So Many Bugs!!

Yes, there are tons of bugs in my garden, some good, some bad. I've noticed a bunch of small praying mantises hanging around. I know these are good bugs, since they eat bad bugs, but they are sooooo freaky looking! They totally freak me out. One molted in one of my okra containers, and the exoskeleton is even weird to look at. I hope they don't get too big, because then they'll be even freakier.

I noticed some bugs clmbing out of my compost the other day. At first I thought to myself "wow, I need to get rid of this compost if these weird bugs are climbing out of them". I did some reserch, and discovered that these bugs were really soldier fly larvae. It turns out that these are actually GOOD for the compost, as they help decompose the food waste. The soldier fly lays eggs near a food source (the compost) and when the lave hatch they munch on the food source. Then, when they are ready to become pupae and become adult flies, they climb out of the compost bin. In the evenings, when I can remember, I remove the lid of the compose so they can go be free to become adult flies.

The bad bugs include these little white flies hanging around my kale. I'm going to try spraying this organic pesticide, but I don't want to hurt the praying mantises. Tiny flies are also infesting the corn.

Blossom End Rot!

I thought my tomato plants were doing so well, but it turns out they have a problem! Some of the tomatoes are getting something called "blossom end rot", which means the bottoms of the tomatoes are rotting. I was pretty disappointed when I discovered this. Not all the tomatoes have it yet. I'm still hoping to get some lovely fruits from these plants.

So what causes blossom end rot anyway? I did some research, and it looks like extreme heat can do it, and lack of fertilizer. I don't think I've been fertilizing properly, so I gave each plant some food. I hope that will solve the problem!

Summer is Here!

So it's getting pretty hot here in Phoenix AZ, and the planting season is long over. My garden has experienced a few setbacks. First, caerpillars have been eating my gorgeous pea plants. I tried using some organic spray on them, but I'm not sure it worked. I think they are gone now though. They were also in my parsley and kale, which was really annoying. Next time I notice caterpillar activity, I'm going to get a fungus that kills them and sprinkle it on the plants.

My pea plants are kinda recovering. I don't think I'll use hanging baskets for peas in the future, I think instead I'll plant in a 4-5 gallon pot with some polls for them to climb.

The corn plants are making corn! I didn't think it would happen, but I see two ears growing! I'm not sure I'll do corn again, but I'm glad I'm getting something from my current plants.

My tomato plants are getting really big! I can't believe they were started as seeds. For awhile they were dropping all their flowers which was very frustrating. I moved them to be more in the shad and started shaking their cages to help with pollination. Now I see at least three baby tomatoes growing! I'm really excited, I hope I get lots of tomatoes.

I planted some kale maybe 8 weeks ago, and it seems to be doing OK despite the hot weather. These plants are in full shade.

I bought a jalapeno plant and kept it in the shade and watered it everyday, and it's growing but it dropped the flowers it had made. I thought maybe it was getting over watered or it needed more sun. I put it in the sun for a day, and it was SO droopy by the end. I watered it and moved it to partial shade. I hope I can get it to produce, I buy jalapenos from the store quite often and would love to get them from my garden instead.

Since it's getting too hot for most vegetable plants, I've decided to try focusing on planting herbs for the rest of the summer. I planted some basil and I bought a parsley plant. I figure it will be easy to move them inside if they get too hot. I'll probably start some more herb seeds indoors.

Tomato Plants Getting Big!

My tomato plants are growing really fast! And little yellow flowers are starting to appear! I'm really excited about the progress of these plants. I need to move them into bigger containers. I read that a 5 gallon container is the minimum size for tomatoes. I went to Home Depot to find some 5 gallon nursery pots, but they only had 7 gallon and they cost around $8 a piece. I thought that was way too expensive since I need six of them. I ended up ordering some containers online. I hope my tomato plants won't mind their tight quarters for a few more days.

Window Garden

I've been making the most out of the space around my window that overlooks my patio. It is getting hot here in Phoenix, and I'm finding that many plants prefer the shade since the sun is so string. First, I bought a parsley plant and a jalapeno plant from home depot last week because parsley comes in handy when cooking, and my jalapeno plants that I tried growing from seed didn't make it. I am hoping that the jalapeno plant produces!

Second, I decided to plant a window box with kale. I did some research, and it looks like kale plants prefer colder climates, so we'll see how it does now that it's getting hot. I'm hoping that by keeping it in the shade, it will grow better.

The third thing I did was move my hanging pea plants some hooks over the window. Here they have shade almost all day. I think the pea plants are doing much better now that they are out of the harsh sun. I've already gotten some peas from them, and it looks like they are still blossoming. I've decided to freeze the peas I harvest until I have enough to make something with them, since I've only been collecting 4-6 pods every few days.

