Posted by admin on July 8, 2009
Sunflowers are quite an amazing annual. They can grow in sunny, somewhat foggy, and partial shade areas. They can be anywhere between 2-14 feet in height, with one to ten flowers on a plant. They grow fast, and many tolerate substandard soils. They are also fairly drought tolerant. Many are so tough, wind does not bother them. They can be used for a privacy screen between your house and that of a neighbor. To do this, we recommend not just one row, but 2-3.
We recommend planting sunflowers in pots or a clearly defined area first. That way, when they sprout, they can be replanted to exactly their final location.
After a sunflower is done blooming, we recommend cutting the head and drying it to keep the seeds. Another way to keep the seeds for later growing is to put a thin cloth around the head and twist tie it. Or, of course if you like you can let birds eat the seeds when it is done flowering.
Below is a photo taken today in our San Francisco California garden. These sunflowers are 3-7 feet in height. They would have grown taller, but we experimented here with letting them all grow in small pots until they were 1-2 feet tall, and then planted them out. This meant they were used to being confined so now will not grow as tall. That is a good way if you like to control the size of your sunflower plants. Click here to see our favorite sunflowers.
One of Many Sunflowers Blooming Right Now in our SF, CA Garden
Sunflowers in our San Francisco California garden
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Growing great lettuce isn’t the easiest of tasks without some experience. I’ve done quite a bit of testing with different varieties and spacing. I have found that mixes of various lettuces together work best as a young mixed greens salad. The seeds can be planted close together and the lettuce trimmed when a few inches tall, like wheat grass.
If one is planning on growing full size heads of lettuce, mixes don’t work as well. The reason for this is that often only some of the lettuce varieties are meant to grow into heads. To grow full size heads of lettuce, I prefer vertical type heads such as romaine. Parris Island and Renee’s Garden Red and Green are my two favorites.
Most lettuce seeds germinate when planted, so the best thing I suggest is to plant about 50 in one pot or the ground. I do this by putting a handful of soil in a cup with the seeds. I mix the soil and seeds together, wet the mix well, and then sprinkle and mix this in the top 1 centimeter of soil where I will plant. Lettuce likes rich, well aerated soil. Plants will germinate within about a week, and should not dry out for long. When the plants are a couple of inches tall, water them well and then thin out. I keep the largest plants, spacing them about 6 inches apart to grow.
Another way to grow lettuce is start with a mixed greens cutting garden which I mentioned in the first paragraph. This one is my favorite. When you’re done cutting down the mixed greens every few weeks for a salad, water the plants well. Take them out of the soil, and save your favorite varieties, planting them six inches apart. Then, water well. This book has many interesting growing tips.
Posted by admin on July 7, 2009
Choosing the right soil for use in your ground or in potting is not easy. We have done extensive testing in our garden in San Francisco, California, to see what does and does not work. Most importantly, we haven’t ended up having favorite brands of potting mixes as much as a full understanding what will and won’t make a particular mix work.
When using a soil for plants and vegetables in the ground, you’ll see many choices out there. There is peat moss, compost, manure, redwood soil conditioner, seed starting mix, chicken manure, topsoil, potting mix, and the list goes on. Here are results of our tests:
- Planting directly in peat moss. First the peat moss needs to be soaked. Seeds can be started in 100% peat moss, but the mix does not offer many nutrients. It also acts like a sponge. To get plants and seeds to grow directly in peat moss, eventually I needed to fertilize. My suggestion here is to mix in peat moss for plants that need quite a bit of moisture or acidity.
- Planting directly in cow or steer manure. This can be done, but some plants will not make it, especially if it is too fresh. If it is aged some, it can grow plants but is better being aged as long as possible to cool down. The problem planting directly in this mix, even if aged, is that it can hold too much moisture and not drain well. My suggestion here is to use 1/4 of your mix as steer manure.
- Planting in “compost” mixes. Of course compost is great. The problem is that many bags of soil say they contain compost, but really they have shredded wood recently and added in a bit of manure and other matter. If you can see the mix before you buy, the more broken down it is, the better. There should not be large pieces of wood bark. These mixes can grow plants, but it is crucial to pick those mixes that really are compost. My suggestion here is to seek out compost and use it.
- Chicken manure. This is strong stuff. The only way to plant directly in this is to age it a long time. Still, though, it will hold too much water. My suggestion is to use this as a top dressing a few times a year to add nutrients to soil.
- Redwood soil conditioner. This is shredded redwood. It is good to break up tight soil. My suggestion on this is to use it in a very compact spot, such as the top or bottom of a plant just put in.
- General potting mixes. These can be good or bad. Look at the ingredient list, and ensure it has things like perlite, sand, manure, compost, etc.
- Topsoil. Often these are not great, but sometimes can be ok. Feel how dense and heavy the bag is. My suggestion is only get this if it has good nutrients in it and is not too heavy.
- Putting 1/2 of a pot full of steer manure and then a potting mix in the top half of the pot. This doesn’t work great, as once the roots get to the manure, it holds too much water and nutrients unless it has broken down further. My suggestion here would be mix manure in the bottom of the pot with compost or potting mix and then the top half of the pot with potting mix.
- Seed starting mix. These are sterile mixes with perlite, peat moss, and sometimes sand and another ingredient or two. They are good until the seedlings need nutrients. My suggestion is to use this only when starting seeds indoors.
I have tested and found the perfect mixes for pots and in ground for our use. Sometimes I need to mix together a couple mixes to make what I need.
For in ground use, I like a mix with compost, some shredded tree bark or tree material, a bit of sand, and manure. This mix gives good nutrients and drainage.
For potting use, I like to use a potting mix with compost, perlite, shredded fir bark, and some manure.
When I start plants from seed, I have found a regular potting mix to be good until I need to get more nutrients to the seedlings. At that point I transplant them into the mix in the paragraph just above this one. When planting, here is our favorite gardening trowel
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