Ooh! Ooh! This sounds fun. I put some time into this when I should have been working, so I hope it helps.

1) Pruners - $20.49

This will be your most used tool. Eventually, you can upgrade into Felcos or Bahcos, but right now just get these Coronas. They're honestly a better size for hobby gardeners (fit right in your pocket), and the're very high quality for the price.

2) Your First Gardening Book - $17.06

Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout. It's simple and gives you a general plan that really does work very well. It's a must for beginning gardeners, imho. You can find just about any other information you need on the internet (for now). Very little maintenance required, including fertilizing, weeding, applying pesticides, etc. (In a nutshell, the main step involves putting down an 8" layer of mulch...).

If you want to go with a more traditional raised bed setup, you should buy Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. It's a fantastic back yard gardening book, as well, but the methods are kind of pricey and less sustainable. Still, it's a great system for growing a lot of food in limited space and it was the first book I used.

3) Indestructible Garden Trowel - $15.99

This will be your second most used tool. This particular model is about as indestructible as it gets short of this bad boy. You'll use it for digging holes for transplanting, mostly. Don't buy a cheap one or it will bend or break or both.

4) Fertilizer - $7.83 + $11.06 = $24.26

I chose cottonseed meal because that's what Ruth Stout recommends using (the rest of the nutrients in her system come from the giant mounds of mulch). Apply as she indicates.

I also added some Fish Emulsion Liquid Fertilizer because I love the stuff. It's a great way to add some extra nitrogen (and just a little P & K) mid season to your veggies or even to your compost pile when it gets carbon heavy. The stuff I have right now stinks, but the plants love it and it's easy to apply if you have a watering can.

Make sure you tailor your fertilizer to whatever system you're using, though. Don't fertilize like Ruth if you're not using her mulch based system. If you're using Square Foot Gardening, you won't be fertilizing at all, but you will be using lots of peat, vermiculite, and (different kinds of) compost. Etc, etc, etc.

5) Work Gloves - $10.97

These are specifically for women, but there's a button to switch to men's if that's you. You won't wear them all the time, but you'll be happy you have them when you need them. Notice that this comes with 6 pairs of gloves. I misplace gloves all the time, so having several is handy (hehe).

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Total: $88.77

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Notes:

• Save the rest for now. You're inevitably going to become enamored with something like earthworm casings, azomite, or a nozzle for your gardening hose down the line. Your future self will thank you for having some extra cash to buy it with, and this is plenty to get you started on your way to being a badass backyard gardener.
  
  
• The two above methods claim to be mostly pest free. In my experience, nothing is pest free, and you just need to grow enough quantity to weather the storm when it does randomly come. I would just concentrate on growing healthy plants first and foremost and then let the chips fall where they may. You might turn to pesticides later, and that's fine, but hold off on buying any until you know what is nibbling on your plants. Most pesticides are specific to the pest.
  
  
• Notice that I don't include any seeds. Your first year of gardening, I'd honestly recommend just buying live plants from your local nursery (and sticking to plants bred to survive in your region). Growing from seed can be hard, and your entire crop of seedlings dying is a humbling experience, I can assure you.
  
  The other reason there are no seeds on my list is because I don't recommend buying them on Amazon. I've had bad experiences every time I've tried it. If you need seeds, go with a good seed dealer, like Johnny's Selected Seeds, Burpee, etc, or find a good nursery in your area.
  
  
• If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
  
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  TL;DR: Pruners, a book to get you started, a durable trowel, fertilizer that is specific to your growing plan, and some gloves. Enjoy!

These are some of my favorites:

• Crockett's Victory Garden - There are also versions for flowers and lawns as well as the main garden one. It's organized by month and has lots of special chapters on different skills or tools or general information.
  
  
• Square Foot Gardening - It's written as a persuasive piece, but it's got good information on all different kinds of vegetables and explains the square foot method. Even if you don't use the method itself, the ideas in general can be useful.
  
  
• Backyard Herb Garden - This is an older book, but it's got a lot of helpful specific information on different herbs and ideas for growing them.
  
  
• Kitchen Garden for Beginners - It's not a perfect book, but I think it did a great job giving an overview of different gardening methods, plants and issues you might face.
  
  
• Vertical Gardening - This one is more specific, but all the trellis designs were fun and very helpful.
  
  
• Storey Country Wisdom Bulletins - These are nice little pamphlets ($4 on Amazon) on different plants (ie. tomatoes, peppers, strawberries) or topics (ie. fixing your soil or building a fence) that are pretty useful for gardening. Also they had some ideas that were new to me.
  
  
• Garden Primer - This one is also a good overview. And seems to be popular it covers general garden topics and has information about specific vegetables.
  
  
• The New Self Sufficient Gardener - It's got a lot of good general information, awesome illustrations, background explanation and information on specific vegetables.
  
  In terms of location specific information, as someone who recently moved half way across the country, your best off looking up the Extension website for where your living to find information on suggested varieties, new pests you might encounter, soil types and things like that.

Best of luck for you. Having a late freeze is never a good thing for gardeners. This is what I'd do: Hay or grass clippings on ground surface followed by weighted blankets will help sub-ground crops. as Wurm42 said, plastic cartons over the sprouted plants will help, but 25 degrees will most likely be too cold. These Walls of Water are pretty good insulators for lower temps and might be your best bet.

Ultimately, you need to let this be an opportunity for your ingenuity to get the best of you. Walk around your house and look for anything that might work (ie heat blankets, towels, spare carpet, or pillows). Cardboard boxes or any foam/styrofoam sheets or packing peanuts would be great, too. If you're serious about rescuing your little babies, you can go to home depot get a few sheets of insulation for as little as $14/16 sq feet of warmth and make some nice little boxes to cover your little guys. It'll be like you're giving a warm hug to each plant to help them get through this global warming phenomenon.

Best luck to you, and please keep us posted.

Saving seeds is a serious endeavor. There is so much detail to it so I will just cover a few basics and then recommend an amazing book. You must use open pollinated seeds to save seeds that will grow true to the parent plant. I use heirloom and open pollinated seeds to grow and then save the seeds. If you are growing hybrid plants, the seeds you save may revert back to one of the parent plants bred to create your plant that you are currently growing. Many plants can cross pollinate. So the pollen taken from one plant in a neighbors yard by bees can mix with yours and then you have a Mystery plant with the saved seeds. Spacing and pollination control are key. Also letting all the plants set vegetables and grow to maximum maturity. An example is tomatoes. It is best to let a tomato sit on the vine until almost overripe and select that one to use for seed saving. Beans will have better germination rate if you let the pods dry on the vine. Different species of plants require different techniques in saving the seeds. Their is a wet method and a dry method. Sorry this is all so much and probably a bit confusing. There are thousands of more details and. I do not mean to discourage you from trying to save seeds. Here is a link that is helpful. And probably better at explaining than me rambling on. Lol!


http://howtosaveseeds.com/isolate.php


The best book I have found and am learning from daily and seasonally is titled Seed to Seed


http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581


This book will go through many details and instructions that are easy to understand. The best advice I have is to learn and give it a try. Each season you will learn more and more. Best of luck.