Small Harvest!

So I read that when produce becomes ripe on the plants, it's best to pick them right away. So I decided to go ahead and pick the green beans and peas that looked ready. I only got a handful of veggies. Of course, the plants are still producing, so I'm hoping for more later. Since my harvest was so meager, I just lightly cooked everything and made a very small veggie salad :). It's a start I suppose...

Potted Mini Roses

I bought some mini rose bushed in February from my grocery store (Fresh and Easy). They are so beautiful and I think they were on sale for $2 or something. I've tried keeping mini rose bushes before in the house, and they always died. Once I put one out on the patio in a pot, but I forgot to water it regularly, and it died too.

This time, I re-potted the plants and put them by my front door, were they get full sun. I've given them some rose food once. The plant in the photo is doing great, look at those gorgeous blooms! The other plant is doing ok, but it's looking a bit yellow and there are just a few buds on it right now.

My Tomato Plants

I planted 12 tomato seeds way back in February. Six died and I have 6 left. I think most died because I didn't water them enough. I had little hope for my remaining plants a few weeks ago. They looked like they were really weak and I thought it was because I used the wrong type of potting mix. Now they seem to be thriving! I've heard that tomato plants are delicate, so I'm not sure if I'll need to put them in shade when the summer sun really kicks in. That's a nice thing about a container garden, the plants are movable!

I noticed today that aphids were on my tomato plants! I did a google search on how to get rid of them, and a few websites suggested spraying the plants with soapy water. I did, and it knocked off the aphids. I hope they don't come back.

Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow! Or at Least Peas and Beans...

Check this out! My pea and bean plants have been blossoming, and are now producing vegetables! They are very small now, like baby veggies. The peas are not growing as I expected. When my grandparents grow peas in their gardens, the plants grow out, whereas my plants are growing up. I kinda thought the pea plants would grow long tendrils that spill over the sides of the baskets, but that is not the case. I wonder if I should put some poles in the baskets so they have something to climb on.

The beans are doing well so far. I thought they might be too crowded, but the seem to be doing fine. they looked like they were falling over, so I put some thin wood rods to hold them up. Remember, these are bush beans, rather than pole beans.

Potted Hibiscus

Hibiscus is one of my very favorite plants. The blooms are simply gorgeous. Since this is a tropical plant, the Arizona heat is not a problem as long as these plats are well watered. I had a pair of these plants last year but failed to water them regularly, so they died. I bought two new plats from Wall-Mart for $5 each. I potted them in some old pots and now they are sitting by my front door to greet visitors and passers-by. Look how beautiful they are! I read that hibiscus can do well in pots, hopefully I can keep these ones alive.

Corn, Beans, and Spinach Update Plus Okra!

The beans and corn plants that I plated 7 weeks ago seem to be doing great. They are getting tall! As I mentioned in a previous post, my dog destroyed one of my bean/corn containers, so I replanted and the new sprouts look very healthy. I'll probably have to thin out these new plants a bit by removing some, so they don't get too crowded. For the new plants, I used Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil. I think it's working out.

Check out this spinach I planted about 7 weeks ago. I expected it to grow a lot faster. I suspect the slow growth has to do with me using the wrong type of soil. I used "Garden Soil" instead of "Potting Mix" and mixed some of the local dirt in with it. I'm considering getting a second box container and planting new spinach seeds using proper potting mix.

I have given up on the orange seeds. There is no life at all coming from those seeds. I really would like some citrus trees though. This is the time of year when orange trees blossom and smell so wonderful! I want that on my patio! So I'm considering buying some trees from WalMart because they have them for only 15 bucks!

I also planted some okra seeds about a week and a half ago and they are just beginning to sprout. I love okra in gumbo, so I think it would be awesome if I can get some produce out of these plants. It's going to be an interesting experiment.

Compost!

I've decided to try something I've wanted since I've moved into my house: start a compost. I've been worried that I don't have enough space or a good place to put one, but I got over it. I purchased a 20 gallon plastic trash bin from home depot for around 12 bucks, and I started filling it.

It turns out that when creating a compost bin, you have to have the proper ratio of brown to green materials. Brown material is dry stuff like brown leaves, paper, small twigs, etc. Green material is grass clippings, old veggies, weeds, etc. You should have more brown material than green in your compost.

Since I have no dry leaves to compost, I will be getting all my dry material from my mailbox. Yes, I will be composting my junk mail. Some folks say colored ink is bad for composts while others say it's ok. Since I don't have a lot of brown material, I'm going to go ahead and use ads that use colored ink. I am going to avoid glossy paper though, because I read it doesn't compost well.

