Applestar’s 2024 Garden

[applestar]

Thanks, @imafan


I’m trying to keep up with everything that needs to be done, but it’s hard…. Yesterday was spent on getting my car inspected (and finding out it failed due to mechanical issue that will set us back a couple of thousand bucks plus labor. And THAT, after taking hubby’s to the autoshop for major overhaul (mine will get its turn after his).

Today’s garden tasks included all the stuff I couldn’t do yesterday PLUS. Here’s a screenshot from the photo library today. I may put together a proper collage later and replace so more details can be seen when zoomed in….

Description for each row, left to right —

R1
• I CAN’T plant in beds underneath this tree until those branches are dealt with.

• more strawberries, raspberries, and sugar snap peas

• Broccoli had grown from side shoots in the Sunflower House — YES, today was the day to start planting in there

R2
• Here’s a shallow bakery tray of Adam and Suyo Long cucumber starts. The KEY is to use either the lid or the base as shallower planting container with drainage holes, and to use the deeper tray as water reservoir. Once the roots begin to emerge, make sure there is always water in the reservoir to allow the roots to keep growing.

• Started planting from back of the Sunflower House — three Cash Glow zucchini

• Three Y-Star yellow pattypan

R3
• two views of the parthenocarpic greenhouse Adam cucumber plants — I’m not going to try to separate them but growing in two widely spaced “hills” of three

• An overall view from outside the front insect mesh

R4
• Another shot — not sure the difference — maybe the focal depth?

• A view from outside the back insect mesh — I removed the greenhouse poly covering the back wall and wiggle-wired to secure the side flap poly that wraps around the corner in a diagonal; PLUS added a piece of wire fence on the outside to discourage animals from trying to rip through.

• Broccoli and cabbage floral buds. Also found two more pods of snap peas

…

I still have to plant the eggplants and kabocha. Maybe tomorrow….

[applestar]

Original Sunflower House’24 map sketch — ended up planting three Y-stars.

And I embellish the map after planting and/or taking pics, like this

[applestar]

I need to find a workable rhythm in taking care of the garden. I’m exhausted if I try to do everything that’s needed in the two main gardens on both sides of the house, not to mention the other, less extensive areas.

After yesterday, I limited my Side Yard Garden activities to just picking berries, taking pictures, and watering as necessary … and to retrieve the Suyo Long cucumber and the leftover Y-Star yellow pattypan starts to plant.

These are screenshots so you won’t be able to see details, but top row shows the Shimofuri, Faelan’s First Snow, and some of my S7xA-F4 variegated tomato varieties on this side.

Bottom row are
• Emerald Archer peas
• Berries and garlic scapes
• Some of the “culled” variegated starts that I’m hoping to still find chance to plant in containers


TODAY, I concentrated on the Vegetable Gardenbed side.

Since both VGA and VGB/BG.SIP plants were outgrowing their tunnels, I found a way to raise the supports/upgrade by simply swapping the covers (and leaving out the corn in VGB….)

This gave me chance to take lots of pics.

• 1,2 — I first noticed the purple kohlrabi looking almost ready, and notes that the Alcosa cabbages have started to head up.

• 3,4 — Corn needs feeding, and there was a single purple Bora King daikon that is fattening up (about 1.5 inches diameter so far)

• VG.SIP Emiko mini napa are also starting to head up, but they are being attacked by mass infestation of baby slugs.

I culled some to open up space and removed yellowed and shredded outermost leaves. The harvest pic also shows most of the cherries, with probably about a dozen remaining to ripen on the trees.

• Removing the cover and arched wire fence tunnel from VGB allowed me to weed and hill the corn. These Emiko looked a little bit less damaged.

• I planted the Suyo Long cukes in the gap between napa and the VG.SIP

• Since the corn looked yellow, I foliar/drench fed with diluted combination of chelated iron sulfate, calcium nitrate, and soaked neem cake solution.

• Before covering up the VG.SIP with the insect mesh cover, I started examining the extent of damage on the napa, and realized the baby slugs were starting to crawl OUT of the leaves! … they were sentenced to “Death by hot stone”


…I forgot to take pic of the VGA after raising the hoops and re-covering with the long narrow row cover insect mesh, which I doubled over, overlapping the gap edges along the top and securing closed. Later, as they grow, I’ll replace with a camping mosquito net shelter, but I need to build a support structure.

[imafan26]

Just the list of what you are doing is exhausting me. I love the way you do your spreadsheet and images. It makes it very clear. You get a lot more done in the garden than I can.

[applestar]

Thanks @imafan

…well, my body agreed with you yesterday, and I couldn’t make it outside until late afternoon when I decided it wasn’t going to rain like forecasts hinted, and I HAD to water the started plants that are or are nearly pot bound or they won’t make it through the night. — I wasn’t wrong — some with dried out, light brown potting mix had started to wilt already (even though I DID water them all before coming in the day before, at sometime in late morning).

