Hello everyone!
The weather has gotten warmer and dryer. Lots of mosquitoes (HUGE) and grasshoppers. A lot of my plants have got little bite holes all over, but somehow most are continuing to survive. The neem isn’t doing it for the grasshopper control. Darlin’ is going to get me some sevin to spray in the grass around the pots. We are both concerned about the bees, so will not spray directly any of the plants which are attractants to bees and require them for pollination (ie my cucumbers and squash).
Greeneyes, you might be interested to know that even though my amaranth has hole-y leaves (presumably from the grasshoppers) the largest one in the pot has started developing a seed head!
I think I reported that my celery rooting experiment was doing well. While the weather remained cool, it was growing like topsy. Then, when it started heating up again, even though it was in the shade, it wilted. I still water it, but probably it is gone, even though it remains green....and straggly on the soil in the pot. A local gardener friend informed me that typically our area is too warm for celery. So if I ever want to grow it, I would need to have a more controlled temperature environment for it. But at least I proved to myself that the root hormone works both for the romaine and the celery, even though I have problems at this time keeping them happy.
The mammoth sunflowers I started last March are heavy laden, and I’m just thrilled with them.
Some of my sunflowers, the later ones I started have been having problems. One of them was cut almost off of its stalk near the base. Darlin swears that the weed whacker was under tight control all the time, and I mostly believe that’s the case. I know at least that if Darlin is the culprit, it was unintentional. It could very well have been a varmint. At any rate, I decided to splint it and tape the stalk together with duct tape, and wonder of wonders, it has remained alive, splinted as it is! Something has bored into its seed head, so I don’t know if it will produce. The other later sunflowers also have borers and in a couple cases the seed heads have been destroyed, and in another case the seed head has also been invaded, but still seems to be developing. We shall see.
I pulled a leaf off this morning when I was watering because it had a bunch of eggs and ants on it. I don’t know if the ants were predators of the eggs, or the somehow the culprits, but I pulled the leaf off anyway and stomped it.
As you know, I have been bemoaning my tomatoes. I’ve had lots of blossoms, with no fruit. I was despairing that there was something wrong with me not knowing how to make them happy, that the ones I grew from seed just weren’t doing anything. Over past couple of weeks I have done 3 things: 1)spread osmocote over their toes 2) shaken the stalks to spread pollen 3) persuaded the weather to turn hotter and dryer;-D.
The plant which we bought from Lowes earlier in the season with several ‘maters already on it, is forming at least 4 more on it right now. I’m tickled that some of the other bushes which I grew from seed are at last deciding to bear. I went out and counted this morning, and at last count, I have 11 forming, including the 4 already mentioned! My recently started (in July) cherry tomato plant seems to be growing more at last also. I hope it will decide to bear, but it’s still pretty small.
Cucs are still producing, but slowing down for now. My poor yellow squash plant is still blooming, but not forming fruit. However, the acorn and scallop squash seedlings are growing, with the scallop seeming to be doing best at this time.
I have been trying to start a stand of chamomile, and had a hard time getting the seeds to sprout. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I got some! I planted them in a pot, and they do not seem to have made it, because I went out and was looking for them. I think I put them in the pot with the celery, but I don’t see them anymore. *sigh* I’m wondering if they are also liking a cooler climate as well. Can anyone give me any advice on them?
My okra has really taken off. I actually had enough to share with a gardener friend who is the only one in the family who likes okra, so doesn’t grow it himself. Today I went out and discovered a pod that had been hiding, and has gotten huge. It is at least 5-6 inches long and about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. I decided to just leave it as a seed pod. We’ve had a couple of bowls of soup with the okra and they taste SO GOOD!
My bean plants are also suffering from the grasshopper plague, and despite that have been gamely producing pods. The green garden beans are most hard hit. I had harvested the pods from the black turtle beans and the great white northern beans and the pods were pretty tough. I decided to just let all of them grow for seeds.
So, these are my most recent adventures!
My experience with chamomile and tarrogon..too hot here in Central TX, and not enough humidity..The good thing is that at least bunches of manzanilla (chamomile) are pretty cheap at the grocery store.
I bet now that the nights are getting cooler you will get tomato blossoms that set. My eggplants that dropped every blossom since June are now setting..
Oops...forgot to enter my ping list into my post 170. Sorry.
It distresses me to read you have borers in some of the sunflowers. I really want to grow sunflowers but I’ve already had borers destroy squash plants. What is the point of planting sunflowers if borers are going to destroy them. I wonder if they do the same thing to the different sunflower that grows tubers to eat like potatoes? I think I’ll try just the tuber ones and see if they live.