Author Topic: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020  (Read 61641 times)

MudPuppy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #450 on: May 23, 2020, 09:04:49 AM »
Thirsty? They do look sad to be apart.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #451 on: May 23, 2020, 09:54:40 AM »
Fireant, I would try to salvage them by cutting them, leaving a long stem and cutting off some leaves where new roots will grow and place in water. I just rerooted some myself and just replanted in potting mix. Look on youtube for a tutorial, that's what I did. My plants were from the grocery store and I cut some off to get more plantings.

horsepoor

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #452 on: May 23, 2020, 10:21:01 AM »
Argh.  38F last night, it's been cold and rainy.  I have the ONE work trip in eons scheduled for next week, and temps are supposed to be up to 99 when I get back on Friday.  I guess I'll plant out the rest of my seedlings this weekend and just water the heck out of them before I leave and hope for the best.  They'll be in several different areas, so I can't just set up shade cloth over them.

FireAnt

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #453 on: May 23, 2020, 04:11:51 PM »
Fireant, I would try to salvage them by cutting them, leaving a long stem and cutting off some leaves where new roots will grow and place in water. I just rerooted some myself and just replanted in potting mix. Look on youtube for a tutorial, that's what I did. My plants were from the grocery store and I cut some off to get more plantings.

I am going to have to look this up because I can't envision what you're saying. I'll look it up on YouTube. Thanks!

Thirsty? They do look sad to be apart.

I don't think so. I've been watering it every other day.

Dee_the_third

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #454 on: May 23, 2020, 07:15:09 PM »
@FireAnt I'd move them out of the heat, put them somewhere where they'll get light but not heat. A bright window inside or under some shade outside. When you split them they lost a lot of root mass, so they're struggling to support the leaf canopy and can't utilize the light and heat you're giving them. They'll look sad until they rebuild root mass again, which is invisible work. Once they perk up a little move them back into full sun.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #455 on: May 24, 2020, 03:40:34 AM »
@FireAnt I'd move them out of the heat, put them somewhere where they'll get light but not heat. A bright window inside or under some shade outside. When you split them they lost a lot of root mass, so they're struggling to support the leaf canopy and can't utilize the light and heat you're giving them. They'll look sad until they rebuild root mass again, which is invisible work. Once they perk up a little move them back into full sun.

+1.  This happened to me when I dug up and potted an elderberry sucker (baby plant) recently.  It drooped alarmingly and it looked like it was going to die.  I put it in a mostly shade location and watered it gently, and now three weeks later it is finally turning the corner.  It just needed time to grow roots. 

@FireAnt, I would try to move them somewhere out of full sun and heat for a while and water them, try to nurse them through it.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #456 on: May 24, 2020, 05:33:29 AM »
Fireant

Vid on rooting basil:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyLuuE7XpFk

FireAnt

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #457 on: May 24, 2020, 03:49:53 PM »
@FireAnt I'd move them out of the heat, put them somewhere where they'll get light but not heat. A bright window inside or under some shade outside. When you split them they lost a lot of root mass, so they're struggling to support the leaf canopy and can't utilize the light and heat you're giving them. They'll look sad until they rebuild root mass again, which is invisible work. Once they perk up a little move them back into full sun.

Thanks guys! I will try this. Crossing my fingers.

Dee_the_third

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #458 on: May 25, 2020, 08:30:01 AM »
Anybody familiar with plant breeding, snow/snap peas specifically? I have a super early variety that I don't enjoy the taste of, and a more standard length that I like eating. The goal is an earlier, tasty landrace of some sort. I'll probably hand pollinate to mix genetics as much as possible for F1, but how do I select for earliness? If I let the plant finish maturing a pod it'll be done for the season right? Does taking early season fruit get me the same genetics as later season fruit?

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #459 on: May 25, 2020, 09:21:36 AM »
Anybody familiar with plant breeding, snow/snap peas specifically? I have a super early variety that I don't enjoy the taste of, and a more standard length that I like eating. The goal is an earlier, tasty landrace of some sort. I'll probably hand pollinate to mix genetics as much as possible for F1, but how do I select for earliness? If I let the plant finish maturing a pod it'll be done for the season right? Does taking early season fruit get me the same genetics as later season fruit?

Hey @Dee_  -- check out this paper, which looked at the genetics/heritability of pea earliness:  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292932596_Genetic_Analysis_For_Earliness_And_Yield_Traits_in_Garden_pea_Pisum_sativum_L.   This paper studied garden peas specifically, but you may find something useful for snows/snaps.

