Garden thread

SuzanneC1l9zz

Aphids nearly killed the plant, so I harvested these off the crispy areas. It has since put out new growth from the base that's starting to flower. And I made my latest batch of breakfast muffins with a mixture of black kale, Swiss chard & butter lettuce in place of the spinach the recipe calls for. All from the garden 😋

nooshi713

Thanks for the advice. The pellets are based on iron but they have not worked. I have reapplied but I think these snails are too small to eat the pellets. I will try the traps.

mtaratoot wrote: »

nooshi713 wrote: »

Anyone have advice for getting rid of snails? I have the tiny ones, way too numerous and small to handpick and they ruined my lettuce and strawberries. I have tried slug pellets and deadline without success. Please help.

I would urge anyone NOT to use the slug bait that contains metaldehyde. The product you mentioned is based on metaldehyde. It's a toxic substance and can harm you, your family, your pets, and wildlife.

There is another product that's based on iron phosphate. It is labeled for use in organic agriculture. When it breaks down, it becomes a plant nutrient. It is safe for humans and other animals. It works by making the slugs and snails stop eating, and they die within a few days.

Another way you can help control them is with traps. Get some cans or plastic tubs. Make a very thin paste of flour and either cheap beer or water and a little sugar. Add a tiny pinch of yeast if you like. The slugs and snails will be attracted to the scent of fermentation, crawl in, and drown. If you just use beer, some will drown, but some may find a way to climb out and stumble home. Adding flour makes a paste that they can't climb out of, and it also means it continues to be attractive as the flour ferments.

You can also include some snake habitat in your garden to encourage garter snakes. They eat slugs.

Fuzzipeg

My first thought was, garlic water, boil two garlic bulbs in 2 litres of water till soft and slushy, remove skins taking out as much of the cloudy liquid as possible. This is your concentrate, the suggestions are to dilute two table spoons to 5 litres of water, weekly from the spring. Though in wet weather you can use a stronger solution. So possibly do it more often, even daily if that is needed to get the things under control. I'm thinking you, or at least I would rather not kill the pesky things off deterring them to be food for various frogs, toads, and birds. Then don't forget these pesky things clear away so much debris from the garden when "our wanted Plants" are no longer available to them, Good luck

mtaratoot

We have had an unusually warm and dry September and October. Rain comes today. I harvested the last of my tomatoes yesterday. They would split when the rain comes. I have some ripe on window sills and others ripening on others.

When the soil gets softer from the rain, I have a bunch of bulbs I'll be planting. I wish I had picked up some cover crop for the garden. It might be too late to seed now with cooler darker days ahead. Maybe I'll just leave the plastic out there, but it looks like some deer have tromped on it making some holes.

MsCzar

Garden is officially OVER. Blanched and froze the last of the Swiss chard today, gathered some seeds and baked a big dish of aubergine parm. Going to try and over-winter some peppers this year. Anybody here ever done that successfully?

Fuzzipeg

I hope you are able to achieve good light levels and warmth. A friend of mine uses special "day light" halogen lights on a timer to provide good quality lights to her inside plants, she is in Idaho. Please let us know how you get on. Very sorry winter has come in so very hard already.

MsCzar

Thanks! It was just a one week freeze/frost snap - but it was enough. Of course, sun and warmth have returned now. 😡

The room where I'd planned to winter the peppers gets lots of winter light through windows and but will be around 10°C/50°F for most of the winter. OR - a can set up an artificial timed light in the boiler room where it will be dryer and warmer. Not sure which is better.

mtaratoot

@MsCzar

It might be a really good idea to use some artificial light. I don't know if capsicum plants react to the amount of daylight to enter senescence. If they do, you'll want to keep the daylight length a little longer than what's going on outside so they think it's still summer. I don't think the lower temperature will be the trigger; they might just grow more slowly. They will get SOME natural light, but you really might need to add some.

That said, I have been able to overwinter small TREES by just bringing them in. In my case, I have dug up tiny seedlings from my Mimosa tree. Sometimes I let them fend for themselves outside, but a couple times I've brought them in, put them in the kitchen window, and took them back out in the spring. They never went into leaf loss mode; I think they germinated at the wrong time and thought it was spring for six months.

