Third Year SFG in Canada

trolleydriver wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:Yolos, why doesn't the SVB get your beautiful plants???

Those are really nice yolos,  And what CC says ... 

Ok, sorry guys, clarification time now.  I have 4 more summer squash/Zucchini in my SFG under tulle.  I had extras that I grew from seed indoors but could not find anyone who wanted them.  I grew extras because I heard that they do not like to be transplanted and these were my back ups.  Every one of mine that I transplanted survived.   I was going to throw them away but decided to plant them in my empty pots and when they get hit with the SVB then I can experiment with ways to save them (cutting the stems open, injecting BT etc).  Yes, the SVB will kill any squash not planted under tulle.  Last year they hit me on 6/8 but this year they have not arrived yet.  My squash in the SFG under tulle.

I mentioned on the "Question About Strawberries" thread that I have a fungus problem in the strawberry bed. This is the worst problem I have had in any bed since starting SFG. I think the wet Spring combined with crowding in the bed may have had a big part in the situation.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t21668-question-about-strawberries#268379

And here is what I wrote after taking drastic action.

"I just took the snippers to the strawberry bed. I left very few plants and even those that are left I thinned out brutally. Most of the other plants have been chopped right down. Almost every bunch of strawberries had one or more fruit that showed signs of fungus. I'll drench the bed with a baking soda solution and see what happens. But it looks to me like it is finished.   "

Before ...




And after ...

Sorry about your strawberries  TD.  

Seeing yolos squash makes me think I should have planted more than 1 squash plant in each of my 1.5x1x5 boxes  

I kind of complain about my short season, but one thing I can be thankful of being in ND is that we do NOT have SVBs... yet.

Robbomb116 wrote:Sorry about your strawberries  TD.  

Seeing yolos squash makes me think I should have planted more than 1 squash plant in each of my 1.5x1x5 boxes  

I kind of complain about my short season, but one thing I can be thankful of being in ND is that we do NOT have SVBs... yet.

Thanks for the strawberry condolences Rob. And I was thinking the same thing about yolos' squash spacing.

On a positive note, I received my Ross Trellis Netting (5'x30' with 7 inch diagonal openings) from Amazon Canada. Now I really have to get moving on building the two trellises for the winter squash in the 3x6 bed.

trolleydriver wrote:

Robbomb116 wrote:Sorry about your strawberries  TD.  

Seeing yolos squash makes me think I should have planted more than 1 squash plant in each of my 1.5x1x5 boxes  

I kind of complain about my short season, but one thing I can be thankful of being in ND is that we do NOT have SVBs... yet.

Thanks for the strawberry condolences Rob. And I was thinking the same thing about yolos' squash spacing.

On a positive note, I received my Ross Trellis Netting (5'x30' with 7 inch diagonal openings) from Amazon Canada. Now I really have to get moving on building the two trellises for the winter squash in the 3x6 bed.

For the squash/Zucchini in the SFG, I have 4 plantings of squash in a 10 foot long bed.  But each planting has 2 squash/zucchini planted about 6 inches apart.  This is two close together.  So 8 squash/zucchini in the 10 foot long bed.  Too many squash.  For the pots, the pots are 16 inches wide.  Each pot has two zucchini/squash.  The middle of each pot is 32 inches from the middle of the adjoining pot.  This looks like it is just about right for me.

yolos wrote:
For the squash/Zucchini in the SFG, I have 4 plantings of squash in a 10 foot long bed.  But each planting has 2 squash/zucchini planted about 6 inches apart.  This is two close together.  So 8 squash/zucchini in the 10 foot long bed.  Too many squash.  For the pots, the pots are 16 inches wide.  Each pot has two zucchini/squash.  The middle of each pot is 32 inches from the middle of the adjoining pot.  This looks like it is just about right for me.

Do you do similar spacing for winter squash? Two plants close together?

Robbomb116 wrote:

yolos wrote:
For the squash/Zucchini in the SFG, I have 4 plantings of squash in a 10 foot long bed.  But each planting has 2 squash/zucchini planted about 6 inches apart.  This is two close together.  So 8 squash/zucchini in the 10 foot long bed.  Too many squash.  For the pots, the pots are 16 inches wide.  Each pot has two zucchini/squash.  The middle of each pot is 32 inches from the middle of the adjoining pot.  This looks like it is just about right for me.

Do you do similar spacing for winter squash? Two plants close together?

I only grew winter squash one time.  My pots were about 24 inches in diameter.  There was a cattle panel trellis that ran thru the middle of the pots.  I planted one squash on one side of the panel and one squash on the other side of the panel for each pot.  The pots were about 24 inches apart on center.

