2018 thread of gardening like a boss

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Go.

[TexasEd 8064]

My peaches have set and look great so far.  No sign of the Plum curculio yet.  I used horticultural oil and BT sprays to try and keep them down.

Scalped my TIF419 already and have most of the winter weeds under control.  I may have been a little early on the scalping but starting to see some green up.  Just turned the irrigation back on this weekend.

[cactusflinthead 27594]

Cayenne, banana, tiny Thai, and jalapeño in the dirt today. Sugar snap peas are coming along. 

The wife wanted to plant a blueberry so I am going to give it a try. It will probably hate our dirt and give up the ghost in July but wth, might as well give it a shot. 

[TexasEd 8064]

28 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Cayenne, banana, tiny Thai, and jalapeño in the dirt today. Sugar snap peas are coming along. 

The wife wanted to plant a blueberry so I am going to give it a try. It will probably hate our dirt and give up the ghost in July but wth, might as well give it a shot. 

That's a battle I fight every year with "hey, why don't we plant [insert poorly adapted plant here]?" It drives me nuts that they want high moisture, acidic soil loving plants like azaleas but are never into watering or feeding them.  They just buy them and don't even plant them half the time.  I figure if I'm the one that does all the work I should at least plant what I like or that can live with the type of care I know it will get.

Edited March 25, 2018 by TexasEd

[RCRanger03 1049]

I'm attempting a raised bed garden with my older daughter to hopefully get her interested so later on I can dragoon her into growing me food. We put in Cherry Tomatoes (with marigolds per the garden store helpers advice), Spinach, Sugar Snap Peas, and some seed Kennebric potatoes that were sprouted (mostly because they were basically free)

I've also got a history of being largely incapable of keeping plants given to me as gifts alive.

We'll see how this goes, feel free to drop advice for first time gardeners.

So far I've been told I'm a dumbass for starting so late, so I have that going for me

[cactusflinthead 27594]

Right. Mine is used to living in the RGV and being told that the Chinese hibiscus which grows year round down there will die in the winter has not made me popular. Same for bougainvillea and a host of others. I can't get her to water the spathiphyllum in the bathroom. There's no way she is going to be on the water brigade for the berry bush.

She's the same woman that got us half a dozen banana pepper plants last year. I was giving them away all over the neighborhood. 

[miguelito 11216]

You probably already know, but you need 2 blueberry plants to cross pollinate, acidic soil, and no birds within 10 miles.

There's nothing like a blueberry straight from the plant, warmed by the sun.

[TexasEd 8064]

1 hour ago, miguelito said:

You probably already know, but you need 2 blueberry plants to cross pollinate, acidic soil, and no birds within 10 miles.

There's nothing like a blueberry straight from the plant, warmed by the sun.

I agree, they are even better when picked from wild bushes on the Appalachian trail.  Collect a zip loc bag full and drop them in your oatmeal for breakfast.

[swraith 336]

I am trying bkackberries, but in pots. Lots of online stuff recommends them in container. Getting multiple varieties. Planting them in peat moss + pine bark soil conditioner plus drip system on timer for pots.  Don’t expect any real production for first couple of years.  

 

Also trying 2 blackberries in the ground this year. Both are thornless floricane varieties, so no real production till next year.  

 

Put a couple different varieties of tomatoes in pots over last 2 weeks. We I’ll see how they do. 

Edited March 26, 2018 by swraith

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

My Brison blackberries are blooming like crazy. Almost as much white from the flowers as green from the leaves. Pomegranates just started blooming, too. Bright red reminder that, yes, it really is Spring.

[RDCanecutter 26246]

I've got the back yard stocked with dirt, sunshine, and air. Now to dig in the dirt and plant something.

[Jkwellborn 6653]

I picked four carrots from last years garden today. I was mowing and one got pulled up enough for me to see it. Went and looked where they were planted and saw the stems from some. That’s gonna be my gardening for the year. 