MsCzar

Thanks. I am not so much interested in growing as not dying. Alive and dormant would be fine. I've pruned the peppers back hard and am keeping them out of direct sun while they recover from pruning and transplant. Since they are now potted in new pots with sterile fertilised soil, I don't want to place them back outside and thus expose them to insects and mold even if the weather is currently warm and sunny.

MsCzar

What's in the oven today?

Garden soil! Just harvested the last of my container potatoes. The soil is rough sifted and in the oven. I ran out of potting soil but want to try and over-winter two more pepper plants from the garden. Will add some nutrients to the soil before transplanting.

mtaratoot

One of my annual chores is 80% done. I had to take a break to let my hands warm up. They get so cold.

I cut down all the old canes from my Marionberries. I laid out all the new canes and untangled them. I picked five or six that were healthy and growing up near where the trellis starts and weaved them through the trellis and up onto the fence. I tied up a couple of the ones that went east; I need to go tie the ones that go west. I also need to tie up the final ends.

I also cut off the ends of the canes I saved if they were too branched or if they had roots growing out. I will keep the rooted cuttings alive in case anyone wants to plant some. I usually do that.

Then I cut out all the remaining canes that don't have room. I also cut out any blackberries that sneaked in. Even with thick rubberized gloves, I got a few holes poked in my fingers and hand. I think the rubber coating is failing; time for some new gloves perhaps.

Yesterday I raked the last of the leaves. I keep most of my leaves and pile them up near the trees to add nutrients back to the soil. The exception is the Black Walnut. I really don't like that tree. It's under power lines, and it's right on the property line. I'd love to see it gone. In the meantime, we keep cutting it back. The roots exude Juglone, and so do the rotting leaves. Those walnut leaves go out to the street for collection. The oak leaves take a long time to compost, but they do. They are such good leaves. The filbert leaves fall apart really quickly. Fruit tree leaves are sort of intermediate. I'm glad those chores are done, and I'll go finish the Marionberry canes after the sun comes out.

mtaratoot

January is the quietest month in the garden...But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean nothing is happening. -ROSALIE MULLER WRIGHT

What's going on in YOUR garden? I need to think about doing some fruit tree pruning as well as grapes. I need to heal up for several more weeks first. The grapes really would be best served to wait until February anyway. Same with the raspberries. Marionberries are done. Fruit trees? They need a LOT of work. I might have to hire it out this year if I can't get on a ladder or pull a pruning saw.

MsCzar

These are the peppers in my first ever attempt at over-wintering. All except one are slowly but steadily turning brown. Not sure if this is normal in dormancy or if they are dying. They get 12 hours of artificial light per day and are also near large south-facing windows. The room is ~9°C/48°F. I water them every week but do not soak; the soil remains fairly dry. They are potted in fresh fertilised commercial potting soil.
Does anyone here have any experience over-wintering peppers?

Fuzzipeg

I'm wondering if they are a little on the dry side. I'm thinking this because the soil is pulling away from the pots. If you were to rake the soil with a spoon tip I think it would crumble. I know you do not want them standing in water but I'd probably try a little more, probably double what you are giving now. The soil is looking pail. I have no idea about your growing conditions, does this surface look similar to the ground they came in from?

If you were to take a pair of sequiturs to the very brownish one and snip a little of the remaining growth off it this should show you if the wood is dried out. I would try giving that one more water too because the roots and main stem might still be viable. Yours is a worthwhile experiment.

MsCzar

Thanks. The soil is darker than it looks in the photo since the light is so bright. Those pots are black! You can see the true color of the soil in the farthest plant. I will give the brown ones more water. Every online resource recommends keeping the soil on the dry side... but I've nothing to lose with the brown ones. Also wondering if I should try moving the brown ones into darkness.

mtaratoot

I was initially thinking about daylight length. I didn't realize that capsicum is actually a perennial that doesn't respond to photoperiod.

Definitely hydrate the soil. Maybe set the pots in a bucket of water until they saturate, then let dry back out. I often only water houseplants once or less than twice a month in the winter, but when I do water, I sometimes water two or three times over a one or two-day period to make sure to fully wet the soil. What they really don't want is wet feet, but they may need good moisture over a shorter time. Fine balance.

Good luck!

penguinmama87

I have been enjoying this thread!