Second what u/GrandmaGos says. Companion planting is mostly folklore. I do a little of it myself but I always plant my rosemary with carrots, lavender next to onions, and basil with tomatoes. But it also attracts pollinators which is important.

My mom had a community garden for a large group of kids in a local summer day camp program. Our favorites were strawberries and carrots. Most kids hated veggies and growing their own and seeing how sweet home-grown carrots were made a huge impression on a lot of kids.

For reading, I recommend Raised Bed Revolution, I got some really great plans from that book that look very nice. I also like Square Foot Gardening if you haven't read that already.

Since its a library you're at, is there anyway for the summer you could have little garden craft classes for the kids? That could be fun and keep them interested / invested. Have crafts like painting stones with the names of all the plants for plant markers. Learn about local wildflowers to attract pollinators?

Honestly you've already found a great source of good information and discussion:) I use the search bar in this sub more than any other, but I still refer regularly to my Grandma's favorite: Western Garden. It's a time-tested and comprehensive run-down of theory and method, as well as an encyclopedia of plants that are easily cultivated/common in the western hemisphere, but is mostly geared to the continental US.

The wonderful thing about plants is that they want to grow, and if you can just create the right conditions they will reward you in many ways. Some are waaay more forgiving than others, so don't just jump into orchid cultivars and other exotic specimens. Start composting, plant the veggies you like to eat (and maybe some luffa gourds for your shower time) and be proud of your harvest, you will never taste better food :)

Your soil looks nice but I think you're going to have a hell of a time getting to the veggies and whatnot that are in the middle of the bed once everything starts growing.

Also, if you read any book about gardening read Gaia's Garden which is a home scale permaculture gardening book. It's all about working with natural systems instead of working against it. How to intercrop plants to get higher production in the same amount of space by creating layers and interactions in plants. For example here in Texas it gets super hot in the summer and it'll pretty much kill my tomatoes. This year I'm experimenting with growing pole beans up the outside of my tomato cages. The beans shouldn't compete with the tomatoes for nitrogen since they can provide much of their own. Also once they beans get tall enough to start shading the tomatoes they'll actually serve to protect them from the blast furnace that is the sun here in late July through August.

Another great thing about intercropping is that it helps with deterring insects that want to eat your garden. Plenty of insects are plant specific so if you have all your cabbage planted in a row then a cabbage looper moth is going to go cabbage to cabbage to cabbage laying her eggs. When they hatch the caterpillars can easily get to all sorts of cabbage. Now if you scatter your cabbages around, have them surrounded by things like arugula, lettuce or other things that cabbage loopers don't care for as much then you slow their spread and it gives natural predators a chance to keep the pest populations in check.


Wasps are one of a gardeners best friend.

Look into no till gardening. Not only is it less work but it treats the soil like the complex system that it is instead of destroying it by mixing it up over and over.

Mulching is your best defense against weeds and water evaporation from the soil. Don't be scared of mulching to deep.

My suggestion would be to start very small and learn all the core gardening principles -- soil, maintenance, harvesting, weed/pest control, etc. -- and then expand what you grow in your second year. The more manageable it is, the more likely you are to stick with it. Perhaps you could start with an herb garden with basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, cilantro, a few of those, then a tomato or two and maybe some bush beans or peppers. Maybe even less than that. You will get a ton of value and a lot of different flavors from just growing that little bit.

Your zone just tells you how hot/cold your area is. You are in a medium US climate so mostly this means you have a decently long season for growing, meaning you can grow the plants that need hot temps for a longer period of time - some plants need it to be 80deg for several months, while others can only be grown at the beginning and end of the season when it's coldest. Right now, you might be able to plant cold weather stuff like spinach and kale. When it warms up a bit more, you can start doing hot weather stuff like tomatoes. Look up the last frost dates for your area and it will help you know when to plant what. The zone can also inform what varieties of plants to grow - some are better for colder areas and other hot, etc. - but if I were you, as a new gardener, I'd just stick to growing the larger plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) that have already been started from a local nursery. They'll have stuff suitable for your zone and growing from seeds is often the hardest part for plants like tomatoes, so getting a baby tomato plant rather than the seeds can give you a better chance of success overall. it's just one less thing as Forrest Gump would say.

Check out gardenweb.com. They have a ton of good info. My new gardening book this year is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible and it's a really great book for new gardeners.

Local extension office and the farmer's almanac are also great resources. Also, check out Pinterest. There are a ton of ideas on there.

I'm guessing, based on your location, that most tuber type veggies will do well, as well as, many dark, leafy greens that like cooler weather and less sun. Tomatoes may be hard to grow since they like lots of heat and humidity, but maybe if you can find or make something like a "wall-o-water" like this

http://www.amazon.com/WALL-O-WATER-3-PACK/dp/B0000DI86C

you could do it. I live in Arizona, US, but high in the mountains and our growing season is only about 72 days long, so I need to use these to be able to grow tomatoes. I also get the tomato varieties that have a short time to maturity like the stupice or Early Girl variety, or just small varietals like cherry, juliet, grape, etc. I wouldn't even waste your time on trying to grow peppers.

Good luck and have fun. Your first garden was very impressive, so keep up the good work.

I have to also recommend the Square Foot Gardening book, mostly for all it has to offer someone who is kind of starting with the basics. Once I read that I then branched off to various web sites, including reddit. MIGardener, while in Michigan and not at all your climate or mine, has tons of videos on youtube that are great for the beginner. If you follow him on Facebook you'll get a notification when he puts up a new video on youtube (though he has enough now you could lose a whole weekend watching them). He also just started selling seeds for $0.99, so if you're looking for an online seller, there you go.
My first garden, a 4' x 4' raised bed, was done strictly according to the Square Foot Gardening (SFG) method. I learned so much that first season about timing, soil, watering, etc., and even had some very successful veggies! My second season didn't go so well but that had nothing to do with what I had or hadn't learned. This is my third season and I've started several plants inside, ready to put them into my garden in a month or so. I will still be using all that I learned from my SFG book though I have a better idea of what plants I can crowd more than he recommends. Regardless, the book is still vital reference material for me. I even consulted it Saturday night for some seedling information.
For the existing plants, you might want to google them specifically (ie, 'pruning rosemary' or 'caring for my rosemary bush'). I got a ruled notebook and made one page per veggie/fruit that I was interested in and noted the information I found that was specifically important to me. The other stuff just kind of lays dormant in your brain until you get more involved in gardening and then it just pops out when needed! Good luck and enjoy! (I too plant tomatoes though I don't care for them much, unless in pico de gallo. I started 8 different types this season because it's so fun to watch them grow!!)

https://smile.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486443200&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening

People commonly grow potatoes in bag, so I think that potatoes are totally do able, but it can be messy work getting at the potatoes.