[HookEm 2442]

I'm thinking of making raised beds this weekend. Was going to make them 18" high. Will that make any difference over 12"?

[miguelito 11216]

What are you gonna plant? I've had good success with 12". Just ask your mom.

[chesthair 231]

need a rec.  SW corner of my front flower bed has a crepe im taking out this weekend.  i want to replace it with a tree.  thought about jap maple but i bet there is something better.  redbud?  it gets good water and 3/4 day sun.  want something i can plant close to the house and get no more than 15-18' tall.  

[miguelito 11216]

What's wrong with the crape myrtle?  That's what usually goes in a spot like that.

Otherwise, mountain laurel, possumhaw, or maybe a big shrub - some of them can get 10' tall.  Do you want a particular shade, color, shape?

[686 3404]

My apple trees are setting fruit and looking good, this one has volunteer bluebonnets and butter leaf lettuce that came up from last year’s crop around the base.

 

[Bat Guano 359]

7 hours ago, HookEm said:

I'm thinking of making raised beds this weekend. Was going to make them 18" high. Will that make any difference over 12"?

Depends on what you're planting. In general the deeper the better, for root development, I would think.

But as to raised beds in general, I've been going back and forth about it. I've tried them, and don't see the advantage. I think it depends on the type of soil you have; if you have 2" of topsoil over caliche, then sure, they're pretty much a necessity. But if you have deep clay soil, like I do, then they are counterproductive; the last thing you need in a climate with summers as hot as Texas has is more drainage - the soil dries out too fast already. Clay soil holds moisture, and has a lot of nutrients also.

What I've settled on after much trial and error is the opposite of raised beds: sunken beds, if you will. Dig a hole big enough for a planting bed, getting rid of rocks and roots and whatever, and fill it with whatever material you'd use for a raised bed (I use mostly compost). Put the excess soil you dug out around the edge as a berm, or just dump it somewhere else. Or if that's too much trouble, dig a hole for each plant that you're going to put in - tomatoes or peppers or whatever - and fill it with good soil or compost and then plant your plants. Watering will be much easier and the beds won't dry out as fast. Once the plants' roots get too big for the bed or hole you put them in, they'll encounter the clay soil, instead of being confined to a raised bed.

[midtown 3341]

I planted a Texas Red Oak last fall here in SA.  Root stimulator, good water, and it looked to be doing great.   Winter game and all the leaves turned brown but not may dropped at all.    Everything in my yard is green.  Grass, 4 yr old Monterrey, 2 yr old Bradford pair, all 6 Crape Myrtles but the red oaks is doing nothing.   Are red oaks late bloomers or do I need to drag this sucker out and over to the nursery for a replacement?

[miguelito 11216]

That's not a good sign if the leaves turned brown but didn't fall off.  I have a red oak that the squirrels planted in a pot, and I transplanted to the yard 2 years ago.  The leaves are starting to come out now.

[miguelito 11216]

Anyone have little worms/caterpillars on collards or other greens?  I've read that BT works, or soap sprays.

[tx 3 putt 76307]

i always wanted a garden 

[cactusflinthead 27594]

18 minutes ago, miguelito said:

Anyone have little worms/caterpillars on collards or other greens?  I've read that BT works, or soap sprays.

Yes. I didn't know about the pollination. Yay. I get to track down more of them.

5 hours ago, midtown said:

I planted a Texas Red Oak last fall here in SA.  Root stimulator, good water, and it looked to be doing great.   Winter game and all the leaves turned brown but not may dropped at all.    Everything in my yard is green.  Grass, 4 yr old Monterrey, 2 yr old Bradford pair, all 6 Crape Myrtles but the red oaks is doing nothing.   Are red oaks late bloomers or do I need to drag this sucker out and over to the nursery for a replacement?

