Posted on 03/22/2013 12:30:03 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
I would like to be added to your list. I need advice about all kinds of garden pests and slugs, including Joe Biden.
Last year I grew grocery-store size bell peppers for the first time ever. I grew them in Earthboxes. I don’t know if it was the continuous soil moisture (no water stress, ever) or the way the fertilization is set up. But since it worked, I’m planting peppers in Earthboxes again this year.
When I have done peppers in the ground, my results were like yours: small, thin-walled, not many, and not very tasty. Maybe it was nematodes (definitely have those), a nutrition issue, or water stress.
My garden is coming along really well. The shallots I gave to my neighbor have multiplied to the point that he is giving away bunches to anyone that wants them.
My lettuce and turnips are up and growing. Several tomato plants are close to blooming. The garlic probably needs to be pulled up for use.
I had several volunteer dill plants come up again this year. I planted cucumber seeds this past week.
Just something to consider:
Mesquite is a native tree...very drought hardy. On many farms and ranches is considered a weed! However, the pioneers used the ground-up seed pods for flour. I’m even seeing ground mesquite powder for sale in our local health food stores up here (not in mesquite country) for about $8.00/lb. My dad used the wood exclusively for cooking/smokiing wood. It has a WONDERFUL flavor!
Depending on the size of their property, if they have one (or several) already, they might want to consider keeping it/them. They are not very pretty and have thorns, so if they start taking over, they create a terrible environment for tires and should be thinned! But they could be a source of nutrition as well as warmth in a pinch.
I live NW of Austin have a lime and orange tree in big pots and they are in full bloom. I have to cover them and hang a light under the cover if it freezes. Avocado not much luck for me.
Cucumbers do well here. Leaf lettuce is a great year round veggie here. Same for turnips, but they slow down in hot weather.
If the area is big enough, have her plant an onion set. They do well when planted only 4 - 5 inches apart. If she has room, pear and peach trees do well here too.
Sorry to hear about your continued cold weather. I have a friend in St. Joseph who is both a fellow gardener and fellow nature photographer. She’s itching to do one or the other, but Mother Nature is turning a cold shoulder. Hope things warm up for you all out there.
/johnny
**maybe the global ice-age people had it right.LOL.**
The following is from a trusted source who usually checks her sources, unlike myself, before she forwards certain emails. Hey, at least I try to put a disclaimer [okay, some times I try to do that!]
The major, most serious problem today is the scare factor being employed as early as possible in America’s public schools pushing this liberal, social agenda. Any person willing to listen with an open mind will know that global warming is a hoax still being perpetrated by the liberals and their main stream media hound dogs [no disrespect intended to hound dogs!]. Except now they like to call it climate change. And of course the sick irony is that climate change has been around since the days of Genesis, and for anyone not biblically inclined, that’s been quite a while now.
Remember the idiot Al Gore [I know, it’s redundant!] and his many scare tactics. I wonder how much taxpayer money he spent using staff and government resources to concoct all of his BS.
Thought this was interesting - I went to the snopes link to verify that it’s true.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/science/globalwarming1922.asp
The Washington Post
The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer, and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen, Norway.
Reports from fishermen, seal hunters, and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees, 29 minutes.
Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters [10,170 feet or about 1.926 miles] showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic Ocean, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. Within a few years, it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.
* * * * * * * * *
I apologize, I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922, as reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post - over 90 years ago.
*****************
Mr. Sg planted seeds in greenhouse. First time for us. We’re talking excitement here!
We’ve had the same problem. We’re trying seeds this year as opposed to transplants.
I had a cutworm eat off most of one of my tomato plants. Just use your finger to dig around the base and find them. My plant is coming back, since the center was still good.
BTW, I had to go to Cedar Park - 15 miles east of us - the next day and the ditches had about two feet of small hail and the parking lots were covered with chopped up tree leaves.
Back to 15-20 below normal for a while again, so even though the pea patch is now ready, the weather isn’t: 12-20F at night is not conducive to germination. :-)
Also getting spate of flakes for the last couple of days, so at least a bit of badly needed moisture is dribbling in.
Hi, J. Last year, transplanted Early Girls and Better Boys from the local FFA association. This year, we’re attempting three varieties of Romas per your posts and some “sandwich” tomatoes, all from seed. Waiting.... :)
I've had the best luck growing bell peppers in the fall garden. I had some last year that dwarfed the ones at HEB.
Agreed that she might not have much success with citrus and avacado in San Antonio. The mexican avacado is hardier so she can try it in a protected area near the southeastern side of the house but I’ve never seen any around here, just sayin’. For fruit, she’ll have better luck with peach and plum, figs, blackberries and strawberries. The soil isn’t acidic enough for blueberries. She only needs a pot of aloe vera on the window sill. Use the yucca and agave as an ornamentals by the front driveway if she doesn’t have kids, otherwise she’ll be running to the ER with poked eyes.
On the flower side, every thing is blooming or on the verge of blooming (except the bulbs, snapdragons and zinias). The marigolds I grew from seeds for the first time are almost blooming. Put some color bowls together with salvia, dusty miller, alyssum, and marigold. I also put up some simple 6 foot long plant shelves made of cinder blocks and 2 x 4's. The hummingbirds are starting to visit our big aloe which is now blooming, pretty much abandoning the feeder for now.
We learned a valuable lesson this year: in a raised bed, do no scrimp on quality soil. We used cheapie $5 soil from Lowe's and almost lost our tomatoes and moringa. Wifey replaced all the cheap soil with good soil and mixed in fertilizer and now everyone is looking green again.
One wrap of aluminum foil around the stalk, a sprinkling of rock phospate at the bottom of the hole, and in they go.
I managed to grow stocky starts this year, instead of leggy ones. Being stingy with the water, and keeping them cool and out in the cold frame really helped.
/johnny
The leaves are stripped on some and others just disappeared like they were never there.
Thanks, I’ll dig around for cutworms.
I heard that Round Rock still had hail in the ditches the following afternoon in the heat of the day. Glad for the two bouts of rain we’ve had recently but not so much on the wind and hail. Beggars can’t be choosers.
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