John Kestell

Now that I think of it, maybe I could dig the hole by cutting out the sod in a kind of plug, dig the hole, then put the sod upside down in the bottom and backfill with soil and compost.  That would at least kill the grass in the immediate vicinity of the roots of the squash and pumpkins.

I absolutely LOVE pumpkins and squash, but I am just not going to have room to put them in my garden--not with the 6' or so required.

I watched some youtube vids of people "crimping" a rye cover crop, and planting pumpkins on top of that without tilling.  

There is a strip of about 6' between the lawn and a field (no idea what the farmer will put in there this year).  The strip is just tall grass.  

I was thinking I could dig a planting hole for the vines (larger than needed, mixed in with some compost), then mulching around it with cardboard, and adding cardboard as the vines take off.  If it would work, at least the plants would not have any stress due to over crowding.

Does it sound like a viable plan?  I could use a string trimmer to flatten everything at the beginning, then keep choking the grass out with cardboard mulch as the vines developed.    

I'm fairly novice at veggie growing, and I had no idea these plants required THAT much space--but the 6' strip of tall grass is at least 200 yards long.  If I could press it into service, that would be ample space.
Thanks for any suggestions.

I decided to start a bunch of seeds left over from last year.  Being at least a year old, and not stored carefully, I assumed many would fail.  So, I planted the old ones 2 or 3 to a hole to improve my odds.
To my astonishment, the germination seemed to be as good as last year's.  The seedlings are out of the ground about a week, so still lacking true leaves. They are looking good to me.

My question is, what do you do with veggie seedlings that are packed into cell-packs?  Like 3 tomatoes growing out of the same planting hole?  Is their a way to extract one or 2 of them and replant?  Or do I let them go for a bit, see which appear to be going the bets, and snip off the others?

I personally have plenty for my own garden needs, but I have some really good stuff I would love to see go to a good home (a number of really delicious heirloom toms, peppers, eggplant, brocc, kohlrabi...).  I would be find doing the work separating and replanting them.  I've just never done it, and have no idea if it's possible, or what kind of success rates I should expect.

I'm very glad this site as a gardening for beginners section!  I always grew from greenhouse seedlings, and only in the past couple yeras tried my hand and starting from seed.  It's a lot of fun.  A little nerve wracking--I was slightly too cool, so things were considerably slower than I expected. I was ready to dump the whole project, and then they started popping.  I guess, Mother Nature takes as long as she takes.

I just gained access to another, much larger garden.  Looking forward to expanding it--last summer I was eating like a king.
I wanted to get into seed saving.  90% of my seeds are heirlooms, so that shouldn't be a problem.
As I did some reading though, I don't understand how people are able to save seeds.  One source said, for example, squash required 1/2 mile minimum to prevent cross pollinating.  Cukes, similar thing.

I obviously don't have that kind of space!  

Is their any way to ensure that I don't get cross pollination?  Or do I need to try and figure out how to keep some of the plants isolated (by a great distance) and go from there?

I just came home with no fewer than 7 large sheets of tempered glass, rescued from the curb.  They look to be removed from some kind of storm door. The pieces are maybe 24x30 or so.  

My question is about how to put them to a new use.  I just recently got property, and plan on building a small cabin/microhouse (maybe 400 ft^2).  I will need windows for that.

The other thing was building a recycled glass greenhouse.  I'm here in Wisconsin, and a greenhouse would add a lot to my growing season.  Then, their would be windows on any other structures.  

I'm curious about re-using the windows.  They are all boarderd by aluminum frames.  I thought I could just pop the frames off, and use the glass alone. But the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking to just go ahead and use them frame an all.  The stops (or rabbets) to hold the panes would work either way (modifying the depth), and the weather stripping on the frames appears to be in perfect shape.  ANy thoughts on that?

If I do go ahead and use the glass with the frames, I'm curious about something else.  The panes that would have moved (to open the window) have a thick flange on the bottom, that holds the locking mechanism.  The other panes have a fuzzy strip around the outside to act as something of an air seal.  

It would probably be a better idea to remove that stuff, leaving me with an aluminum frame of constant width and thickness.  I should be able to carefully cut that away with an angle grinder, wouldn't you think?  (grinding near glass I don't like--but it's tempered glass. Strong, and not nearly as dangerous if I break it).

