Guess I'll jump in over here too

[mr_yan]

Hey guys. This forum looks active and controlled so I'll join in.

Mainly I'm trying to be a veg gardening now but have a lack of space problem but I do what I can with the little space I have. I ran the numbers and with all the containers counted I have 100 square feet of garden space. About half of this is raised beds and most of the rest is self watering container / sub-irrigted planter (Earthtainer type design).

I did manage to get 112 pounds of produce out last season but some things were miserable failures - like celebrity tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and my potato tower.

 

[RonsGarden]

Hey Mr Yan!
Welcome to our forum!
Nice to see you jumping right in!
If you have photos of your container and watering system please share them with us.
We might have some insights!

 

[Kya D]

Well Hi there Mr. Yan it is great to see you here. Jump right in and ask questions, voice opinions, but most of all have fun.
Welcome
I think we all have failures from time to time. At least I know I do.

 

[mr_yan]

I followed other's design for the containers which are a home made version of the Earthbox.

One design is the Earthtainer and you can find a detailed write up over at http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/

The other is written by "Engineer Gardener" and is on his blog at http://engineeredgarden.blogspot.com/2010/01/constructing-swp-from-5-gallon-bucket.html

Oh yeah I'm in the central midwest zone 4b living in the middle of a medium/large city

 

[Mainegal]

Welcome
I'm a Mainer but in WI for work for 2 months, different country out here and shorter summer than what Maine has and we have a short summer but I do get a nice veggie garden in. Can't plant until Memorial weekend.
Welcome and so glad you found us.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Welcome Mr. Yan!
Always great to have another veggie gardener join. Not to worry last year was the worst year for tomatoes world wide. Seems disease was rampant. I hope next year is better.
Jump right in, and join us.

 

[mr_yan]

I didn't have any disease or even pest problems. This area, the almost-upper-midwest, had a banner year for growing. Most of my problem, well all of it, came from my container mix being all but sterile. I was doing these in self watering containers and was concentrating on getting the wicking qualities of the media correct that I didn't get enough nutrients. When I started pushing fertilizer I used what I had on hand which was high nitrogen. I got a lot of green fruit but very little ripened. It was not a terrible waste as the celebrity, I found, to have rubber skin and lack luster flavor. I did get a nice harvest from my Cherokee Purples though.

In attempts to remedy this I started worm composting this winter. We'll see if I have enough worm castings to supply my garden this year.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Worm composting is very big here in the south. The results of use in the garden are excelent. Here's wishing you luck with your project and gardening this year

 

[mr_yan]

Here in zone 4 / 5 i have my worm bins in the basement though i've only had then since early November.

One of my big goals this year is have enough to both eat fresh and be worth canning. Given my space I push things a little and garden layout requires a lot of care.

Another one I'm chasing is the potato tower. The idea is you mound up potatoe vines three or so feet and the tubers set all the way up the vine. I have one more try in me before i write this off as a suburban legend. This year i will try Russian banana type fingrlings.

 

[rockhound]

Mr Yan, I am with you on the suburban legend of the potato tower. Many times I have read that is great, but few pictures are presented. To me, the reason for hilling up potatoes is to cover the tubers since in swelling they crack the ground surface and let in sunlight. Seldom have I had to hill twice, but it could happen. Indefinite hilling won't make indefinite potatoes.