Well, piss me off. Had to rip out my spinach tonight. Thought it was too hot and not enough water as they were wilting like a mother fucker, but turns out that the roots had rotted off due to too much water. Lesson learned. Maybe. Everything else is going gang busters though. Cucumbers are really starting to come in, but still waiting for my first red tomato.
Toned down the watering a bit and shit is responding very well. Peppers are LOADED. Squash is becoming sentient, with about 30+ fruit. And I now know why I am not seeing any eggplants so far. Don’t know why the pics are rotated, but oh well. And yeah, squirrels are grabbing the fruit and running off and eating them in protected areas.
I've pretty much given up on gardening for the year. I pulled what potatoes grew and there was only about 2/3 the normal yield. Many were too small. The onions I'm leaving in the ground in the hopes the rains we're finally getting, while sporadic, will spur some growth. Beans did okay, I'm harvesting once, then yanking the plants and feeding them to the birds. The heirloom squash and zucchini I planted is blooming like crazy, but little to no actual vegetable growth. The pumpkins seem to be doing okay, so now I'm focusing on them. It was a shitty year to garden. We're 2-3" short of our average rainfall and I haven't had the inclination to haul water from the nearby creek. So screw it.
Sorry to hear, Walt. Some years are just that way. My onion yield was crap compared to last year, I guess we get what we get. Nett, that all looks awesome! That squash is going to own the place soon. Definitely throttle back water to the tomatoes as they get finishing, better flavor plus less splitting. So, I roasted three big pans of garden stuff and made a new batch of salsa. Better than the last batch! Next project is pepper jelly.
Y'all gardens are bonkers! Sorry yours was unsuccessful @walt . I'm getting tomatoes in, they started a week or so ago. My peppers are criminally underwatered and I have stunted their fruit. I JUST got the drips set up yesterday morning so everything will get consistent water now. I got the tomatoes on the drip a few weeks back but was hitting everything else with the hose in the morning while I took care of the ducks. No more of that. It's been hot too, they really need the water. Was 107 yesterday and is slated to be 110 today. I thought pulling back on the water would make my peppers spicy but it did very little and the jalapeno peppers are very small now. I will just try out different seeds next season and pick up the watering.
The mantis is crazy desirable....super good bug. Eats stuff that eats your produce. My neighbor that gardens released 1000 small ones on his plot this year. Like $20.
My wife and I, using a little garden patch at the father-in-law's house, planted some stuff to try and make homemade salsa. Tomatos, onions, various peppers. And for shits, we planted carrots and Brussels sprouts. We actually are getting results. I made my family goulash recipe last weekend, and we used two onions that were ready to pull. And we thinned out a few carrots just to check on them, and they taste good. I post this to say - gardening is not that hard. I figure that gardening/homesteading is something on the rise in popularity in the days of COVID, so there might be some people like me, who think "man, this all looks so intense, I don't think I can do it." Just plant, water, weed, and monitor, and you'll probably get something worth harvesting. And expect a shit-ton of peppers and tomatoes. Next year, we're gonna keep it going, maybe add some more stuff. Once we buy our own house I want to do what Nett's got going. Because bending down sucks.
Just be aware that gardening is kind of like golf. Seems easy when you start, when everything is going well. Then you get full if yourself and shit goes sideways. And when it goes bad it can be hard to sort out. Soil ph, too much water, not enough water, fertilizer type, insects, fungus, fucking aphids. It can pop up in a hurry. I learned to monitor daily, and keep antifungals and insecticides on hand for when you don’t get those 1000 preying mantis’ showing up. Then there’s the timing of shit. It’s one of those things that can be simple and get results, or be complicated and get results. In the end, it’s more a nice focus for me to help get away from being constantly plugged in while working in a cave of an office.
I just wanted to post as a novice, because a lot of times we can get intimidated by seeing what all you guys are posting...and then you think "well fuck, why even bother?" Just start somewhere. Get seeds, get plants, they're not gonna break the bank. Read up on when to plant. Put them in the ground. It's like cooking...you worry you won't be great at it when you start out, so you don't even start. Gotta learn by doing the work.
Yeah I dont mean to sound like I am complaining. They are wonder bugs. I've spotted 2 species here, or at least different colors of the same species. I've seen about 6 different ones so there are probably even more hiding out. I really haven't sprayed this year and only had issues with squash bugs so they are probably doing some work out there. It just scares the poo out of me to get bit on the back of the arm while I am deep in gardening thoughts or to turn my head and have one perched on my shoulder staring me in the eye.
Tropical storm that came through on Tuesday really did a number on my garden. All my tomato plants are sideways and laying on the ground. knocked my cucumber plants off their climbing trellis and pushed all the peppers around. It is almost all fixable but is going to be a lot of work which I don't have the time for right now.
happened to mine as well. Fertilizer got to the cucumbers and burned the leaves a good bit so I'm not sure if those will survive, but everything else is going straight bananas. Tomatoes went from being maybe 4 inches tall when we left town, to now out of their cages by a foot plus and going everywhere. Nothing has started to fruit yet, but when it does, it's gonna be insane
My tomato plant has suddenly in the past couple of days just started to look like crap. I'm not sure if it got too much water since we had a couple of days of back to back downpours or what, but any advice is appreciated since you guys are WAY more knowledgeable on these things than I am.
Damn... I'd ensure that the pot has good drainage, ensure that the roots aren't rotting away due to over-watering, and then check the pH of the soil. Does the wilting get better at night? If so, it could be a sign of fungus in the soil, and if so then it's probably terminal... I'd be tempted to apply a fungicide anyway.