As mentioned in previous entries, my lasagna garden is a big experiment. Each year I do several experiments, and probably will continue until I hit a combination that gives the vegetable and floral results I want with minimal expense and labor. Therefore, expect to see me experimenting for a long time! : )
This year, along with the lasagna garden, I’m continuing last year’s experiments with tomatoes in hay bales and a Topsy-Turvey planter, to see if those successes repeat. If so, I will expand next year. I am also trying an indoor experiment: a tomato and red bell pepper indoors.
The south end of my house is mostly windows. While this makes for a drafty living room during the winter, it also provides a basic greenhouse. We are midway through long-term home renovations, and a standing question is whether to include a greenhouse in the plan — indoors, outdoors, or half-and-half. Our growing season is so short that some kind of season extender is needed.
But a true greenhouse and three-season or year-round gardening introduces complexities and expenses that one does not take lightly. Hence, a simple experiment to see if the tropical vegetables I favor do better indoors or out. I’m tired of playing the protect-from-frost game and still losing half my crop!
The nursery owners I purchased the tomato and pepper from were kind enough to mention that these need to be pollinated if grown indoors. Hmm. That’s something I never thought about, because outdoors, the birds, bees, other bugs, and the wind do the job so I’ve never had to consider it. The tomato seller advised me to lightly brush the flowers with a Q-tip, about 10:00 each morning; the pepper seller said I needed two plants so they would pollinate each other. Not sure how that works without the birds and the bees.
I’m only a week or so into this, too early for the plants to flower — though they have grown many inches in their pots, more than their outdoor equivalents. I started with fresh potting soil, using the Miracle Gro brand which claims to be impregnated with plant food that will last for three months.
After watering the transplants lightly for a few days until their roots set, I installed the drip-watering cones I used successfully last year in pots and hay bales, and now will water the tomato and peppers once or twice a week by inserting a full liter-sized soda bottle into the cone and letting it drip below the soil into the roots.
Other than that, watch and wait, watch and wait . . .
. . . the true test of hope and faith that challenges gardeners around the world each year.
Carolyn Haley
Author: Open Your Heart with Gardens
Posted by: Opening the heart — Carolyn Haley
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