In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
news

Use raised beds and the water is used more efficiently.


Perhaps you missed my original post. I do use raised beds.

My bad. ;-)
The point got side-tracked.

The purpose for
the cups is to regulate the amount of water as per the specifications in the
book "Square Foot Gardening". My only question is, is there any reason why I
should NOT plant the entire cup when moving from the greenhouse to the
garden, instead of taking the plant out of the cup and planting it?

Not that I can see... Styrofoam is inert.
As far as I know, it's not going to be biodegrading and putting toxins
into the soil. I could be wrong. ;-) You may want to google it.

My concern would be size. Are not the plants going to outgrow the cup?
How is too small of a cup going to regulate water usage?

1 gallon plastic pots might work better maybe?
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
news

Use raised beds and the water is used more efficiently.


Perhaps you missed my original post. I do use raised beds.

My bad. ;-)
The point got side-tracked.

The purpose for
the cups is to regulate the amount of water as per the specifications in
the
book "Square Foot Gardening". My only question is, is there any reason
why I
should NOT plant the entire cup when moving from the greenhouse to the
garden, instead of taking the plant out of the cup and planting it?

Not that I can see... Styrofoam is inert.
As far as I know, it's not going to be biodegrading and putting toxins
into the soil. I could be wrong. ;-) You may want to google it.

My concern would be size. Are not the plants going to outgrow the cup?
How is too small of a cup going to regulate water usage?

1 gallon plastic pots might work better maybe?


The cups have the bottoms cut out of them when planted out in the garden so
the roots grow down into the box and outgrowing the cup is no problem. You
use 32 ounce cups and only put about 2 inches of potting soil in them to
start the seeds in. This leaves enough "empty" cup to pour water into when
out in the garden. The SFG book calls for watering the plants individually
with "cups" of water, i.e. one cup a week for X, 1 cup a day for Y, and so
on. Supposedly this regulates the water to preclude under watering or over
watering, which I tend to do.


--
J.C.

In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

The cups have the bottoms cut out of them when planted out in the garden so
the roots grow down into the box and outgrowing the cup is no problem. You
use 32 ounce cups and only put about 2 inches of potting soil in them to
start the seeds in. This leaves enough "empty" cup to pour water into when
out in the garden. The SFG book calls for watering the plants individually
with "cups" of water, i.e. one cup a week for X, 1 cup a day for Y, and so
on. Supposedly this regulates the water to preclude under watering or over
watering, which I tend to do.


--
J.C.

If you have a guide book with a tried and true method, what are you
worried about???

Carry on, then post your results.
I'm very curious about this. I did not garden hardly at all this year
because I could not afford the water. :-(

Please share?
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

The cups have the bottoms cut out of them when planted out in the garden
so
the roots grow down into the box and outgrowing the cup is no problem.
You
use 32 ounce cups and only put about 2 inches of potting soil in them to
start the seeds in. This leaves enough "empty" cup to pour water into
when
out in the garden. The SFG book calls for watering the plants
individually
with "cups" of water, i.e. one cup a week for X, 1 cup a day for Y, and
so
on. Supposedly this regulates the water to preclude under watering or
over
watering, which I tend to do.


--
J.C.

If you have a guide book with a tried and true method, what are you
worried about???

Well, the guide book does not cover what I am wanting to do. The guide book
says to hollow out a saucer type affair and put the plant in the middle. And
that's okay I guess but being a lazy old man, I'm trying to figure out an
easier way to do this while still maintaining a bit of the integrity of the
SFG system.


Carry on, then post your results.
I'm very curious about this. I did not garden hardly at all this year
because I could not afford the water. :-(

Please share?
--
Peace!
Om

Check this out.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/


"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

Check this out.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Looks fascinating... :-)
Once I fix up my greenhouses this fall (it's been a wasted summer), that
might be something to consider.

Personally, I have my heart set on hydroponics! IMHO the ultimate in
lazy gardening once you have it set up.

And it also conserves water.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"J.C." wrote:

Check this out.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Looks fascinating... :-)
Once I fix up my greenhouses this fall (it's been a wasted summer), that
might be something to consider.

Personally, I have my heart set on hydroponics! IMHO the ultimate in
lazy gardening once you have it set up.

And it also conserves water.
--
Peace!
Om

I tried this for awhile

http://www.aquaponics.com/


--
J.C.

"J.C." wrote:

I tried this for awhile

http://www.aquaponics.com/

How well does this work above?

I want to grow JUST enough food for one person

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
news [snip]
If you have a guide book with a tried and true method,
what are you worried about???
[snip]

I believe he did in the OP. Something about experiencing problems
still...

Anyhow, there won't be any issues with using the Styrofoam cups or
having them biodegrade. The "collar" will allow you to maximize the
water while minimizing the effort (of control of weeds, rot, et al.).
The stepped system is already in place so now you should be looking to
figuring out why rot is taking place. A soil virus, maybe?

The Ranger

"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
news [snip]
If you have a guide book with a tried and true method,
what are you worried about???
[snip]

I believe he did in the OP. Something about experiencing problems
still...

Anyhow, there won't be any issues with using the Styrofoam cups or
having them biodegrade. The "collar" will allow you to maximize the
water while minimizing the effort (of control of weeds, rot, et al.).
The stepped system is already in place so now you should be looking to
figuring out why rot is taking place. A soil virus, maybe?

The Ranger



Could be any number of things. The "soil" is actually a mixture of 1/3
vermiculite, 1/3 composted cow manure and 1/3 spanghum peat moss.


--
J.C.

J.C. wrote in message
...
"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
The stepped system is already in place so now you should
be looking to figuring out why rot is taking place. A soil
virus, maybe?

Could be any number of things. The "soil" is actually a mixture
of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 composted cow manure and 1/3
spanghum peat moss.

That seems awful high in acid... My best guess would be the manure;
might not have composted enough. I burned up some pumpkin and zuke
seedlings once by using steer manure that had lost that ripe smell but
wasn't ready for prime time.

1/3 vermiculite also seems just a might excessive. Do you need that much
drainage?

The Ranger

"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
J.C. wrote in message
...
"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
The stepped system is already in place so now you should
be looking to figuring out why rot is taking place. A soil
virus, maybe?

Could be any number of things. The "soil" is actually a mixture
of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 composted cow manure and 1/3
spanghum peat moss.

That seems awful high in acid... My best guess would be the manure;
might not have composted enough. I burned up some pumpkin and zuke
seedlings once by using steer manure that had lost that ripe smell but
wasn't ready for prime time.

1/3 vermiculite also seems just a might excessive. Do you need that much
drainage?

Supposedly it is for absorbing and holding moisture. The bottom of the boxes
are covered with that dark shading type material.


--
J.C.


The Ranger

In article ,
"The Ranger" wrote:

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
news [snip]
If you have a guide book with a tried and true method,
what are you worried about???
[snip]

I believe he did in the OP. Something about experiencing problems
still...

Anyhow, there won't be any issues with using the Styrofoam cups or
having them biodegrade. The "collar" will allow you to maximize the
water while minimizing the effort (of control of weeds, rot, et al.).
The stepped system is already in place so now you should be looking to
figuring out why rot is taking place. A soil virus, maybe?

The Ranger

More likely a soil fungus.
Some pH regulation might be in order?
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson