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What was I thinking?

Our first seed order came in today.  It included a packet of 1000 Candy Onion seeds.  What was I thinking?  We seed 12 packs of onions per flat, with 60 seeds per pack--that's 720 seeds per flat--so 1000 seeds is only 1 flat and 4paks.  We sell a lot of onions.  So I had to scramble to add another 5000 seeds to another company's seed order, since it would cost $8.50 to ship the 5000 seeds.

Seeds are so expensive but we need healthy seeds to grow good plants.

While on the topic of onions, these are the varieties of onions and onion-related plants we grow:
Candy Onions:  These are day neutral onions, large and sweet and store fairly well (ours keep well into March).

Walla Walla Onions:  These are also large, sweet, and we find we have to use these first--keep OK till end of Dec.

 Ailsa Craig, Sister strain to Kelsay Sweet Giant,  can become giant onions under ideal growing conditions, adequate moisture and a long enough season.  Our growing season is not long enough for giant ones, but they become a good size, and are sweet enough to eat large slices raw.  We find that these keep marginally longer than Walla Walla.

 Red Onions  For me these are the best keepers, usually right till green onions are available from next year's crop.

 White Sweet Spanish onions:  Large and sweet, they are the second-longest keepers, well into spring.  These are an open-pollinated heritage variety.

 Leeks:  We love leek and potato soup, aka "Cock-a-leekie Soup" when made with chicken broth and meat.  Ours don't get as fat as store bought ones due to short season, but worth growing.

Onions need fertile soil, and a steady supply of moisture,since they have shallow root systems.  They do not like any competition from weeds at all.  My onion beds are the first to be weeded, and are rigorously maintained even when other plants get neglected.

I spoke about another onion family member, garlic, in the previous post.

I plant all my onions from young plants started from seed in the greenhouse, but one can also grow them from sets--small onion bulbs grown the year before, and properly cured.  The ideal size of sets is 1/2-3/4" in diameter.  Smaller ones won't make large onions and larger ones may go to seed very quickly.
The bulbs of onions should not be covered with soil.  But leeks can be planted deeper to blanch the lower part of the stalk.

For my own garden I am trying Borlotti Beans.  They have interesting pods and if dried have nice white and red speckled bean seeds.

And just for fun, we are planting Canary Bird Vines.  This vining plant is related to nasturtiums, but can easily grow to 7' tall on a trellis.

 

What's Happening in the North?

I finished all the outdoor work that I had set as my goal:  The garden is all cleaned, rototilled, and I planted a wee patch of 40 garlic cloves--my first try at growing garlic.  See the black arrow in the photo--that's my 4' square garlic patch.

 I have read too much unnerving information about garlic imported from China, which is commonly sold in grocery stores, so I went to the local Garlic Festival to buy seed garlic from the best garlic growers in the area.  I bought lovely purple-skinned garlic heads, then planted the biggest cloves.

I am told garlic is best planted in fall (like tulip bulbs), covering with straw insulates the ground, so roots can form before the garlic freezes.  Early in spring I will have to remove the straw cover so the ground can warm up.

We had our first snowfall a few days ago.

So even if I hadn't finished what I wanted to do, the snow would have declared an end to the outside work.

Have also been busy with greenhouse orders.  All the pre-started plants had to be ordered early, so those orders were done before the end of October.  The big seed order is in, and two smaller ones, Stokes and T&T will be ordered as soon as the new catalogues arrive.

Since I am making the garden smaller next year, I have to plan how to include some of everything we enjoy.  I can't reduce the 5 long rows of onions, or the 4 long rows of different types of potatoes.  Not likely to reduce the 26 tomato plants that I usually grow, nor the 2 doz slicing cucumber plants.

I hope our berry patch produces well next year.  We have about 40 Haskap bushes, 16 saskatoon bushes, 30' of purple raspberries, 30' of black raspberries, 70' of red raspberries, lots of gooseberries (green and red), currants (red, white, black), josta-berries (cross between black currant and gooseberry) and 5 goji berries.  I managed to get them all cleaned and a lot of them mulched with chopped leaves to a deep depth, which should keep down weed germination next year.  Our 9 cherry bushes have also been cleaned and mulched with wood chips.

