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TomatoNut95
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Re: Imafans 2020 Garden

I'm afraid I don't have a light meter. And the only thing I have on hand that I could possibly mound my orchid on is dried Cholla cactus bark, sutuiable for the Tillisandia collecter. Would that work? Most of the gardening stuff is only available for in-store purchase, and I REFUSE to go inside a store yet; too many Coronavirus cases.

I have had thoughts of putting my orchid outside, but I'm too afraid I'd kill it.

imafan26
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I can tell its really summer now. The African Tulip, and Rainbow shower trees are blooming. My grass is turning brown and I don't have to mow it nearly as much. Actually most people's lawns are browning. Only the lawns that are regularly watered or are artificial turf are actually a little greener.

It is getting hotter and muggier. I bought an Icee on my way to work and my co workers were jealous and a little amazed. I did not know Icee brand of slush is such a rarity. I may even consider making ice cakes. I haven't had those in a while either.

It was a warm winter so the seasons are off. Orchids are blooming late, but at least they are all blooming late so I am still getting some flowers all the time just at weird times.

The orchid clubs and the community garden meetings have been canceled for months. The orchid club is still putting out newsletters with photos of orchids sent in by members, and another club is holding zoom meetings. I have managed to go to the garden center to work on the weeds in the herb garden, but I have a hard time connecting with my volunteer helpers since I usually work alone and don't go on a regular day and time much anymore. I guess , I need to go back to my regular routine again. Usually, I work alone in the garden anyway, and the preference was for volunteers not to work in groups so I have been going on random days working around my job, my appointments, and work that is overdue in my yard. I see some of the people I know from the garden, orchid, and community garden at work, but frankly with their masks on, I don't always recognize them.

Pikake, roses, v. "Burning Embers", fuschia, Indian hawthorne, a few phalaenopsis, Miltonia, epis, dendrobium, honohono (den. anosmum), and popcorn orchids are blooming now. The phals last for three months but the others only bloom for 2-3 weeks and except for the epi, they only bloom once a year. Some vandas, oncidiums and dendrobiums will repeat bloom seasonally. It is why orchid collections are usually large and diverse so there will be bloom all year. I have a relatively small collection averaging 300 plants. It is probably less than that now, since I have not been buying as many orchids as I used to to replace them. I have an awful lot of popcorn and epis. I am propagating more of the vanda just because they are so tall, I have to keep cutting them. Some of the succulents are also still blooming like the desert roses and yellow crown of thorns.

I am still harvesting the komatsuna, and currant tomatoes from the garden. Kale, portuguese cabbage (its a wreck now from the snails, but it is a survivor...usually), Lacinato Kale, cutting celery, Thai basil. and tomtoes, and Swiss Chard will remain in the garden longer. I will plant around them. I have some Aristotle peppers in pots and I will transplant them into the garden when they are bigger. I have more basil that could go out, but I would rather plant them in the front yard. The HOA probably won't know what they are.
The squash looks to be going out. Amazingly more cucumbers are appearing. The leaves are small, so the cukes must need more fertilizer. The plants are old and showing their age. I will be planting more in another pot.

I have been checking the hibiscus in the back yard and the white flies have not come back. There are a few white flies on the peppers in the front yard, but they are also under control using just water.

The birds have made a hole in the papaya that barely had any yellow on it. Green papayas have hard skins. I picked two other papaya at about the same stage. This is why I don't like birds in my yard. I guess it is fair though, the birds planted the papaya in the first place. It is a tall papaya. I have under watered the papaya, the fruit are light.

imafan26
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I took out the red currant tomato yesterday. It still had fruit on it, but it had a lot of drying leaves as well. It was 6 months old. It did have some scale issues as well so, it was not in the best condition. It could have probably kept if going, but I have so many wild tomatoes that have sprouted that it is not a loss to lose this one. It filled one green can and part of the second can. It was over 12 feet long.

Finally more of the marigold and the bitter melon have sprouted. The beans were probably not good being kept in less than ideal conditions. I saw 2 beets. Maybe there is hope for more.

The cucumber has definitely made a comeback after fertilizing it. It is still a very old vine but I did harvest two more cukes yesterday. The older one had pickle worm damage, but it wasn't bad so I was able to cut it out and still have it for lunch.

There are more lettuce bolting in the garden and I still have a few more komatsuna left. I did catch a snail on the komatsuna leaf, but in all, I am not seeing as many snails as before.

I have to look for my orchid media and see if I have enough to transplant some of the orchids. Covid 19 has resulted in a surge of people starting gardens this year. Seed racks have been refilled three times, potting soil disappears in 3 days, and even the fertilizer shelves are partly empty. There hasn't been any orchid bark available for months. At least the online seeds have started taking orders again. The University of Hawaii is closed, so no UH seeds, soil testing, or fruit fly lures are available right now. I heard that the wholesale ag companies are increasing the minimum buys to discourage retail shoppers. It is a good thing I have other sources to get things from and I still have a lot of things somewhere around my house. If only I can remember where it all is.

I got a spigot for my new worm bin. I am going to use a smaller bin this time. I still have to drill the holes. Not looking forward to that. Drills and I are not friends.

