2022 jjannie's garden and such

[jjannie]

Finally got our seeds started today. Had hoped to do them on 1 April, oh well... glad we finally got it done. We cannot plant outside until after Mother's Day at the earliest, even then we do what can to not get any frosted. Just cannot wait until 1 June as we'd missed too many good growing days. We did rent a dump trailer on 4 April to get all our materials - bark - landfill bark (10cuyds), colored bark 4cuyds for close around the house, and 3cuyds of manure. 

[wiperhunter2]

Finally got our seeds started today. Had hoped to do them on 1 April, oh well... glad we finally got it done. We cannot plant outside until after Mother's Day at the earliest, even then we do what can to not get any frosted. Just cannot wait until 1 June as we'd missed too many good growing days. We did rent a dump trailer on 4 April to get all our materials - bark - landfill bark (10cuyds), colored bark 4cuyds for close around the house, and 3cuyds of manure. 

Good start to the growing season, I know you have been getting your plants going in your GH are you close to putting your starts outside yet?
Later today I'll be starting a new thread on the Idaho GH but needless to say, it is really doing well, to the point on them already picking stuff.

[jjannie]

we took these greenhouse pics on 6/26 BEFORE we left on vacation. 

---

Then we took these greenhouse pics on 7/11. Things have finally taken off, it was like jungle in there., Ended up tying up several of tomatoes and Armenian cucumbers to support and control them. 

[wiperhunter2]

Wow, that is some impressive growth between the two different pic groups, thanks for sharing them with us Jil. In the second set of pics, what kind of plant is that at the far back end of pic #4?

[jjannie]

Wow, that is some impressive growth between the two different pic groups, thanks for sharing them with us Jil. In the second set of pics, what kind of plant is that at the far back end of pic #4?

If I've got the right pic you're asking about it's the center section of the GH, right? Those are tomato plants.

There was lot of growth in there. Outside the GH, we've had less progress.

[wiperhunter2]

Wow, that is some impressive growth between the two different pic groups, thanks for sharing them with us Jil. In the second set of pics, what kind of plant is that at the far back end of pic #4?

If I've got the right pic you're asking about it's the center section of the GH, right? Those are tomato plants.

There was lot of growth in there. Outside the GH, we've had less progress.

I cropped the pic to show just the part I'm talking about, it looks different than the tomato plants in the foreground of that pic but this plant looks darker.






l

[jjannie]

Wow, that is some impressive growth between the two different pic groups, thanks for sharing them with us Jil. In the second set of pics, what kind of plant is that at the far back end of pic #4?

If I've got the right pic you're asking about it's the center section of the GH, right? Those are tomato plants.

There was lot of growth in there. Outside the GH, we've had less progress.

I cropped the pic to show just the part I'm talking about, it looks different than the tomato plants in the foreground of that pic but this plant looks darker.






l

They are cherry tomatoes, the side beds to this one have romas and DX-5212 tomatoes and some bell pepper plants. Not sure why the color differences, We have since learned that bell peppers don't like being next to tomatoes so next year will be a new layout.

[wiperhunter2]

They are cherry tomatoes, the side beds to this one have romas and DX-5212 tomatoes and some bell pepper plants. Not sure why the color differences, We have since learned that bell peppers don't like being next to tomatoes so next year will be a new layout.

What is the reason why bell peppers don't do well besides tomatoes?

[jjannie]

They are cherry tomatoes, the side beds to this one have romas and DX-5212 tomatoes and some bell pepper plants. Not sure why the color differences, We have since learned that bell peppers don't like being next to tomatoes so next year will be a new layout.

What is the reason why bell peppers don't do well besides tomatoes?

I think they can grow next each other but the tomato outgrows the pepper and will shade it too much.

---

Took a few pictures from inside the GH and few outside grow areas. No new pics our pots gardening area this time. you can see the cukes are growing into the nearest tomato plants. The tomato plants have really shaded the peppers.  So we'll be changing the planting areas around next year. We're still learning what does or doesn't work. 





















 Next pics will show after we trimmed back the tomatoes giving more sun to peppers.

[jjannie]

ok grabbed a few more pics. You see we pruned one of GH tomatoes to see how it was affected - looked okay so we'll do more pruning. There's also a picture of Mexican cukes not in GH - still no cukes on them either, bummer. We harvested big bowl of bush beans for dinner and decided to just pull the plants because we have 3 full bags in freezer. one pot still has more bush beans that we can eat fresh. Also picked a zucchini we must have missed the other day - guess I'll make some bread with it. 

[wiperhunter2]

ok grabbed a few more pics. You see we pruned one of GH tomatoes to see how it was affected - looked okay so we'll do more pruning. There's also a picture of Mexican cukes not in GH - still no cukes on them either, bummer. We harvested big bowl of bush beans for dinner and decided to just pull the plants because we have 3 full bags in freezer. one pot still has more bush beans that we can eat fresh. Also picked a zucchini we must have missed the other day - guess I'll make some bread with it. 

I'll have to take a pic of that plant that is growing in my planter box, it just started growing but it looks a lot like your mex cuke, just smaller. 
Your garden is looking good. Next year I need to plant less zucchini, you can see from my garden thread, mine are way overgrown, hard to even get in and pick them, without breaking the leaves.

[jjannie]

Finally got some Mex gherkins set and we've picked a couple handfuls so far (pic). We ended up giving them some miracle gro hoping that may help them grow a bit larger before the frost hits probably be end of September. the one is GH are finally producing something but likely won't get any - just bad planning in there and too much shade from the tomato plants.

