Alright, wake up you sleepyheads!

[Dotch]

I can't believe someone hasn't got something to say about what they're planning on planting this year in their garden, what new seeds they're ordering or in Nainoa's case, what kind of floral print is in for spring...lol! Still can't get that visual out of my mind for whatever reason, maybe it's because I actually dated some WI girls like Steve Foss mentioned who looked like that but I digress. It's still a few months before planting my vine crops in the greenhouse yet but suffice it to say, I have been poring over the catalogs looking for new stuff. Also, contemplating the possibility of having the greehouse guy come in and run his plastic strips between a few rows in the windbreak to see how that might work. We have the water there so it probably wouldn't take a lot of major work once established. We'll have this discussion over several adult beverages I'm sure. What's everyone else up to?

[IlliniWalli]

made my two main seed orders last weekend and got a mail today that one already is on the way.

pretty much same ol same ol.

have 3 gardens and if i get laid off like expected this summer, will be spending a lot of time with a hoe in my hand.

[wishing for walleyes]

I am going to try planting a bunch of watermelons this spring.I have never planted them before.Any tips before i go searching on how best to grow them?

[shizzy]

This season shall be epic.

I Last year was my first year gardening. I only planted a few veggies. This season Ill be focusing on heirloom varieties and maximizing my space by growing on trellises. I'm also going to be growing my own hops. basically every spare corner and wall will have something growing on it.

[KEN W]

Yellow Doll,Mickey Lee,and Legacy are my favorites.My kids especially like Yellow Doll.All 3 have firm crisp flesh.Seedless melons are very difficult to germinate.I always try,but don't always succeed.Plus the seeds are rather expensive.

After you find what you want.....

1.Put down black plastic to heat the soil

2.Start them inside about 30 days before your last frost date.I start mine May 1.They cannot have more than 2 leaves or they won't grow.

3.Melons like heat.I put clear plastic row covers draped over wire over mine.Products like Remay spun bonded material also work.Take it off when they are running and starting to flower.

4.When the bees start to pollinate and your melons are golf ball size,I put them up on overturned pots to get them out of the shade from the leaves.

5.Buy some plastic knives or spoons and write the date on them.Stick them in the ground next to the melon.Add 30-35 days and that melon should be ripe.The small tendrill next to where it is attached will be dry.

I have some pictures of last year's melons.....haven't figured out how to get them on here.If someone can explain it to me.....I will show you.

[DARK30]

Looking forward to planting another wild flower patch to replace the ox-eyed daisy infestation I killed off last year

[Nainoa]

I can't believe someone hasn't got something to say about what they're planning on planting this year in their garden, what new seeds they're ordering or in Nainoa's case, what kind of floral print is in for spring...lol!

LOL...

You are aware that I'm a 6'6" 265 pound bald man, who used to play Defensive end?

[Nainoa]

I am going to try planting a bunch of watermelons this spring.I have never planted them before.Any tips before i go searching on how best to grow them?

Oh God... You're in for an adventure.

Watermelon is a pain in the butt. I love the stuff, but I often think it's more work than it's worth.

Here's some tips:

1. Select a smaller size melon, "Sugar Baby" is a great place to start. Small melons are more forgiving on their ripening times so when things aren't going right and you adjust whatever it is you'll have time to still get a modest harvest instead of ending up with some stunted stuff if you pick some mega-melon.

2. Make sure you get the soil nice a HOT before planting... Watermelon (Just like Pumpkin and eggplant) want warm soil temps. Without them seeds may rot instead of germinate, and seedlings will false flower and then drop their fruit rather than set it. So I would:

-In late march shovel snow off the part of the garden that the melons will be planted in, let the sun start warming the soil. Then I would build some hot boxes or cold frames out of old widows to speed the soil heating through April and May.

3. I would plant seedlings. My best success with Watermelon was when I planted them in 3" peat pots on May 1st on a germination heat mat. And then transplanted them out into heated soil just after memorial day. Simply put the peat pot in the mound of ground mixed with some grass clippings or straw and water it with warm water. the roots will grow through.

Much like seedling sweet corn and cucumbers, watermelon DETESTS being taken out of it's starter pot.