I always have at least 2, often 3, squash plants in a spot, a couple inches apart. They do fine that way.

Here are the tomatoes in one of the OSFG (Old Style SFG) beds. They are doing well but the peppers in front of them are going nowhere.



Tomatoes at the trellis and peppers in front of them in a ANSFG bed. Almost the same situation as in the OSFG bed.




Garlic scapes in situ.




Garlic scapes harvested for lunch.





My first tomato is forming.  This is a Roma Tomato growing in the new OSFG bed. It's on a plant that was in the leftovers and which would have been thrown away if the new bed had not been built. 




This is a leaf on my Golden Zucchini plant. Is that powdery mildew starting to form on it?




Sugar Snap Pea plants getting way up the five foot trellis on one of the ANSFG beds.




Snow peas at the other end of the trellis.




Kohlrabi in an ANSFG bed.




One of Mrs TD's Ground Cherry plants in a regular soil bed.

TD, I do not grow peppers very often but looking at the color of the leaves, your pepper plants look a bit yellow compared to your tomato plants.  If this is true, might you need some more nitrogen on the peppers?????????????

Everything else looks great.  Some squash/zucchini leaves have a natural silver look in the veins so it is hard to tell whether that leaf has powdery mildew or if it is just a normal look for that variety.

yolos wrote:TD, I do not grow peppers very often but looking at the color of the leaves, your pepper plants look a bit yellow compared to your tomato plants.  If this is true, might you need some more nitrogen on the peppers?????????????

Everything else looks great.  Some squash/zucchini leaves have a natural silver look in the veins so it is hard to tell whether that leaf has powdery mildew or if it is just a normal look for that variety.

Thanks yolos.  I think you are right concerning the peppers. I'm also wondering if I transplanted them too early.  The peppers I transplanted into the new OSFG bed last week are doing much better.

Looking good TD and yolos! Shame about the strawberries. :-( 

I too have a pepper plant that has stalled completely. It's not even 3 inches tall and has been that way for months, lol.

PS - newbie question, what does SVB stand for?

Fiz wrote:Looking good TD and yolos! Shame about the strawberries. :-( 

I too have a pepper plant that has stalled completely. It's not even 3 inches tall and has been that way for months, lol.

PS - newbie question, what does SVB stand for?

SVB = Squash Vine Borer.  A real nasty bad killing caterpillar/worm that bores into the stems of squash/pumpkins/watermellon/cucs sometime.

Ah, I see. Yikes!

I've installed the frame (no netting yet) for the first of two trellises on the new 3x6. The frame is EMT conduit and is 8 feet high. It sits over rebar and is fastened to the sides of the box with clamps.  I have a bunch of one-inch PVC pipe and fittings so I put three T-fittings on the horizontal EMT at the top.  I will do the same on the second trellis and then tie the two trellises together with 2 foot lengths of PVC between them.  These trellises are for winter squash and melons. I'm hoping they will stand up to the weight and winds.  "Stand up to the weight" may be wishful thinking since I have no idea how much of a crop I will get from my squash and melons.

The frame is to the right of the step ladder.

You've got high hopes, TD! I like it!

CapeCoddess wrote:You've got high hopes, TD!  I like it!

Thanks CC.

And now here is my very first PVC trellis. This PVC was originally purchased several years ago for the purpose of building a cockpit shell for my flight simulator but that never happened. I bought the PVC in New Hampshire when visiting friends there. It costs way less in the USA than in Canada and there was no sales tax in NH. The 10 foot lengths of pipe were cut into five foot pieces for ease of transportation back to Canada.  So the trellis is five feet high and five feet wide. The vertical pipes sit on top of 1/2 inch EMT conduit pounded into the ground.  The EMT was left over from the new EMT trellis.  The PVC trellis still needs to have netting installed.

I got tired of seeing my Peppers looking weak in size and pale in color. So I bought some Jobe's Organics Vegetable and Tomato 3-7-4 granular fertilizer and did some side-dressing including the following:

1. 4x4 OSFG1

• each of three tomato plants
  
• each of four pepper plants
  
• a cabbage plant
  

2. 4x4 OSFG2

• each of four squares of cucumbers (some squares have two plants)
  
• each of two okra plants
  
• a pepper plant
  
• a cabbage plant
  
• an eggplant plant
  

3. 4x4 SFG1

• each of four tomato plants
  
• each of four pepper plants
  

I also planted a nursery bought Red Bell Pepper plant in 4x4 SFG2. I used the Jobe's fertilizer in the planting hole. Not long after I watered in the fertilizer, the sky turned a dark grey and the rain started.

