The 2019 Gardening Thread.

[NY cat man]

Sounds like you got indeterminate varieties.

Yes, the biggest one is a 'Sweet Million' cherry tomato, and I think I will be leaving bags of tomatoes on my neighbors' doorsteps- kind of like with zucchini.

 

[Mia6]

there have been no signs of wilting or leaf yellowing.

What causes the yellowing of the leaves? I have several

 

[NY cat man]

I'm not sure, but I think that over watering is one cause.

 

[foxxycat]

Mia6
yes it's overwatering. Do you let the dirt dry out for a day before wetting? Also do you use compost or fertilizer? It's not unusual for them to run through the nutrients in the dirt if theres excessive watering..so kind of funny but if you have liquid dissolving fertilizer-try feeding them some of that blue water with the fertilizer once every 10 days to see if that helps it grow better. Tomatoes are heavy eaters to the last number in the fertilizer. 5-5-10 is usually recommended for tomatoes/veggies type plants. the last number helps the fruit develop better. The first number is for growing foliage. We want more fruits and less empathise on leaves=but it is fun to grow it big and tall for the hell of it!



We had one day of heavy rain and there was no way to drain the patio box other than the holes in it 2" up from the bottom..I may drill a few holes lower down to avoid it sitting in water too long but before that heavy rain-not had issues with yellowing of leaves. The container ones I water daily whether they need it or not-usually they dry out before noon so when I water the evening or next morning, they are good and thirsty. The ones in the ground I water less. I check the dirt-if it's moist I leave it alone=if the dirt is bone dry=I give em a drink.

I think Thursday going to make up a weak mixture of fertilizer and feed to the tomatoes as looks like we are not getting any good rain to help release the fertilizer in the dirt-I just pluck off the yellowed leaves. I filled it up with water this morning since it's going to be 94 today=I think the curled leaves are thirst. So if the leaves turn yellow so be it. As long as the tomatoes keep growing-I don't care! I know plants hate wet feet-they dont like sitting in wet yuck but this patio box has a grid to keep the dirt out of the water-the roots grow down through the grid-I was hesitant that this would work since the roots would be in water all the time-but I think I will just put 1 gallon in it daily instead of filling it up. As long as it's not wilting or getting fungus infections, a bit yellowing is ok...next year probably built a cover to go over it when we have long heavy rains to avoid this...

This hot weather is being a pain-every night and morning I spend more time watering than weeding or relaxing..oh well.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I always have to feed my tomatoes. Normally they do well for the first month or so after planting but then I start feeding every 7-14 days. It seems a little less necessary now that i have them in the ground vs pots (where I have to water twice daily).

Those sweet million cherry tomatoes are my favorite for cherries. My kids usually eat them right out of the garden.

I ended up using a neem oil based spray on the tomatoes and I do see less stink bugs. I finally got a bottle for the kaolin clay and tested that out today. I ended up ordering a sprayer on Amazon once i got back in the house. It's going to take some time to see if it all works to keep my fruit healthy. It's been really hot and I'm still having some tomatoes split. I figured I'd have less of that this year planting in the soil. Sometimes it just feels like you will run into issues even if you do everything the way you should.

It's been very hot here again so I am watering daily. One of my hydrangeas is barely hanging on. I'm tempted to try to make some kind of shade structure for them! I thought they'd get enough shade there; but maybe not.

 

[foxxycat]

MoochNNoodles the splitting is from not having constant water is what I read=I water the same time most days. I have one tomato that has a split in it but the rest so far are coming along..tonight will fertilize since I didn't get around to it last night. It was so damn hot-I took the wheel barrel down to the tire garden and gave everything a good drink even though some leaves are yellow..the dirt was powdery dry=so it looks like swamp is dried up..I will give em a drink tonight too. This morning the flowers on the pumpkins/squash were opened. Yesterday they were closed..so maybe they just needed a drink...supposed to be 93ish today. Which means watering daily.

I found that wondercide also kills those beetles=so maybe I will spray some more since the darned things are eating my marigolds..for now I just pick em off and step on them.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

foxxycat Yep I've always heard that too. I'm watering carefully but I think the heat is just an uphill battle sometimes. I've got the soil covered in mulch and that's supposed to help retain moisture also. I always use a watering wand so I can soak the base of my plants. If I didn't have them in a raised bed I might try some kind of soaker hose setup. I've heard mixed reviews on those anyway.

