The Garden Thread - August, 2025

August 1, 2025 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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 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/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time.

[metmom]

DANG!!!

There’s so many vermin that want to eat my crops more than us.

Looks like I have ANOTHER batch of asparagus beetles. I thought they were a spring only insect but we have had a warm summer.

I found those white butterflies landing on my Brussel sprouts. I put spinosad on them and am just watching the weather. It’s looking inclement to the west and feeling oppressive during the day. If rain threatens, I’ll cover them up.

I think I have a vole infestation. I planted more peas and all the seeds are GONE. I found one lonely little left over sprout laying on the ground with no seed attached, Time to get the Top Gun out and make more bait stations and take care of those vermin. That probably explains why all the beans I tried to direct sow never came up.

I’m going to do another planting of carrots in buckets but this time I’m putting a piece of hardware cloth down and then planting them. Lost too many carrots this summer.

Those owls and foxes need to get busy.

As for the peas, can I start them in seed starting trays and transplant them? I might try that next spring. It’s the only way I’m getting beans this year. The two plantings of pole beans I put in never came up either.

Also, I found MORE female asparagus plants were I am SURE I planted allegedly male only from Gurney’s I’ve got to give them a call. All the female ones are coming up this year when the rest of the garden dies back.

My onion crop bombed. Garlic was fair. As usual the Great Northern White did the best.

My tomatoes are coming in and there are no more flowers so whatever I get I get. They’re romas and determinate anyway. The late blight is starting on them, and this week of upcoming heat will guarantee no more blossoming. TO protect them from the sun and dew, I hung a length of floating rows covers over the tops of the tomato cages and clothes pinned them on.

No idea how my potatoes are doing. I don’t recall seeing them flower but that could have happened while we were gone for those couple weeks. Hopefully the voles aren’t eating them as well.

Interestingly, NOTHING seems to bother turnips and they did great.

This has been a pretty poor year overall between the weather and vermin.

[Qiviut]

My fern(s) were $9.99 - bought 3. I had a bunch of them off the cart, lined up in the walkway, trying to pick the best ones. Due to being crammed on a large cart with shelves, they had gotten a bit one-sided. With some TLC & room, they have really filled out.

I am absolutely whipped right now. Even mom, the Energizer Bunny, is dragging - we worked on trees from 10:30 to 6:45. This week, we’ve been trying to make the best of low humidity & temps in 70’s, low 80’s. Today, for the first time time in I can’t remember when, I worked all day with no bug net to keep off the gnats!

[Pollard]

Latching Irrigation Solenoid with 3/4 NPT Valve. The missing piece in my drip system. Just added to my To Get list on dripdepot.

RV pumps like I'm using for a the drip system do not shut the flow off like a valve. Water will flow through them when they're turned off. That 1/4" drip line basically has holes for drippers and naturally, water will flow through a hole via gravity alone. A full tank will actually create a little bit of pressure too.

I'm sick of seeing my tanks slowly drain in between watering sessions on occasion. I can and do turn the spigot on/off but that makes me a slave to a drip schedule and negates the automation. I do it as much as possible when I'm here but then if I forget, it's either turned off and the pump comes on or it's turned on and things drain. Even moving the pump to the bottom end isn't going to fix it because the water level in a 4 foot tall tank will still be higher than the drip lines.

Most irrigation systems have these solenoid operated water valves. They get installed right at the source, either the supply pipe on commercial systems or a spigot on home systems which allows leaving that spigot open. In my case, the spigot on the tank will be replaced by a solenoid/valve.

Latching; in electrical terms means it only requires a pulse of electricity and then it holds on it's own via a magnet and consumes zero electricity to stay activated. The water valve starts in the closed position and when solenoid is activated by a pulse of electric, it opens the valve and it stays open until the solenoid is deactivated at which point the valve closes.

I'll still be moving the pump to the bottom because all four tanks will be plumbed together to make it like one tank so I want the pump at the lowest tank to allow me to use all the water.

Momma found her a good chin rest, her kid.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“As for the peas, can I start them in seed starting trays and transplant them?”

Yes - but they HATE being transplanted, so if you have enough TP rolls stashed, cut those in half and use them as your ‘starting pots’ and then deeply plant the whole thing, leaving no tiny bit of the TP Roll above the soil - it will wick away moister from the roots. (That’s the only draw-back to using that method for peas.)

If not, make sure they are in deep cells or containers so the roots have VERY LITTLE disturbance when planting out.

“I am SURE I planted allegedly male only from Gurney’s...”

I don’t know HOW that company stays in business! They are absolutely the WORST I’ve ever seen - and with 18+ years of Garden Center/Catalog/Seed experience under my belt - that is saying a LOT!

Buy your Asparagus crowns from Jung’s this coming Spring. Seriously. Not just saying this to pad my retirement, LOL! Our products always were, and always WILL BE top-notch. I am going to expand my 8x4’ Asparagus Bed into a second 8x4’ bed. I’m going to post some articles in the near future about making gardening EASIER for me, as I age.