It looks like they measured "earliness" several different ways -- first flower, 50% flowering, and first harvest.  Interesting!  I assume they were working in a greenhouse (?), so it may be different working outside, with weather variations.  I would think the genes of the fruited legume will be the same (from the same plant) whether you pick it early from the plant or late, as long as the plant was mated the same way.   
« Last Edit: May 25, 2020, 09:26:11 AM by Trifele »

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #460 on: May 25, 2020, 11:47:46 AM »
I worked very hard on my garden all weekend.  We went from damned cold to brutal heat.  I have been struggling to get everything hardened off in time to plant out.  And some seedlings have gotten a little too big before I had the chance to get them out.  And it is really difficult to get them hardened off when the heat is unbelievable.  I think it is going to hit 30C today.  May 6th it got down to minus 6 overnight.  I need to walk over to the green house and water everything again - it is so hot the trays that are outside hardening off will be dried out again.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #461 on: May 25, 2020, 01:07:01 PM »
I worked very hard on my garden all weekend.  We went from damned cold to brutal heat.  I have been struggling to get everything hardened off in time to plant out.  And some seedlings have gotten a little too big before I had the chance to get them out.  And it is really difficult to get them hardened off when the heat is unbelievable.  I think it is going to hit 30C today.  May 6th it got down to minus 6 overnight.  I need to walk over to the green house and water everything again - it is so hot the trays that are outside hardening off will be dried out again.

When I went to Lowes for gardening equipment I also bought some herbs.  All the plants were drying out so fast, there was one employee doing nothing but watering, and he wasn't able to keep up!  The ones I bought were not wilting, but they still soaked up an incredible amount of water when I got them home!

My baby plants would normally stay inside a good while longer, but at this rate I will start hardening them off on the balcony and then plant them in a week or so.

Raenia

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #462 on: May 25, 2020, 03:22:40 PM »
Anybody familiar with plant breeding, snow/snap peas specifically? I have a super early variety that I don't enjoy the taste of, and a more standard length that I like eating. The goal is an earlier, tasty landrace of some sort. I'll probably hand pollinate to mix genetics as much as possible for F1, but how do I select for earliness? If I let the plant finish maturing a pod it'll be done for the season right? Does taking early season fruit get me the same genetics as later season fruit?

What I would do is hand-pollinate F1 to ensure self-pollination, so that the seeds/peas will have the same(ish) genetics as the parent plant. Keep track of when flowers appear, when they are ready for harvest, etc.  Then take the seeds from the plants you were most satisfied with to plant next year (can be the later seed pods, as they should all have similar genetics if self-pollinated), and cross pollinate those.  Rinse and repeat.

If you don't self-pollinate the F1's, you may find a plant you like, but the seeds you plant the next year could be quite different if they have half their genes from a different plant that was less favorable. There is some risk of this even with self pollination, as any traits the parent is heterozygous for could go either way in the seeds.  Expect a long process, with occasional setbacks.

Or search around for other early varietals already on the market :)
« Last Edit: May 25, 2020, 03:25:07 PM by Raenia »

coffeefueled

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #463 on: May 26, 2020, 12:40:48 PM »
I bought a hoe this weekend and I don't know how I ever lived without one. I weeded all the raised beds and the patio flower borders in about 15 minutes.

Time to start eating the lettuce. I think I'm going to do head lettuce next year since my leaf lettuce rows get a bit it of hand. I think it'd be easier to harvest a while head at once.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #464 on: May 26, 2020, 02:24:39 PM »
I bought a hoe this weekend and I don't know how I ever lived without one. I weeded all the raised beds and the patio flower borders in about 15 minutes.

Time to start eating the lettuce. I think I'm going to do head lettuce next year since my leaf lettuce rows get a bit it of hand. I think it'd be easier to harvest a while head at once.

Hoes are wonderful. Which kind did you get?

FireAnt

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #465 on: May 26, 2020, 07:24:20 PM »
@FireAnt I'd move them out of the heat, put them somewhere where they'll get light but not heat. A bright window inside or under some shade outside. When you split them they lost a lot of root mass, so they're struggling to support the leaf canopy and can't utilize the light and heat you're giving them. They'll look sad until they rebuild root mass again, which is invisible work. Once they perk up a little move them back into full sun.

Thanks guys! I will try this. Crossing my fingers.

UPDATE: I put them in my 3 season porch, but didn't notice much of a change. We've had some real humidity so last night I put them in my house, although not as much direct sun. 24 hours later and one has completely recovered and the other is working towards it. Thanks! :)

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #466 on: May 28, 2020, 11:42:10 AM »
Just reporting in on some of my tropical plant and fruit results since I planted them in Feb/Mar/April.

BANANAS - doing fantastic!:)
1. The vanilla ice cream banana - mature size 10 ft plus ... from a 2-inch plantling to currently almost five feet. Fat and happy - surprisingly wind hardy, no slashed leaves yet. It seems to like a lot more shade than they said - thankfully the sun pattern is such that it does receive a few hours of shade from a huge old Paper Bark Maple about fifteen feet away.
I always assumed bananas would like full sun, but a visit to the local Botanical garden showed me that they prefer shade - tag said sun/part shade.
Guess I lucked out by planting it where I did:).
2. The dwarf banana - mature size about six feet - from a 2-inch plantling to now two and a half feet. I planted it behind some intensely orange Cosmos which grew five feet tall and three feet wide and is providing enough shade to keep it happy.
It is looking fat and happy too.

