# Mail Order Plants



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I ordered some tropical fruit trees and asparagus.I wasn't suppose to get them until next month but they showed up yesterday.I wasn't ready for them.The 6 trees were so root bound there was very little dirt in the cups.I had to rush out for pots and potting soil.I also got 50 asparagus plants/roots.I don't have the bed ready and I still haven't decided where to put it.I didn't know what to do with them until I can plant them,the ground is still frozen.I put them in the back bedroom where it's a lot cooler.Any suggestions on what I should do with them or do you think they'll be ok as is?I can't find any answers to that question and I have never done asparagus before or known some one who does.I don't know how to lay them in a trench.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I personally would put the bag of them in my vegetable drawer in the fridge. Fruit trees?


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

They are dwarf size and can be kept in a planter and brought inside.I learned something new yesterday-citrus trees have thorns!!!OUCH!!!The pomegranate trees didn't have thorns.I spent a big part of today separating tomatoes and peppers from the peat pods into individual cups.I have 13 Big Boy tomatoes and 12 Carnival peppers.I still have some Chile peppers-Anaheim and poblano,not too spicy-green peppers,tomatillas, eggplants, some other big tomato and 2 different kinds of ornamental peppers germinating.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I picked and cleaned some collard greens this morning, going to cook them up Sunday. Then throw some Bison burgers on the grill. I'll probably make some yellow rice too.
I'm not going to put no smoked pork necks in the greens like I normally do because my wife has irritable bowel syndrome. In order for her to eat a Bison burger, it has to be cooked/grilled almost burnt. Actually, I like it that way with most meats also.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Very nice Dawg! Jim and I had fresh lettuce and onions, pork chops, and fried potato/squash/okra medley outside with a fire in our new chiminea. Such a beautiful evening!


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

No fair!!!I haven't even put the Brussels Sprouts out yet.I did find a drier spot and I have the asparagus bed marked off.Maybe tomorrow if I pick up some sand today.Today I get to plant 7 replacement trees.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

CQ, save your eggshells for your asparagus. Ferns love the calcium they provide as they compost down. Also it will take a couple of years to start getting a good crop. My crowns are 10-15 years old. BTW, we've had an exceptionally warm winter and spring...


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Thanks for the tips.I don't plan on harvesting until 2020.When I looked up planting them,some sites say to cover the roots slowly with dirt as they grow when planting them and others said to go ahead and bury them.Is any way better than the other?I plan on having the asparagus bed for a long time so I want to do it right.I ordered 50 roots not knowing one root can produce up to 10 spears.I guess I will have enough to eat,freeze, can and share if I start talking to everybody again.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Asparagus is amazing grilled lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper. 
I think I just planted ours straight out. They've in clay soil and have done well, but would have done better with a lighter loam.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Dawg the garden looks beautiful. I never did like collards or asparagus. But I do love Brussel sprouts. Go figure.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Patti I like your chiminea, they are cool looking. I thought about getting one but never did. We have a screen covered steel container that we use to burn stuff.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Thx, Dawg! We are enjoying it. We've had one for several years. The original one we had cracked after a few years of hard use. The new one is much heavier and bigger.


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Here's some of my garden,still in the window.My Big Boy tomatoes went crazy and are a foot tall.Everything else is right on schedule.The Brussels sprouts(not pictured)are root bound and stopped growing.I'm putting them in the ground today and I hope I didn't ruin them.There is the tray of peppermint,it grows so slow.I read that it deterred rodents and I'm putting it all around the house and coop.There are peppers,several varieties and 3 kinds of tomatoes,tomatillas and several pots of herbs that I keep starting.I read hanging dried thyme repels flies and I'm putting that theory to the test this year.I have 7 pots of thyme going.In a week or two I'll start the melons,squashes and corn.You have to get a head start around here because the growing season is so short,unlike some of you already harvesting goodies.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

CQ you're making me break out in a sweat with all that work you're doing!


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

LOL It's not as bad as it looks.I do a little here and there.The big job is transplanting.Still can't get in the garden to till it.We managed to till a row of mud so the Brussels sprouts could go in.We planted 7 trees Saturday and every hole we dug filled up with water.I hope my trees don't drown.Our ground is so saturated and more rain tomorrow...I did find something out yesterday.It's been right under my nose this whole time.When I started shoveling rotten straw in the wheelbarrow,I noticed big fat nightcrawlers,lots and lots of them,everywhere in that old pile of straw.Perfect bait size worms.I didn't collect any up yet but I now know where they are.Free bait!!!


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

OMG!!!I just read an article about vegetable seedlings.It stated that you shouldn't use Miracle Grow potting soil on veggie plants because it produces tall lush plants that do not produce fruit.And guess what I transplanted my seedlings in-Miracle Grow!Plus, my containers of fruit trees and my container peppers and tomatillas/tomatoes.Now I have to go back and redo my container plants.The garden veggies will have to stay in there until they go into the ground in a few weeks.Maybe that's why the big boy tomatoes have gone crazy...Anybody else ever hear that about Miracle Grow?


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I used it with no problems. Are you talking about seedlings or transplants to it in the big pots? I have tomatoes in big pots of it so I guess we'll see..


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I used it also without any problems, got plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers. I pinch off suckers on the mater plants. Used it again this year with all my plants and veggies, no problems so far. BTW; my tomatoes and cukes are flowering already.
My confederate jasmine vine is planted in a large container with Miracle Grow potting soil and it's growing everywhere like crazy and blooming nice sweet smelling flowers.


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Your maters and cukes are flowering already?!?!My plants are still in the window except the Brussels sprouts which are planted.I put all of my seedlings in Miracle Grow and put it in my container plants.I'm not going to bother the plants I'm putting in the ground but will re-do the fruit trees and container maters and peppers.I'm going to leave it in the herbs because they are just foliage and I want tall lush herbs.Seems like I've always used Miracle Grow in the beginning.I'm going to leave it in the tomatillas just to see if there is a difference between those and the ones I'm putting in the ground.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

CQ, I planted tomatillas a few years ago. The plants did great but the fruit only made little tiny ones. If you leave them on the ground, you'll have tomatillas for years! I think I pulled little plants up for 2 or 3 years!


----------

