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Gardening questions and answers
message 51:
by
Scout
(new)
Jun 03, 2011 09:18PM
I posted previously about zucchini that turned yellow and soft. I've found that the solution is adding lime (2 tablespoons in one gallon of water). This also works for tomatoes with blossom-end rot. Had zucchini with Vidalia onions for supper tonight (sprinkled with grated cheese) and made a sandwich yesterday with home-grown tomatoes. Very tasy. I'm not sure that growing your own vegetables is less expensive than buying them, but it feels good.
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Testing the soil is key. I got lucky with the lime.What's doing well in your garden this year, Bun? My bell peppers and eggplants and zucchini are producing enough so that I can give some to my mom and my neighbors, and I just have a few plants. I love having a garden.
I've got about 60 artichokes that are a week or so away from being ready to harvest.What does one person do with 60 artichokes?!
Mod
Lobstergirl wrote: "I've only eaten fresh artichokes once, and if memory serves, it was an awful lot of trouble for a teeny amount of food ingestion."exactly how i feel about crab legs.....but, they're just so damn tasty!!
Okay, gardening gurus, should I deadhead my clematis(es) or not? And what is the plural of clematis?Scout, thank you for the bug info.
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Scout, thank you for the bug info."
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/lo...
clematis (plural clematises or clematis)
Thanks, LG (although not for the horrible spelling and grammar in the original question, lol).Bun, I know you prune, you're a ferocious pruner! I wonder if I could harvest a seed or two and try growing clematis from scratch? That could be my equivalent of the onion experiment. Hmmm.
OK Bun, all of my upside down tomatoes were thriving. One of them was already producing fruit, and it was ripening, and everything looked fine. Then this weekend the whole plant just withered. The fruit is still ripening, but everything else is just hanging there. I tried water, food, love. The water now just drips straight through, so I'm thinking it's totally dead. Ever heard of that happening? I've had plants fail to thrive, but never had one that was looking so strong and happy turn bad overnight.
Mod
I also get tons of elm seedlings every year.
Some of them might be cottonwood seedlings, as I've been seeing cottonwood seeds blow by and get trapped for a couple weeks.
Weeds. I watered one for weeks many years ago after starting tomato seedlings. It sort of looked like a tomato plant. Wasn't. Ragweed or something.Sprouts in a garden left over from last year's plants are commonly called volunteers.
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I grew calibrachoa in that pot last year. That would be awesome if it turned into calibrachoa.
The mammoth sunflowers are blooming and attracting bees. Can't frown while looking at a sunflower.
BunWat wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "Are the others okay? "All of the others are absolutely fine.
I think I accidentally buried my hand shovel along the fence.
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Carpe diem, Lg. Why not use it now and try out some new plants?A tiger swallowtail was visiting the zinnias this morning, close enough for me to touch.
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Can you keep berry brambles from growing back? I'm going to buy some industrial strength weed killer if one of you doesn't give me a better way to keep this mess growing back again and again. We just had them cut down to nubs a couple of months ago, now they're taller than the fence! Is there some secret kitchen formula, like mixing red wine vinegar with corn starch and nutmeg? Come on, somebody, give me the recipe! Must.Kill.Berry.Bushes!
Mod
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/getti...
Thanks, LG, that was a helpful article. Depressing, but helpful.
The pathetic thing (and annoying) is that I've never seen a berry on them, I don't even know if they're blackberries or raspberries. They're just evil sticker vines that will send runners out clear across the back yard!
The pathetic thing (and annoying) is that I've never seen a berry on them, I don't even know if they're blackberries or raspberries. They're just evil sticker vines that will send runners out clear across the back yard!
They're also tip rooters, so they'll re-root themselves anywhere they can get back to ground. Good luck.
Amelia, I've solved the problem of brambles and climbers that won't go away. Buy some Roundup or other weed killer. You don't want to use this product indiscriminately, but this is a special case. Cut the brambles back down to nubs and wait for them to put out sprouts of about six inches. Then get a gallon plastic freezer bag and go on the attack!!! Spray thoroughly with weed killer, then cover with the freezer bag. Zip it closed as much as possible and leave it there for at least a week after everything looks dead. Good luck!
