Urban Garden Update: Weeks 5-7

Week 5

I went to plant the other half of my carrot planter and something has eaten the tops of the new carrots growing there!  They were 2-3 inches high and ready for their first thinning.  Now they are just sad little stubs.  I have to figure out which pest is guilty of this crime.

I suspect slugs as I have seen them eyeing the newly planted cucumber and zucchini.  I picked up an organic slug bait that kept them from mowing down my petunias.  It is safe to use on edible plants and absolutely no threat to pets and wild animals.  Just slugs.  Oh, and I’ve tried the beer-in-a-cup solution when they were after my flowers.  Apparently my slugs are teetotalers.

Time will tell if they were the culprits.  I hope so because I don’t have a plan B yet.

On a more positive note, warmer temperatures and sun breaks have prompted the tomatoes to spring to life.  They are filling out nicely and growing taller.  It’s progress!  Now I don’t feel so bad about the things I neglected to do in the beginning.

My sister showed me a neat trick to use on any planter that is a little (or a lot) too deep for what you need.  Instead of filling it all the way with soil (heavy and might not drain well) or using gravel or rocks on the bottom (really heavy but drains better), you can fill the bottom with empty plastic water bottles with their caps on.  They take up space that would be filled with soil or rocks and you are repurposing plastic bottles that would go into the landfill or recycling.  It makes the filled planter weigh less which is a bonus when you move the plants around often, like I plan to.

Week 6

Wow, these Gig Harbor slugs are aggressive yet stealthy.  I’ve seen little sign of them around here beyond the devastation they leave behind.  Yesterday I was planting some ground cover plants and walked away to fill the watering can.  By the time I got back, 5 minutes later tops, there was already a slug munching on my new plants.  Talk about brazen!  So here’s a tip:  Invest in organic slug bait companies.  I think I’ll be driving the stock prices up with my purchases.

The cucumbers are thriving despite the dire outcomes for transplanting young starts that I read on the Internet.  I have found one major fault in my hasty decision to plant them in the ground.  There are no water faucets on that side of the house and running a hose there is impractical.  Oops.  Looks like I’ll be lugging water cans this summer.  This puts a kink in my plan to keep everything low maintenance for when we travel.

Week 7

I think I have my garden pest situation under control, although past experience leads me to worry that they are lying low, waiting for the next wave of attack.  Slugs were indeed the guilty party in round one. 

But now my worrying has morphed over to the cucumber plants.  They seem to be growing very slowly.  I wonder if I didn’t break up the ground enough when I planted them or if I need to fertilize them again?

But I think the real reason is that they aren’t getting enough water.  I know they need plenty of water when they are producing cucumbers and it’s probably the case while they are growing too.  I’ve been so busy over the last few weeks that I neglected them.  Hauling heavy watering cans over there caused me to skimp on the water they were getting.  I have pieced together several hoses to stretch over so I can water them more easily and thoroughly now.  It looks tacky but I’ll see if that was the problem.

The new lettuces are ready for thinning.  A salad of baby greens with dinner tonight.  Yippee!