Shule's 2021 garden grow log

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PlainJane
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#61

Post: # 48042Unread post PlainJane
Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:11 am

Wow, [mention]Shule[/mention], you have a lot going on with your garden. Amazing overall variety of crops and ornamentals.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#62

Post: # 48067Unread post Amateurinawe
Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:12 pm

Wow, thanks for sharing. Those pebble stacking folks get everywhere....
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#63

Post: # 48075Unread post slugworth
Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:38 pm

I bought a japanese black trifele tomato plant today and I hate dark tomatoes.
I was surprised because the greenhouse guy is very conservative and I was amazed he would have something like that.
I lost plants to disease before planting so I was in mourning and wasn't thinking correctly.
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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#64

Post: # 48090Unread post Shule
Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:13 pm

PlainJane wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:11 am Wow, @Shule, you have a lot going on with your garden. Amazing overall variety of crops and ornamentals.
Thanks. I didn't plant most of the ornamentals and herbs, or do really any of the landscape design, though (but I did help move a lot of dirt, put down mulch, and stuff). You can thank a family member for that.

This is the stuff I planted or transplanted:

* All the tomatoes
* All the peppers
* The wonderberries
* The horseradish (in 2019, I think)
* The bunching onions (not pictured prominently)
* The muskmelons
* The watermelons
* The West India burr gherkins
* The okra
* The ancestors of the safflower (my family member planted at least a row of it, this year, and there are lots of volunteers)
* The fennel or dill (in a previous year)
* The sunroots (a few years ago; not pictured)
* The sunroot sunflower crosses (a year or two ago)
* The Thanksgiving cactus cutting (not pictured)
* I might be responsible for the mysterious red lettuce-like plant. I planted Cimmaron lettuce years ago, and most of it didn't sprout.

And that's it, I think (from what's growing this year).

The same relative planted the cucumbers (including the Armenian cucumbers), peas, potatoes, most of the onions, the snow peas, the Zinnias, the zucchini, the salad greens, beans, corn, and such.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#65

Post: # 48093Unread post Shule
Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:32 pm

The watermelon seed with the root that I planted by the tomatoes sprouted. I think it's going to live! :) It'll have a nice, deep root, too.

I watered all my plants, as well as the nectarine tree, the grapes, a rose bush, and all the plants in the garden that were seeded/planted new, this year.

I think one of the Napoli plants from 2020 (one that was just cotyledons) died (or was eaten). Two of the seedlings with only cotyledons turned out to be Stick tomatoes; so, I've got 9 Stick tomatoes altogether.

Another Huerfano Bliss melon sprouted.

The peppers are looking good. I think they're all going to live; a pest has been eating one or two of them, though.

The tomatoes are growing and looking good.

The weather said it was supposed to get to 96, today. The tomatoes seemed to like it, though, which was encouraging.

We're supposed to have decent tomato weather for the next ten days (in the 80s, and one day in the 70s).

The rose bush that I watered is supposed to be peach-colored; it looks cream to me, though. It had been struggling for some years. I've been trying to nurture it, though (and I think it's going to live). I think the reason it's been struggling is due to it being next to the peach tree that we cut down (which must have a lot of wood using nitrogen to rot). So, I think I should keep giving it extra nitrogen, and make sure the leaves become and stay shiny.

I think the soil at the side of our house isn't necessarily poor as I had supposed it might be; I think it's just that the house is white and reflects a lot of infrared onto the soil, causing it to dry out quickly and stuff. So, I'm thinking we should reserve that area for hot-weather plants, like watermelon (which did great there in 2016). Safflower does just fine there, as do sunroots.

I'm not sure which tomato has the biggest plant, now, but there are a number of contenders.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#66

Post: # 48139Unread post Shule
Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:44 pm

One of the cups of the Carolina Cross #183 watermelons is sprouting (with two seedlings). That may be the fastest I've ever seen it sprout! I think it's because of the heat (it's probably one of the least cold-tolerant watermelons), and how I froze the seeds before planting.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#67

Post: # 48226Unread post Shule
Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:00 pm

All four spots of Huerfano Bliss melons have sprouted.

I did another foliar spray of calcium nitrate on Saturday evening. Kind of soon, yeah, but I did it early for these reasons:
1. I only used half the maximum allowable amount last time.
2. The leaves have since been showered with water.
3. They seemed like they needed it.

Anyway, the plants are looking good, today.

