What not to plant in a SFG.

johnfromfl 5/12/2010, 10:43 am

This what you shouldn't plant in a SFG as stated by Mel in the SFG book. In reality, I put a boarder around the tree a few years ago and had planted flowers in the garden but they didn't take. Either the original soil wasn't good, the flower seeds were too old or we have a drought here in Florida. Maybe a combination of all three. I have since planted aloe and they are doing well around the tree.

Here are 3 pics of my SFG. The first two are as of today. The third is one I am getting ready to plant. I am not using Mels mix but topsoil from a brand name company. I have a 4th frame I don't have ready yet. It's smaller and will be used for flowers. BTW, the SFG is in my front yard. You might see part of a wire fence in the pix. That is to keep my dogs out of the garden. I am about to harvest the radishes and have a few potted plants to replace the harvest.

Mirjam 5/12/2010, 10:51 am

...somehow I don't think a tree like that would settle for 6 inches of soil, even if it were Mel's mix... What not to plant in a SFG. Icon_biggrin

johnfromfl 5/12/2010, 10:55 am

The tree was planted about 10-15 years earlier than the SFG frame.

kiwirose 5/12/2010, 10:59 am

lol - that is funny

Your garden looks great though - thanks for sharing. I love the flower. I have gotten so much tunnel vision on my garden beds that I forgot (gasp) to put in flowers - but as my broccolis come out I will slide a few marigolds in for good measure Smile

I think I have something in my manure that promotes leafyness - my raddish leaves are gianormous, same with broccoli leaves - getting good heads of broccoli and good raddishes, but the leaves have blown me away. I had 9 raddishes/sqft and the leaves are so thick. I noticed in your picture that your raddish leaves are much more sensible in size... I do't know if this is a problem or not for me ---probably not, although now I think about it, the raddish bed is also the one where the arugala flowered before I harvested, where in the other bed I just had leaves and no flowers before picking... who knows Smile

johnfromfl 5/12/2010, 11:07 am

The garden is only three weeks old. The tomato's, flowers, strawberries, egg plant and zucchini are from the plant section of the store. The rest are from seeds.

kiwirose 5/12/2010, 11:28 am

I was noticing the lack of staking in the tree What not to plant in a SFG. Icon_smile

(my cauliflowers fell over - then I learned what I should have done in mels mix Smile

johnfromfl 5/15/2010, 7:26 pm

Well, I started a forth SFG unit. This time I used Peat moss, Perlite and 2 types of compost. I had an over abundance of mix. I am storing it in a bag and a few pots. I hope this works out better than the brand name topsoil that I used. I found out using the topsoil by itself will damage the seeds (so the company told me) because it is high in nitrogen.

I am still learning what not to do. I guess that would make a good teacher by learning from mistakes. In a few days, I'll take a pic of the 4th SFG and post it when the seedlings are peeking through the soil. I am glad I didn't use all the seeds at once.

BTW, with all the nitrogen, the garden looks GREAT!! but has burned a few of the crops. It has hurt the peas and slowed down the flowering of the tomato's.

John

kiwirose 5/15/2010, 9:30 pm

I just used a little too much chicken compost on one of my gardens, and 'burnt' my tomato, and sweet peppers. A good neighbor of mine who is 'totally' organic (where as I 'try' to be organic and sometimes miss the mark on little things like composition of compost or find after the fact that I have non-organic components to a fertilizer I used) told me that an over abundance of nitrogen will inhibit the uptake of magnesium - and the solution is to add a table spoon of epsom salts to each plant that is affected. He even brought the book over and I read it for myself. Also, the magnesium will stop your tomatoes from dropping their flowers in the hto weather - I would give that a go - apparently you can't put too much epson salts on your tomatoes. see what happens - or you can wait a few days and I will let you know what happened to my plants...

Good luch

Ha-v-v 5/15/2010, 11:04 pm

I love epsom salts !! It helps the plants take their nutrients better, I do think it needs to be kept away from sages. I am post the link to epsom salts council as well. A friend gave it to me last year. I used it for my peppers and it really helped them get the nutrients they needed. Epsom salts is an inexpensive tool I keep in an ice cream bucket in the shed.
Link to Epsom Salt Usage
Ha-v-v

carolintexas 5/16/2010, 4:39 am

I love this forum and the info everyone shares! Cinnamon for ants? Epsom Salt? who knew! Thanks everyone from a newbie who does not know about any of these things! Please keep sharing tips even if you think they are common knowledge.

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What not to plant in a SFG.

What not to plant in a SFG.

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.

and I notice the lack of staking

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.

re staking

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.

Oh - I can help with extra nitrogen

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.

Love the tips

Re: What not to plant in a SFG.


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