If you have access to water you can set something up like this...

https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R560DP-Automatic-Container-Hanging/dp/B00J2NRUBI/ref=pd_sim_86_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZV4XXQPJRV7H00JZCTZE

It is hard to tell you what to grow without knowing what zone you are in.

But growing your own food is for sure something that is rewarding and fun plus it can cost very little.

The first thing you really need to consider is, what do you like to eat?

It is pointless growing turnips if you never eat turnips.

For a small space I would recommend growing plants that go together. Like maybe you want to make a ratatouille garden or a minestrone garden.

So if you want to grow minestrone you should be able to plant and grow almost everything that you need for the soup and everything that is commonly in minestrone is pretty easy to grow.

In Seattle you can direct sow lettuce and greens starting around March 15th, we are after last frost date so beans should be ok, though they would perfer warmer soil. Tomatoes could go out under cover pretty soon, I dont usually actully plant them till May. You will have better growth if you plant your pepper and tomatoes (and squash) in black containers, the black pot will help provide the soil heat that the tropical plants need to thrive.

Your plot looks ok, I would bury the grass clods upside down, also you will probably need to lime the soil. Raising the height of the bed above the surrounding area will increase soil temp and make for better drainage. Soil west of the Cascades are universally acidic and low in phosphorus. A quick soil test will tell you the PH, Dolomite lime and Agricultural lime are what you will need to raise your PH. Further details are in Steve Solomons Growing Vegatables West of the Cascades.
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Edition/dp/1570615349

PS,
Plant Peas to improve your soil, Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Pod II are great varieties for our region, you can direct sow around 1 inch apart any time after valentines.

Good luck and happy gardening.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/38531/em9057.pdf

Oh man, sorry for the lag. I kept meaning to reply, but always got sidetracked.

Purple basil is tasty, and if I remember correctly, has a slightly more astringent flavor than sweet basil. It's great if you're making Asian dishes with it. If you're just growing it for Italian food and gimlets (basil gimlets are fantastic) plain old sweet basil with the big rounded leaves is where it's at.

As for rooting plant cuttings in water, sometimes it works. You end up with a stronger root system if you use substrate though, and I'm a little surprised that you got rosemary to root that way. I've used a 50/50 mixture of perlite and vermiculite with good success, and if you've got something stubborn there are rooting hormone powders available in various strengths.

If this is something that really appeals to you, and you'd like to learn more, this was used as a textbook in my plant prop. class last year.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Horticultural-Society-Propagation-Plant-/dp/0789441160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331662223&sr=1-1
It's a good book, and not so intense that it's difficult to understand.

>also interested in growing food indoors over the winter months (Northern Ohio

It depends on what you want to grow.

If you have bright enough light indoors, you can grow things.

In descending order of effectiveness:

A cannabis grow room. Grow whatever you want all winter--herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers.

A set of high-output four-tube T5 fluorescent lights. Herbs, lettuce, greens, radishes, baby carrots, and peppers and cherry tomatoes but very slowly.

A set of ordinary T8 fluorescent shoplights. Herbs, lettuce, greens, radishes, baby carrots, and it will keep peppers alive for overwintering, but you won't pick much fruit if any.

/r/SpaceBuckets Whatever you can fit into it. Herbs and small greens, mostly.

Windowsill. Mainly for houseplants. A big bright sunny south-facing window that isn't obstructed by trees or buildings, where you can get the plants right up next to the glass, will grow small herbs such as basil and thyme. Any other exposure is back to houseplants.

$29 "burple" Amazon LED "grow lights". Suitable only for the most low-light-tolerant of the office cubicle houseplants.



****

General reading:

Good overview books are both the Dummies and Idiots guide. No offense, that's just what they're called.

The Square Foot Gardening book, either edition. The concepts have entered the zeitgeist, so whether you're doing raised beds or SFG as such, you still need to know what everyone is talking about.

Any of the Sunset books on gardening topics. These are the softbound books you find on the magazine rack at Lowes with the DIY how-to books on plumbing and hanging drywall.

Your local public library has shelves full of books on gardening. Read everything, because that's how you acquire a good overview of the discipline, and as you get better at it, you can begin to choose for yourself what works for you.

Good mainstream websites are:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/

https://garden.org/

Any of the Mother Earth News articles online.

Any of the extension office articles online. You don't have to be living in their state, or even in the U.S., to read them.

If you can source a copy of this, it is awesome.

As is this.



**

>Are there any apps people are using that help with watering

There are no apps for watering. Any app for watering is lying to you and helping you kill your plant with overwatering. This is because you never water on a human, calendar, schedule, but only when it needs it, as determined by feeling the soil for dryness.


>any time-tested resources.

1. Local public library.
   
2. County extension office Master Gardeners. https://extension.osu.edu/lao

Your first year I suggest growing vegetables like paste tomatoes and some nice roasting peppers. Paprika is a particular variety of sweet or hot peppers that have been dried and ground to a powder. Usually the grocery stores sell 2 varieties: Hot or sweet. Another redditor recommended the Alma peppers for a nice paprika.

Before you plant a large, fussy but interesting, tree get some experience under your belt. Gardening can be expensive and some of the more exotic and interesting plants and trees come with a big price tag. You can quickly kill many dollars. I did that when I first started my garden (but with perennial flowers) so, I'm trying to stop you from making (what can be) a costly mistake.

The best place to start is to get to know your garden site's sun and soil. Does it drain well? Does it need amendments? Is it full sun, partial sun or full shade?

A really good way to go is to first read Gaia's garden and plant smart with permaculture.

A cool and interesting 1-season plant that likes full sun and a trellis is loofah gourds.

If you're looking for a vegetable gardening book, my favorite one is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It's got everything you need to know about successfully starting and growing a basic vegetable garden from scratch.

I think the best part about this book is that the methods explained in it are pretty much a fool-proof way of growing great plants the very first time. As you gain more first-hand experience, you can start to add, remove or tweak things that make will improve your garden even more.

i can personally attest to the benefits of building your garden this way. i think i pulled 2 weeds all season and my tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers and lettuce did great! i have already started next year's garden and can't wait to try a few new things! some added bonuses (other than not having to till) are that with this technique you don't have to disrupt the ecosystem under the soil and the cardboard actually draws the worms up into your garden, adding even more fertilizer. i will never build garden any other way! an excellent book that talks about this and other ways to create and work with a natural ecosystem is gaia's garden. it teaches you how to have a beautiful, useful yard/space with minimal work.

Gonna jump on your post here if it's ok...?

