Guide to planting fruits/veggies in pots.

Thanks Abaddon. Actually I had planted everything in pots/seedling trays to begin with. After they sprouted, I put the plants in the ground or in bigger pots. I don't think I loosened the soil - you're probably right as the soil is quite 'hard' in the ground here - only the top layer is looser.... so I gave up and found it easier to plant in pots anyway. As for the pumpkin, I've decided to try growing them in the ground so let's see how that works out!

I believe pumpkin seeds can be directly planted in the ground or large pot. I have not grown pumpkin before and this season I am growing sweet dumpling pumpkins, but they are small compared to the big pumpkins. As for your carrots you planted in the ground before-- did you loosen up the soil and pat it back down lightly before planting the seeds? The soil may have been packed down too much to where the carrot roots couldn't grow.

Hi ladies - was hoping to get some advice. Am a VERY inexperienced wannabe organic veggie grower :) I have planted some seeds in tiny pots recently which have started to sprout nicely. Some of them are pumpkin seeds and the plants are already quite large so I want to transfer them to a bigger spot. Has anyone grown pumpkins here before? Do I transplant them directly into huge pots (as I assume they need large space) or into smaller pots first? Can they be put directly into the ground here? In the past, when I did try to plant some veggies directly into the ground, it did not really grow too well - I had carrots that looked ready, but when I pulled them out, they had only gotten thicker, but not grown past an inch or so (the ones in the pots did much better) - so I would rather use pots, but am not sure if pumpkins will grow in pots and if so, do they need to be really huge?

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abaddon just emailed you Eli1979 how can i get in touch with you directly?

Fine by me as well!!

Shumahmed, that sounds good to me! <em>edited by Abaddon on 20/10/2011</em>

hi Abbadon and Eli1979 What time suits you girls? Anytime morning is fine for me but it still tends to get hot from 11 onwards...i was thinking 10? Do let me know asap. Also, are there any others who may be interested? Shumaila

Hi girls, I am just quickly logging in as I have been very busy these days but next week should be better. Did not even have time to plant out my seedlings :( it's going to be a disaster. RE harlequin flower - the packet was a gift when I ordered some seeds from Bakker. The package says Mixed colors so u get a bit of everything. We can arrange one day whenever/wherever it's fine for all of you.

Is the greens out by ibn battuta? I dont know if I will make it... unless it is way before or after rush hour traffic... otherwise its sometimes **** getting home from that direction... I live all the way in the other direction :)

Hi Abbadon I'll pass on the smart pots for now- need to spend money on drip irrigation instead. My San Marzano's actually had a 99% germination rate. Happy to share seeds with you. I am also quite clueless about strawberries but i know that i have got alpine strawberries that flower and fruit within a season. They are much smaller than store strawberries but apparently quite tasty. I haven't planted them yet but i have heard that germination rates can be quite poor. I am thinking of doing a seed planting party type thing probably on the last day of October. I live in the greens. will you be up for it? Let me know!

Eli1979, I am very interested in the Harlequin Flower bulbs! Do you know what color they are by the way? I haven't gone through every variety of your flowers yet though :)

shumahmed, I order them from smartpots.com if you would like, I can hold off a couple days and order some with you (I can order them and you pay me later) and we can split the shipping cost (I can bring them to you when we swap seeds) orders up to $100 shipping is $22 from $100-$200 it is $30 and from $200 and up it is $38 If you don't order that many I will charge shipping accordingly... meaning not completely split in half. :) I alone will have about $100 worth of pots to order... maybe even a little more. Also, as for seeds, I am worried about my San Marzano varieties.. they just aren't doing well... I re-started some but I am out of the San Marzano Redorta seeds now and only 2 have germinated so far (its been 8 days now) I would like some of your San Marzano seeds please...and the strawberry seeds :) I am confused about the strawberry seeds... I have to research some more... some take many many months before they produce strawberries while others produce after about 4 months or so. Then some produce continuously, while others produce a batch at once, and then a couple months later produce another batch.. ha ha ha Also, just so you know, I will travel from November 4th thru the 11th. So if the smart pots don't come before I would have to wait to get them to you after my trip. The last time I ordered Smart Pots, they arrived 11 days after I ordered them :) edited by Abaddon on 19/10/2011 <em>edited by Abaddon on 19/10/2011</em>

hey Abbadon No I have never grown strawberries here before. WIll plant the seeds tomorrow i think.. Where do u get these fabric pots from? Shumaila dubaiveggrowers.blogspot.com

