Weekly Garden Thread Volume 24 June 13, 2014

Free Republic | 6/13/2014 | 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.

[greeneyes]

Greetings from Missouri. A great sunny afternoon here in the 70s and low tonight in the 50s. Weather has been very cool and wet this week. So wet that I haven't been able to transplant anything.

I am still harvesting cherry tomatoes off of Mr. indoor tomato. Basil is ready to harvest again from Mr. 2010 plant in a pot. Lemons are still maturing.

Patio tomato has green tomatoes and peppers have some tiny ones starting. I have been pulling garlic. Some of the garlic did make nice bulbs after all. Some of the bulbs had to be dug out, because the area between stalk and the bulb appeared to be very soft and mushy.

Potatoes are doing well above ground, so we'll see what has happened below. I have lettuce ready to eat. The old spinach seeds didn't germinate, so I'll have to get some new seed to plant.

I have a sour dough bread developing - should be ready to bake at about suppertime. Staying home today. Once went out on Friday the 13th, a little red truck plowed into me while changing lanes. The unpleasant memory is what keeps me in - not really superstitous.

Hubby thought he planted cabbage, but instead he planted cabbage root, looks like a big radish and tastes the same. I made some cream of radish soup today. It was pretty good. Have several other recipes to try.

Hope everyone is doing well and having some good gardening experiences. Have a great weekend. God Bless.

[greeneyes]

Pinging the list.

[US Navy Vet]

I have 5 tomato plants in pots, last year I did this and got a BUMPER Crop of Tomato LEAVES but no tomatoes. What do I need to do different this year?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We had tremendous rain this past week. 3.5 inches in about an hour. This caused major erosion in our gravel driveway and pummeled the peppers in the garden but didn’t break any.

I picked a couple dozen peppers and will stuff some and dry some this weekend.

Wife’s Garden Walk was last Saturday. 43 people came to see what we have in the way of flowers, plants and veggies.

Folks from Arkansas are in our rental cabin. They’ve been touring the lake attractions and local restaurants.

We cleaned the pontoon boat today to get it ready for the summer boat season. Fun at last...

[illiac]

North Idaho:

Strawberries producing. Blueberries producing. Raspberries filled with blooms.

Garlic is going crazy as are Walla Walla sweet onions.

Rhubarb - can’t get rid of it and on our third harvest.

All herbs doing well.

Have lots of green tomatoes and plant are growing crazy.

Have had mid 70’s to low 80’s with nights in the 50’s.

Very little rain. Thanks to sprinkler system and a great source of underground river in our area - no drought.

[Roos_Girl]

My Fall 2013 garden got postponed to a Spring 2014 garden got postponed to this past weekend and I finally got just a few things planted. Four raised beds are now filled with sunflower, cantaloup, pumpkin and watermelon. And all of that hopefully will lead to an actual Fall 2014 garden. So, since I must be the brownest thumb on the planet, any and all advice for those four plants is appreciated. The grasshoppers are horrible here this year, been thinking I’ll need to build some kind of netted frame to put over my planters to keep everything from being eaten up. I guess the sunflowers will have to fend for themselves.

[heartwood]

Family illness has kept me from doing much in the garden. Please say a prayer for my brother.

[Roos_Girl]

Oh, I should add that in our small orchard area we harvested our first peaches off one of our tiny trees. Guess we should have pulled a bunch off before they matured because we had maybe 5 lbs of golfball size fruit. Very good flavor and juiciness though.

[greeneyes]

Generally, leaves and no produce on plants means you have bountiful nitrogen but not enough of the other nutrients needed for flowering and fruit.

15-30-15 is a good balance for blooms/fruits. Also check your local nursery/store for some fertilizer containing trace nutrients.

Bone Meal, Banana peels, crushed eggshells, and epsom salts can also be used for slow release organic amendments to help tomatoes and melons etc.

[greeneyes]

Prayers Up for you and your loved one.

[dirtboy]

I would guess use fertilizer with less nitrogen and more potash and phosphate. And make sure you sucker the tomato plants.

[US Navy Vet]

How do you “sucker” Tomatoes?

[left that other site]

It is pouring here in S. FL...”Rain Forest” kind of pouring.

[greeneyes]

I lost track of all the rain we got, but we added at least another 1000 gallons to the swimming pool reserve irrigation and all the rain barrels are full and divering through the overflow.

I really think we’ll have enough to get throught the dog days of summer now.

[dirtboy]

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/tomato-plant-suckers.htm

[greeneyes]

Sounds like you are having a great year so far. We have a cold hardy kiwi that is finally bearing fruit. It has taken 4 tries to get a male kiwi to survive. He is tiny compared to the female vines, but maybe we’ll actually get to taste the fruit this year.

[Red_Devil 232]

I planted 32 tomato plants and have lost three of them for some reason. The three are in different rows and the plants on each side in the same row are thriving. I can’t think of a reason why? I guess they were not healthy when planted. I hope I don’t lose any more!

I staked each tomato plant yesterday, some were growing fast and starting to lean over. My new drip irrigation and fertilizing injection system seems to be working great so far.

I went to the VA Clinic Monday for my first shot of B-12. Will see if I feel any difference. I asked my wife if she would give me the monthly shot and she said she would. She has been giving herself weekly allergy shots for a few years.

[tflabo]

My pepper plants continue their slow growth but have noticed a few blooms on the Anaheims and some on the Cubanelles. Replacement ‘maters are taking their sweet time too. Vine cukes are doing well got plenty of blooms so far. Sweet and cinnamon basil starting to take off now and benefited from some rain the other day. Yellow wax beans -— meh-—much better success growing them up north years ago. Gonna hit them all with another round of newly cooked compost but wait until next week so it breaks down a little bit more in the hot sun.

[Bon of Babble]

Hello from Southern California!!

We have annual June gloom right now so the gardens here are beautiful. I get to spy on what everyone is planting and what is blooming when I walk my dogs.

I've got a yellow protea that is finally blooming -- after I planted it 10 years ago!! (will post photo, it's somewhere in my album at the moment and I have to hunt for it).

I also planted some California poppies about two months ago and they are taking over my back and side flower beds -- and I keep reading that they don't transplant well.

I also planted lantana - every color I could find because once the searing hot winds start at the end of July, it is one of the few things that will keep blooming, that an bougainvillea.

[greeneyes]

To make a quick frame for my raised 4x4 beds, I used 18 inch rebar stakes at the corners. Placed 2 10 foot pvc plastic pipe over the rebar diagonally so that they cross in the middle of the bed. Tied the pipes together with fishing line.

Cover with net and fasten however you want. I have lots of split wood, so I just used a bunch of logs to anchor the net down.