Right here on FR someone educated me about the existence of something called a tomato shade cloth. This sounds like something I could use as I live in SE Texas and usually my tomatoes cook in the summer sun. Hoping y’all can recommend which of these cloths are worth buying.
Good Morning!
(((HUGS)))
Hot and humid here already - something is ‘singing’, katydid, locust, cicada. We just generically say the locusts are singing. It’s associated, in my mind at least, with HOT summer days.
Yesterday, I pruned my Celebrity tomatoes. All low branches that do not have blossoms were trimmed off - I can now see where the stalks enter the ground - better air flow, no leaves are touching the ground, & energy can go more into tomatoes than non-producing stems/leaves. The plants look really good - I am very happy with not using a round tomato cage ... the plants are more spread out on the wire fence I’m using for support - plenty of places to tie up any big branches, too. No telling when we’ll ever get a “ripe” tomato - all are still very green.
Hornworm hunting last night & found one - medium size. One Celebrity in particular seems to have the hornworms. I can highly recommend the UV flashlight. The first hornworm I found was a huge one & I did that in the daylight. Another small one I caught moving and I just happened to be looking at the right spot - everything else has been with the UV light & I have no doubt I never would have found them without it.
Jalapenos are doing well - my Lowe’s plant that looked like it was going to die on me (one of two did die) is hanging in there - fertilizer, lots of water & shade from the sun in the afternoon. I’m really having to baby it along. The two Home Depot jalapenos are still shaded (row cover) during the main sun/heat of the afternoon, but I’m gradually turning the “shade” arrangement so they are getting a little more sun each day in increments.
My “babies”, the 4 cuke plants from seed, have taken off! They are climbing up the trellis ... I’ve had to train two of them to go the right way, but within a day, the leaves & tendrils are going in the correct direction. They’re all blooming like crazy. I cannot wait for cukes ... Dragon Eggs & Divas.
At the moment, I am finishing up a cup of coffee & got a gel pad heating up my recalcitrant quad muscle while watching the Tour de France - did some stationary biking yesterday & the quad is complaining & not inspired by Le Tour, that’s for sure! Fortunately, at this point in rehab, I can bend well enough to do all of the garden work I want to do so I’m happy about that. Thinking about some fall plants - I can get them going more or less ‘on time’ as opposed to the spring plants (missed entirely) & the summer plants which were very late. I should have ripe tomatoes in August & green peppers (not blooming yet) & red jalapenos (for pepper jelly) by September (?) ... sigh. I cannot believe July is half over already! First Zinnia bed is gorgeous & my second bed planting is coming up, about an inch tall. Life is good. :-)