Patty,
These are mostly great ideas you've posted but I have seen novices take them to extremes!
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
..I don't know anyone who would start lettuce seeds indoors...LOL
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You'd be amazed.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
All my pots sit on 2x4's or or are propped off ground & they drain just fine w/ pantyhose or screen at drain holes.
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But in other climates -- like coastal San Diego the pantyhose becomes a venue for fungus.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
Around here, snails & slugs are the same thing. I won't buy slug bait...beer works fine.
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Works great in your area, but there are several locations in the country where the slug population is easily 100 times greater than yours. The state of Wisconsin requires a slug-free phytosanitary certificate for import of plants from these areas. In such locations, pans of beer will get only 10% of the pests.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
.."number 2 problem is over-application of coffee grounds -- they acidify the soil to the point of plant death."
I'm not talking Truckloads LOL. Just household use.
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Common occurrence in the customer service department of a full-service nursery: Some customer read that coffee grounds are good for plants and so they put fresh coffee grounds on the same plant every day for several weeks and then the plant dies. They bring in the plant in a pot or a bag. Customer service checks the pH of the soil and finds it is about 4.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
.."The color of the pot makes little or no difference. If you must shield the pot (a good idea), put it inside a larger clay pot that allows 1/2 inch or more of space between the two. I'm too cheap for that -- instead I just position a piece of tile or cardboard between the pot and the sunshine, leaving the rest of the plant exposed to the sun."
.. I tested this with a thermometer. Pots were at same temp inside. Brought out to sun, 4-5 hours later, the black pot soil was higher temp than white pot facing sun.
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I would expect this result if the white paint was reflective and the black paint was not.
At many universities, students in a junior-level thermodynamics course will also do this test but make sure the reflectance is the same.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
The M.G. mix I used is N - .21%, phosphate - .07%, potash - .14%. So, not a whole lot of phosphate.
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That
IS a nice lower phosphate formula, especially for subtropical fruits like Citrus.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
Since my whole point here is using what you have around the house & not buy baits or bug sprays etc, I should really make my own mix. I'd use peat, composted manure & a lot of perlite. Would be much cheaper than the MG mix I bought!
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I'd recommend horse manure over steer or cow manure since it is lower in phosphates and salts. Instead of perlite I would use horticultural pumice (3/8 inch Scoria).
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
I don't know what pyrethrum is. I won't buy it when my hose, or soap spray works fine for aphids & mites.
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You can read about pyrethrum at
Pyrethrin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Blasting lettuce with a water jet is bad for both the lettuce and the bugs. Further, the bugs are back on the battered plants within hours. This is impractical for a home vegetable garden with 100+ plants. Further, in parts of the world where it does not freeze the sheer number of insects can be overwhelming when you are supplying them with a food source.
For more information on a particular pesticide (e.g., Cyfluthrin) see
PAN Pesticide Database
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
15) For ants I sprinkle boric acid around. It's cheap, available, & it works.
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Yes, the "squirt" bottles of dry boric powder are really great. I squirt it into the back corners of shelves in the kitchen and into electric outlet boxes to discourage the little monsters from coming in during times of stress.
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Originally Posted by Patty in Wisc
16) A wooden dowel (any unpainted stick) to measure moisture in soil.
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I especially like this method. Wooden chopsticks are very good moisture meters. The electrostatic meters sold in stores do not work well in clay soils -- in fact they read "wet" until the clay is dry and the plant is near death.