This year I signed up for a few catalogs because I just need something pretty to look at in the dreary gray winter. My small vegetable garden is converted flower beds, plus a few pots and deck boxes for herbs and lettuces on our porch. This year I am attempting a few new medicinal plants - calendula mainly, and I will see once I sketch it out if I want to be brave enough to try something else. I try to restrain myself to one or two new plants per year to not overwhelm myself with either the growing or harvesting and preserving. I am not always successful with restraint. 😅

mtaratoot

Calendula is a good one. Not only is it nice to look at even though the color palate is somewhat limited, it is edible and it has medicinal qualities. It can reseed easily if you don't deadhead all the blossoms, so they come back. It can get weedy if you leave too many seed pods, but it isn't that difficult to control if it does. I wonder if any will come back when I remove the clear plastic I put on my garden last summer to solarize it in an attempt to kill off some of the difficult weeds after my garlic crop failed and I thought it was maybe time for a garden reset.

mtaratoot

The end of winter is nearly in sight. Here's some clues:

• I have seen a couple English daisies blooming in my lawn.
• Catkins have been hanging from the Filbert tree for a few weeks.
• Snowflake plants have plenty of leaves coming up; flowers will be coming soon.
• Indian Plum, the first native tree to blossom, has broken initial buds; flower to follow soon.
• Daffodils are up, and buds are swelling.
• Hyacinth are coming up; I can see flower clusters starting to swell.
• Belladonna lilies are up all over; I hope more of them bloom this year.
• Hellebore and Corsican Hellebore have flower buds that are so fat I can't believe they aren't open.
• Buds on the flowering cherry tree are swelling enough I really should take some cuttings to bring in and force.
• Madrone tree is threatening to start flowering
• I had to mow the back yard last week.

mtaratoot

I should have taken a "before" picture, but I did get the raspberries done. Cut out all the primacanes from last year. Selected some of the floracanes from last year to become this year's primacanes, and tied them to the wire.

Nice day.

I'm going back outside to enjoy one last hour of sun.

AnnPT77

These are happening here in Michigan's palm, a little earlier than average (the first one popped open in mid-January). There are lots more now.

As long as it stays not-too-warm, they'll last a long time, too. They even melt the snow around them, if it snows after they bloom - tough little things.


(Galanthus sp. - Snowdrops - usually the earliest bloomer for me, but probably usually first one's sometime in February . . . or later.)

SuzanneC1l9zz

<cries in zone 3>

AnnPT77

SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

<cries in zone 3>

I'm in 5. Hang on. Spring is comin' for ya.

LoveyChar

Yesterday I planted 7 different pepper plants, 3 cucumbers (2 different kinds), 2 (different) eggplants, one Genovese basil, and a Lima bean plant that my son seeded in pre-K. Strawberries from last year are growing and mint is growing like a weed again.

I am feeling optimistic this year.

I'm trying to share a picture of strawberries but cannot, will try again later.

Fuzzipeg

Our weather is all over the place. We had a dry, very dry February and now we are having it rather wet.

LovelyChair you are so fortunate to have planting weather. I had been thinking about growing things again this year only having our hands full with children, having done no planting prep this back end with such variable weather condition, I'm not so sure now.

Anyone do Permaculture? The edible eco-system, I've been given a book and wondering if anyone has any ideas, please

LoveyChar

Juicy strawberries growing in a pot that we never got to enjoy because my dog ate them.



Eggplant making a comeback after I thought it died



Spearmint and strawberries

Fuzzipeg

Its so good when a plant comes back despite all the odds.

We had a dog who ate peas in pods and another which ate gooseberries. I wonder, how many other peculiar food choices some dogs have made?

LoveyChar

In years past, there have been flowers I thought were dead only to bloom again. We had a couple of days of weird weather and it claimed three cucumber plants and one cantaloupe.

My peppers and one tomato are thriving. I had basil that I wasn't sure about, nor, the eggplant. I left them alone and they're all coming back.

I think it had to do with beds and location of plants.

My dog chewed up one of my entire pepper plants, only one I lost. Yes, they will eat weird things sometimes.

MsCzar

Hmm. I may simply prune back my "dead" eggplants from last year and see what happens. I can't plant much outside until May. Indoor seed have just sprouted.

nanerkay

I'm thinking of starting a small garden what grows good in pots? I don't have a lot of room to plant much.