Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 06/25/2010 5:13:58 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. Here in East Central Mississippi the weather has been typical for the middle of June and the official start of summer. Temperatures have been in the mid nineties in the afternoons and high sixties to low seventies overnight with afternoon showers every other day or so. My garden is thriving in this weather and doing very well. I have not had to do any extensive additional watering which is good.
Also this past week I noticed quite a few honey bees up in the garden. I hope they decide to visit often. In the past years my main pollinators have been bumblebees and they are all over the garden also. Things are a buzzing!
I hope all of your gardens are doing well.
If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.
If you have a question about gardening or just an observation to share please feel free to stop by and participate. There are no stupid questions, just honest ones.
Weekly Gardening Thread
I hope all of you will stop by.
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I was just out in the garden and had to run for cover after about 30 seconds. It was a skeeter ambush.
My computer room overlooks my garden, and my (normally) silent Golden Retriever barked. I looked up to see him chasing a deer out to the road. I trained him not to do that 8 years ago, but he seems to have forgotten. Besides, the deer easily get away, and he’s content to let them go.
My garden is growing like gangbusters, especially the weeds.
I have a ton of little tomatoes growing, my summer squash is a week or so away from picking. Peas and green beans are already being harvested daily.
My best garden yet!
Good morning.
We are in the same heat wave (hotter than usual here at 1000’)and a noticeable lack of rain. We also have many cases of early blight in the community garden. Our plot is barely effected, but we are not sure why exactly.
Good news is that to combat it, they are easing the organic restrictions! Now if some folks would trim their plants properly we can beat it.
Harvested zuke, squash, tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro and peppers this week. Made a nice salsa and grilled the squash.
Good morning.
I like to fish tidal swamps, and this stuff is as good as any other repellent, it's not all slimey and oily, doesn't feel gross and smells decent. I can use it for a lunchbreak fishing trip, and not gross out my coworkers when I gat back into the office.
If I had the space, I would grown mostly in raised beds. I do compost. My main method of preservation is dehydration. I am skilled at canning, but prefer the space saving convenience of dried foods.
FReegards!
Sounds like you might have a “squash vine borer”. You can learn about them by doing a google search. They’re not good.
Thank you.
I planted a second row of purple hull cow peas this year. I picked a kitchen garbage bag full yesterday. WHAT was I thinking.
Up here “Massachusetts had its warmest spring in the 116 years that conditions have been recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Michigan also set records for the March-to-May period that meteorologists consider to be spring. By contrast, the same period was among the 10 coolest for Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. (Boston Globe, June 10, 2010)
Also, “much of the area from Little Rock, Ark., St. Louis, Mo., and Chicago, Ill., to Portland, Maine, New York City and Richmond, Va., temperatures have averaged 3.0 to 6.0 degrees above normal this spring.” http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/33055/100degree-heat-may-follow-reco-1.asp
In May it averaged 72 versus normal 67 and you could have planted tomatoes in April, rather than waiting till the official safe date of May 31.
This is much contrast to last year, when it think it was May that was the fourth coldest and June the second cloudiest, or vice versa, on record.
However, i was not able to work much after the middle of May in my neighbors plot, but the corn that did get planted is already knee high. thanks be to God. I also have 16 tomatoes plants on the roof, which i began inside from saved seeds, and being on the north side of a hill, with no south facing windows, the do not get that large. But some are now big and bushy with lots of flowers, though they are 3 plants in each 22”x15”x13 bin.
“(hotter than usual here at 1000’)”.
Your garden must on the planet Mercury:)
Our bell and jalapeno peppers are coming along. We should be awash in tomatoes in the next few weeks. We have two fig trees and it looks like a bumper crop this year.
My wife will be preparing our FIRST batch of salsa from fresh garden tomatoes this evening...the first of many, I hope.
I hate those skeeters!
Thanks to the assistance from those on the weekly gardening thread my baby giant pumpkin is happy, healthy, and chillin’ in his little hammock I made for him.
At 3 weeks, he is the size of a large grapefruit!
I shouldn’t be cocky and arrogant, as bad things always happen when I get too optimistic.
