anyone have tips for gardening in CO??

[kmatt87]

I'm a MN native and the growing conditions there are ALOT diff then here.
I've been working on improving my soil for the last 3 yrs. We have tons of clay and rocks, so its been a long process. I'm hoping with the help of my chickens it will improve a ton by next growing season

Last yr we had tons of issues with powder mold, grasshoppers, the heat frying my plants (out of 11 tomato plants i think i got maybe 12 cups of tomatoes to freeze) and just an overall measly crop of everything.

I know it was partially due to the soil not being up to par, and i'm sure the heat had an effect (it was HOT) but does anyone have any tips for out here?
I'm in Northern CO and our altitude is about 3,600ft

 

[Tivona]

I have never been to Colorado. Perhaps shade cloth during the real heat of summer might help? Also soaker hoses buried just under the surface (be sure not to use full water pressure on them or they can burst) are good at getting water to soak into the soil instead of just running off. And of course compost! Any horse barns around? You may be able to get some for a quick compost pile or sometimes they will give you aged manure ready to use.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I'm not in Colorado, but suspect that I've got similar growing conditions: dry, higher elevation, rocks.

You need to add lots of organic matter to the soil. Use mulch. Pay close attention to the moisture level in the soil.

I use black plastic to warm the soil, drip tape under mulch to water.

Grow short season varieties. I start seeds indoors, use shade cloth when they are being moved outside.

Serious fencing to protect from rabbits.

I got snow leopard melons and sugar baby watermelon to ripen last year. Russian and Siberian varieties of tomatoes do the best. Celebrity hybrid tomatoes always do well for me.

I do really well with fruit trees, berries, grapes, rhubarb, asparagus.

 

[hispoptart]

We are in the far west/northen CO. Elevation of about 5300 feet and our garden grows great every year. Soil is important. We dump all of our grass clipings in the garden. Leaves get added in the fall. Things like coffee grounds, potato peels, vegies trimmings and the such also get added. Soaker hoses for row crops are great, drip or bubbler systems set up for the individual plants work well.
Powdery mold can be caused by top watering. Hopefuly the chickens will take care of the grasshoppers this year. Sready even watering is your best friend. Do not under or over water. You have to try to get that to a system.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I live at 7500 feet in southeastern Wyoming. I moved here from northern Wisconsin 5 years ago. I can relate to the climate change!

My biggest problem is the dry wind. It seems to suck the moisture out of the plants so fast, I tried watering twice a day with my soaker hose two years ago and it really didn't seem to make much difference. So I (well my husband) built a gorwhouse to protect the plants from the wind. It is only 4 foot high and sits over a 3.5' by 7' raised bed. I only planted 6 tomato plants in it last year and I harvested at least 6-8 tomatoes from each plant last fall, with at least 3 dozen that never got ripe - my fault because I planted them so late in June. Right now I an harvesting spinach and huge green onions that survived all winter. Garlic that I stuck in the ground in November grew almost 6 inches over winter. I planted sugar snap peas a week ago and they are up about an inch.

This year we are building another raised bed - 4' x 12' and building a low tunnel over it to protect from the wind. One thing to note is that any covering needs to be well ventilated because this sun at this lower latitude is fierce and it will heat up fast! When Iwould open my growhouse during the winter, I would get hit with a blast of warm steamy air if it had been sunny all day.

MY ADVICE IS: If you are in an area that has a constant breeze - consider a row cover to protect the plants from drying out too fast. Like a low tunnel system or something. I think the shade cloth would work great also, I use greenhouse plastic because I need to be able to keep gophers, groundsquirrels, mice, rabbits and antelope from eating everything and the gophers will chew through the shade cloth.