Can’t be stressing them out like that too many times or they will deteriorate.

• Dawn when I was still hopeful of going out
• 5:30’ish after seeing a bunch of raspberries and strawberries ready to harvest
• My microdwarf cross-breeding segregates of variegated-leaf tomatoes

• Is it wishful thinking or did the corn start to green up already?

• Multiple shots of lavender as I was trying to decide if they were ready right then and there to harvest, or if they could wait another day or two….

[applestar]

This morning, I started by convincing myself that it won’t be too much work to just step outside the kitchen door and grab/bring inside the two pots of Kaho watermelon planted with Nutterbutter squash seedlings, and, at the comfort of the Winter Wonderland well-lit counter, attempt to graft them.

I got a VERY SHARP new stainless double edged razor blade from the bread dough lame package, laid everything out and got ready to make the first cut …and sliced off one of the leaves without realizing that I was anywhere near it.

That focused my attention in a hurry. Muttering “PAY attention” to myself, I lined up the stems to visualize best cut and then ALMOST LOPPED OFF the entire stem.

WOW THAT THING IS SHARP!

Timing wise, all this should have been done back in early May, ideally. But we’ll see how it goes.

Later in the morning, I finally accumulated enough energy and ambition to go out and plant the “rest” of the started plants intended for the Sunflower Hoophouse (except for the ginger and turmeric) : Eggplants (Money Maker, Kamo, and possibly Shoya Long or Black Egg) and Kabocha (Kurin F1 and saved seeds from store kabocha).

…But first, some pics of progress in the Spiral Garden — and today’s harvest of peas, berries, and some golden beets that were culled to make room for the kabocha:

• I’ve been catching and releasing ladybugs inside the Sunflower Hoophouse, including a mating pair on a leaf. Today, there were ladybug juvies on various plants — between them and the aphid mummies parasitized by the wasps, Garden Patrol members are on the job inside. Earthworms everywhere I dug too.

[applestar]

Planting Map updates from yesterday and today —

Spiral Garden 6.4

VGC + VGD 6.5

[applestar]

Harvest collage from last couple of days. Family are enjoying the daily berries and peas (at least one of the saved mystery peas that grew was Sugar Magnolia snap pea) for breakfast and snacking through the day.

I did cut more lettuce (Merveille de Quatre Saisons) for sandwiches, etc., culled carrots and beets for the greens; bolting leaf celery which will be used in soups/stocks and dried to make celery salt. Pinched beebalm sprigs will be dried for tea (I put some fresh in my water today with a little sugar and sea salt for a refreshing drink) …and…

Those are the experimental hulless purple barley from fall sowing that did winter over. I think I’ll want to sow in more of a mass covercrop pattern this fall.

[applestar]

Kaho watermelon side grafted onto Nutterbutter on 6/3 — so far have not wilted/died yet (Supposed to take about a week to 10 days to fully set)

…Does anyone know if I should cut off the last large leaf on Nutterbutter? I did remove the largest leaves and cut back the height of Nutterbutter to BELOW that of Kaho.

— I’m thinking relatively larger leaves would act like stronger “pump” to suck up water and may influence the moisture uptake route; and the height of course might point the needle to plant with the taller apical point/dominance…?

[applestar]

While the berries are producing, I’m determined to start my day by harvesting them

THIS particular cluster on a wild strawberries didn’t make the cut for several reasons, however —
1. It was right next to/touching poison ivy.
2. Look closely and you may be able to see the teeny tiny beak slashes on each berry. Evidently, those fledgling robins have been nibbling on them!
3. In any case, I look for what I call “first berry” on each wild strawberry cluster that tends to be the biggest. They progressively get smaller and smaller until they are no bigger than peas, and those I leave for the birds anyway.

• I harvested raspberries and some strawberries,
• Took pics of FFSX for the prime examples of why you want to encourage suckers to grow on these variegated tomatoes (and peppers like Fish, too) — the later growths (like suckers and sub-branches) tend to develop more intricate variegation.
• Found some broccoli side sub heads in the Sunflower Hoophouse,
• Those broccoli, some culled kale, and Alcosa mini cabbage side shoots/sprouts that look like unfurled brussels sprouts; and today’s peas harvest.