On Saturday, I also did a foliar spray on the newest tomato transplants, and experimentally on seedlings, too. They all seem to have enjoyed it.

The peppers are looking great, today. I still need to thin them.

The Mexican Yellow tomato looked impressive, today.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#68

Post: # 48298Unread post Shule
Tue Jun 08, 2021 11:50 pm

Some of the grapes were getting chlorosis (especially one of the plants not pictured in my pictures above). So, I gave them a full strength foliar spray of calcium nitrate. I'm curious to see how much they green before the next treatment. I sprayed some of the other ornamentals, too (mostly others with chlorosis).

The tomatoes and peppers are looking good, except a couple of the peppers in the 18-gallon totes have chlorosis as if they have nitrogen-deficiency (I'm not really sure why; they might have been overwatered or something, since those containers are more prone to it than the smaller ones, and I think my relative has been watering them in addition to me). So, if overwatering is the problem, they'd probably appreciate potassium most, if anything.

All the cups of watermelons have seedlings except one of the Carolina Cross #183 cups. However, I saw a seed that was too far above the soil with a root; so, I planted it in one of the okra cups (the okra doesn't look like it's going to sprout). So, I might end up with three Carolina Cross #183 plants.

My SunDolce F2 plants have different foliage than the rest of my tomatoes; they're a different color (closer to a sea green than a regular tomato is), and the leaves of the big one are thinner (like wispy plants), but they're not wispy (the new growth looks a little floppy, but not the other growth). They're vigorous, too. SunCitron F2 is also very vigorous. I'm very impressed with those two, especially as SunCitron F2 has a few challenges (which it's handling extremely well--I planted it too close to the blackcurrant bushes, which seem to be trying in vain to smother it; despite the currants, it's growing quickly, and flowering).

My only wispy tomatoes this year appear to be Purple Russian and Matt's Hornet. I didn't know either of them would be wispy before I planted them. I've been making sure to fertilize those two.

The blackcurrant fruits are large, this year! A lot of them are orange or red, right now. This is the most they've produced since they've been where they are.

Yesterday, I took one of the PL volunteers next to Aunt Ginny's Purple (I had two plants in the same spot) and transplanted it in another location (by the blackcurrant bushes, but not close enough to easily risk getting smothered).

The Frittata Kitchen tomato is getting plenty of blossoms; that's exciting, since it's an early and tasty one.

The Thanksgiving cactus cutting that I transplanted outside hasn't produced any new segments, yet.

There's a second Stick seedling that came up next to one of the transplanted Stick tomatoes. I'm thinking I'll transplant it out somewhere else, too.

A bunch of Galapagos Island volunteers came up around some of my Napoli plants; I pulled them up--but they had excellent roots for not having any true leaves, yet!

One of the Napoli plants from 2019 seed seems to have mild herbicide damage; it's by a fence, and someone sprayed herbicide on the weeds by the fence. Hopefully it lives and doesn't take as long to recover as Cosmic Eclipse did last year.

Cosmic Eclipse this year is looking great. It's growing trusses of buds.

The tomato plants are starting to look big.

I've been trying to guess which varieties the volunteers are. There's one where Rosella was last year. It could be Rosella, but it's branching out wide, low down, like Purple Calabash (from Tormato's seed) did last year; I don't recall if Rosella did that, too. Purple Calabash was a few plants away from that spot last year. But, if it is Purple Calabash, it's probably actually a cross, since the leaves don't look exactly the same.

I'm guessing the PL plant two plants south of Aunt Ginny's Purple is either BSX or a Brandy Boy cross; the flowers look too big for it to be the Medovaya Kaplya cross or Frittata Kitchen.

Costoluto Florentino has a pretty big, vigorous plant. It's where the Kellogg's Beefsteak cherry cross was last year.

Terhune is still struggling to grow, but I think it's going to do it.

The Napoli plants that I transplanted really small are growing excellently! Quite fast.

Sprite is looking good.

Matina is growing (but not as fast as the Napoli plants).

I have more PL tomato plants this year than I've ever had, including several volunteers. I don't know if I've ever let a PL volunteer grow before. I'm highly interested in the result.

Black Cherry, Galapagos Island (not the volunteer), and Amana Orange (the ones in the NW side part of the backyard) must be in tough soil. They've been growing slowly. That Amana Orange is the one that I direct-seeded under a milk jug. The soil there dries out quickly, and is probably extra hot (it gets sun from many angles, and is by the corner of a white house).
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#69

Post: # 48336Unread post Shule
Thu Jun 10, 2021 2:34 am

Apparently, full strength for a foliar spray of calcium nitrate is a bit much for the grapes. Some of the leaves got burned. I'm sure the vines and fruit will be fine, though.

