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2020 Gardening: digging up some new dirt on an old hobby


Walden Ponderer

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Clean your fingernails good.  Walked out to the raised beds today, tomato plants were drooping badly, almost looking as if they had been stepped on.  Haven't had this happen before.  They were not staked because they were only about a foot tall, but to attempt to revive them, I staked them.  Anyone else had this happen before?  

There was some wind, but I don't think that was it as we've had windier days than today.  One thing I can say about these particular plants is that they doubled in size in about a week and a half.  Possible they grew too fast and the stem is weak?

It's been hot here, but today was not an exceptional day, it's been hotter.

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9 hours ago, mulletpelini said:

Clean your fingernails good.  Walked out to the raised beds today, tomato plants were drooping badly, almost looking as if they had been stepped on.  Haven't had this happen before.  They were not staked because they were only about a foot tall, but to attempt to revive them, I staked them.  Anyone else had this happen before?  

There was some wind, but I don't think that was it as we've had windier days than today.  One thing I can say about these particular plants is that they doubled in size in about a week and a half.  Possible they grew too fast and the stem is weak?

It's been hot here, but today was not an exceptional day, it's been hotter.

Could be either. My biggest tomato plant has to be watered twice a day or it gets droopy - mainly because it quickly outgrew it's pot and I don't have a bigger one to put it in. But one of the large branches on my cherry tomato plant simply broke under it's own weight the other day. Both have been growing very quickly in the last few weeks. 

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I've been thinking about using a support over the top and stringing them so this might be the thing that puts that into motion.  Talked to my mom this morning, she said her plant did the same thing in the past couple days, and hers are not in the sun as much as mine, probably 2-3 hours less.  They look fine this morning though, we did get 3/4" of rain and 1/2" hail this morning, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

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Could be either. My biggest tomato plant has to be watered twice a day or it gets droopy - mainly because it quickly outgrew it's pot and I don't have a bigger one to put it in. But one of the large branches on my cherry tomato plant simply broke under it's own weight the other day. Both have been growing very quickly in the last few weeks. 
Check out DIY wicking pots so you don't have to water as much.

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My cucumbers have gone to shit. We went out of town for 5 days and came back to the cucumber plants basically dead. Looks like I had gotten powdery mildew and didn't catch it before we left. It rained while done so that didn't help. Vine borers got the rest of the squash and zucchini. Looks like I will be out in the garden tomorrow pulling up dead plants and getting ready for a fall garden. Really never have done a fall garden due to it coinciding with hunting season, but I'm going to give it a try this year. I grew some romaine in the spring and family like it sp going to go for some salad items. I want to do a bunch of peas and green beans. 

Tomato plants are going good except for two of them. Thinking it might be hornworm. I'm going to take a black light out tonight for inspection before it gets to others. I'm usually able to keep my tomato plants going into the fall for a second harvest. I just have to build the top section of the tomato cages so it is high enough for them to grow. 

I've been able to harvest 6 cantaloupes and 5 spaghetti squash this week, along with a bunch of okra. 

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On 6/24/2020 at 8:16 PM, Mrs Whiggins said:

I'm going to try and post a pepper pic and maybe one of the roses. I don't take the best pics. Here goes:

IMG_2840.thumb.jpg.cc87ed31b72724154788d10c62d34dcd.jpg

Here is a Don Juan Climber. It has a lovely scent. One of the favorite roses for scent is Chrysler Imperial. My husband loves that one and when it has a round of blooms I put them by his place at the dinner table.

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Try Mr. Lincoln too. It's a lot like Chrysler Imperial. Those two are my absolute favorite Hybrid Tea red fragrant roses. Ginormous blooms.

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14 hours ago, Both Tacos said:

My cucumbers have gone to shit. We went out of town for 5 days and came back to the cucumber plants basically dead. Looks like I had gotten powdery mildew and didn't catch it before we left. It rained while done so that didn't help. Vine borers got the rest of the squash and zucchini. Looks like I will be out in the garden tomorrow pulling up dead plants and getting ready for a fall garden. Really never have done a fall garden due to it coinciding with hunting season, but I'm going to give it a try this year. I grew some romaine in the spring and family like it sp going to go for some salad items. I want to do a bunch of peas and green beans. 

Tomato plants are going good except for two of them. Thinking it might be hornworm. I'm going to take a black light out tonight for inspection before it gets to others. I'm usually able to keep my tomato plants going into the fall for a second harvest. I just have to build the top section of the tomato cages so it is high enough for them to grow. 

I've been able to harvest 6 cantaloupes and 5 spaghetti squash this week, along with a bunch of okra. 

That’s frustrating. I plant cukes at staggered times and in different places to try to avoid this issue. 
 

Also I have given up on squash and zucchini, the vine borers get them every time. 
 

I grow what grows good here.

