What are your garden plans for 2021?

[pepperhead212]

GotGarlic That white powder on the plants is Surround, which is kaolin clay - a totally harmless substance (the kao part of Kaopectate) which is an insect repellent, not insecticide - many of the insects don't like the feel of it, so they immediately crawl away or fly away. It works great for most pests. I stop spraying the peppers and cherry tomatoes as soon as the fruits appear - too much of a pain to wipe off small fruits. Eggplants, cucumbers, and large tomatoes are easy to clean off. This is the best thing to keep flea beetles off eggplants, and many of the pests off cucumbers, squash, beans, peppers, and tomatoes.

 

[GotGarlic]

Great to know, pepperhead. Thanks.

 

[pepperhead212]

More on that Surround - the powder stays on the plants well, unless there is a heavy rain, unlike diatomaceous earth, which blows off, or washes off with light rain. So when I do a weekly spray, it's usually only on the new growth - the old stuff is still there, and the undersides keep the coating, even after a rain washes much of the top coating off. And it can be mixed in advance, and the unused portion stores well until next use, since it is inert.

 

[pepperhead212]

When I went out this morning to survey any damage from that wind last night (was supposed to rain hard, but only .13" came down, with all that wind and thunder), I discovered a few tomatoes that had parts of them blown down, but fortunately, not broken. These were large portions, not just a single section, so I gathered them together, and tied them to the trellis with that vinyl (or whatever it is) tape. I also discovered some bottle gourds formed, on the plants I have planted in the ground - I don't see any forming on the plants in the SIP, growing on the trellis. I did find at least a half dozen bitter melons starting out on that trellis, only about 1" long, so far.

Here are two of the five bottle gourds I found, 2-3" long, so far. I did not hand pollinate any of those, like I usually do with the ones on the trellis. I'll find out if they grow well, or if I'm going to have to hand pollinate (the blossoms open at night, so bees don't help as much). When I harvest butternut squash blossoms, I find a lot of insects in them, so I'm hoping that they will be in these, too, being on the ground.
Bottle Gourds, beginning to grow, 6-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

bumping this thread because folks are confusing the today's harvest thread with the gardening thread...

 

[pepperhead212]

I got another several 42 Day tomatoes blushing, so that one is on its way! And the first variety that actually blossomed - Kustengold - is ripening now.
First ripe Kustengold, 6-23, which was the first flowering tomato this year, second to ripen. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Unfortunately, one variety is not looking good - Louisiana All Season. Some disease seams to be taking over it, despite the fungicides I've tried on it. But fortunately, whatever it is doesn't seem to be spreading to any of the others, so I may pull the plants - it's not like I won't have enough!
Horrible looking LOUISIANA ALL SEASON - the only variety of mine diseased, so far. I might pull it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are most (but not all) of the others, showing that they are doing well, unlike these.
Row of tomatoes before the diseased LA All Season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cherry tomatoes, plus tomatillos and eggplants, down at the end. 6-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The first cukes are forming now, too! The largest about 3" now.
First cucumber forming, 6-22, a Wisconsin 58 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And the first Butterbush forming:
First Butterbush squash formed, 6-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bitter melons are forming now, about 3" long, for the largest.

 

[Vinylhanger]

About to give up on mine. We may get some squash and greens, but tomatoes are still floundering.

I'm going to see about setting up shade for the next few weeks, as it is supposed to be brutally hot.

 

[larry_stewart]

Already preparing for my second round of planting, as garlic, onions and leeks all be coming out n a few weeks .

Plannig on getting a second round of string beans, zucchini, chard, carrots and kirbies. All the seeds have been started in cells and have germinated ( other than the carrots which all sow directly later on in the summer and lettuce probably late august/ September )

In general, everything appears to be on schedule and dong well ( when compared to previous years). The first round of kirbies are dragging there butts, but do look healthy.

No sign of any diseases yet except possibly one eggplant that is showing signs of curling leaves. Had that issue last year with most of my eggplants, this year only one . Was only 2 leaves which I removed. Not sure if Im just paranoid or something legitimately starting.

String beans fruiting and should be harvestable in the coming weeks. Tomatoes forming, only one variety of grape showing any signs of color change. I dont expect anything from the tomatoes until mid July , with a few exceptions which may produce a little earlier ( some of the grapes and the 4th of July )

Zucchinis have a mx of male and female flowers ( usually I get all of one or the other ), so im hoping to get them earlier than usual too.

Peppers also doing well, one large enough to pick if I want it green, but planning on letting it fully ripen.

My extra potatoes, which are grown n larger pots are withering. Possibly a lack of watering issue. dumped a few pots. Full of small, golf ball sized ( or smaller potatoes). useable and edible, just not the size I was hoping for and got in previous years, but I have 2 in ground potato beds which will produce the larger potatoes

 

[Kathleen]

My peas are about done. I got enough in my hanging baskets to add to soup. Corn is tasseling! (I have never had luck with corn before!) Tomatoes are getting bigger. Peppers are considering getting bigger. Beans look like they are coming along. Melons are starting to vine a bit. AND...I have a little baby cucumber starting!

