I’m dedicated to updating at least once a week, more if possible. Lots of exciting things going on upstairs!
ShmErin and I went to Campbell and Ferrara on Rt 1 in Alexandria a few days ago to pick up some strawberry pots that were on sale…50% off! We got pots and plants. The guy who took care of us was VERY friendly and helpful. I feel like a dope for not getting his name, but I’m going to tell them he was great. I got two strawberry plants, two peppers, and two yellow squash plants. Now, the squash were really four, as each one had two little guys in the pot. I knew that separating them might not be the best idea and I could damage both, but I thought that if they were apart they’d do better. Also, tearing the roots a tiny bit would stimulate new growth, but I didn’t know if this would be too much for them. I risked it. It worked. The morning after planting, all four squash plants were happy and looked great. Here they are in their new tank with two red bell peppers and one hot pepper. Marigolds all over to help keep bugs away.
This is the first year I have strawberries. They also like their new pots. The guy at the shop said they have shallow root systems, which is why they do well in pots. I don’t know if i put them in correctly. I basically put their runners through the soil and into the other holes in the pot. I think I was supposed to plant the actual runner itself so it develops its own root system, as that’s what happens when they’re in the ground. We’ll see what happens. I might have to do some plant surgery in a few weeks. However, the few little berries that were there earlier ripened quickly and both plants have made new leaves in the last three days.
Tomatoes REALLY like their new buckets. They look much better now that they’re in their new homes. I debated staking them vs caging them. Cages would go out too much and take up too much room on the roof. I decided to use 6′ bamboo stakes and tie them on top. Not quite a cage, not quite a stake. It won’t do much until the plant is larger, but it will keep them mobile and I won’t take up too much space from my neighbors. We are excited about having greenery in another corner of the roof.
Finally, I couldn’t figure out how to trellis the cucumbers and squash. In the past I’ve allowed the cucumbers to just hang over the sides of the tank, but this year I want to keep them up. I couldn’t really find anything that would work well in the tanks, so I eventually figured I should build one. I used last year’s tomato stakes and came up with this. (Really glad I’m able to reuse some of them, they were $3 each and I had a bunch of them.) I put nails in to two 6′ stakes to act as “shelves” and then tied on horizontal posts using coated wire in a cris-cross form. worked really well. The vertical stakes are very secure and will hold a lot of weight from the plants pulling on them. I’m going to redo it and make it slightly larger to get the outer plants, and then I’ll make a second one for the cucumbers in the other tank.
Finally, I don’t really have a need for something like this for herbs right now, but how perfect would this set up be for a small garden space or even a balcony? Saw it at Lowe’s. Pretty self explanatory. Plastic pots drilled onto a folding trellis.
Roof Garden Gal 
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