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WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 25 JUNE 19, 2015
freerepublic | 6/19/2015 | greeneyes

Posted on 06/19/2015 12:32:09 PM PDT by greeneyes

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.

No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.


TOPICS: Gardening
KEYWORDS: agriculture; food; gardening; hobby
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To: greeneyes

“Heat can be a factor in fruit set. Is it hot in Texas right now?”

Not 100 degree hot. But it is hitting 80’s.


21 posted on 06/19/2015 1:32:50 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz
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To: EQAndyBuzz

They make a spray that can be a help when the weather is too hot. Do you side dress your tomatoes with a high potassium fertilizer when they start blooming?


22 posted on 06/19/2015 1:35:49 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Le//t Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

Used the spray on the tomatoes. They are doing ok. It’s the peppers that are giving me fits. I am also using something from Ortho that gets sprayed every couple of weeks. If it clears up tomorrow will spray again.


23 posted on 06/19/2015 1:57:30 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz
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To: greeneyes

My tomatoes (krims) are loaded with HugE, HUGE maters. So much I’m having to tie the branches everyday. A bit of wilt setting in but another FReeper has put me on the path to remediation..

Fordhooks are starting to bloom.
Roma green beans have small fruit and popping with blooms.
Alabama Black Eye Butter beans have reached the top of their
(12 feet) poles and are blooming.
I’m pulling both crimson and Alabama Red okra.. (gunna fry up a batch tonight with my BBQ chicken and rice..)
Shishito peppers are rocking. Pulling them almost everyday.
My secondary planting of hybrid tomatoes are going to town, too.
Perilla is going to have to be thinned because it’s taking over everything..
I put some Korean white cukes (three) in the ground earlier this week and they got the memo..; grow, grow, grow... (I couldn’t get excited about growing cukes this year..sigh)
Putting more okra in the ground in the AM..
It’s going to be a good year here in Atlanta..!!


24 posted on 06/19/2015 2:02:54 PM PDT by Original Lurker
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To: EQAndyBuzz

I was thinking that since tomatoes and peppers are related that the spray might work on them too.


25 posted on 06/19/2015 2:05:12 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Le//t Freedom Ring.)
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To: Original Lurker

You are right. It sounds like a banner year in Atlanta.


26 posted on 06/19/2015 2:07:00 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Le//t Freedom Ring.)
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To: Marcella

ping


27 posted on 06/19/2015 2:13:04 PM PDT by Marcella (TED CRUZ Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: sockmonkey; Nepeta; Silentgypsy; ApplegateRanch; Ellendra; murrie; Black Agnes; trisham; ...
“Is it hot in Texas?”

It is 100 degrees in Lewisville, TX, 20 miles north of Dallas and has been 100 degrees every time it stops raining. Tropical storm Bill left 5.5 inches of rain here and we had already had so many inches all the lakes in the large Dallas County and points west and Denton County (I'm in that county), and other counties to the east and south, are flooding roads and houses and all points south through Houston and in deep south Texas.

I can't bear 100 degrees, so I stay in the house.

About Johnny:
He hasn't posted on FR since June 11. I had one email from him Wednesday and nothing else. His email said he was getting some sleep now. I sent him an email after that, and have had no answer.

He knows he can email me at any time and we will go there to help him. He also has a brother and he can get help from him.

Phones don't work with him since his speech cannot be understood on the phone. One of the two brain tumors has caused that speech defect.

When I know something about Johnny, I will post it.

28 posted on 06/19/2015 2:34:54 PM PDT by Marcella (TED CRUZ Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: greeneyes

Your name got left off my post 28.


29 posted on 06/19/2015 2:36:53 PM PDT by Marcella (TED CRUZ Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: greeneyes

We *were* getting a few blueberries & raspberries; but the birds swooped in and made hogs of themselves, so no more blueberries. Snails ate on the strawberries; but we washed ‘em & ate around the snail bites. It’s too hot here to even go out and pick anything; so I send my husband, the resident organic gardener.


30 posted on 06/19/2015 2:44:44 PM PDT by Twinkie (John 3:16)
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To: greeneyes
Not a lot of new developments here at microacres in Central Tx. We missed the heaviest bit of TS Bill but still have had over 4 inches MTD with an inch of that today. I have very much appreciated not having had to water much.

Tomatoes continue to be the big producer along with the corn which has done well even if a little beat up looking as it's in the path of a lot of run off.

A couple of tips with the warning I have no idea if they work, perhaps someone can verify.

Instructions with my new pump sprayer said to use vinegar to kill weeks.

Had a leak in the string trimmer fuel line that I couldn't figure out and told the counter guy at the repair place I'd ignore it but with the price of the canned gas I've been using I had a heart attack when I spilled a drop. One of the repair guys overheard and suggested aviation fuel. He said the lead wouldn't hurt a 2-cycle and it had a shelf live far longer than ethanol based stuff even if you use an additive. He said most small airports would gladly sell to the non-flying public.

Anyone with first hand experience with either?

31 posted on 06/19/2015 3:13:12 PM PDT by Proud_texan ("Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - PK Dick)
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To: Marcella

Wow, I had no idea it was so hot up there. We’re in the 70’s in the TX Hill Country.
Thx for the sorta an update on Johnny. Prayers for him everyday, and Arrowhead, too.


32 posted on 06/19/2015 3:15:42 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Of course I didn't read the article. After all, this is Free Republic.)
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To: Marcella

Thanks Marcella. Still praying every day.


