Planting Fever

The tomato addition is finished and planted. We have basil, a great companion plant for tomatoes, in the same beds and they are happy. Cucumbers are planted in this area as well. This project took longer than planned, I am still going to experiment with a heating system for the beds.
I am using concrete mesh for the tomato cages. I will prune the suckers and let the plants grow TALL.
Nicky has more room for planting even more beans; purple, yellow, green, and spotted beans.
All the starts are in and covered for cut worm protection and protection from the drying winds at the 1300 foot elevation. They floating covers also help keep the soil moist for the seedlings.

This week I learned about planting leeks using the dibble method; planting the seedling up to six inches in the soil eliminates the need for rowing later. The intention is to cause blanching of the leek ends. The other lesson was to plant onions with the bulbs exposed and the roots in the ground. If the bulb is exposed, then the bulb will become bulbous.

Finally, the potatoes are planted in the pig garden. This past fall we planted 30 plus garlic plants in the pig garden and the plants are enjoying this space. The straw was pulled off and laid on newspaper on the walking paths next to the garlic. We also added more lettuce, onions, and broccoli in the pig garden. A fence is soon to come for keeping those pesky moose out.

In the morning meadow, the paintbrush, geraniums, chocolate lilies, and lupine are growing by leaps and bounds. Every day that I walk down to the garden I am amazed by how fast these hardy Alaskan perennials grow. We have had some great weather this past week; warm and sunny, followed by cool and wet. A great combination for planting. This post has been rushed, but I hope to get one more entry in before the big trip to Idaho for the Salmon River trip. Garden On!

The following is sent from Neil Wagnor. There is some great information on potassium and heat tape.

Potassium and Heating tape from Marion.

Hi Neil,

Here is my most recent article which deals with heating tapes (story 1) and potassium (story #2)

More coming,

Cheers, Marion

Jeff Werner in his High Tunnel talk at the college a couple weeks ago also mentioned using Epsom salts for added magnesium. I gave all my greenhouse tomatoes a drink of Epsom salts last week. My goal over the next week is to mix up 5 g buckets and give all the plants in the garden a drink.

TWO TALES OF BROCCOLI

Allan Thielen expects to be eating broccoli by the first week in June -- at least 6 to 8 weeks ahead of schedule -- thanks to a set of thin heating cables that warm the soil.

As Allan explains: “I started a batch of 60 broccoli seedlings on April 15. Then on the first of May I transplanted them in the hoophouse, 30 seedlings into raised beds without the cables and 30 seedlings into raised beds with the cables.

“By mid-May, the plants in the cable beds were 5 times bigger than the other seedlings.”

As one observer said, “It’s like comparing giants and babies.”

The cables, called Gro-Quick Soil-Warming Cables, help speed seed germination and seedling growth to help gardeners get a jumpstart to the growing season. Allan purchased them from FarmTek (www.growerssupply.com; 800-476-9715). They’re also available through Charleys Greenhouse in Mt. Vernon, Wash. (www.charleysgreehouse.com; 800-322-4707).

The cables come in a variety of lengths, from 6 to 48 feet, and are covered with a tough, moisture-proof PVC jacket. “The cables are very sturdy,” says Allan. Last year, at the end of the season, he unplugged the low wattage cables and left them in the soil all winter without any problems.

A thermostat automatically activates the cables when soil temperature falls below 74 degrees. “Within three days of plugging in the cables, the soil was 14 to 18 degrees warmer. And they heat an area much bigger than the literature claims,” he added.

“The surrounding air may be 40 degrees, but the soil temperature is what’s important, especially with young plants. So for just a few dollars per month, you really extend your growing season. Ten degrees in soil temperature makes a huge difference.”

Known for his watermelon, cucumber, zucchini and pumpkin crops, Allan first used the heating cables last year for growing cucumbers and pumpkins in his hoophouse on the mountainside above town. “Out of the 5 x 10-foot raised bed I harvested about 150 cucumbers.”