I harvested my first Charger tomato yesterday. Actually, it is the second, the first one was stung so it rotted. The birds are ignoring the tomatoes now and going after the papaya instead. I have gotten 5 green papaya so far. The birds are getting greedy, they are eating more than one papaya at a time.

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applestar
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You are keeping busy! I love reading your garden updates. :D

...drilling holes — last fall I was made to realize that my number one mistake was in thinking my old drillbits were NOT part of the problem. Try a new drillbit and be amazed by the difference. I ended up not buying a new drill.... yet.

imafan26
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The drill problem is the vibration. I have a 1/2 inch drill and I don't know how to reduce the power on it. It shakes the plastic pots to pieces. I did get a cordless drill driver with less power. It has done better but still haven't tried it on plastic yet. I usually drill hole by using a soldering iron. It gets messy and I definitely have to use a mask because of the toxic fumes, but no vibrations to destroy the pots.

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Gary350
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imafan26 wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:03 am
The drill problem is the vibration. I have a 1/2 inch drill and I don't know how to reduce the power on it. It shakes the plastic pots to pieces. I did get a cordless drill driver with less power. It has done better but still haven't tried it on plastic yet. I usually drill hole by using a soldering iron. It gets messy and I definitely have to use a mask because of the toxic fumes, but no vibrations to destroy the pots.
Small drill bits need to run at a faster RPM than larger drill bits. A hand held 120 volt 3/8" electric drill turns about 1000 RPMs. A larger 1/2" hand held 120 volt drill turns about 500 RPMs. Battery drills turn slower about 150 RPMs. You can run all the drill bits from 1/16" diameter up to about 1/4" diameter in the 3/8" electric drill. Drill bits from about 1/4" up to 1/2" need to run in the slower 1/2" electric drill. This works good with most metals and hard plastic & even hard wood. When I drill holes in plastic pots and 5 gallon buckets I drill a 1/4" starter hole first. Next I drill a larger hole using the slower speed electric drill. I use standard twist drills not spade drills or paddle drills. Some times it is easier to drill 2 times more 1/4" holes vs half as many 3/8" diameter holes. If holes are too large soil washes out.

Rule of thumb. Notice drill bits all have a flat spot on the tip end of the drill bit. Starter hole only needs to be the a little larger than the flat spot on the larger drill bit to make it drill good without vibrating and grabbing.
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applestar
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yeah those hole starters are invaluable — I have one kind for striking with a hammer (more satisfying deeper/larger hole - but can shatter/crack plastic with excessive force) and another kind that is spring-loaded self-striking for one handed operation.

Also pilot hole with smaller drillbit. Remember to reverse drill plastic occasionally to keep from biting in.

SQWIB
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imafan26 wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:03 am
The drill problem is the vibration. I have a 1/2 inch drill and I don't know how to reduce the power on it. It shakes the plastic pots to pieces. I did get a cordless drill driver with less power. It has done better but still haven't tried it on plastic yet. I usually drill hole by using a soldering iron. It gets messy and I definitely have to use a mask because of the toxic fumes, but no vibrations to destroy the pots.
Try using the drill in reverse, it wont dig in so aggressively in reverse. I do this when using a hole saw when cutting plastics.

Oops just saw Applestar suggest this.

imafan26
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Thanks for the tips. I never drilled a pilot hole so that may be part of the problem. I usually get the hole saw for doors and turn it by hand. Tedious, but it does not destroy the pot. I'll see if reverse does better. I am also going to tape both sides of the pot which was recommended by someone else to try to keep splitting and cracks to a minimum.

On a different subject. I harvested komatsuna yesterday. There were a lot of leaf hoppers on the plants. I see them on the cucumber too. I consider them more of a nuisance than anything else and they don't do a lot of damage to the plants. What can I do to discourage them?

imafan26
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I messed up. I did not have the right fertilizer and I put 10-20-20 in my 18 gallon pot. I planted out the cucumber seedlings and it did not take long, four days for them to wilt and die from fertilizer burn. I am leaching the pot now to start again. I usually use 6-4-6 fertilizer, but I did not have any and I put the same amount of 10-20-20 and it was too much.

Learned my lesson though. In the old cucumber pot, I only put a couple of tablespoons of 8-8-8 and planted beans, zinnias and cosmos. Those sprouted and are doing fine. I do have to replant some beans though, only two Poamoho pole beans came up. The long beans are taking their time. The Chinese bitter melon has taken off and typical of bitter melon, it does not want to stay in its corner. The dragon fruit has the same issue. I had to pull a thorny wayward branch back that was trying to make a break for the neighbor's yard.

I am amazed the komatsuna is looking a bit thinner but it is still going in July! I have planted okra, pak choi, sunflowers, beets, marigolds, zinnia, and sensation cosmos in the main garden.

The dill started to bloom so I moved it to the succulent corner. Maybe it might tame the dragon fruit.

My cutting box is really overgrown. It is just hard to find potting soil now. I am making some of my own, but for some things that need a heavy mix, I use the potting mix. the rose has poked through the nursery bench and it is almost as tall as I am. The lavender, coleus canina, and euphorbia cotonifolia all are getting tall and touching the underside of the bench. I also found some very big snails hanging out. I don't find too many snails these days. I only found 1-4 a day, but they definitely have the munchies for the cabbages.

