Posted on 06/12/2015 1:14:58 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.
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If it is too much sun , you might consider a shade cloth for the high noonday sun , even a cedar shingle (10 X 10) might provide adequate shade for the roots.
If it is a virus infection , consider moving the cukes to another area , or consider another cultiver , preferably virus resistant.
Also , cukes don't transplant well , or like to have their roots disturbed , (.. just like summer squash !) .
It can be done successfully , but they seem to go through a 'transplant shock' when the roots are disturbed.
The same is true if you buy plants , and put them in your garden
Mom , what is the ratio of water to ammonia ?
Do you use any surfactant (dishwater soap; makes the brew stick to the plant) like a couple of dishwater soap like "Dove Diswasher" ?
What is your recipie ?.. and does it work ?
MomwithHope , I am enjoying your photos.
Which reminds me , I have to plant more basil !
I am 5 days into in and no further damage than the first day. Other years I would have hubby go out and relieve himself in front of the garden but that was only sporadically effective because sometimes I forgot to ask him. I just mixed half and half water nothing else. My daughter works for a big botanical gardens and she said that’s what they use. It’s the taste that turns them off. I’ve sprayed every day, once after a rain even.
Yes , rain seems to weaken the effectiveness of the solution.
So you are using a 50 /50 solution of ammonia to water,as a foliar spray, and it is effective as a deer repellent.
Correct ?
Yes, I just got a sprayer at the dollar store, it sprays a fine mist. I just get all the leaves. I already had ammonia because we use it to clean the glass on our woodstove. Cheap fix. A bottle of deer repellant at the hardware was over 16.00. I’m not going to get 16.00 worth of broccoli out of it.
Trader Joes sells tart cherry juice, if you have one near you.
You make me laugh (!!) because you are so right about the expense versus the productivity of the garden !
Thanks for the information about cheap deer repellent. I will try it here to see if it works here .
A disabled friend of mine said that we have spent $28.oo to establish an elevated garden, and nother $4.oo in seed, whereas she can go to the market and get 3 bunches of broccoli for $1.99 at the store.
But I pointed out to her that she could now successively plant veggies , or flowers, that she CHOOSE , and this same garden was available to her until first frost.
The fact that this garden was available to her for the next few years pointed out to her that this was , in fact, economical,
and is dependent on her CHOICE of veggies/flowers for many years- not just what is available in the market.
It is an investment into the future, and was economical in the long run .
Thank you for you insight in a cheap , inexpensive deer repellant which seems to perplex all of us as gardeners.
No guarantees, it just works on my Michigan deer. Hope it works for you. Just came in from walking the dog and spraying. We have never grown corn as that really attracts the deer. Fortunately we are out in the boonies and there is lots of natural food available.
Great garden photos. Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks tubebender! I am guilty of a little pride this year, I am doing a much better job of weeding this year. At 63 I am in better shape than in the last 5 years. Hope to post some barn photos next week. After 15 years it needed repainting and I painted it all myself. Took 2 weeks and I still have some trim to do. I have really pushed myself even getting 16 feet up on a ladder many days. It’s move it or lose it for me.
No more ladders for me at 82. The HTML for a new paragraph is < p> with no space
Thanks. after looking at your beautiful garden photos I can’t believe you are that age. puts my efforts to shame. I don’t need those kneeler seats. I can still bend all the way over to weed without kneeling. Knees are shot.
My wife is only 74 and she can still touch her toes even after a hip replacement a year ago. She starts HUNDREDS of flowers from seed in our little greenhouse and she transplants them on and around the back deck and the big vegetable garden out front. I call her Wonder Women
BTW ~~~ You take excellent photos. What do you use for a camera?
I have an old canon powershot elf. Have to download into an old desktop, put upon photobucket and then link to FR. Takes awhile. Good for your wife. I only have one fake knee, big regret there.
I swear I will never, ever, never ever, take another vacation the first two weeks of June.
My garden is an absolute disaster.
The tomato plants that haven’t drowned are 4’ tall and the weeds are taller.
The garlic was 2’ tall when I left. Now I can’t even see it.
The broccoli that I didn’t harvest before we left has flowered and is rotting.
The cauliflowers, brussels sprouts and cabbages look OK.
The kale, dill and horseradish is flourishing.
Sweet corn is 2’ tall and looks good; what I can see of it amongst the weeds.
Green beans and cucumbers are sick.
Peppers are sick.
The basil is drowning.
There’s some yellow squash ready to harvest. The butternut squash is buried in weeds. Zukes are only a foot tall and look awful.
It rained so much while I was gone most of the potatoes are laying on top of the ground.
The snap peas are 6’ tall and loaded. Need to be picked asap.
Every inch that wasn’t covered in feed sacks is knee-high in weeds.
I’m going out there after work tomorrow with the weed whacker to do some killing.
I’ll salvage what I can and start over on the rest.
Ugh...
Finally dried out (barely) enough to do some work hilling the potatoes Friday...so a wasp stung me on the wrist as I was about half finished. Had to head for the house, as some breeds of those buggers can send me to the ER for shots. Fortunately, Benadryl & ice packs were all that it required...but it still itches.
Saturday couldn’t do too much, as we had to leave just after noon to attend a funeral, but it dried out more, soooo
Today, I spent over an hour tilling under out of control weeds, as well as plot for planting. I added finished compost from the bin, as well as a liberal amount of mixed rabbit droppings & chicken litter, and planted green beans, yellow zucchini, and 2 types of acorn squash. Part of one garden fencerow got 2 varieties of runner beans along it; they’ll have 8’ of chicken wire to climb. By then, it was time to clean up, have dinner & leave for Flag Day ceremonies at the State Veterans Home
My new seeds are getting watered with pennies from heaven as I type & listen to the thunder. No planting tomorrow, as the radar shows the storm still has another solid 60 miles of rain slowly chugging along.
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