lavender

Looks as though the tomatoes will be fabulous. Lots of cukes. Fair crops of broccoli and cauliflower. Nothing much with the peppers and eggplant so far. Onions are larger than usual. I'll be trying the cardoon soon. Cabbage looking good. Odds and ends are doing well. 

I put that crushed bug spray to the test about 10 years ago when it was a semi-popular theory.  I had a terrible infestation of striped squash bugs in the garden. Overcoming the ick factor I collected a handful of them. I tossed them in an old blender container with some water and gave it a whirl. I strained the resulting mess and sprayed it on the squash. The the other striped squash bugs loved it. They came from miles around apparently thinking it was a family reunion. The only think I can think of is that I released pheromones that were  very attractive. My conclusion was that hanging a dead coyote might frighten off his kin and hanging a dead crow may have a similar effect but squished bugs just attract more bugs. It's kind of like hanging a Japanese beetle trap among the roses.  

I've noticed that Japanese beetles drop when they feel threatened. I've caught a lot of them by putting a container pf soapy water under a branch and shaking it. They are perhaps dropping and hitting water instead of ground. How are the ducks fulfilling their roll of tick eliminators? Do they eat Japanese beetles as well? 

For practical and pruning purposes indeterminate tomatoes are tomatoes that grow tall and will grow best if staked or caged. They can get to be 5 or 6 feet tall. Pruning aka suckering is an option. Because they continue to grow they do produce over a longer period of time. This is why they are often topped off in our shorter growing season. 

Indeterminate tomatoes are bush tomatoes that grow to only 3 or 4 feet. The larger sizes grow best staked but it is optional but pruning is not a good idea as they stop growing at a given point and pruning reduces your crop considerably. 

The goals and problems of commercial growers and those of the home gardener are often quite different. Most of us aren't planting hundreds of tomato plants and planting them as close together as commercial growers do so we aren't going to experience the problems that come with acres of tomatoes. Nor do we have to produce tomatoes that are perfect. Enjoy your garden and limit the work. 

Here is a more extensive explanation of determinate and indeterminate from Horticultural Magazine http://www.hortmag.com/plants/fruits-veggies/the-difference-between-determinate-and-indeterminate-tomatoes

I don't. I'll take off bottom leaves and plant more of the stem in the spring. This will encourage root growth. After that you only prune indeterminate tomatoes if you are going to do it at all.  Pruning determinate ones will lower your yield considerably. If you stake your tomatoes taking out the suckers will control the plant and perhaps increase the size of your tomatoes. It may also lower your yield. Late in the season some people top the tomatoes. If you take off the top it will no longer grow taller and will give the tomatoes on the plant a chance to ripen before the frost. Removing the side shoots will also increase air flow which might be a good idea if there is a lot of rain and high humidity that increases the chance of fungus diseases. It just depends on what your are aiming at. Highly controlled pruned plants are more likely to give you big, perfect tomatoes. Letting them grow will give you a higher yield 

Seven dust works for me.  We have had fewer insects this year and no deer damage. (Knock on wood!) I don't know what is going on. I'm sure all the rain had something to do with it. Maybe this batch of deer don't like Asiatic and daylilies. 

14 hours ago, steelnut said:

My eggplant are the only ones that don't look so great, something is eating the leaves with little tiny holes, would that be flea beetles? Hubby dusted them Monday, then it rained. 

That is those flea beetles. Seven takes care of them. The rain may not make much difference if that is what you are using. Either it sticks or it kills them off so quickly that it works despite being washed off. Gramps always said dust with lime but I never did think that worked. They will ruin the eggplant unless it grows so quickly that it replaces the leaves faster than they can turn them to lace. 

Best garden that we’ve had in years. You can almost see the plants growing especially the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Curiously, there are few insect problems. Even the flea beetles that usually just about ruin the eggplant are fewer in number and no asparagus beetles to speak of

I did spray for fungal and viral diseases as we had some problems last year. With all this rain it was precautionary. The only things  that were affected were some spiderworta and I want to keep it that way.

The wild turkeys eat our driveway, which is gravel. 

There is usually more than one way to do almost anything. There is no "my way or the highway" in gardening.  As Lyndsey pointed out sometimes it is a big rock.  Personally, I usually start with the simplest form and work my way up the scale.

 I grow the variegated form of Japanese knotweed,  Fallopia japonica 'Varigata", as an ornamental. It is a very pretty plant. I keep it under control by growing it in the shade. It doesn't grow as big or as rambunctious. 

If no other method works you could try eating it. 

Japanese Knotweed Crumble
Prepare a knotweed compote (similar to stewed rhubarb) by cutting tender spring
knotweed shoots, no longer than about 12"-18" (the thicker, the better; leaves removed)
into inch chunks. Steam till soft -- about 10 minutes. Add sweetener to taste -- perhaps
1/4 c. sugar per 2-3 cups of steamed knotweed -- and a squeeze of lemon juice. A drop of
red food coloring will give it a very appetizing look.
Mix equal parts flour and oatmeal, say 1/2 c.each, with a bit of cinnamon, some sugar and
a dash of salt. Cut in butter, 1/3 stick at minimum and more if you like a richer crumble.
Butter a baking dish. Put in the knotweed, cover with crumble mixture and bake in a
medium hot oven, 350 degrees, for a half hour or so. As you notice, measurements, times
and temperatures are variable. This basic technique is flexible and adaptable – just like
knotweed! Have fun, use up our invasives, and get something for nothing

The only way to get rid of an invasive plant that multiplies by rhizomes is to cut it back and put a tarp over it. It must have no holes in it and preferably be black. The heat helps kill the rhizomes. Spray any remaining foliage with glyphosate weed killer and watch the edges of the tarp for more plants creeping out. Kill them! Eventually the rhizomes will die. Whatever you do don't let it flower. 

