Garden Geeks thread

[MattS]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

We've been getting a few grape bunches off the vines we planted last year.

How old are your vines? You really shouldn't let any grapes grow, let alone harvest, on vines younger than 3 years old. If they are younger than 3 years old, or you have harvested grapes before the 3 year old mark, then I would suggest that you remove the blossoms next season and wait that season out. Let the vines concentrate on growing strong. This will help the quality and quantity of the grapes.

I should mention that I grow my grapes for wine making but the principle is still the same.

[Bob Gray]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

How old are your vines? You really shouldn't let any grapes grow, let alone harvest, on vines younger than 3 years old. If they are younger than 3 years old, or you have harvested grapes before the 3 year old mark, then I would suggest that you remove the blossoms next season and wait that season out. Let the vines concentrate on growing strong. This will help the quality and quantity of the grapes.

I should mention that I grow my grapes for wine making but the principle is still the same.

Thanks for the info. Our vines are a little over a year old. The guys at the nursery had said to not worry about it and go ahead and harvest the vines, but I wondered if they were on the young side to be getting fruit from them.

[jen]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My strawberries appear to have gray mold on them. So ready to dig them up and start over. They've done nothing in 3 years. I'm not sure it's a good spot for them. Although it might be too late for this season (they've ever-bearing, so they're not necessarily done, right?), will try fungicide more often, adding straw and using a soaker hose instead of watering from above. Any other ideas?

[walrus]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My green beans didn't germinate for ****, tilled them under started 2 more rows

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My green beans didn't germinate for ****, tilled them under started 2 more rows

Me either. The Soleil ones came up gangbusters. The Nickel ones failed miserably

The groundhogs ate my tomatoes to a stub wile we were gone a whole 4 days. Little buggers are bold. Ready to shoot them but need to get an implement to do so.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My first attempt at growing zuchinni seems to be going well. No fruit yet, but the plants are overtaking my garden. I guess I wasn't ready for how big they'd get. I pulled two of them up and gave them to friends.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Trying the 'nightwater' solution for the groundhogs. We will see.

[CLS]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My first attempt at growing zuchinni seems to be going well. No fruit yet, but the plants are overtaking my garden. I guess I wasn't ready for how big they'd get. I pulled two of them up and gave them to friends.

Once they start to fruit, check them every day. They can grow from "just right" size to baseball bat size seemingly overnight.

My habaneros were looking a little ragged, but a shot of fertilizer seemed to do the trick. Three of my tomatillos are doing fine, a fourth seems healthy, but is smaller.

[MadTownSioux]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Two types of pole beans; green and yellow. both have overtopped their trellis. Flowers, but no beans yet. Purple bush string beans - one plant out of 4 rows I planted have come up. No more purple beans for me.

Peas are doing great; 3 different varieties. The earliest variety has produced 1 meal so far.

Several peppers are showing; plants are still small. Potatoes are the best I've ever seen. Hoping for a huge crop.

[MattS]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

My first attempt at growing zuchinni seems to be going well. No fruit yet, but the plants are overtaking my garden. I guess I wasn't ready for how big they'd get. I pulled two of them up and gave them to friends.

I plant all of my plants like zucchini, squash, pumpkins, etc. along the perimeter of my garden and "train" (move the vines) to grown towards the outside of my garden boundaries. It makes mowing around the garden a bit of a pain but that way they don't take over their area of the garden and I can let them get as big as they want.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I plant all of my plants like zucchini, squash, pumpkins, etc. along the perimeter of my garden and "train" (move the vines) to grown towards the outside of my garden boundaries. It makes mowing around the garden a bit of a pain but that way they don't take over their area of the garden and I can let them get as big as they want.

They are on an outside row, I will try this as I don't want them to encroach too much on my bell peppers...as those are my favorite food I grow.

[owslachief]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I appreciate that mother nature has blessed our yard with the dragonflies as of a couple weeks ago. Perfect no-maintenance way to keep the mosquito population way down. However, question to anyone who's been as lucky: Is there any one plant type or combo of plants that will attract them year after year?

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

The raspberries are just starting to bear fruit. We covered the raspberry patch with bird netting over the weekend. Looks like many quarts of berries to come.

overall, the garden has been a bit slow-starting so far, although the beans are looking good now. We have a few green tomatoes on the vines already.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I appreciate that mother nature has blessed our yard with the dragonflies as of a couple weeks ago. Perfect no-maintenance way to keep the mosquito population way down. However, question to anyone who's been as lucky: Is there any one plant type or combo of plants that will attract them year after year?

I tink it has more to do with available water. That is where the breed.

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I appreciate that mother nature has blessed our yard with the dragonflies as of a couple weeks ago. Perfect no-maintenance way to keep the mosquito population way down. However, question to anyone who's been as lucky: Is there any one plant type or combo of plants that will attract them year after year?

HGTV has an article on how to attract dragonflies each year.

http://www.hgtv.com/gardening/invite...den/index.html

Attracting dragonfly delicacies in the landscape is easy. Just plant a diverse landscape of trees and shrubs around the perimeter of the yard to provide hiding places for young dragonflies, and add a variety of blooming plants. Cook suggests incorporating plants like black-eyed Susan or Rudbeckia hirta, swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata, or even the Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum). These plants will attract tiny pollinators, which also serve as food for the dragonflies.

Bees, flies, moths, butterflies and the occasional fellow dragonfly may be what's for dinner, but there are lots of predators that eat dragonflies, and that's especially true near water where these winged wonders spend a good portion of their lives. "As larvae, they can spend two months to several years living underwater. Then they emerge and become flying adults," says Cook. Dragonflies also return to the water to mate and oviposite (lay their eggs), and for that, a water source is necessary. It can be as basic as a barrel full of water or, as in Cook's case, as elaborate as her neighbor's pond. If you provide water, they will come to hunt, reproduce, perch, play and generally entertain anyone lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these fascinating characters in the garden.

What you plant in and around the pond is critical to a dragonfly's survival. Rocks provide hiding places for larvae during the insects' underwater growth stage.

Cattails and grassy foliage allow the larvae passage out of the pond. Water lilies are a favorite birthing place for some species of dragonflies. Not only do the lilies provide the shade that keeps algae in check, they're also easy to plant. To plant water lilies, she recommends selecting a container with no holes in the bottom. "Water lilies tend to be a bit aggressive, so I want to keep them contained." Fill the container with soil about three-quarters full. Cook uses soil that is rich in organic matter. Then place the water lily in the soil.

Backfill the container with soil, leaving the top portion of the tuber exposed. Add some gravel to the top to finish it off so the soil won't float up. Be careful not to cover the crown with gravel. And when that's done, place the lily in the water. Place the lily container about 1-1/2 to 2 feet deep. Slowly release it into the water. When the weather gets cooler, Cook moves the lilies from the edge to the center of the pond so they won't freeze.

As Mrs. Les said, the key element is the breeding ground. Either you need to live near a pond or marsh or build something comparable.