Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 07/30/2010 5:10:40 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. Hopefully everyone has had some success with his or her garden this year. The Dog Days of summer are upon us and as summer comes full on we are now enjoying the fruit of our labor.
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.
Weekly Gardening Thread
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Not much new to report from central Texas. I’ll be trimming back some tomatoes for the fall crop and pulling up the squash plants.
Morning. PIcked another five gallon bucket of tomatoes last night and have them on the stove stewing....WIll juice and can tomorrow.
Good morning all.
This week’s report:
Harvesting one yellow squash daily. Gave some to the ladies who cut my hair and do my nails yesterday. They said they liked them.
Spotted a canteloupe and an acorn squash forming. Three watermelons growing — softball, hardball, and ping pong ball sized. Still no beans (except for 6 Italian Bush Beans hiding under the squash leaves). The vines on the Kentucky Wonders and the Scarlet Runner Beans look healthy, but no pods yet.
Can barely move around in my garden because squash vines and tomatoes are sprawling everywhere. I can pick my way through without stepping on anything, but the damp leaves also provide places for mosquitoes and biting insects to hide. Neck and arms are suffering mightily.
Harvesting 2-3 tomatoes per day and many more green ones to come yet. Cucumbers coming on strong.
I’ve yanked the peas and the lettuce. Bed is resting for fall crops.
Profusion of Diana’s beneficial flowers blooming + others that I planted here and there.
Corn patch is a total bust. Pollen falling on bare leaves. No silk in evidence.
Heading out to the County Fair to see if I can find an extension agent to ask about my corn patch. Or, a 9 year old 4H farmer kid!
Will post pictures later.
The oppressive heat and humidity have really set in and taken some tolls. Squash succombed to fungus and bugs so they get pulled tomorrow. I pruned the tomatoes and tomatillos way back, but they are still doing well. Peppers have been sluggish due to shading from the squash and are now coming on strong.
Getting my seeds out for fall crop.
We are closing the garden early this year to implement an aggressive compost effort to get the blight fungus out of the soil. A layered compost under burlap from the Seattle area? Bridgeway method or something?
Oh, and we start horse manure composting this week at the adjacent equestrian center.
Getting overwhelmed with okra. The tomatoes are still producing a 3 or 4 per day. New blooms and some little green tomatoes visible.
The past week we had 1.1” of rain so it gave a nice spurt for the next few days, but I fear with the temp forecast of 100+ degree day is gonna inhibit much tomato production.
I pulled our squash vines out just prior to the rains — they were mostly dead anyway.
Currently, I got 2 empty rows available for some nice veggies - but I havent figured out yet what to plant.
The green beans are still in the ground, but their production is almost zilch, so I imagine they are fixing to be pulled out as well - allowing another vacant row.
Here is the interbay mulch method we will be using. All gardeners are required to do this or green composting.
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2000081841014638.html
You might try a home made garlic spray for those mosquitoes or a commercial product called Garlic Barrier it is also marked as Mosquito Barrier. Same stuff just different labels. Expensive.
My squash were still putting on, but the leaves started drying up. I’ve never seen that before. There are no holes in the vines either.
I too will be pulling up the squash..I did pick alot of green tomatoes off one plant and wrapped in newspaper to turn red..they are taking forever this year. I also will be pulling up the cucumbers as they have all died off. I want to plant something else there but not sure what. I live in Ga. zone 7.
Hi guys. I’m new. I live in Northern Utah, Zone five.
This is my first year planting in Utah (I’m from Vegas), and the cold has been a challenge. I just have a very small bed, and some plants in buckets.
Does anyone know a natural repellent for cabbage worms? I’ve been hand pulling them off, it used to be a dozen or two a day, now it’d down to about a half dozen per plant. (I’m getting better at spotting them).
Also, I’m not used to this zone, so I’m not sure how to plant fall crops. I’d like to put in some more plants, but I’m not sure what I could even get in. I’m not sure when the first frost is here, but from what I can tell, it seems to be mid to late september. Should I try for anything, or just let it go for next year?