This guy's book was a really good read (sounds region-specific, but lots of good advice & I like it, at least the old edition I had from him - not my area but was a really good read nonetheless):

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=61475601532&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIko2K3s_H4wIVkMJkCh2TuQ0uEAAYASAAEgJTbPD_BwE&hvadid=274737938392&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1014167&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3854399460535581594&hvtargid=kwd-307473147769&hydadcr=22602_10370142&keywords=gardening+west+of+the+cascades&qid=1563767514&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Really good author for drilling basics into your head & always seems genuine (in the two books of his I've read in the past)

edit: he talks about soils and spacing quite a bit, at least in the older edition. Newbies would be well advised to check it out; not your garden-variety "more compost + unicorn manure + pretty pictures" gardening book 😉

This is an amazing book for learning what can fit where. Remember that it is more for advanced gardeners so start small. Use it as a guide on long term plans.

This is a great guide to low-cost or free soil creation/amendment It also has a great guide to growing almost every veggie/herb. It works amazingly as a substitution for the very expensive recommended soil in This great guide to planting closer together to avoid weeds

Some ideas for reducing water usage:

Sub-Irrigation (there are a great many ways to do this, this is just one)

Hugelkultur Looks like shit but creates an amazing wood "sponge" under your gardens. After 2 years you pretty much don't need to water again (if done correctly). You also get a constant stream of nutrients from the wood breaking down. It is possible to "contain" hugelkultur beds to create more of a "I mean to do this!" order so people don't think you are just piling shit up everywhere.

Apples are this way because the fruit takes the traits of both parents and most orchards use crabapples as the second parent. Other fruits and veggies act the same (squash is one that comes to mind). For these types of plants, in order to get a "pure" seed that isn't cross contaminated, you need to hand pollinate and then tie up the flower to avoid cross contamination. Or you have to separate varieties by as much as 400 feet.

Beans, on the other hand can cross pollinate but it doesn't happen often because pollination happens before the flower opens (since bean flowers are consider perfect, self-pollinators).

There are several books on seed saving and web resources that can tell you what seeds are the easiest to save and harvest and what seeds require more manual intervention. The most popular book on seed saving is Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition.

Baker Creek Herloom seeds has a very useful website. Under all of their plants they have reviews. Also if you go to their Facebook page they have a guy named Matt that teaches a lot about gardening on their live feeds. Also a good starter book that I enjoyed just staring out was [square foot gardening ](All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xoHRybVDJT2Y6)
And The [Vegetable Gardener's Bible ](The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, 2nd Edition: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions: Wide Rows, Organic Methods, Raised Beds, Deep Soil https://www.amazon.com/dp/160342475X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fpHRybBXSA45A) if you have any gardening questions you can PM if you would like and I would love to help.
Also I'll compile a list of my favorite resources for gardening.

It's not a field guide, but the Sunset Western Garden Book is pretty good for the west. I think there are versions of Sunset for the different regions, like East Coast Living and Southern Living. I'm sure they have a similar book that corresponds to wherever you live. And in case you happen to be in the Pacific Northwest, Pojar is pretty much the plant id bible, but it's not for gardens.

Altitude is a bitch. I remember getting a snow storm in June when I was a kid. Anyway, freak freezes are a fact of life at high altitudes - the good news is they come and go quickly and if you can just bump the temperature a little bit, many plants can make it through.

Maybe too late this time, but Wall o' Waters are a godsend.

Bedsheets, blankets or towels will work. In small beds like your petunia bed, tucking your babies in under a towel with a bottle of warm water in there should do the trick. You can cap individual plants with cups or dishes or whatever you have that fits. Cut the bottoms off milk jugs or soda bottles for ghetto cloches. If you have large beds or fruit trees that can't be covered, water well before the storm hits and hope for the best - keeping a sprinkler on all night is how farmers do it.

Actually, you should put the seeds in water for few days to ferment them. This removes a coating that inhibits germination, supposedly. Then continue as above.

Pole beans you should just be able to save. Make sure you're not planting hybrids of either plant, or your saved seed will give you unpredictable results.

This book is often recommended. I read it and it was helpful, and will be a really good reference for when I can actually start doing it. There are other factors to consider, such as cross pollination and such, and they're all covered here for each and every plant you could possibly want to grow.

Also... I read Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties and was fascinated. She touches on seed saving, and of course gets into cross pollination (on purpose this time!) and genetics and such. It was really exciting to read, in a total geek sort of way.

You pretty much have to read this book. It explains the basics of why our NW soil is unique (basically rain leaches our soil of many essential nutrients while leaving behind a heavy clay soil) and what to do (and not to do) about it. He's a little dogmatic but just breeze through it. It's on sale right now for less than $15 and a quick read. It also has a planting calendar. Portland Nursery also has a (PDF) planting calendar based on the book but if you compare the two you will notice differences.

I think you can seed tomatoes now indoors. Bottom line is that we get a lot of crappy weather and some years are "cabbage years", meaning tropical plants such as tomatoes won't thrive in our short-season climate. Start them indoors early, stagger your plantings\, and make sure to get local varieties selected for our region (the book covers all this).

Also consider indoor systems including hydroponics, especially for herbs and salad/leafy greens. With the amount of slugs and rain around here it's nice to have these available year round and they can be grown with cheap lights that use marginal electricity (as opposed to say growing tomatoes indoors which would use expensive lights).

If you grew tomatoes and corn successfully you're doing just fine. Good luck.

I planted 2 bushes in the spring here in NY. They get LOTS of sun (8+ day) and I water them deep with a soaker daily for about 20-30 min. I planted mine in deeply dug loamy soil which I mixed with fresh compost. They are growing like weeds and bearing fruit all summer so far. Dark green leaves.

So...I dunno what is going on with yours but maybe you can compare to what I’m doing and see if you’re doing anything different to troubleshoot? I got my tips from The Garden primer which I picked up years ago. Pretty good reference book, I’ve had success with her tips.

Short answer: Yes, Use compost tea.
Long Answer: This book

This article by Dr. Elaine Ingrahm is a pretty good intro to the process. She's one of the leading experts on the soil food web, and was essentially the inspiration for the above mentioned book.

Good luck!

Yep. The reason you will find so much conflicting data is because plants grow different in different places. Like, drastically differently, in some cases.

Your local extension will most likely have things most relevant to your area. Otherwise, I have really enjoyed this book because it gives good data, including soil temp and several different methods of plant spacing, trellising, etc. It may not be as detailed as you'd like because it often doesn't give root depth, but it will tell you the best soils, pH, and other helpful information in a well-organized format.

Gaia's Garden, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle are two great ones. Gaia's Garden regards permaculture and making your garden more in touch with what occurs in nature. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, while it is not a "Gardening" book, is a great read and was what inspired me to start a garden as soon as I moved out of my apartment to the country.

