Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyah
I thought it would be a good idea to start an urban gardening thread as there was a lot of interest in the Random Thoughts thread about a month ago. We're finally coming into gardening season so I'm curious to see how many other urban gardeners we have here. Really looking forward to seeing everyone’s setup! Please share all your tips too.
I started my first seedlings of the season today. I generally start between now and the beginning of April for things that take a bit longer to establish like peppers, chilis and tomatoes. Today I sowed all my pepper/chili seeds I’m going to be growing this year:
- Habanero
- Ghost Chili
- Jalapeno
- Serrano
- Thai Dragon
- Pepperoncini
- Arapaho
I also planted some bell pepper plants. I have them all in trays with heating pads by an east facing window, which isn’t ideal but they’re only there until they sprout then they go in a growing tent. I have three of these, and I usually only use two but I'm planting a lot of stuff this year so we’ll see how it goes. Here are links for the tent and lights I use:
Tent: https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOSUN-Hortic...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1
Light: https://www.amazon.ca/Phlizon-Thermo...dDbGljaz10cnVl
It’s also a good idea to also get a timer for the light and a fan for each tent. The fan helps move air around and keep the seedlings moving. This helps their stems to develop strong so they’re not knocked over by wind when you plant them outside.
I usually aim to plant everything outside around May long depending on what the weather looks like. My backyard has four raised garden beds, all about 3 X 12 feet. One garden will be for the chilis I planted today, the others for tomatoes, squash/cucumbers and onions & garlic. I’ll be starting the rest of the seedlings in the next few weeks, along with herbs & flowers. This is probably my favourite time of year!
Here are some photos of my backyard gardens from last year:
Spoiler!
Beans:
Root Veggies:
Squash (with a cannabis cameo):
Tomatoes:
And here are some from my harvest:
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Looks like you have the perfect location for your tomatoes and the like, right against the house. That helps to retain heat during the night for plants that require full sun.
That is the big difference in gardening in Calgary, compared to say Edmonton or most of Saskatchewan. Calgary has low temperatures overnight so it takes too many hours to build up the heat that plants like peppers, tomatoes, and squash require. Planting in containers and against houses or garages or a fence helps.
And good on you for actually harvesting some garlic, one of the hardest things to grow in the Calgary area.