…Progress in the Sunflower Hoophouse — primarily started training each kind of cucurbita, and adding support as needed :

[applestar]

Yesterday, I got around to picking up the hardy kiwi vines that had been neglected and allowed to climb all over a piece of wire fencing, and put together a starter arch trellis. It needs additional work to fortify and stabilize, but at least the vines will have chance to establish basic structures. (I need to study up on how to prune and style them) — Anana and unnamed male. Dumbarton Oaks died

…A couple of photo library screenshot collages from today—

• Meiwa kumquat has 2 fruits and lots of blossoms
• Peas and raspberries + a few strawberries
• FFSX with megablossom
• Chocolate Cake X with first flower buds
• Progress - almost ready Kolibri purple kohlrabi and Alcosa savoy mini cabbages

• Built support and sturdy green netting for Nutterbutter squashes and China Jade cukes — planning to add diagonal braces + add another bamboo pole across the front and top with wire fencing so the vines will grow cross above the walkway and dangle fruits from above (Pixie Baby cabbage, cut and come again lettuce, leaf celery, as well as the sweet peppers in VGC.R2 shouldn’t mind the dappled shade in the summer and added overhead thermal protection later in the fall)

• Broccoli and culled broccoli side shoot leaves (to encourage larger side heads) …and a brassica that had bolted but I don’t recall what this is …maybe daikon or turnip?
• Got around to aggressively pruning the Alternate-leafed Dogwood and Arrowwood Viburnum under the window for better view of the Side Yard gardenbeds

[applestar]

I was inspired to finalize concept idea for this small space (about 6 feet x 20”), vacated after removing some blackberry crowns (gave to BIL’s friends earlier in spring), and set it up to hold several rootpouches.

I made a base with folded heavy, 3-ply corrugated cardboard and covered with commercial barrel liners. I want the base to hold some water since we are already in drought and won’t be getting much rain for days on end, and rootpouches can sit in reservoir of water without fear of root rot.

With some luck, rainwater that drains from a nearby downspout for a small section of roof can be directed here.

I couldn’t get started on filling and planting today, but now I have place to put the overwintered pepper plants and maybe some of the unplanted extra tomatoes.

[applestar]