I have gotten a few papaya , the birds got the rest. The birds have also discovered the tomato and have taken out three in a row. I still have three more tomatoes in the frig after I made beef tomato. I made a farmers' omelette with tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions (only I forgot to put them in the omelette in the end) and some Kraft American cheese. It was enough for two meals. I just made pork with eggplant with the green eggplant. They are seedy but creamy. I needed to cook them longer, they were still hard. This plant is prolific, but I am going to replace it with either a purple or a different variety of green eggplant that isn't so hard.

I repotted the Aristotle peppers and moved them to different parts of the yard to see where they do best. Aristotle has been pretty disease resistant. The peppers and the eggplant in the front yard look like they have been attacked by broad mites, or maybe thrips. I found some soft scale on the lemons and rubbed them off. So far, they have not returned. I do have some leaves of the eggplant and pepper that were damaged after their feeding.

I finally got enough cinder and replanted the citrus into bigger pots. The calamondin is starting to fruit. I got one mini meyer lemon, but it is a mini plant too.

The bougainvillea has started a new bloom cycle. I need to repot it soon, the roots are showing on the surface. I have taken off some of the guide wires. The jade bonsai is starting to cascade and it is still wired. I have to take a look and see if the wires need to be taken off yet. The Jaboticaba is growing a bushy top. I have to shorten the tips to keep it more compact. It kind of looks like a teenager in need of a haircut.

I have spotted some orange butterflies in the yard and a monarch. So far no caterpillars so the anole's must be doing their job. Too bad, they don't like snails or slugs.

I am behind on the weeds again. I missed green day. I did not get my can filled in time. I removed the agave and it just wore me out for the day.

The bitter melon already has at least 4 fruit (the Chinese one, not the wild one.) Sometimes, it is hard to find the fruit since it is the same color as the vine.

Only one beet sprouted out of the whole packet. Oh, well, maybe it was not meant to be.

Charger has some small fruit, but the blossoms look like they might drop. It is getting a little too hot for them at 86 degrees. Actually, it feels hotter. Charger is disease, but not heat resistant. It will start fruiting better when it gets cooler.

The papaya is getting harder to reach. I picked two green ones today.

I ordered some fermenting jar lids and some other things from Amazon. I have not tried fermenting before, but I do have all these peppers to experiment with. I found a fermented pineapple habanero sauce recipe. I am going to try that with the super chillie. I am also going to experiment with chili pepper water which is easier to make. Well, that is if I am still in the mood to do it when it finally arrives in August. That is the problem with energy levels. It is rare that I have so much ambition these days.

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applestar
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Always fun to read about your progress, adventures in the garden — especially because, face it, they are so exotic and yet very much relatable. :D

You described more detail than what I excerpted below — I was checking on the Douglas just now, and wanted to wish you Safe and Well :bouncey:

Subject: Plant propagation and soil mixes
imafan26 wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:06 am
Hurricane Douglas is supposed to affect the Big Island sometime on Sunday. It is moving at a good clip around 16-20 knots. It is still a strong storm. [...]

We still have some wind and some showers ahead of the storm. I have to take pictures of the house just in case and secure important documents. The storm is predicted to be downgraded once it passes the Big Island, but there will still be a lot of rain, high surf, and strong winds. The power will go out. I have put more bottles of water in the freezer. I have unplugged most of the lamps, appliances and electronics to protect them from power surges. I have lost so many phones and computers to that it is ridiculous. I''ll unplug the computer, microwave, charge my phone up on Sunday. I do expect there will be some mud and rock slides as well. I am at almost 600 ft above sea level and the end of the street drops off into a gulch so I am not in a flood zone.

[...]
The predicted path is so close that it may or may not make land fall on the Big Island or Maui. It should go south of Oahu. Mariner's rule is that predictions are best three days out.[...]

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TomatoNut95
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Yipes, I had no idea there was a hurricane headed to Hawaii! 😮 Stay safe, Imafan!

imafan26
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Thank you for the good wishes. I got up at 6 a.m. today and hit the store again for additional batteries and for plywood in case the windows break. I would still need help to put it up since all I could get this late was 3/4 inch plywood and that thing is heavy. I woke my sister up since I had to ask her for help to get it home. It would never fit on my car.

I am washing all my clothes now to get that out of the way. I am taking a break now. I am already tired from the morning. I still have to clean my bottles and fill them with water and fill the freezer with more water bottles to fill any air spaces. I have to take my important documents, medicines and such downstairs where it will be safer just in case. I have a rubber stopper for the tub and plastic wrap to line the tub in case I have to fill it. It was calm earlier, but it is getting windier. I will continue to be windy but warm for the next couple of days. After the storm passes, is when it will be muggy.

The storm now is tracking more to the North, but it is going to remain a hurricane longer than expected. Even though it is expected to be downgraded by the time it gets to Oahu, it won't be much. It is still forecast to be a category 1 or have near hurricane strength winds of 60 mph + and rainfall of 6-10 inches up to 15 inches in some places. Usually that means coastal flooding and flooding around streams and canals. The winds are still strong enough to blow off roofs and break windows and storm surge can erode the coastline and cause a lot of flooding and landslides. The power definitely will go off. The state has been dredging the canals the last couple of days to try to minimize flooding. It helps, but at the same time the high tides are expected just about the time that the storm should be impacting us. At least it is not a King tide. Some areas are always going to be flooded no matter what you do when rain comes down hard and fast. Some places even flood that you would not expect.