 

[foxxycat]

I too added mulch to the ones in the tires and the rock garden-it helps retain moisture but when it's this hot out-they just go through so much water. I try to use as big of bucket as I can find plus I keep adding compost on top of them and water the compost into the tomatoes. but liquid food helps too.

I still have mulch left from the back yard but it's just been too hot for me to drag 50lb bags of it across the yard then get down on my knees and spread it..if we get a break in the heat=maybe that will be my next project..the only thing I hate about mulch is if it's moist it could get mold and that's one reason I don't use it..I think it's healthier for the plants to totally dry out the soil to eliminate growth of molds/mildews. Tomatoes are often susceptible to this.

 

[NY cat man]

I have had to do some watering, but nothing like last year. That, and all the organic matter from the compost, peat moss, and garden soil that I added in that planting bed and everything planted there has just exploded..

 

[foxxycat]

Yes Compost helps keeps it moist longer-but for some reason some sections of my yard dry out so fast no matter how much mulch/matter I lay down ontop.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I have been tempted to buy a moisture meter. In this kind of weather I just water. It's not worth bothering to check when you know it's hot. Our typical weather for late July is hot with either no rain or heavy thunderstorms. August is similar but usually more humid. The nice thing about living down here is having my tomatoes last into October.

I think potting tomatoes with potting soil works well at first because that soil is fresh and full of nutrients. When it gets hot I have to water so much it zaps the soil of those nutrients and it's hard in this weather to keep the moisture level consistent. I do try to rotate where I put things in the garden and check "friends and foes" lists on the Old Farmer's Almanac website. Sometimes that's a little hard having only a small garden space. I have a lot of respect for people who can keep big gardens!

 

[NY cat man]

For her potted plants, Michele uses a 50/50 mix of potting soil and compost from our pile that has been aged, and it seems to work well.

 

[foxxycat]

That's what I used in the pots for tomatoes..the dirt I ordered was a 50/50 mixture and I added petemoss in it to give it some airiness.
normally just use that bagged potting mix/soil that home depot sells..

tonight when get home-will get to it watering since I didnt' do as much yesterday as I should have..I still have to dump cat boxes and wash them to dump litter for tomorrows dump.

This morning I was fiddling with making some kind of invention that holds the water hose to rotate it to water the garden..something that's6 foot high then with some kind of rotating head that helps it spread then the head with correct size holes to give a gentle shower=the Wondercide container has this hose attachment as part of it=and I use that now instead of the nozzle..most of the garden hose nozzles don't work the way I want...who knows maybe I can invent something to help make watering easier and more exact?

 

[NY cat man]

They sell those at places like Tractor Supply. They come in different heights, and they work like those impact sprayer where you can set the arc that you want watered, and if you put one of those mechanical timers in the line you don't have to sit and watch it.

 

[rubysmama]

Monday must have been "Daylily Day", because I had several in bloom all at once. Here's some pics:

 

[Mia6]

yes it's overwatering. Do you let the dirt dry out for a day before wetting? Also do you use compost or fertilizer? It's not unusual for them to run through the nutrients in the dirt if theres excessive watering..so kind of funny but if you have liquid dissolving fertilizer-try feeding them some of that blue water with the fertilizer once every 10 days to see if that helps it grow better. Tomatoes are heavy eaters to the last number in the fertilizer. 5-5-10 is usually recommended for tomatoes/veggies type plants. the last number helps the fruit develop better. The first number is for growing foliage. We want more fruits and less empathise on leaves=but it is fun to grow it big and tall for the hell of it!

Thanks, foxxycat . I had a feeling I was over watering them.

 

[Mia6]

Monday must have been "Daylily Day", because I had several in bloom all at once. Here's some pics:

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Lovely!!!

 

[rubysmama]

Here's a couple more from this morning:

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Beautiful! rubysmama

 

[foxxycat]

rubysmama I love the colors and the perfect shaped flowers! Lovely!!!
Still hot as hell out. humidity off the charts...hoping we get some heavy rain showers to push it outta here!