And I hate watering the plants that I am keeping over for stock plants in the basement windows, and checking them for bugs.

Mosquito Plants

In reply to a reader who was wanting to know what a mosquito plant is.  Here is the Wikipedia link.

So You Want to Start Your Own Plants from Seeds?

This article was originally published in the newspaper in February.  We are, in fact now very busy in the greenhouses.

Have your seed catalogues come in, yet?  For me, the seed catalogues are harbingers of spring joy, not of spring work.  At our place, all the seed orders have arrived, except for some backorders, and we are (mentally) gearing up to go into the greenhouses next week.

Many years ago, BG (Before Greenhouse), I used to start most of my plants in the house.  There are many reasons why folks might want to start plants in the house:  from saving money (???) to enjoying the challenge. Here are some suggestions that might increase your likelihood of success.

1. What equipment will I need? 

a.       Containers (clean) that have drainage holes:  egg cartons, foil cake pans, recycled greenhouse cells, margarine containers…

b.      Larger containers to transplant into.

c.        Some kind of waterproof trays to hold the planting containers.

d.      Good quality, sterile growing medium (one brand name is Jiffy Mix).

e.       An artificial light source whose height can be adjusted.  Window light is not usually sufficient to keep the seedlings short and stocky.

f.        Watering equipment.

2. What conditions do seeds need to germinate? Assuming you have viable seeds, the following are required:

1. The right temperature (this varies from plant to plant.  Some require as low as 60˚F, some as high as 80-85˚F.)
2. Light/dark: (some seeds will not germinate if covered, others will not germinate well if uncovered).
3. Water:  During germination, never let the surface dry out.  The best way to keep the seedbed moist without washing out the seeds is frequent misting with a spray bottle. 
4. Time: of germination varies greatly.  Vegetable seeds generally germinate fairly quickly, as do most annual flowers.  Perennials can take weeks and even months to germinate.

3. Where can I find out the above information?  Some seed catalogues/seed packets  provide adequate information.  There are many good gardening books, for example, the Lois Hole series.

4. What conditions do the seedlings need to survive and thrive?

1.  Direct light:  this means that the light source (sun or artificial light) is shining directly on the seedlings for at least 8 hours (up to14 hours is better) per day.  Fluorescents are better than incandescents since they give off less heat.   The lights should be about 2-4 inches from the tops of the plants (hence the need to be height-adjustable).  If the light is not right, the seedlings will stretch and develop long, skinny, weak stems.
2. Water:  Keep the soil moist, but not soggy.  The surface may be dry, as long as the root zone is moist.
3. Space:  The first leaves do not look like true leaves.  When the seedlings have developed some sets of true leaves, the plants should be transplanted into larger containers.  Use 10-52-10 fertilizer after transplanting, according to package directions.  This promotes root development.  Overcrowded seedlings are at risk of disease or stunted growth.  Depending on the plants, you might transplant more than once as bigger containers are needed.
4. Mainenance fertilizer:  When the transplants seem well-established, switch to 20-20-20 fertilizer, diluted.  Overfertilizing results in salt—buildup in the soil.
5. Hardening-off.  Spring will finally arrive. The time will come when you will start thinking about putting the plants outside.  They will need to be acclimatized to the stress of outdoor conditions:  wind, sun and temperature.  Bring them outside into a warm, sheltered spot for about an hour the first time.  Avoid direct sunlight at first.  Gradually increase the exposure for longer periods of time, and gradually ease into the sunlight.

5. When should I start the seeds?

In the greenhouse, we have a pretty tight planting schedule.  These dates are critical for us, since we need things to be at their peak, and blooming for sale.  For many plants, we have two or three seeding dates, so we can offer plants at their prime over the weeks of selling season. My advice to the home gardener is, “ Don’t start too early!”.  There is a risk of long skinny plants that may never be strong.  Some seed packets will tell you when to start (e.g.  start indoors 4-6 weeks before last frost).

