Homestead Gardens

Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden, WHAT THE GNAT!!!

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As much as I love my Orange Tree I have discovered something terrible!

After I put the tree in the tent, it became… comfortable.  The temperature was just right and the conditions were very favorable for the eggs from some gnats to hatch that had been previously laid while the tree was at the nursery.

UGH!!! NO GOOD!!!

So, in order to combat the gnats I purchased two products:

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The Gnat Stix are basically Popsicle sticks that attach to a grid that looks and acts like fly paper.   The gnats stick to it.

The Diatomaceous Earth basically stops the gnats from reproducing and since gnats have a short life span it works pretty well.  Its a white powder that just gets sprinkled over top of the soil.  It kind of reminds me of using talc powder, only the plant version.

Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden, Day 6

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Today I lightly watered all of the plants and put the miniature red potatoes on the top rack so that they can start rooting.  Once they start rooting, I will begin a potato bucket. I have never done this before so it will be an experience for sure!

I will be doing this for both miniature red potatoes and russet potatoes.

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The turnip and kohlrabi are flourishing!

I thinned out the sprouts today.

 

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The beets have decided to make an appearance, right on time (germination time between 5 to 10 days) and are doing very well.  I thinned them out.

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The Buttercrunch lettuce finally made an appearance!  Right on time as well (germination time between 5 to 10 days).20170318_140301

 

The Rapini (or) Raab Broccoli is doing very well, especially for being early!  I thinned it out.

 

 

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The radishes and Grand Rapids lettuce is doing well and I thinned them both out.

The Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden’s Genesis

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I began my soil garden on March 11.

It was completely on a whim.  I was in HTG Supply picking up some stuff for the garden and decided, well, rooted vegetables sound like a great idea.

The thought was as simple as that.

At this point it is too cold to start the outdoor garden so, it made sense.

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The soil tent started to take shape and the first seeds were planted on March 11th.  While I was at it, I also purchased a navel orange tree.  I wanted to see how it would do in the tent along with the other items.  The soil I used was the MiracleGro plant soil.

I used regular tap water to water the plants.

This is the final set up of the tent on March 12th.