Sunday, May 20, 2012

Garden Progress, aka Weird Decisions

A few weeks after planting/transplanting seeds and seedlings, this is what I had:



Not bad! I was a little surprised that the marigolds hadn't done better but I'll do some research for next year. I wanted to intersperse them with the veggies to keep pests away but that may have been to their detriment as far as light and soil needs. 

I also realized that the eggplant is going to get WAY big. Like small tree big. Sorry, neighbor plants. No sun for you. 


3 months after planting, we're having some crowding issues
The vining plants obviously want to escape.
The eggplant TREE doesn't want to stay up but does want to steal everyone else's sunshine. 
The tomatoes, which are all along the back row are either going crazy (cherry & "Mortgage Lifter") or pouting ("Cherokee Purple"). Perhaps next year I will consider a raised container for Mr. Pouty Purple.

The zucchini and squash are both going totally insane and I'm trying to train them to go over the railing of the container.

The cucumbers and (surprise, surprise) cantaloupe are vining like they have somewhere to be for dinner.
I need to build some sort of cushioned retaining area so they don't get all over the ground, which is certain to have all sorts of chemicals on it. 


What I learned:


  • Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Peppers get SUPER TALL. Put them in the back or side edges.
  • Cucumbers and Cantaloupe will vine out a lot. Plant them next to some sort of trellis so that they can be trained to go up. Cantaloupe will need a hammock or other support once they have fruit growing
  • Zucchini and Squash will crowd out all other plants and will take their sunshine. Plant away from short, full-sun-needing plants.
  • Basil and Mint do very nicely as container-sharing buddies.

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