Collages from today and recent harvests—

~~~

Close up of three plants of a Shimofuri (霜降り)F7xAztek.F4 segregate — seeds collected last year from “Tall Yellow Heart”.

• First two have short internodes, possibly micro-height in stature but not leaf type, just like last year. Promising detailed variegation on some of the leaves, and what looks like pink/magenta antho on stem of one.
• …and possible antho on calyx and fruit stem of third (which isn’t showing any variegation and is taller — maybe a Shimofuri type?)

S7xA.F4-TYH

[applestar]

Some of the squash and cucumber leaves are starting to show some kind of spot disease, and some of the lowest tomato leaves, too.

As a preventative, I treated them all with beneficial microbial solution yesterday.

I used a hose-end liquid mixing sprayer and set it to 1/2 tsp. per gallon. I used the “shower” and “flat” nozzle settings for the most part, but also used “jet” to spray into some of the fruit trees.

… I *think* based on the following conversion, this got me the x1000 ~ x2000 dilution that is mild enough/suitable for foliar application as well as soil drench (I hope!).

The solution was a mishmash mixture of cultured rice bran liquid, cultured natto powder liquid, eggshell vinegar, soaked neem meal, and langbeinite.

1 gallon = 768 tsp. = 256 Tbs.
= 128 fl. oz. = 3.78 L

1 liter = 202.88 tsp = 67.6 Tbs.
= 33.8 fl. oz = 0.26 gal.

[pepperhead212]

Good luck with your "mishmash" spray, apple. I'll be curious to know how well it works, especially with the tomatoes!

[applestar]

Now that I’ve started, I’ll be aiming to spray at least once a week, mostly alternating between the microbial combo — plant tonic and competitive organism…acidic — (like above) and chemical (fungicidal/germicidal as well as nutrient supplementing) combo — potassium bicarbonate, peroxide, borax, epsom salts, soap, lime, etc… alkaline… also oils if not too hot.

So I wouldn’t be able to tell you if one ingredient specifically worked well or not. But broad strokes, this method seems to work for a while at least.

[applestar]

Collage from today —

• Robin is back in her nest, presumably tending another clutch of eggs

• It took a bit but the narrow bed of large fruited tomatoes (and strawberries) is finally settled in and showing progress.

• I got the new container bed mostly planted and set up. The square white containers are sold for hydroponics and has holes 1/3 way up the sides. Peppers do well in them even when sitting in bottom reservoir of water.

• VGC variegated microdwarf tomatoes
• Today’s harvest of purple kohlrabi, dwindling berries and peas, and yomogi(mugwort)

• VGD Nutterbutter and china Jade progress

[applestar]

Photo gallery screenshot collages from yesterday —

Harvest including likely last of the peas, raspberries, single successful mini daikon, jewelweed (for making anti itch insect bite and poison ivy salve and spray), more elderflowers,

… and all remaining lavender because I can’t keep ahead of the blossoms (ended up scalping the lavender and giving it a trim).

…Trying to save as much of the root bound tomato starts as I can before the heatwave overwhelms them …. (I’m still hoping to make some “Global bucket”type SIP’s to grow some of the bigger fruited varieties in, AND/OR — give up on cutting down the overgrown mulberry tree branches and — plant in the last outer arcs of the Spiral Garden.)

I REALLY want to move on to cleaning out the pond and working on the bio filter bog and waterfall … and building the Bottle-Shack/Hut v.2.0….

[applestar]

Still having to “triage” my garden due to limited resources — me … energy, heat tolerance, encroaching pain from one injury or another, etc.

Today, I checked on the Sunflower Hoophouse and found plethora of emergencies — mostly having to do with supporting the fast-growing plants and improving air circulation in the close space.

All the container plants needed to be watered again, and although I wanted to plant some more, the hoops and insect net tunnel covering the corn and cabbages VGA couldn’t wait to be raised any longer.

I’m using hoop supports that are in segments that can be added on, so very convenient, but I needed to devise a new way to cover since it wasn’t wide enough to reach the ground afterwards.

[will add pics later]

Once that was done, I was too wiped out to continue and retreated back inside the house.

[applestar]

Here are some pics from yesterday and today —

• VGA corn tunnel before and after

• Container Bed — planted last two white squares with pepper seedlings — CCX.B (Chocolate Cake X with brown fruit) and CCX.R (with red fruit)

• Yesterday’s harvest

• Today’s big project was building a vertical trellis with bamboo poles, etc. and sturdy netting; and providing guidelines for the “children” vines growing from the squash vines that were terminated/pinched after 5~6 true leaves
— I started to, but didn’t completely cull to 2 or 3
per plant
— Still need to completely secure the upper part of the structure

• Y-star summer squash first flowers opened in the Sunflower Hoophouse today, but was too preoccupied to go inside. Hopefully they were all males.
• Today’s meager raspberry harvest with some plantain leaves for that anti-itch herbal remedy

[Gary350]

Here are some pics from yesterday and today —

• VGA corn tunnel before and after

•••

Are you growing corn in a tunnel? Does that work?

Once I planted 30 corn seeds in a 3 ft diameter circle. When plants had tassels and silks too, I pulled off several tassels banged them against the inside of a 5 gallon bucket to catch pollen in the bottom of the bucket. Then pour in 1 cup of water and 2 drops of dish soap stir pollen into the water. Paint the pollen water on the corn silks with a 2" throw away paint brush. 100% germination.

Another time I planted 30 corn seeds in a 3 ft diameter circle when plants had silks and tassels I wrapped a large white bed sheet around the plants to hold in the pollen. Very good pollination also.

Rub your dry clean finger on corn silks if it feels slippery they are not ready to be pollinated. If your finger sticks to corn silks like sliding your finger on a new rubber band silks are ready to be pollinated. Each silk is 1 kernel on the cob, 750 silks = 750 kernels.

