind of pepper and I'm in heaven

I, too, love arugula (or rocket, as it's called in the Old World). One of the things that delighted me about meals in Turkey was that a pile of arugula was served as the side salad at almost every meal. Heaven, indeed.

And thanks for the tip about picking it before it flowers. Though that said, perhaps I'll let a few flowers bloom, in the hopes of the plants' self-seeding. (The cilantro I have growing this year was all self-seeded.)

Looking forward to beginning the harvest!

Arugula likes cool weather and bolts quickly in hot weather. The volunteer arugula from last year's self-seeding in our garden has generally bolted. A later direct seeding is in nice shape, but with all the heat I am keeping a wary eye on it. I will let some plants from this batch go to seed for next year as well as self-seeding for a fall crop. Harvesting all the seed is impossible because of the way it ripens; some will go on the ground. I will cut down the dead stalks in late August and should find a nice batch of seedlings started. The shade from the straw helps keep the soil cool and makes for a much better fall crop than seeding directly in open soil. Last year was a bit freakish in terms of late heavy frost near the lake, but we still had good production through Thanksgiving.

My two earth boxes are finally planted with 3 jalepeno seedlings, one Anahiem, and in the other one Roma tomato and one other tomato that I can't remember the name of. If I get the supplies I need in the next few days I might plant another earth box for a total of three.

thaiobsessed wrote:Buoyed by my success with sweet 100's last year, I'm branching out a bit. I have two earthboxes (bought for half-off at the end of last season) and a few little dirt plots around my patio.
I am planting: black krim tomatoes, sungold tomatoes, delicata squash, blue coco beans, some cute little carrots (can't remember the name) and rosa bianca eggplant. I just planted the seeds this weekend. I'll also have a few herb pots--sage, rosemary, basil and thyme.

So, I manage to pretty much kill off all my seedlings (I have a black thumb). The delicata squash and a frail, moth-eaten little rosa bianca eggplant survived. Then I headed to Gethemane and Meinke's to by plants in May.

Surprisingly (to me, since I can't grow stuff), most of the plants are now thriving.

Earthbox with sun sweet tomatoes planted 5/15 and delicata squash



Earthbox with Kellog breakfast and Cherokee purple tomatoes planted 5/30



Ichiban, Tunisia, scrawny Rosa Bianca eggplant, arugula



Herb garden: Thai basil, thai chiles, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lavender, thyme, parsley, rosemary, catnip, sweet basil in pot

I never thought I'd pray for hot, sunny weather but I am. Come on Mother-Nature, we need a good growing season this year ! ! ! I want to try my hand at ABT's with my home grown jalapenos after seeing all the great posts and pictures from Jimswside.

planted 2nd week of May.

My 3 plants started to form florets before Memorial day yet when I came back from out of town that weekend, all 3 had started to flower.

did I plant my broccoli too late ? Did the hot weather do it in ?

Planting broccoli any time in May is a big bet on relatively cool weather in May and June. The heat blasts we have had in between cold spells with lots of rain have accelerated maturity of many things. Bolting has been early for arugula and spinach among other things. I think that the answers to tem's questions are yes.

The North Star tart cherry tree where I have another garden has nearly ripe fruit, which is several weeks early.

As a gardening novice, what can I do to keep my zucchini under control? (If this sounds dirty, it is not intended to.)

We have planted one in an earthbox and it is now roughly the size of Toledo. Can I cut it back or try to cage it all?

Here's an interesting blog post about what you're better off, financially speaking, growing in your garden rather than buying.

Wow that basil is nice I cant seem to find broad leaf basil what kind is that? I have so much growing in my garden from heirloom tomatoes, beefsteak, roma, cherry; eggplants, squash "i think" ever had anything start growing out of thin air? I also planted watermelon this year for the first time, a bing cherry tree, peppers galore, 2-3 kinds of basil, tarragon, parsley, lemon thyme. =)

you can turn your plants into dwarf plants by trimming and grooming them while they are young.

Whats growing in my garden right now? HUGE MASSIVE weeds...unbelievable!

Greens, including lettuces, are bolting. What should I place in my Earthboxes next?
What should I do next year because it sucks to have to buy any salad green compared to what I had growing.

Greens, including lettuces, are bolting. What should I place in my Earthboxes next?

Chiles! The most varieties, the merrier. You just can't have too many, ever - almost unlimited uses, and they freeze so nicely for storage. Nothing like home-roasted Big Jims in the middle of winter. Strangely I saw some Jig Jims at the Evanston Home Depot over the weekend. Culantro plants, too. Whoa!

Greens, including lettuces, are bolting. What should I place in my Earthboxes next?
What should I do next year because it sucks to have to buy any salad green compared to what I had growing.

Unfortunately, yeah, this turned out to be a lousy year for salad greens in the Earthboxes, straight from too wet to too hot without a few cool dry weeks in between. Maybe next year...

I just pullled out my bolted stuff and re-seeded. I've usually had no trouble doing that throughout the summer--you might want to only plant an area small enough for you to harvest and eat in a short amount of time. I had dedicated a larger area to lettuce and have now switched up to a couple of mid size table top pots.

boudreaulicious wrote:I just pullled out my bolted stuff and re-seeded. I've usually had no trouble doing that throughout the summer--you might want to only plant an area small enough for you to harvest and eat in a short amount of time. I had dedicated a larger area to lettuce and have now switched up to a couple of mid size table top pots.

Have seeded some. I think I can complete this project by the weekend. Next year will have to do some transplanting mid-lettuce season so it's not feast or famine.

pairs4life wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I just pullled out my bolted stuff and re-seeded. I've usually had no trouble doing that throughout the summer--you might want to only plant an area small enough for you to harvest and eat in a short amount of time. I had dedicated a larger area to lettuce and have now switched up to a couple of mid size table top pots.

Have seeded some. I think I can complete this project by the weekend. Next year will have to do some transplanting mid-lettuce season so it's not feast or famine.

So you're not direct seeding? I've never transplanted lettuce from seedlings and not sure if that's really necessary.

boudreaulicious wrote:

pairs4life wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I just pullled out my bolted stuff and re-seeded. I've usually had no trouble doing that throughout the summer--you might want to only plant an area small enough for you to harvest and eat in a short amount of time. I had dedicated a larger area to lettuce and have now switched up to a couple of mid size table top pots.

Have seeded some. I think I can complete this project by the weekend. Next year will have to do some transplanting mid-lettuce season so it's not feast or famine.

So you're not direct seeding? I've never transplanted lettuce from seedlings and not sure if that's really necessary.

No I'm direct seeding. There wasn't any space for grown/cutting greens(pre-bolting) & new seeds simultaneously. I would consider seedlings for lettuce so that they could go into the Earthbox as something larger than a sprout once the lettuces bolt in the future. My original lettuces were all transplanted from seedlings.

Well my earth boxes are coming along nicely. I'd like to post some pictures, so what's the best service to use? Also, I got some seeds from Twin Garden Farms for the Mirai corn so I'm hoping that they will sprout soon, then their destination is another earth box. From what I've read my crop probably won't be as sweet as the farm grown, but I just have to give it a try.