First, I shredded a bunch of junk mail and put it in the bin, then I gathered all the nasty old fruit and vegetables I had in my fridge, which included some rotting tomatoes, a couple packages of old herbs, and a rapidly blackening banana. All this went into the compost. I also added some egg shells, which will give the mixture some calcium.

After adding all the ingredients, I gave the bin a good shake, sprayed some water (the bin must stay moist, like a wrung out sponge). It's going to go in one of the corners of my patio for now.

Destruction Dog

Arg, so my dog totally destroyed all the plants in one of my big red containers that had beans and corn in it. It took those plants a month to grow as much as they did! I'm going to replant, but instead of starting the seeds in those jiffy pellets, I'm going to plant directly in the container. The weather is much warmer now and there is no chance for frost. I'm going to have to protect my plants more carefully from now on! I'm pretty bummed about the death of my plants.

Patio Tips and Hanging Pea Plants

One of my favorite things about my house is my patio. It's quite large for a townhouse, and I love throwing parties and having everyone chilling outside on the patio. I recently came across this article: 5 Ways to Create a Stunning Patio and I realize that I am already doing most of the things this article recommends.

1. Lighting - I already have some awesome stringed light hanging along the house which really looks great at night.

2. Fire - I totally have a fire pit that becomes the main attraction of my house parties during the colder months.

3. Add some green - Of course, the main subject of this blog is starting a patio garden containing lots of plants, so I have this taken care of too.

4. Water - Ok, I don't have this yet, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I would really like to get a small fountain.

5. Patio Floor - This part of my patio needs some work. Right now it's just plain concrete, but I really want to stain it to make it look not like concrete. Another thing I could do is get a large patio rug, but the staining idea would be way better.


Anyway, check out what I've done with my pea plants. I bought these 14" baskets from Amazon marketplace, and the cool hanger thing came from home depot. I can't wait till these plants fill out and start spilling over the sides of the basket, it's going to look super cool.

Pea Plants!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my little sister Jessi asked me to plant some peas. The reason for this is because we have fond childhood memories of picking pea pods straight from my grandparent's garden, cracking open the pods and devoured the little morsels inside. My grandparents have always had a huge garden with several rows of pea plants.

My 12 pea plants are doing well. The roots were outgrowing the little jiffy pellets I started them in, and I don't yet have their final containers. So I decided to plant them in small peat pots for now, so their roots can continue to grow. I will be planting them in their final containers early next week (I hope).

Beans and Corn in Their Final Containers

So this weekend was really rainy and cold, so I wasn't able to work on the garden very much. So today after work, I decided it was time to finish planting the beans and the corn since they are growing so much.

I put them in those big cheap plastic containers I mentioned in an earlier post. Before planting, I did some prep work to make sure the growing conditions are good for these plants. First, I created some drainage holes near the bottom of the containers. Then, I filled the bottoms with rocks so that water can drain easier. I put three corn plants and 2-3 bean plants in each container. I'm hoping the plants will have enough space to be happy and produce some veggies.

My big problem now is keeping my dog away from my plants! She loves to destroy plants, so I'll have to watch her very closely.








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Trial and Error

My tomato plants are not doing very well. I put my little tomato plants in those peat pots, and they totally dried out. I watered them, but not enough, and I did not notice that the dirt in the pots became hard and dry. Out of the Jiffy pellets I planted with tomatoes, I have maybe three sprouts that still look healthy. I think the peat pots make the soil dry out fairly quick, and putting them in the sunniest place I could find may not have been a good idea either.

In an attempt to recover these poor plants, I soaked the peat pots with water to be sure all the soil is moist. I moved the plants to a place that gets less direct sunlight, but is still really warm and sunny. I think I'll plant new seeds in the peat pots that have no more growth, I would really like some home grown tomatoes. I'll be watering generously from now on!

On a happier note, I read an article that suggested planting peas in hanging planters. I ordered three hanging wicker planter baskets from amazon and will be planting my peas when they arrive. The article also suggested planting sweet peas in the same containers for aesthetic purposes. So I've planted some sweet pea seeds in little peat pots and will plant them along with the regular peas. Hopefully these pea baskets will turn out really cool.

From sprouts to small plants!

The beans are growing like mad! I'll probably try finding them a more permanent place to grow this weekend. Same with the corn, which is also looking great. I did a little research on corn, and it turns out one stalk ususally ony grows one to two (maybe three if your lucky) ears of corn. So if all six of my corn plants do well, the most I can hope for is 12 ears. I was sort of hoping that corn plants would produce more than that, but I'll take what I can get. I might not plant them again if I don't get a good crop.

I found some large plastic tubs in the garden center at Walmart. They are quite big and are only $5 each. I bough two for now, but will probably get more as I need them. I like how colorful they are.

No signs of life from my orange seeds, but I read that it could take up to six or seven weeks for these seeds to germinate. So there's still a good chance they'll grow.