It's not terribly unusual to see a tree hang onto its leaves in the oak fam. If you have doubts about a tree that is still in dormancy scratch the bark on a stem on the smaller branches. If you see some green under there it's still kicking. If you work back to the trunk and it's brown it's dead Jim. That layer underneath the bark is where all the action happens. Cambium(I think, so tired) dies, plant dies 

Edited March 28, 2018 by cactusflinthead

[cactusflinthead 27594]

19 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

i always wanted a garden 

If you have a patio with sun you can have tomatoes and peppers. 5 gallon bucket redneck tech.

[Jkwellborn 6653]

Don’t forget the upside down tomato thing too. 

[TexasEd 8064]

17 hours ago, chesthair said:

need a rec.  SW corner of my front flower bed has a crepe im taking out this weekend.  i want to replace it with a tree.  thought about jap maple but i bet there is something better.  redbud?  it gets good water and 3/4 day sun.  want something i can plant close to the house and get no more than 15-18' tall.  

How close to the house?  How big can the drip line get? Do you want more of a tree form or shrub form?

I have a Mountain Laurel that was planted as a 5 gal pot about 3' tall 11 years ago and it is over 30' high now.  

[chesthair 231]

its close...5-6 feet maybe?  i have 20 +/- feet to the roof overhang.  drip line can be fairly wide.  can a mt laurel handle pruning?

 

[TexasEd 8064]

14 hours ago, chesthair said:

its close...5-6 feet maybe?  i have 20 +/- feet to the roof overhang.  drip line can be fairly wide.  can a mt laurel handle pruning?

 

I think a Redbud or Mountain Laurel would work.  Both can be grown upright, the mountain laurel can be a bush if you prefer.  Mountain Laurel is evergreen and fragrant.  Redbud goes bare in the winter.  Here are examples of both from my yard.  Redbud is about 25' and Mt Laurel is 30+. 

 

[Jimbaround 973]

I've got slugs on my basil.  Any ideas on the best way to get rid of them?  Is slug bait going to poison me if I eat my herbs?

Btw - Sage, Oregano, and Thyme are coming in like gangbusters.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Jimbaround

[Longhorn94 2427]

daughter is starting a new garden. is there anything that doesnt need to be watered consistently?

[chesthair 231]

8 hours ago, TexasEd said:

I think a Redbud or Mountain Laurel would work.  Both can be grown upright, the mountain laurel can be a bush if you prefer.  Mountain Laurel is evergreen and fragrant.  Redbud goes bare in the winter.  Here are examples of both from my yard.  Redbud is about 25' and Mt Laurel is 30+. 

 

 

 

I have a couple redbuds around my yard, i was curious if they would be ok to plant close to the house.  Also, I always thought mt laurel was kinda a trash tree?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

11 hours ago, Jimbaround said:

I've got slugs on my basil.  Any ideas on the best way to get rid of them?  Is slug bait going to poison me if I eat my herbs?

Btw - Sage, Oregano, and Thyme are coming in like gangbusters.

There's a ton of good ways to get 'em without using a poison.  Here's 20 suggestions from the UK, several of which apply here in the US, too (though, sadly, the hedgehog solution won't work in Texas).

Probably my favorite is the beer trap:

[Bat Guano 359]

Yeah, beer is good. That trap is more elaborate than necessary, though. If you have some cheap shit someone brought to a party that you don't want to drink, pour out some into small saucers near the plants. Slugs will crawl in and drown. One summer I was doing this and had a family of skunks - momma skunk and 4 babies - come waddling in every night just after sundown; they would eat the slugs and drink the beer, and usually eat some of the slugs that didn't make it into the beer as well.

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

I love skunks. Fun fact: roughly 20% of the population lacks the olfactory sensations that make skunk odor unpleasant. We lucky few actually kind of enjoy the smell. It's a similar deal to why some people hate cilantro.

[Jimbaround 973]

15 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I love skunks. Fun fact: roughly 20% of the population lacks the olfactory sensations that make skunk odor unpleasant. We lucky few actually kind of enjoy the smell. It's a similar deal to why some people hate cilantro.

