Posted on 09/16/2016 3:59:51 PM PDT by greeneyes
Place two sticks (or pipes) on either side of the plant in a 60 - 45 degree angle to the ground.
Lace twine into a net/ mesh like structure between the sticks using twine, cloth, pantyhose, etc.
Lean the offending branches against the net/ mesh.
The sticks and mesh will help to support the heavy branches until the fruit matures.
South Carolina has three separate horticultural zones which complicate fall planting for vegetables and flowering plants.
It is recommended and suggested that fall vegetable plants grown for their leaves or roots can be grown in partial shade due to limited amounts of direct sunshine.
The following website includes Table 1. Planting Chart — Dates to Plant in South Carolina for the 3 planting zones (Piedmont, Central, and Coastal) in South Carolina ,
and includes a map sorted according to counties:
Clemson Cooperative Extension (Vegetable)
www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/gardening/hgic1256.html
Clmeson Cooperative Extension (flowers and landscaping)
Includes recommendations of annuals for shade and partial shade, as well as hardy and half-hardy annuals, and other difficult growing conditions.
www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/flowers/
According to the extension planting schedule, you are on the cusp of fall planting.
The hardy and half-hardy flower varieties might over-winter well if given enough mulch protection.
Have you had a soil test done to test for nutrients and micro-nutrients in the soil ?
Use a well balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer for your fruit trees and garden.
Dig a $20.oo dollar hole for a $10.oo dollar tree to encourage spreading root development.
Plan on applying a "dormant oil spray" in early springtime for your cherry and apple trees, as it will suffocate insects and pests prior to leafing out on the trees.
Protect young fruit seedlings from mouse damages with metal screening, and remove any mulch accumulation from around tree base to discourage mouse setting up housing.
Possible deer damage requires more taller, sturdier fencing.
Thank you!
More than half of that was not on my list, but it is now.
My garden has been overtaken by weeds, but my crazy Indian squash have several about three feet long and ripening nicely, so I will have seeds for next season.
Time to check on the bees production of honey.
Thank you for this useful info, I wasn’t aware that I live in the Coastal zone!..
Thanks, got one tomato frame in place on the worst plant - the other (Big Beef) may already be too large to force it into there. It’s actually 3 plants I think with about 11 tomatoes including the small new one on it.
It’s in a big clay pot so it’s very hard to stake the thing but thanks for the advice regardless.
Winding down - pulled up zuccinni and planted lettuce and spinach for the fall.
Pulled up bush and pole beans - potatoes will go there in the spring
Prepped the garlic bed for planting next month.
Tomatoes and peppers are past their prime, but still producing.
Prepping and putting up seeds for next year.
A melancholy time of year as we approach what I call: "The season of dead things".
We had beautiful, sunny weather here in Central Missouri over the weekend. A welcome change for sure. We’ve had just shy of 8” rainfall at my place this month. Over 30” since June 26th.
We’re picking green beans, okra, butternut squash and watermelon still. Picked the 2nd planting sweet corn yesterday. Zucchini and yellow squash are all dead. Tomatoes are mostly dead aside from one heirloom that came up volunteer in the kitchen garden fence.
As soon as it dries up a bit it will be time to sow winter greens and prep the garlic bed.
That thing looks like a portable blister factory!
It looks pretty good to me. I’m not sure by what you mean with prepare the soil. I am in zone 5. What I do this time of the year is continue to harvest tomatoes, corn, peanuts, etc.
I have a small space that I will clear and add in compost to plant garlic and some lettuce, endive, and/or spinach. The rest of the garden will be planted in cover crop such as rye and/or hairy vetch till spring.
Come spring, the cover crop will be turned and worked into the bed 2-4 weeks prior to spring planting. I will then add compost and whatever additional nutrients I feel are needed based on what will be planted. I plant potatoes April 1-15, and early crops such as lettuce shortly before or after the potatoes depending on the weather outlook.
I do a 4 year rotation using the guide: Legumes, Leaves, Fruit, Roots. Legumes such as peas or beans are followed the next year by Leaves such as lettuce that require a lot of nitrogen. Leaves are followed by fruit bearing veggies such as tomatoes, potatoes. Roots are garlic, onions, carrots.
For strawberries, after 3-4 years of production, we start a new patch, and pinch the blooms off the first year to make for stronger plants. After that we have berries around June of each year.
We have some dwarf fruit trees, but none have actually really taken off as they were located too close to a black walnut tree.
This year has been too cool and wet for many of the plants we usually enjoy. Be prepared, there will be ups and downs when you tackle growing your own. Our biggest harvest this year has been potatoes and zukes.
Our big harvest for peppers was 2014 and 2015, and I still have some of those frozen for stir fry, though not many. This year, hubby got zilch and I never even planted any, because he usually has so many.
Thanks for all the beautiful pictures. How do you store your potatoes, and how many months will they last?
That is good news.
I need to find someone local who has honey. I would buy a jar or so every week or so till I had oodles and oodles of the stuff. It lasts forever, tastes great, and has some really good medicinal value.
Yes indeed, fall is here! Persimmons are not yet ripe - been too cool this summer to get any early ones. I am behind on the garlic planting-should already be in the ground, and I haven’t prepped the area yet.
One reason I like to plant winter rye - it stays green all winter, and when the sun shines, I can pretend it’s spring. LOL
I harvested some corn and tomatoes this week end. Cooked the corn a bit husk and all in the Microwave. Cut it off the cobb and froze it to throw a hand full into soup or mixed veggies. Not really supposed to eat such carbs, but a spoonful in a bowl of soup won’t trigger an insulin rush.
I have 3 cheap Kmart laundry baskets in storage shed near the house. They will last until next spring but they do sprout new growth during the winter. We do not have hard freezes to contend with here on the coast.
Found 2 more - they were $1.50 each - ordered 2 - turns out they were exactly like the 2 purchased before. And for $1 each, got 3 steel rods (coated in plastic) to use to stake tomatoes (and whatever else). So now have 4 fairly-nice tomato cage’s for friend’s garden and only $5 in all 4.
Picked up extra Bone Meal at less than 1/2 price and 5 jars of Vegetable plant food for 25% of list (75% off). So, all ready for the next growing season.
The plant food really worked well on some carrots. They jumped up in 3 days.
Sliced-up 10 tomatoes this week - mostly small. 2 more ripening. I counted another 25 tomatoes growing - about 5-6 are really nice in size. About a dozen peppers growing (about 5 are purple!) but the size is coming up slowly. I’m hoping by end of October a few will be ready.
May be able to harvest some into November if lucky. Most of my Basil leaves are not looking too good. One good harvest about a week ago. Didn’t fill up my containers like I thought I would. Wish I could save some plants but may not have much other than pepper seeds and maybe, maybe some tomato seeds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.