Right now the storm has wind speeds of 115 (category 3 hurricane) mph and moving at 18 mph in our direction. It is about 800 miles away. The latest news at 5 a.m. the storm is expected to impact the Big Island Saturday-Sunday morning. Hawaii and Maui counties are on Hurricane watch now. Oahu sometime after noon on Sunday and going into Monday morning. The birds always seem to know when something is up. They are usually making a lot of noise in the morning and there are a pair of doves that usually sit on my air conditioner outside my computer room window. Today, they are nowhere in sight. Even my cats are not following their usual routine. The plants however, haven't got a clue. So far, although the winds are picking up, nothing has fallen over or broken yet.

imafan26
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Hurricane Douglas center passed 60 miles north of Oahu around 2a.m. as cat 1 hurricane. Maui lost power briefly from a downed tree. The rest of the islands gat some heavy rain. Now we have the post storm muggy 89 degrees. All are frazzled from the anxiety but safe and sound. NOW, I have to put everything back.

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TomatoNut95
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I know what you mean, after a storm passes I have to pull my stuff back out of the closet. 😆
I'm so glad you're alright! 🤗

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Glad you made it through alright!. Was thinking of you when I saw that hurricane had veered a little off the original track, which was right through the middle of the islands!

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applestar
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:clap:

imafan26
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Luckily we are a small target in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the Pacific High is closer to California right now. We are on the edge of the High. I am still unpacking. I still haven't found my china marker and the bottle with the labels. I still have buckets to put back. I can't remember all the places I stashed them.

The wind was not too bad only about 30 mph so nothing broke and the power stayed on. I moved most of the plants back out, but I still have to put some of the plant stands back. The green onions broke, but that happens whenever they get moved.

It's been raining for the last three days. It is warm rain, but the trades are back. It is August and August-October are the hottest months of the year. It is going to be 89-90 degrees tomorrow. Luckily, I will be at work where at least it is a little cooler inside.

The weeds are getting tall and I cannot Round Up until the rain stops for at least a couple of days. In the meantime I did find my buckets, perlite, osmocote, and peat moss, so I have been potting up a few plants.

I replaced the green eggplant with Pintung long eggplant. It is a skinny purple eggplant. It is called Filipino eggplant here but it is from Taiwan. I also bought a new ajaka basil and potted it up as well. I planted more soarer cucumber and komatsuna seeds. The komatsuna in the garden is looking a bit raggedy, but I am surprised it is still around. Normally, it does not last through the summer. I just made a stir fry with the komatsuna and pork with oyster sauce. The stems are too tough, the plants were planted in January, but the leaves are still mild and not bitter. I ate one of the papaya today, but the other one, was over ripe and I kept it too long. I still have to pick the bitter melon in the yard before it gets too old. I am planning to steam that one with pork, mushrooms, and green onions in black bean sauce, or I can make a pork and bitter melon stir fry, or I can try to give it away. Most of my Filipino friends prefer the smaller bitter ones. I have those too, but I usually only give them the weeds (bitter melon leaves I rip off the fence and the ones that are climbing all over the plants. )

The sunflowers are about 3-4 ft tall now and the buds are starting to form. I have some small green charger tomatoes. It will be awhile before they are ready to pick.

I managed to pull the weeds from the strip on one side of the driveway. The city just finished fixing the sidewalk.

The pikake (jasmine sambac (double rose)), nau (native gardenia), tree gardenia, virea, psittacorum (parrot beak heliconia), lavender, phalaenopsis and dendrobiums are in bloom. I think I saw a bud sheath on a cat.
The dill and fennel also have blooms. The basil always has flowers. I don't cut them off the African blue fil or the Kaphrao thai holy basil.

imafan26
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It's already August. The hot August nights are here. The nights aren't too bad it is about 77 degrees. It gets worse in September, then the day and night temperatures don't change very much. Day temperatures are about 91-92 degrees. It is hot, but better with trades at 15-20 mph. Unbearable with Kona weather.

I took my temperature this morning. It was 91.3 degrees. No wonder I am not sweating. I am like fish, my temperature is almost the same as the environment. Actually not, it was 6 a..m. and the temperatures was still around 75 degrees. Still, I had to check it twice. No wonder, I don't want to do anything, I am still hibernating. BTW my average morning heart rate is 39-41. This is is actually "my normal", I am tired all of the time.

This morning I actually got out early. Luckily, I finished my last Chinese drama "Fake Princess", and the new one "Song of the Phoenix", is not that interesting, so it is easier to leave it. I watered the plants early, did not see any snails. However, the Chinese rose beetles are doing a number on the bean leaves. I have harversted 2 Soarer cucumbers and one more should be ready in a couple of days. I harvested calamondin and gave it to some people at work. I still have more calamondin and some Charger tomatoes.