Thanks guys. And Nice to meet you all.
We used to plant black eyed peas in late July. They will grow in the heat as long as they get water. I may do that myself this year.
My corn plants are about 8 feet tall. Hopefully the family of raccoons that eat with the cats sometimes don’t get into it like they did my melon patch. I only have one melon out there that they haven’t eaten off the vine.
The gourds are doing great. Picked okra yesterday and gave to a friend.
I can’t grow squash to save my life. I have never had that problem where you have so much zucchini I don’t know what to do with it- I wish I did. LOL!
After everything wraps up we are going to redesign it to be more water efficient. It’s prudent to have a little patch of something at all times.
Between weeds, bugs, diseases and my art, the garden has seen better days, but is still giving, and is still beautiful.
All of my zucchini leaves dried up. They’d get to be about the size of a quarter and die. The Butternut and Crooked neck yellows got to be a lot more established, but just recently several leaves on both suddenly turned brown (within 36 hours), and the fruit on the crook neck shriveled down to nothing. At first I thought something ate it, but I found it, with just a shrivelled husk.
They haven’t been under watered, and I’m pretty sure not over watered, as everything in that plot is growing ok, just all my squashes are having a problem. It’s new to me...
Hey Daisy can you help with questions in posts 15 and 18?
That’s good - I had to fight the stem borer, but we still managed to harvest a big crop up thru the first of July.
I think the combination of heat and insect pests finally took it’s toll on our squash & it wasnt feasible to put anymore energy into saving them.
I have the same problem growing the zukes.
Tell me about your watering.
While I’m in St. George (Zone 8), I’m originaly from NE Ohio (Zone 5).
How often, how much....we can go from there. Like Ross Perot, I’m all ears.
:)
I picked a hand full of Okra this morning. I have been cutting them in rounds and freezing for later use. This morning I just cut them up and coated in corn meal and sauted up for a morning snack! Salt - pepper and Yum!
Here in Utah we have great panoramic views, and lousy soil. It screws up our watering.
Guess you can’t have everything. :)
Everything else in my garden is doing great, except for the yellow squash. I had great plants for 2 or 3 months, and now they are dying. It may be the heat.
Good morning from chilly Republik of New Englistan...starting the day in the upper 40’s, with tonight scheduled to be a bit cooler than that. Telegraph cucumbers have run out of trellis and now climbing onto roof of house...corn also as high as the eaves of the house. Early crookneck squash everywhere...pumpkins running amuck (mmmm, pie...)...processing loads of salsa and sauce from tomatoes...have sampled some young taters...finishing beets...carrots, chinese red beans, peppers, watermelon, onions chugging right along. Broccoli and cauliflower seedlings for fall looking good; fall lettuce (including tasty mix from Diana’s outfit), spinach, chinese cabbage, peas, other goodies going in this weekend. Grocery bill plummeting... :-)
Please tell me more about trimming back tomatoes. Afterweards, can you get them ot bear more?
I had a bunch of fine tomato plants that withered because of the unusual drought and heat here in Upper East Tennessee (or rather perhaps I inadvertently ruined 'em because I didn't know how to handle drought: I think I watered them too much)--- and I wondered whether I could cut back the yellowed and brown branches, and then fertilize again, if maybe they'd put out new sprouts? How do you do it?
It’s still cool and cloudy in Southern California! We’ve had our June Gloom extend through all of July!
Me too please...thanks!
High Daisy, thanks for getting back to me.
The watering really depends on the circumstances, (meaning where in the garden and if it’s in a pot or not. I water the pots about every 2 days. In general, I putdig a small hole and measure about 2-3 inches down. If it’s dry, but not bone dry, I put in about 3 inches of water. Some of the pots have saucers, and if they still have water in the saucers, I don’t water them (unless the top 2 inches are dry), because I figure that capillarity (sp) would draw the water back up.
With the bed, I’ve recently moved a few plants (the ones I moved are doing ok, except the cilantro which was near dead), but my watering since doing the move has been pretty close.