PAPAYAS - three freebies from the neighbor were about ten-twelve inches, looking a bit straggly with slightly yellowed leaves, except for one.
1. The best-looking one is in the front yard in well-composted soil planted in mid-March is going on five feet with a fat trunk and a good size canopy of leaves already.
It is in full sun with only a couple of hours of shade which it seems to love. The roots are shaded by zinnias and cosmos - it seems to like the company in the flower bed.
2. The one in the backyard is just beginning to look really fat and happy and super healthy - it has reached three feet.
Not sure about the soil - more sandy, but not too bad. Surrounded by green onions, and a ton of different flowers.

3. I decided to put one of the papayas in a big pot with good soil in case the other two didn't make it - ha ha - it is the smallest by far. Only about 20 inches tall but beginning to gain strength and a bit thicker trunk - still a very small canopy.

SOIL ..... If you put a spade in the ground in our yard - you'll find it is pure sand like at the beach then you reach limestone rock after about a foot or so with plenty of seashells and embedded encrusted sea critters.
I used the mammoth rock we excavated when I first started gardening as a landscape feature:) - we still laugh about that never-ending rock:).

TROPICAL - BLACKBERRY JAM BUSH/TREE - a huge disappointment so far. Supposed to do well in zone 10 and 11 - it can take the heat, but it is barely growing. Google says it is a slow grower - the understatement of the year - at this rate it will reach one foot in a year - maybe:).
These are not blackberries - but a bush that produces a fruit which when cut open you scoop out - ready to eat blackberry jam:).

I experimented with sun - shade - pots - in the ground.
Result: it is OK with the heat, doesn't droop but seems to prefer growing in the shade of another plant. Doesn't care for good moisture soil in a pot - prefers to be in the ground.
The only truly happy one has actually grown two inches and has added more leaves since the cosmos that it is surrounded by have grown taller and are providing lots of shade - it doesn't mind the heat.

I ordered two plants online when they arrived each 2-inch pot had about five thin seedlings. So it is possible they just need a whole lot more time.
We'll see maybe it just needs a full growing season to take off - slowly.

GUAVA - grew from a 4-inch plantling to two feet since March and is now branching out another foot. It is a winner in my garden book:).
A truly lovely small-leaved evergreen bush. It is supposed to have fragrant white flowers and may produce fruit within a year.
It seems to like its spot, hasn't drooped from the heat - so I'm happy - wish I'd ordered two, but they are sold out of this particular variety from Chile.

APPLE - Boo:) - these were transplanted in February from a pot into my new garden area. Not working out too well so far, although they have leaves.
I will give them some extra compost and hope for the best - if they don't come around by next Feb I'll rip them out.

FENNEL - I tried for the first time and it is doing so great that I will plant more next year.
So I guess I'll need to find some recipe inspiration - I've never had or fixed fennel. All I know about fennel is that makes a great tea for colicky babies.
Do you sautee the stems? like for a Mediterranean dish?

DILL - huge success - the Mammoth Dill seed packet was the only one that survived and thrived. I have dried some dill, used plenty fresh and I'm saving the dill seeds both for seasoning and some for next year.
Looked positively lovely - a small forest of giant lacy dills, now turning coppery with all the huge seed heads.

LETTUCE - finally found the perfect lettuce. Planted in the late fall - six months to maturity and now there are only three heads left, still hanging in there at 88 degrees each day. Will harvest Saturday and call it done.

PEPPERS - tried some new heirloom seeds - planted in March. Sweet red peppers, long twisty shape - just turning red - looking forward to our first taste.
Pepper harvest overall has been steady since the last week in April.

I plant mine in pots after about five years of trying to grow them in the ground I gave up. I now give each pepper a 16-inch pot and they produce fine until August.

BASIL - managed to kill the two Italian basil I bought at the nursery. Tried seeding my own - not one came up:(.
African Blue Basil - is doing wonderful. It has a peppery, slightly spicy great flavor and grows into a 3-4 ft bush covered in bees.
The leaves go from green to purplish and in bloom it looks like a landscape plant - awesome scent.
All six cuttings that I took from the mother plant are slowly taking off - they can deal with the heat and don't seem to mind poor soil as long as they get water. Almost a foot tall and branching out now despite the heat.

Oh and the PASSION FRUIT - looks like I killed one and the other is doing OK so far - training it along the fence. We'll see how it goes.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #467 on: May 29, 2020, 07:48:14 AM »
Love the tropical update @Rosy

Here's the PERMACULTURE/PERENNIAL news from our place in mountainous Zone 7a.  I'll do a vegetable/herb update another time.

