If there is one thing we as animals share with almost all plants it’s the need for hydration.  In short we need water to carry on life. Our bodies contain a large amount of water that is used for everything from cooling to waste removal.  In a similar fashion plants rely on water too.  Most of the plant nutrients are carried from the roots to the tops of the plants with water.

There are some plants such as indoor jade plants and cacti that do well with only a very small amount of water, but most ornamental perennials and annuals need more, especially those kept in containers or window boxes.  The limited space in pots and containers allows only a finite amount of water, assuming that the container has drainage holes.

Just as the plants need water, too much water can kill plants.  The roots become drowned and can not breath.  Drainage holes keep the containers from being waterlogged.  In addition to drainage holes most containers should have some type of open drainage material such as crush stone or pea gravel.  Some gardens use pieces of broken pottery to supply a drainage zone in the bottom of the pot.

The type of soil is also important.  For example a heavy clay soiil dug from the back yard might seem like a cheap alternative to expensive potting soil. The problem come from the fact that heavy soil will not allow the water to migrate thorough out the container.  Likewise the roots will not be able to breath as well and the plants will suffer.  Not to mention the trouble with weeds and plant pests that accompany the garden soil.

 If buying potting mix is out of the question, a good option is to use compost mixed with garden soil, or good compost alone.  This will supply nutrients and help the roots stay in good condition.

There are some commercial additives that are thought to help keep plants watered through times of drought.  These are classified as hydrogels.  Hydrogels are usually small granules that appear much like quartz crystals when dry and can absorb many times their mass in water.  It has been thought that the hydrogels would hold water when wet and then give off moisture to the soil as the soil dries.

Having purchased plants that were potted with hydrogels we were dubious.  In many cases, when repotting plants that were potted with hydrogels, we found the soil to be very dry while the little gells were not.  If they were squeezed between a finger and thumb they yielded no water what so ever.  As a matter of fact the University of Minnesota did a study on hydrogels and water availability   which showed that plants potted with hydrogel did no better with those p0tted without them.

One of the biggest problems with watering container gardens is the varying needs of different plants. 

There are some products that may aid in even watering.   Wetting agents can help the water reach every part of a container.  This is important because the roots will grow where they find water. 

The greatest challenge in watering containers is making sure the plants do not completely dry out between watering.  It is probably not a problem to let plants become a bit dry between watering but the soil should not be allowed to become bone dry. 

If the container becomes bone dry the soil should be deep watered to rehydrate the roots.  Water will pour through very dry soil so it becomes necessary to do several deep watering’s to be sure the whole container is wet. 

Early that morning one of the teachers from the Theresa Elementary School which is just around the corner from us, came with a request. “Could she and another teacher bring the 1st graders over for a visit?”  Who could resist a visit from first graders !!

 2 or 3 times a week young students parade by, hand in hand, for a walk around the block.  We had often thought of inviting some of the children over but we never seemed to get the chance and now. here they were.

The teacher was Mrs. Walentuck and the other teacher was Mrs. Howard and they were in charge of about 35 or more inquisitive and very active children.

The day was blistering hot, in the high 80’s and the sun was hotter.  As soon as they were down back we were met with a barrage of questions;  “What’s this, what’s that, can you eat this, can I have a flower, my mom forgot my sun screen…..”  It was great to see them and for the most part they were genuinely interested in the plants and gardens.

We finally split them into 2 groups, Phyllis took one and I took the other and we tried to give them an idea of what was going on from what we hoped would be a kids prospective. 

They stayed for around 45 minutes but had to leave because they had another class right after that.  The time went by so fast and we would have been happy to have had them longer.

Afterwards the teachers brought giant thank you cards made from construction paper and with pictures of the kids in the garden.  The cards were signed by all the kids.  

Here are the cards.

I am sure that we had as much fun as the kids and we sincerely hope they will come back again.

