if you can handle fruit trees and perennials, then annuals won’t pose too much of a challenge – same rules apply, pick plants that like your climate – USDA hardiness, humid continental climate
most plants and seed packets will come with relatively basic instructions (how often to water, how much sun, etc.) to give you a starting point
cucumbers (pretty much the whole squash family) can be pretty prolific growers (there’s running jokes about planting too much zucchini and ending up having to leave bags of extra zucchini on neighbors’ doorsteps)
if you go a large pot (or a raised bed), take a look at companion planting (plants that traditionally grow well together)
the classic is “four sisters” (“three sisters” + pollinator) – tall corn in the center, something out of the bean family that will climb up the support of the corn, something out of the squash family that will act as ground cover, and something flowering (like sunflower) that will attract the pollinators (bees and birds)
if you’re dealing with early winters
something out of the cabbage family (cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower) and a tuber (carrots, radishes, daikon) – one grows up, one grows down
Cucumbers need a lot of direct sun and a lot of space, either vertical (trellised) or horizontal (along the ground). Put them in a wide open sunny part of your yard. They're also fairly susceptible to powdery mildew so keep an eye on them if the weather is rainy.
You mentioned you're in Maine, which means you have a relatively short growing season. You might want to start your cucumber seeds inside to get a jump start on the season in the spring. Otherwise just make sure you get them started right away once it's okay to plant outdoors so that you don't run out of room at the end of the season.
Good luck and let us know how it goes! Cucumbers are a very rewarding plant, right up there with tomatoes for me as far as bang for your buck. Homegrown cucumbers have a crunch that totally knocks store bought ones out of the park.
Other vegetables I like growing that grow well in my corner of New England:
Basil (grow enough to make several batches of pesto and freeze it)
Tomatoes
Sugar snap peas
Leafy greens, especially collards and Swiss Chard
Potatoes in 5-gallon buckets
Hot peppers
My mother in law lets her cucumbers grow along the ground and they do great. Not sure if she buys a specific variety that's not for climbing but it's definitely possible to grow cukes without a trellis. Same as you would squash.
Go to your local public library and get anything by The Teaching Company on gardening, such as (these are all dvd's, you can rip them using Format Factory or MakeMKV:
Food Gardening for Everyone
The Science of Gardening
Pioneering Skills for Everyone (there's a section on gardening in there)
Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, we do not have any optical media capabilities (i.e. CD, DVD etc.). I may be able to find some of this content on the Internet somewhere though.
I think you can use Diamacious earth on the top of the soil to kill the gnat/flies and future eggs. It’s completely safe to use just don’t inhale it a ton because it does have a small bit of silica in it.
It’s used as a dietary supplement as well so it’s food safe for animals and humans. It just isn’t for insects because it dehydrates their exoskeleton. It’ll turn kinda brown as you water on the top of it so just know that’s normal. It’s also very inexpensive.
Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s pretty much most home and garden stores will have it. It is an insecticide but not a bio pesticide. It’s not even put on the plant itself just on the top soil. The plant will just see it as a different type of soil essentially. Just looking at the Wikipedia article on what the composition is of diamacious earth will tell you this:
Diatomaceous earth consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled microalgae.[3] It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste, mechanical insecticide, absorbent for liquids, matting agent for coatings, reinforcing filler in plastics and rubber, anti-block in plastic films, porous support for chemical catalysts, cat litter, activator in coagulation studies, a stabilizing component of dynamite, a thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants and trees as in the art of bonsai.
Fungus gnats are extra annoying but something you can do in addition to watering a little less is to have some clean sand as a mulch over your potting mix paired with bottom watering your plants. I check my pots by feel on the bottom regularly to help inform when I water. For our inside plants and seeds I'm starting, I have a tray with ridges into which I can place the pots and some water. Seedling trays are widely available and a local greenhouse or nursery may have some headed for recycling rather than having to buy new plastic. If that same place does claim and mulches in bulk they may have sand that's suitable for short money since you only need a little bit.
By watering from the bottom, your potting mix will wick the water upwards through capillary action but the water will have difficulty moving into the sand because of the difference in texture and porosity and this will deprive the fungus gnats of the habitat they need to reproduce and continue to annoy you.
Harmful? Probably not but I wouldn't eat them. What they are is an indicator of the mix being wetter than peppers generally appreciate, in my experience. I've spread winecap mushrooms throughout our space and they'll come up around some of the veg, but not around the peppers, which (ime) are happiest with damp-ish but not wet soil
Daily watering is likely far too often ... I'm not seeing quick useful links to peperone (as you can imagine, I'm getting a lot about pepperoni and pepperoncinis).
But if this is a C. annuum cultivar, these are adapted to arid climates. Let the plants tell you when they need water (droopy leaves); they spring back remarkably quickly, like in under an hour. It sounds like you're drowning them and ending up with other issues as a result.
Yea. I'll reduce watering. The seeds had an Italian label so that's all I know, thank you fornthr advice, I'll stop watering will maybe Thursday. Probably later
@sleepybisexual you don't need to kill those flies. They aren't gonna harm your plants. They'll just be somewhat annoying flying around in your house. Water less, and if you happen to find a wolf spider in your house bring it over to your pot. They'll take care of the flies for you!
This year is my first time gardening. I planted some herbs in a raised bed in the balcony (lavender, mugwort, catmint and some pink parasol) and they are slowly growing.
I also got "Moonlight" roses and the first one opened some days ago (after constantly checking on them lol). I didn't expect them to be so beautiful and smell so good. I will be collecting the petals to make rose tea.
Hey great job! I know some folks who struggle to get roses half as beautiful as what you've grown! I'm sure those others will catch up in their own time
The heat has been kicking my little plot into overdrive. I had to raise up the pest net to allow the little ones to grow safely... But they're also crowding the heck out of each other at the moment. I think the greenbeans might kill out the less leafy carrots, but we'll see how they get along.
Alt text: an image of various peppers (and one tomato) on a small wooden plate. There are small green peppers, small red peppers, a large curved cayenne, a small bell pepper, and two medium sized green peppers, either anaheim or poblano I don't know I'd have to check. The red peppers are starting to dry.
I done grew me a garden on my balcony ma! This isn't all I've harvested this season either, wife has turned my cayennes into a hot sauce already, and the red peppers you see here were turned into a hot-paste-base... thing! And my tomato plant keeps giving me fat and juicy bois every week or so. Nothing crazy, just a big red one on my balcony for wife to cut up and enjoy. I personally hate them, but c'est la vest and an alligator chest, as they say.
There's catnip and pumpkins and sunflowers I've grown from seed, and mint and basil and, man, I love having this little garden out there so much :)
the yard is very crunchy. we haven't had rain in a few weeks (2-3?), but it looks like it could rain this weekend. i did water my few potted plants that live on the porch since they were looking especially thirsty.
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