3 hours ago, Harvey Mungaknuts said:

found it is even growing on the landscape blocks around the tree.   tree will be cut in winter ( if it makes it that long)  will bleach kill this stuff in the soil afterwards

Not sure why you are so worried about it. It's not a fungus the way athletes foot is a fungus. It is just nature's way of utilizing dead or dying organic material. It helps break down the wood so that it returns to the soil like earthworms or soil bacteria work with the soil or in your compost heap.  Without these things everything that died would just lay there and never decompose. 

I've never seen one of those around here but yes, it looks like the perennial ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum ). Check and see if it is spreading by rhizomes. They are a great plant for butterflies. I've got a spot for it if you want rid of some of it. 

The world of fungi is weird and wonderful. I used to find this one along the fence of my veggie garden. It is known as dog penis fungus or less salaciously as dog stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus). They give them such great names. I don't know where that name came from but I have from a reputable source that when a mushroom guide was recently compiled the publisher insisted of common names for all of the 'shrooms. Some of them didn't have them as they were of no interest to anyone but the people who studied them so the person consulted made them up as he went along. He had a very whimsical imagination.  Here is the dog penis fungus

Like Steelnut, I like Celebrity for eating and San Marzano for canning. Both grow under adverse conditions. I'm trying a cultivar of Celebrity this year it is called Celebration. Celebrity seeds are difficult to come by. I try something new each year also. This year beside Celebrity it is Maestro. I also saved seeds from the Kumato and we shall see if they are an open pollinated plant or a hybrid. 

On 5/14/2018 at 7:09 PM, Bon said:

Thats why I want Muscovys. No one can b**** about the noise!!  The hard part is finding some. TS doesn't have anymore birds. RK doesn't carry them around here. Time to look a little further away!!

There are some weird looking ducks wandering the streets of Clearfield. I was told they were Muscovys. Might want to go over and see if they are still there. I'm sure they would be happier with you than being homeless in Clearfield. 

20 hours ago, steelnut said:

Update on the deer this spring eating daffodils. I had an early morning hair appointment and I was telling the ladies how they ate my crocus, tulips and daffs. Another customer heard me and said that she and all of her neighbors had the same thing happen. How weird?  

Me too. Someone else told me the same thing. I don't know what is going on. I can speculate that since we have had such a late spring they are desperate for something green having subsisted on browse all winter. Animals eat by instinct mostly. They eat my irises and daylilies off every spring. They don't bother them the rest of the year except for eating the flower buds off the daylilies. I guess they are eating the few green things out there despite the stomach ache that results. They also will eat rhododendrons if they get desperate enough in the winter. 

You will have to check on whether you are allowed to fire a gun close to the city. As for the game laws I'm fairly sure that you need to have a hunting license to shoot groundhogs. Maybe one of the hunters on here could further enlighten you. On anything further I'm taking the 5th. 

Shoot the groundhogs or get a dog that hates them. Invite all of the hunters you can find to join you during deer season. 

Deer can jump at least 7 feet. Anything less and I've seen them go over it from a standing start. Groundhogs will dig under a fence that isn't buried. They also climb. Saw one up a tree once and thought I was hallucinating. There is only one permanent solution. 

You folks have some really desperate deer. According to Poison Control:

All parts of the daffodil contain a toxic chemical, lycorine. The part of the plant that contains the highest concentration of lycorine is the bulb. However, eating any part of the plant can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. These symptoms usually last about 3 hours. More severe problems such as low blood pressure, drowsiness, and damage to the liver have been reported in animals that ate very large amounts of the plant but have never been reported in humans.

The bulb also contains chemicals called oxalates, which are microscopic and needle-like. When swallowed, oxalates cause severe burning and irritation of the lips, tongue, and throat. They can also cause skin irritation.

I don't want them either but I'm not sure what we can do about it. No fence is going to keep them out. There is a farm above us and they have permission to shoot them as they are out of the area where they were supposed to be confined. My guess is that strayed or not the Game Commission isn't  going to let us shoot them. 

If they ate enough of those daffs they are going to get at the least a stomachache and maybe dead. Daffs are usually deer proof as they are poisonous.  Tulips and crocus are deer candy. We've had an elk in the yard. I'm expecting real trouble this summer. 

I waited until after St. Patrick's Day to start seeds this year. I usually have them in by the 17th of March.  The weather has been so bad that I couldn't see getting started too early. The broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage is up but doesn't have the true leaves out yet. The peppers are just breaking ground. The tomatoes haven't germinated yet but I put them in just last week.  Some of the odd things like herbs and cardoon are late also. I'll have to start getting the bigger ones into pots next week or the week after. I always do way too many. 

Burpee has them and they are also available on Amazon. 

Lettuce, spinach,  beans, all of your cole crops. I once saved some of my cauliflower seedlings all summer and stuck them in at the end of the season. They were still tiny but about as tough as a plant could be from sitting in a flat for months.  They took right off and produced small heads of cauliflower. They were only about 4 inches across but it was interesting.