Just curious who of you guys has recycled glass from storm doors.   I have access to a good wood shop at a local Maker's Space.  Doing the mortise and tenons, or biscuit joints, and other steps (planing) should be straight forward.

Thanks for any ideas,
Sorry if this is the wrong forum--I just thought wood workers/carpenters would have a good idea how to do proper window sashes.

Hugo Morvan wrote:If the apples turn out inedible, you can use the tree as rootstock. It will probably have weak rootstock if it's coming from a commercial apple as it's mother is a graft-on. Grafts have great apple genes, but are not selected for strong roots. This sounds bad, but dwarf growth is sought after.
I've seeded lots of apple seeds of wild apples that grow in hedges around here. Small apples and quite small trees. Just for grafting onto later. I've got apples as well for grafting on. I grow them at an angle, like if they've fallen over. Then they send out vertical shoots which i cover with soil. The shoots form roots, i cut them and transplant them. Lots of work for ten grafts or so. Seeds are easier to grow lots off. If i'm lucky a hundred seedlings is not out of the question. It's always about cracking the code of how to propagate a certain variety.

A friend of mine suggested that exact same thing.  He has about 12 trees in his little back yard orchard--some standard cultivars--and generously told me when the day came, I could take cuttings and graft them.  He has one tree that his kids grafted 7 or 8 branches to.  It's a weird looking thing, but really a heavy producer.  It's a good idea!!

Timothy Norton wrote:I have found with the cheap LED lights that you can bring the light right on top of the seedlings without burning them. I'd put them as close as you could to try and correct.

My experience however is with veggies too so I'm not sure if the advice holds the same with trees.

From what I read, legginess regardless of the plant, is normall the result of poor lighting.  
I'm hoping installing an additional (and stronger) LED will remedy the situation.  Over the weekend I can hit my storage building.  I built a grow light hood a few years ago that has some 3' flouro tubes, and 6 standard sockets for bulbs.  I think I was running warm white and cool white bulbs and tubes.  It's worked great for veggie seedlings.  As you say, you can put it very close to the plants without problems with burning them.

In a couple weeks, we should be getting warm enough temperatures that I can set them outside during the days.  Nothing beats real sunlight.
I'm just hoping this increase in light will help the plants put on more mass on the stem.  The one really top heavy one, I propped up with a popsicle stick.  I'm hoping I can limp it along, and slow down the stretch.  

Over the winter, I cut open several apples (to eat) and found that the seeds inside had already begun growing a tap root.  Just for kicks, I put them in the ground and the took off.  (I realize they will not grow true to the parent--these I hope to put out back mostly for wildlife, maybe get lucky and have some cider or apples for eating).
It's winter here in WI, and daylight isn't strong or long.  I have the seedlings on a window sill where they get a couple of hours of very bright light, and I have supplimented that with some small LED grow lights (one, a cheap ring shaped light, and the others LEDs that fit into standard lightbulb sockets).

The plants look healthy--maybe 3" tall. Nice bright leaves, no signs of wilting or curling or anything.  But they are growing pretty leggy.  
I've just added 2 more LEDs--I suspect they are suffering from weak light.

Is their anything else I can do to help encourage a thicker stem?  I know with a lot of veggies you can just bury them deeper, but I am not sure if this would work with a young apple tree (I know in adult trees, mounding up around the trunk can kill them).

I would like to get these to succeed--it would be great to have a bunch of apple trees--think of the pollinators, the deer, bunnies, racoons, and all sorts of other creatures that would benefit.

Thanks for any info!  Hoping the increase in light helps make them stop stretching.

I spoke too soon--just today I saw 3 more sprouts.  2 reds and 1 white.  Just as I was about to give up and toss the project in the compost bin.

I need to learn the lesson--one of these days--that Mother Nature takes as long as she takes.  

I'm glad I didn't toss the project.  It would be great to have some good strong seedlings ready.  I have a good place to put them, where they should not be bothered for the forseeable future.  With the hickories and walnuts already there, some oaks and some apples (which I'm also growing from seed) it could be a real paradise for wildlife.  They have some nice spruces and pines, access to tall grass and shrubs.  Access to some old stone fence lines.  A really nice, diverse piece of land.

I'll update in a bit, when I get a better idea of how well this will work.