All of the above is for my own records but I'll let you know if the fertilizer does or does not improve the pepper plant situation. I feel like I have gone against the principles of SFG by using a store bought organic fertilizer.

A morning stroll through the veggie gardens TT, ANSFG, OSFG (old style SFG) and even regular soil. The sun is bright and casting long shadows.

First up is the Table Top with Lobelia, Kale and Calendula closest to the camera, Herbs in the middle squares, Peas and Lettuce in the far squares.




Close-up of the Tom Thumb Peas in the TT.




The Butter King Lettuce in the TT.




Amaranth plant in one of Mrs TD's gardens.




Ground Cherry plant in regular soil.




Tomatillo in regular soil.




Tomato plants and sick looking Peppers in OSFG. I'll have to start tying the Tomato plants to the stakes soon.




Various Cucumber plants (still small) in front of the stakes and an Eggplant in front of them in an OSFG bed.




Daikon Radishes have flowered and are producing pods.




Tomatoes and sick Peppers in ANSFG.




Chard and Kale in ANSFG with Leeks and Onions behind them. 








A pathetic looking square of Carrots.




The decimated Strawberry ANSFG bed. I'm trying to rejuvinate the bed after it was infested with grey mold.





Overview of the 4x4 ANSFG and OSFG beds.





Onions, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Peppers, Herbs in the new OSFG bed.





Yukon Gold Potatoes going crazy in a hardware cloth and chicken wire compost bin.




Canada Crookneck Winter Squash and (on the right front) a Sakatas Melon plant in the U-shape ANSFG bed.




A lone Broccoli plant in an OSFG bed.




Daikon Radish pods. Yummy!!!

Fabulous, TD!  You also solved a mystery for me. I had a disaster over the winter and either lost or confused almost all of my seedlings. This one survived, but I didn't know what it was -- not even if it was a flower or a veggie. Thanks to your pics, I think I can now identify it as a tomatillo.  Am I right or could it be something else?

I also love your Solo cup idea. I lost all of my daikons yet again. The next time I'll direct sow inside those cup rings and see if I can keep them away from the rollies.

CN the leaves on that plant look like Tomatillo leaves. Are there any flowers developing?

Comparison of tomatoes in the old style SFG.  Quite a contrast. This year the warm weather crops in my garden are really lagging behind due to the cool wet weather. I'm also beginning to think that the wood chips that I put on top of this bed are sucking nutrients out of the soil. I've used an organic fertilizer and think maybe I should sprinkle some blood meal over the top to add more nitrogen.


Last year on June 27, 2016.




This year on June 27, 2017

I'm trying to do some planning.  I have 19 squares (11 old style SFG and 8 ANSFG) with nothing planted in them. Duh! What was I thinking?

I also have seeds that I have not sown this year and others (e.g., beans that I would like to sow again).

The seeds that have not been sown this year are:

• Dill - Bouquel
  
• Mizuna - Red Streaked
  
• Corn Salad
  
• Parsnip - Hollow Crown
  
• Pak Choi - White
  
• Carrot - Rainbow Blend
  
• Carrot - Nantes
  
• Radish - Icicle
  
• Kale - Mixed
  

I expect it is too late to direct sow some of the above.

Seeds that I have planted but which I want to plant more:

• Bean - Golden Wax
  
• Carrot - Danvers Half Long
  

I would also like at least one more Eggplant transplant if I can find one at a garden centre.

I will be getting more free squares when I harvest the 10 square of garlic later in the summer. Will it be too late for me to sow a follow-on crop of some things? I used the Johnny's Seeds Fall Harvest Crops calculator. Assuming I can harvest the garlic around the beginning of August it looks like I can do daikon radish, regular radish, kohlrabi, spinach, swiss chard and turnip.

The hybrid EMT metal conduit and PVC pipe/fittings frame for the MEGAtrellis is complete. I still have to install the nylon trellis netting. Mrs TD is not impressed by the height of this trellis and thinks it should be shorter. Just as I was finishing up the frame, the sky turned a dark grey and the rains started yet again. 





And here are some of the "hopefulls".  A Sakata Melon and a couple of Canada Crookneck Squash.  There are several more Canada Crookneck Squash plants as can be seen in the previous photo. Now come on plants and show Mrs TD that you need every inch of the height of the trellis.

Fascinating hybrid trellis, TD! Thank you for sharing the photo. I may have to switch my beans to something like that, because my current hybrid doesn't have the usual hybrid vigor thing going on, and isn't well adapted to my environment.