Apples.  We have 15 trees, 10 of which I grafted three years ago.  All doing very well except for the seedling we brought with us from up north which is now 9 years old and still not flowering.  I think that one may be too far south for its (unknown) variety and I'm going to try field grafting a local variety onto it this year to see if we can get it to fruit next year.

Pears.  4 fruit-bearing, different varieties, all doing extremely well.  It'll be a huge bumper crop of fruit this year.  We also have 4 large Bradford ornamental pears which the pollinators love.

Cherries.  4 sweet cherries, all doing well.  Three of them are now 4 year olds and this will hopefully be their first year bearing any significant fruit.  We also have ~10 wild black cherry trees which the pollinators love, and 3 Kwanzan ornamental cherries which they ignore.

Paw Paws.  Rough year.  Despite the mild winter it looks like one of my two remaining trees may be dying.  The site is not ideal (possibly too sunny).  :(

Figs.  We have three figs, and it looks like the two smaller/younger ones did not make it through the winter, which is very weird.  They were four years old and should have been past the danger point, plus our winter was extremely mild.  I'm scratching my head over this one. 

Elderberries.  These guys are inside the deer fence-protected garden and are doing fantastic!  They have formed a thick hedge about 8 feet tall and are making tons of babies.  Their flowers are nearly open, and then it'll be pollinator party time.  I've yet to see another plant or tree that gets so many different insects excited.  I also made some super-delicious elderberry syrup last year from their fruit.  Go elderberries!

Raspberries.  What can you say?  They're impossible to kill -- even by our deer -- and are doing great outside the deer fence.  Yum.

Blueberries.  Doing so-so inside the deer fence.  We have 10 plants, and they look a little peaky this spring.  Not as much fruit as last year.  i fertilized and applied ph-reducer as usual, so not sure what's going on.

Persimmons.  Not good.  It looks like I lost 2 of our 4 trees.  Very strange, given that we had such a mild winter.

We also did quite a few new perennial/self-seeding plantings this spring.  Most of them I bought, but a few I grew.  The stay-at-home order has been great for our gardens, but a bit hard on the pocketbook! 

Sourwood tree
2 Serviceberry trees
Rhubarb
Spearmint
Peppermint
Chamomile
Beebalm
Borage
Calendula
Echinacea
Rue
Yarrow
Anise Hyssop

And finally, the bees are doing great!  It's a steep learning curve and not cheap to start, but I'm loving it.  We have two hives which have completely different personalities; I never get tired of watching them.  Very addictive! 


Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #468 on: May 29, 2020, 08:14:46 AM »
Man - Am I ever jealous of the tropical (to my zone) plants.  My garden is doing great but it is going to go down to just above freezing overnight this weekend.

My plan is to keep hardening off the tender seedlings that are getting a bit leggy during the day - being out of the greenhouse really slows them down.
Eggplants, squash and peppers are just going to stay in the greenhouse for a whole week longer.  If they start to get a little leggy, I will put them out in the shade.  I douse them liberally with my organic red hen fertilizer. I have discovered that the squirrels and chipmunks do not like it.  It does stink way too much to use in my planter pots near the dining table.  However since it is effective as a fertilizer and repels squirrels as well, I use it just after doing some transplanting and don't water before we eat - water makes it even more stinky!

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #469 on: May 29, 2020, 09:51:23 AM »
All my babies are on the balcony so most have been outside since germination.  They grow fast these hot days.  They get sun all morning, shade in the afternoon.   And breezes, which means theoretically they should have strong stems.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #470 on: May 29, 2020, 11:10:00 AM »
@Trifele - I really envy you the apples and cherries - I may try one more time to find a cherry that might survive our climate - zone 10.
When I was on vacation in Turkey years ago there were cherry trees that did well - the sweet dark kind that I love so I keep thinking there has to be a variety that will work here.

Elderberries - I planted four and one died - poor thing - everyone kept stepping on it and the lawn guy razed it to the ground twice thinking it was a weed.
The three remaining ones are doing very well. Their wild brethren in the big ditch behind them are blooming pretty, but I can't reach the berries, although there are two suckers that I'll try transplanting.
The cardinal and the bluejays think they have first dibs on the one I transplanted into the yard years ago - but this year I am determined to dip a few blooms to fry up. 
I plan on making elderberry liquor this year - got a very old recipe that I've always wanted to try.

Mystery plant - got something coming up that looks like a melon or squash. A garden gift from the birds?:)
I'll water it and see what happens.
The leaves are fuzzy underneath and rather thick and have white veins on a medium-sized, medium-dark green leaf.

Rue - since I snipped off the flower head it has started to fill in on all sides. I've always thought that it makes a cool looking landscape plant.
I bought one on a whim, surprised to see that it is happy and thriving.
Another useful herb for my herbal apothecary.

Feverfew - ordered a plant online and it is doing fantastic. Beautiful white flowers - perfect for a bouquet.
I plan to use it medicinally in my herbal apothecary.