Spring: tomatoes, peppers, cukes and okra in the summer

Fall and winter: plant broccoli and collard greens, then pull them and plant potatoes on Valentine’s Day. I grow lettuce in flats and harvest as baby lettuce

Late night snack last night: salmon cake with home grown purple Cherokee tomato, home grown purple basil, goat cheese, EVOO, fresh cracked pepper and truffle salt

 

6E33F36E-F3A7-4CF3-B5F5-6DBBABCA7702.jpeg

Edited by 4th and 5
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Have y'all ever tried using a piece of lumber to catch squash bugs? A thin piece up next to the base acts as a trap. They congregate under there in the heat of the day. Stomp them flat or otherwise reduce their numbers. 
I've heard of it being done but haven't ever tried.

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I got a load of horse manure this morning for composting ($10 for them to load trailer) and this afternoon I got about 70 bales of hay for mulch/composting ($50 for the load). The hay got rained on so the farmer can't use it for feed. 4c38acae415647f9b90dbd60e608c3ae.jpgc7080aab458c32a21e3e2c3ccc1f12e7.jpg

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12 minutes ago, Both Tacos said:

I've heard of it being done but haven't ever tried.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

My grandmother had a piece of shiplap by every mound. It was a fun activity to go hunting them. 

 

That's a lot of pre-compost and mulch there for not a lot of dough.

Edited by cactusflinthead
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21 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Have y'all ever tried using a piece of lumber to catch squash bugs? A thin piece up next to the base acts as a trap. They congregate under there in the heat of the day. Stomp them flat or otherwise reduce their numbers. 

Out of roughly 10 years gardening in the Brazos Valley, I had good pumpkins maybe three times because of the damned Squash Vine Borers -- I'm looking good so far (They're still just a couple of weeks old, but my plants are coming on strong) and I'm crossing my fingers hoping that maybe they just don't like my new digs, because I'm using the same seeds I've always used.

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Thanks @cactusflinthead for the rec on the Mr. Lincoln.  I may check it out if I dig any new beds. I've run out of space with what I've got now.

I'm in maintenance mode for the most part: keeping things alive. One tomato plant is fairly done, the cherry tomatoes are still producing as are the cucumbers and peppers. The eggplant is growing very slooooowly but I got them in late. I'm at the point where I usually just water and prune.

I'm very fond of morning glories. Some folks don't like them (they reseed everywhere) but I've never had a problem just yanking them up if they appear in an inconvenient place, and they don't seem to end up in the lawn since I grow them in the flower bed or a large pot. We have these growing on the patio. They wilt in the afternoon and perk right up in the morning full of blooms. The fat bees love them.

IMG_2535.thumb.jpg.e7107d8983c55e7742f1566d44990804.jpg

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Bees everywhere. We keep a lot of sunflowers around the front and back, have salvia and lupine which the bees love, and planted some marigolds in the garden as well. Plus when the yarro and sedum bloom. 
 

the squash and zucchini are going great, pulled the first of each yesterday. Have an eggplant about halfway there, and the tomato plants each have one or two green tomatoes even though they aren’t quite healthy (gave them a milk bath last week)

96D617D9-0E25-421F-8152-D8E92627EB4F.jpeg

Edited by Pato del Muerto
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On 7/15/2020 at 12:10 PM, NorthLoop said:

My garden has become a haven for yellow jackets and red wasps now that it's the only place around to get water. Every day is a fun time going out there and watering. 

My P-51 mosquitoes laugh at your wee stinging insects. The rumble of the swarm as they emerge from the garden every morning to commence strategic attacks with strafing high-pitched shrieks prior to rapid-fire armor piercing weaponry sends me running for cover.

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On 7/15/2020 at 1:10 PM, NorthLoop said:

My garden has become a haven for yellow jackets and red wasps now that it's the only place around to get water. Every day is a fun time going out there and watering. 

They are able to pollinate your tomatoes. Regular ol' honeybees are not. I don't let wasps hang on the house, but I rejoice when I see them in trees or stumps around the property because they are one of the more prolific pollinators out there. Another plus of being in the country is that bumblebees are great at tomato pollination, too, but their favorite nesting ground is a pile of dead logs, of the sort HOA's tend to frown upon.

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8 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

They are able to pollinate your tomatoes. Regular ol' honeybees are not. I don't let wasps hang on the house, but I rejoice when I see them in trees or stumps around the property because they are one of the more prolific pollinators out there. Another plus of being in the country is that bumblebees are great at tomato pollination, too, but their favorite nesting ground is a pile of dead logs, of the sort HOA's tend to frown upon.

They don't bother me as long as I stay zen. I'm sure I'll get stung at some point sticking my hand in the wrong spot at the wrong time, but I grew up in the country so it won't be my first rodeo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Underside and decapitated, but this copperhead was still wriggling around without a head, and my cat decided that that was the perfect time to investigate. Not, you know, when it was actually in the squash patch hiding out amongst the weeds I'd been pulling, not two feet away from the damned thing.

image.thumb.png.02361d8b6b7e33c25ee2fc6b1afe3a12.png

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