The tomatoes are small, but the plants are almost 8 months old and I haven't been feeding them as much as I should. I have some swiss chard and more Soarer seedling to put out. I fed the pots with 8-8-8, but I probably need to MG them as well. The sunflowers are blooming now and some of the marigolds. The cosmos hasn't bloomed yet. My papaya tops are shrinking and there is some small fruit left. I headed back the bilimbi and murraya koenegii. I trimmed back the vireya. The bitter melon is still going wild. I will need to pick the weeds again. I really need to Round Up It was supposed to rain last Thursday, but it did not happen. The grass and weeds greened up a bit after the rains from the nights before. Weeds are everywhere and I don't know where to start. The double rose pikake is in bloom and the hot peppers are turning red. I have gotten most of the pickling supplies, but I can't find distilled water. I may have to use boiled bottled water as a substitute.
I have one dendrobium, and a few phalaenopsis in bloom right now.

I need to transplant some of the orchids. I need to make room on the orchid bench for them too. I also need to air layer the anthurium. The dragon fruit bloomed, but there was only one large blossom, so it may not have been pollinated.

The komatsuna and some of the older chard are done. I have to pull them out and take out the weeds as well. The okra is about a foot tall. They are growing slowly. The Thai sweet basil so far is doing very well, with no sign of basil downy mildew.

The eggplant (pintung long) is doing well. It has been growing quite fast. Maybe I will get some fruit in September. It is about 6-8 inches tall now.

I have not had much luck starting seeds in August, but it is time to start thinking about starting broccoli and kale. They will mature in the cooler weather of November. Snow peas might be possible as well as beets. I only got one beet to sprout the last time, but I will try a different location. It may be possible to start more komatsuna as well. It did last longer than I thought it would.

imafan26
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I am working on the weeds now that I have taken some time off from work. I stocked up the last couple of days on gas, eggs, bacon, meat, vegetables, and cleaning supplies. I made some pinakbet with the vegetables and meat I bought as well as some tomatoes and beans from the yard. I should be good for a few days. I am even making char siu. I am good with cleaning and sanitizing supplies now. I got some lavender sanitizer for the laundry.

I have been putting off using Round Up and pulling a lot of the weeds by hand. It takes longer, but surprisingly, it is not as daunting a task as it seemed. I actually got a lot done. My main problem is getting an early start. It is too hot to work in the midday so I need to get out early in the morning and work before it gets too hot and in the afternoon again when it gets a little cooler and I can work in the shadier parts of the yard.

Yesterday, I worked on weeding the front yard, well half of it. I had to move all the pots to one side. Today, I have to weed whack that part and move everything over again. I filled one green can. I can get big weeds from the back to fill the other. I have to do all that today since green day is tomorrow.

imafan26
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I have cleaned up and weed whacked the front yard. Unfortunately the grass is already growing again. I weeded one side yard and I am working on the back jungle.

I cleaned up the main garden. I found out that I have nematodes in a small section, and it was probably why the kale and tomato were so small. The rest of the garden looked o.k. I dug out the roots and poured about 30 gallons of boiled water on it. Now my oven doesn't work. It took me a while and some tracking down of materials, but I ended using 8 cu ft of bagged MG potting mix to cover the garden 4 inches deep over a mulch of several layers of newspaper. I put cardboard down over the place with the nematodes. MG potting mix had the best results of my last experiment.

I am mulching and planting over mulch as an alternative to digging. The newspaper adds carbon and will act as a weed barrier. It has worked well in keeping weeds down in the garden. Newspaper will breakdown in three months, but will allow the water and roots to go through it. I am planting dwarf french marigold (bolero) and crackerjack over the section with nematodes. The cardboard will keep other things from growing and if the nematodes come up they will only find the trap crop. I am planting nematode resistant beans and crops on the perimeter.

I preferred to plant mighty mustard, nemagone, or even sunn hemp, but all of those seeds are not available. I planted crackerjack marigold seeds, but they are old so I don't know if they will come up. I threw away sunn hemp seeds earlier this year, but they were also very old and they were not kept in cold storage. After I worked in the garden, I bleached the tools and my shoes overnight in a bucket. Nematodes are very hard to get rid of. Solarization was also possible but it does not work on a small area and I would have had to solarize the entire garden. Boiling water can kill nematodes and has the potential to go deeper, but the best would be vapam, but it is not available without a license. It would also sterilize the soil for a year.

I planted bolero, crackerjack and petite mixed marigolds, culantro, Italian spinach, , a bell pepper (I can't remember which one it might be Emerald), greencrop bush beans, komatsuna, yellow 7 pot hot pepper, Carmen pepper, Koba onions, toscano and blue vates kale, Cos romaine, and DiCicco broccoli. It will be a couple of weeks before the seeds come up. I probably still planted more than I have space for. I put in transplants of perpetual spinach, culantro, Italian parsley, tepin and a bell pepper (I don't remember the name).