These two books helped me a ton! We have a fairly unique climate here that can be difficult at times. Basically sets you up for the best success each year. I love gardening! Happy to have another in our ranks!

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493331258&sr=8-1&keywords=west+of+the+cascades+gardening

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Anniversary/dp/1570619727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493331258&sr=8-1&keywords=west+of+the+cascades+gardening

I've seen on Amazon, as I did some light searching, these LED grow bulb setups. 45W grid of LEDS that are used for growing, at least from seed, indoors. I know you've recommended the flourescent tubes but what's your opinion on these? If it's similar to what you are saying where they keep growing all winter I could see it being a fair replacement to the tubes.

I only used the basement as an example as I do not have a garage and the only south face window which would get enough light exposure is right above a heating element which I have read could interfere with the plants. It also happens to be my dog's watch post, therefore I think the basement would be the best compromise. I will look into setting up the shop lights or perhaps if you are able to recommend, that LED setup.

You using this light?

Looks like you have it 12-16" above plants and a what... 3'x3' area for each one? I just built mine, but was considering getting more or getting a setup for when the big plants get bigger than the shelving would allow.

Looks like you have ~13 tomatos under one and ~17 tomatos/peppers under the other... how big will they get until you plant outside? Will those 2 lights be enough? (Just trying to figure out my own logistics)

I like the room though btw :)

First I would replace all the fixtures before the house burns down. You can replace with LEDs that take less power. You don't have to do it all at once. Get a couple to start. I would also move that outlet, water and electricity do not mix. Get a GFCI breaker installed for it too before doing anything. This may not even be up to code and if the house burns down, your insurance company will laugh at you when they see it as they won't have to pay you.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4C6R6L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

The rocks is easy, humidity. Plants love humidity and if you put water in the rocks and put trays on the rocks, you have lots of humidity. I would test this with a little water first as it may no longer be waterproof. You may have to put plastic under the rocks to patch it. Industrial garbage bags would work 55 gallon. You don't have to put tons of water in, just enough each day to keep moist.

If you've never started seeds, it isn't the fairytale of planting them and voila blooming plants just appear. You need bottom heat, you can buy pads for that. It would be best to start them elsewhere with the pads as, again, electricity and water don't mix. Once you have seedlings, you can put some water on the rocks and turn on the lights for 16 hours a day. I use 5-1-1 fish emulsion for fertilizing them. I would go on You Tube, if I were you, to see how to start seeds, videos are worth a million words.

ONE more thing, get the electrical in your house inspected. From what I see so far, I am not confident in other projects that may be throughout the house.

Upvote for the Ozarks! My gf and I just got back from a camping trip on the Jacks Fork River in the Missouri Ozarks. We go down there multiple times every year for floats and fishing. Simply breathtaking.

I used smart pots last year. I learned it's hard (read: impossible) to over-water them if your soil drains well. It's great when we get too much rain but a chore when you have to remember daily supplemental watering during dry spells. I'm currently still using smart pot's big bag bed. It's pretty nifty if you want a raised bed that is removable.

Mel's book is great. However, I think he's very optimistic about spacing. It may be theoretically possible to plant things at those intervals, but a new garden plot needs a few years to develop the biodiversity it needs to achieve peak productivity.

I didn't use much other than Mel's book my first year. I think Teaming With Microbes is essential reading. If you understand soil, you'll understand your plants. Building Soils Naturally is also a good one and it's a little less dry.

I'll also say that Mel's "soil mix" did not work well for me at all. I don't have abundant sources of organic matter available, so I took his suggestion to mix 5 types of store-bought compost. I don't think commercial compost is a sufficient replacement for the homemade stuff. Perhaps if you mix it together with a small amount of homemade compost and let it decay for awhile, it would be better.

That said, plenty of people have success following Mel's book to a T, so your mileage may vary.

I have two sugar pumpkin seedlings, about 5 inches apart, in a six-inch-deep mound. They're doing well and I'd like to keep them both, but do they need more space to make it work? They're in a Big Bag Bed filled with Black Gold organic potting mix. I have two cowpea plants and a zucchini plant in the same bed, all of which are doing well also. It seems like there's room to maneuver.

All of the above were grown from seed. I'm really, really new at this, so any tips/advice/snark will be appreciated.

a good way to get into vegetable gardening is to try square foot gardening. you do not have to use a fancy raised bed, it can be made with cinderblocks but the methods are great for a beginner since it is all outlined in this book. Mel Bartholomew has a proven method that is easy to follow and does not require much in the way of supplies other than soil and seeds.

As a fellow newbie gardener, I can strongly recommend Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch as a useful reference book. It's been hugely informative for me. It has general sections on amending soil, fertilising, correct watering, etc, and then specific sections for Veges, Fruits, Flowers, Shrubs, etc. Just a stack of good, easy-to-read information.

After following some of the advice from Damrosch (and, of course, /r/gardening) my tomatoes are already twice the height of last year's, and it's only early spring in Australia :)

I'm installing a drip irrigation system this year, and so far the brand most recommended is Raindrip (I believe it is a similar price, but I was told it holds up better, so that is what I am planning on using. I haven't done it yet though, so I can't vouch for it.) I use large planters instead of beds, but here is the link to the amazon product for planters. I think home depot/lowes sells it as well, and there are other configurations/kits the same brand sells for beds/large areas. You do run a regular hose to the system, but I like the idea of a timer if I am out of town. And you can buy extra drips for added water or an extension hose to the same bed.

https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R560DP-Automatic-Container-Hanging/dp/B00J2NRUBI

What you really want to ask is how many Watts per square meter (or square foot). If your garden bed is large, you'll need more light. And light that doesn't hit the garden doesn't count.

Something like this covers about 4'x4' with pretty good brightness. With all the LEDs pointing at the plants, this will be far more effective than a LED grow bulb in a typical household lighting fixture.

It all depends on what you're trying to achieve.

You're concern is on par. If you only keep seeds that are from late in the season it's possible you might end up with pepper plants that put off late fruit. I generally try to save seeds from the best looking and tasting fruit all season.

One big question: Are you growing more than one variety of pepper or tomato? If so, and you did not take precautions to make sure they did not cross-pollinate, you will likely end up with a variety other than what you planted. Doesn't mean you can't save the seed, but don't expect those plants to be your main crop producers next year.

Check out the book Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. It is the best resource on seed saving I've ever read.
http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581

Here is a good starter book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484
You can use this method for small containers that you put on your balcony.

And a good reference book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603424768

Good luck!

Hi 'zon.com/gp/product/B07B4C6R6L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4C6R6L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

​

The rocks is easy, humidity. Plants love humidity and if you put water in the rocks and put trays on the rocks, you have lots of humidity. I would test this with a little water first as it may no longer be waterproof. You may have to put plastic under the rocks to patch it. Industrial garbage bags would work 55 gallon. You don't have to put tons of water in, just enough each day to keep moist.

