Week 3: 9/11/24

Entering the 3rd week of our CSA project!

These seedlings are ready to be transplanted! We’ll attempt to minimize transplant shock to make the transition from greenhouse to field less stressful for the plant by verifying maturity, carefully handling the plant (especially its roots), and watering adequately. This week, we’ll be transplanting the tomatoes, pumpkins, and cucumbers, as well as preparing our plot.


Our plot previously consisted of beds that ran in only one direction, so we’ll have to change the direction of half the beds so we can get started on one of our management strategy objectives (are there differences in growth in horizontal vs. vertical beds?). We’re walking perpendicular to the beds we want to change the direction of (to create new indents) and filling in the previous indents to switch the orientation of the beds.


Plant spacing is necessary to prevent overcrowding and competition for light and resources. Ensuring that there’s adequate space between the plants and the beds also allows for easier access, especially when we’ll need to go in and weed the plot. Here, we’re measuring the beds to ensure that they’re the right lengths based on our gridded diagram from week 1, and making holes at the required spacing intervals for the plants. Our walking paths will be around 0.5-1 ft in diameter.


This is the bed for our cucumbers; it’s a long, horizontal bed third from the top. Each seed will be planted around 6-12 inches from each other, with one row. The row spacing is 48 inches, so we can only have one row to ensure that there’s enough space for the plants, as well as the trellising we’ll install in the future.


This is the bed for our pumpkins; it’s a shorter, horizontal bed at the top (northeast corner). Each seed will be planted around 36-60 inches from each other, with two rows. The row spacing is 60 inches, which is more than the cucumbers, but we’re trying two rows because we won’t be trellising the plants.


These are the two beds for our tomatoes; they’re shorter, vertical beds at the bottom (southwest corner). Each seed will be planted around 18-32 inches from each other, with two rows in each bed. The row spacing is 48 inches, which includes the supports we’re considering installing in the future (wire growth cages).


A tomato plant in the process of being transplanted. Plant and row spacing information is based on the UF/IFAS Extension Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/orange/hort-res/docs/pdf/VH02100_OC.pdf). 










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who are the Five Peas?

Image
Hello, we're the Five Peas! We're so excited to bring you updates on our community supported agriculture project this fall semester. We'll be posting content on everything from seeding to harvest on this blog, so stay tuned!  Left to right: Mark J., Amitha K., Sam P., Madeline C., Lindsey F.
Read more

Project Objectives

Before getting into our weekly entries, here are the objectives we're going to examine over the semester with our community supported agriculture (CSA) project: What changes are observed in direct-seeded vs. transplanted carrots (added to our plot at the same time) with regards to growth, development, yield, and other characteristics? Do the growth, development, yield, and other qualities of banana peppers and jalapeños change if they are planted together vs. planted in two separate beds? If so, how? How do the plants in the plot interact with each other? Specific examples: Does nitrogen fixation from snap and snow peas help the adjacent corn, pumpkins, and cucumbers? (inspired by the indigenous Three Sisters method of planting corn, beans, and squash together) Do certain plants inhibit each others' growth? (root competition for water and nutrients, leaf competition for light, etc.) How do the plants in the plot respond to various management strategies? Do horizontal vs. vertic...
Read more

Week 1: 8/28/24

Image
First day starting the CSA project!  To start off the CSA project, we first divided up our 25 x 25 ft plot of land to figure out what crops we wanted to plant and where. We’ve placed the pumpkins on the northeast end to minimize shading and maximize sun exposure, and we’ve placed the trellised peas and cucumbers near the top as well to keep them together. We’re hoping the nitrogen fixation from the peas will benefit the adjacent crops. We’re also using the carrots as a buffer between the peppers and the two different Brassica plants (bok choy and Chinese cabbage). We’ve tried to minimize competition for light, water, and nutrients in our layout.      Here, we’re examining the seeds and learning about the best planting depths/numbers for them. The smaller seeds need to be placed closer to the soil surface (to sense that there’s adequate sunlight to sustain themselves with photosynthesis once they germinate). We’re also planting 1 seed per cell for larger seeds, and...
Read more