Our tomato garden really began last fall when we planned what variety we would grow.  In the past we grew as many as 8 different varieties for sale but this year we grew only 4.  Supersweet 100, Oregon Spring,  Better Boy and tumbling toms.  The supersweet 100 is a cherry tomato and they produce tons of fruit.  Unless the family is large, 2 or 3 of these will be all you can handle.  The Oregon Spring is an early determinate variety that is good for containers.  They produce 2 to 3 ounce fruit.  Better Boy is a standard beef steak variety that will yield large slicing size tomatoes.  Tumbling toms are a hanging tomato that are supposed to work well in baskets and this is the first year we are growing them so we will see. 

We also grew husk cherry  and tomatilla, both related to the tomato.  The husk cherry produced a grape size fruit that is very sweet and the tomatilla  is a green variety that is used in salsa and Mexican cooking.  The fruit from both of these is encased in a paper like shell that is discarded.

A word on hardening off.  It is a good idea to make sure your tomato plant, or any plant for that matter, is strong enough to handle cool weather, raw wind and bright sunshine.  Tomatoes need full sun but many store bought tomato plants have never seen the out of doors so the safe thing to do is harden them off before planting.  To harden the tomatoes bring put them out doors.  If the wind is blowing hard make sure they are protected.  If the sun is shining then leave them in the shade for the first day.  Then increase the time in the sun and wind a few hours each day for a week.  Now you plants will be better equipped to stand up to the ravages of nature.

To start the garden we tilled up a spot where we grew glads last year.  We like to rotate the tomatoes to avoid disease problems.  There we a few weeds and some grass growing in the spot so after we tilled the area we raked it fairly clean with a garden rake.  If the garden were free from grass and weeds we would have been able to plant it right after tilling with no raking because our trusty old Troy Bilt tiller leaves the ground level and ready for planting.

After everything is cleaned up a level the planting begins.  We like to plant on a cloudy day or later in the after noon so the plants will not be in full sun right away.  As to the phase of the moon, that is up to you.

Check the tag or other source to determine how large the plant will get and how far apart to plant them.  Next dig a deep wide hole for the plant.  Make the hole wide and deep enough to plant the tomato right up to its neck.

There is a good chance the plant will be root bound after spending weeks on the growers shelf.  This happens when a plants roots outgrow the container.  As the roots grow longer they grow in a circle as seen in the plant on the right.  If the roots are left like this they may continue to grow in a tight circle, restricting growth and limiting the ability of the plant to absorb water and nutrients.  Carefully tease the roost apart before planting.  This should not hurt a tomato plant, in-fact it htlps free the roots so they will continue to grow in a more natural fashion.

By the way tobacco use is bad for people are really bad for tomatoes because of the tobacco mosaic virus.   Don’t smoke in the garden, better yet, don’t smoke tobacco at all.  If I can quit anybody can.

Once the plant roots are teased apart the plant is placed in the nice big hole.  At this point some people fertilize the plant but we wait and top dress them after the shock of transplant has passed.  Any of the lower leaves can be plucked off.

Now fill the hole in all around.  Put the tag next to the plant or record the location of individual varieties.  Water the plant and keep it watered for the next week.

At this point the plant is at the mercy of the weather, and wild or domestic animals.  The urge to staking the tomato now may be strong but buck up !  If the plants are allowed to brace against the wind they will be stronger for the effort.  When they begin to branch out and grow taller you may find supporting the plant, which is heavy with fruit, is necessary but for now let the plant grow strong.

I think of the lilac as an old fashion type of tree/shrub as they have been around for quite a while.  Often when riding in the country we can see a tight grove of lilacs all by themselves.  At one time there was probably a farm house at this location and all that is left are the hearty perennial shrubs and flowers.  Usually one can also find a few patches of day lilly’s at one of these location, but they are not blooming now.

There are 3 colors of lilac on our property. White, lavender and deep purple.   We planted some of them but we were very fortunate to have a dark french lilac growing outside the kitchen window.   The ones we planted came from suckers we dug up from relatives and it seem like the white and lavender send out shoots with abandon.  The french, on the other hand do not seem to send out anything, which makes them all the more desirable.

Here is an example of the deep purple lilac.