If you've never started seeds, it isn't the fairytale of planting them and voila blooming plants just appear. You need bottom heat, you can buy pads for that. It would be best to start them elsewhere with the pads as, again, electricity and water don't mix. Once you have seedlings, you can put some water on the rocks and turn on the lights for 16 hours a day. I use 5-1-1 fish emulsion for fertilizing them. I would go on You Tube, if I were you, to see how to start seeds, videos are worth a million words.

ONE more thing, get the electrical in your house inspected. From what I see so far, I am not confident in other projects that may be throughout the house.', im DAD.

If you're really interested in soil science, there's a fantastic book called Teeming with Microbes: http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

If you want just practical info, Cornell has some excellent resources. PDF links:

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostingathome.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostbrochure.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/nuisance.pdf

Ah I see. Well here are some things on my list, I think it's different from gardener to gardener.

seed starter with heat

Kevlar sleeves for prickly plants and tomatoes that make me itch

seed stamp for planting

square foot gardening book

knee pads

garden clogs

gloves I go through gloves like crazy!

plant markers

gardening set just some basic tools

bucket organizer

of course there are lots of other things that you might want like seeds, tomato cages, kits for building your own raised beds they are all available from amazon, so it really depends on what you like and want to grow. I don't know if this helps you any? Maybe plan out your garden and what you want to grow then you'll know what you need?

Sorry to be a jerk but my lawn tip would be to not get one. A common water-wise plan I've seen in your area is groupings of agaves, aloes or other succulents set against a sharp stone mulch (not the 70s lava rock). It looks really nice, it's low to no maintenance and a responsible use of water. Many people have palms which look fancy/exotic and are appropriate for the area. You could also go with native plants (great on water) to get a nice habitat going and attract birds and pollinators.

I'd recommend getting The Sunset Western Garden Book. It has a really easy way of identifying which plants are suitable to which areas. Even if you decide on a lawn, you might want a decorative border for ascetics or to reduce the lawn size.

EDIT: My bad, I didn't know that thing would pop up. It's a bit unsightly.

I made the same mistake as you last year, starting peas indoors. When it finally got warm enough to plant them outdoors, I only got like 3 pods off each plant because they were doing so poorly. When is your frost free date? if it is within two weeks I would just leave them like that (without the lid as mentioned by everyone else) and stick'em in the ground.

Do you have "kozy koats" or those little insultators you fill with water to plant early outside? these are the ones I have, I find they really help when I am trying to plant early!

thanks for your help !!!! I'm almost convinced to get Fluorescent... It looks like T8 fixtures are cheaper than t5. There is one for $18.48 but then then the bulbs only come in a two pack.. if I buy a set of warm white and a set of cool white then that would be about $20, at $10 per double pack. So if I have just one 2 bulb fixture and 4 lights, i may as well get another fixture so I don't have any leftover lights. So - 2 fixtures and 2 packs of lights it comes to about $57.

Now these LED ones I found are not as strong as the 300W ones, and seems that people use them for house plants. They are about $30 for one But there was another seller offering 2 for $55.

My only concern is judging from the grammar errors on the amazon listing, these LED seem to be from foreign manufacturers and they don't say anywhere on the page if they are UL listed like the Florescent lamps are - so I have to assume these lamps are not and reviews say they get hot so I really don't want one of these to burn my house down.

So, knowing they're both the same cost what would you do??? Florescent or LED? Or can I just get 1 pack of full spectrum bulbs and one florescent light?

You might consider what kind of gardener you want to be more philosophically, too.

Do you want to grow a food ecosystem? Permaculture is your thing - Gaia's Garden would be a good book for you

https://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Guide-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298/

Do you need compact lazy-persons garden? Square Foot Gardening

"Square Foot Gardening" (Beginners Guide) as a start.

Like the idea of a themed garden like u/SedatedApe61 recommended? Groundbreaking Food Gardens has loads of ideas along those lines

https://www.amazon.com/Groundbreaking-Food-Gardens-Change-Garden/dp/161212061X/

There are as many ways to garden as gardeners. Finding the plants that suit both your location and your style of gardening goes a long way.

I'm sorry, I saw your title in /r/gardening and thought what a great topic!! I couldn't wait to share how important I thought it was for a book to be targeted at a reader's local climate/soil conditions were, and I wanted to share what I had found for the Portland area in "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" . Then I saw the "perennial flowers" and I'm a bit confused. Find a local nursery they and will sell what will grow in your area and since you aren't going to eat it, feed it with miracle grow or what ever you want to.

If she want's to grow organic perennial's for some reason. The vegtable books should work too.

> ...with some of our plants like peppers and zuchinni, I feel like we could've done better.

I’m a little further north from you (Cascade foothills, NE of Seattle) but the best twenty or so bucks I ever spent was on a copy of Steve Solomon’s Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (Amazon link.) Peppers can be tough in our climate (not enough heat units) but if you’re struggling with zucchini you might need to up your game.

I don’t recollect how much Solomon delves into raised beds, but most of the concepts can be applicable to most gardening methods, if you’re OK with reading.

I test the soil in my gardening bed. I'm too scared to test the rest of my yard's soil, hah. This is the tester I use-- it's pretty fun!

The first year I found out my soil was low in Nitrogen so I amended with blood meal. This year I only amended with composted manure and things seem pretty happy.

Highly recommend reading Teaming with Microbes [1] for those interested in how plants actually take up nutrients and fixate nutrients in the soil. Bacteria and fungi are actually your best "companions" in the garden.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

I would suggest a general "How to garden" type book like The Garden Primer and a reference for different plants/methods like Rodale's Organic Gardening Encyclopedia. I got both of these used for like $10 from Alibris.com.

Really there's too much info to do gardening justice in a few blurbs. If you're serious you'll spend a few bucks on a lot of knowledge.

You should check out Gaia's Garden or a similar permaculture book. As others have said, there's ways to protect your plants without relying on herbicides or weed pulling! :)

Namely, what I've read is that you should plant cover crops that will fight your weeds for you.

Good luck and grats on the baby!

I've found Barbara Damrosch's book "The Garden Primer" to be very helpful as a new gardener. Very comprehensive - all sorts of plants, tools, layout, seed catalog listings, just great.

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Primer-Second-Barbara-Damrosch/dp/0761122753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475111654&sr=8-1&keywords=garden+primer+barbara+damrosch

I recommend the avocado boats they sell on amazon. I pupped the seed in, and left it in water for three months, changing the water every week. Of 3, 2 usually sprouted :)) We had to move unfortunately, so I never got to see if my avocado plant that I gave to my mother in law managed to settle in its pot. Best of luck!
Here is the link for the boats, I usually let mind grow to about 2 feet in the boat before transplanting.

https://www.amazon.com/AvoSeedo-Avocado-Evergreen-Perfect-Growing/dp/B014IMZ6ZY

To add a bit to this, one of the most common mistakes in new growers is over watering.

