WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 20 MAY 16, 2014

Free Republic | may 16, 2014 | greeneyes

[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.

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. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

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 are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[JRandomFreeper]

I like chard. Raw, cooked, however... It must be a personal taste thing.

I pick the leaves small, before they get too tough.

/johnny

[Marcella]

I’ve ordered those two types and maybe I’ll have lettuce. I buy Romaine at the store but darn I want my own. I looked at the tropical one on their website and it’s a loose head with the leaves green with a swath of color on them but still basically green leaves.

[Arrowhead1952]

Not much new to report from here. Lots of little tomatoes, and a bunch of volunteer hot chili plants coming up.

[Petruchio]

I blanch & freeze Chard. To cook, I steam the frozen glob of leaves until tender and serve with a splash of Lemon Juice.

[ApplegateRanch]

Each veggie family has its own temperature range for optimal germination. Here's a 'days to germination' chart at different temperatures. Warmer isn't always better!

[tubebender]

Thanks!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Is the chart good in every temp zone ?

[SisterK]

Last year, I had only male blooms for the first ten days of squash blossoms. I have heard of two whole weeks of nothing but male blooms. Usually, after a week you should see both male and female blooms.
Most flowers of most plants have all the reproductive parts, however members of the cucurbit family are an exception to the rule (squash, cucumber, pumpkin). Thus we have male and female blossoms. As other posters have noted, it is easy to tell the female blossom because between the flower and stem, you will see a tiny squash, cucumber or pumpkin. As the fruit grows, the flower will dry up and fall off. There is no point in worrying with pollination when you only have male blooms. One way to tell if pollination is poor, is if your fruit is wonky or withers. I have never hand pollinated cucurbits, but I always have a lot of flowers in my garden, attracting pollinators.

[tubebender]

The corn has more then doubled in size since we transplanted it a week ago…

I transplanted 4 Celebrity tomatoes into pots in the old greenhouse Also have 2 Brandywine ready to go in.…

"Yukon Gold potatoes showing some growth…

[KGeorge]

Well, the marks aren’t actual worms. They’re “designs” as if they were drawn or painted on. Very odd. I’ve seen pictures of worms (or parasites, one) like this somewhere. I’ll get pictures tomorrow, but it may take a couple of days to figure out how to post. These tomato plants (from Fanick’s) are doing a lot better than the ones I got last year- happy little critters. So’s the okra. That crazy thing is pushing 4 feet.

sockmonkey, you won’t have so long to wait. I managed to “lose” (it’s here somewhere) the heart worm prevention I bought on Monday, so I’m going tomorrow to get more. Everybody will be along, including the Big Guy (Heh AKA the Petsitter), so there’s no reason not to stop.

Re A&M. It’s no brag. They ARE the best. Plus, the kindest, most communicative people I’ve ever met. College Station (esp the La Quinta- GREAT grass for the pups & a courtyard with tables & chairs in addition to the pool) was wonderful. On scale of 1 to 10, my stress was 500, but I actually came home more rested/ relaxed than when we left. I may have to go back (not sure how we’re gonna pay for it). Or hopefully, maybe we can deal with it long distance through my vet.

[sockmonkey]

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/files/2012/01/leafminer1.jpg

Yeah, it’s inside the leaves..Is that what yours look like?

[ApplegateRanch]

It should, since the temperature would be the same anywhere.

I’m assuming it is referring to soil temperature, since it’s for germination; but I haven’t been able to confirm that.

[dennisw]

Swiss chard
In a casserole with meat, cheese, tomato sauce. Make it mostly with chard. You can omit the meat or put it just in one corner

[dirtboy]

I started the garden last weekend. First time I ever planted tomatoes, peppers and eggplant first. Shows how weird this spring has been. Too cold and wet, and then 80+ degrees. We’ll see what I get out of the normal spring crops that normally would have been in the ground 3-4 weeks ago. Everything is soaking wet this morning.

[trisham]

My husband and I had salads from our lettuce crop for the first time last night. I could not be more pleased with how they tasted!

[OneVike]

Are those temps ambient or ground?

As you know there is a big difference which often times throws people off.

[ApplegateRanch]

Are those temps ambient or ground?

So far, I haven't been able to find a definitive answer for that chart, but I'm assuming ground; ambient, unless indoors and controlled, would be changing, sometimes wildly, constantly.

That's based on the fact that most planting instructions which mention temperatures specify minimum soil temps to sow; and on what I know of recommended bottom heat temps for germinating tomato & pepper seeds.

Also, that would have to be temperature at planting depth; otherwise it would not affect the seed.

Ambient temperatures affect the growth rate, blooming, pollen production, and fertilization of blooms.

For example, when it's too hot, the pollen tubes in corn silks shrink, and the pollen is blocked from reaching the embryonic kernels; also, at around 96F, nearly all varieties of corn stop growth, and just sit there doing nothing but surviving.