Aloe - finally potted a Medusa leaf Aloe my son got me last year. Gave it an Aztec sun - Kokopelli pot and a spot of honor.
Looks good at already about two feet tall.

Next project - cutting the Bougainvillea - that will take up a whole weekend maybe more, thankfully it is only once a year.

The front yard - new garden area - is an epic failure. Not at all what I had in mind, but the bones aka the perennials I planted are all doing well.
So it will be just a matter of some serious cleanup and removing weeds and grass.
It is all one hot mess - the Cosmos has taken over ...
It is already so hot, I may let it all be and just keep it all alive throughout the summer then tackle a redo in the fall.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #471 on: May 29, 2020, 11:13:17 AM »
Man - Am I ever jealous of the tropical (to my zone) plants.  My garden is doing great but it is going to go down to just above freezing overnight this weekend.

My plan is to keep hardening off the tender seedlings that are getting a bit leggy during the day - being out of the greenhouse really slows them down.
Eggplants, squash and peppers are just going to stay in the greenhouse for a whole week longer.  If they start to get a little leggy, I will put them out in the shade.  I douse them liberally with my organic red hen fertilizer. I have discovered that the squirrels and chipmunks do not like it.  It does stink way too much to use in my planter pots near the dining table.  However since it is effective as a fertilizer and repels squirrels as well, I use it just after doing some transplanting and don't water before we eat - water makes it even more stinky!

@Frugal Lizard - there's gotta be something else the squirrels hate.

https://www.offthegridnews.com/survival-gardening-2/7-garden-plants-that-really-do-repel-squirrels/
Here is a list of plants that repel squirrels which should do well in your area - I'd love to grow daffodils and hyacinths but no dice, it doesn't get cold enough for the bulbs in the winter. Don't believe the one about planting geraniums - those pesky critters have dug holes in my geranium planters.

At the end of the article they mention sprinkling cayenne pepper and hot chili pepper powder - I have heard that it is supposed to work quite well.
Google says so anyway - it may well be the ingredient in the fertilizer that they hate.

I think I may try the peppermint oil spray method - smells good and I happen to have a bottle.

horsepoor

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #472 on: May 31, 2020, 10:00:42 PM »
Busy weekend here as well.  Our weather has also been vacillating wildly, and things have been slow to really get going, so I waited a few weeks later than usual to plant out the remaining peppers, as well as the eggplants, okra anc cucurbits.  Suddenly, we have loads and loads of lettuce, as well as lots of kale and collards.  The chard will be there too once it gets ahead of the leaf miners.  Peas are behind because the birds have been munching on them, which is a new issue.  A new tomato variety for me, Burke's Backyard, has grape-sized tomatoes on it, well ahead of the rest of the plants.

I'm going to take another run at getting some beet seeds going since I had terrible germination on the first sowing in March.  I'm also hoping I can get some of the leek seedlings planted; they're really densely planted in a small container and might be stunted at this point.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #473 on: June 01, 2020, 03:28:35 AM »
@horsepoor your garden is gorgeous!  So neat and orderly.  Is that your tool kiosk in the background there?  We're still thinking about building one.   

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #474 on: June 01, 2020, 05:19:12 AM »
Gorgeous garden. 

My garden is coming along....despite really cold overnights.   No blooms on plum trees but saskatoons have set fruit.   Harvested basil lettuce cilantro kale scallions and asparagus and rhubarb.   

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #475 on: June 01, 2020, 05:52:35 AM »
Harvested chard, basil, cilantro, oregano, and thyme over the weekend.  Several of the strawberry plants are starting to set fruit.  One of my four pole bean plants looks a bit stunted, but the other three have all found their trellis poles.  One of my marigolds got dug up by the squirrels, but two others are close to flowering.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #476 on: June 01, 2020, 06:04:45 AM »
No blooms on plum trees but saskatoons have set fruit.   

We just planted two serviceberries (saskatoons) this spring and I love them!  The birds do too.  Ours are fruiting and our two resident brown thrashers are picking them clean.  I covered one branch with tulle just to get some fruit haha.  Thinking about going back to the nursery to get another one. 

coffeefueled

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #477 on: June 01, 2020, 06:35:55 AM »
@RetiredAt63 I wanted a dutch hoe, but couldn't find them anywhere in my area which I thought was kind of odd. It seems to be the standard option on the british garden tv shows I watch. I ended up with a scuffle hoe that's doing the job just fine even if it's not as pretty. ;) I also bought a cheap border spade that I really like. It's a lot easier for getting into tight spaces than our standard big shovel.

We're in year two for our apples and pears. I haven't done any spraying. I didn't think about it because we pulled the few flowers to help the trees focus on root and branch growth. Turns out not spraying since we didn't have fruit was a bad assumption. Three of the apples have cedar apple rust and one of the pears has blister mites. I pulled the mite affected leaves, but I read that you can't spray for it until the fall. Next year I'll have to start getting serious about a spray routine. It should be the first year we have enough trees in bloom for fruit.