It's raining.

I neglected to mention that two to a few days after my first tomato set fruit, another fruit set on the same plant.

The peppers with chlorosis are greener than they were.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#70

Post: # 48433Unread post Shule
Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:39 pm

I saw today that Insurance_2 set two fruits! It's the first transplanted tomato to set fruit, which is remarkable, considering there are quite a few tomatoes, and it's one of the large-fruited ones. The plant also seems to be the largest, again (if it lost the title).

I have some sad news, though. Something violently gnawed my Cherokee Yellow Perfection Peach plant down. It looks like it was gnawed on all sides like a beaver with a tree. It also appears to have been gnawing just below the soil line. The plant was a decent size; so, this is quite unusual, and I really don't think it was a cutworm. I don't know what it was. Maybe a mouse? A vole? Whatever it was seems to have exerted considerable effort to do what it did. The whole plant had already wilted by the time I got to it.

So, unless one of the volunteers is also Cherokee Yellow Perfection Peach (which is possible), I guess we'll have no Cherokee Yellow Perfection Peach tomato this year. Hopefully it cross-pollinated something, though (that might be a good one to cross with Stick and Napoli to get a good amount of sugar in those fruits). I plan to plant it again next year, however (and to put it somewhere else; that area is prone to mysterious tomato plant deaths by pests or such, early on in the season). I think I'll put West India burr gherkins there next year.

Did I mention yesterday that the second Carolina Cross #183 container has a seedling in it? It sprouted yesterday, I believe. Now, I'm still waiting on the one I put in the okra container.

I need to thin the peppers (and the most recently-transplanted tomatoes).
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#71

Post: # 48486Unread post Shule
Sun Jun 13, 2021 12:01 am

I thinned the peppers, the wonderberries, and the rest of the tomatoes that were too small when I thinned the others.

It looks like the Egg Yolk tomato has the beginnings of a fruit.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#72

Post: # 48607Unread post Shule
Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:38 pm

Yep, Egg Yolk has two fruits on it, now.

The following other tomatoes set fruit by today:
* Napoli cross A F2 (two plants; the third and forth from the north)
* Napoli cross B F2 (the smaller of the two plants--the one that is further south)
* SunChocola F3 (The shape looks kind of ovate.)
* Galapagos Island (The transplanted one.)

The plants are looking good and growing nicely. They seem to prefer somewhat warmer temperatures this year than in previous years, for optimal growth.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#73

Post: # 48613Unread post Shule
Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:56 am

I fertilized the usual stuff again, as well as the blackberries, and the tomatoes where the muskmelons were in recent previous years, but I used Miracle Gro on some things, and calcium nitrate on others. I didn't fertilize the things in the foam cups (if the Miracle Gro works well on other plants, I'll probably put some on them in a day or two).

I get the feeling that calcium nitrate helps tomatoes set fruit faster in my garden—that's a hunch. It seems to be working as hoped with the plants that had later starts, helping them to grow and mature vigorously. I'm curious how the Miracle Gro foliar sprays will work on tomatoes (I only sprayed one of the tomatoes with it, since I want to make sure it's safe, first).

A Morelle De Balbis plant volunteered! I'm really excited about that, since the ones I planted died (perhaps from damping off disease). I've been growing it every year since 2015 or 2016. The volunteer is from last year's plant, considering where it sprouted.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#74

Post: # 48621Unread post Shule
Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:47 am

I was just outside, and I discovered that the following tomatoes had set fruit:

* Two PL volunteers that I think are Medovaya Kaplya cross F3s
* Both Frittata Kitchen plants
* Cosmic Eclipse
* SunCitron F2 (This is remarkable, since it's in tougher growing conditions than the other F2s in the Sun series that I'm growing, but it set fruit first. SunChocola F3 set fruit first, though, but it has more sun, I've been fertilizing it, and its parent was grown on the property. SunCitron F2 is remarkably vigorous; I definitely like those genetics, so far, and those of the SunDulce F2s, too.)

Cosmic Eclipse is getting some funky new growth, different from the old growth (kind of furry and almost rugose-looking; smaller than usual), which reminds me of what it did last year, without the chlorosis; I thought it was herbicide (I'm pretty sure it didn't get herbicide on it, this year). I'm not sure what's going on with it. Maybe it's supposed to be that way. Maybe it has a virus. I don't know. Whatever the case, it set fruit.

