Planting updates

Today I planted two 'Black Brandywine'. These plants were 1 1/2 ft tall. One actually broke in 1/2 so it will be an experiment in growing plants that are cut in 1/2. I use oscmocote on both.

I also put a planter of basil together...both lemon and regular. I put the planter under the pergula to see if I will have better luck with basil there. A capful of oscomote was used on these also.

Two weeks ago I put in some bush cucumbers. They are in the back row so may not be getting enough sun.

Updates from the new plantings from the beginning of March. The bush early girls are doing great. They already have 3 inch green fruit. I am quite suprised. The bush goliath are fairly pathetic. The big difference between these plantings is that the early girls went in the planters right away...the goliath were on the patio for two weeks before getting put into the ground. I am about to take the goliaths out.

The moral of that story is "If you buy plants, then put them in the damn ground.

I found a little mold on the melon leaves and hit them with the ortho disease. It seemed to take care of it but the leaves are yellowing.

Next to garden projects will be:
1. Move all herbs to the pergula/patio so I can gather them easier. That will also free up some earthboxes.
2. Plan the summer garden. I am mainly thinking of using cherry tomatoes. I will see what else.

Strange Garden Growth: Last summer I tried sweet potatoes and beans. I did not get much from either. Now....the plants are back. The sweet potato plant is now growing again and bean plants are popping up all over the garden.

Two Month Update

Cukes gone byebye. The aphids, or whatever, were too much. I cut them down.

But the tomatoes are doing nicely. I have an abundance of green ones, the largest 3 inches in diameter. I did not check which ones were the big producers yet. But hopefully, some will started getting the red color soon.

The peppers are acting pepperly and coming in fine. I think I have some green peppers, habaneros, and jalapenos.

The weather has been kinda cold and I have done nothing to protect the plants. The low temp got to around 40 degrees.

I went by the farmers market guy and asked him a little about the tomatoes and should I pinch any of the small ones off. He said no need. He also gave the following advice:

1. Mix 14-14-14 Ozmocote(sp?) in with the soil at planting. It gives time released fertilizing over the life of the plant.

2. It is better to use a small amount of liquid fertilizer often than a large fertilizing more infrequently.

3. In my planters, use 1/4 Epsom Salts every month.

So, today I put in the reservoir of each planter 1/3 cup Epsom with around 1/8 cup of Miracle Grow.

We will see if some of the smaller tomatoes grow up better.

Cuke Update

I hit the Cukes with malithion on Sunday along with adding a big spoonful of Miracle Grow to each of the containers (through the water pipe).

I also examined the black dots more closely. Some of them moved. Must be aphids.

We'll see what happens.

Veggies After One Month

After one month.....the tomatoes are performing good for the most part. I don't see any fungus, leaf, or bug problems. The tomato rankings are:

• Left: Bush Beefsteak (from plant guy) - 3rd out of 5. This is the worse performer from the plan guy. It still beats the snot out of the Home Depot plants.
• Middle: Homestead (from HomeDepot) - 4th best out of 5 tomatoes. The Home Depot plants were a big dropoff from the plant guy's plants.
• Right: Husky Reds (from plant guy) - 1st our of 5. Best performer. Really large strong stems and very rich, dark green.

• Back Right: Big Boys (from Home Depot) - 5th out of 5. This is just now starting to grow after one month in the ground.
• Left: Bush Early Girl (from plant guy) - 2nd out of 5. Strong and tall.
• Middle: Peppers (from seed)
• Right: Cukes (mix from plant guy and seed) - See prior post for issues

Cuke Issues

My cuke plants are growing large and bountiful. But....I got problems:

Little Black Dots
I assume this is bugs. I didn't find anything but went ahead and sprayed. Hopefully that will take care of it.











Yellow Leaves
I don't know what this is. I will check and/or post on the internet to see what I can do.

Seedling Update

Here's where they are at....9 days later.

The cukes and melons took off. The rest are coming up slowly.

Supposedly, for our region, the seedlings should not be planted until mid-September.

Late Blog from July 28th - Planting Seedlings

Last week (July 28th) I went and planted some seedlings. I used a packet of stuff from Lowes and my seed from Southern Exposure.














The seeds I planted were from Southern Exposure.

TOMATO Tropic VFN
MUSKMELON Hales Best
WATERMELON Sugar Baby
CUCUMBER PICKLING Arkansas Little Leaf H-19
CUCUMBER Marketmore 80
CUCUMBER Marketmore 76
PEPPER, HOT Jalapeno
PEPPER, BELL (SWEET) California Wonder

Cuke Problems

My Cukes are problematic. I have tried a number of things....here are the latest results.

Type: Burbee Straight Eight seeds

Problems: Mold/Fungus - light white spots that look like mold.

Also, loosing leaves...I get new growth but then the new leaves go bad pretty quickly.

I tried a milk spray and Ortho Garden Disease Control.

I did get a number of cukes that I ate fresh and jarred.