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Gardening Thread

Put a different variety of tomatoes in this year. "Martha Washington" is a beefsteak type. Fruits are about a pound each. It's drier than most, so makes a good slicing tomato for sandwiches. Doesn't make the bread so soggy the sandwich falls apart. Nice taste. Fruits are fluted at the stem end.
 
Well, I'll resurrect this for the 2020 gardening season. Put sugar snow peas in the ground this week. We will see if I was too optimistic about the weather.

Also started sweet basil, parsley, coriander, chives and leeks indoors.

The last big pineapple plant started to fruit. Should have a homegrown pineapple by the end of summer. Pineapples I have grown before were smaller, but much sweeter than store bought ones. Probably because I let them ripen on the plant rather than harvesting them green.
 
How is everyone’s garden?


Mine has been a little slow to get started and selection of veggies to plant during the pandemic was a little scarce in April/May.

Does anyone know what these are? I can’t remember what I planted...

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Mine has finally exploded. Expect squash and zucchini this week. Tomatoes and cukes soon. The idk on the peppers and melons. Had a setback with a late May frost though.
 
Vegetable Garden finally all planted.

And then the ground hog arrived. The varmint ate a lot of seedlings. He had to be relocated. I moved him to chief of on-site sales for 85 acres for sale, to be developed.
 
Deaconblue said:
Vegetable Garden finally all planted.

And then the ground hog arrived. The varmint ate a lot of seedlings. He had to be relocated. I moved him to chief of on-site sales for 85 acres for sale, to be developed.
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I had a groundhog in my garden. Briefly.
 
I’ve been using this fertilizer Milorganite to try and keep deer away from the plants. It’s made from highly processed (I hope), um, municipal sources. I sprinkle it around the perimeter and the deer don’t seem to like it so I’ve had far fewer deer visits.

So the tomato plants have gone nuts, although they’re not setting a lot of fruit. Will have to add some calcium after the season. The cucumbers have produced well too but I expect they’ll die off in a month from the heat.
 
We got a late start, even by Denver standards due to a delay in the shipping of our garden box. Everything has taken off really well so far; potted herb garden is doing well, tomatoes have exploded this week, cucumbers and squash seem to be doing well and the pepper plants have taken off. We also have a watermelon vine that seems to be doing well so far. I planted hops this year just for fun and they're doing ok - some vines seems stronger than others, but they're climbing at this point. I tried potting them in containers - that's not typically recommended, so we'll see what kind of impact that has on their growth. I also think they may not be getting enough sun, so next season if I plant them again, I may need to try moving them to another spot.
 
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06deacon said:
I’ve been using this fertilizer Milorganite to try and keep deer away from the plants. It’s made from highly processed (I hope), um, municipal sources. I sprinkle it around the perimeter and the deer don’t seem to like it so I’ve had far fewer deer visits.

So the tomato plants have gone nuts, although they’re not setting a lot of fruit. Will have to add some calcium after the season. The cucumbers have produced well too but I expect they’ll die off in a month from the heat.
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Try fertilizing tomatoes now with superphosphate/triple phosphate (0-45-0). Too much nitrogen gives leaves, not fruit. Use about 1/4 cup in a 12 inch circle around the base of each plant.
 
Yeah i knew that spreading that milorganite around was boosting the nitrogen too much even if I wasn’t putting it directly near the plants. It’s really obvious on the veggies on the periphery. For example 2ft tall radishes with flowers but a dime sized root bulb.

But good suggestion on the phosphate. I figured it was too late in the game to remediate. May still be too late as tomato production peaks and falls off a cliff for me once it gets too hot in N.C.
 
06deacon said:
Yeah i knew that spreading that milorganite around was boosting the nitrogen too much even if I wasn’t putting it directly near the plants. It’s really obvious on the veggies on the periphery. For example 2ft tall radishes with flowers but a dime sized root bulb.

But good suggestion on the phosphate. I figured it was too late in the game to remediate. May still be too late as tomato production peaks and falls off a cliff for me once it gets too hot in N.C.
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Keep them watered and they may surprise you. Tomatoes are tropical, but need significant water.
 
I just bought my first plant - a powder blue blueberry bush - from Lowe's on a complete whim. I have been eyeing some berry bushes for a while & decided to stop by a Lowe's to see if they had any. A smidge pricey at $24.98 compared to the prices I have seen online but what the heck. I will be growing it in a container. Should I go ahead a repot it or should I wait until after the season? It currently has a handful of berries on it.
 