The french lilac does not seem to send out as many suckers, or new plants as do the white or the lavender.  One way to get a cutting is to bend a branch down to the ground and bruise the bark at a spot where a new shoot is attached and cover it with soil.  In time and with luck roots will develop on the shoot and the whole thing can be cut free from the main plant.  The cutting is potted up and keep moist until the root system becomes stronger.  Try making a small cut where the soft wood joins the hard wood stem and apply some rooting hormone.   The best time to do this is in the spring when the growth is rapid.

Another method is taking a soft wood cutting.  On the lilac branch there are 2 distance regions.  The hard bark covered area is called the hardwood and the smooth new growth is the soft wood. 

Soft wood cuttings can be started using potting mix and root hormone.  Take a soft wood cutting at least a few inches in length and remove the lower leaves.  Dip the stem in rooting hormone and put the softwood cutting in a pot filled with peat based potting soil.  Keep the cutting in the shade and keep it moist but not too wet.  Some growers cover the pot with a plastic bottle that has had the bottom cut off.  Be warned the pop bottle will keep the moisture in but can also create a greenhouse effect that can cause the temperature to rise and kill the plant.

Taking cuttings from suckers is much easier and is usually more successful than soft wood cuttings.  Look on the ground around the lilac for new shoots.

Take a shovel and insert the blade on the side away from the mother plant, lifting the shoot.  Just lift the shoot to expose the root that attaches the shoot to the mother plant.  Carefully remove the soil from the clod of soil to see where the root goes.

Next take your shovel and sever the root between the shoot and the mother plant.  Then the root can be lifted out and planted in a pot of pro mix.  Keep the cuttings in the shade and make sure they stay damp until the roots have a chance to strengthen.

The larger the cutting the deeper the hole.  Try to keep the roots protected until they can be planted. 

Many of the planting on our property were unceremoniously dug up, dumped in a pail and planted right into the ground.  Lilacs will grow fast and the deer do not seem to bother them.

Here is one last photo showing the contrast between the violet and deep purple lilacs.

We live in a zone 4 growing zone and that means we can get a frost up to the end of may.  We have grown here for many years and our experience tells us that the weather may be nice but it can change very quickly.  We have had snow on the fourth of July.

The past few days the weather has been very pleasant and today the temperatures went past 80 degrees.  This was a record but by only 1 degree.  The point is this warm weather can fool people into thinking it is later in the season than it really is.  All day today I kept thinking I was far behind and then I would remember that its the middle of April. 

We needed some hardware and stopped by Lowe’s to check out the plants and we were surprised to see there were tomato and pepper plants ready.  They also had petunias and geraniums out.  I had to wonder what would happen if a freeze  hit.  But they use vendors who supply the plants and that also explains why they are usually in poor shape. 

The big box stores and grocery stores could care less about planting dates and zones.  We were looking at a very nice plant and it claimed to be a perennial but when we looked at the cold heartiness we found that the plant was suited for temperatures of 10 degrees to zero Fahrenheit.  Not at all suited for this area where the temps can go to 30 below.

We take pride in the fact that our customers know that planting early is foolish and can be a waste of money.  So we take advantage of this nice weather to take care of all the early garden chores like cleaning out the perenial beds and so forth.  Unless they have changed the calendar there will be plenty of time for the garden.

The vines can trail down 24 or more inches and it sends out new shoots from the root cluster as the season wears on.  Even though the vinca is a zone 7 plant we find it can be wintered over in the greenhouse and this year we had good success at propagating them.

We started with a season end root clump.  The root cluster is tightly bound just below the surface but we found that if we were careful we could carefully cut and tease the shoots apart into separate plants. 

We potted the separate plants with roots into 4 inch pots with Pro_Mix and kept them damp, not wet.  Phyllis treated them with a low nitrogen fertilizer until they became established.

Now the plants are about 6 weeks old and sending out new shoots.  We treat them with a evenly balanced fertilizer and give them the 10 day treatment with pyola oil like everything else in the greenhouse.  Once a month Phyllis treats everything with Serenade to reduce the chance of fungal and mildew. 