The row goes from left to right, in this order. Onions, Peppers and cucumbers, watermelon, yellow squash, butternut squash, and tomatoes last. I generally check until the top two inches is dry and then I water on a slow trickle, for about 3 hours, until the channels are filled, down to the end. (The tomatoes are doing great on the dryer end, and the onions on the wetter end). It’s usually about 2-3 hours, like I said, it’s a slow trickle (how I was taught in my garden in Vegas), and I usually try to water early morning, at about 3-4. Sometimes, I water in the evening at about 9 or so, but try not to, so as not to let disease spread set in on wet plants at night.
The squash have nice sized plants, but some vermin ate one of the bigger stems and killed off some of the butternut, but the crooked neck, especially just all of a sudden had several leaves turn brown, the butternut next to it, a few leaves, but not so many.
That about sums it up. Can you help? I think I’m not letting the soil get warm after watering, because the pots seem to do better, but I’m not sure how to remedy this, as it’s kinda late for plastic, I think.
Thanks, Dave
You’ve got that right. The soil where I’m at seems good (I should probably have it tested).
I live near a ranch, and the soil seems alright. I added a few cu ft of Topsoil, Compost/Miracle grow and Manure, to the plot I used, and it seems to be ok. Mostly I think it’s because the garden isn’t in the best spot, it’s on the west side of the house, so it only gets about 7-8 hours of light. I;ve read some ov your counsel on some other posts, and I too remember when there was more Phosphorus in the fertilizers. In NV my dad bough some straight phosphorus fertilizer (decades ago), and I remember over the years it seems he started to bemoan the increase in price.
Whoa sounds like your garden is doing GREAT!
Pest of the year has been the tomato hornworm...find one or two every day...never seen that many around here. Japanese beetles are around, but the traps deal with them. My wife pulled a tick out of my hide the other day...think we got it in time. Lyme disease is all over the place up here, but I haven't seen any signs as of yet. We check ourselves daily for the little SOB's...this area is loaded with parasites; ticks and democrats most common of all...
Leaps and eaves...I like it!
G-d has been good to us this year...NOTHING has choked, so far...
The garlic looks like the leaves are turning brown so it is time to harvest and figure out what fall crop to plant there. The greens (collard and mustard) are doing really well so I may try a fall crop of those.
The next time I’m King I will mandate that sunshine and tomatoes are shared equally all across this Fruited Plain. We have our first north coast fog drizzle of the summer and the voice in the radio said it is our first moisture of July (.01). All this will do is accelerate the powdery mildew and encourage the Black Aphids.
Our weather has been 5 to 6 degrees cooler than normal and normal is in the mid 60s. We are hoping the high fog disperses and we get back to sunshine and not feeling depressed. The corn continues to grow but the Black Aphids and their scavenger Ants showed up on the corn tassels so I dusted for them yesterday, picked strawberries and then weeded them, pulled the last of the Romaine lettuce for the compost file. It was planted in May from some free seed my #1 wife received with some flower seed, and also planted some carrots in a big tub. I’ll be preparing a new Garlic bed soon for October planting but I’m thinking of cutting back
Wife’s cast came off Wednesday, a week after surgery and she is threatening to take her new car for a ride. This old gal has to be made of Kryptonite as she seems indestructible. There is not much she can’t do and that includes the garden or baking Snicker Doodles plus a one mile walk yesterday.
We found Cherokee Purple tomatoes at the Old Town Farmers market last Tuesday. They came from Willow Creek Ca on the Trinity River east of Humboldt Bay
Here is what I do this time of the year. Remove the cages or stakes you have to support the vines.
Find several of the best lower shoots on the plant and cut off the stalk above it. Clean out all grass and weeds around the plants without tearing up the roots too much.
Use a rake type of digging tool and clean the furrows. Put mulch or grass cuttings around the plants. Use a light application of fertilizer.
I use the Lady Bug brand. It is 100% natural. Water in and keep the plants well watered in the heat. I usually get another nice fall crop.