Like Grandmagos said, poke down about half an inch or an inch into the soil and check it's consistency before watering. If it's moist then leave it alone.

If you're really worried about it you can invest in an automatic watering system ($10 or so). I've used these types with good success, but you need to clean them out good every few months.

Haha - here is some additional information.

1. It's a 45 W LED Light - https://www.amazon.com/UNIFUN-Growing-Hydroponic-Aquatic-Indoor/dp/B01F53LP46/
   
2. Window faces south gets half days worth of direct sunlight
   
3. It's a bush tomato plant (Bush Boy)
   
4. It's standard miracle grow potting soil
   
5. Using miracle grow plant food - mixed into water once a week
   
6. Watering every other day, when top of soil is dry-ish
   
7. Yes, there is a hole at the bottom of the container but it has never drained.

Well I can say with some confidence that you're overwatering it. It's allowed to get a little dry on the soil surface. Tomatoes like it moist, not wet, so a good rule of thumb is always to water when you feel it dry about an inch into the soil (like stick your finger in). Tomatoes do need water, yes, but they also need oxygen and drowning won't allow them to "breathe". You also risk washing out nutrients needed by watering so much. Think of a sponge. You want the roots to be as moist as a wrung out sponge - still moist but not dripping from holding all that water in it.

Without looking too much into it (there are many number of things that can affect a plant and sometimes similar symptoms will have completely different causes), I would take a guess that it's a nutrient deficiency. If you've got other plants, it might be fun/worth it to get one of these kits to test it.

In lieu of that, since you're probably using standard potting soil from Home Depot which is usually fine I'd say re-pot it and stick to a slower watering schedule. Also don't forget to fertilize regularly and watch out for various insects throughout its growth.

I used some of these for an indoor setup with good success. Like u/LilPineapple69 said, maybe you could use a few in your greenhouse.

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades has been an extremely valuable resource for me. This year is my first doing serious gardening (in Portland) and having region-specific advice is great.
https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349

I got the drip line that's a drip every 6 inches. In my raised bed that's 2 x 12 ft, I had three lines of the drip line going down the bed. The automatic timer had the drips going 15 minutes twice a day. The automatic drip line + mulch on top made the garden totally easy and worked great for me since I don't get a chance to do any gardening during the work week due to long hours and a long commute.

Automatic Watering System ($35): https://smile.amazon.com/Raindrip-R560DP-Automatic-Container-Hanging/dp/B00J2NRUBI

Drip Line 6-inch spacing ($17): https://smile.amazon.com/100-Feet-Irrigation-Hydroponics-Dripline-Emitter/dp/B0746837DL

Straw Mulch ($21): https://smile.amazon.com/EZ-Straw-Seeding-Mulch-Tack/dp/B00GRSV936

For a light I love these MarsHydro Mars 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum ETL Certification Lighting for Hydroponic Indoor Greenhouse Garden Plants Growing 132W True Watt Panel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XC3LBI2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UOkEzbEW2ZGQ5

Thank you for sharing! That is really impressive growth. I hope my plants get that large when I am ready to start them. (Zone 5A currently getting lows at -20F). I have never heard of that type of light, seems to work really well for you and they are on sale so I might have to try one. I wonder if I have one of those but still my other lights if there would be an issue, or if I would just use the mars one.

Also the comments from people on imgur really get on my nerves at times.

I've been using Big Bag Beds with great results. They are on their second season and have survived one flood.
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Pots-Big-Fabric-Raised/dp/B007BVKDZI/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1427347315&sr=1-1&keywords=Big+bag+bed

i love home automation but i don't think i'll ever automate my plants watering. we leave for up to 3 weeks at a time and usually just put an inch of water in the bottom of the tub and put the plants in there. haven't lost a plant yet. there's also solutions like these watering spikes

if its your first house can i suggest a couple books?


http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Second-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278971308&sr=1-1

or



Intro to Permaculture by Mill Mollison
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Permaculture-Bill-Mollison/dp/0908228082


p.s. pssssst... get rid of the lawn and put in something useful and beautiful.

Does she work organic? I found the book Teaming with microbes very enlightening and intriguing. This is a book that's rather short and may take your organic gardening "to the next level". I don't know if everything in it is true and I'm also suspicious because it has this ever so slight new-wavy ideologic ("movement") feel to it, but I still think there's a lot to be learned from it.

Otherwise, going to the next level, whether organic or not, requires reading the basics in any standard 1k-page gardening book and then looking up the requirements of each plant. Literally: Any standard gardening book will have some chapters devoted to the basics of soil and plant nutrition (pH being one factor). For the individual plants, there are several invaluable internet databases that cover more than you ever wanted to know, although knowing the latin name helps tremendously.

So what I meant to say ... there's already a tremendous amount of information readily available for next to no cost at various levels of organisation. Will she make the effort to find and absorb it?

>Looks like you may be watering it too much. Over-watering will also cause the leaves to wilt. Some people see the wilt, and water more. THIS KILLS THE PLANT.

I think the wilting might be because the plant has grown far too large for the pot that it's in.

The plant has been watered by the exact same siphon system forever and it's been fine. Something like this -- is that OK?

I'll try the rest of the advice, thanks!

My understanding is that 1) it takes a while for the plant to start taking up the calcium, and 2) the conditions that cause blossom end rot actually set in weeks prior to fruit set.

So with this trick, you really want to do it early (assuming their is even a calcium deficiency in the first place.) I know folks who put a tablet in each planting hole when they transplant! But perhaps a treatment mid-season could alleviate the issue a few weeks later?

Before doing stuff like this, I recommend that people get a soil testing kit. They're cheap and easy to use, and will tell you if your soil really is deficient in certain nutrients or if it's another problem. Blossom end rot is more often not about a lack of calcium, it's that the tomato can't take up what calcium is there due to other factors.

My Bible is [The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch)(https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Primer-Second-Barbara-Damrosch/dp/0761122753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483907078&sr=8-1&keywords=the+garden+primer+second+edition) What I like about her book is she describes the soil needs for each plant and detailed growing instructions. My copy is covered in dirt from trying to find out how to grow items from Tomatoes to Zinnias. Check it out. It's just the best to have around.

I bought this book recently because I wanted to learn this exact thing. I recommend it it’s really good

I agree, it's either that they're over-watered, malnourished, or both. If they're over-watered, the roots aren't getting any oxygen. They need to drink, but they need to breathe, too. If they sit in water, they rot.

This soil test is a good investment if they don't perk up from less frequent watering. It'll tell you what kind of fertilizer you need.

I was in a similar predicament last month and after reviewing DIY options decided I couldn't do it more cost effectively (or consistently) as a kit. I found this kit below and use it to water twenty containers, mostly herbs and a few vegetables.