In-addition to the rooted shoots I took some stem pieces with 6 leaves and pulled the bottom 3 off.  Then I dipped them into a rooting hormone and buried the bottom 3 nodes in Pro_Mix and kept them damp.  A good number of them have developed roots and are showing signs of leaf growth and new shoots.  It looks like the old 3 leaf stems are supporting the new growth and I probably will clip them back after some new shoots get started.

Over all we have found this to be a successful experiment in where we have turned one shaggy vinca vine into 20 healthy new ones.  A few years ago we tried to get some started but were unsucessful probably do to the advice we were following.  Somewhere we had read that a good rooting mix included peat and sharp sand.  We mixed it up in the proportions suggested and even though it seemed a bit heavy we tried it and the experiment was a failure.  The sand makes everything too heavy and does not allow water to pass through.   We also tried to mix pearlite in with the peat but that was a mess and it did not hold water.  Now all we use is straight Pro_Mix BX and we have no trouble at all.

The bails weigh about 75 pounds and one bail will fill 100 gallons.   Read more about it at the Premier site.

  Next winter we will probably try for more vinca vine.

In a separate container we wet the starting medium, in this case Pro-Mix bx.  This is a steril medium that is well suited for starting tomato but it must be wetted before it is used for ease of handling.  The dry Pro-Mix is poured into a pail or wheelbarrow and water is added and mixed in until the medium is damp enough to hold into a ball in hand but not so wet that water can be rung out.

We put about a inch and a half of starting medium into the flats and level it with a 8 inch plastic putty knife.  We then use the knife to make rows the long way in the flats by pressing the blade into the medium to a depth of no more than 1/2 inch.  There is room for 6 or 7 rows across, depending on how close we make them.

Now we plant the seeds.  Tomato seeds are fairly small, but not too small that we can not use our fingers to drop them one at a time into the trench made with the putty knife.  Another way to plant them is to pour a quantity of seeds into a “V” of paper made from folding any kind of paper in half.  Then the seeds can be tapped out one at a time using the end of a pencil.  We plant the tomato seeds no closer than 1/2 inch and usually closer to 3/4s of an inch apart.

When we finish with any particular variety we mark the rows right away, with a tag so that we can keep them separate.  If the flat is all one variety it is easy but if we have 2 or 3 in a flat it becomes necessary to mark them because they all will look more or less the same when they start growing.  I can still hear my father cursing a nursery where he thought he was getting big boy tomatos and ended up with some kind of yellow cherry which are nice tomatoes but a poor replacement for the big boy.

We back fill the trenches by pinching the soil in from the sides of the little trenches and we give them a very light sprinkle of water from the small watering can.  Now we cover them with clear cling wrap and put them where they will be warm, in our case on the front of the benches that are heated from below.  We keep an eye on them during the day when strong sun can raise the temperature of the clear wrap covered soil to more than 100 degrees F.  If it looks like they are getting too hot we uncover them.

Every day we raise the edge of the wrap to see if anything is starting and to make sure they are just damp.  As soon as the seedlings begin to appear above the soil we remove the wrap and make sure the flats are in direct sun.  We want the seedling tomatoes to grow strong.  We are also careful with water.  If the soil is too damp molds and fungus can appear and this can cause the plants to “damp off”.  Damping off is a term that describes the condition where  seedlings rot at the soil level from fungus or molds.  By starting with clean flats and fresh Pro-Mix we greatly reduce the likely hood of this occurring, in-fact we have never had the problem with tomatoes.

The emerging tomato seedlings will have one set of narrow and sharply pointed leaves as they begin to grow.  Within a week or so the plants will develop a second set of true leaves and this is when we need to be on our toes.  We want to transplant them in the 6 packs in which they will be sold and if they get too big the roots get tangled and it is harder to work with them.

We use a 6/8 tray which have 8 - 6 packs for a total of 48 cells in a 10 by 20 inch flat.  These also fit in the daisy flats.  We put an empty sheet of 6 packs into a daisy tray and fill the cells with damp Pro-Mix that is leveled off by hand to loosely fill each cell.  Then we begin to take the seedlings from the starting flat and plant them individually into the 6 packs.  The seedlings are fairly delicate so they must be handled with great care so as not to crush the stems.  Some people advocate handling them by the leaves but we have always handled them by the stem being really careful not to squeeze them.

