Garden 2020

So I have learned some things gardening this year.  I wanted to grow peppers this year.  We have not had luck with them in the past.  I mistakenly thought the plants could survive as long as it is above freezing.  It turns out anything under 45 degrees will kill them and they don't like to be under 50 degrees.  Don't start them until the lows are over 50 degrees.  We will see if  the tomatoes survived.  they appear to be a little more resilient.  Anything under 45 degrees with them is not a good idea either.  Used old dirt on the very north plant.  Used new mix on the very west.  Not strong and not good.  I placed chicken manure on the very bottom.  I don't like chicken manure.  I read that if it is 90 days old you are ok to use, but then many sources say you have to  compost for a year or you are at risk of samanila poisoning.

For peppers 3 gallons are good.  Peat moss is good.  Need drainage hole in the bottom of your pots.
Growing in the ground should be 1/3 peat moss.
Don't need to feed them until they are bigger.  Only plant peppers at the soil line.
Peppers will need support if growing bell pepper, especially not in pots.

Tomatoes: 16 inches wide and a foot deep.  Space holes two feet apart.
5/15/2020- I buried three plants 5/7/2020 and one week later they look like they have not grown.  The same thing happened last year.  The first two weeks they did nothing.  Then they took off.  Probably takes a while to get over the shock of being buried.

I made a couple of mistakes:  1)  I planted the 4 plants that came into one container in one big pot.  Next time one plant per container.  2)  I planted the garden when it was to cold and killed the plants.  Then I planted when it was unseasonably hot.  Don't plant if it is 94 degrees in May.  Wait for it to cool down.

My tomato plants were not robust until around 6/19/2020.  Some died because I transplanted them wrong.  Also, In May, the weather was cold then hot then cold.  Think about not planting until June 1st.  Peppers are doing well but it is a struggle.  Think about buying a stake that you can stake them to.  Also the clips things seem good to get on amazon.

7/15/2020 Tomatoes starting to form.  They seem to form the most on plants that have been pruned.
7/20/2020 Picked 1 Portugal and jalapeno pepper.  However, some of the plants such as Tabasco are flowering, but no vegetable to date.

Place one 8 foot post in ground.  Do single vine pruning- only allow one vine to grow up post.  Prune everything else. September 1st, stop single vine pruning and let it grow out.

Have a group that get pruned to one or two gauges so they can ripen earlier than the rest of the group.

Tomatoes started getting ripe 8/20;  Have a few 8/27;  tons of peppers;

Tons of f at 8/27, the stuff eliminates all of them, but if you don't have that and working you will get over run.