Posted on 07/24/2009 3:59:59 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning to all of you gardeners. There is only one more week left in July and hopefully everyone is enjoying their summer gardens and enjoying the harvest. If you are planning a Fall garden now is the time plan what you will be planting and when to plant. The key to successful winter gardening is knowing the average date of the first killing frost in your region. You then plant your winter crops early enough to let them reach their full maturity before that killing frost. Local garden authorities can give you information about the timing of first frosts and the hardiness of various crops for your area.
I planted some glads a few years ago. I bought the bulbs dirt cheap. Because of that I never intended to lift them for the winter. I planted them on the south side next to our cellar concrete wall. We had a mild winter. The sun on the concrete throughout the winter must have been enough to prevent the bulbs from freezing. The glads bloomed. After that the critters got them.
Good morning.
Judging from this morning’s weather forecast it looks like we’re finally in for at least a week’s worth of real summer here. Mid-90s with chance of thunderstorms every day.
I have been canning tomatoes just about every other day. My Tabasco peppers are starting to turn orange then red. Wish I had one of those "baton rouge" sticks they use down on Avery Island to guage when to pick them!
So what are the pros and cons for each?
I bet you have some beautiful rich native soil in that meadow.
Oh obviously I am baiting them and feeding them very well. PETA would give me a gold star. I have heard tales of people having raccoon destruction but this is my first, first hand experience in all the 20 + years of having a garden.
I 'feel' like Bama and Rahm and Axelrod have set up shop stealing my very long and hard work. I know each stalk of this corn personally, as I had to literally in ankle deep mud on June 16 stand them back up after a 3+ inch rain and wind storm. I have the 'feeling' these animal terrorists were waiting in the neighbors thicket watching me as I prepared for them a feast of their taking.
What kind of critters would you suspect? My wife had said that moles eat bulbs, but I have not seen any evidence of moles anywhere near the glads. Nor have we any fire ants near the glads. The glad count just seems to diminish each year for no apparant reason.
I doubt it is moles as they eat worms and grubs but gophers eat plants and bulbs. It could be voles or mice but I’ll bet it is some bug or worm eating the roots and then into the corm. Dig a few this fall and winter to inspect them for damage...
I have had that problem for years and just trapped and “relocated” one yesterday. I keep a large cheap hot sauce in the garden shed and I put a few drops on the tip of most ears in the early silk stage and that seems to work and it hasn’t affected the taste of the corn. I even put a electric fence around the corn patch one year
We have yellow clay so I use a little of both...Always mulch with newspapers or shredded paper. Work in layers of compostable materials each fall in spring I turn it under with the little 1’ tiller.
Tell me about cutting back tomatoes. Would like to give it a try. Mine are recovering from an accidental overdose of nitrogen. Have corrected the problem; plants looking good but the fruits are just ok.
Have been planning my winter garden; kale, bok choy, mustard, collard, swiss chard, spinach and peas. Also plan on replacing some of the soil in the pots.
our garden is crazy. the beans, tomato, onion, and cukes are great. the cabbage good, potato good. the corn is being decimated by a critter. i’m guessing its a raccoon. why does it want our corn when there is a whole field of the stuff just a few yard away? hubbymayhem is thinking maybe he will go rambo on the thing. that could be okay, or it could be verrry bad for the garden.
i have a whole giant area between field and forest that is a blackberry haven. we have tons but the thorns are brutal. add in the chiggers and poison ivy and there is only so many berries anyone here want to fool with. we have a blue berry patch just up the road, pick for yourself, and pay the owner. i was thinking about going up there today but i just got rid of my chigger bites and now am not sure i want to start itching again.
Do this to all your healthy plants, and pull any that look diseased or very weak. Clean all the grass and loosen the soil around the plants and between the rows. Water the garden at regular intervals.
Within a couple of weeks, you will notice new growth coming from the cut limbs. Let the new growth get strong before putting cages or stakes around the plants. Once the weather gets cooler and nighttime temps get into the 60’s, you will see tomatoes setting again.
Some of the fall tomatoes may not ripen on the vine if you are in a cooler climate. I take the last ones off when we get the first threat of a freeze and let them ripen indoors.
In a nutshell I believe they are doing a huge disservice to the locals here because this is a pretty poor rural area. When the fields are harvested they go in and poison what is left rather than allowing locals or even organized groups such as the food banks and churches glean what is left, and believe me there are bushels and bushels left.
Anyway, with that said, my dislike for more government intrusion and regulation places me at odds with my animosity toward the above mentioned growers when I read this article in this morning's paper:
Va. to E. Shore tomato farmers: Sit down and negotiate
Okay. This is weird.
I’ve been fighting slugs for years and I can never get rid of them. It has been a constant battle of slug pellets & beer traps.
I weeded yesterday and didn’t find one single slug.
I am trying to figure out what happened to them, because we’ve been very busy for the last month & I didn’t take preventative measures.
Could it be something in the topsoil I added, or was it because I barely watered?
I’m not complaining, just wondering what finally killed them or if they went dormant or what.
We’ve had a lot more birds around here. Maybe the birds got them? Nothing-even under rocks.
Mornin’ all!
Could be voles eating your bulbs, or squirrels.
In warm climes, glads tend to produce lots of small bulbs. Over time, they will crowd themselves out. Dig a few of each color and transplant them elsewhere, see if they’re bigger next year. If so, that’s your prob.
Also, they can rot b/c of our wet winters. It doesn’t get cold enough to freeze so the bulbs don’t have any protection that way.
Hope this helps!
If nothing else, dig a few and put them in the freezer. Sometimes it’s just too warm for them to thrive.
My tomatoes have been green for over 2 weeks and not turning colors. Am I not patient enough, or has it not been hot enough, or might it be something I haven’t thought of yet. Thanks
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