Getting Ready To Start My 2011 Veggie Garden Need Some Advise.

I have my new garden set up so I can get down each row with the tiller to help keep weeds out and to be able to till in fertilizer every couple weeks but my rows are about 2 1/2ft apart which is enough to get tiller in between rows fine and still have 6" on each side BUT, I will be growing, squash, cucumbers, beans, and otherr plants that will grow out into my isles. I was thinking what If I make everything grow vertical like put a post at both ends of each row and 1 post in the middle of each row and tie lots of string between the post on each row, this way I can grow the plants up on the string instead of letting grow along the ground where the veggies will rot and get over run by weeds and grass. I was thinking to keep weeds and grass out of middle of isles just keep it tilled up, as for in between the plants on each row i will use mulch to keep the weeds and grass down, also how does Ortho grass killer work it says on the bottle it will kill grass in garden without injurying your garden.Oh yea I know the rows look weird but thats how I have them setup so I can get the tiller through the whole garden because there is small mesh wire fence I built yesterday around the garden. There is only two entrances to the garden and I labled the entrances in the pic 1st and 2nd. Also I am growing a couple cucumber plants in with my corn so it will hold on to my corn and keep wind from blowing it over. I will post some pics later on like next week in my current MJ grow journal.

growing things vertically is fine for most plants. you are going to want something more heavy duty than sticks and string, large veggie plants are very heavy. you will also want to find a way to support your vegetables as they grow or the stems could snap. what Ortho product are you talking about? if its Grass-B-Gone DO NOT USE it in your veggie garden. as to how it works it is a targeted herbicide that only poisons a few specific species of plants.

so how do i get grass out of garden and keep it out, and by post I meant post like 2x2 post drove into the ground with concrete filled in around bottom of post, and nylon string tied in between them, but please if you have a better cheaper way please inform me.

Also I havent planted yet, just got everything ready to plant but want to get rid of the grass and weeds and keep them out, I wont be planting for a week or two because where I live it might frost once more before winter is completly gone.

2x2 frames would be good, cattle fence panels are an other inexpensive option. dont use cement it will throw the pH of your soil off horribly. buy exta 2x2's and add supports to your frame. to control the grass, you can pull it as it comes up. anything else i wouldn't feel comfortable using around veggies.

I use an old bunk bed ladder frame in my garden for 3 years now for my cukes to climb. works great. In between plants and in walkways I lay newspapers, lots of them in layers and sprinkle a little dirt on or a few small rocks to hold them down. They let water in once wet and keep weeds and grass out, and, when you harvest you leave them in garden and till them into the soil. I have had very few weeds since doing this.

kikkinurazz3 said:

I use an old bunk bed ladder frame in my garden for 3 years now for my cukes to climb. works great. In between plants and in walkways I lay newspapers, lots of them in layers and sprinkle a little dirt on or a few small rocks to hold them down. They let water in once wet and keep weeds and grass out, and, when you harvest you leave them in garden and till them into the soil. I have had very few weeds since doing this.

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This seems like a good Idea but I would want others opinion on the newspaper thing before I tried it, couldnt I just use black plastic and put no fertilizer plain mulch around all the plants, there is too much grass to pull once it starts growing right now the grass is germinating and getting ready to sprout so what can I do.

IgrowUgrow said:

This seems like a good Idea but I would want others opinion on the newspaper thing before I tried it, couldnt I just use black plastic and put no fertilizer plain mulch around all the plants, there is too much grass to pull once it starts growing right now the grass is germinating and getting ready to sprout so what can I do.

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plastic will not let water through nor oxygen which roots need, if the soil cannot breath you will not like the results. newspaper is a good method of weed control and it recycle back into the ground so it's the least intrusive to the planet. you can also get it dirt cheap or free if you ask people nicely for their old newspapers.

you can do the old method of using a hoe to remove weeds and keep the soil from compacting too much around the plants, this allows more oxygen to get to the root system which will help the plant more Vs doing nothing.

to get rid of any grass right now use a flat head shovel to "scrape" the grass off the ground, after that till the earth, create raised beds and use real support for plants like tomatoes. i can speak from experience tomato plants will need cages, not string and small posts set in the ground. also a drip line would be good too since most plants like tomato plants dont like getting wet. not only is watering with a nozzle or sprinkler less efficient it can also raise the chances of your plants getting a mold or fungal problem you will not like.

you can use mulch like in the spaces between rows but it wont stop weeds but makes walking through your garden after a good rain easier as you wont be walking in mud.

IgrowUgrow, like the blueprint of the garden. Don't know how big your tiller is but it's iffy to use one that close to plants one slip and you will chew them plants up Lol.

Using the newspaper is a good idea but its hard to keep down, thats why I prefer cardboard. If u use cardboard or newspaper I've heard only use stuff with no colored inks and do not use cardboard with wax coating because it does not break down very well. I get my cardboard from the grocery store, they will usually give you more than u can use. Another good thing to keep the weeds out is lawn clippings as long as it has no ferts on it.

Black plastic also works very well in colder climates but it does help if you have a drip system under it. I use a lot of black plastic in my garden. If you are in a more northern climate I would recommend using the black plastic under all melons and some squashes. the ones to not use it under are any that throw out tendrils too suck up water like pumpkins.

I would not use the Ortho in the garden.

I use plastic and cardboard and have very little weeds wherever the weeds come up I throw down some grass clippings at about 3 inches thic, any thicker than that and it tend to start rotting.

The newspaper and cardboard is a really good idea I might just use the cardboard in between the rows and use news paper in between the plants and heavily mulch over everything. I also found out that I have more rows than what I drew up which is cool cause I will plant watermelons and possibly other shit, Ill post up some pics as soon as I can of my little setup, anyone here ever grown big boy tomatoes, or know how long they take to germinate.

I might use cages for tomatoe plants but everything else will be on with sticks and string lol

also I used a whole 5gallon bucket full of 10-10-10 fertilizer in my garden which is about half the size of your garden pod piper is this too much fertilizer or to little. how much is a roll 100ft roll of chicken wire 4" mesh?

I have a huge screen spread out where my corn is going to be now, so that the wind doesnt blow it over this year. How do I keep birds out of my corn also i have some cow manure and humice manure that is like two years old and really dryed out does that mean it isnt any good anymore or does it not go bad.+rep

last pic is onion sprout.

looks to off to a good start man. as for the manure well i would use it. i was told man times and have read many times to not use fresh manure and only used aged manure or composted. so you should be just fine

I'm not sure about the fert issue but i think that a whole bucket on that size garden should last you all season. Someone else that uses granular ferts might know better. I use water soluble through a drip system.

that should be enough ferts.

last year i used no fertilizer at all and no plants showed any signs of a def.

check out this link man, its called the three sisters planting and it helps feed the corn with other plants. the beans put N into the soil that the corn will use and the corn will also be the support system for the beans.

http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

check it out man it might be use full. i did this last year except with out the sqaush and it worked great but my corn was a bit to weak on the tops to support the beans but it ended up ok

newspaper and cardboard worked well for me in 3 beds! plus i put some mulch over some of my flower and veggie beds and that helped a lot too...till the winter came!

what is the card board for.
weeds?

mcpurple said:

what is the card board for.
weeds?

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I lined in between each row of garden with cardboard, then plain newspaper with no ink on top of cardboard, then put lattace on top of that so now I gurentee I wont have weeds in my garden. The lattace is just to make it easier to walk through garden after it rains or if it is messy, also the lattace laying on the ground will keep the watermelons and other veggies off the dirt.