The 2021 Gardening Thread

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Winchester

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Lima beans are up, potatoes are through the soil now, peppers doing well, we've eaten our fill of asparagus. I'm going to let the rest of the asparagus bolt for seed for next year's crop. The sweet potatoes look good as do the broccoli and cabbage. Onions looking good, too. Strawberry plants have berries! Tomatoes need a good drink, but they're not doing bad.

Corn is not up. Oh, we have a couple plants here and there, but really, not doing well at all. Yet.

We seriously need rain.
 

WillowMarie

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Lima beans are up, potatoes are through the soil now, peppers doing well, we've eaten our fill of asparagus. I'm going to let the rest of the asparagus bolt for seed for next year's crop. The sweet potatoes look good as do the broccoli and cabbage. Onions looking good, too. Strawberry plants have berries! Tomatoes need a good drink, but they're not doing bad.

Corn is not up. Oh, we have a couple plants here and there, but really, not doing well at all. Yet.

We seriously need rain.
Lots of exciting things! Did you grow your strawberry from seeds or start with a plant? My strawberry seeds never sprouted last year and need to see if I can get them going this year.

Has it been hot there, too? We did get rain recently in the past week, but it has been so hot I've needed to water my potted veggie plants often this week!
 

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The really showy tulips are pretty much done, but others are coming on to take their place, and there are still others just budding out now. Most of the new plants are well up or showing signs of life, but for the Mini Belle coneflowers; neither of which ever showed any sign of life. The tomato seedlings are now in the ground so we'll see how that experiment turns out, and finally, the Aquilegia have exploded into bloom
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NY cat man

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The moonflowers are starting to bloom in force now.
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This is the result from one day of beetle attacks. Fortunately, since I dispatched the one I found and launched unrestricted warfare against any others, there have been no recurrences.
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Also, we are still getting new buds on the tulips. I think that this is because these are in an area that gets less direct sun earlier in the season.
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MoochNNoodles

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Do you think I could use these to make a pole bean trellis? I have nylon netting but I didn’t get tall enough poles for it. I found these in my shed. Is the rust a problem I’m not sure how to attach the netting?
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This is the spot and netting:
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And yeah all the fencing makes weeding a pain!!
 
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Norachan

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Do you think I could use these to make a pole bean trellis?
They look really similar to some metal poles I used to make one of my cats her own little private enclosure. They're strong enough to stand a cat climbing on them, so they should be fine for beans.

The netting attaches a tad too easily. Those little hooks that run down the middle go through the holes in the netting and hold it in place. It's just a pain setting it up by yourself because the netting keeps catching on the hooks in places you don't want it to. You've got plenty of helpers though, it should be easy enough for you.
 

MoochNNoodles

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These seem to have notches more than hooks. The smaller ones have hooks and they never quite line up with the bunny fencing. I think they were intended for like the big pannel fencing that you attach with metal ties. Maybe the metal ties would hold the nylon net. They are inexpensive. I use them to wire my tomato cages to the fence. The poles are really heavy! So I think it's just a matter of sinking them deep enough. As long as the rust isn't going to hurt anything. Maybe some are less rusty.

It got really hot today but I'm going to go pull one out again later. I was thinking of driving some into the ground at the ends of the corn rows and running twine back and forth as the corn grows. Summer storms tend to come out of the north east here and aim right between the houses at my gardens. So last year the wind knocked it down and DD and I had to stand it back up with some poles but they weren't tall enough. I'm going to "hill" it this year; but if I can use those poles to add some extra stability it could save me trouble. I think the notches would hold the twine.
 

NY cat man

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We got the first decent rain in a couple of weeks last night, and the plants have taken notice
The first bloom on the new Leonora Widow's Tears.
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The first bloom on the purple bells clematis 19 blooms on the moonflowers, but then yesterday, I counted 24
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WillowMarie

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Updates. Another carrot and two more cherry tomatoes sprouted. Some of my lettuce shriveled, so two of original five in the first container are still looking okay. It happened during the very hot days, so maybe it was there hear or soil too wet. Not sure! Things that seem to be growing well are growing well. Fertilizer is a little behind by a week as we had so much rain and wanted the soil to dry out a bit as th fertilizer gets added to the water that is used when the plants get watered.

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And this was a pic of the sad looking lettuce before I pulled them.

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MoochNNoodles

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We are finally getting good rain. I rushed to weed my veggies last night before more weather came in. I figured it was a good time to get the lima beans replanted since only 4 out of the 11’ row sprouted!

I’m going to put up the pole bean trellis this weekend. I’m betting my plants will really sprout after this rain!
 

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Two years ago, I had three newly planted tomato plants dug up by...a racoon? I did not understand why an animal would dig up tomato plants. The roots looked slightly gnawed. Then this year I had two freshly planted pepper plants dug up. Later that day, I was putting the FISH EMULSION fertilizer on some more newly planted pepper plants and wondering why an animal would dig up plants. And it hit me - it's the fish emulsion the animal is after! :flail:
 

NY cat man

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Two years ago, I had three newly planted tomato plants dug up by...a racoon? I did not understand why an animal would dig up tomato plants. The roots looked slightly gnawed. Then this year I had two freshly planted pepper plants dug up. Later that day, I was putting the FISH EMULSION fertilizer on some more newly planted pepper plants and wondering why an animal would dig up plants. And it hit me - it's the fish emulsion the animal is after! :flail:
I have been using a seaweed-based fertilizer for the last couple of years. Dissolved in water, it needs o be applied every 7 to 10 days, but animals don't seem to bother it.
 

Boris Diamond

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I have been using a seaweed-based fertilizer for the last couple of years. Dissolved in water, it needs o be applied every 7 to 10 days, but animals don't seem to bother it.
Good idea! The company I bought the fish emulsion from also has a mostly seaweed version. The fish emulsion is recommended for younger plants, but I suspect the seaweed version would do just fine. The company whose fertilizer I use, Fertrell, also has a dry organic fertilizer that I like, Super 3-2-3. I only have to apply it every six weeks and it is very cost effective.

I'm hoping that the human hair that I put around the garden will keep animals away. It has seemed to work in the past, but I had not put it out yet when the plants were dug up.
 

NY cat man

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Good idea! The company I bought the fish emulsion from also has a mostly seaweed version. The fish emulsion is recommended for younger plants, but I suspect the seaweed version would do just fine. The company whose fertilizer I use, Fertrell, also has a dry organic fertilizer that I like, Super 3-2-3. I only have to apply it every six weeks and it is very cost effective.

I'm hoping that the human hair that I put around the garden will keep animals away. It has seemed to work in the past, but I had not put it out yet when the plants were dug up.
I use Repels-All around plants to keep squirrels and rabbits from eating the flowers, and the fertilizer is called MaxSea, and there are different ones for different phases. One is a 10-10-10 for growth, and the other is a 3-20-20 for blooms.
 
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