My asparagus bed is in its second year and seems to be limping along pretty well.

 

[pepperhead212]

Several cucumbers are near harvest time, but tomatoes are still lagging - just a couple 42 day blushing, and one Chocolate Cherry showing some color, but I think it's probably this heat, that's slowing them. However, two clusters of Sunsugar have started ripening - the only one ripening several at a time. Fortunately, I didn't see any blossoms dropped from any of them from this heat, when I looked closely on the ground today. It hasn't gotten to the high 90s, which is when that usually happens with many of them.
Sunsugar is the only one ripening several at a time. 6-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those bottle gourds are doing great in this heat, which is understandable, since they are grown in Southern India! And the ones on the ground, that I didn't hand pollinate (something I do on the trellis plants) all pollinated except for one. These are night bloomers, so bees don't get to them, except for the few that open early. Now there are at least 7 I found about 6" long, and a number more just formed, on 3 plants. Only 2 on the two trellis plants, but quite a few more just starting today.
Bottle gourds, about 6 inches long, 6-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[taxlady]

Tomatoes and heat. I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, where summer temps were usually above 100°F. My mother grew tomatoes one year. They were spectacular. But, she did find large, green caterpillars (tomato hornworms?) on them and showed them to us as a sort of sciencey thing. She never said that they freaked her out, but she never grew tomatoes again. She was a city girl until she moved to the US, well, actually to Calif. My parents lived in NYC for half year or so before that.

 

[pepperhead212]

I still saw no blossom drop from the tomatoes, but the Ichiban eggplants stopped flowering - something typical every season, though they recover fairly fast. A couple of EPs are ready to harvest, and at least one of those bottle gourds. And two of those bitter melons are ready to harvest tomorrow.
First of two bitter melons/gourds, 7-1, a little over 6 inches. Maybe pick tomorrow. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Second, slightly larger of the bitter melons/gourds, 7-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I planted 3 more cukes in that SIP that I pulled those tomatoes from - they should be producing by the end of August/beginning of September - by that time, the ones there now will probably be fizzled out.

My fastest growing habanero peppers turned out to be that Paper Lantern hab - the slowest to germinate, and the slowest growing seedling! I didn't even have to re-pot that one, it grew so slowly. The Gold Bullets flowered first, but these grew much faster, once formed. I'll find out how quickly they ripen.
Several Paper Lantern Habaneros formed, 6-30. Gold Bullet was the first habanero to form, but these grow faster. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I wanted to do more outside today, once the rain stopped, but it was just too humid! It was "only" 78°, but not a leaf moving, and 72° dewpoint. Still, I did one thing, that meant going out there some - I took down my hydroponics setup in my basement. I took all those plants out - hated wasting them (not total waste, as it went into the compost), but all that is growing well outside now, so no need for any more cuttings, or inside harvest. Won't need it until October now; still have clean it all up, of course. : I also cut out all but one of my 7 lettuce plants on my deck - they were all bolting, but one just started, and was one of the largest, so I left that to go to seed. I got a packed gallon of leaves, the rest went in the composter.

Those roots on those plants in the hydroponics never cease to amaze me, especially since when
I break it down every year, I have been neglecting it for at least a month!
The roots of one of the basil plants in the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

6 bolting lettuce plants, in the composter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[Bitser]

One of the raised beds had poorer soil so I decided to fallow it and plant a cover crop of field peas and oats. But when I got my order of seed potatoes, one sort was doubled, so I had quite a few extra. So I poked them in with the fallow crop.

Look closely and you can make out the potatoes sprouting. If they do well, I might do a checkerboard pattern of oats and peas in the potato patch, rather than weeding to keep the soil bare.

 

[larry_stewart]

In addition to the veggies, I have a bunch of fruit trees too. Figured I'd give a general update of where I stand at this point in the season.

- Most apples Ive had on the tree at this point in the season. Hope they ripen so my apple cider will be homemade and home grown.
- Figs ( Mostly Chicago Hardy variety that are relatively cold hardy).
- Yuzu Citrus . Cold hardy. Not exactly sure what Im going to do with them
- Cranberries - First time Im getting a bunch, since my son decided to run over my cranberry patch with the lawn mower ( Now in raised pots, even though he is in China so he cant do a repeat).
- Mini Kiwis - grapes sized, and no fuzz on the outside.
- Currants
- Jostaberry - A gooseberry derivative ( that in my opinion, tastes like crap)
- Peaches
- Nectarines - at least thats what the tag said, they are still fuzzy. Not sure if they will loose their fuzz, or I got conned into buying another peach.
- Persimon - Started with about a dozen, down to one. Seems to be on a good growing path but still has time to go to fall off.
- Plum - Went to check on them, knew there were 3, only saw one, then looked down, and there was aa ripe one on the ground. Smelled good.
- Pomegranate ( cant believe I spelled it right the first time) - had a bunch of flowers, but this one is starting to swell, so I think we're looking good.

