My Sub 15 minutes garden and growing plan, Feedback would be much appreciated!

[cloxchulanthevegginator]

Hey all,

Let me preface this video by stating I'm maybe a month into the practice of gardening and my research so far has been a lot of starting with SSM videos and going from there and researching individual things on some corner of the internet and then experimenting. I'm a little self conscious

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

The video keeps buffering, making me unable to watch it. Not sure what's going on; YouTube works fine.

 

[cloxchulanthevegginator]

@Mandy Onderwater Post Updated,

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

To your first part about seed starters;
Seed starters don't really contain any nutrients. The reason for this is because seeds are very sensitive, nutrients could actually burn and/or kill the plant. Once the plant grows you can repot them into "normal" soil that does contain nutrients as it does need them to grow. In saying this, things like compost are still recommended not to be spread against the plants (even well established ones) as it can burn the stem.

Potatoes tend to start growing from the 'eyes'. Soaking a potato (or any vegetable for that matter) usually makes them rot rather than grow. This does not mean it's impossible and it can very well be done. It depends on the purpose you are doing this for. Most people that like doing that are growing it decoratively (yes! People actually grow potato decoratively), or as a learning process where you can see what happens.

Composters do need at least some moisture to help decompose whatever is put in them. Alongside it's recommended to have certain parts of green and brown (I believe they call it?). I'm not entirely sure as I am yet to start composting myself.
You do not have to wait to use dead clippings, they can be used fresh! Just try to make sure there are no seeds in there as they might germinate and grow weeds wherever you composted. There are probably ways to avoid the seeds from germinating as well, perhaps because of the heat of composting. I can't confidently give you tips about that though.

From what I know (and do myself) is almost completely fill the beds up. Maybe leave about 4cm to avoid overflow when watering. This is because of sinkage; this happens naturally. You can combat this in some ways, but regardless it often requires us to top off the bed after the growing season as well.
If you are using (fresh) manure in your beds, make sure it has time to break down before planting in them. This is because manure generates a lot of heat, which essentially can burn your plants and their roots.
When using compost in established beds, make sure it's spread around the edges of the raised bed, keeping a fair distance between the plant and the manure. This prevents the plant getting damaged. The roots of your plants can still reach for it as it gets watered in as it's still in the same bed.

Potatoes turn green when exposed to the sun. Do not throw those potatoes out though! You can always replant them and grow more from them; the new growths are not poisonous.

I loved seeing what you've got going on!

 

[KathrynJN]

Hi Cloxchulanthevegginator, how have things been over the past couple of weeks?

Whenever I read about what to put into compost, there is always a list of what "not" to put in, including meat, bread, anything that has been cooked, etc. I guess eventually it would all break down but it would break down differently. In the case of putting in anything "that has been alive", it is more in reference to garden waste or waste from preparing veggies in the kitchen.

I follow another gardener who is in England called Charles Dowding. He is all for "no dig", and how much success he has is amazing. He has several videos on his different compost heaps (he has several different types on the go to compare). With no-dig gardens, once a year a thick layer (several centimeters/couple inches) of compost is laid on the beds, not dug in, and then the plants are planted directly into it. I think compost only burns plants is when it's placed on/near them when the compost is still hot.

I have just watched his latest on comparing different bought and homemade composts for propagation. He is always experimenting with things and this is his latest. It's quite interesting the differences that are noted. And this is planting seeds straight into the compost. I'm sorry Mandy but seeds need nutrients to grow and this video shows that.

I hope all this helps.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Very interesting @KathrynJN ! Thank you for sharing.

I've always been told not to use nutrients in my seeds until they start growing, but my guess is that everyone has different ways to work with it. I start giving nutrients as soon as it's grown it's first set of true leaves and haven't had any issues doing it that way. Sometimes (perhaps often as I am impatient) I do start watering it with fertiliser sooner.

I welcome any and all opinions as everyone learns what works best for them and where they live. I actually find it very interesting!

Have a good weekend