I ordered dirt/compost for new raised beds. We'll have a total of 6 4x8s and 3 4x4s. I also got gravel for the greenhouse foundation. I'm back to work fulltime so digging the foundation is on hold until the weekends. I was really getting used to feeling retired. It's a bit of a shock to be back in the office.

Veg Update - pumpkins and butternut squash are up, peppers are doing great but no flowers yet, cucumbers are hitting the bottom of the trellis, lettuce and peas are going mad, and we should have a good crop of chard for the first time. I put basil seeds in any empty spot and have a bunch of 1 inch tall seedlings.

Blackberry update - The pallets I used as mini-raised beds are working great. The plot looks really tidy. All but one of the varieties I ordered blooms on year two canes so nothing until next year, but the plants are looking strong. Does anyone bother to trellis their semi-erect berry bushes? I heard it makes the bushes more productive.

My favorite local seed supplier has herb seeds in stock so I ordered parsley, cilantro, borage, and two kinds of fennel.

@Trifele how big were the serviceberries you bought? We want to put in a couple and were planning to buy some more mature/bigger plants, but weren't sure if they would be too expensive.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #478 on: June 01, 2020, 07:05:04 AM »
@Trifele - one of my favourite memories is of my 5 and 2 year olds eating Saskatoons off the small bush and the robins eating the ones higher up.  The birds were not perched but would fly through and grab a berry mid flight and eat it from either the clothesline or the spruce tree branches.  The kids ate oblivious to the three or four robins flying back and forth across the garden.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #479 on: June 01, 2020, 08:52:49 AM »
@horsepoor your garden is gorgeous!  So neat and orderly.  Is that your tool kiosk in the background there?  We're still thinking about building one.

Thanks!  Yes, that is the tool kiosk.  I am 500% more likely to put my tools away now.  It's super useful.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #480 on: June 01, 2020, 09:45:50 AM »
Well past time for a garden update on my end. But where to start? Things have...escalated...since I was last here. Absolutely PERFECT Spring growing temperatures (low to mid-20 Celsius highs, comfortably double digit night lows) and conditions (ample sunny days with occasional showers) has meant that my garden is well beyond where it normally is at this time.

Though things are looking great, there have been a few issues...there always are, right? Let’s get these out of the way first. A Spring that has been a bit more damp than in recent years has meant more slugs. Thankfully, these are tiny ones, no bigger tan the nail on one’s pinky finger. They leave small holes on my lettuce and spinach. Irritating, in that it prevents my greens from being “market quality”, but it hasn’t prevented us from harvesting and enjoying a ton of different lettuce and spinach varieties over the past several weeks. My “monstrous” spinach variety was the first to go to seed....so I have made a note of that for next year. As ever, the Olympia variety is the most long and bolt resistant variety I have found. It’s still going strong.


(Olympia is on the right in my spinach patch. Seed stalks visible on the Monstreaux de Viroflay to the left)


I expanded my garden operation this year hoping to grow extra and share more of my bounty with my family, friends and the island community where I have my garden. I must say that early on my spinach and lettuce was accepted with enthusiasm. But it has come to the point now where there appears to be, in particular, spinach-fatigue. ;) But new crops will be coming on line soon!

One other issue has been some shoddy beet germination...though I suspect it has been more a matter of the newly emerged beets being munched on by wood bugs. The wetter Spring has meant the wood bugs that hide in the sides of my raised beds have been a bit more bold in terms of making forays into my seedbeds. They have also shown an ability to chew through my young bean plants at the base, causing them to fall over onto the ground (like lumberjacks falling trees) where they then chow down at their leisure. The above scenarios have caused me to sow backup beets and beans (as well as plot the wood bugs demise).

But apart from that, everything is going great and everything has been planted out for weeks now, the tomatoes, tomatillos peppers, and cucumbers being the last wave. I took great pains this year to harden off my warmer weather plants this year, so they have all done wonderfully with some cooler than ideal conditions. I’ve got peppers forming already!

But as ever, the brassicas lead the way. Kale (not pictured) is going bonkers as well in another bed close by.
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Broccoli heads forming. (Trust me, it’s in there)


Peas looking amazing, and the pods are just starting to form within the blossoms. This is the first of 5 separate pea plantings. I hope to have a steady supply of peas right on through July.


Potato patch looking great. I must be very attentive of the blackberry thicket which is quite determined to engulf it. Of course I am tolerant of the blackberries in general due to the berry bounty itself and the fact that the blackberry blossoms attract legions of pollinators to my garden.