We start by making holes in the soil that fills the 6 packs using a finger all the way to the bottom of the flat.  The seedlings are then put roots and everything right to the bottom of the hole.  We firm the medium up to support the stem and add a bit extra if it looks like the cell is not full.  We pack them firm but not tight.  We give them a few days to stabilize and then begin to give them a balanced fertilizer once a week until they are sold.

After a short period of about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks we pinch the tops off to encourage branching.  This does not hurt the plants and helps to keep them from getting leggy.  We keep them pinched back until they are ready to finish up and go out into the world.

As soon as we can we begin to move them out of the greenhouse and into the sun and wind.  At first we give them only an hour or so in the morning or after noon but in a week or 2 they can be left out all the time, unless a frost is imminent.  Then we have to decide whether to leave them out and cover them with old sheets or bring them back into the greenhouse which by this time of the year is busting with plants.  If the temperatures are forecasted to be in the mid 30s we generally leave them out but any lower they go into the greenhouse.  Tomatoes will freeze easily and a freak frost can ruin the whole crop.

Every year we start something different and this year is no exception.  We usually have an early determinate variety like early girl or Oregon spring.  These tomatoes will grow in a tight bush and stop growing when they are a few fee high, unlike a indeterminate variety like super sweet 100 which will grow 6 to 8 feet high on a trellis.  This year we have started a tomato variety called “tumblin tom” which is bred for baskets.  Phyllis has tried to grow super sweet 100 in baskets with less than satisfactory results.  The super sweets do not want to hang down with out breaking, they are better for climbing.  So we thought we would give the tumplin toms a try. There will be a post on them as soon as we see how they were.

For now everything is growing and we have a forecast of at least a week of sunny or partly sunny weather that will give the new tomato starts a great boost.

The new address is http://www.fivecedars.com/phpbb/

Recently we changed hosts and when we did we lost the forum database and all the posts as well.  So we thought it would be a good idea to set up a new forum along the same lines as the old one.

We have boards for flowers both annual and perennial, vegetables, greenhouse and more.  We are always open to new ideas and topics. 

Hopefully with time and patience we can rebuild the little  community.

And this is what the greenhouse floor looks like.

Thanks to a bit of hard work and some pre planing we do not have to battle weeds or walk in mud.

The first year we put the greenhouse up we did not have time for a proper floor.  That first year we only had time to get the new cover on and thaw things out.  We had assembled the foundation and frame the past fall with the idea that we would put new plastic up the following spring.

That next spring we brought a salamander heater in to thaw things out.  We did not have heat or ventalation yet but the electricity had been run out that past fall.  Kristopher dug a 13o foot trench for the undergound conduit that carries the 220 power, telephone and data cables.

Our property is the low spot in an area of more than 100 acres and so it tends to be wet in the spring.  We must wear boots when we go back to work because some of the water is 6 inches deep. 

So that first year we had a soggy mess in the greenhouse.  We did not consider the water would pass under the foundation beams and into the greenhouse but it did.  As a matter of fact it just about flowed through.  But there was nothing we could do.  We could not bring in stone because the ground would not support a truck and there was no way we were going to try and wheel barrow 10 tons of stone over the 130 foot long path. 

Our first greenhouse floor was made up from pieces of landscape fabric over the turf that was on the floor.  The fabric was held in place by the bench supports and until things dried up we had to wear boots in the greenhouse.

When things warmed up the grass and weeds began to grow where ever it could, pushing the cloth up in spots.  This would never do.

In July, when the season began to draw down, we set our sights on the greenhouse floor.  The original plan was to bury pex tubing in the floor and pump water from a water heater through it but we felt pressured to get something down and did’nt follow through with that plan.  We decided that we could bury the tubing at a later date if we wanted to.

We wanted to use crushed red granite because we like the look but it is not so good to walk on.  The granite is like little marbles and does not compact the way crush limestone does.  Since we were going to have a set bench layout we decided to use paving blocks on top of the granite to make a level walking surface.