The cucumber and bitter melon are still producing. There are a few small bell peppers the birds have ignored. The younger cucumber vines are starting to climb up the trellis. The bitter melon is still producing 4 fruit at a time. Cosmos has started to bud up. It is almost as tall as I am. (It is in an 18 gallon tub so it is almost two feet off the ground). The marigolds are in full bloom now. I have one dendrobium in bloom but it is up against the shade cloth so the flower isn't blooming nicely. One of the bromeliad is also in bloom. Dragon fruit has another bud.
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stuffed bitter melon with pork hash
stuffed bitter melon with pork hash
Soarer cucumber
Soarer cucumber
papaya and bitter melon
papaya and bitter melon

imafan26
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Pictures from the garden. Loading pictures is a pain. It seems I have to edit the pictures, resize and save them to keep their orientation. Otherwise they are too big and they end up upside down.
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main garden before clean up
main garden before clean up
main garden after cleanup and mulching and adding potting soil
main garden after cleanup and mulching and adding potting soil
Cosmos Sensation 3+ ft tall
Cosmos Sensation 3+ ft tall
dwarf petite marigolds
dwarf petite marigolds
nematodes on tomato root
nematodes on tomato root

imafan26
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The seeds I planted on Sept 15 have started to sprout. So far, detroit red beets, marigolds, green crop bush beans, Paris Cos romaine, Koba green onions, and komatsuna have sprouted. I even have a few garlic cloves putting up a spindly leaf.
I checked the labels in the garden. I actually planted green crop and not tender green beans and the bell pepper is called "The Right Stuff". It looks like all the transplants of perpetual spinach and culantro made it as well. My fingers are crossed that nothing comes by for a snack. I planted some red currant seeds and none of the chilies are up, but they can take awhile. I have eggplant, finally. Pintung long is short and skinny, but I finally have eggplant. I picked 4 more bitter melon and made pork with bitter melon and black beans. Salting the bitter melon really did help to take the bitterness away. I picked one more Soarer cucumber.

I am cleaning up the back yard. My sister and BIL came yesterday and helped prune a couple of trees. I have to wait until I have room for more in the green cans. I am bagging the smaller things in bags now. I'll try to drop some of them off in my sister's green can this week. It took a long time to chop everything into small pieces, but I actually got more into the can that way.

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applestar
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You’re off to a great start! :clap:
I’m hoping to get out and do some work this weekend. :D

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TomatoNut95
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@imafan, I think I may have killed my orchid! :cry: I was trimming off the dead roots and I must have cut off something I shouldn't have, but I only removed what was dark brown and dead looking but the orchid uprooted!! Did I just kill my orchid?? What do I do??? :oops:
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IMG_20200925_090453.jpg

imafan26
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No, the roots are still white. Remove all the loose brown stuff. It does look like the new shoot is a goner. I would put the plant without media in a pot with good drainage. You can make more holes all over the pot and make it look like swiss cheese. More air the better. I use large styrofoam pieces or pieces of broken terra cotta pots around the plant just to keep it stable. There are no green tip so the roots are not growing. Make sure you cut the soft and brown roots with a very clean knife. Use a torch or a bic to sterilize the tool. Let it cool, spray with alcohol. If you use a lighter, the flame is dirty and not as hot as a torch so it will leave soot. Don't wipe it off until after you make the cut. Mist the roots. Healthy roots will turn slightly green. It will be time to water again when the roots are white again. In my no media pots, I can water daily. My plants are outside so they dry fast. New roots will come from a new eye. Since you lost your new shoot, you will have to wait to see if another eye develops.

imafan26
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I have some white mold growing on the soil over the cardboard. The cardboard is thick but the layer of soil is not. The cardboard is probably holding water on top of it and breaking down. So far the marigold seedlings that are planted on top of that are not being affected. I fertilized the garden yesterday with miracle grow. The true leaves are out on most of the seedlings in the main garden. The true leaves of the green crop bush beans, Detroit Red beets are up. The pak choi is getting bigger. I got some lettuce starts, toscano kale, and vates kale from home depot this morning. Since I only need one plant of each kale it makes sense to buy starts instead. The lettuce will mature earlier than the seeds I planted so it can start the succession planting. There wasn't any potting soil only garden soil, so I will have to mix my own. I can reuse some of the soil in the pots I have in the larger containers so I can stretch the new soil. I have a few bags of black cinder to repot some of the orchids and citrus trees in the smaller pots.

I have 2 bitter melon, 1 Soarer cucumber, calamondin ready to pick. Some of the bell peppers are rotting because I have left them too long. The red currant has sprouted. I planted more seeds today. The seeds from 2016 have not sprouted and they may not be good. I have some algae growing on my media so they are too wet and can also be the reason for the lack of germination. I will replant those pots. I will need to add more perlite to the mix.

The bromeliads blooms are falling, the one dendrobium is still blooming. I did buy a skinneri primary hybrid, and two oncidiums because I don't have a lot of orchids blooming now. The citrus trees are flowering again. The dragon fruit bloomed on Wednesday. There are two more buds and they should be blooming in sync. The double rose pikake is blooming now as well as the hibiscus mutabilis.

Today was green day, so I have empty cans again to fill.

