Progress In my sisters Garden

Hey All! My sisters garden is doing pretty good. So far we are having about a 78% success rate. I will highlight a few of the things that are of interest today.

Above you can see the cantaloupe . It is still small, but growing everyday. I do believe I saw a bud on it a while ago, but I picked it off to force the plant to focus on getting bigger before it starts fruiting. As with most plants, once it starts to fruit all other aspects of growth will take second place with the growth of the fruit taking most of the nutrients. As wtih all the other plants in my sisters garden they have been active long enough that I need to apply the second application of fertilizer.

As it grows the weather is getting warmer, which is a great plus for this type of plant. They love the heat, as long as they have enough water.

 Next in line Is my Basil. When I planted it in my sisters garden it had lived inside her house for a good few weeks, and had been a steady supply of basil leaves. yummy! But as with most plants that are treated as a baby and allowed to be in a very steady climate (inside her house) then moved outside and planted without warning, it has died back quite a bit from the shock. I even used a transplant fluid on it to lessen the shock. That is probably the only saving grace it has received.

In the background you can see the watermelon doing poorly as well. But

 The only tomato plant that is doing well is the Early Girl.
This saddens me, I am not really sure why only 1 of the 4 plants are doing well. It might be due to the weather, it might also be that the soil is too clay-ey . Once this growing season is over I need to put a WHOLE BUNCH of top soil into that garden. I think it's lacking in nutrients.

The Fruit of my harvest! a single tomato! I'm sure I have more , but they are too small to find. I'll go back soon and take another look!

Garden Plugs.

"Stupid Should Hurt"
-Armstrong & Getty

Hey Everybody! I'm here to inform you all of how to install plants into your garden by showing you how I did it!
First. you must have a garden preped and ready to go. I showed you how I prepared mine here Humble Begginings

This thing is rare and ready to go!

 you must choose your plants wisely. My choices were probably a little over reaching. However As long as I keep the plants trimmed and set to a correct standard all should work out well! I chose 4 tomatoes( 1 Early Girl , 1 Better Boy, 1 Sun Gold Hybrid tomatoe, and 1 Roma.) Variation is fun. makes for a wider range of things you can cook! I also got 1 Green and an orange bell pepper, 1 Jalepeno pepper, 1 watermelon, 1 canalope, and herbs (basil, chives, parsley, cilantro, and some tyme)

This is how I plant my potted plants. This process is rather simple, but pictures help. ALSO, im using a larg pot for better picture quality. but the process is the same.

Start by placing your plant where you want it. Dig a hole roughly 1.5X the size of the plant to be place there.

At the bottom of the hole place app 2 TBS fertilizer and mix into the dirt as to aid in break down and release of nutrients. Then cover with small layer of regular dirt as to keep roots from touching it directly to avoid root burn. I use two fertilizers. The General veggie and Herb Fertilzier at the bottom, then I add a second layer of starter fertilzer in a smaller quantity with a layer of dirt for protection. 

Next remove your plant from the pot, and untangle the bound roots if need be. when the plant has sat in the pot too long its roots start wrapping around themselves and can not extend into the surrounding soil as easily. freeing them will help your crops prosper.

Next place your plant in your fertilized hole and fill in with dirt. Being careful to not cover the plant with dirt beyond where the original top layer of dirt was when it was in its last pot.
compress the soil lightly and water throughly. you want to get the whole surrounding area very very wet right after planting. this will loosen the dirt, begin the decay process of your added fertilizer, and will help the plant deal with the shock of being moved!

Now proform this process however times you need to till all your plants are safely in the ground!

Once you have placed all your plants into the ground set up your watering system, and water throughly. Then step back and look at your tiny plants and just wonder how big they will get.
In my next blog I will be disscussing how to get the most out of your tomatoes by using cages. as you can see I only have plants in dirt, with out any paveing stones or cages. Still a work in progress. but thats why you keep comming back, right? HAHA!

Thx for the reads Yall!