I am going to grow everything in fabric pots named Smart Pots. All up on my roof :) I am ordering even more of the pots because I went a little seed crazy...I always go to a website intending only to buy one kind of seed and I end up buying more :P shumahmed, did you grow the alpine strawberries here before? How long do they take from seed to the first ripe batch? I will let you know once my eggplant seeds arrive! :D Eli1979, have you grown your watermelon varieties? Do they only produce 1 watermelon per vine? <em>edited by Abaddon on 18/10/2011</em>

Eli1979 I am definitely interested in some basil seeds and also the egyptian pea vine may be.... Abaddon I would love some of your rosa bianca seeds.. Btw, most of my seeds are from http://www.evergreenseeds.com/ and http://www.organiccatalogue.com/catalog/ A lot of them are actually organic seeds.. Let me know which ones you would like...

Hi I have been out of the loop for a while sorry I've got Green chilli Indian jwala Thai chilli AUbergine bharta star Aubergine anamika Aubergine violet price adzuki beans spinach silverbeet spinach new zealand Courgette Nero di Milan Tomato San Marzano Tomato Moneymaker Pepper Sweet Pimiento Salsa Strawberry Alpine Cucumber Marketmore Cut n come again Italian salad mix Chinese Cabbage tropic star baby corn broccoli wok brocc bunching onion From Pakistan Cauliflower White Cabbage Bell Pepper Bitter Gourd Bottle Gourd White radish Armenian cucumber Btw, r u guys doing your stuff in pots?

Eli1979, I might be interested in some of your flowers.... I will look them up =) I don't think I can add another veggie to my growing list lol

just check my previous post which has been updated. Thanks

Here is my seed list (most are from the US) some varieties I have more seeds than others so some I might only be able to give away a few and others I can give away a lot (depending on how many people want any of the varieties). Also, as I have planted several of each tomato varieties I am growing, if I get any excess that are succsessful, I will have established plants ready to give away as well-I will mark the varieties with a * (My first batch I germinated aren't doing too well so I re-started on the 10th.. it will take a about 6-8 weeks I think until I will be ready to know if I have any to give away) I am including the sites I got them from so you can look them up if you are interested Tomatoes (I will list variety and color) --from tomatofest.com: Determinate varieties: (only grow up to around 3' tall and produce tomatoes once--not necessarily all at once-- and then dies): Siletz- red (haven't tried these) Homestead 24- red (taste like regular store bought tomatoes) Fargo- yellow (very cute small pear shaped tomatoes but flavor was kind of bland) Indeterminates (grows tall and keeps producing throughout the growing season-- until the weather kills them) Marianna's Peace- pink-red Paul Robeson- black Ananas Noir- black Amana Orange- orange *Kellogg's Breakfast- orange Great White- palest of yellow *Green Giant- Green Hezou- came as a free pack but there is no info on this one..I think its red. **although I don't have anymore seeds I can give away, I have planted several seeds of two varieties I may be able to give away as established plants if they are successful. these are (from tomatfest.com as well): *San Marzano Redorta *Super San Marzano More tomatoes from glecklerseedmen.com(all indeterminates) *Orange Minsk - orange *Burning Spear- golden shoulders, deepening to orange on bottom Brandywine Sudduths- pink Carrots (all from kitazawaseedcompany.com) Lunar White- white Solar Yellow- yellow Atomic Red- Red Kyoto Red- Red (while all the others mature in 60-some days, this one takes 120 days!) Eggplant (all from tomatogrowers.com in the USA)--all are non-bitter varieties Fairytale Hybrid- lavender with white stripes Listada de Gandia- purple and white stripes Rosa Bianca- lavender and white Rosita- pink-lavender (cross between a white variety and Black Beauty) Round Mauve- rosy-lavender Zucchini or Courgette-all from (johnnyseeds.com) Costata Romanesca- medium gray-green *only half the yield of hybrid varieties (but considered the best tasting) --noted for their heavy male blossoms- great if you like to eat the blossoms. This will be my first time growing zucchini so I am excited to try them! Beets (all from johnnyseeds.com) Touchstone Gold- orange Bull's Blood- deep red with candy striping I can't wait to taste the varieties I am growing this season! <em>edited by Abaddon on 16/10/2011</em>