I'm pretty sure two of the volunteers are Purple Calabash, now (from last year's plant from Tormato's seed). The flowers on the one look too big for it to be Rosella, and the other plant closely resembles it, with the low spreading vines. Hopefully they produce well (the parent Purple Calabash didn't, but the Purple Calabash cross--probably with Costoluto Genovese--last year sure did).

Terhune is growing, and no longer has chlorotic-looking new growth. It's safe to say that it has survived.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#75

Post: # 48668Unread post Shule
Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:21 am

I watered the peppers and the things that needed it.

The third Carolina Cross #183 (which I had put in an okra container) sprouted. Paradoxically, an okra seed finally started sprouting in that container--so, I took it and planted it in the other okra container.

The watermelons look about ready to transplant. I intend to start on that this coming evening or so.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#76

Post: # 48701Unread post Shule
Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:27 pm

Well, I found something unexpected. Two of the watermelon plants are crossed, and I know exactly what they are:

* Carolina Cross #183 x Moon and Stars F1
* Weeks NC Giant x Moon and Stars F1

These are from seeds from fruits grown in 2016, which was the first year that I grew Carolina cross #183 (from Burpee seed), Weeks NC Giant (from Weeks Seeds), and Moon and Stars (from a trade). I know they're crossed with Moon and Stars because there are stars on the leaves.

I wasn't expecting to have any watermelons with stars on their leaves, this year, but that's cool. I believe I've had that same Weeks NC Giant cross before (so, I shouldn't be surprised about that one; the Carolina Cross #183 hybrid is new to me, though).

I think I've figured out why it's seemed to be so hard to do succession crops in my garden! :) I think it's because of the habitual lack of rain during most of the growing season. No, I don't think it's because of the lack of water, but rather because of the lack of rain. Nitrates are produced during rain, and I think nitrates are important for young plants to prevent them from getting stunted. So, I'm guessing all I have to do to successfully grow succession crops is to make sure they sprout, and then give them weekly foliar sprays of calcium nitrate (until they're big enough to grow without supplemental nitrates). That's the vibe that I get from the young plants I've been fertilizing. This hypothesis could also explain why the garden looked oppressed in the early spring, this year (we had a very dry early spring; our later spring had a decent amount of rain, this year, though).

Supplemental nitrates could be particularly helpful in arid and semi-arid areas, I'm guessing. I'm not recommending using them in the soil, though, since that's inefficient, and could tend to more pollution.

I haven't seen a lot of wasps, this year (our area tends to have a *lot* of wasps). There are some living in our car, but that's about it, I think. I saw some flying around earlier, but yeah. I went to the dentist, today, and when I came back, I saw a wasp that looked very grateful for the return of its home (and it then crawled behind the mirror). I think they've been going in the front of the car, too.

I haven't seen many mosquitos, either, which is surprising. The mosquito trucks haven't even been running (for which I'm very grateful--I'm not a fan of pesticides/herbicides being sprayed all over the place), but I'm concerned about why the mosquito population has declined. Maybe they're spraying from the air. I don't know. Or, maybe mosquitos like a wet early spring.

The toads in the garden have been very active the past few days. There are a lot of them! They've probably been eating the pill bugs and ants. We had an overabundance of pillbugs and ants a few weeks ago. It's interesting that pillbugs are crustaceans, and that toads eat crustaceans.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#77

Post: # 48707Unread post Shule
Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:34 pm

Here are the watermelons with stars.

Carolina Cross #183 x Moon and Stars F1:
IMG_20210616_192026.jpg
Weeks NC Giant x Moon and Stars F1:
IMG_20210616_192101.jpg
And here is the whole group of pre-transplant watermelons and West India burr gherkins:
IMG_20210616_183629.jpg
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Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#78

Post: # 48731Unread post Growing Coastal
Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:26 am

Wow, they're so cute those baby water melons!

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#79

Post: # 48806Unread post Nico
Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:17 am

Very good Shule list, I love reading your publications and above all learning, your work is admirable I wish you have a good season
Plants have, like animals, in the degree and almost in the form, the sensitivity, that essential attribute of life.

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#80

Post: # 48849Unread post Shule
Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:58 pm

Thank you, [mention]Nico[/mention]! That's very kind of you. You're awesome. I hope you have an excellent season, too! :)
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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