[applestar]

@Gary350 — There are several reasons I was inspired to cover the corn with insect mesh tunnel:

• One of them is actually what you said — you wrote about surrounding your corn with sheets the way you described before.
• Another is how @imafan had been using bird netting to keep her corn safe.


For the corn, the intention is to keep them safe from the moth that starts as caterpillar and eats the middle of the growing tip leaves. (Can’t remember the name atm.). Some videos I watched mentioned that surrounding the corn from ground to about waist~chest high with insect netting helps because the moths generally flies lower to the ground.

For the time being though, I want to keep the row covered entirely because of the Alcosa mini cabbages and kohlrabi that were planted first in the row. I had kind of hoped they would be harvested by the time the corn outgrew … and kohlrabi are rapidly reaching harvesting size (I think only 3 more left), but the cabbages which I am really excited about having started to head up still need another week or so? So one more tier of leg extensions to accommodate the corn.

After the cabbages are harvested, I’ll leave the top open for the corn to grow through.

** I DO have another tiny arc planted corn that are not covered to see if there is a difference. Those, I’m going to put some neem oil solution in the leaf cup today — this should help keep aphids away as well.

THANKS for the tip about the corn silks

[applestar]

• I WAS hoping that the raised hoops will accommodate the VGA corn until next week and closer to when the Alcosa cabbages will be ready to harvest… but by this morning, those corn took almost full advantage of the headroom overnight! Two more Kohlrabi did seem ready (could have waited one more day?).

• China Jade cucumbers are growing well and three of them have baby female flower buds, so cucumbers, soon!
• I’ve been protecting the green blueberries with this laundry net bag. First few were ripe today


There were several notable baby green tomatoes today —

FFSX-BR, S7xA.F4-TYH, S7xA.F4-SRPH

…And I took pics of best variegation exhibited (on leaves, leaf stems, main stalks) so far …but forgot to take a close up of FFSX

FFS, Shimofuri (霜降り).F10, S7xA.F4-TYH, S7xA.F4-SRPH

[applestar]

Here are close-ups of notable variegation expressed by FFSX-BR

There’s SO MUCH going on in the garden right now …. More pics from yesterday —

• Summer squash have started to bloom with male blossoms. There’s a female zucchini flower bud.

• Pulled a carrot because its leaves were flopping into the path and I got tired of trying not to step on it

• a photo gallery snap shot collage from the Sunflower Hoophouse
— Adam hybrid cucumber, supposedly a parthenocarpic “greenhouse” variety, is turning out to be the least vigorous out of the three varieties I’m growing (maybe it expects to be coddled). Hopefully once it grows out of the juvenile stage, it’ll pick up pace.

— The eggplant in the bottomless black nursery pot (the one in which zucchini had grown with HUGE success last year) is growing fastest. I may have to cut more bottoms off of my stash of black pots…..
— I put the bucket ginger in here this year. Need to top off the bucket with potting mix to encourage the ginger to grow more. (I want to put the Turmeric container in here as well….)


Collage from TODAY —

• I’m at “Find ANY available space, dig a hole and put them in the ground!” FINAL phase of “spring” planting
— Pulled one garlic that WAS ready in VGA, and then went ahead and planted 3 Jubilee watermelon and 2 unidentified melon starts. (Melons were growing from bunch of started older seeds of which I thought none had germinated….)
— Harvested all of the summer squash blossoms and had them for breakfast (Dredged in beaten egg seasoned with pickled myoga shoots, then in whole white wheat flour seasoned with sea salt and sugar; pan fried in evoo. Also had unopened 2nd year carrot umbels this way — very yummy )

• (progress) VGD Nutterbutter squash and China Jade cukes
• (progress) HBR Nutterbutter and Greek Sweet Red squashes
• SERIOUSLY
— just cleared space,
— dug a little trench and incorporated home made bokashi and some eggshell/fruit scrap cultured liquid feed,
— then re-covered with the scraped off and previously piled to dry cut weed mulch, opened up holes, and planted 3 leftover Greek Sweet Reds and a Nutterbutter starts.
— If they make it and establish, these are going to be just left to ramble around on the ground, but will receive water and nutes as well as any tonics and preventatives as a “by the way” bonus from being right in front of the in-ground Chicago Hardy and White Marseilles fig trees.


…Hoping to do something similar tomorrow with the remaining tomato starts and then be DONE with them all.

[applestar]

Yay!

Completed Spiral Garden

…BTW, with the recent heat wave BUT WITHOUT ANY ACCOMPANYING STORMS/RAIN (like some of you are getting in other areas), even though I have been watering the rest of the Spiral Garden, this arc of the spiral which hasn’t been watered was BONE DRY. I reshaped the swale/path to act as reservoir (as usual — really helps during the summer drought) to help soak the mounded arc thoroughly, and left for a while until the soil was moistened enough to work with. I STILL felt the plants needed to be watered after planting.

[pepperhead212]

Great work, apple! Seems you'd be spending so much time watering these days, you wouldn't have time to do that! Unless, of course, it is all automatically watered!

What variety of eggplant that is growing so well for you?

[applestar]

Not automatically… I’d have to overhaul the outdoor faucets so they work reliably first…. I wish it would rain a bit.

Those eggplant planted in. group are Money Maker. Last of the packet so maybe something different next year. I wanted to get Millionaire ||, but they only had the first gen.

I also have the very last Shoya Long and Kamo growing, as well as one. Black Egg seed out of entire packet that finally managed to grow for me.

[applestar]

I HAD to let two of the corn out this morning

CENTER : A snapshot of VGC and VGD

[applestar]

A couple of Garden Patrol delights from yesterday —