Is it worth it to set up a raised bed with squash / okra / jalapeños now, or should I wait until next May to plant? Best case is I get everything set up and planted by the end of the month.
 
freakadeac said:
Is it worth it to set up a raised bed with squash / okra / jalapeños now, or should I wait until next May to plant? Best case is I get everything set up and planted by the end of the month.
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Need to check your first frost date (number of days until then) vs days to harvest on those crops. Okra and squash usually are grown from seed. Its usually a month or more after initial harvest to peak harvest.

With the peppers, if you can find some larger plants to transplant, you may get some peppers. Little known fact is that pepper plants are woody perennial shrubs. They grow for years in tropical climates. But in temperate climates they are treated like annuals because they do not do well with cold.

Might want to consider some cooler season vegetables that will produce as the weather gets cooler. Broccoli, swiss chard, kale, brussel sprouts, lettuce, etc. Check with local ag experts to see what does well in your specific locale. Altitude, latitude and microclimate where you are will impact your results. Talk to local USDA extension agent. Almost every county has one.
 
So our neighbor of 5 years decides he is going to cut down a 25 year old hedge because he hates trimming it (it is on his side) and wants to see more of my wife's flowers. He figures its no big deal but its a huge deal for us as it gives us privacy from him (he is a great guy, just wasn't thinking in this instance) and his nosy wife. My wife looks at the result and is just shocked by how exposed we are now and my neighbor realizes he has fucked up big time. He has been apologizing like crazy. Yesterday he even gave my wife a $1K check as he figured 10 mature bushes from Lowes would put back what he destroyed. My wife who is slightly recovered said thanks but no way can we take that money as the shrubs were on his side.

My question is what do you go back with? The guy is gonna dig out the stumps and we'll do something in the fall. Would you just skip the plants and go with a nice 8' privacy fence or would you go with somewhat mature bushes that grow at an accelerated rate?
 
Those massive arborvitae bushes grow really large and fast right? They seem to be popular in my 25ish year old neighborhood as privacy barriers and when they’re mature they are taller than the houses and basically let no visibility through.

Guess you’ll have to wear pants while you wait though, bummer
 
DeacWatcher said:
So our neighbor of 5 years decides he is going to cut down a 25 year old hedge because he hates trimming it (it is on his side) and wants to see more of my wife's flowers. He figures its no big deal but its a huge deal for us as it gives us privacy from him (he is a great guy, just wasn't thinking in this instance) and his nosy wife. My wife looks at the result and is just shocked by how exposed we are now and my neighbor realizes he has fucked up big time. He has been apologizing like crazy. Yesterday he even gave my wife a $1K check as he figured 10 mature bushes from Lowes would put back what he destroyed. My wife who is slightly recovered said thanks but no way can we take that money as the shrubs were on his side.

My question is what do you go back with? The guy is gonna dig out the stumps and we'll do something in the fall. Would you just skip the plants and go with a nice 8' privacy fence or would you go with somewhat mature bushes that grow at an accelerated rate?
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What kind of plants were they? You might be surprised at how fast some shrubs grow back even when cut back massively. Privet, a commonly used hedge plant, can grow two feet per year.

ETA: The existing stumps are from bushes that presumably were healthy. They have 25 year old established root systems. It may be that watering these bushes will be the fastest way to have a replacement hedge.

I cut down a small tree two weeks ago. Already the stump has sprouted new shoots with leaves.
 
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DeacWatcher said:
So our neighbor of 5 years decides he is going to cut down a 25 year old hedge because he hates trimming it (it is on his side) and wants to see more of my wife's flowers. He figures its no big deal but its a huge deal for us as it gives us privacy from him (he is a great guy, just wasn't thinking in this instance) and his nosy wife. My wife looks at the result and is just shocked by how exposed we are now and my neighbor realizes he has fucked up big time. He has been apologizing like crazy. Yesterday he even gave my wife a $1K check as he figured 10 mature bushes from Lowes would put back what he destroyed. My wife who is slightly recovered said thanks but no way can we take that money as the shrubs were on his side.

My question is what do you go back with? The guy is gonna dig out the stumps and we'll do something in the fall. Would you just skip the plants and go with a nice 8' privacy fence or would you go with somewhat mature bushes that grow at an accelerated rate?
Click to expand...

My neighbor just cut down all the trees that shielded us from staring into the back of their house. One tree was on the property line and one tree was on our property. They didn’t get any HOA approval.

We already had a fence installed and are looking at options to plant. At some point I’ll be sending them a letter about chipping in given they took down two trees they weren’t legally allowed to.
 
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