And, if you do like I did one year—put your plants outside, forget to bring them in, and freeze them all during the last frost of the spring—then we’ll see you at the greenhouse.      

 

Sneak Peek at some New Stuff

Just a sneak  peek at some colors new to our greenhouses:
African Sunset Petunias:

 African Sunset Thunbergia (Black-eyed Susan)

 Petunia Crazytunia Mandevilla

 Petunia Crazytunia Terra Cotta:

Dracaena Marginata--striped version and also Magenta version.  The neat thing about this plant is that it can be brought into the house and trained in interesting ways.  The great thing for me is that they prefer to be on the dry side.

Start visiting garden centers to see whats new!!

Twilight Zone? or Plant Hardiness Zones

 As I was going through my gardening books, I saw the Plant Hardiness Maps, and I recall that the Zone system for plants can be quite confusing for folks.

The Plant Hardiness Zones are numbered from 1 to 9, where 1 is the coldest climate, and 9 being the warmest.  It is not only the winter temperature which is considered in the assignment of Zone numbers.  Every factor that influences how well plants will grow is taken into consideration:  winter temperatures, length of frost-free growing season, quantity of precipitation, degree of humidity, and winds.  This results in general areas.  A plant that is hardy for Zone 1 can grow in higher zones.  But a plant that is hardy to Zone 6 will likely not survive in Zone 4 or lower.  Some plants need the winter dormancy for survival.

According to the maps, my area is Zone 2 (a or b), although we are safe to consider ourselves Zone 3.  The specific area where you live, e.g. high up on a wind-swept  unprotected hill, or conversely, a south-facing, well-sheltered flowerbed close to a heated building, may provide you with a unique microclimate, which would influence the plant choices for that spot.

My sister in Sherwood Park had a lovely, sheltered, south-facing yard—she grew all kinds of Zone 5 and Zone 6 plants successfully.  She was also fanatical about watering and mulching. One of our customers from Andrew (which is a zone 2 frost pocket) has also had good luck pushing the Zones in his sheltered yard.

You cannot assume that, if a greenhouse or nursery in this Zone sells certain plants, they are necessarily hardy for this area.  Always check the tags for the zone—they are generally fairly accurate.  Mail order seeds and plant catalogues generally do not give Zones. Some plants that are not winter-hardy in our Zone, are lovely plants if treated as annuals and enjoyed for only one season.  The best example I can think of here is that of Tea Roses.  With proper protection it is possible to winter tea roses, but probably only with 50% chance of success.  So, buy them if you love them, plant them in a large pot and enjoy them on your deck or patio, and just like your hanging baskets, let them go in the fall. We sell only hardy roses recommended for Zone 2 or 3.

Some shrubs which are “funny” with regards to Zone are Forsythias, Azaleas and Rhododendrons, to name just three.  These are listed as Zone 4 or 5.  The reality is, the plants will likely survive our winters with sufficient snow cover, but the flower buds are not hardy to Zone 3, so if they bloom at all, the blossoms will be only on those branches that were covered by snow.  Some shrubs like the Grace Smokebush will not die, but will die back to the ground every year, so they will never grow as large as we might see them in BC.

If you would like the challenge of pushing the Zone limits, don’t start with very expensive plants.  Buy smaller sized or less expensive varieties, and if you find Zone 4’s or 5’s work for you, then try more expensive plants.  Whether in-Zone or out-of-Zone, always water plants well in fall, and make sure there is enough snow cover or mulch.  What often kills our perennials isn’t the coldest days (or weeks) of winter, it is the spells of warm weather which we often get in February and March before Old Man Winter returns with a vengeance—these warm spells may fool the plants into breaking dormancy too soon, only to succumb to the cold later on.

Use the Zones as a guide only:  gardening is about experimenting and caring and bragging about your successes.  In our Greenhouse and Nursery, we stay on the conservative side, selling only Zone 2/3 and a few Zone 4 plants that have shown promising results in this area.