(1) While I was crouched and leaning forward to wrap the squash vines up the hanging string support, a GIANT green dragonfly hovered in my face with loud whirring noise. AT FIRST I thought hummingbirds have returned and had flown over for an “obligatory” greeting (they seem to do that whenever I’m in the garden).

Seeing it WASN’T, and my brain couldn’t ID it at first, I nearly jumped away with a yell, but then realized it was only a drangonfly, albeit much bigger than the normal green darter.

It flew around me and around the garden along the paths for a while then flew off. (Hopefully after being satiated with all the mosquitoes. )

I tried but it was too fast and erratic to take a picture.

(2) A couple of nights ago, I was thinking I wasn’t seeing any fireflies and worried that the drought had affected their lifecycle/emergence. But last evening (after having hand watered the squashes in the Haybale Row and flooded the Spiral Garden to plant the last arc of tomatoes) they were out in the Side Yard Garden, in the Spiral and among the Espalier Fruit Trees, in the shrubbery under the window, etc.

I watered the backyard thoroughly this morning during the unrestricted watering hours to hopefully alleviate conditions for their return.

[applestar]

I had to let a THIRD corn out. One of the first two that was let out is tasseling, but not blooming yet. (No pic. pretty sure you don’t really want to watch corn grow day by day )

Spent this morning in the Sunflower Hoophouse doing maintenance work (tie up to suppport; remove diseased and yellow leaves; spray with tonic to reduce sucking pests and as fungal preventative….)

Tying up the tomatoes and cucurbits to support has become a daily chore. I’m also proactively removing diseased and older yellowed, as well as oldest small leaves. This is done for the brassicas as well.

A couple of the pea vines have dried up and died, but others have started to bloom again in spite of the heatwave….

I do have a bunch of other pics to share —

First, I might be biased, but Shimofuri(霜降り) plants are showing fantastic variegation:

Shimofuri (霜降り)F10

…

FFS and FFSX

…

S7xA.F4 segregates

…Only other variegated varieties I’m growing this year are Faelan’s First Snow (which exhibit equally impressive variegation but only on a few leaves out of each plant), and FFSX and my other crossbreeding segregate S7xA which are still in development and are being concentrated for high level variegation traits), so the exceptional difference might be inevitable only in my garden….


…I FORGOT to take pic of the FFS first fruit, but here are the other first greenies:

First green tomato fruits

… eta …

Faelan’s First Snow #1 first green fruits

… THIS is how regular sized tomatoes look — the difference to the mini-determinate/semi-determinate Shimofuri, micro-determinate S7xA, and the micro-dwarf FFSX is emphasized when you make the comparison.

[applestar]

This channel is interesting because he explains plant care methods based on its biology.
【キュウリ栽培の重要作業】葉かき・摘葉のしかた【その葉をなぜとるのか】 - YouTube

In this video, he explains:

Cucumbers benefit from regular/continuous leaf removal at 3 leaves max at a time.
* Remove lower, older, diseased or yellowed leaves that have lost its “springy” auto sun-facing leaf tilt.
* But as much as possible, DO NOT start removing until a vine has its first 20 leaves
* For each cucumber fruit, 3~5 leaves are needed to support its growth.
* Curved fruit indicates nutrient deficiency. Insufficient leaves per fruit will show up as curved fruit. Also, make sure magnesium and calcium is supplemented with dolomitic lime, etc. Yellowed otherwise I’m diseased and no pest leaves may indicate magnesium deficiency — they should be removed.
* As the vine grows older, and secondary vines start to grow out, the oldest leaves on the main vine become unproductive due to senescence and ultimately should be removed entirely
* Oldest large dark green leaves which are casting shade over numerous new leaves may be removed, especially between vines to increase sun exposure and airflow to prevent fungal diseases.

[Translated and summarized by *applestar*]

[applestar]

Another growout I’m looking forward to —
the surprise green when ripe from this winter’s indoor garden.

I thought it was a determinate because of the way it produced and ripened fruits almost all at once, but it has since then grown new shoots and is ripening a few fruit trusses m. So I’m thinking it’s likely a kind of a semi-determinate or a resurrecting determinate (I once had one that resurrected 3 times after the winter indoor fruits were harvested, basically growing through the entire following season … what was it? I feel like it was ‘Tatiana’ or something… (I’ll have to look it up in my notes).

…This one was neglected during the spring seedling rush, and is still in the winter modified double stacked container for now.

I’ve uppotted two of the seedlings from the fruits. One of them will be grown as a hanging pot. I believe I still have a few more less well developed starts in a community pot.

If I’m remembering correctly, by its very genetic nature, once GWR, it will continue to be GWR in subsequent generations unless stray cross pollination takes place?

I thought I’d saved the volunteer because it showed variegation. but maybe not (these two hasn’t) … maybe it was the really short internodes.

I’m going to call the NOT microdwarfs rugose, wispy cut-leaf foliage, really short but not super short type “mini-determinate” (unless there is another term already in use).

[imafan26]

Do you still keep things inside your winter hoop houses now or am I just seeing insect covers? I don't get as hot as you have been, but I only work outside in the morning or the afternoon. It may not be as hot, but the sun is intense.

[applestar]

Here are some more pics in the photo gallery from last couple of days —

• Replaced VGC Row2 hoops so the sweet peppers aren’t pushing up on the insect net tunnel (pulled one of the garlic — it was runty)

— peas are blooming and setting pods inspire of the heatwave. I think the bit of insect net shade “cloth” I have stretched over them is actually helping


