Weekly Gardening Thread – 2009 Vol.3 – May 29

FreeRepublic | 5-29-2009 | Red_Devil 232

[Red_Devil 232]

Good morning Freeper gardeners. This weekend marks the end of May and I hope everyone’s gardens are doing well. I know some have had to delay planting due to weather and we all hope conditions have improved for you.

So far this weekend is looking like a good one, weather wise, all across the Nation except for some lingering rain in the extreme NE. Lets get gardening!

[mylife]

Now.. plant some herbs and learn to make bruschetta... ☺

[WHATNEXT?]

So, Daisyjane69...my tomato that I planned on putting in a pot in the greenhouse won’t do anything? I can still find a place outside. We in the NW always have a struggle to get tomatoes to ripen...plus I have a little altitude and Douglas fir shade to deal with.

[WHATNEXT?]

I did plant one. Last time I had a problem deciding when they were ripe...

[mylife]

Tasty maters...

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, if the plants can’t take it, screw ‘em, the wimps. ;’)

[Marmolade]

Thanks for the fertilizer information. It got me wondering...I have wisteria vines that are 15+/- years old which have never bloomed. I’ve heard some varieties take many years before blooming. I was going to rip them out, but maybe I will apply some phosphorus and see what happpens. They’ve been there this long, what’s another year or two :)

[sneakers]

bruschetta! yum!! I planted Rosemary. I have a place for five or six more herbs!

[Tarheel]

Do you have a good bruschetta recipe you would share with the rest of us? I am hoping for a bumper crop of ‘maters and will need beau coup ways to use them up besides canning, sharing and eating fresh.

[Marmolade]

Several years back we had a late frost that killed most of the tomatoes. Most of the stores were out of veggies, so trying to find replacements was pretty hard for most people. I had mulched mine pretty good with grass clippings. Even though the tops were ruined, because of the mulch, the tomatoes grew back. I was glad I hadn’t ripped them out, but just clipped the wilted parts off.

[Petronski]

...Tomato Tone or another tomato-specific fertilizer might help.

Could you tell me what you think of "Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes?"

[sneakers]

Thanks Marmolade! That bit of information is a keeper!

[Red_Devil 232]

It is a little high on Nitrogen

18-18-21

[Petronski]

More leaves less fruit then?

What would the ideal nitrogen level for tomatoes?

Also, do you have an opinion of Miracle-Gro Original for salad greens like spinach, mesclun, etc.? For onions?

[GOPJ]

...after becoming accustomed to Kraft regular barbecue sauce, I run out, as in empty bottle. Go to store get new bottle, don’t notice “better flavor” on bottle until poured on meat, artificial smoke, my most UNfavorite ingredient.

It doesn't taste like "smoke" to me either - taste like a bad collection of bitter chemicals. I'll bet you can taste artificial sweeteners too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

What’s the formula? ‘20-20-20’ is the regular Miracle-Gro formula numbers.

It needs a higher MIDDLE number of the three for good fruit set. If so, then it’s OK with me. Otherwise, they’re just yankin’ your wallet, LOL! :)

[Red_Devil 232]

I use a very mild organic fert. for my tomatoes it has a 3-4-6 ratio. When I transplanted them I added this to the hole and mixed it in with the soil. Then I added some to the surface soil also. I also used a little fish emmulsion, diluted, to water them in.

The 3-4-6 fert. is called Tomato-Tone by Espoma. The only place I have found it is at my local County Co-Op.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m going to be OK. Lows in the high 40’s, and today was a very nice day, but our Spring, all in all, has been lagging...or just NORMAL for a change. :)

I hope we DO get some rain tonight into tomorrow...then I don’t have to water my garden by hand. I’m too lazy to haul the sprinklers out this early! I also chose not to use the irrigation system at work this evening. Hope I chose wisely! ;)

I must’ve answered twenty questions today about anthracnose. It’s a fungal disease our Maple trees (and a few other things) get this time of year due to a cool, wet Spring. As soon as we warm up and have steady sunny days, it goes away.

People are in a panic over it each Spring, but it’s nice that they’re paying attention to the living things in their yards! :)

My Tree Peony is in bloom. Good Golly is she BEAUTIFUL! Huge, white blooms the size of a softball. :) My regular peonies seem a tad behind, but they’ll come. I have 15 of them, and am adding more. My very favorite flower. Love the fragrance.

http://www.peonies.org/cgi-bin/galleryA.cgi

[Red_Devil 232]

Their web site says it is 18-18-21.

[tob2]

There is a tie for my favorite summer flower. Zinnias and cosmos. Can’t get enough of those two flowers.

[metmom]

Depends on which ones. For the impatiens I covered, not really. They are so short and small right now that they won’t be injured by breaking the stems.

The mattress pads are polyester and light enough when spread out. The other things I used were old sheets doubled over, cardboard, straw, all depending on what I was covering.

With the conditions, the ground is still pretty warm. The frost is going to be due to evaporative cooling because of the clear skies and light winds. Covering them with almost anything will help hold in some ground heat and prevent the evaporative cooling.