Great to read about everyone’s progress here and I’ll have more to share here soon.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2020, 09:51:16 AM by Jon_Snow »

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #481 on: June 01, 2020, 10:11:52 AM »
@Trifele how big were the serviceberries you bought? We want to put in a couple and were planning to buy some more mature/bigger plants, but weren't sure if they would be too expensive.

These are 'Autumn Brilliance' variety, about 7 feet tall.  They came in big 18X18" pots and have four or five main trunks, more "shrubby" in habit than tree-like.  The nursery guy said they would get 10-15 feet tall at maturity.  They were $70 each.

TomTX

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #482 on: June 01, 2020, 06:48:14 PM »
@Trifele how big were the serviceberries you bought? We want to put in a couple and were planning to buy some more mature/bigger plants, but weren't sure if they would be too expensive.

These are 'Autumn Brilliance' variety, about 7 feet tall.  They came in big 18X18" pots and have four or five main trunks, more "shrubby" in habit than tree-like.  The nursery guy said they would get 10-15 feet tall at maturity.  They were $70 each.
I keep seeing references to serviceberries, and I'm very interested - but in Austin it seems to be too hot, too dry and the soil is too alkaline.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #483 on: June 01, 2020, 07:05:52 PM »
Love seeing everyone's pictures of their garden!

Planted most things May 16th. Oregano is growing rapidly as usual- so much I don't know what to do with it all. Garlic should grow the stem/scapes soon. Zucchini, spaghetti squash, and tomatoes are also growing quick! Bok choy was given to me for free and even though I've never ate it, why not? Planted green onion from kitchen scrapes a couple years ago and now it's gigantic. Also have kale, acorn squash, green beans, snow peas, basil, parsley, and bell peppers.

Not pictured: asparagus in its own bed which for the first time in 4 years, is growing spears of an appropriate size :)

coffeefueled

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #484 on: June 03, 2020, 07:01:07 AM »
I planted zuchinni and watermelon in my new raised beds. I think it's probably a little late in the season?

The dog got a case of the zoomies and ran through the beds the next day. Hopefully the seeds weren't pushed around. Fingerscrossed.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #485 on: June 03, 2020, 12:17:13 PM »
Guys I'm SO MAD. Our local park has a ridiculous population of Canada geese, and at least one family group has discovered my garden. I woke up this morning to my lettuce and sweet corn razed to the ground, a good third of the growth on my peas eaten off, and my tomatoes trampled. Assholes.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #486 on: June 03, 2020, 12:28:07 PM »
@Dee - that is beyond infuriating.  I am so sorry.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #487 on: June 03, 2020, 04:18:47 PM »
I'm so sorry @Dee_ !  That SUCKS

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #488 on: June 03, 2020, 05:48:02 PM »
Guys I'm SO MAD. Our local park has a ridiculous population of Canada geese, and at least one family group has discovered my garden. I woke up this morning to my lettuce and sweet corn razed to the ground, a good third of the growth on my peas eaten off, and my tomatoes trampled. Assholes.

Damn.  They are deer with wings. With messier poop.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #489 on: June 03, 2020, 07:07:57 PM »
@Dee_  ....on behalf of all Canadians I’d like to officially apologize for the existence of those b*stards.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #490 on: June 04, 2020, 04:53:39 AM »
@Dee_  As gardeners, we all feel your frustration. Maybe the tomatoes will bounce back with a few support posts? If it isn't already done, can you put fencing to protect the plants?

Every time my veg garden is attacked by a critter, I search for the way they got in. It's been years of trial and error to fence off underground and 12 ft above the garden to keep squirrels and other climbing critters out. My worst garden pest used to be the large extended groundhog family that lives in the neighborhood, now it is squirrels. The combination of climber and extended jump range makes it hard to keep the fruit and veg protected. I used to think it was alright if they got a few tomatoes here and there but that's only led to an explosion of the squirrel population.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #491 on: June 04, 2020, 07:45:23 AM »
Thanks guys. I'm still really annoyed but the rage has mostly subsided. The peas will probably bounce back, the tomatoes will be fine with a little TLC (no main stems were broken, as far as I can tell). There's probably time to try again on the sweet corn (and tbh I expected the raccoons to get most of that anyways) And they didn't want any of my brassicas, cucumbers, or zucchini. I put together a quick makeshift fence with chicken wire (advantage of raised beds) and I see some untouched new growth, so maybe it'll do the trick.

I've always had the gardening philosophy that stuff needs to be low effort, and prolific enough that I can share a little with the critters. I've never begrudged the squirrels a few tomatoes because there's always plenty left, and they seem to go for the hyper-prolific cherry types anyways. I just don't have the bandwidth to make a critter-proof fence. BUT, I'm starting to rethink that. I guess the critters have never been destructive enough to make me want to assert my position in the food chain, heh.