Sliced a tomato for my ham sandwich at lunch and fried some okra from the garden for supper tonight. Eggplant casserole on the menu for tomorrow. Yum. Anyone else eating something from the garden?
Thanks, Scout & Bun. I'm starting to feel like I have a chance! :)
Let us know how it works out for you, Amelia.
Anyone growing fruit trees? I'm thinking of planting some peaches and plums and tangerines this fall, but not if they need lots of spraying for insects.
Mod
I have an apple and 2 pear trees. I don't spray any of them.
We've almost got it cleared out...
Great, Amelia. Feels good, doesn't it? I live close to a nursery that's now closed, but I think they imported this vine that has spread all over town. At first, I let it grow, not knowing what it was. It produces berries that the birds like, and soon it was in all the beds and climbing up trees. Very invasive. After a couple of years, I started doing the thing with the plastic bags, and now I just have to watch for seedlings popping up. This was one case where letting something grow to find out what it was turned out to be a bad idea.
Weird tip of the day, courtesy Story County Master Gardener's newsletter:"When disposing of a bag of live Japanese Beetles (attracted the phernomes in the trap) microwave the bag for 1-2 minutes to kill the beetles. Crispy Critters."
I dislike those Japanese Beetles, but I'm not about to stick them in the microwave. I don't use the beetle traps either, they just attract more beetles to your yard.
I KNOW! It sounds like one of those crazy freaks who microwaves small animals for giggles.
I am getting a TON of tomatoes this year--we had very few last year. And they are (about 8 1/2 foot) tall plants. Luckily, they are all in nice sturdy cages. The white tomato has a nice flavor--it is actually kind of butter yellow when it's ripe.
Tomato envy here. Any tips you want to share?
Cynthia is full of tips for a succulent tomato crop.One, make sure they get a lot of sun.
Two, water evenly--don't soak them and let them dry up for a couple of weeks. They need an inch of rain/hose water ever week. Water them directly at the base of the plant, trying not to get any of the leaves wet. Touch a wet tomato leaf and it may dry up or be more susceptible to disease.
Three, if your tomato plants are experiencing black spots on the fruit or sick-looking blighted leaves, you probably need to put your tomatoes in a different area of the yard next year. Various tomato diseases can winter over in the soil, the crop needs to be rotated.
Four, in the area where you used to have the tomatoes before you moved them, you will not want to plant things in the tomato family, ie eggplant, as it will be subject to the same diseases.
Very good tips, Cynthia. I like that you refer to yourself in the third person as well. My tomatoes this year have been a disappointment, but I can't really say what I did wrong. My peppers and purple carrots have done great, at least.
Mod
Oh, come on. We want to know.
There's an evil grin lurking behind those pincers!One thing I learned this year is to be sure to plant miniature marigolds around the edges of the raised bed. The ones this year grew two feet tall.
It's so hot here that I'm already thinking about cooler weather. I've never done a fall or winter vegetable garden, so I'm thinking maybe some combination of collards, broccoli (that is a cool crop, isn't it?), and cabbage. Anyone tried these?
Lobstergirl wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "Very good tips, Cynthia. I like that you refer to yourself in the third person as well. My tomatoes this year have been a disappointment, but I can't really say what I did wrong."..."Oh, come on. We want to know.
I'll never tell.
Scout wrote: "There's an evil grin lurking behind those pincers!One thing I learned this year is to be sure to plant miniature marigolds around the edges of the raised bed. The ones this year grew two feet ..."
Scout, I think broccoli and cabbage take a couple of months to mature. I'd try salad greens in cool weather, or radishes, some things that mature more quickly. Guess it depends on your average first frost date.
Our first frost date is usually in December. I'll have to do some research on when to plant broccoli, cabbage, and collards. Those are my favorites. I'm not fond of beets.
Scout, here we plant broccoli and cabbage in May and harvest it in Aug/Sept.