You ‘youngsters’ can ignore it for now...but your day will come, LOL!

“This has been a pretty poor year overall between the weather and vermin.”

Yep. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been whining all season long about my tomatoes...and I ain’t done, yet! ;)

[metmom]

I picked up a pot full of Mary Washington asparagus seedlings at a high school plant sale. For about a buck of two, I got about 9 seedlings. They’ll go in the ground for this winter and stay there until they flower. How deep should I plant them for that?

I know that the roots can get pretty extensive and tough to dig up. I had to dig some other female plants up and it was brutal.

Yeah, I guess I’m done with Gurney’s. They are no deal with you consider the loss of plants. I might as well have spent a little more elsewhere and and had well established plants that are what they were supposed to be.

[Pollard]

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=utk_agexgard

U of T growing asparagus at home

[metmom]

Thank you!

[Liz]

EASY SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP / great version of restaurant fave
Bake 300 deg 20 min: 2 pkg frozen chp spinach, jar Alfredo sauce, can chopped artichokes, 4 oz
of 8 oz pkg shredded Italian Parm, 1 tbl minced garlic s/p to taste. Cover w/ rest cheese; bake till melted and slightly golden. Serve w/ crackers, sourdough bread, pitas, garden vegs.

[Pollard]

After adding up all the gutter parts and pieces, I figured out you can just price the gutter itself, multiply by four and be pretty close.

$56 - 7 pcs gutter - 70’ plus 10.5” end caps with drop, for each end(4) plus seams will be close enough for 36’ tunnel
$72 - 48 gutter hanger - (50 pk) Hanger every 24” or 18” for snow load areas and we have snow and ice.
$50 - 6 gutter connectors
$50 - ends with downspout drops

After tax, $250 (so much for $50 worth of gutter)

They say a downspout drop every 40 foot and going by that’ I’d need two, one for each 36’ side but since I want the middle to be the high point, I need four. I’ll be able to catch a heavier rain without overflowing.

I don’t need any downspouts because the gutter won’t be much higher than a tank is tall.

[Paul R.]

Thanks again - I searched for “Picture This” and came right up with this link:

https://www.picturethisai.com/identify

No need to even go through the app / free app to get it: Just upload the image and “voila!”

In this case, we come up with “Giant Ragweed”.

https://www.picturethisai.com/wiki/Ambrosia_trifida.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosia_trifida

This had thrown me, because the leaves of the ragweed varieties I was familiar with are more “ragged” — more lobes (5, 7, or even more) and (usually) larger serrations on a given size leaf. Even the pics of giant ragweed I found online are a bit different - I likely just have a little less common subspecies or variant. Plus, there’s the size aspect: It turns out these things can get 20 ft. high in the right conditions, and a few of “mine” look to be on the way...

SFAIK, this stuff doesn’t affect my allergies or at least it does so less than many other pollen sources we have around here! Thank heavens, or I’d have another “war” to fight. The flowers are edible too - maybe I’ll try ‘em when they come out. When I harvest the plants for the chickens I just break off a plant or two, depending on size, and toss ‘em in the runs early in the morning.

The stems, once fully dry, make very useful 2nd stage kindling. (I break ‘em up into ~ 1 ft. pieces and put several of them on top of dry leaves or a little dry grass, or paper.)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I don’t need any downspouts because the gutter won’t be much higher than a tank is tall.”

I had ‘short gutters’ on a Pole Shed at my other farm. I possissioned 55-gallon blue plastic drums that once held pickles for the UW Commissary on either end to collect rainwater. Worked like a charm.

We were in Menard’s a few weeks ago - I had finally talked Beau into getting me those ‘Gutter Guards’ to keep all the debris (read: CR@P!) from clogging up the filter on my rain barrel. We have a metal roof and exactly TWO gutters/down spouts on the whole house. It’s not like it was going to break the bank.

They’re not installed yet, of course. EVERYTHING is a ‘project for another day’ when it’s hunting season. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[left that other site]

I love that!

Good Morning. :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m always rooting something in a water-filled Mason Jar on my kitchen counter. I know I’m not alone! :)

[FamiliarFace]

You got a lot done! Looks great!

[FamiliarFace]

Ahhhh, even better is when you can sit and enjoy the views!

[FamiliarFace]

Cute!

[FamiliarFace]

That’s interesting. I just have the app on my iPhone, which I keep in my back pocket even as I weed. There are so many things that grow around here, so I am not always sure if what I want to get rid of is something I should get rid of. I get young Virginia creeper and poison ivy confused, so that app saves me sometimes. I will still bookmark this link for when I’m back inside and want to do some research. Thank you!

[Liz]

Cute

[FamiliarFace]

Great visual! Of course, you know I have a glass full of stem cuttings that are developing roots as I type. Just planted some of the basil cuttings that I had going the other day. Currently I have streptocarpella violets growing in the kitchen window. I’ll have several to give as gifts to my sisters and a few select friends.