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TomatoNut95
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imafan26 wrote:
Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:53 pm
No, the roots are still white. Remove all the loose brown stuff. It does look like the new shoot is a goner. I would put the plant without media in a pot with good drainage. You can make more holes all over the pot and make it look like swiss cheese. More air the better. I use large styrofoam pieces or pieces of broken terra cotta pots around the plant just to keep it stable. There are no green tip so the roots are not growing. Make sure you cut the soft and brown roots with a very clean knife. Use a torch or a bic to sterilize the tool. Let it cool, spray with alcohol. If you use a lighter, the flame is dirty and not as hot as a torch so it will leave soot. Don't wipe it off until after you make the cut. Mist the roots. Healthy roots will turn slightly green. It will be time to water again when the roots are white again. In my no media pots, I can water daily. My plants are outside so they dry fast. New roots will come from a new eye. Since you lost your new shoot, you will have to wait to see if another eye develops.
I just know found out that you replied to me, I guess I didn't receive the notification.

Okay, I will remove orchid from pot and put packing peanuts around it. You said to mist the roots. How often should I mist; or just keep my eye on the coloring of the roots to tell me when orchid is thirsty? And should it not be a good idea to get the foliage wet? Especially now that it's getting cooler in my house?

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TomatoNut95
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Before I make holes in this pot, does the setup look okay? I placed a rock at the bottom of the pot to weigh it down and the rest is packing peanuts. I misted the orchids roots which were white at the time. They are currently green now.
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IMG_20201001_112317.jpg
IMG_20201001_112343.jpg

imafan26
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It looks o.k. Less is best. When I use no media. I put the plant in the smallest and shallowest pot that I can get the roots into without breaking them.

Tie a wire. Telephone wire or some other very thin flexible wire it is best. Tie the wire to the base of the plant and make sure it is secure but not so tight that it cuts into anything. Tie it in the middle of the wire. The ends of the wire should be 4-5 inches long. Make two small holes in the bottom of the pot. An ice pick or the tip of a sharp scissor works. Heat a small nail and it can get hot enough to make the holes. Wear a mask in a ventilated place if you use the later method. Plastic gas is toxic. I use a soldering iron to make holes so I use a vapor mask. The holes should be an inch or two apart and big enough to thread the wires through.

I use a large piece of styro foam that I have broken up from packing that comes from products like microwaves or electronics. You want a piece that will sit firm in place in the pot but will will still allow water to easily drain around it. For added stability you can actually wire a stake to the plant and put the stake through the bottom of the pot. Our benches are open on the bottom and I use bench masters so it is not a problem. If you have a solid top bench or table. then the stake will just go to the bottom of the pot. Staking is necessary to keep orchids from splaying out which they naturally do. Your plant is still small and the stake can be added later.

Wire the stake first, then wire the plant to the stake and finally poke the wires through the styro foam piece so the roots are spread around the styro foam. Since you have a rock you can wire the plant to the rock. Pass the ends of the wire through the holes in the bottom of the pot and pull or use a screwdriver or a piece of a chopstick to tighten the wires until the plant is stable and it does not shake. If you have a thin stake it can be anchored in the styro foam.

This is basically a bonsai wiring technique. You do not have to fill the container with peanuts. Just a few around the roots and not up the stem. It also does not matter if the orchid is sitting low in the pot. The roots will grab the peanuts and attach to the pot and that is all it needs. It works with plastic pots, but I prefer terracotta or cement pots because I don't need the counter weight for the taller orchids. Terracotta and cement are porous pots so the roots like to attach to them and it dries faster. Terracotta pots though are heavy and fragile to store.

Water by misting. Healthy roots are white, firm, and turn green when watered. You don't need to water again until the roots lose the green color. Put 1/2 strength miracle grow for acid loving plants (rose and azalea food, or orchid food ), in the bottle you are using for misting. The amount would be equivalent to about 1/2 tsp. per quart. Every fourth time you water, use plain water. If the water is chlorinated, use rain water, bottled water at room temperature, or just let the water from the tap stand for a few days in an open bucket to let the chlorine off gas. If the root tips are covered with velamin and you don't see the green root tips. Only mist with water. The plant will be dormant and not actively growing.

I plant my popcorn oncidiums media less. The oncidium has fine roots and they like to be packed, so I just pack the pots with oncidiums and I only use media if I don't have enough orchids in the pot to keep it stable. With no media and in mostly cement and terra cotta pots, the oncidiums can be watered every day or twice a week and it does not matter. It all depends on how fast the roots dry. No media means I don't have to worry about the media breaking down and souring either.

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TomatoNut95
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I only use rainwater on my orchid. I didn't think about a clay pot I guess it's not too late I can switch pots. I guess I didn't think about it since I don't use and don't like clay pots due to the fact that they dry out.

As for a stake, I might find a small dowl rod somewhere. Also, if splaying is natural for orchids to do, why should it be avoided?

imafan26
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I think you misunderstood. You do want to spread the roots out. The styro foam is similar in reasoning to the I use a wooden chopstick. Actually half of one. I also have metal rods made from 14 gauge wire, but it would be too heavy for this pot. Dowels will work, but bamboo stakes are better. They are lighter and easier to cut and they don't rot as fast as something like pine. once the plant roots are stable you can wire the stems so they will grow more compactly and upright. If you wait too long, the stems will harden they won't be able to be moved without breaking. You do have to lomi (massage ) them to get them into place without breaking them. It takes patience, I have broken a lot of stems and eyes.

imafan26
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I set up my new worm bin today. I am getting worms tomorrow. This time I will keep it in the yard instead of the garage. Way too many roaches in the bin. I got a locking lid and decided to only put side holes so less rain will get in. I drilled my drain hole too high, so I put a second one under the bin and it is plugged with a cork. I used a couple of shovels of dirt from the yard and shredded newspaper. I had a couple of banana peels and I pulled some weeds from the yard to start the greens. I will save some eggshells. I do have leaves but I don't want to use diseased leaves so those are going in the trash instead. I have plenty of stuff I can cut in the yard if I look around. It will be couple of days before I have to cook again.

