Misconceptions

[digitS']

Can you think of some misconceptions people might have about plants?

I have just been moving some tiny tomato plants from their community container where they first emerged into the light of day. They are now in separate cells where they can stay for a few weeks before going in larger pot.

What is special about these plants of 5 different varieties is the tiny size of the above-soil parts compared to the well-developed roots. Well-developed for unusually tiny leaves. I was careful moving them and tried not to do much damage.

Why are they such small plants? I think that it is just because the container was so shallow. I don't know why I chose that one but 5 varieties together meant that they required some room for separation so that I would not mix them at transplanting time. I went for wide and overlooked the depth.

So, I'm thinking, "how did these tiny leaves grow such nice roots?" It occurred to me that many people would turn that around, "why didn't these roots grow bigger leaves?"

It's a cooperative process. Roots pull water and some nutrients out of the soil for plant use. However, the roots are primarily made up of starches and sugars. Ya know, a lot of what the roots are made of is just water. Think of carrots and beets. Where do the starches and sugars come from? Photosynthesis.

The green leaves, above the soil are responsible for photosynthesis.

Yes, I have some tomatoes in 4" pots, some in cell packs that should be moved to pots, and now, the Tiny Guys. I think that they will be okay.

Steve

 

[digitS']

I no longer remember how old these seedling are. They have recovered well enuf from moving from their community container where they weren't especially crowded. Just too shallow of soil but, maybe now, they can grow as normal - with their tiny leaves and very robust roots .

Still need a little more soil to top off the cells .

Steve

 

[digitS']

Here is something that I see driving around. It is probably not based on a misconception with many people, just simple avoidance of effort.

Irrigation. Not much can be grown in the Wild West without irrigation. It was an important job for me on our southern Oregon farm as a kid. Out I'd go to move the wood dams in the community irrigation ditch, off that water would run into our fields. Steve out there in his rubber boots, with a shovel on his shoulder, to direct the flood ...

Many homeowners have automatic sprinkler systems for their lawns. From my primitive perspective, that seems to work well here for Kentucky blue grass. I used to work on a bluegrass farm and moved around irrigation pipe. But, we were growing bluegrass for seed. Frequent light watering of the grass looks like it makes for dense growth of those shallow-rooted plants. Of course, that isn't how we did it.

It isn't how I do it moving my sprinkler around on my lawn. Once in awhile, I see local people get in trouble with ridiculous waste and flooding with those automatic systems. It doesn't happen often because we have so little rain through the growing season. Take the preceding 7 days as an example.

It's been sprinklie. We had some thunderstorms - more thunder than rainfall. It varied here and there but as best as I can see from the Weather Service counting every drop, we had just a little less than 1/3 of an inch of rain over those 7 days.

Good enough for lawngrass? Well, maybe. Garden plants - no. I just gave a half-time watering to the vegetables. That should be less than 1/2" irrigation water. I'll be back with the water in 3 or 4 days, regular schedule. Might we get a 1/4 or 1/2 inch of rain between now and then? Might happen, so might I skip a day running water? Maaaybe.

Why don't people measure the output of their sprinklers and keep track with the help of the Weather Service? Just have to do it once with a sprinkler. Well, twice - set a straight-sided cake pan at different distances from the sprinkler. Keep track of the time and measure the H2O. The plants will appreciate it.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

all of our weather forecasts are notoriously off. a good example was yesterday. the forecast the previous day had no mentions of rain for the next week being possible, but we got a quick squall line going through, heavy winds, some rain and then done and gone.

also, even if the radar shows that we've gotten rain there are enough times when that is appearing up higher in the atmosphere, but it actually never hits the ground.

the number of storms i've tracked on the radar which split or fade right before getting to us (because we are in a slight valley) is pretty high too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Everybody complains about the weather forecasters and nobody does anything about it. Other than watch a different channel what can you do? It's often the same people on TV or radio anyway so switching to radio is not an option..

