Weekly Garden Thread - June 3-9, 2023 ['Shady Characters' Edition]

June 3, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

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.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. 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. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Danie_2023]

Ok, I’ll try it. I have some vines that I can “unwind” and plant on the ground now.

Thanks!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Nematodes packaged in an inert powder carrying material that dissolves in water. Applied one teaspoon of the beneficial nematodes per gallon of water. Application in using a watering can...”

What could be easier? Thanks!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“(Your porch IIRC.)”

Exactly! It works! No wasps in the rafters and no Swallows nesting on the motion-detector light, but I think that’s more because we use the port - ALL DAY LONG. :)

‘Arikara’ the current puppy I’m raising, lives there, so that helps. ‘Mommy’ reads in her shady nook and we all come and go through the kitchen door. ;)

[Qiviut]

We have a chipmunk! Cute little guy/gal, but will be getting some ‘help’ relocating.

Bought 3 lavender plants today, 2 for the side of the porch & one for my herb garden where there is no room for it currently. This means I need to expand the garden in the next week or so to give it a home. I also found some marigolds on sale - they will replace the sugar snap pea plant that is not producing.

Started on removing the PU truck cap after dinner. I got all the (rusty) clamps off & got the truck in position for where the cap is going. I got the back jacked up enough to realize there is wiring to deal with for a non-working cargo light in the back. Called it quits for the evening at that point (college softball championship game is on that I want to watch).

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

You are welcome! (I ordered some this afternoon to place around the base of my squash and zucchini and hopefully kill any cucumber beetles or Squash vine moth borers!) There are others out there.

https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/nemattack-beads-sf-encapsulated-beneficial-nematodes/beneficial-nematodes

I have not tried thus powdered type, just the live package type.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

While I can’t get Lavender to over-winter up here, I always have a pot of it around for the summer. :)

That fragrance! I just love it. I also like to spritz the bed linens with a vanilla/lavender spray from Bath & Body Works.

It might just be psychological, but it really relaxes me at night.

Made a few batches of Sun Tea, since you suggested it earlier in this thread. Good stuff! :)

[Qiviut]

I had a picture of the lavender we have growing now & the lady at the greenhouse, who was helping us find one that would look similar, said that is a ‘beautiful plant’! It was in a pot last year & looked rather bedraggled, blooms were not very dark. Mom planted it when I put in the boxwoods early this spring & it took off. It’s loaded with blooms & obviously very happy. It’s the first lavender we’ve ever had. Since it’s so pretty & the deer don’t like them, we’re putting 2 more on that side of the porch.

We had Canadian wildfire smoke all day - looked like a light fog hanging in the trees & smelled terrible. Tomorrow is supposed to be bad as well - sure hope it clears out this weekend.

[Qiviut]

Hoping I will have enough lavender to make ‘lavender wands’ next year. Found instructions for making lavender ‘baskets’ too - so cute!

How to Weave Aromatic Lavender Baskets
https://blog.pelindabalavender.com/2021/08/how-to-make-woven-aromatic-lavender-basket-instructions.html?m=1

[Pollard]

Front yard garden is finished, aside from the mole hunt and maybe replanting beans.

Yesterday
* Drip irrigation installed and working fine.(big water saver)
* Shade cloth pulled back but ready to extend over the entire area when/if needed.
* Picked up a truck bed load of compost for mulching and will dig a little in on each side of the rows first.

Taking tomorrow off as a PTO day which will turn this week’s, bi-weekly three day weekend, into a four day weekend.

High tunnel time.

If I get the frames built, treat the surface rust, get them in primer and get the post holes fully dug, that’ll be fine. I don’t have the primer but do have all the additives it requires.

Automotive paint itself will cost more plus I’ll need to buy the additives, activator/reducer so that will have to wait a week.

Might be able to rent a walk behind trencher for the mole exclusion trench. I’m thinking heavy duty pond liner with plenty of holes big enough for water and tiny soil life to get through but too small for moles. Trench will be 2-3 foot outside of the frame/tunnel.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You are kickin’ it into High Gear these days! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pollard; I lost a number of Pole beans and had to totally replant a section. Sow and pill bugs were responsible for some, but one Section I over watered and they melted away. I plant directly into the ground. There are solutions to moles/voles, but they usually involve a wire barrier underneath your row of plants! Bother! Drip irrigation, Summer time; when you start your watering remember to check the temperature of the water coming out of your hose. I have a hose hookup to my irrigation system and and purge the hot water from the hose end before I divert the water to the irrigation system.

Discussion hot water on plants

Summer heat and Pots... I do some plantings in large black plastic pots that I have recovered from a local nursery's recycle bin. (I.E. Free pots!) I have not had success with vegetables in previous years due, I think, from the elevated soil temperature, which at the surface can get up to 130-135 F.

While It defeats the Free part, this year I purchased some Rustoleum White Elastometric roof coating, cleaned some of the pots and painted them to see if I could get those temperatures down, and they are much lower at the surface. (I am also using rice hulls as mulch, and they are a very light color. )

Container Gardening Temperatures

Good luck!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Genetically Engineered Salad Greens Coming to Grocery Stores — and They Won’t Be Labeled

"Pairwise, an agricultural biotechnology company, created Conscious Greens Purple Power Baby Greens Blend, the first CRISPR-edited food available to U.S. consumers."

Worth reading. Protect your Heirloom varieties while you can.