We finally figured out what was happening with our zucchini, yellow squash and pumpkins. The plants were really looking . The pumpkins even turned orange already even though they were not very large yet. SQUASH BUGS!!! We were very badly infested with them. So, we went to town each evening with a dish soap & water spray bottle shaken to make foamy - it was deadly and was very effective. We killed as many eggs as we find and took care of squishing them as well. Now it's a nightly routine to check and couple can still be found. It was so bad, but glad we've learned what to look for in the future so we can react quicker. 

Another thing we're going to try is overwinter our bell pepper plants. We've read this might give a jump on our harvest next year. (see attached file).  We'll see how it goes!

Finally pulled the bush bean plants - we've got so many put up already and with no more blooming happening ly we tossed the plants and what was growing on them as the neighbors have all had enough of them. They did so well this year. 

Our tomatoes are producing like crazy, 21qts of tomato soup put up, lots eaten, BLTs as well. Neighbors have all received some as well. Our Roma tomatoes are loaded but just not ripening up very quickly - may need to give them a message to hurry them up (like pruning them). 

Always something to be done in the garden.... 

[Kent]

I belong to a local gardening group on FB and many have reported huge infestations of squash bugs this year. I have been aggressively killing them and removing their eggs with duct tape.

[jjannie]

I belong to a local gardening group on FB and many have reported huge infestations of squash bugs this year.  I have been aggressively killing them and removing their eggs with duct tape.

Thanks for that info. So good to know it's not just us. Wonder why they hit so badly this year like this? We finally got them under control but bit late in the season to really make too much of difference. But all the plants have really been putting on nice new growth for what it's worth anyway. We'll now know what to be looking for so hopefully in future we will be quicker to nip it right away. 

40 degrees here overnight (got our house down to a chilly 59), not many bees still around to pollinate - so many still green tomatoes we'll likely be ripening in the basement once again. What can be moved into the garage (because they are grown in pots will soon be moved and we'll start closing up the greenhouse every night - just need to protect it all overnight. We're always about 6-8 degrees cooler than what they forecast for us during the summer, but actually are warmer than forecasted during winter. Strange but true. 

Soon those nice fall colors will be showing up.

[wiperhunter2]

I belong to a local gardening group on FB and many have reported huge infestations of squash bugs this year.  I have been aggressively killing them and removing their eggs with duct tape.

 Squash bugs, never heard of them or seen them, what kind of squash to they attack? Do you buy your squash plants or plant them from seeds?

[jjannie]

I belong to a local gardening group on FB and many have reported huge infestations of squash bugs this year.  I have been aggressively killing them and removing their eggs with duct tape.

 Squash bugs, never heard of them or seen them, what kind of squash to they attack? Do you buy your squash plants or plant them from seeds?

We grow from seed. They were not in any of soil amendments we used because they are NOT in the GH. They're just gross. The adults can even bury themselves then re-emerge in spring. They like our zukes, yellow squash and our pumpkin. We seem to have gotten them in control but likely too late for any increase in our harvesting. if smash one they are green with all the sap they've sucked out of your plant. They LOVE any dead matter to hide in, they lay their eggs right bottom of any leaves, they are more out at dusk. You can google many videos about them and how to get rid of them. They didn't seem to like our nearby tomatoes or our bush beans.

[wiperhunter2]

So this is what you are seeing:



If so I did see one or two of them around my Zucchini but none around my yellow squash but they never caused any major issues. Do they cause the squash not to grow or do they not get pollinated? The leaves are growing like crazy on my plants so they don't seem to be suffering but I'm getting twice as many yellow squash as we are zucchini.

[jjannie]

Her's a pic of yesterday's Mexican Gherkins we picked; you can see they have grown bigger than our last picture of them. There were more set we didn't pick them all. They are the best snacking cucumber - just like how you can pick a cherry tomato as you pass by this part of our garden. Fun and tasty. 




 Need to go harvest some pea pods for a stir-fry dinner - yummy.

---

So this is what you are seeing:



If so I did see one or two of them around my Zucchini but none around my yellow squash but they never caused any major issues. Do they cause the squash not to grow or do they not get pollinated? The leaves are growing like crazy on my plants so they don't seem to be suffering but I'm getting twice as many yellow squash as we are zucchini.

yes that is similar and in the same family they do the same damage and are little slower to die from our soap spraying.  I'll go see if I can find the kind we had lots of - need to check them anyway. It's a daily thing. You will know when its bad you'll have lots of dying leaves and vines. Sorry no pic - but ours looked more like this


really stunted all the plants growths due to lack of sap nutrients.

[wiperhunter2]

Maybe I just got lucky then or I'll get them bad next year but I haven't had any vines or leaves die, except for the ones I stepped on trying to get into my garden box to pick my green beans.
Those Gherks look good.

[jjannie]

Well, we did manage to get some pumpkin seeds out of our small pumpkins - no thanks to those squash bugs - to toast. Most were not very large at all, so no carving this year. 

I did save 6 of bell pepper plants to try over-winterizing them (pic).  Think I'll try doing some of the GH tomato plants as well since they are in same genus family to see if that works out as well. With any luck maybe we'll get an earlier or better start to next year's growing season. Figure it's all a good test. 

We also completed removal of another lawn island area that we changed over from being lawn to gravel. We now have only one tenth the lawn we started with - enough for the pups to romp and do their business on. Lot less watering, Lot less mowing. and Win-Win.