All gardening is local, all weather is local. We all have our microclimates. I've noticed that when they talk about potential rain or potential severe weather they are not talking about me. They are talking about a different part of the viewing area. Some are better at showing that than others. Down here the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain has a different climate than the south shore. There is typically a five degree or more difference, summer and winter. The north shore typically gets more severe weather. If you pay attention the two stations we watch are pretty good at pointing that out, but pay attention. In Arkansas because of the mountains we had the same kinds if effects but they were not very good at pointing that out, especially ahead of time.

I've seen the same fade too. Certain localities see a rain fade out as it gets to them, One forecaster in Arkansas often referenced the Fayetteville Fade. A storm heading right at Fayetteville would often veer to the north because of the mountains.

 

[digitS']

I won't be complaining about the Weather Service people. I would do a horrible job at predicting the weather, beyond the most immediate moment.

Today, I was out mowing the neighbor's lawn beside the big garden. There is a garage there but no house. I park in the driveway and the garden sprinklers water part of his lawn. Can't help it - they don't even do a very good job. The owners don't even live close by, lately. They moved and only show up to mow the lawn in front. This will be a summer when the lawn won't receive water so it will dry out, stop growing, turn yellow, come back next spring ... except where my sprinklers hit it!

So, I mow ... pretty big area. I came home and checked the weather report again. It looks like zero chance for me to mow my backyard for the next few days because of rain. Oooooh, poor me. Do I want to mow my backyard? Nope. Do i want it to grow another 2 or 3 inches? It will double the effort needed if'n it does! Ok. I just put another hour in and I haven't even done the trimming. Tired! Maybe after my late lunch, a nap ... the weedwhacker whacks wet grass okay. I'll get a round tuit ...

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

People who never planted a garden see these photos of the plants in a nice neat row and in a DESERT of dirt! That is why mulching is so useful. They don't know that when you water your vegetable and don't soak it deeply, the soil around the plant will suck up water. I walk around watering mulched beds and I stick the sprayer in at dirt and stem level and "puddle" them. No water splashing on the leaves to burn them in the sun.
Today I transplanted a 10 inch leggy tomato seedling that I have been nursing along. I "puddled" it deeply, but it has some transplant shock, principally bc it went out in full sun. I am certain it will look better tomorrow morning. Some vegetables are similar, like cauliflower and broccoli, but others do best in a microclimate. I was studying up on growing vanilla beans and the article said they can't stand a temperature lower than 55 degrees F, and need bright, INdirect light. That's kinda hard to do.
Peppers LOVE to be well watered and bake in the sun. Tomatoes fade in really hot temperatures. BOTH need to set in deep roots, so you may not see any fruit for a good month, but the roots are ensuring that the plant can withstand some drought.
Your clematis probably won't grow if the leaves aren't in the sun AND the roots are shaded.
About the only plant that is foolproof, (at least for Me), is the aloe that I was given to care for. My MIL had it forever, SIL kept it for 20 years. By the time I got it the 4 inches of dirt was down to one inch. I subdivided and have it in 5 pots, with the original pot in a summer place, on the shaded south ledge of my east facing porch. The others are in the kitchen. Even then, I forget to water it/them, but it/they still grow between soaking and drought.
Just isn't as easy as digging a hole, throwing a seed in and expecting food.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Today I transplanted a 10 inch leggy tomato seedling that I have been nursing along. I "puddled" it deeply, but it has some transplant shock, principally bc it went out in full sun.
...

now would be a tough time to do any transplanting here as we're heading for some higher temperatures. going from shade to direct sun too in combination. hmm... hope they make it! the more leggy the deeper they can go IMO. Mom planted ours here and i did mention that she should put them down pretty deep but she didn't go as deep as i would have so we'll see if her method works ok or not this year in comparison, but we also have different plants and weather this year so it is going to really be able to do a direct comparison, but in the end after a number of years i do see some clearly better results of deeper planting. like not having as much BER.

one very notable difference this year is that we actually have had a lot more sunshine this month as compared to the past several years. the tomatoes are already flowering (three to four weeks after planting out) which is probably a few weeks earlier than what we'd seen the past few years, but i don't really keep those records as sometimes we plant different sized plants and that is going to be the real comparison IMO.