[Pollard]

My drip system won’t be going through a long hose. Just a four foot clear hose that I’ll connect when I need to water. The drip tubing itself is a dark color but I’ll be covering it with mulch this weekend. One thing I do have to worry about is watering right after filling the tank from the spring down the road. That spring water is 55-60 degrees so watering warm weather plants that are sitting in warm Summer soil might be a little shock to their system. Since it’s just drips, I would think that tiny bit of water would warm up or cool down before it makes it down to the roots.

I’ve had some plants waiting to go in the ground and they were in those black pots and I did think about how hot they must get so I make sure they’re in the shade after noon or so.

I’m hoping a 12” deep barrier around the perimeter will keep the moles out but I may also trap one or more in so I’ll have to dispatch them. That will be for the bigger garden area where the high tunnel is going. I picked up one of the stabby traps and will get some poison if need be. So far in the little garden, I haven’t set the trap up in a spot where the mole returned. They reuse some tunnels a few times so it’s a matter of picking the right tunnel and timing. Went out this morning and didn’t see much for tunnels so maybe it will be moving on to the rest of the yard.

[MomwithHope]

Diana your bug bouquets are blooming, I have 8 of them along the front of the veggie garden. Is the borage the big leaf stuff? I went easy on it. Hubby asked this morning if it is edible.

[Pollard]

Ahh but now money is the hold up. They want $250 per day to rent the smallest walk behind trencher. Going to rig something up for the little tractor. The soil out at that area is rock free so I know the tractor will dig a 4 inch wide by 12 inch deep trench. I can take a single bottom plow which are typically 12 inches wide and cut it down to 4 inches. They’re on craigslist all the time for under $100 and I get to keep it and use it for planting trenches.

My automotive epoxy primer went bad sitting out in the shop - heat/cold. I still have activator but they want $187 for a gallon of that primer now. I could swap to a cheaper brand but then I’d also have to buy activator for it. Would save $30 but I’d be throwing out this $150 worth of activator.

So I guess I’m ordering a $187 gallon of primer today. I’ve got two old trucks here that need body work so I know I’ll use it all. I’ll end up needing more activator at some point. I have two qts and it’s a 1:1 mixing ratio with the primer and get this;

They only sell the primer in gallons and only sell the activator in pints now. That’s 8 pint cans for 1 gallon of primer. How goofy is that? That and the pints of activator are $34 so that’s $272 to activate the $187 gallon of primer. $459

Since I have two qts of activator, I’ll need $136 of activator down the road for a total of $323 or $165/gal mixed and ready to spray. Good stuff though. It’s not Rustoleum or DupliColor.

And I’ll still need white paint for the high tunnel frames. $2-300 for that. That’ll be the next paycheck. I’ll still end up way under the $4-5k for a new tunnel though. I’ll probably have a complete tunnel for about what they get for just the frame. My truss frames will be fully welded as opposed to a bolt together kit. My metal is thicker too since this pipe used to be a huge hay storage tunnel.

and with that, it’s time to get out there and work on this stuff. I’m late getting started as it is. High 40s this morning.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pictures of my garden June 9, 2023.

(Left)View over the top of the Cucumber trellis. Have 2 Beit Alpha cucumbers, Artist and Diva. Parthenicarpic. I do not need to open the top on the trellis to pollinate! (Right) I harvested the Garlic today. It might be a little early, but I need the room for Shishito peppers.

(Left) Neighbor put in a new wall which reflects a lot of sun back at the garden. Very hot! So, I planted a wall of Pole beans. Placed irrigation at the bottom. I am hoping that this will cut down on some of the reflection and heat and, of course, provide some beans! (Helda and Yellow someting or other, both Romano types. ) (Right) String suspended tomatoes.

Determinate ultra early tomato variety "42" loaded with small tomatoes and blossoms!

[MomwithHope]

Nice pictures Pete! Thanks for posting. Our garlic nowhere near ready. Our 8 shishito plants are flowering like crazy and some with early 2” peppers.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

MwH; I have a free bed now for my Shishitos and a couple of Jalapenos.

I like a little heat, but not insanely hot!

The Agony and Ecstasy of Capsaicin

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Link forward to the June 10-16 2023 gardening thread!

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

campisis radicans - (commonly called "trumpet vine", comes in several colors
It is known especially to attract hummingbirds, especially in the scarlet color.

Danie_2023 :" Hormex, a rooting hormone powder, is better?
I have some Green Light rooting hormone powder that never seemed to work for me.
But I will try that. Thanks!"
Campisis Radicans comes in yellow, orange, and scarlet colors, and grows as a vigorous vine
I agree with what Freeper 'Pete from Shawnee Mission' suggested with the scrape and brick.
I have used "Rooting Hormone" (brand unknown right now) but realize that there are two different grades of plant hormone: one for soft plants (annuals, perennials),
and another for 'woody plants' (at twice rate of the active ingredient).
Also, rooting hormone loses its efficacy as it ages, so if its not this years product, chances are it won't take.
Another suggestion is to "air layer" fresh growth tip with a wet moss ball in a plastic bag,
and seal it off with twist ties from the supermarket and keep it out of direct sunlight( or it will steam cook any root formation).
I have even tried to keep/ store hormone in the freezer, but it lost its vigor and strength.
When making cuttings or "air layering":
(#1)try to make an incision in a 45 degree angle (maximum exposure to the hormone)
(#2) wet the cutting in water
(#3) apply the rooting hormone
(#4) seal with the contact brick or within the plastic baggie of sphagnum moss with grocery ties
If "air layering", you may need to tie in a splint along side, in order to support the cutting and keeping the incision, along with hormone closed and prevent drying out.