• VGD China Jade cuke have baby cuke flowers. These 4 yesterday and two more opened today. I did try to hand pollinate with the only one male blossom yesterday, but I left them to pollinators today since there were I think three male blossoms. Yesterdays and in fact two from day before yesterday were all still open today (2 days old female blossoms were faded but open). China Jade is supposed to have “parthenocarpic tendencies”

— Nutterbutter butternut are also starting to produce female buds, here in VGD as well as, I saw today, over in the HBR.

(I counted and the Nutterbutters seem to develop the first female flower bud exactly on the 10th leafnode of the secondary “child” vine. HOWEVER, Greek Sweet Red didn’t have the female flower buds on the 10th leafnodes.)


• Took another pics of these two (Shimofuri F7 x Aztek) F4 segregates, grown from last year’s Tall, Yellow Heart F3 (highly variegated) plant fruits.
— I love that these two are both expressing impressive variegationnpatterns on the leaves, striped stems, and are differentiated in the presence of magenta/purple possibly antho expression in the stems. So far both are keepers worthy of further growout. These were SHORTER than the tallest seedlings but not as shortened as the selection planted in VGC. In my experience, they should be the 1/2’s (from the 25%, 50%, 25% distribution) and will produce higher ratio of the shorter segregates in the next generation, that hopefully, will also express even more concentrated variegation.
— Next anticipated discovery will be fruit shapes and colors, and FLAVOR!

• Harvested one of the Emiko mini napa today. So happy since this is my first fully developed head of napa cabbage (many previous failures )
• Also harvested all of the damaged underripe nectarines from the front yard. This is the one that blooms spectacularly in spring and the end up with gummosis and spoiled green fruits every year, but I’ve found a recipe that use green to underripe peaches that these might still be useful for. It’s not dessert but “herbal” medicinal tonic/jam (not sweet).
— I’ve scrubbed them and am soaking them in salt water for the 2nd time now to remove some of the tannins. Cooking is supposed to break down the other toxins and can be made with or without the seeds although I’ll probably opt to NOT include the seeds just to be a bit safer.

[applestar]

I sprayed most of the lower leaves as preventative, and some of the leaves that are already starting to show slight powdery mildew, and some cucurbits and eggplant leaves in the Sunflower Hoophouse that I think might be showing signs of mite infestation.

Several channels of Japanese gardening videos have been recommending a home made solution called “SuToChu” (it means vinegar and shochu) for fungal preventative as well as pest insects and slug/snail repellant.

While it can be made from just rice vinegar and shochu, most recommend making hot peppers and garlic extract with the alcohol first. Since it only made sense to me, I also used eggshell vinegar extract.

The mixture is strained and used at x200 dilution with a bit of liquid soap.

I’ll report if I see any significant improvements from just today’s application.

[applestar]

Another progress pics of FFSX-BR (back-right plant grew largish -for a microdwarf- purple fruits last year). Of the three best variegated plants I’m focusing on growing out, only one has produced the mega blossom flattened beefsteak shape like last-year’s so far. The other two are growing heart-shaped pointed fruits. We’ll see what the color develops.

— Note that the wire fencing next to this bed is 24”H, so these are all under 2 ft. at this point.
— I am also growing out the FFSX-BL segregate which bore orange heart-shaped pointed fruits last year, but the seedlings were not as vigorous and they are slower to develop and much smaller right now.

…

To my surprise, first Y-star scalloped summer squash to start producing female blossoms were the ones in the new container bed. <There IS one with buds that may or may not open tomorrow in the protected Sunflower Hoophouse.

…

Over in the HBR (Haybale Row) bed, Nutterbutter and Greek Sweet Red squash vines are rapidly growing, and I finished the upper parts of the trellis structure

• Yes, those corn are straightening up WAY taller than the hoops. Since there are now tips of future corn cobs with impending silk emergence, I’ve completely opened up the top of the hoop and started hand pollinating with cutoff tips of the tassels.

— The biggest Alcosa cabbage and Kohlrabi inside were still not quite ready yet, but I plan to start harvesting them all within the next couple of days and try to keep close watch on the remaining plants since the White butterflies and cabbage moths will no doubt sneak in.

[applestar]

The garden is keeping me busy! Every time I go out there thinking “There’s not that much to do …just little things here and there….”. I end up finding unscheduled projects that end up being a bit major.

Mostly, it’s because all the summer vege’s have established and are taking off!

• Yesterday, I spent some time in the Sunflower Hoophouse (SFHH), and tried taking a pano-shot after everything was straightened up
• The biggest Money Maker eggplant had the first blossom on
• There WAS a Y-star female blossom to hand-pollinate (The two from the day before in the rootpouch container looked like they had set)
• Harvested some beets and greens, culled cabbage and broccoli shoots, and a garlic from inside the SFHH. Last of the peas are almost done; and the meager blueberries are slowly ripening….

• As seen above, back by the VG.SIP, Suyo Long cucumbers had been pushing at the insect netting, and, today, I decided to uncover and leave the two Emiko napa in the ground exposed, just tucking the long green insect mesh around the VG.SIP.

• I knew the one in the back nearer the fence was ready to harvest. but the inevitable white cabbage butterflies flitting by left me NEEDING to at least make an effort at covering the remaining one. So I found an used scrap of tulle (big holes, I think it used to be for the VGA garlic). I was able to compensate by doubling the end over to block the ripped holes.

