WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD JULY 6, 2018

freerepublic | July 6, 2018 | greeneyes

[Neoliberalnot]

We lost all of our chickens to coons and foxes and a couple of other varmints. Chickens are great bug sweepers but we just have too many varmints. I killed 13 coons one year. I’ve given up on chickens because they become pets and my wife doesn’t want to withstand the loss of so many pets.

[Wneighbor]

My lemon is in an odd pot hubby found. There’s a place in the city where hubby sometimes works that people recycle pots, you leave what you don’t want in this bin in a parking lot and you take what you want. He checks it a couple times a year for me and brings home any big pots, clay or ceramic pots. My lemon is in one he found that’s tall and about 18” in diameter.

Our deck faces southwest and its right off a glassed in sunroom so it’s stayed on the deck in summer and in the sunroom in winter. This year the trouble has been constant wind. There is no place outdoors to protect it from wind as we are right on top of the tallest hill in the area. Even moving it around the house doesn’t get it out of wind. It’s spent much of this spring/summer back in the sunroom. It has direct sunlight this way and has sprouted new growth but I also have to be careful of leaving it in here because if we leave, shut the windows and doors the heat cooks the plants. Generally the only thing safe to leave inside with the place closed up and locked down is cactus. I had a greenhouse until 2 years ago but it finally fell apart. Hubby is actively using his Craigslist addiction to find materials to build a more sturdy greenhouse.

Outdoors I keep the tree atop another decorative container with no drainage that’s filled with rocks. It gets watered morning and in the heat of the afternoon and sits on rocks with water below for evaporative humidity. Indoors it’s in much the same setup on top of an old birdbath. I use the same fertilizer you listed with a bi-weekly foliar feeding of a compost tea spray. We’ve upped the misters around here for everything this year but the hot dry wind has taken a toll. Fortunately we’ve had a little rain 3 days in a row now so everything has perked up nicely for now but no more rain in the foreseeable forecast.

[Black Agnes]

Meyer lemons will bloom and set fruit throughout the year. You might have to keep it inside then just with bright sun and/or a plant light of some sort. There are lots of youtube videos on how to pollinate citrus. We pollinate wintertime blooms with cheap paintbrushes from hobby lobby. Just keep it fed and it should be happy.

My citrus spends the winter in front of my living room picture window. Perfectly happy.

[CottonBall]

Yes, I know how to can, either pressure canning or water bath. Even in using waterbath canning, the pickles get soft since I don’t have pickling cucumbers. I think I said this before.

[greeneyes]

No. The leaves are fine. The apples are all gone - squirrels we think. The rosa rugosa is about 120 ft away on the far corner of the lot - so I think the beetles congregate there. They really love the flowers on the rose bush.

[Neoliberalnot]

It’s a matter of time until the population builds up in your area. They lay hundreds of eggs after breeding about 3 inches below the surface. Sevin will kill them but it won’t keep them away for more than 3 days.

You can eat those squirrels, but I will not eat bugs. Otherwise, this seems to be a good garden year, but mine is never good enough to post pictures.

[Augie]

Hot, hot, and more hot here in Central Missouri this past week. 4" rain the week before and I'm already running irrigation in the pumpkin patch and the kitchen garden.

I've been at war with the japanese beetles for the past couple weeks. The filthy, stinking vermin are shredding my orchard trees. Seven slows them down for a day or two, but that's about it. I mixed up a sprayer full of malathion/captan yesterday and got medieval with them. I don't like using that stuff, but I like losing an entire tree full of fruit even less.

I'm mostly caught up on shop projects and suchlike stuff, so I've had some time to get into the pond with Nanner. I think I'm about two weeks away from calling dirt guy to come out and close the dam. That will be a happy day.

[tubebender]

LOL... A boy and his toys

[greeneyes]

We just haven’t had issues with the J.Beetles on the fruit trees. Maybe because we haven’t had fruit that matured or something. They hang out up at the rosa rugosa plants.

We also got quite a bit of rain this past week. Heat wave had a break and was actually in the cool 60s at night. Just getting ready to close down the computer for the week - taking off for vacation to Branson.

Not sure if we will come back Friday or Saturday. So may not post till Saturday this week.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you get the pond project advanced with no set backs. We have one of the storage sheds delivered and 2 more to go. These are all designed to be against a wall of the house for easy storage of patio furniture and gardening tools.

Will be building a larger shed to store stuff that is currently in the garage, so that we can park vehicles in the garage.

Have a great week!

[metmom]

I have a problem.

I have a groundhog that is wiping out my garden.

It was eating the peas, has decimated the lettuce, and I have an absolutely beautiful tomato crop, the best I have ever seen. The plants are huge and covered with flowers, the best I’ve ever seen, and am concerned about its safety.

What can I use to repel them?

I’ve heard of things to spray on the plants but do not want to damage the leaves by burning them with something I spread on them.

HELP!!!!!!!!

[piasa]

Sometimes you can win by offering the woodchuck something they like better than your garden.

I had a pet woodchuck who had free access to my garden [he dug burrow in my yard] but he preferred the New England asters I had to everything in it. He’d nibble a little on the good stuff, but gorge himself with aster leaves and dandelions. He demolished all the neighborhood dandelions but the asters kept up with him just fine, so I kept him satiated and away from the corn and still had flowers to spare.

He got my leftover lasagna, corn chips, too. They crave fat and salt.

[daniel1212]

Was there a gardening thread this week? “Peas” put me on your ping list in any case.

Thanks. Grace and peace thru Jesus the Lord.

[tubebender]

No new thread yet as greeneyes is in Bransom Mo. Sometime Augie will host them when she is gone

[Augie]

I was busy, busy, busy over the weekend. Never even looked at the computer.

Put up 24qts of dill pickles. Making salsa after I get home from work today.

[tubebender]

Mad me hungry! Lady Bender used to can lots of things including Salmon and Albcore Tuna but no more except for refrigerator pickles and jam. We gave away about 200 or more canning jars...

[daniel1212]

Will there by any more gardening threads?

[daniel1212]

I have a problem. I have a groundhog that is wiping out my garden.

How is that going? If necessary, use rat poison.