Tag: container

EarthBox Update — July 14, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

There are issues with the zucchini, and I think there is more than just one thing wrong with them. The symptoms:

1.  The patty-pan leaves are more yellow overall than it had been. (It was never as dark as the cucumbers or the cocozelle.)

2.  The cocozelle has fruits that are rotting from the blossom end. I cut off four bad fruit yesterday.

3.  Sometime in the last week white mold appeared on the cocozelle.

Which is kind of strange, because the cocozelle has produced seven pounds of fruit in the last few days. I thought it was ramping up for the summer.

Before.
Before.

My totally stab-in-the-dark diagnosis is that the fruits are experiencing blossom end rot caused by a calcium deficiency. (Which I’m pretty sure is correct after looking around the interwebs.) I’m also of the suspicion that the plants need fertilizer. I dosed the feed tube with a 14-14-14 granular fertilizer and calcium nitrate last night. In retrospect, that’s a double dose of nitrogen, which will be either good, bad, or indifferent, but, why not? I also pruned the heck out of the two plants, removing all of the really yellow leaves, as well as the most beat-up older leaves and the leaves with a lot of mold. The intent is to let more air and sunlight in, and to try to make it so that all leaves are getting more optimal use. Finally, I sprayed the plants with an organic mold inhibitor. The aftermath:

071313 postcut overview

Zucchini from the back:

I didn't mess around with the pruning. I'd like to think the plants will be healthier. We'll see.
I didn’t mess around with the pruning. I’d like to think the plants will be healthier. We’ll see.

Onto “sunnier things”.

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EarthBox Update — July 1, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

…And Lo, it became unseasonably hot in the urban garden. And the lettuces spoketh:  “Man, that’s about enough of this $#%#$!”

If it’s a cool-weather vegetable, it’s done until summer has passed. That includes the parsley, cilantro, dill, and lettuces.

The flip side is that the summer vegetables are all doing great. The cocozelle zucchini plant has multiple squash going. The tomato plants are almost six feet tall. Everything is either blooming or ripening, or both.

The pics, starting with the first two zucchini. The one on the left is ~6″, the one on the right is 8+”.

 

Rolling Stone for size reference. Feline tail in the foreground.
Rolling Stone for size reference. Tail of the feline who had to get involved in the foreground.

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EarthBox Update — June 23, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous week here.

The Bibb finally bolted. Four plants produced almost exactly two pounds of leaves — right around 20 servings.  The Bibb wasn’t transplanted until late April, which was way too late, so I’m ok with that yield.

The tomatillos are now almost six feet tall. The shorter of the two has a fruit about the size of a ping pong ball, pictured below.

The peppers haven’t been digging the rain, I don’t think. At least two of the fruits have extensive black on them, which I’m guessing is some sort of rot. One of the plants is struggling with wilted and blackened leaves. Not good. It may be that the least resistant of the ten varieties are struggling — hopefully everything else can shrug it off.

The pics, starting with an overview:

062313 overview

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EarthBox Update — June 16, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

The tomato and tomatillo plants are growing in every direction, so they got some twine to try to organize the chaos. The cabbage worms look to be at least briefly defeated, but the aphids have now found the purple basil. The lettuce and dill are gradually fading, though it was still a good harvest this week. The cilantro and parsley went ballistic and received big haircuts.  The first peppers have made their appearance.

The pics:

Side view.
Side view.

From the back door of the garage:

061513 overview 2

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EarthBox Update — June 3, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Rolling along. Previous post here.

Our neighbor Kurt has started EarthBoxes! (It’s like a disease, only healthier.) His first post on the subject is here. We share an interest in low-labor container gardening it seems.

Well really, I just try to avoid weeding whenever I can.

The tomato plants got a bird net over their cages this week — four of the six plants are now producing fruit. (The Glacier, Stupice, Siletz, and Sungold. The Roma and Brandywine are holding out, which is to be expected.) The zucchini and brussels sprouts got staked with Ultomato cages. I like the idea of the Ultomato cages, and I’ll be looking to buy more parts either in bulk or on clearance at the end of the season. I know that the “arms” are available as a 36-pack, though I’d buy more at the right price. Getting a good deal may require a little digging.

Among the recent dishes to be partly or fully composed of Earthbox ingredients includes a bunch of green salads, guacamole, pico de gallo, dill “crusted” salmon, caprese salad, and grilled bok choi and scallions. The grilled bok choi and scallions were served with chicken kebabs marinated in greek yogurt, lemon, and Tom Douglas’ Bengal Marsala rub. Very tasty! Also this:

It's pizza Margherita
It’s pizza Margherita with some funky lighting.

Photos of the plants:

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EarthBox Update — May 18, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

The tomatillos and tomatoes are planted.

051713 tomatillo and tomato

The varieties — back to front, starting with the leftmost box. Descriptions from the Seattle Tilth plant sale:

Two Mexican Strain tomatillos. 65 day maturity.

Glacier. 56 day determinate. Grows to 2-1/2 feet high by 3-1/2 feet wide. “Great for containers”.

Siletz. 70-75 day determinate.  “One of the most reliable slicing tomatoes you can grow.”

Stupice. 60 day indeterminate. Red, 2″ fruit on 6′ vines.

Sungold. 65 day indeterminate. Apricot-orange 1-1/4″ cherry-tomato fruit on grape like trusses.

Brandywine. 85 day indeterminate. Fruits up 1 pound and 7″ in diameter. (The Brandywines are near the house to try to get some reflected sun off of the house.)

Roma. 75 day determinate.

The tomatoes were selected as a combination of low-risk (Glacier, Sungold) and more speculative (all the longer-timed maturities). I figure we’ll get something, but no idea how much.

Foreground is the cucumbers and zucchini. The brussels sprouts and bok choi are in the back right box.
Foreground is the cucumbers and zucchini. The brussels sprouts and bok choi are in the back center box.

Parsley, dill, and two cilantro. Hiding under the 2nd-story deck.

051713 cilantro, parsley, dill

The tomato cages were purchased as “squares”, and they didn’t fit the earthboxes well. Note the two bars running over the center of the earthboxes — I had to prop them up on blocks to get them that high.

051713 squares

Note the “before” (left), and “after” (right). The blocks could go away now. We’ll see how enthused I get about moving them around again.

before and after

Removing the “center bars” also made enough leftover frame to cage the tomatillo. Win win win. I feel clever. Of course, I’d feel way more clever had I purchased stuff that fit easily in the first place..

EarthBox Update — May 12, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

Cucumbers and zucchini, May 5.

earthbox midground 050513

May 12.

earthbox midground 051213

May 5 — Left box:  Parsley, scallions, and romaine. (and bolting spinach).  Right box:  Brussels sprouts, bok choi, and lemon cucumbers.

earthbox background 050513

And May 12. The spinach was already bolting (above), but I didn’t realize it. In the photo below it’s gone. It’s time for a bok choi stir-fry.

earthbox background 051213

The romaine pictured below is now two entree salads for tomorrow’s lunch. It all came from the romaine lettuce in the back corner of the photo above.

romaine 051213

Don’t worry, there’s a spreadsheet keeping track of the total harvest.