33 posted on 06/19/2015 3:34:23 PM PDT by MomwithHope (Please support efforts in your state for an Article 5 convention.)
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To: greeneyes
Rain rain.
Lettuce was wiped out. We are getting a half dozen cherry tomatoes every day and two or three Amish Paste tomatoes each week. We had peppers, stuffed last week. One cucumber so far. Thank goodness it has stopped raining.
34 posted on 06/19/2015 5:37:47 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("If he were working for the other side, what would he be doing differently ?")
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To: Original Lurker

Hi, I am trying shishito peppers for the first time. Don’t know anthing about them, how are you using them??


35 posted on 06/19/2015 7:03:29 PM PDT by MomwithHope (Please support efforts in your state for an Article 5 convention.)
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To: MomwithHope

Greeting to all from west Michigan. Picking lots of romaine lettuce which I started under plexiglas at Easter. Also getting lots of nice radishes. Tried a baby bok choi from rareheirloom seeds and just love it. Stalks are skinny and tender and lots of green leaves. I’ve been chopping it up and making stir fry and adding it to homemade chicken fried rice. No broccoli yet or tomatoes. Also picking chard and still getting some asparagus. I have the plot that never seems to end.


36 posted on 06/19/2015 7:08:04 PM PDT by MomwithHope (Please support efforts in your state for an Article 5 convention.)
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To: greeneyes

Hi everyone! My offering will be a little shorter in length today. Since the prof gave his lecture in the dark with a lot of slides of insects and insect damage, I don’t have as many notes with words! I sought to write down what I could, and then in my notes for you, I did searches in some cases to see if I could find other pictures illustrating what the prof was explaining.

I hope all your gardens are doing well!

I actually planted something this week! We had a sack of potatoes that had sprouted, so I picked out a handful, cut them up and stuck em in the ground just to see if they would grow. I had had a volunteer potato plant and was pleased with myself that I could recognize sucking damage now when I see it! I had to pull up two of them but one was left. I treated it with insecticide soap, and so far, I think it is holding on.

Have a great week now that we are at the Summer Solstice time!

START INSTALLMENT THREE – BUGS
He showed us slides illustrating different kinds of insect injury.

Leaf miners’ “tracks” show a “serpentine” kind of damage, which actually is a sort of pretty kind of filigree-looking thing on a leaf. I did a quick check and found a link illustrating this:
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/serpentine_mines_in_columbine_leaves_caused_by_a_leafminer

Fly larvae of the apple maggots show a sort of ookie area of squishiness and some dimpling where they are boring.

http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displaySpecies.php?pn=140

He also showed gall insect damage. The feeding or egg laying activities cause the plant to make structures to protect the insect.

He also showed a picture of a cross section of what wood borer damage looks like, with the worm in it.
There was a leaf with a stippling pattern on it. Stippling damage is a common pattern left by insects who feed by sucking rather than chewing. When assessing damage, always remember to look for the SIGNS such as frass (bug poop) honeydew, and the insect itself. I found a link from Arizona illustrating this:

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/trivalley_dispatch/farm_and_ranch/arizona-gardeners-tips-for-recognizing-insect-damage-to-garden-plants/article_2e1895b2-1d9b-11e4-af79-001a4bcf887a.html

There was a picture with a leaf hopper. They are vectors for plant disease. Their mode of feeding is also sucking. Just looked up a link to these fascinating creatures that we never want to see!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafhopper

Sometimes when encountering sucking damage from any of the sucking feeders, you might see a leaf which has been stunted because the nitrogen has been cut off because of the feeding by the insect.

If you encounter a splotchy white area in the middle of a leaf you could at first think it is a bird dropping, but he showed us an instance where a concentrated pattern of stipple feeding points have coalesced into one large drained area. The leaf example he showed was, he stated, likely to have been done by thrips. Found this link:

http://www.naturescontrol.com/thrip.html

Then he showed us some pictures of spider mite damage. I did a quick search and found this link:
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Spider-Mites

END INSTALLMENT THREE BUGS


37 posted on 06/19/2015 9:14:16 PM PDT by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: greeneyes; JRandomFreeper; Tilted Irish Kilt; Mad Dawg; bgill; Texas Fossil; Marcella; ...

texokie’s garden ping for class notes! See above! Sorry...forgot to fill in the ping box.


38 posted on 06/19/2015 9:18:20 PM PDT by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: dware; greeneyes; TEXOKIE
dware:" I started far too early this year, and it stunted the growth of some of my stuff (I had Devil's Tongue chile plants that sprouted in February,
and are still alive, but only about an inch and a half or so tall).
I don't know that they are going to do anything or not. We'll see."

Ever heard of a cloche ? It will raise soil temperatures and fruit temperatures in a small area, especially if you have only a few hot peppers.
Best bet is to use a 'Hot Frame' , slightly vented for larger areas .
Hot peppers need temperatures of 78-92 degrees even to germinate.
Don't forget that peppers still need pollination to set fruit , even if you have to do it by hand (small paint brush)
Consider : " Protect Vegetable Transplants With Home-Made Glass Garden Cloches " (out of glass 1 gallon jars).
http://www.funinthemaking.net/2009/04/18/apple-jug-made-into-effective-garden-cloche/
Rememeber to remove the cap on warm sunny days , or you will steam the plants when using a gallon glass jug,
or remove the cloche altogether during early mornings on sunny days .
But using cloche will allow you to raise the soil and plant temp in a small area , or a 'hot frame' for a larger group setting.

39 posted on 06/19/2015 9:59:12 PM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Marcella

About Johnny - yes, please do let us know if you hear anything. And If I can help in anyway, I would like to.


40 posted on 06/19/2015 10:04:27 PM PDT by Ladysforest
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