Posted on 05/16/2014 12:31:49 PM PDT by 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 wont be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isnt 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.
You sure are lucky. The beds were empty and you got free fertilizer.LOL
Thanks for confirming the chart.
Moved out 6 containers (16 oz paper cups) of roma tomatoes to the mini greenhouse today. Creates more room under the lights for the slower ones. Instead of repotting, I just half fill; plant; then slowly add more potting soil around the stems as they grow.
The cups were in sleeves of 50, printed for a coffee house that went bankrupt. I got 4 of the packs for a quarter each at a ‘remainder’ outlet that was itself closing.
Reseeded the red & yellow pear tomatoes yesterday, and today there was already one of each sprouting. Those seeds are TINY! This time, I put the soil mix in the cups, then embedded a fully swelled pet pellet pot in each one, and put the seeds in those.
Today was devoted to planting some bare root stock. We added 2 American (edible) high bush cranberries, 2 Nanking cherries, 2 western sand cherries, a gooseberry, 1 each of 2 varieties of fruiting crabapples, a hazelnut, a black walnut, and a silver maple.
I still have a 2”, 5’ tall winesap apple to get out of the container & into the ground.
The Carmine Jewel bush cherry suddenly turned white today as buds popped open. sudden spell of 2 70+ days in a row can do that. :-)
I have been wanting to get either a columnar apple or peach tree, but all the catalogs were sold out earlier this spring.
So I spent the money on other stuff. Will get one maybe next year.
I took all my stuff outdoors this morning and put them on a table on the shady side of the house. I’ll be working on improving my beds and planting this week.
Hubby’s friend just brought another batch of mulch/compost and is bringing another tomorrow. Its basically old barn stuff lots of straw, hay and cow poop that is very old and can be used up quickly.
I want to get the Amaranth and sunflowers planted. Last year I already had them in, but had to replant because of the cool and damp weather, so this year I have impatiently waited. Surely by now, we’ll have warm weather. At least I hope so.
I think I may have overdone it with radishes.
I have 50 little red firecrackers in the ‘fridge.
More ready to collect.
I just ate some Tromboncino Squash. It really didn’t have much taste, but the texture was nice, firmer than zukes or yellow squash.
I am pleased I am able to grow at least some kind of squash. However my cucuzzi are giving me fits..I guess Tromboncinos are so easy to grow, even I can be successful with them.
I did go out to gather male pollen from the Tromboncinos this am, but the bees told me to buzz off. I guess that is their job.
Before you replant , if you are using 'grow lights' , place the tray on top of the lights as they will give off bottom heat.
Even fluorescent lights will give off less heat than incandescent , but it will be bottom heat just the same .
Give it a reasonable amount of time (1 week-10 days)
If still no sprouts , then consider a re-plant, and still place on top of the heat lamp, as this will speed up the germination process.
LOL!
You should see them at feeding time! It’s a tidal wave of birds racing for my feet, trying to trip me up.
Yes! That’s it. Dunno how I missed your post, sock monkey. I guess didn’t scroll far enough. Thank you! (Hope it’s nothing bad. There are flowers all over it.)
I hope you got the tree FRmail. Great place. Wish my palm tree were in the budget.
I got the photos today & all went fine until I tried to post (in Html Sandbox). Someone there asked about a “client” for Mac, so that might be the problem. It posted as just the code with a blue ? in it instead of a photo.
I went to the html sandbox, and looked at your pic..well, I copied the url into my browser & looked. Yes, definitely leafminers. Cut those leaves off, and throw them away (don't compost them). If possible put some kind of mulch, like plastic around your plants, so when the pupae that are in the dirt try to hatch, they can't escape...or get some of those yellow sticky paper traps. If you look closely on your leaves, and see a stipple/pimple looking thing, that is where a fly has deposited eggs into the leaf.
If it's a light infestation, and the tomatoes are healthy, they will still produce, but eventually those leafminers take their toll on a plant because it weakens the plant.
BTW, the offending flies are yellow and black, and about 1/8 inch long. I think I've seen them and thought they were some kind of tiny bee.
Thanks. My wife works hard to have a decent yard. It may not compare to some, but we started with an abandoned yard that had nothing but boxwoods for decoration and some abandoned flower beds in the front of the house. I am proud of what she has accomplished.
The container plants were hit hard by an ice storm about 2 mos ago, or so. There is some life coming back in them finally. There is one that still appears to be dead, but even the two meyers lemons are doing better than ever.
My wife’s main focus this year is a bed that I cleaned out some ragged azelias and some other srubs. She planted 2 hydrangeas, and I’m not sure what else. This bed is in the forbidden zone, where I can’t access it to photo it since I wrecked my scooter getting to that area last summer.
Speaking of Scooter, after supper tonight, we walked the pups down to the creek bridge that overflowed last week in the flooding. There was lots of sand washed up around the edges of the bridge and approach. I got stuck in the sand and blew a fuse. Wife had to walk home to get her car and rope to tow me home... I’m glad nobody witnessed that bit of humiliation. LOL
Thanks X3. I read up on them last night, but the mulch idea is news. I used grass clippings last year. I’ve got some of the rubber mulch & will use that. (Like the fly strips, too)
Last year, the plants looked awful but produced like crazy. This year’s plants seem a lot happier.
I’ve seen the little devils. I thought they were baby wasps.
Okay, I'm lying.
Cattle panels and pallets, what more does a person need? Ha!
Just catching up. Thanks for posting the zucchini pickle recipe!
I'm listening to an audiobook by Gary Paulsen named "Woods Runner." (He wrote a nature-based series for young readers.) He writes about a young teen survivalist during the Revolutionary War. The kid rescued his family from the Brits/Indians and tried to get his father to put on weight after having been starved as a hostage. He shot large male coons and roasted the meat in chunks--lots of fat. People preferred bear and coon over deer because the deer was tough, stringy and often wormy.
An old buddy from Trinidad told us that armadillo is delicious when properly prepared. He eats goat, too.
My gustatory adventures ended with octopus. It's like something manufactured by B.F.Goodrich.
I never heard about the TB, but armadillos do carry mycobacterium leprae (sp?—it’s been a long time since those first college courses lol) leprosy.
When I say things like that, people tell me I need to get out more. It is so wonderful to have this thread with kindred spirits! Thank you all for being here and posting here!
/johnny
:)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.