What Did You Do In The Garden?

[flowerbug]

Got another inch today. Nothing like what was forecasted thank the Lord! I don’t quite dare complain this time of year but over 10 inches in a month is a lot.

for us too. so far this week things have calmed down and we've only picked up a few sprinkles so the gardens are finally drying out a bit. with our mostly clay soil i tend to perch the bean plants up a bit if they are in a possible low spot so most of them look like nothing has happened to them. the drains certainly had their little piles of debris stacked on the grates.

the forecast is changing and that's ok with me, back to more dry again. one to two inches of rain a week is plenty. average for us is about three inches a month.

 

[ducks4you]

Probably dumb question here. But why shouldn’t one burn poison ivy?

IF you burn poison ivy and breathe in the smoke, you could end up in the ER.

Dangers of burning poison ivy

Before you clear out the brush from your hunting camp or light any brush on fire, pay special attention to this warning on what you burn. KPLC's Britney Glaser finds out the dangers of inhaling the oils of burning poison ivy.

www.kplctv.com

There are just SOME plants, poison ivy, bind wind, that SHOULD end up in a landfill.

 

[ducks4you]

There are MANY OTHER weeds that you may Safely burn, Grasshopper!

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I don’t burn weeds so it shouldn’t be a problem here. The only things I burn are prunings off of tomatoes and strawberries.

 

[Zeedman]

Put up the trellis for the late planting of Fortex pole beans, and thinned them to final spacing (2 every 12"). Although there are still strings to tie, all trellis poles & frames are up. Also weeded around the peppers & pinched off any growing peppers, in preparation for covering the cages.

DW & I drove out to the rural garden, to see how it had fared through the rainfall. The good news: no flooding, and no sign of erosion. The bad news: about 1/2 of the garden was waterlogged, and too wet to walk in. A lot of previously healthy plants are wilting, including the entire row of Grandma Robert's Purple Pole beans. Whether that is due to wet soil, or herbicide overspray from the adjacent farm field, only time will tell (the farmer was spraying something the last time we were there). The weather will be 90's & dry for the weekend, hopefully most of the plants will recover as the soil dries out.

More bad news. We took the floating row cover with us, intending to cover the kabocha squash & pumpkins before insects appeared. When I walked out to inspect the plants, three SVB moths were already flying in & out along the row! Apparently the June heat caused them to hatch early. Cucumber beetles were also swarming on some of the vines, so it is already too late to cover the plants. Unless I can find a spray to kill the SVB eggs, it will be a battle to save the squash this year.

We re-weeded some rows & tied strings for some of the beans & bitter melon which were ready to climb; but DW is still struggling with her leg, and my knees were bothering me, so we quit early. Tomorrow will be hot, so we will go early & get as much done as we can; I hope to get mulch on the weeded areas before it rains again.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unless I can find a spray to kill the SVB eggs, it will be a battle to save the squash this year.

Unless you are out there to spray constantly there isn't one. As soon as they hatch the caterpillar chews into the middle of the stem where a spray can't reach them.

Two thoughts. As far north as you are the SVB only has one hatch per year. Replant the seeds if you have time for a harvest. They don't bother a late planting. That doesn't work down here as there is a second hatch.

Somebody on here recently suggested using a hypodermic needle and inject BT every few inches. I don't remember who mentioned it but it should work.

 

[Zeedman]

Unless you are out there to spray constantly there isn't one. As soon as they hatch the caterpillar chews into the middle of the stem where a spray can't reach them.

Two thoughts. As far north as you are the SVB only has one hatch per year. Replant the seeds if you have time for a harvest. They don't bother a late planting. That doesn't work down here as there is a second hatch.

Somebody on here recently suggested using a hypodermic needle and inject BT every few inches. I don't remember who mentioned it but it should work.

Unfortunately, the reason there is only one hatch is that we have a very short summer. I've planted zucchini late with great results; but for squash harvested mature (such as the kabocha & naked-seeded pumpkin) there would not be enough days left before frost. The eggs take 1 week to hatch, maybe if I can kill the eggs present & then cover the plants, I may be able to prevent serious damage.

If that doesn't work... both of those varieties root from the stem; so with vigilance, I may be able to save them. That worked in 2019, when I was able to root the stems of Buttercup & kill enough of the larvae with a water pick to allow the plants to survive until the squash matured.

 

[flowerbug]

Unfortunately, the reason there is only one hatch is that we have a very short summer. I've planted zucchini late with great results; but for squash harvested mature (such as the kabocha & naked-seeded pumpkin) there would not be enough days left before frost. The eggs take 1 week to hatch, maybe if I can kill the eggs present & then cover the plants, I may be able to prevent serious damage.

If that doesn't work... both of those varieties root from the stem; so with vigilance, I may be able to save them. That worked in 2019, when I was able to root the stems of Buttercup & kill enough of the larvae with a water pick to allow the plants to survive until the squash matured.

i wonder if citrus peels would make any difference... stacked around the seedlings. anyone tried anything like this? i wanted to try it with orange peels this year and Mom said no. i had a bunch of dried citrus peels all ready to go.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Unfortunately, the reason there is only one hatch is that we have a very short summer. I've planted zucchini late with great results; but for squash harvested mature (such as the kabocha & naked-seeded pumpkin) there would not be enough days left before frost. The eggs take 1 week to hatch, maybe if I can kill the eggs present & then cover the plants, I may be able to prevent serious damage.

If that doesn't work... both of those varieties root from the stem; so with vigilance, I may be able to save them. That worked in 2019, when I was able to root the stems of Buttercup & kill enough of the larvae with a water pick to allow the plants to survive until the squash matured.

Regardless of whether or not I can get the borer I always make sure mine have an area of disturbed soil to root in since most seem to make it if they can set out roots. The first round of borers don’t have a significant impact on my plants and rarely kill them because of this. Usually they just stop putting out fruit for about a week and I put out some fertilizer and they go on like nothing happened. This probably won’t work quite as well if you have severe infestations with multiple Larve in the plant though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've posted this photo from 2019 before. This is the SVB caterpillar. I cut all these out of one plant. Some were near soil level but others were quite a bit higher up. When I was in Arkansas I was able to split the stem with my pretty sharp pocket knife and remove the borer, only one per plant. That plant kept on producing until the squash bugs killed it. But with the kind of infestation i get down here I don't have a chance.