A note about my patio feng shui... I've studied the principals of feng shui and I kind of subscribe to that kind of thing. It just so happens that my patio falls into the wealth and prosperity area of my living space (do a google search for bagua to find out more). This is really fortunate, because plants can really help increase the good energy of any area, so therefore, we can conclude that plants on my patio will help increase my wealth and prosperity. Also, the color red is really good to increase wealth and prosperity energy, and you'll notice that I'll be using a lot of red planters. Water fountains are also really good for feng shui, but I don't have any of those yet. I'll get one soon though.

The stuff I've planted so far....

So I've planted several types of vegetables from seed. I've planted all my seeds using Jiffy pellets. If you're not familiar with Jiffy pellets, they are little pellets of soil that expand when you add water. Then you plant your seeds in the pellets and one plant is supposed to grow in each pellet. I chose to start this way because I don't really have any large containers yet, and there was still frost warnings a couple weeks ago when I started, and these Jiffy pellets are easy to keep inside.

I planted my first seeds two weeks ago (I think, one reason for this blog is so that I can keep track of when I plant stuff). I planted tomato plants in 12 pellets, green beans in 6 pellets, corn in 6 pellets, jalapenos in 6 pellets, and I tried planting some orange seeds from a Valencia orange that came from my mom's orange tree. The picture above was taken about 6 days ago when things were starting to sprout. I also planted some peas last week because my little sister requested some. I planted 12 pellets of these.

So how have these seeds progressed so far, you ask? Well, let me tell you...


This is my corn crop today. I had to move them to these party cups because their roots were getting so long and broke out of their pellets and were invading other plant's pellets. The corn seems to be the fastest growing crop. I read that these can be grown in individual 5 gallon containers. I've also read that you can put multiple corn plants in a single large container. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. For now, they stay in the cups. They are sitting outside on my windowsill.



This is one of my bean plants. I planted "Tendergreen Improved" beans. They are "bush" beans rather than "pole" beans. I figured a bush of beans would be easier to manage than the pole variety. At this point, I'm not sure if multiple beans can be planted in the same container, or if each plant needs it's own container. I'm also concerned that I picked the wrong bean variety for container gardening. One website I found said these are not recommended for containers. I guess we'll see....



The pots you see here are the tomato plants today. They are on a windowsill on the front of my house. I have 12 plants total. I planted multiple tomato seeds per Jiffy pellet, and then removed all but the strongest plant in each pellet. While I was at the Walmart garden center I saw a package of Jiffy peat pots for like, $1.50 or something, which comes with 14 pots. I decided that I should move my tomato plants to these pots before their roots outgrow the pellets. I obviously need to move these to bigger containers eventually, but I'm also not sure if tomatoes need their own containers or if they can share. I also don't know how large of a container I need.

Getting proper containers for all these plants is going to get costly, so I'm going to get more containers each week to spread the cost over time. Yesterday I got some really large containers that I might try putting the beans in, or the peas (they are just starting to sprout).

No life yet from the orange seeds. Maybe they got frozen while on the tree, or maybe I planted them wrong. I'm still hoping they'll sprout, but it's not looking very good.


I planted some herbs (actual plants, not seeds) about three weeks ago. This is a picture of them. I have mint, chives, basil, and rosemary. The mint seems to have the most new growth since I planted these in this container. The basil and chives also have new growth, but the rosemary has pretty much stayed the same. Yesterday I put some basil, rosemary, and chives on a frozen cheese pizza to liven it up, and it was delicious. I've been using the mint in my iced tea, which is has been really good.

I'll be posting again within the next couple days. This has been a fun project so far and my goal is to get some vegetables out of this. I've also been working with decorative plants too, which I will blog about later. Please feel free to leave advice if you have any, I could use some! Also, comments are welcome :)

I want to grow food!

Hi All,

A couple weeks ago, I decided that I want to make a garden. The problem is that I live in a town house that does not have a backyard. The solution to this problem is to create a container garden!

I've already started and I'm really excited. I live in Arizona and the weather right now is BEAUTIFUL, so I've decided to start this garden perhaps a little earlier than most people would. I think there is no more frost danger and if there is, I can bring my plants indoors.

I've decided to blog about this little project because I figure some people would be interested. Also, I've seen a bunch of pictures and you tube videos about starting a container garden, but they mainly just show how to start a container garden. I have not seen a lot of photos/videos of the plants actually producing food.

Oh yeah, I'm planting mostly vegetables because I want to harvest food. I think it would be awesome to preserve the veggies if I have extra by canning or freezing. We'll see if I get that far.

So this is my introduction. I'm going to see if I can take a few pics of my project's current status and will make a second post here in a bit about what I have going on right now. Hope you enjoy!