[Dotch]

LOL...

You are aware that I'm a 6'6" 265 pound bald man, who used to play Defensive end?

lol! I am now!

Thanks to both you and Ken for your insight on successful watermelon production. My luck has been hit and miss, depending largely on the type of season we have, how early I can get the transplants in the ground and how early our season comes to an end. When it gets screwed up on either end it seems like they don't quite get ripe or the flavor is pretty bland. I've raised Sugar Baby and Crimson Sweet. When everything clicks, they are fantastic. When it doesn't the sheep still enjoy them.

PS - Dark 30: Gotta love those lupines in the 2nd photo. Absolute bumblebee candy!

[Nainoa]

Yeah one of the problems you'll get with Watermelon (And this applies to most fruiting vines & squashes) is that if you plant it in soil that's too cold, it will flower as a shock reaction... And then drop the flowers. Which will actually set the plant back in the season, by as much as 2 weeks depending on the spring weather.

When it flowers it shifts its resources to that flower instead of to new leaf production... And then when that flower fails, it has to shift it's resources back. Since the final melon late in the season is actually a sugar storage device for the sugars made by the leaves, this set back due to cold soil temps become VERY critical!

There are some people who advocate reducing water to a subsistence level for two weeks before picking a watermelon... The reasoning being that the less total water in the melon the more flavor you'll have.

Meh... I think it might help a little but only in big melons. And in fact I think you'd be better off just making sure you have a healthy plant all season long, so the leaves are maxing out their sugar production, more than you will by simply stressing a melon plant out during peak production.

[KEN W]

I would like to show you my melon patch to explain what I do.Can someone explain how to upload a picture from my computer.

[Dotch]

OK, Ken. I'll try but as I pm'ed you this is not my forte. If you go to the post area, click on the icon task bar, 5th from the left with the blue arrow pointing up. Hit browse, then find the pic or pics you want to post in your computer. Click open. Hit "add" on the HSO screen and it should show up in the box. It took a couple times for it to show here. Once you're done adding, hit done adding photos. It was a little fussy, took a couple tries for me to get it to take each one, but I finally got 'em. Hope this helps.

[KEN W]

The top picture on the left side shows the melons under clear plastic row covers.The covers in the center is Remay with tomatoes and peppers under.

Same as the middle picture.

The bottom one shows the melons along with hills of pumpkins and squash.To the left are 2 rows of sweet corn that I started in six packs in my greenhouse and transplanted.Gives me home frown corn by the end of July.

[KEN W]

These show my melon patch around the end of July.You can see the wire supports on the right side.

I had Cantalope,Honey Dew,Galia,and Santa Claus melons in the foreground.With Yellow Doll,Crimson Sweet,Mickey Lee,and Pasha seedless in the last picture.

You can see the melons because they are all on overturned 4 inch pots to get them out of the shade from the leasves.I have been doing this for many years and even in cool summers I get all I can eat and give away.

They ripened in Mid August until mid Sept.

[KEN W]

Dotch.....thanks for the directions.....worked just fine.

[Dotch]

No, thank you Ken for posting the excellent pics and some great suggestions for melon production. Getting those melons up off the ground is definitely something I will do here next season. Besides, it was enjoyable to look at the rest of your garden to see and read about what you're up to.

I had to post a few pics myself just to see how posting photos worked as they changed the process since the last time I did. It is much easier actually so kudos to those in charge of the improvement. Knowing a dummy like me can do it should encourage others to take more photos & post more about their gardening pasttime.

[KEN W]

Thanks.....most people plant their melons to far apart.I plant 3 started plants in a 12 inch hole square cut in the black plastic.Each hill is about 2 feet apart.

Take the clear plastic covers off when they are running out to the edge.Then anchor each vine down with a bobby pin to keep them from rolling in the wind.Every few days move the pins out to the end of each vine until they start crawling all over each other.Then remove the pins.

This all is a lot of work but you will get more melons than you can eat.Instead of hopeing you get a ripe one or two before freezup.