The first step was to remove the sod.  That stuff really smelled bad because we had burred it under the fabric but it had to go.  If we had left the sod it would have rotted, which would have smelled bad.  In addition to the smell the rotting sod would not make a good base for the stone.  So we cut it out and wheel barrow it away.  The floor is 14 by 32 and this was the hardest part of the whole project.

After we cut the sod out and leveled the floor we began to bring the stone in.  We had a dump truck deliver the stone, now that the ground would support the weight.  It was a big pile but we made short work of filling the floor in. 

But before we did the stone we put down 2 layers fabric to block mud.  The last thing we wanted is mud being forced into the stone.  We brought the stone up about 3 inches above the original level of the ground inside the greenhouse.  The total depth of stone is about 6 inches.  This way the water can flow through with out rising to a level that would make working difficult.  It also makes a floor that self drains once the yard dries up, which is the time we are using a watering hose.

This floor is nice to work on and can be warm when the sun is baking on it.  When we put the next house up the greenhouse floor will be crusher run lime stone.  The next house will be wider and we want to be able to change the layout if we want to and the crusher run will make a nice strong and dry place to work.

Crushed limestone is graded into different sizes at the plant using screens.  The stone we want to use is one of the last to pass through the screen and is called crusher run.  Its a mix of stones, the largest of which are about 1 inches down to limestone dust.  The benefit of this mix it its ability to pack tight into a surface that will not move around when someone walks on it.  This is not the case with the granite stone pea gravel that is uniform size and is like walking on a pile of gravel.  It really never packs down.

 It smells like lemon and can be use for cooking just like any common thyme.  The flavors and aromas are best represented when the plant is picked fresh.  It will keep but the oils do not retain the citrus fragrance.  The good news is it will grow on a window sill and with a little care the plant can be carried over for a few seasons.

We know of no source for lemon thyme seeds so that means the plant must be propagated by cuttings and by taking up trailing pieces which have rooted next to the mother plant.  We have not had much luck with cuttings but we have developed a method that gives us good viable plants in a few weeks.

1. We start with a plant that is healthy and has new fresh growth.  Then we take 6 pack plastic inserts and we cut them into individual sections. 
2. Next we select a fresh looking sprig or two and thread them through the hole in the bottom of the plastic container.  Rooting hormone can be used to help things along but it is not mandatory.
3. Then we fill the containers with soil and keep them damp for about 2 weeks.  We check the containers for evidence of root growth. 
4. Once the shoots are rooting nicely we clip them off from the mother plant and then cut the plastic container free, being careful not to break the roots.  The plants are potted up into 3 inch pots and fertilized.

Here’s what it looks like.  Some of the containers get flipped sideways but if the Pro-Mix is damp it usually does not fall out.

We keep the starts a bit damp for about a week and then we allow them to go a bit dry between watering’s.  They like full sun and will do well in very poor soil that is not too wet.

Another way to get plants is to grow it in a larger container and take the out croppings that appear when a branch touches the ground and sends out roots. 

We have taken small plants and potted them up in gallon containers with the tips of the branches sticking out.  After a few weeks these branches will have put out roots and they can be separated into individual plants.  Once they get going they branch out and fill a pot in no time.

We feed them with a low nitrogen fertilizer when rooting and a balanced fertilizer once they are potted up.

We have seen aphids on the lemon thyme but a few application of pyola oil takes care of them.  Also they may be susceptible to scale and fungus so we treat them with serenade.  Serenade is safe and can be applied to crops the same day they are picked. 

We have plants that have be brought in for 3 or 4 years but they tend to get a bit straggly.  It is a good idea to always keep a few good plants for future propagation.

Our original plant was a 3 dollar 3 in pot and that has served as the host for all the lemon thyme we have grown over the years.  The original plant is over 2 feet in with and fills a very large terra cotta pot that we bring into the greenhouse for the winter.  

In the summer the plant cascades down almost covering the pot.  It is a nice plant to look at and make an interesting addition to herb gardens and baskets.  The plant does flower but the variegated yellow and green leaves are so the main attraction.