VI Gardens, wahoo!

Just an FYI, The Depart of Ag sells seedlings at .10 each and you usually get a bunch free too. Try them for quick planting right now.

i think it depends on where you live on what grows well. i have grown tomatoes with mixed results and i grew some swiss chard. pinapples work well. other people have had great success with other vegis.

We're growing squash, pineapple, herbs, and a coconut tree. Haven't been able to pull off tomatos at all.

You might want to use the search engine on this site as a while back there was a very long thread going which addressed your questions with some good input from residents familiar with the ins and outs of gardening here (myself included). When you use the search engine, make sure to change the time option. It's preset to 30 days which won't be of help. Good luck!

I have never had great success with tomatoes, unlike my friend who grows all kinds of wonderful tomatoes in big containers.
I'll be lucky to get 3 or 4 total out of 1 plant.

I have grown all my herbs: basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano, lavender, parsley, celery, scallions, rosemary, garlic chives as well as lettuce,
red & green peppers, a variety of types of hot peppers. I have grown pumpkin, pineapples (they take forever), lime trees, sour-sop, avocado, mango, passion fruit (which will overtake your yard), sugar apples, coconuts, papaya, Suriname cherry trees, etc. I do own my own property tho so these all go into the ground. The herbs and peppers, I raise in planters or pots. Though I once came across a property that had a 12 ft. hot pepper tree filled with peppers! I was amazed as I had no idea they could get so huge!

You really have to have the time to devote to your container garden, water and check daily for bugs.
These bugs are numerous and voracious. They can infest your plants in no time at all so it is a constant battle.
Ants and mealy bugs have a symbiotic relationship so if you have ants around your container plants, mealy bugs (the white mushy looking things) will not be far behind.
Then there's the black blight, scale, aphids, white flies as well as lots of others, all of which can take hold within a couple of days of indifference and there go your plants. Vigilance is key!

Good Luck!

This is the thread I was referring to and the information is as good today as it was 7 years ago!

https://www.vimovingcenter.com/talk/read.php?4,51975,page=1

Growing strawberries and blueberries work quite well for my friend but not for me!

Alana: try these yellows!!
I put them in the AZ dirt that's super hard, they got dripped twice a day when my yard got watered and grew huge plants. they have the sweetest berries, I love the look of the strawberry leaves too!
http://rareseeds.com/yellow-wonder-wild-strawberry.html

Thanks for the link AaandA2VI!:-)
I'll share with my friend that has great sucess with the regular ones!

Make sure your garden stays safe from deer, iguanas,....
Someone had a feast on our tomato plants the other day:S we thought of deer...

the witchy birds were eating my tomatoes for a while then jack spaniards came and chewed up the blossoms of my summer crop. So far the fall crop is doing OK. they love the rain.

To protect from iguanas, deer, etc. it's inexpensive to surround your gardening area (I used raised beds which were even easier) with chicken wire with the rear higher than the front and then scaling down on an angle to about 3' in the front so you can easily step/lean over to weed, pick, etc. Plant your high stuff in the back and low plants in the front. For trashies, etc. shade cloth (it comes in many thicknesses depending on whether your beds are in full or partial sun) works just fine. I used higher chicken wire supports (old treated 2X4s) in the back and stapled down the cloth, then attached the cloth down the sides to the gravitated supports and in the front with clips.

I'm not explaining this very well and a simple diagram would be worth far more than a garbled description but hopefully you get the idea! 😀

I have grown - beets, radishes, carrots, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, tomatoes (normal, pear, and cherries), lettuce, bok choi, peppers, eggplants, basil, rosemary, chamomile, cucumbers, butternut squash, peanuts, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, beans, peas, lima beans, etc. Basically anything will grow, it just depends on soil, water, and temp.

I get the idea OT, makes sense. I did think about the deer and the iggys! Ive used that bird mesh before, i wonder if its available at HD on island. I don't mind sharing some veggies with the wildlife but on my terms lol.

Usvi chick: I'm glad to see all those, my seeds came today (early I know but excited) and all those are in my mix. Do you start any of those indoors or just put them straight into the ground outside?

I spent about 20 hours a week on my beautiful reef aquarium which I sold for the move so I think gardening will be my hobby in the VI... Well besides underwater photography ;). I'm one of those busy bodies I guess lol. I have a real "blue" thumb with propagating live corals so hopefully with great growing conditions in the VI I will have a green thumb too!

My grandmother was a HUGE gardener, sold her plants from her house in "comfort" Texas, a tiny sleepy country town. She was published in a book and several magazines including home and garden back in the day. My boyfriend is really excited about the gardening too, he LOVES to cook especially with fresh ingredients, and is awesome at it! Lucky me 🙂

Just toss them in the ground!

Welcome to the V.I....where in AZ did you move from? I moved here to STX from Chandler. 😉

Speaking of Gardens!

This is in HD, 3D., I hope your computer can view it that way.

Click the switch in the lower right corner to view in full screen.

ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS EVER!

The Ocean as you have never seen it..

Dakuwaqa's Garden - Underwater footage from Fiji & Tonga - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/embed/mcbHKAWIk3I

Really beautiful! Makes me miss my reef aquatium so damn bad. The last 2 months is the first time in over 15 years that I haven't had a salt water reef tank. The anthias and the nudibranches are so beautiful. I had a harem of square spit anthias in my reef, a male and two females, such beautiful fish!! My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to the South Pacific late next year, I just haven't decided on where.

Kindanice:
We're about a month and a half from being in island. I've been busy selling all of our furniture and stuff but my patience is wearing out quickly. My boyfriend has committed to staying until jan 1 to his boss otherwise we'd be there by now. I will say that October FLEW by!

I used Earthboxes last year and they were awesome. Low water usage, high yield. They have systems for netting as well. I grew tomatoes, peppers, beans...all did well with little water and no issues.

Really beautiful! Makes me miss my reef aquatium so damn bad. The last 2 months is the first time in over 15 years that I haven't had a salt water reef tank. The anthias and the nudibranches are so beautiful. I had a harem of square spit anthias in my reef, a male and two females, such beautiful fish!! My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to the South Pacific late next year, I just haven't decided on where.

Kindanice:
We're about a month and a half from being in island. I've been busy selling all of our furniture and stuff but my patience is wearing out quickly. My boyfriend has committed to staying until jan 1 to his boss otherwise we'd be there by now. I will say that October FLEW by!

Did he take the job with Omax?

Does anyone know how much the used up barrels at the rum factory cost? I would love to hack them in half and use those as planters. Reminds me of my grandmas garden growing up. I REALLY hope we get a good land lord who lets us have a small garden!

Check out earthboxes, a very good solution for a garden here.