Eli1979, wow! thats a lot of seed varieties :) I am going a bit overboard with how much I want to plant I think for a newbie but I hope it goes well! My sister said she will send my eggplant and zucchini seeds today so they will take around a week to 10 days to arrive. I will post my list later this evening =)

I can't seem to find the previous thread in which I was complaining about my strawberry plants not doing well? Has it been deleted ??!!

If you are interested in anything let me know ;)

Hi. I am editing my post in order to add the seed company as Abbadon mentioned you might be interested in checking them out. Most of my seeds are italian and the big majority heirloom varieties. GEO and Demeter seeds are Organic. Alta Selezione - http://www.greenparadise.eu/index.html Franchi Sementi -http://www.seedsofitaly.com/ http://www.franchisementi.it/chisiamo.html Burpee (American)- http://www.burpee.com/ Yates (Australian)- http://www.yates.com.au/ VARIETY BRAND Basil Italian Classico - Alta Selezione Beans Green Dwarf - Landen Dwarf Snap Beans - Yates Butternut Pumpkin - Yates Cabbage Chinese Kwang Moon - Yates Cabbage Capuccio Mercado CPH - Franchi Sementi Camomilla Comune - Alta Selezione Campanula carpatica blu - Landen Carrot Baby - Yates Carrot Berlicum 2 - Franchi Chickpeas Garbanzo Courgette Zuboda - Demeter Cucumber Beth Alpha - Franchi Eggplant Black Beauty- Franchi Eggplant Violetta Lunga 2- Franchi Egyptian Pea Vine Dolichos -Burpee Fiori Rampicanti multicolour -Alta Selezione Harlequin Flower (Bulbs)- Bakker Hot pepper -Gardenia Ipomea Campanele rampicanti -Landen Ipomea Rampicante multicolour -Alta Selezione Lavander Vera - Alta Selezione Lavatera Trimestris- Demeter Lettuce Crisphead -Demeter Lettuce Cut Mixed -Dom Sementi Lettuce Gentilina -Alta Selez Lobelia cascade Mixture- Yates Melon Ananas -Franchi Melon Hales Best -Yates Nasturtium Cherry Rose -Yates Nasturtium Jewel Mix -Burpee Nasturtium Princess of India -Burpee Nemesia Carnival -Yates Onion bunching -Yates Onion Tris - Franchi Pansy Iona Hybrid -Bakker Pansy Roggli Giants -Yates Pepper Giallo D’Asti -Franchi Pepper Giant Bell- Yates Pepper Quadrato D’Asti Rosso- Pagano Pepper Yolo Wonder - Yates Pepper Yolo Wonder TMR -Franchi Petunia Hybrid Nana Rossa- Pagano Petunia Super Colour Parade- Yates Radish burro gigante -Alta Selezione Rosmarine officinalis - Alta Selezione Sunflower Nanissimo Sunspot- Franchi Sunflower Ornamentale Multicolor-Franchi Sunflower Pacino -Bakker Sunflower Sunspot-Burpee Tomato Ace-Geo Tomato Costoluto Fiorentino- Franchi Tomato Marmande-Alta Selezione Tomato Matina Demeter Tomato Micro Cherry Bakker Tomato Principe Borghese Alta selezione Tomato Red Cherry- Franchi Watermelon Sugar Baby-Alta Selezione Watermelon Sugar Bowl -Burpee Watermelon Summer Sun- Yates Zucchino TToum -Franchi Zucchino TToum -Alta Selezione edited by Eli1979 on 15/10/2011 <em>edited by Eli1979 on 15/10/2011</em>

hey eli1979 great to hear from you...how awful that the horrible aphids got to your plants last year...about the swap, let's wait till the 3rd week of october and then decide...even if we don't do seedlings we could just do a seed swap? About the leaf miners, I personally don't think they will do your tomato plants much harm if they are otherwise healthy! Shumaila dubaiveggrowers.blogspot.com