As for the rest of my garden.....I am a firm believer of planting in wide rows where you can reach the middle from either side.Most people plant in single rows 2 or 3 feet apart.A big waste of space.The wide row way puts more of your garden to use instead of having most in the walkways.Plus the leaves of each plant shade the ground when they are planted in wide rows.Keeps it cool so you use less water.

[Mr.Outdoors]

Well I guess I better get my first post in this forum! I am doing the standard tomatoes, cukes, peppers, peas, beans, and some squash. New for this year for me is 3 different type of tomatoes. 2 are straight out of Russia. They both are natives out of Sibera thanks to my Aunts parents in Russia. Suppose to be a 49 day after transplant and resist minor frosts which would kill most regular tomatoes. The other new tomato is a bright purple cherry tomato from Japan. For peppers i am going to try a couple Bhut Jolokia, Scotch Bonnets, and maybe try the new "hottest pepper in the world" BUTCH "T" TRINIDAD SCORPION. I will be ordering the pepper seeds in a week or 2 once I 100% decide if there are anyother hots i want to add. It should be a fun and exciting year I hope...

[Nainoa]

HOLY [PoorWordUsage]... A 49 day tomato!

Best I've ever been able to do is seed select over a few seasons to turn a 65 down to a 55, but it won't go below 55 etc...

*****

As for the peppers... I don't know the Scorpion...

But when it comes to the Bhut Jolokia... You might have already missed the planting window.

Last year I started my bhut's on January 25th and I got my first red pepper on Labor Day. So this year I started them on Jan 1st. (They're barely 3 inches tall!

Something to note, I know that the Scorpion uses the Bhut base from the Chinens family of peppers, and as a hybrid, it could cross pollinate with your bhut's if planted withing 100 yards, and then your bhut seeds could turn into Mules.

[Mr.Outdoors]

Well thanks for the heads up on the peppers... guess I will have to go either 1 way or the other.. and maybe will have to wait till next year with the bhut's...is it true that you can countainer the bhuts and over winter them in the house? if so that may also be an option and really be ready to go for the 13 season.

And for the siberian tomatoes yes they told me 49 days.. Maybe blowing some smoke up my rear but honestly thinking about it the Siberian growing season is way shorter than ours so thinking they are being 100% honest with me. And if they are as good tasting and as quick as they said they are I will be keeping some seeds back for next year and beyond. maybe have some seeds for sale also... big pain to get them here so hope they pay off! One is an ox heart type of tomato and the other looked to be like an early girl shaped and sized. so got my fingers crossed with them!

[Nainoa]

I haven't specifically over wintered Bhut's before. But I have kept other members of the Chinense family (Aji Dulce) in my mini-indoor greenhouse in a container, under grow lights from mid october to christmas.

Any fruit that was on them grew and matured and I was able to pick it nice red and ripe.

But once it came indoors it never flowered again. I suspect this had to do with the minimum change in day length going from a short day outside to a medium day inside. Had I brought the light levels longer and then shortened them again over the course of months "In Theory" it would have flowered.

The other thing working against me was soil temps These peppers want 70-80 degree soil temps to set fruit.

Now I have in the past grown Jalapeno's indoors... They flowered... I pollinated them from flower to flower with a Q-tip and something like 1 out of every 3 made fruit... The others turned gray and dropped within a week.

Now if you want to try to keep a Bhut over winter in the indoor greenhouse under full spectrum flouro bulbs... Just for the purposes of keeping it alive and you don't care if you get peppers... I suppose it's possible.

But it's going to be a lot of work. A full mature bhut jolokia by the month of August is a pretty big thing.

Back figuring in my head... I'm 6'6"... All of mine were in 24" high planters (48" barrels cut in half) The tallest one at it's peak was up to my armpit... So we're talking something like 5'8" in total height from the floor. And the total canopy of the plant had to have been a 3 foot diameter... Maybe even a 4' d.

So you're talking a heck of a lot of grow lights... AT least 3 and a sunny window.

Off set that cost, by simply saving seeds and starting 15 new plants under a single bank of lights on January 1st and I'm not sure it's worth it.

But if you've got the space it's worth a try for no better reason than to file it under "Learning experience."