Raindrip R560DP Automatic Container and Hanging Baskets Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J2NRUBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wLjgzbS1PD6EQ

Edit: 8A here as well!

We just bought a bunch of these to keep our patio garden alive for 9 days later this month. With the Texas heat, I'll admit I'm a little worried. We are doing a test run on our kale right now. Hoping everything survives! What system did you use while away?

Here's one thorough option

I also recommend checking out your local library, they usually have a good selection.

I bought a cheap test kit in Amazon to test pH, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Test Kit for Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DI845/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_XkaL8boa6FELc

For fertilizer, I like the Ecoscraps brand and it seems to work well.

Seed to Seed is an excellent reference.

You could have one nice big light, or a couple of smaller ones. Depends on how long you are going to grow indoors, and your budget.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BFPBBD6 This fixture
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXLSEJ8 with six of these, would result in 4800 lumens.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721TG86M here you have 5000 lumens


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XC3LBI2 you could do this one, but the light is terrible to live in.


https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/hlg-65 And this would be your best option. 10.000 lumens.


​

When I first became interested in gardening, my mom recommended the Sunset Western Garden Book. She said everything she knows about plants she learned from that book.

Well, four that I can think of off the top of my head would have to be:

• The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook
  
• Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
  
• All New Square Foot Gardening
  
• The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
  
  Also, here's a channel on YouTube that has an ENDLESS amount of organic gardening information. GrowingYourGreens

My wife bought square foot gardening and has been getting decent results playing around the last couple years. We’ve had tomatoes, kale, spinach, cucumbers, squash, eggplant...bunch of herbs, micro greens, etc. built 2 3X9 beds from materials purchased at Home Depot and pretty much followed that guys advice.

Edit: She says we are like 7A/6B so should be similar. The only thing that failed was corn because we didn’t have enough space to plant enough to make it work.

If you want a book Seed to Seed is a good one to go with. There are even sections for specific plants.

> Gaia's Garden

First search result is some woo-woo New-Agey crap site. I think this is what you meant? Looks like a very good book. May have to pick it up.

My favorite: Teaming with Microbes

http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

I have a bunch of these:

Smart Pots Big Bag Bed Fabric Raised Bed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007BVKDZI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BsDPybRZ43WFQ

I also have many 25 gallon containers.

I might do raised beds next year, however for now I want to stick to large containers.

My fave is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch

1. Does your raised bed have a wood bottom? It should not. Roots need to go down deeper.
   
2. Please look into the book Square Foot Gardening. It really helps with layout, and other issues, for beginners.
   
3. You MUST water your veggies every day temps reach 80F. If the leaves are wilted, they are under a lot of stress and are begging for water.
   
   

Books I've found helpful:

Sunset Western Garden Book:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Western-Garden-Book-Gardening/dp/0376039205

Gardening the Mediterranean Way by Heidi Gildemeister:
https://www.amazon.com/Gardening-Mediterranean-Way-Waterwise-Drought-Tolerant/dp/0810956004/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475164210&sr=1-3&keywords=heidi+gildemeister

Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R560DP-Automatic-Container-Hanging/dp/B00J2NRUBI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498138710&sr=8-2&keywords=automatic+watering+system+for+potted+plants

Square Foot Gardening.

Whoa! One or the other. One of the biggest reasons people drop out of gardening as a hobby is that they start with too much - too big a plot, too ambitious a plan. Start small.

These are the types I have used for my lawn (small pill that you dump into water you've mixed with the soil and left sit over night, then match the colors). They worked very well. However, I am a big fan of getting your local university extension office to test your soil. Most of them do it fairly cheaply (or for free).

http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Edition/dp/1591865484

He's pulling those proportions and ingredients directly from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Edition/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374074184&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening

https://www.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Square foot gardening is a game changer. Your local library will have a copy, and it's a quick read. A very small square foot garden plot (which you have space for) fed 2 of us all season.

That's him. And I've been informed it's 10 years since I set this garden up using his book.

www.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536030570&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=all+new+square+foot+gardening+2nd+edition&dpPl=1&dpID=61WJIemI

One of two books I keep on my shelf at all times. The other is this.

Have a go at Gaia's garden, home scale permaculture design.

It's the textbook in this permaculture class.

Dave Jacke's book:
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Forest-Gardens-2-set/dp/1890132608

Gaia's Garden:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603580298/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687542&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1890132608&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DKFRRSMRZE5HP5F3XDB

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Test Kit for Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DI845/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZL3vDb8Z2TNZ2

My wife used the AvoSeedo it work on our first try.
We now have a 2 foot tall avocado house plant.

I have a few of these for my plants while they stay inside for the winter. My key limes and custard apple all have new leaves and started to bloom.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F53LP46/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ditch that strip and go with these

Or you could buy a simple soil test kit for like, $15 at you're local gardening store. Or even just look up nutrient deficiency symptoms. For instance- I can tell you with 100% certainty that this is NOT a nitrogen deficiency, because those deficiencies show only in older leaves, and the young leaves here are affected as well. However, it could be a magnesium deficiency.

Adding amendments just to see if they help is not only wasteful, but can be very detrimental to the environment. There are plenty of ways to make more informed choices. If it is, in fact, salt burn- then OP could actually make matters worse by fertilizing.

Yep. And in order to comply with Rule#2, I use a pitchfork to fold mulch/compost into the clay. We had no earthworms (that I ever saw) when we started gardening. Fork up the soil the following year after mixing wood mulch into the clay and every forkload of soil has a juicy fat earthworm in it. Using a pitchfork is not only a much easier way of turning the soil (as opposed to using a shovel), but it also prevents the earthworms from being accidently lopped in half.

Edit: interesting anecdote gleaned from Teaming with Microbes: earthworms hate forests because of the high acidity soil microculture there.

You may run into trouble if you're growing F1 hybrids, as their seeds won't come true to type. However, you WILL NOT have the species you listed cross-pollinate each other. They are separate and distinct species. If you were to grow several varieties of the same species you would risk cross-pollination. It is incredibly rare that different species will cross, and often do not form viable seeds anyway.

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties By Carol Deppe and Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth should be your bibles if you want to start saving your own seed, and understanding what is happening.

I install drip professionally fairly often and this seems pretty chincy to me. It all depends on what you plan to do with it but I wouldn't plan on watering anything more than a few small plants with that. The other thing to note with cheap no name kits is the tubing and connector quality will most likely be total junk and a giant pain to work with.

You'd be better off going to your local big box store and getting one of those rainbird kits that come with a time for not much more.

Like so
https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R560DP-Automatic-Container-Hanging/dp/B00J2NRUBI/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=TEILRURRI2SO&keywords=drip+irrigation+kit&qid=1555132578&s=gateway&sprefix=Drip+&sr=8-6