Camera shy are the chestnuts ( not developed yet, Bananas ( no flowers yet), coffee plant ( no flowers), Pear ( they all fell off), cherry ( I ate the only one a few weeks ago), Blueberries ( birds finished them all off, but we did get a bunch), Olive - only time I got an olive was when I bought the tree with an olive on it, same with the Meyer lemon.

 

[pepperhead212]

I wish I had room for growing fruit...but then, if I did, how would I find time to eat it? It's hard enough with just herbs and veggies!

All of my pepper plants are getting peppers on them, some of them, like the Thais, loaded with them. Even the chinense peppers all have some full sized ones on them. Nothing is ripening yet, but soon, the superchili will have some ripening - the first ones almost every year to start. Here are some photos, of some of the peppers on the different plants.
Thunderbird, 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the Big Chili Numex plants, showing some of the chlies on it. 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are some of the chinense peppers:
A cluster of Paper Lantern Habaneros, a few full size, but none ripening yet. 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A few full size Death Spiral, but not ripening yet. 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some full size chocolate habs, but not ripening yet. 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Chocolate Habanero plant in one of the back beds. 7-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cucumbers are doing very well - would have picked more today, but got halted by lightning! Unfortunately, they are a main attractant to those invasive spotted lantern flies in my area. Fortunately, they do not seem to like tomatoes at all. However, cukes, bitter melons, eggplants, and okra get a lot of them. I spray some neem oil and pyrethrin on them late in the day (after bees have gone to bed), and the plants stay clear for a couple of days, but that's it. And the Surround does nothing to bother them. I dusted with DE, but it is only temporary. Hopefully, none of you are having to deal with this, but if you are in E Pa, or the western part of NJ, you've probably seen them. And they are spreading.

 

[larry_stewart]

The cucumbers are doing very well - would have picked more today, but got halted by lightning! Unfortunately, they are a main attractant to those invasive spotted lantern flies in my area. Fortunately, they do not seem to like tomatoes at all. However, cukes, bitter melons, eggplants, and okra get a lot of them. I spray some neem oil and pyrethrin on them late in the day (after bees have gone to bed), and the plants stay clear for a couple of days, but that's it. And the Surround does nothing to bother them. I dusted with DE, but it is only temporary. Hopefully, none of you are having to deal with this, but if you are in E Pa, or the western part of NJ, you've probably seen them. And they are spreading.

Luckily, that is one of the things I haven't experienced yet. Hope you find a solution.

 

[larry_stewart]

Luckily my cukes are doing better than expected with the few vines I have planted ( starting to learn that less is more, and the spacing on the seed packets shouldn't be ignored , or at least considered, as I have a tendency to crowd things.

Biggest cucumbers mistake I made this year was initially putting all my ' eggs' in one basket.

Having been hit hard with bacterial wilt last year, I decided to go all in on the " Little Leaf" cucumber variety for pickling cucumbers. I got off to a slow start, as the plant didnt look like they were thriving. I got nervous, so I ran out and got whatever the nursery had left, which were " Boston picklers". I planted them and they took off.

Here's where the irony kicks in. Not only did I not get one cuke from the little leaf, but they are the only vines ( cukes, squash , melons) that are suffering from the powdery mildew on their leaves. There's are 3 squash plants on one side of them and the boston picklers on the other.

Anyway, lesson learned. Shouldn't have put all my eggs in one basket. Usually Ill try new things each year, but Ill always have my ' safe' plants or varieties so I dont wind up empty handed.

Luckily the nursery had cuke plants available. Also started a second and third planting which are just starting to flower now. Hopefully those varieties will do well. I wont buy little leaf again. Good news was no bacterial wilt, but who cares if you dont get anything anyway and hit just gets another disease.

 

[pepperhead212]

I have been spraying that "harpin protein" on my WI 58, and the one Garden Sweet Burbless cucumber, which I lost one time to bacterial wilt, so this was the test for the harpin spray. There has been no wilt so far, which I am thinking may be a result of the biweekly spray of that harpin protein. Those spotted lantern flies are all over the cucumbers, and I would think those would be spreading the diseases rampant, but that hasn't happened.

Like you, Larry, I tried the Little Leaf, due to it being touted as resistant to bacterial wilt. But I also had no luck with it. For next season, I'm going to order some County Fair seeds, from the place I got them from before.
https://www.gourmetseed.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=16_34_49&product_id=101

The ones I got here were not labeled "improved" - I got some a couple of years ago like this, but it wasn't as good as the old County Fair. Plus, I think I got a hundred or more seeds from Gourmet Seeds - they seem to give a lot of seeds in the packs!

 

[taxlady]

Have any of you found any jumping worms? They are an invasive form of earth worm that damages the soil. Here's an article about them from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ing-worms-have-spread-15-us-states-180977566/