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#355811 Apr 15th, 2012 at 12:43 PM
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Hello,

I am trying to do my vegetable garden the correct way this year. I have read so much that at one point my eyes were bleeding.

I successfully planted Onions, B Sprouts, Bhut Jolkia Hot peppers, and Burpee Sweet peppers indoors about three weeks ago. I had them on heating pads and just about every one of them germinated. I cut the peppers down (that were growing in same trays) and transplanted them to 3 inch pots. I now have everything under lights (T5) for about 16 hours a day. I also gave them one watering with fertilizer (organic fish). I think everything is going as planned except for the real test now...

My dilemma...I'm pretty much stuck on what to do. I have an approximate 14 x 8 foot garden in my back yard. I bought the soil that was recommended and straw to lay around the plants.

Should I plant everything in the garden or leave the peppers in pots? Can I put the Brussel Sprouts and Onions out now or should I harden them first? How big of a deal is the spacing since I only have 14 x 8? Is it ok to put everything in the garden together or will there be a cross contamination?

It seems like every day new questions come up and I get overwhelmed. I am putting a lot of time into these guys and absolutely love it. I just want it to turn successful and not lose everything because of a stupid garden 101 mistake.

Any help would be appreciated. I am in zone 6 in Philadelphia PA.

Autorotate #355812 Apr 15th, 2012 at 01:18 PM
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California Queen
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Welcome Auto. I am not sure of your zone. But I'm pretty sure that the onions and sprouts can go out now. They are cool weather crops and can take a lot of chill.
Depending on your area, the peppers should maybe wait a while. The spacing given for most plants is for optimum growth and production. I don't think I would alter it very much and overcrowd. If you have too many plants you can tuck a couple into an ornamental garden space and see if it likes living with the roses or whatever. Or share your spare plants with friends and neighbors.


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Tina #355817 Apr 15th, 2012 at 02:38 PM
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Tina,

Thank you very much for the response. Yeah, my frost date is around May 15th and was going to definitely wait on the peppers. I guess I'm just more concerned about hardening the Sprouts and Onions. Everything I have read has said the same thing about planting them now. Just have to make sure I put them in the correct way. Thanks again!!

Autorotate #355839 Apr 16th, 2012 at 09:26 AM
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Hi Auto. I'm originally from Reading, so not far from where you live. :) I currently live in the Williamsport area in a happy little town. Is your garden there in the city or do you live outside of the city?

If you run out of room in your garden, lots of things can go into pots. My main focus this year is vertical gardening. You use vertical space more as opposed to horizontal space. You can use things like pallets filled with soil and leaning against a fence or various sizes of pots piled on top of each other to utilize vertical space. Just a thought.

If you aren't sure what you should or shouldn't plant next to each other, there is a companion planting tool in the Food Garden forum just a few threads under this one. It's a nice little Excel spreadsheet that you can download and use.


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