• From there, I ended up building an extension to the squash and cuke trellis and hung the Suyo Long vines from overhead strings (will likely add a trellis netting when I complete the watermelon/melon trellis which I started to frame out

• There was an apparently confused newly emerged firefly on a cuke leaf under the netting

• This SVB (Squash Vine Borer) moth was found on a Nutterbutter leaf and was dispatched Looked around hoping to spot eggs if any…, but didn’t find

• Harvested the purple Kohlibri kohlrabi from the VGA corn row;
— and harvested one of the Y-star from the rootpouch since there were 3 more female blossoms today. It was about 3” in diameter which is the right harvesting size.

* I was aggressively pruning the overgrown shrubbery in one of the rain gardens and — just in time — noticed yellow jackets have yet again nested … this time in neglected of the unused tub SIPs which I HAD been dragging out, dumping, and reactivating. . Currently making efforts to eliminate without getting too close

** Hummimgbird(s) is(are) BACK! I’ve been seeing them flying around since yesterday. Yay!

[applestar]

@imafan, I just now noticed your question about the hoophouses. Sorry for the delay in my reply.

As you can see, the Sunflower Hoophouse is in full production and will continue through most of the year.

So far, I’ve identified that
• Tomatoes don’t need and are adversely affected by the excessive heat.
• Same with sweet peppers, and possibly even the hot peppers seem overly prone to mite and possibly thrips inside the enclosed hoophouse with no ready Garden Patrol access.
• Melons and Watermelons didn’t seem to work well either , possibly due to greater potential for high humidity and fungal issues, and this seemed to apply to cucumbers as well so far (trying agains with a so called “greenhouse” F1 variety with disease resistances this year .…) but C.pepo squashes seemed to do well.
• Eggplants benefited from the higher temps and extended growing season
• Hoping similar benefit for ginger, and was/am going to put turmeric in there as well. Originally planned to try replanting in the ground but I seem to have run out of room

The Patio HH simply gets TOO HOT and DRY. Due to smaller size/height and limited ventilation, and simple structural design, and the positioning on the brick patio and backed to the SE-facing house wall. It’s also COMPLETELY shaded during the short day, lower sun angle season/months I find it’s useful for seed starting in early spring and holding area during the Great Fall Migration back into the house, including sorting pepper plants etc. to be overwintered.

It’s relegated to storage during winter and project prep work area and temporary set up or convenient rain shelter during the summer.

[Gary350]

@imafan, I just now noticed your question about the hoophouses. Sorry for the delay in my reply.

As you can see, the Sunflower Hoophouse is in full production and will continue through most of the year.

So far, I’ve identified that
• Tomatoes don’t need and are adversely affected by the excessive heat.
• Same with sweet peppers, and possibly even the hot peppers seem overly prone to mite and possibly thrips inside the enclosed hoophouse with no ready Garden Patrol access.
• Melons and Watermelons didn’t seem to work well either , possibly due to greater potential for high humidity and fungal issues, and this seemed to apply to cucumbers as well so far (trying agains with a so called “greenhouse” F1 variety with disease resistances this year .…) but C.pepo squashes seemed to do well.
• Eggplants benefited from the higher temps and extended growing season
• Hoping similar benefit for ginger, and was/am going to put turmeric in there as well. Originally planned to try replanting in the ground but I seem to have run out of room

The Patio HH simply gets TOO HOT and DRY. Due to smaller size/height and limited ventilation, and simple structural design, and the positioning on the brick patio and backed to the SE-facing house wall. It’s also COMPLETELY shaded during the short day, lower sun angle season/months I find it’s useful for seed starting in early spring and holding area during the Great Fall Migration back into the house, including sorting pepper plants etc. to be overwintered.

It’s relegated to storage during winter and project prep work area and temporary set up or convenient rain shelter during the summer.

I plant tomatoes and sweet peppers on the east side of a shade tree so plants get full shade 12 noon to dark. My laser thermometer shows plant leaves are 20° to 30° hotter than the air temperature in full sun. I learned in college biology class plants have 2 modes, day time they soak up sunlight to make chlorophyll then after dark plants switch to growing mode. It takes plants about 4 hours to cool down naturally to switch to growing mode but if you spray plants with water 30 minutes before dark plants switch to growing mode in about 15 minutes vs 4 hours. You can get about 4 hours of extra growing time each day if you water cool your plants. Maybe that is why mother natures waters plants in the evening? I have been out of school too long to remember the correct names and terms.

Water melons, hot peppers, okra, sweet potatoes, blackberries, love very hot full sun all day.

[applestar]

@Gary350 I agree those are the basic and expected temperature preferences. That’s why I thought the melons, that need ~75°F+ night temps for optimum fruit development and ripening, might benefit from being grown inside the hoophouse, since our typical summer nights temperature falls to mid-upper 60’s°F except during “heatwave” — usually couple of weeks mid-July when we might experience mid70’s+ and even 80’s night time temp.

What often happens is I’m not starting/planting them out early enough, if they run into some kind of stunting growth delay, and then we’re already into mid-August and later when the fruits need the warmer nights but night temps are firmly falling down into the 60’a and even low 60’s upper 50’s.

I have trouble getting the cucurbits started in the ground (ground temp too cold) and when trying to start them inside, I’m in the middle of the older tomato seedling mass-production phase and peppers starting or developing phase when interior warmer space is at a premium…..