Dave,
Regarding the pots....Water pots when they are light in weight. It’s crucial that we don’t kill our plants with kindness, by keeping them constantly hydrated.
Constant water destroys the functioning of roots, unless you are growing celery or rice. It will slowly dissolve them, rendering them useless. Let your plants dry out, and even droop between waterings. It doesn’t mean you are a bad plant “parent.” LOL Btw, water stress will improve production of many plants.
Your timing of watering is perfect, middle of the night. Just perfect!
Soil temperature is important, as you have learned. Next year, plastic!
You may need to do some math, here. I’m a tad worried about the watering system for your vegetables. I didn’t see a schedule there.If it’s every day or every other day, you are too nice. You’re killing them with kindness!
Here’s the deal:
Unless you have perfect river loam, like I had in Ohio, watering is going to be an issue. Much of the US has clay (water holding) soil.
Water has killed more plants than Roundup.
It is CRUCIAL that plants are allowed to dry out between waterings. I learned this the hard way. When plants are overwatered, they exhibit signs of dryness (brown, shriveled leaves, etc.). We, of course, water them even more, because they seem dried out. Soon, the plant dies. Why? Because we have destroyed the root system, which PREVENTS it from delivering water and nutrients to the plant. In other words, every single plant that is overwatered will die of dehydration. I’ve killed more plants around here than anyone else, for this very reason.
Tell Santa to put a soil thermometer in your stocking this Christmas.
Let your plants droop a bit, allowing time for the soil to dry out. It won’t kill them, trust me.
Don’t kill them with kindness. Mother Nature doesn’t deliver reliable moisture; neither should you.
:)
Good advice! Apparently, through sheer laziness, I am a good plant parent!
Funny you should mention beans. I have planted pole beans in large plastic pots on our deck; otherwise the critters get them. (Bunny living under it, unfriendly neighborhood groundhogs.) Tomatoes and sunflowers are in cages to protect them; nylon net over the top of some to keep deer noses out.
Beans were doing great but shriveling up under the incredible heat here this year. I’ve been watering them each morning, they’d perk up. Blossoms haven’t produced any beans, I’m ready to give up. Last year they did fine. Please add me to your ping list!
Thank you so much for the advice. I typically have let the plants go for about 2-3 days between watering. I was watering Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and sometimes watering in between, but the plants started to shrivel, which is why I started to water a little more frequently.
I’ll be sure to let them droop. It’s funny, because just the other day, I let them droop accidently, and then I watered them and they bounced back, and then some. I’ll try and be sure to follow that advice, it sounds, well, very sound :)
Do you have any advice as to what I may still have time to plant here. I’ve never done any cold weather stuff here. Here, our first frost is about Sept 20th, do I have time to put anything in for fall, or am I too late. I’m right on the Utah, Idaho border, zone 5-6. Thanks again, you’re awesome. :)
I actually have one of these, but it unbearably hot to wear. It's such finely woven mesh (to keep deer ticks out) that the air doesn't flow through either. Hopefully the barn swallows will take care of thes skeeters soon.
btw, when I toured a farm as part of our MG course, the fields we visited were covered with black plastic and not a cage or stake in sight!
I’m a staker, btw. LOL
P.S. Can anyone give me any tips for planting Garlic and what time for zone 5?
P.S. Can anyone give me any tips for planting Garlic and what time for zone 5?
I’ve never used plastic. I would think the heat here would burn the roots that are close to the surface. There are some weed and grass barriors that is like a screen. It allows water to pass, but blocks weeds and grass.
When you let them droop, you’ll be able to establish a proper watering schedule!
Sit still for a bit, as far as what to plant now. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to start your most awesome crop of peas. Right after, you can start your gourmet lettuces.
Roll over to Territorial Seed. Pick up some of their garlic bulbs and put those little guys in. You won’t be sorry!
Btw, remind me to tell you how to start your gardening season months early. It will be the most fun Jan/Feb you have ever had!
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