Anxious to extend his harvest, Allan plans to use the cables far into the fall. The third week in October marks the point where daylight dips below ten hours per day, slowing plant growth.

I’ll give you an update this fall from the Hoophouse on the Hill. Meanwhile, if you have any questions about hoophouse cultivation or the heating cables, contact Allan at 486-8738.

LESSONS FROM THE MASTER GARDENER CLASS

If you stop, look and listen, plants will tell you what’s wrong. Last year, Heather Preece was looking forward to a healthy harvest of vegetables, but it was not to be. “I got huge broccoli plants with lots of big leaves but very small heads.”

Heather, a long time, organic gardener who lives in Bells Flats, realized something was wrong. Knowing that soil is the foundation of every successful garden and that broccoli plants are “heavy feeders,” she fertilized her beds with blood meal and all-purpose organic fertilizer during the season. Still, it wasn’t enough.

During this winter’s Master Gardener class, Heather learned the value of testing your soil. “I sent a soil sample in to Brookside Labs in New Knoxville, Ohio (www.blinc.com), the lab recommended by Tom Jahns, who taught the class. She recommends asking for soil test package S001AN, which gives basic Alaska soil test requirements, and organic matter, plus micronutrients. Brookside Labs, she says, is less expensive and provides a lot more information than the labs in Alaska.”

In mid-February, she mailed two samples: one from all her annual vegetable beds and the other from her perennial beds (raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb). “The soil wasn’t frozen so it gave her some lead time to make corrections.”

If you’re thinking of sending in a soil sample, you’re not too late. Heather’s results came back in less than two weeks, and the lab was happy to interpret the findings.

In a nutshell, the amount of organic matter in the soil was excellent (25 percent), but the phosphorus levels (the “P” in N:P:K:) were very high while the potassium levels (the “K” in N:P:K) were very low.

Fueled with new data, Heather referred back to her class notes. “It all started to come together.” Potassium, she learned, helps with fruit development, which explains why she ended up with small broccoli heads. “We ate the leaves anyway, but this year I'll be interested to see if there is a change.”

“So I needed primarily potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg), which you can correct easily with adding Epsom salts.” (Epsom salt recipe: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt in 1 gallon of water.)

Magnesium, which is quite water-soluble, leaches out quickly in areas of heavy rainfall. Leaves are a great source of magnesium, so it’s important to add them as a mulch or to your compost pile. You can also correct a magnesium shortage with Epsom salts: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts in a gallon of water.

SOIL NUTRITION AND HUMAN NUTRITION

At this point, Heather, a Pediatric Dietitian and Lactation Consultant at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center (“Basically I'm all

about food, personally and professionally”) had an aha moment.

“Funny, it said in my garden notes that potassium and magnesium deficiencies often go together. I've been studying for re-certifying my pediatric nutrition specialty exam and found that in malnourished hospitalized kids, potassium and magnesium deficiencies often go together.”

A magnesium shortage can also cause a calcium metabolism problem in people and animals, because calcium cannot be used without magnesium.

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

Because Heather’s soil had plenty (too much) phosphorus the lab suggested she avoid adding any more because it can prevent plants from taking up other nutrients. This presented a problem: She needed potassium (K) but no more phosphorus (P), yet most sources of potassium (potash rock, granite dust, wood ashes) also contain phosphorus.

Heather contacted Allan Thielen because he’d experienced a similar shortage of potassium. He gave her a bag of greensand, a mineral mix from the East Coast that has an N:P:K rating of 0-0-3; only potassium. (For more information about greensand, call Marion at 486-5079 or email: mygarden@alaska.net)

And so the story has a happy ending. “Getting the soil tested really helped to take the guesswork out of fertilizing,” says Heather. “From the lab results, I feel I’m sitting pretty well, though I might try to find a liquid source of potassium, like blended comfrey leaves that Allan told me about.”

But that’s another story.