Huh, I always have liked the smell of skunk on a cool night drive through the country.

 

Thanks for the slug tips.  Going to try some out tonight.  I think I have some old Bud Light that will be perfect for this.

[Eugene11 375]

Fence finished except stain. New dirt to mix in. Mulch go no on walking paths this weeekdn. It’s a big freak n garden but we are starting small since we haven’t done this before.

Cilantro, hot pepper, tomatoes (forget the kind), carrots, beets( couple different flavors) , kale, broccoli, onion, probably a couple others things I forgot.


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[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Be forewarned, cilantro is a cool weather crop. Usually peters out in late April or early May in most of Texas.

[swraith 336]

When do people generally transplant watermelon and cantaloupe into the ground in central Texas?

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Late April/early May is when my grandfather always planted melons; he was in Llano. Hope that helps.

Meanwhile, after all the storms here in B/CS, my in-ground stuff is all taking off. The raised beds are lagging behind, but such is life. Fruit trees are all blooming, though.

 

[miguelito 11216]

My favorite local tv weatherman here said that when you have lightning around, the air has lots of nitrogen, so the rain that falls during a thunderstorm is like fertilizer, and that's why plants always perk up more after a good storm.   (Or something like that, I was bad at chemistry)

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

The weeds agree. Rainwater is awesome.

 

...as does the all-volunteer sunflower army:

 

...and the pomegranates...

[RCRanger03 1049]

Anyone have advice on doing berries? Would love to get some Blackberries going, but have pretty shit options for full sun. Does that make it a non starter or I make it work on a 5-6 hour spot?

Edited March 30, 2018 by RCRanger03

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

8 minutes ago, RCRanger03 said:

Anyone have advice on doing berries? Would love to get some Blackberries going, but have pretty shit options for full sun. Does that make it a non starter or I make it work on a 5-6 hour spot?

My best blackberry bramble is in full sun, but I have a couple in partial sun that still produce a lot. Brison is my cultivar of choice.

[Eugene11 375]

On 3/29/2018 at 7:19 PM, Walden Ponderer said:

Be forewarned, cilantro is a cool weather crop. Usually peters out in late April or early May in most of Texas.

We live in Portland or. Should be fine. Our summmer doesn’t start until mid July and ends about end of aug.  😀. 

 

On on the other hand blackberry is a weed up here. It literally all over the place and mostly where you don’t want it. It is nuts how fast it grows and takes over shit. Can’t kill the fucker either with roundup or the like. 

 

[Both Tacos 1805]

Things are coming along. Have some little straight leaf grass coming up through the straw. Going to deal with that tomorrow by putting down more straw. Looks like the grass is where the straw wasn't as thick as other places. Also had to put up chicken wire on the bottom of the new fencing. The fence has worked out great for keeping out the chocolate lab, but wife's damn shih tzu can fit through the wire squares. Wouldn't really care as she doesn't do anything wrong in there but that dumb bitch gets all freaking out when trying to get out of the garden. She got hung up the other day and the last thing I need is a wife with a dead dog because of my garden. Pic is without new chicken wire.

[miguelito 11216]

How do you walk around in there?  Do you have a path between rows?

[Jimbaround 973]

Help out a beginner.  What does the straw do?  What are you planting?

[thunderlounge 7752]

Straw works as a mulch, then you just turn it under and let it compost in the soil. 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

35 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Straw works as a mulch, then you just turn it under and let it compost in the soil. 

Yep. Straw is higher in lignans than most other compost (except for wood and woodchips), so it breaks down more slowly, but that just means it's got extended release nutrition for your plants. You can do the same sort of thing with leaves, but the difference is the leaves break down faster, and the soil is concomitantly depleted faster, as well, meaning you have to do it more often if you use leaves.

[Mother mopar 3297]

Don’t forget the upside down tomato thing too. 

I tried this last yr out here in So Cal and didn't have the greatest of luck. The buckets continually dried out and the fruit wasn't near as big...obviously due to water issues.

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