# I may have screwed up (a little)



## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

Hey Guys, I have always been a "prepared" guy. And ever since I found this forum I have been doing work to provide more self sustainability. 

This year I decided to try a garden. Well like most of my projects that I do I jumped in and built something, only to find out that it might not be exactly what I need / want. 

So first things first: I know it is too crowded, I plan on using the square foot method to give them some more room. 

There is only about 12 inches of soil (maybe 14 at most) is that enough to grow tomatoes? 

I also bought some hungarian wax peppers, green/yellow peppers, and cucumber, as well as a few onions. 

Any tricks to help me make the most of this table?


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Hey, trying something new is the hardest part, too many people are scared to try even the simplest of things (I'm not suggesting that any kind of gardening falls in that category). 

Add a shelf under your bench and grow something that is shade tolerant or doesn't need full sunlight to double your output. Some herbs maybe.

Keep experimenting, you look like you're well on your way to having some great homegrown vegetables.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm no help ... I'm stuck in the past with traditional gardening but I look forward to your post and letting us know how it works for you.

Best of luck!


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

The past two years we've grown amazing tomatoes in top soil that is only 3 to 6 inches deep. In 2013 my wife cut two stems from a heirtage tomato plant we had growing inside of our sun room, they were about two feet long and I just scraped two shallow furrows in the soil and layed the stems in them covering most of their length, those two stems grew into an area of ten feet diameter and produced about 40 tomatoes. Last year we bought a beautiful Giant Belgium tomato plant in a gallon pot, I dug a deep hole below the top soil and buried the plant by half of its height, using top soil in filling the hole, that plant grew so large that seven tomato metal supports got push over and that plant produced many 1 1/2 pound tomatoes. I do not, by any means have a green thumb, but with good composted soil, we've had some really good results.


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## Gians (Nov 8, 2012)

I'm experimenting with a similar table set up away from the regular garden. Was thinking of trying a tomato or two in there just to see how it goes. Right now it has Fava Beans and some bush beans growing in it. They are doing good, a little leggy because of some shade from a Scott pine, but the Fava's have flowers already. Your tomatoes look fairly close, or it could just be the picture, if you can, keep us posted about how it goes.


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## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks Guy, 

Well I guess today I will pick up some buckets and move some stuff around, give the table some room to breath. 

Thanks for all your advice! 2 More questions:

1. Have you guys had any luck with fertilizers? I was hoping to go with organic. 
2. How many "fruits" can one expect off one plant. Is like 5-10 a safe guess for the tomato/pepper/cucumber plants?


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

mikeylikesit5805 said:


> Thanks Guy,
> 
> Well I guess today I will pick up some buckets and move some stuff around, give the table some room to breath.
> 
> ...


I use fish emulsion/seaweed fertilizer. Seems to do well. There are plenty of homemade organic fertilizers online. You just need to do a search for it. Also free ( usually) books for e-readers too.

And if you want more produce you should pick it when it's not real big. The plant will continue to produce and you'll get more that way


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## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

Thank you for the advice. I knew this place would be the right place to ask. Well I will get the garden spaced out correctly today and go from there.


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## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

Nice setup! You can run the cucumbers up a trellis or other support, to save on space. Just make sure you tie it off with torn pieces of T-shirt or other soft material, to keep it supported as the weight of the fruit begins to pull down.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

mikey suggested a self at the bottom for other plants.im thinking.a self for hand tools and other items for working that garden..maybe even stater flats,if needed..and if that table garden dont work for ya,when it comes to the tomato's..then you might try smaller plants.like pepper plants of some kind..


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## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks Guys, 

I got everything spaced out a bit differently today. Tomatoes in the back row, Peppers up front then cucumbers. All spaced at 1 square foot. Can't wait to see how it goes. How often should I fertilize?


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

mikeylikesit5805 said:


> Thanks Guy,
> 
> Well I guess today I will pick up some buckets and move some stuff around, give the table some room to breath.
> 
> ...


I expect 20-30 peppers per plant, 25-60lb of tomatoes and dozens of cucumbers. It really depends on variety, fertility and water. I don't use commercial fertilizers when growing in pots, I make my own, mostly liquid mixes. Steeped manures, worm wee and a mix of steeped weeds and herbs are my favourites for container growing. I also side dress around plants with a tiny handful of hardwood ash and ground bone. A top dress later in the growing season of well rotted manure and good quick compost to keep rapid growth happening. As the plants get bigger water, water and water. You're aiming at keeping the soil at field capacity as much as possible (field capacity is the amount the soil will hold before it starts to drain off), this will make a huge difference to growth and harvest.


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## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks Guys!


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

mikeylikesit5805 said:


> Thanks Guys,
> 
> I got everything spaced out a bit differently today. Tomatoes in the back row, Peppers up front then cucumbers. All spaced at 1 square foot. Can't wait to see how it goes. How often should I fertilize?


I fertilize every 2 weeks during the growing season


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