Thanks Red! Our backyard has a drainfield (no grow zone), trees/shade, red Georgia clay, and in-ground irrigation so by time I eliminate all those areas, there’s nothing left!
The tomatoes are on the sidelines, some peppers are near the bird bath, and the cukes are out of bounds.
I may invest in more conatiners next year because the deck is in full sun. And these plants do look good.
It just gets real hot on the deck.
“Four-hunnerd-hell” hot as we say here.
Feels like it some days. I literally lost three pounds playing golf the other day.
Lettuce!!
Tons of lettuce. We’re eating salads for lunch and dinner almost everyday. My head lettuce is gone, but the leaf lettuce keeps on going.
And we got a shopping bag full of lettuce from a friend when we helped to remove their pool cover.
And we’ve been getting two heads a week from our farm share. (Yes, I admit that we bought a farm share in a local farm. My garden just isn’t big enough to supply all our veggie needs.)
Collards & a ham hock just put in the slow cooker with a can of whole tomatoes (none ready here yet) onions & garlic. I’ll throw a can of black-eyed peas in later.
Tomato question, how many people remove non producing branches from your tomato plants and exact how do you a) know which ones to remove, and b) how do you remove them by cutting??
Love to read this thread every week. Wish I had enough knowledge to give back.
Does anybody know how to get grass to grow under oak trees?
There are may products which repel mosquitoes on humans. A new product by the makers of OFF spray. It is a device you wear on a belt loop and the aroma of OFF is spread around by a fan. Going to try it. Also found a yellow bracelet in the AmeriMark.com catalog which has an aroma of citronella, which repels mosquitoes too. There is a + 2 inches or more of water in our reserviors and some periodic downpours. One of the advantages of less rain is fewer mosquitoes.
Other than the lower branches and the suckers I don't prune anything else. In the picture below they are pruning out a sucker. They just use up the plant energy and will not produce tomatoes.
Our son in law spent yesterday power washing our post and rail fence and will be back next week to paint it. It separates our neighbor's cow from our landscaping. It's made of pressure treated lumber and it wasn't primed properly when it was installed 5 years ago. Is there any primer that will stick to PT lumber?
Our ten day forecast for the Humboldt Bay Region
My garden’s coming along, slowly but surely. I’m about to get my first zucchini in the next couple days. I will be picking some dragon tongue beans later today! I may post a picture of the beans later today :) I have green tomatoes, but none ripe so far.
The Japanese beetles have descended here. They have decimated one rose bush, and are working on strawberry plants and basil, along with a few other plants. Anyone have any tips? I don’t like to use Seven dust very often, but maybe I should?
I did get a chance to visit the Missouri Botanical Garden several weeks back, and it was beautiful! It was much bigger than I expected.
Hope everyone’s garden is coming along nicely!
Choose the right grass and water it sufficiently. You have to remember that the tree is sucking a tremendous amount of water and doesn't leave much for the grass. We have St. Augustine under our oaks, but the trees range from 50-100 years old and are trimmed up at least 15-20 feet from the ground to allow the sun to get under in the morning and again in the afternoon.
It is also necessary to thin out the limbs inside the drip line of the canopy -- anything that is pointing up or pointing in -- any branches that somehow rub against another. All of the branches should be growing outward. This pruning does two things: 1) keeps the tree vigorous and allows airflow through which helps it defend against strong winds; and 2) permits filtered sunlight to the ground.
Check with your local seed dealer or county extension agent on the shade grasses that thrive in your area.
Glidden makes a primer called "Gripper", that will stick to just about anything. Lowes had a demonstration board with this stuff painted on a bunch of things. I bought some and it covered paneling that had been sprayed with Scott's Liquid Gold for a couple of decades. Then I got adventurous and painted some old ceramic tile in the bathroom. It stuck to both beautifully.
Onion questions: If the tops break, will the bulb still continue to grow? Should I pull onions that develope flowers? How much water because it looks like some of the bulbs are soft, they might be rotting? Thanks!
We tried to truck in more topsoil to expand the garden, but with all the rain of course the dump truck got stuck when they attempted to drop the load where I wanted it... what a mess! Split the towing fee with the driver, making that 10 yard delivery the most expensive dirt I've ever bought! Our wheelbarrow is getting a real workout fixing that problem.
