Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

If you avoid using those sprays, the food will be healthier than that stuff from the store.
Generally the bugs won’t be a problem. If I do get an infestation of bad bugs (most bugs are good), I turn the crop under….

By planting different things, I avoid block plantings of monoculture, and this works as well as anything for avoiding most insect problems.

When picking the produce, it will be easy to tell if there are any bugs on it… Just rinse the vegetable or fruit before eating.

Your most important concern should be the soil.
Here’s how to create a new planting bed with pictures:
http://stonethegardener.com/sun/start.html

GardenersCardiff answers:

You grow the herbs and trim them and use a Dehydrator.

Http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dehydrator&sprefix=dehydr%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Adehydrator

Then after dehydrating I use a coffee grinder.

Growing herbs is easy, they do not need much. Just do not over water. Everyone over waters and then plants die. If you grow mint ensure it is in a pot or it will grow everywhere.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Soil.
Seed set trays within a larger tray, with a clear cover.
Water.
Refrigerator.
Sunlight.
Plant mister (water bottle with spray/mist setting).

– Put thin plastic set wells into larger tray (“set” refers to a very young small plant)
– Fill each individual well with soil.
– Plant seeds to the depth indicated on the seed packet … I plant about 3-4 seeds in each set well.
– Wet the soil by two methods: (1) top spray with water mister, (2) pour water into the larger tray and allow the water to be absorbed by the soil through the hole in the bottom of each individual set well.
– Put clear plastic lid on top of larger tray, and set whole thing on top of refrigerator. Seeds need soil that has a certain amount of warmth, or they will not sprout. You either use the top of your refrigerator or you go buy a special seed sprouting electric grid (who needs that when you have a fridge?).
– Every day, take the seed tray down and remove the lid. Add more water to the bottom tray and mist the top as needed. It is very important that the soil NOT dry out .. Especially the top part, where the seeds are planted. You will notice that the inside of the clear lid is covered with little drops of water. Good .. The soil is warm and the humidity is high. Just what the seeds and seedlings want.
After watering, put the lid back on, and back on top of the fridge.
– Some types of herbs will sprout faster, some slower. By two weeks, all should have sprouted. Although there is always a certain percentage of “dud seeds” that never do sprout.
– Until you have all the sets sprouted with at least one seedling, primary leaves up and showing, keep it on the top of your fridge with the lid on and check daily.
– Then take it down from the fridge and place it under a gro-light or at a bright window (I like East exposure best). If you do not have direct exposure, put it outside, but make sure it doesn’t get too hot. I do not like gro-lights because you have to keep the plants quite close to the gro-light or it is not effective. And different seeds will grow at certain rates, so if you plant a mix of different seeds, it’s hard to keep all of them the proper distance since they will be different heights in your large tray.
– I keep the clear plastic lid on the tray until the tallest seedlings are touching the lid. Helps keep the soil from drying out. Then I remove the lid and continue the bottom watering and the top misting. Direct watering moves the soil around too much and should be avoided while the seeding are this young.
– When the seedlings are 1″ high, thin out all but one in each set. Leave the strongest one .. The thickest stalk .. The tallest is not always the best.
– At this point, if the weather is warm (but not hot), I will set then out in light shade .. Direct sun is apt to be too hard on them until they are taller.
– when they get to be about 4-5″ tall, I transplant each one into its own container .. Or a long container that is shared. Use a good-quality light mix that will drain well, and make sure your containers have drain holes in the bottom. Most herbs do NOT like wet feet.
If you are putting more than one herb into a single container/planter, make sure that all of them have the same light, watering, and soil requirements. No sense planting basil that likes light soil that isn’t wet and soggy with a planet that needs constant moisture .. One or both of them will end up dying on you.
– Once they are in their own containers, water then once with a transplant-fertilizer, one that promotes root growth … 5-10-5, 10-20-10 or 11-15-11. Follow instructions on the package for how much to water it down.
– Do water the soil, checking daily, as the plant needs it. Never let the soil dry out completely, but don’t overwater either .. The plants can rot.
– After about 3 weeks, I start water once a week with a general all-purpose garden fertilizer. Good results come from watering the fertilizer solution down a lot, and using that for everyday watering .. But it’s too much fussing for me. I just mix up the solution once a week.

If you are growing plants indoors, I find that east exposure works best. South, if it is strong but indirect (a covered porch, for instance) second best. North third best, although many plants just don’t like it .. Too weak. West and direct south light can be too strong for some plants. Check your plants every day and if they are not doing well, the problem is either in watering (too much/little) or light (too much/too little).