And I forgot to add I am doing a veg growing blog over at http://dubaiveggrowers.blogspot.com/ Do check it out. Also planning a seed and seedling swap morning sometime in late october. I live in the Greens. Or we could all meet up somewhere? What do people think? :) I have been trying to start a gardening blog for ages, mainly as way to keep track of what I am planting. Unfortunately I never got to do it but maybe I will get inspired by yours and give it a try again;) You know, your garden looks just like mine , with all the bags of soil and compost :) I also ordered from Shalimar- thanks again Abbadon! I even have the same seeds trays as yours! Bought them in Carrefour the other day as they looked quite handy! My cucumbers were the fastest ones to germinate too, together with the zucchinis. Unfortunately they are the ones that are under attack by pests too. Honestly, I don't even know what they are suffering from anymore. The first affected leaves were definitively damaged by leaf miners as I recognized the swirly marks on them. However now I can see some kind of dots under the leaves and there are some tiny white flies on them too but just a few of them. I have goggled a bit but still not sure if these are the whiteflies or not. I have also bought a bottle of Neem Guard and I am really contemplating spraying everything with it but not sure if I should do it or not. Any idea of how diluted should the solution be? I don't remember if there are any instructions on the bottle. Anyways, provided any of my seedling survive , I would love to meet for a swap. I am in The Villa. @Abbadon – My tomatoes have recovered after I removed the bad looking leaves. No idea if I should have done it or not, but it worked. Do you have leaf miners as well? My biggest fear are the aphids and I am pretty sure I have some on my papaya tree . Last year they have destroyed my entire crop of cucumbers, watermelons, zucchinis a melons and squash. They all died just when they started to fruit aaaarhhhhhggg, my heart still hurts when I think about it :)

I have some bad looking seedlings as well..mainly from the San Marzano tomato varieties... I planted quite a bit of both varieties to ensure getting some healthy plants but so far only a few are doing good. I just got my order from the US for the 2 other varieties I want to grow so I am going to replant more San Marzano seeds with them. This time I will put a shade cloth over them while in the sun. If they sold more tightly woven cheesecloth here I would use that and put the seedling cups all in a bigger plastic basket and wrap it with the cheesecloth to prevent the leaf miner flies... but they only sell the loose woven cheesecloth here! Last year I tried covering my seedlings with those mesh laundry bags but because they aren't cotton, they absorbed heat and my seedlings suffered in them. Luckily I found them before it was too late...they were all stumped over but they recovered after removing them from the bag. Also, for leaf miners... how early can you start spraying the plants to kill the flies? I know you can't kill the larvae eating through the leaf without damaging the leaf, but I would like to spray with a oil soap concoction in the early morning... Do they have to be past the seedling stage to start spraying?

And I forgot to add I am doing a veg growing blog over at http://dubaiveggrowers.blogspot.com/ Do check it out. Also planning a seed and seedling swap morning sometime in late october. I live in the Greens. Or we could all meet up somewhere? What do people think?

Hi Eli1979 I won't worry too much about the leaf miners if the seedlings look otherwise healthy. Removing the leaves doesn't really go a long way in preventing them. Just keep watering the seeds regularly and try neem oil spray if you are really worried.

Oh no, I woke up this morning to find my seedlings under attack by leaf miners :( I removed the affected leaves but don't know what else to do ! My tomato seedlings are also not doing very well. Ever since they emerged they had curling whitish/yellow dry leaves and now it's getting worse.. Never had such bad looking seedlings as this year!