Everything that's gone into the ground is thriving... especially the tomatoes and cabbages!
I have my first Ghost Chile growing. A month’s worth of gemination yielded 1 out of 12 seeds. I have it in a small clay pot and I move it from one side of the yard to the other so it follows the sun. I’m watering it from below, filling a saucer and letting the soil soak it up. It’s almost 2 inches tall and has 2 rows of leaves now. A couple more weeks and I think it will be over the hump and grow until it bears fruit. Hopefully it will winter over inside the house like my Tabasco and Habanero peppers do, then next summer I will be loaded with peppers.
Do you use any special types of fertilizers on these plants? I am just depending on whatever nutrients are in the Miracle Grow potting soil I planted it in. I know peppers in general don’t need a lot of fertilizer, any special tips for this baby?
Try saying Glidden Gripper 6 times with a mouth full of fresh out of the oven blueberry muffins! I did some research on painting PT wood and see my original mistake was priming and painting the fence without letting the wood age to evaporate some of the oils in the treatment...
Anyone have any experience with the EarthBox Garden Kits?
Considering them to replace the 4X4 gardens the kids are maintaining.
A new product by the makers of OFF spray. It is a device you wear on a belt loop and the aroma of OFF is spread around by a fan.
Puzzling whether some kind of smudge/smoke pot might work. Scratching as we type.
Woo hoo. In before the 100th post! I put the squash in the ground last weekend. Potatos are coming up well. Days are getting hot. Got to set up timer and drip hoses soon.
I just ordered some sticky patches for my cap that should help cut down on the population of the little vampires.
Wonderful photo!
LOL!
First of all, my miracle of all miracles -- english peas growing and producing in 100 degree temperatures. I have them in the same area corner of the garden as my greens and radishes, which gets shade at a couple of intervals during the intense heat of the day.
The pepper section has become the pepper jungle! (Indian corn in the background)
Spaghetti squash growing on a trellis.
Lady (cream) peas are producing well. We have been picking for about a week now. I love "top pick" pea varieties so that you don't have to stoop to pick them!
The green stringbeans made almost 150 lbs. We have pulled them up and replanted for a second crop. The planting dates in the guidebook were July 1 through September, so I figured a week early probably would not hurt.
Tomatoes are finally turning:
White scalloped squash is setting blooms. I think I planted about 30 days ago.
Yellow squash with one row of trelli in the background:
The oldest of the tomato section ... I still have a tray of Romas and Rutgers to set out and I'll probably start some additional seeds in the coming week.
The produce stand is a huge hit and is busy every day. I'm going to have to expand to meet the demand and that will require hired help and more refrigeration. The market is certainly there for a thriving business.
Man alive! Are you growing in mostly sand?
Mornin’, Red,
I’m happy to report that up here, a little north of your area, I have had several honeybees every morning on the blooms in my little garden. Been a long time since I have seen any of those.
They stay as busy as, well, bees! My squash had been planted for about 6 weeks, and done nothing BUT bloom. It is very large and has been covered with blooms, but no squash. That is, until right after I started seeing the honeybees. Now it is covered in little squash.
Will you marry me?
I have several dirt people friends and they recommend not even trying to grow grass under trees because of the light issue. Grass, regardless of whether it is labeled as “shade tolerant” or not will not grow without sunlight. Your energy time and money might be better spent planting ground covers under the tree like monkey grass or vinca-not the flower vinca but the ground cover vinca.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
Great pictures - that is a major league garden.
Golf in 100 degree weather? It rarely gets that hot in MA, and the humidity is usually high, so you feel both the heat and the cold more.
And while i was just kidding, i find planets interesting, and 100F is still not at as hot as Mercury can gets, as its surface ranges in temperature from -270°F to 800°F, depending on time and location, while a 100 pound person would weigh only 38 pounds. And a daytime lasts 58.65 Earth days, while its thin atmosphere consist of trace amounts of hydrogen and helium. You won’t grow tomatoes there! and Mars is much colder than the Earth, and with no oxygen, and don’t even ask about Venus.
In short, God made the earth man to inhabit.
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