Posted on 09/05/2020 7:02:44 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I had a squash that was being stubborn and not flowering, and to make things worse it’s a variety that, according to some sources, is day-length sensitive. Which means it won’t flower until the days and nights are equal, which at my latitude means they’d flower just in time for frost to kill them off.
The other squash varieties were flowering nicely, so it clearly was not a nutrient problem. I decided to test another tactic. According to Diana, if a fruit tree is old enough to be flowering but isn’t, you can get it to flower by beating it with a rolled-up newspaper. It sounds crazy, but plants often respond to damage by reproducing. If you can convince the plant that it’s in danger without actually harming it, you can often trick the plant into flowering faster.
Since these were squash, I skipped the newspaper and went a different route. Group 1 I clipped the end of one vine from each plant. Group 2 I stepped on the end of a vine, just barely hard enough to leave a bruise. Group 3 I did both, and group 4 I left alone as a control group.
The ones that were both clipped and bruised started flowering 2 days later. By the end of the week, all the plants that had been bruised were in flower. In the control group, the only one to flower has been a plant that got walked on by a deer, which means it technically was bruised too. Similar results with the ones that were only clipped. After 2 weeks, I went around and gave a single bruise to all the plants from groups 1 and 4 that I could reach, but this time I did it by bending the growing tip back on itself. Within a week they had all flowered.
I posted these results to a plant-breeding forum so it can be tested with other day-length sensitive species, and early results are promising. It might work with your opo next time. Just a little tiny bruise, at the end of a single branch, for every plant. That’s enough to signal the plant that it’s in danger without seriously harming the plant. The way in which the bruise is delivered doesn’t seem to matter, but I do recommend putting near the growing tip of the vine, so that if it winds up being more damaging than you intended it won’t cripple the plant.
We used railroad ties (you’re supposed to wrap them in plastic, I think)around the outside of the perimeter fence, and cement blocks for the raised areas on the inside. We have torrential rains that can damage young plants but the soil remained intact.
Is your dog named Lefty or is that his political affiliation?
She was named ‘Lefty’ when we got her. Her left front leg is completely tan - which is a very unusual marking for a Treeing Walker Coonhound. The guy that first had her wanted her to chase feral pigs and she wanted nothing to do with it, so he gave he back to the original owner, who asked us to train her for raccoon. She’s a litter mate to the three TWCs and one Plott Hound I raised last summer. Our ‘Yakama’ is her Daddy.
I call her, ‘Lefty-Loo From Kalamazoo.’
Sometimes you’re stuck with a name. I mean, she’s already trained to that and she does listen well. She’s a year and four months. :)
Gorgeous, productive day! On the mower at 3 - grass was fairly dry (bottom 1/2-1” still a bit wet). Great weather for mowing - didn’t get hot at all.
Front field, both entrances & the ‘yard’ got done. The front pasture (very large) is also done - all of it. I usually divide it into an upper half (where my garden is) & the lower half that has lots of massive pines & is more of a pain to mow. When it’s done, it looks like a park. The lower half is where the wedding guests will park. Tomorrow, I have the 4 back pastures, the stableyard & the old ring to do. That is faster mowing - fewer trees to navigate around.
When I finished the pasture, I had about half an hour of light left for the garden - pulled up my last two tomato plants after picking everything that was bigger than a golf ball. The crows were sitting on my garden fence this morning & evidently two tomatoes were high enough & within reach - they were pecked up pretty badly. They’ll be back tomorrow morning & are in for a surprise - no more tomato plants! One of my jalapenos had totally wilted - pulled that up as well. My little Cardinal Climbing Vines have grabbed the wire trellis I put up last weekend & is half way up - amazing how fast it’s growing.
While I was dumping the garden trash on our ‘compost’ pile, I noticed something “different” on the side of the old horse ring. What was that .... did I see a spot of white? I stared and “it” stared - finally spooked off. It was a beautiful red fox & I was seeing its white-tipped tail. The neighbors, who had chickens, have moved ... I would imagine the fox is missing those chickens. My SIL’s chickens are well-protected so it’s slim pickings next door (the fox was headed in that direction before I spooked it). Foxes I can deal with - coyotes, not so much.
That is ingenious!
Thank you very much. I figured there was no way I could wash them and not damage or lose them, laf. I am definitely going to use this method. Many thanks.
You are welcome and my Dad in heaven is smiling.
“Foxes I can deal with - coyotes, not so much.”
I would SO much rather have Foxes. They are a rarity around here.
Coyotes? They were calling tonight, getting my hunting dogs a little riled up! But, its Saturday Night. All living things should be having some fun. ;)
Uh huh...The Death Spirals...so... bad things happen if I touch them, yes?
Thanks Paul, Nice to know!