Also, there's a certain level of irony here...I was just telling a new and enthusiastic gardener that it's an awesome hobby, but sometimes all your hard work gets crushed by something you have no control over. A virus, a pest, bad weather at the wrong time, critters eating your harvest etc. And it always seems to happen just as hope peaks and you're days from reaping the rewards of your work. That's why farming is such a hard life. Guess I should be listening to myself. Sigh.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2020, 08:25:02 AM by Dee_ »

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #492 on: June 04, 2020, 08:24:24 AM »
Thanks guys. I'm still really annoyed but the rage has mostly subsided. The peas will probably bounce back, the tomatoes will be fine with a little TLC (no main stems were broken, as far as I can tell). There's probably time to try again on the sweet corn (and tbh I expected the raccoons to get most of that anyways) And they didn't want any of my brassicas, cucumbers, or zucchini. I put together a quick makeshift fence with chicken wire (advantage of raised beds) and I see some untouched new growth, so maybe it'll do the trick.

I've always had the gardening philosophy that stuff needs to be low effort, and prolific enough that I can share a little with the critters. I've never begrudged the squirrels a few tomatoes because there's always plenty left, and they seem to go for the hyper-prolific cherry types anyways. I just don't have the bandwidth to make a critter-proof fence. BUT, I'm starting to rethink that. I guess the critters have never been destructive enough to make me want to assert my position in the food chain, heh.

When I gardened in the forest, electric fencing added to a 4' chicken wire fence kept out everything but deer.  I mulched the beans with dog fur and that stopped the deer.  Or there is relatively inexpensive 7' deer fence - that plus 2 strands of electric fence would be pretty secure.  I would have been fine sharing the harvest, but my wildlife had a "winner take all" approach.  ;-)

Dee_the_third

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #493 on: June 04, 2020, 08:26:53 AM »

When I gardened in the forest, electric fencing added to a 4' chicken wire fence kept out everything but deer. 

I might have to extend the electric fence. I have a setup already for the chickens, would be low-ish effort to expand it.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #494 on: June 04, 2020, 11:24:40 AM »
I planted out a number of tomatoes, tomatillos and basil plants this morning.

I have finally moved all the trays out of the basement and am storing away the grow lights and tables.  It is nice to be able to open the freezer door the whole way!

I still have a ton of seedlings to get into the ground and my goal is to have that done by Sunday night. And all the extra seedlings to be rehomed.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #495 on: June 05, 2020, 06:06:39 AM »
TROPICAL - BLACKBERRY JAM BUSH/TREE - a huge disappointment so far. Supposed to do well in zone 10 and 11 - it can take the heat, but it is barely growing. Google says it is a slow grower - the understatement of the year - at this rate it will reach one foot in a year - maybe:).

Sorry to hear that @Rosy, several plants here have been decimated by giant orange grasshoppers (these lubbers), but the blackberry jam fruit has somehow survived. It's almost a foot now and seems pretty happy in dappled shade.  My guava has died :( Glad your bananas, papaya and guava are doing so well.

Been harvesting early avocados, a bumper crop of Jamaican cherries, and another rack of bananas. Persimmons are setting fruit for the first time, hope they make it to ripening.

If you figure out that Turkey cherry tree variety, would love to know. Found this cherry farm in Turkey that grows Ziraat / Napoleon variety: https://www.bascherry.com/home. Looks like it grows to zone 9.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #496 on: June 05, 2020, 02:13:57 PM »
several plants here have been decimated by giant orange grasshoppers (these lubbers), but the blackberry jam fruit has somehow survived

Holy cow, I clicked on that link and flinched. What is it with giant bugs in the south? :|

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #497 on: June 05, 2020, 04:52:39 PM »
Climate too hospitable 😭

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #498 on: June 07, 2020, 04:05:00 AM »
Vegetable garden is going great here!  We're beginning that lovely time of the year where there's always something fresh to eat.  This week we're eating:

Broccoli -- it did great!  I'll definitely plant a fall crop.
Kale -- Curly and Red Russian flat leaf
Strawberries
Cucumbers

Next up -- beans, potatoes, and tomatoes(!) in a few weeks.  Can't wait.  I ate a store-bought tomato the other day and there really is no comparison.  Home grown is SOOOOO much better. 

@Jon_Snow -- were you able to get some seed from your kale before you had to pull it?  If I remember right your kale and mine were flowering at the same time back in early/mid May.  My seed is not ready yet -- pods still green.  Hope you got some!

Missy B

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own - 2020
« Reply #499 on: June 08, 2020, 12:08:24 AM »
Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with my cucumber and solutions for saving them? I google and all I find is powdery mildew, but it doesn't look like that IMO. I first noticed it on a couple leaves when they were still seedlings, but I was hoping being in the ground for a few days would help. It has not.
It looks a lot like a thing I saw here one year when we had a really cold wet spring. It was infecting basil and squash - plants that like to be warm. The white didn't come off when you touched it, unlike powdery mildew. We plucked the leaves and when it warmed up the white didn't come back.
I never found out what it was - fungus, virus, or water mold.