Quick question for green thumbs: Do seeds (specifically, mixed kale seeds) need light to germinate? I’m starting a batch under my little growlight and wonder if I need to switch it on now or if I can wait until the first tiny bit of green emerges. The tray is in a corner with only little natural light.
beautiful harvest pictures.
BTW, anyone offer good suggestions on saving cherry tomatoe seeds? Any tips very appreciated. So tiny. But mu cherry tomatoes are so delicious I really would love to replant.
Garden is coming down; except for string beans and a few tomatoes. Not a very good year. Will have to plant more next year. We had a real bad rain and part of my raised bed garden was washed away. It’s on a slope so the rain tunneled under and washed the soil.
I’m going to put some stones and dirt to try and stop it. My neighbor put down river rock and the rain washed them all away. Anybody have experience/recommendations?
The pepper pics reminded me of my HabaneroPeach Salsa. I will be making some this afternoon (I’m going to cut the recipe in half).
Habanero Peach Salsa
24 fresh habaneros ( I put in 18 whole and seed the last 6, but adjust to your liking)
2 - 15.5 oz. peaches in 100% fruit juice
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
4 tbsp deli style mustard ( boars head)
6-8 peeled garlic cloves
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 cups white vinegar
4 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp ground cumin
1tsp coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground all spice
Combine all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes. Ladle into jars and refrigerate. Refrigerate overnight before using
This recipe makes about 50 ounces of pepper sauce
My heirloom tomatoes are doing fantastic. Juicy...but not as sweet as ai expected. Any tips for making them sweeter
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.
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??
Beautiful day, so far. Cool with a nice breeze. I may be opening my windows if this continues. Tomatoes keep rolling in, plenty of basil. The seeds I recently sowed have sprouted so just waiting for them to get more leaves so I can transplant. Wishing all in the group a safe and happy Labor Day!
Greetings from southern New Hampshire! Barb has been home from the RV for the weekend. She has been busy in the garden and the duck pond waterfall.
Her tomatoes are really looking great. Two plants had to be removed due to fungus, but the rest, finally spaced properly, have really great crops coming on strong!
The new garden shed project: The base is done, using those three 4’ by 10’ dock sections. I scored a load of used wood, pulled all of the nails and sorted and stacked it by the platform. Yesterday, I found 10 14’ green roof panels and associated cap pieces for $200. I hooked up the flatbed and booked over to Nottingham, NH and brought them home. So, now I will start framing that shed.
This garden shed will eventually have a large pole barn off of it. It is taking time, but we are making progress.
Delicate squash question.
I have several volunteer plants if Delicata squash.
Many small squash start then whe. The are finger size wilt and rot away.
I thought it was from stress to the plant by bumping them when watering etc....
Then the weather cooled off and I got several that were getting large...one of which was almost full size and growing rapidly.
It is about 2 inches in diameter and 5 inches long then tapers to a point.
This morning I notice the point end is shriveled so I picked it.
Any ideas why these are having troubles?
This particular plant is in a pot set in a raised bed and I am letting it grow over and out of the pot.
It was another dry week here in Central Missouri.
Not much going on in the garden aside from picking tomatoes for BLTs.
7 Organic Fertilizers You Might be Throwing Away
I seem to forget cooking water, so I’m going to work on that!
Grass Clippings
Banana Peels
Egg Shells
Wood Ash
Cooking Water
Fish Waste (Dirty fish tank water, too?)
Coffee Grounds