Tree of Heaven....favorite haunt of lantern flies! (ugh!)
Opo observations and questions:
Our 6 Opo plants now have a total of 5 female flowers, and about a dozen identifiable male flowers in flower, with at least several more flowers on the way, but at this point those last are so young I’m not sure if they are male or female. I think from their positions* most are male. One plant has no flowers yet, but a few possible buds* — that plant germinated late and has been behind the other plants all along, so, no surprise.
I also have one fruit forming, remains of flower gone, the fruit is just over 2” long. So pollination must be occurring.
I’ve not seen any bees on / in the flowers, but, I have seen several of what appear to be gnats or fruit flies in them, plus in a couple flowers, a small yellow spotted beetle that I’m pretty sure feed on any of our squash plants. I don’t see significant damage to the Opo presently, or larger beetles yet, though. However, where I saw the beetles I picked them out and killed them.
A swallowtail butterfly was flitting around a bit, but I never saw it go to a flower.
It is now late enough in the season that the sun swings into some trees (so to speak!) around 3 pm, and the flowers close up. However, I believe they open up just after dawn even though the sun does not clear the trees to the east until much later. I believe the Opo are only getting full sun for about 6 hours a day, but so far they look healthy. Their leaves, where not blocked by higher parts of the plant itself, are a nice medium dark green.
Dumb question: Can those little flies or gnats be pollinating the Opo? They just seem to stay inside the flowers, but I did not exactly observe them all afternoon...
*A couple female flowers did not seem to have any insects in them, so I used a downy part of a chicken feather to brush the inside of an open male flower, then those female flowers. Maybe that is not necessary: I noticed that most of the male flowers came out ABOVE (tho’ not directly above) female flowers. Is this generally true of squash plants that get a good chance to climb?
I could not SEE any pollen on the (white) down of the feather.
*Also, it appears that the Opo flowers bud a bit back of the growing tip? Is this correct? If yes, then I don’t need to worry that bending back those tips will reduce flower buds just begun.
Given several days in a warm spot, the 3 oz. (approx.) of Super Phosphate I put in a gallon jug of water turned into what looks like muddy silt. Shaken, most of it seems to go into suspension and could likely be applied as a liquid fertilizer for faster results before it settled out. However, at this point I only have a couple plants I might try a 2nd (and modest) application on. If we could get maybe 10 fruits partially developed / 18-24” long, out of this year’s crop, and one that goes to maturity, for seed for next year, I’d be happy. So I’m thinking that having the plants put all their “effort” into less than a dozen fruits, rather than trying to grow 30 or 40 fruits, might be a good idea, esp. given a month at best of fairly good growing weather left. Does that seem correct???
It may be that the short period of direct sunlight, in addition to the Super Phosphate, has stimulated the Opo plants. So, those trees to the west of the Opo may actually be of some benefit in getting them to produce before cold weather arrives, by altering the “perceived length of day” with an “early” reduction in light??
You are most welcome!
Also see my #53 - and hopefully some answers to follow from our experts!!! :-)
I’ll try to follow up with further observations in coming weeks.
Doesn't matter if it's a Death Spiral, an Armageddon or a Carolina Reaper. You can touch them, you can put them on your tongue, pop one in your mouth and spit it out again, etc. All the hot stuff in hot peppers is on the inside.
Thanks for the ping. It has been a fruitful year with healthy toms, despite the disease. Many plants have new growth but it’s late in the season. Praying for no frost thru Oct. at least.
My brother dries cayenne peppers, then grinds them to powder for use. Do you grind your dried peppers or keep them whole? How do you use them when dried - what kind of recipes? Just curious since they’re so hot.
The color is beautiful!
Our Foster Son has made some more painting progress, but the rain puts an end to that, today. He will replace storm windows and screens on the east side of the house between rain showers and has promised to help me clean out and refresh all 12 dog houses with fresh bedding, as it's going to be getting chillier in the evenings, now.
Other than that, I'll find ways to amuse myself. I feel bad for the Iowa County Fair fair-goers, today. Last day of the Fair, which has already lost revenue due to Covid. :(
Most of my dried superhots end up as powders. The nice thing about powders is that you have control over the heat. So let’s say, for instance, that you are making a pot of chilli and want to heat it up. You add 1/8 teaspoon of powder, give it a stir, wait a few minutes and taste it. If it’s good enough you’re all set. If not, keep adding until it’s to your satisfaction. I have a smoothie maker with a nut grinding blade that turns the peppers, seeds and all, into powder in seconds. If I want flakes I use a mortar and pestle. Powder is also an easy way to make flavored salts. Put some table salt in a bowl, add some powder, mix it up and put it in a salt shaker. Couldn’t be easier.
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