In article
songbird writes:
Drew Lawson wrote:
...
Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most
places that I've had a garden. Time and frustration just brought
me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it." Also, unless the
compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.

it is definitely not onion. hardneck garlic. very hot, very
good.

I was unclear (again).

I did not mean to suggest that it is onion, just that they have
similar persistence.

--
Drew Lawson | "But the senator, while insisting he was not
| intoxicated, could not explain his nudity."

Drew Lawson wrote:
....
I was unclear (again).

I did not mean to suggest that it is onion, just that they have
similar persistence.

oh, ok.

i made sure the first clump i took out was dried
out yesterday by spreading it out on a garden sheet.
made it easy to pick them back up (and the dirt that
falls off 'em) when the day was done. i think only
a few bulbules rolled away.


songbird

T wrote:
....
It is about four foot long and 14 inches wide. It
is about 12 to 14" deep and back filled with peat moss
and original dirt, plug chicken poop based fertilizer.

The trough itself does drain, but takes hours. I water
every other day.

that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).


The trench is slightly below ground level so I can water
and not have it run all over the place.

I have five shallots growing like crazy in it right now.
This is their second feral year.

Oh and the green onion (scallions) nubs have starting
growing. Go figure.




The garlic marbles are still dormant.

did you plant these recently?

the garlic here grows almost all year if
given a chance. the only time it stops is
right after the tops die back in the middle
of the hot summer, then it will start to
put out roots once there are any rains and
you can see it start growing again in the
fall. some winters it will stay green under
the snow if there is enough snow cover.
even with the ground freezing solid down
well below the root zone it will still
survive and come back once we get some
warmer late winter/early spring days.

i'm talking about the garlic that is left
in the ground. the bulbs that i lift and
divide to replant or give away or eat don't
get replanted until Sept/Oct so they won't
do much while in cool dark storage.


songbird

On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
It is about four foot long and 14 inches wide. It
is about 12 to 14" deep and back filled with peat moss
and original dirt, plug chicken poop based fertilizer.

The trough itself does drain, but takes hours. I water
every other day.

that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).


The trench is slightly below ground level so I can water
and not have it run all over the place.

I have five shallots growing like crazy in it right now.
This is their second feral year.

Oh and the green onion (scallions) nubs have starting
growing. Go figure.




The garlic marbles are still dormant.

did you plant these recently?

Two or three weeks ago. If they come up, I would
expect them to show themselves in the spring.


the garlic here grows almost all year if
given a chance. the only time it stops is
right after the tops die back in the middle
of the hot summer,

That is when I harvest them

then it will start to
put out roots once there are any rains and
you can see it start growing again in the
fall. some winters it will stay green under
the snow if there is enough snow cover.
even with the ground freezing solid down
well below the root zone it will still
survive and come back once we get some
warmer late winter/early spring days.

Mine stays green all winter long. It is really
something to behold green shoots sticking up
above the snow. Gots to get me a few picture
of it.

i'm talking about the garlic that is left
in the ground. the bulbs that i lift and
divide to replant or give away or eat don't
get replanted until Sept/Oct so they won't
do much while in cool dark storage.

I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

Thank you!

On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

T wrote:
....
I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

if it is hot and dry there's no reason to do that
until it gets cooler and the rains return. well i
guess one reason to do it would be if your storage
space is poor and they would be better off in the
ground instead of being cooked and dried out in a
hot garage or something...

you could do an experiment and plant some early
and plant some later and compare results.

i have replanted immediately after harvesting
here, but we get rain so there is no real risk of
dessication.


songbird

T wrote:
On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

does your soil contain any clay? usually such poor
water retention would be attributable to not having
clay. also the general condition of your plantings is
that they are in smaller excavated spaces so that is
likely a big part of your wilting. the root systems
of larger plants in normal garden soil will be about
the same size as the plant mass above the ground...
(just an FYI )...

anything you can do to block those winds will also
help (as long as they do not block all the light).


songbird

On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

does your soil contain any clay? usually such poor
water retention would be attributable to not having
clay. also the general condition of your plantings is
that they are in smaller excavated spaces so that is
likely a big part of your wilting. the root systems
of larger plants in normal garden soil will be about
the same size as the plant mass above the ground...
(just an FYI )...

anything you can do to block those winds will also
help (as long as they do not block all the light).


songbird


Our soil is pretty much decomposed sandstone. It is
part of an old ancient lake bed. It is mostly round rocks.

I have found my ground pots work best if I hack them down
to over 18" deep and about that much wide too. It is no easy
task. Some of those rocks are pretty big.

Smaller ground pots grow smaller plants. Trial and error

Got YUGE peppers growing this year! Well, except for
one ground pot that I seriously need to dig out next
year. Got one pepper that is about 8" long. Last
year's best was about 5" long.

On 7/24/19 4:33 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

if it is hot and dry there's no reason to do that
until it gets cooler and the rains return. well i
guess one reason to do it would be if your storage
space is poor and they would be better off in the
ground instead of being cooked and dried out in a
hot garage or something...

you could do an experiment and plant some early
and plant some later and compare results.

i have replanted immediately after harvesting
here, but we get rain so there is no real risk of
dessication.


songbird


The heat breaks in late August, so I think I will
do as you suggest.

On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

T wrote:
On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

organic material and a bit of clay will help
keep both water and nutrients in place.


songbird

On 7/28/19 4:30 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

organic material and a bit of clay will help
keep both water and nutrients in place.


songbird


Peat moss and organic chicken skat based fertilizer plus
back fill (2/3 is rock) seem to be doing the trick