Hardiness zone only refers to average winter minimum ambient temperature but don't consider length of growing season, the maximum summer temperatures, the normal humidity ranges, or wind patterns. It's only a guide to winter survival of an established plant that is in the ground, not a container.

[Marie Antoinette]

You were up in my neck of the woods! I live a little south of Kirksville. My plants have been in the ground for a month, some of my tomatoes are not faring well, but my peppers, onions, brassicas are all doing terrific.

I’ve had most everything under row cover this year because the rabbits are horrible. Now to catch up with the weeding.

Congrats to your daughter!

[TEXOKIE]

Hi greeneyes and everyone! Sorry for the length of the following, but I wanted to give myself as well as all of you a documentation of where I am right now.
Our weather has been amazing, and so everything mostly seems happy.

I just got in from outside. I have finally put into the ground (or pots!) all of my seedlings! I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am!

I have now in the dirt:

3 different kinds of OKRA

SUNFLOWERS - which are now getting some size!

AMARANTH - the red kind. Supposedly they develop into fairly large plants. I have put some into a window box kind of pot, and I may have to replant them later. Some of them I placed at the edge of the OKRA/SUNFLOWER bed.

The BLACKBERRY bushes we planted some time ago are blooming.

Flowers
And while they are not food (except for maybe the rose hips), the blaze ROSES and our lone pink ROSE are blooming and just gorgeous, as are the IRISES. We seem to have lost one ROSE bush, but the rest are leafing out nicely. The CLEMATIS and WISTERIA are also leafing out.

The ECHINACEA which has been established are growing rather large. The place where I put my Echinacea seedlings have a lot of little sprouts. Most of them, I believe to be MAPLE or ELM seedlings. I know that at least one of the sprouts is Echinacea, but I hesitate to weed them until they are a little further developed. I don’t think the CHAMOMILE survived the last freeze.

The two decorative plants which Darlin selected recently are in their pots and thriving.

The SUGAR SNAP peas seem to be doing ok and are in the shade in their pot and starting to climb a bit.

I planted a few FLAX seeds, a STRAWBERRY SPINACH plant, and a couple of PLANTAIN seeds in a pot, and they seem to be thriving.

I have two STRAWBERRIES reddening up from the flat we bought a couple of weeks ago which are in a large pot together.

The PARSLEY and CILANTRO are doing well. As are the returning THYME and OREGANO. My CUMIN seedlings did not survive.

The DAIKON RADISHES are continuing to live, and I’m eager to see how they turn out!

The EMMER grass is green and growing.

I have a several different kinds of bean plants. The ASIAN TRELLIS BEANS, BUSH BEANS, BLACK BEANS, and CRANBERRY BEANS
all seem to be thriving.

I have several TROMBONE SQUASH plants in a large pot with a trellis behind them. The one WHITE BUSH SQUASH is in a pot by itself, and I have great hopes for it and the T SQUASH. Last year I had such trouble with squash, especially the white bush squash, so we’ll see! I planted a single ZUCCHINI seed today, and see if it does anything.

The CUCUMBER seedling is doing well, and I noticed the other day that one of my ATKINS TOMATO seeds took up its abode in the same little cup and is nestled in with the cucumber. I have a tomato cage around them in their pot. They both seem so happy, and I didn’t want to weed out the tomato for fear of damage.

I have four TOMATO plant pots besides my surprise ATKINS. One is a pot of ATKINS, another is the PURPLE CHEROKEE, the other is a hybrid of some kind, and the other is another heirloom (which name I don’t recall at this moment.) Except for the ATKINS which a grew from seed, they have developing tomatoes on them.

I selected a mildly HOT PEPPER plant recently when we bought the decorative plants and the strawberries. It has a little white flower on it.

The SWEET POTATO pot shows a happy green vine. The grocery store WHITE POTATOs are showing their leaves and are green and healthy looking! They are in the bed with the OKRA and SUNFLOWERS...and now the red AMARANTH.

Onions/Garlic
I have one lone surviving WALKING ONION, and today placed a few sprouting GARLIC cloves in the pot with it.

The only things left to plant are some garlic cloves and onion starts. Darlin just told me my new larger plastic pots are drilled! :-D I can now put my (grocery store) onion starts and the rest of my garlic cloves into dirt!

OR I might decide to open up a little bit more of a ground plot now that the big shade tree is no longer as big!

OR Darlin suggests perhaps putting at least some of them among the OKRA. Baby steps. I’ll ponder that for tomorrow or the next day! Who knows, maybe I’ll try all three and see what they like best!

I have not as yet tried to do anymore GREAT WHITE NORTHERN seedlings. Nor have I started any CARROTS, as I had hoped to do this year. I am thinking that at this point, I probably have enough to try to keep alive and will just leave it at that! LOL! But who knows....I might get crazy and just do it!

[trisham]

Wow! That’s fantastic.