I got my oven fixed today. A fuse had broken. A part that costs less than $10 cost almost $300 to fix. I hate the electronic appliances. Now, I can dry the peppers and make cookies.

imafan26
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The drought and heat are getting to my plants. The cucumber is full of aphids and something drilled several holes in the cucumber. The beans tips are being eaten again, although I have gotten a few beans this time. White flies on the pepper are making a sticky mess. I finally got control of them by blasting them with water. I thought I was going to have to cut the peppers down.

Ginger is blooming a month early. I planted a few garlic cloves and they have come up. Garlic does not do well in this climate. The bulbs will be small, but it also makes a good companion for some plants.

The beets and pak choy are half grown. All of the lettuce and most of the beans have been eaten by snails. The kale seems to have survived.

Yesterday, I planted Kuroda carrot seeds. It seems counter intuitive to plant seeds at 81 degrees, but it will take at least 4 months for the carrots to mature. When I plant them in cooler weather they mature in July and are bitter sweet at best.

I planted seeds of komatsuna, bok choy, gailaan (this may not grow the seeds are from 2016).

The thai basil is throwing seeds so some of the thai basil seedlings have volunteered. Along with a lot of wild bitter melon which I still have to get rid of. I have sprouted sweet basil. I will see how long it lasts. The fact that we have had so little rain might help keep downy mildew away at least for a little while. Cilantro sprouted. I have to see how many will survive. The citrus trees are flowering again as well as the bougainvillea pre bonsai that I just repotted.

My eria orchid bloomed today. It is a one day wonder. It blooms a few times a year and all of the plants will bloom on the same day, and the blooms will last just one day.

I started pulling the cucumber vines from the pots yesterday. I have to pull the other pots as well and get them ready to replant.

imafan26
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It has been raining for a couple of days from a storm front coming from the East. Unfortunately winds are still from the south so it remains hot and muggy most of the time.

I started to water the yard this morning but got rained out. I was surprised, the Kuroda carrots, Japanese cucumber and some of the scattered seeds I planted on October 13 are all starting to sprout. Rain always does a better job of sprouting things. The weeds are sprouting too and my grass is greening up as well. Only the gardenia still looks mostly unhappy. I found one medium sized African snail climbing up a bok choy leaf. I found another container of slug bait so I need to get that spread out soon.

I got my amazon package today with the fruit nets for the long fruits like bitter melon and cucumbers. Now, if I can only remember where I put the short bags.

I made upo with chicken and long rice for dinner last nite. The cats also insisted I feed them a third time in a day. Some of the lettuce in the frig had already turned to mush so I put it in the worm bin. They are not too happy since it was too much food for them and way too soggy. I added more newspaper to the bin. A roach has found its way into the bin and the lizards are still trying to find a way in. I didn't want to put so many holes in the bin, but my friend said red worms can't take the heat like the African Blues. I've frozen the rest of the veggie scraps since the worms can't eat any more now. I finally ate my cucumber that was starting to go bad in the frig. I made somen salad with the cucumber, romaine, lettuce, green onions, and tuna. There is still okra left to eat in the frig and more bitter melon on the vine.

So far I have made one small jar of sherry ginger. I still have more ginger to harvest.

imafan26
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Here are some of the before and after pictures of the September cleanup.
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The main garden a few days ago
The main garden a few days ago
The main garden after clean up
The main garden after clean up
After weed whacking front yard
After weed whacking front yard
after back yard. Orchids were repotted. Three racks condensed into 1 rack.
after back yard. Orchids were repotted. Three racks condensed into 1 rack.
after back yard
after back yard
before back yard
before back yard
before back yard
before back yard

imafan26
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Before and after pictures of the yard. Most of the cleanup was in the backyard. There is still more to do.

imafan26
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The rain will be taking a break for a few day. The trade winds will be returning. It is 66 degrees now. It is my version of fall weather.

The rain has greened things around here. My almost dead grass now is a sea of green (mostly nut sedge). I did fertilize and I have to mow the shagginess.
Cilantro I planted in pots have sprouted. I planted a few more. One of the pots only sparsely germinated so I put a few more seeds in. Everything is growing a bit slower now that the days are shorter especially the cucumber and eggplant. The bok choy, beets, perpetual spinach, and kale though are much happier.

imafan26
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I harvested some of the bok choy and Tokyo negi for dinner. I made sukiyaki. I should have used the wok, my frying pan was a little too small so I could not get the tofu in.

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applestar
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You’re making my mouth water @imafan! Due to my soy sensitivity which I developed about 25 years ago, I have to be very careful about eating (even being anywhere near) sukiyaki.... :cry: I only make/eat on very rare occasions when fully prepared to accept the consequences (not fatal thankfully) :wink:



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