Re: pepperhead212's 2023 garden

[pepperhead212]

I planted most of my basil yesterday, and a few more today; also a couple more okra, that had gotten their 1st set of true leaves. Still have 6 more okra to go, with 12 planted - the rest go to my friends. I also a few days ago, when I sprouted a bunch of okra seeds, before putting them in the pellets, I put 2 in empty spots for them outside, and I'll see if they grow faster than starting them in the pellets, though the pellets seem to have them growing faster already. I also started sprouting my butternut seeds, as well as more of the bitter melon seeds, of the ones that did not germinate. I "scarified" the seeds this time, filing the edges of the seeds - I'll see how it works. I also soaked them in KNO3 this time - what I use for pepper seeds, and some other seeds. And I also tried some saved seeds, from a white bitter melon a few years ago - something I haven't tried yet.

I sprayed Surround on the plants for the first time today - the eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons. Only sprayed a small amount, given the sizes - eggplants the largest, and the main ones I want to start on, to prevent those flea beetles. I also put some potassium bicarbonate in the mix, as a prophylactic. Here is a photo of one Green Zebra, one of the larger varieties only 12 days after transplant.
One of the 2 Green Zebra Cherry tomatoes, sprayed with Surround, 5-15, 12 days after transplant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also re-set my timers for the drip irrigation lines - had to set them to run now, since the rain has been almost nonexistent here in May, and almost nothing forecast. But I had to turn each row down, since the plants aren't very large yet - I put the timers away when the plants were full grown. I'll just have to re-set them again, when plants get larger, and it gets hotter. Still beats hand watering!

[pepperhead212]

Those Oaxacan Jewels are the largest tomato plants in my garden, and the first I saw any flower buds on! I saw one of those megablossoms on one a couple of days ago, and all of them had a couple clusters of unopened buds. And that Hippie Zebra was another that has a bunch of buds on, and the Juliet F3 have a cluster. Usually, it's cherry tomatoes that are first, but not one shows any buds yet.
First blossom on any of my tomatoes - a megablossom on one of those Oaxacan Jewel plants. 5-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Flower buds on one of the Hippie Zebras, 5-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last of the tomatoes with flower buds - Juliete F3, 5-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I saw 2 more of those megablossoms on those Oaxacan Jewels yesterday; no more open blossoms on any other plants, however. And those plants are getting large FAST! The Brandyboys are almost as large, and all are starting to take off now, even the smallest ones.

The wind finally died down, and I got to cover my pepper-maggot-prone peppers - 3 sets of them, 15 total. Jalapeños, Hanoi Markets, and larger, milder peppers were always ones that would get them. The jalapeños, as always, had the most unopened blossoms, but Big Mic also had a few, even though they were smaller plants (the smaller ones on the left, in this photo). I picked off all I could, before covering, since it would be my last chance, for a while.
One Earthbox of peppers, before covering with the light Agribon. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the covered boxes of peppers, and Wartryx by itself, in the box to the left. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I put my last pepper in today - the Red Savina that I started late, because the chocolate habanero seeds did not germinate, so I tried some of the closest thing I had.
Red Savina - my last pepper to go in, 5-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplants are doing great! The Ichiban is the largest, but not by much. None have even unopened blossoms yet, but are growing well.

Ichiban eggplant, 5-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Batak eggplant, L, and LA Long Green, 5-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

HI University Eggplant, L, and Choruoku green, 5-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Asian String eggplant, 5-22 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I took down my hydroponics system, and took all my seedlings I had left over to a friend's place, so all my plant lights are off for a couple months!

Last night I harvested the last of the kale I had in the hydro. And today I took out a huge parsley plant, and a relatively small basil plant - I pulled them out of the baskets and planted them in the ground; I'm not sure they will survive, but there's only one way to find out! The stems and roots from all those greens I separated from the clay pebbles, and put them in the composter.

I took down my hydroponics today. Started with the kale for dinner last night, and this huge parsley plant. That round pan it is in is 16 inches in diameter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All the roots and stems from all of the hydroponics plants, for composting. Only saved a basil and parsley plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I took several stems of that red epazote I had growing, and put it in a cup of water, with
a little clonex, to root the cuttings. I also put some cuttings directly in the ground, after dipping in some rooting gel. The rest of the epazote I took to the Mexican grocery in town - I always give them the extra, when I have to cut it back. Eventually, I should get 2 of those cuttings to root, which is all I need for the summer.

[bower]

We often plant out our potted winter parsley and they do just fine. Looks like a good clump of roots!

[pepperhead212]

Here's one of those set fruits on a Oaxacan Jewel.
First set fruit on any tomato this season - a Oaxacan Jewel, which is not a cherry! First saw it 5-28, this photo 5-29. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I sprayed some more Surround on the new growth on the tomatoes, and most of the other plants. It has rained so little here that I haven't even gone through the first 2 gallon batch of it, since I just have to cover the new growth. It doesn't wash off easily, but it hasn't been raining much at all - only about .19" in all of May.

[pepperhead212]

Today, I took advantage of the overcast and cooler weather, and uncovered my 3 covered pepper Earthboxes, to make sure nothing was taking advantage of the fact that I can't see under there, at least if it's something small! No aphids, or anything else growing under there, and those plants are growing faster than the uncovered ones! I think it's because they are slightly warmer, and peppers love heat. These are between 1½ and 2' - I couldn't keep the cover off well, to make the photo, due to the wind.
one of the covered pepper Earthboxes, Jalafuegos just under 2 feet tall, with a lot of buds, some just opening. 6-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I'm seeing more set fruit every day now, including some of the smaller ones, so they will ripen faster. The Sprite grape is just starting, as well as the Green Zebra. And the Juliet F3 plus the Prune Verte Green Plum are a little larger, but should still be faster than the big ones. And those Oaxacan Jewels are incredible - all 3 plants have at least 2 set fruits, and the stalks are probably the thickest I have seen on any variety. And here's something I did, while trimming the plants - I've snipped off an excess number of buds, in those initial clusters, on the Jewels, Hippies, and Brandyboys, some of which had 8 or more buds, some of which hadn't even opened. Last year it seemed some of these Jewels and Brandyboys would get BER on the clusters with a lot of tomatoes on them, but not when they only had 2 or 3 tomatoes, which is what I left on them. I don't do this with small varieties, but the large ones, in the beginning at least, I think this will help.
Hippie Zebra, setting fruit, 6-3. Plants just over 2 feet tall. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Prune Verte Green Plum, starting to set fruit, 6-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those Oaxacan Jewels, showing the first set tomato of the season, and how large the plants have gotten. 6-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also saw a couple of set fruits on some eggplants, that I hadn't even noticed the flowers on - the Choryoku Green, and the LA Long Green, and the latter one I remember being a later than most variety! Maybe they've improved them, through the years. The blossoms on the Ichiban and String are still open.

[pepperhead212]

I did very little the last 2 days, due to that smoke in the air, but today I did go out and do some things I had to. Only 5 plants (I think?) that aren't on irrigation, and I had to water, but today I also sprayed the Surround on almost everything. I finished the last cup and a half, then made another 2 gal of the mix, and continued. I put one of those KN95 masks on - same thing I've been wearing when mowing in this dry weather, and due to all that pollen this year, so nothing new. I started coughing some, but that has happened many times w/o smoke, and that's why I carry those menthol cough drops out there every time. Early this morning I put an air filter in my living room with a HEPA filter in it, and turned it on high when I went out (makes a lot more noise on high), and it seems to have helped the air considerably. I have an even larger HEPA filter in my bedroom, that I run all the time for "white noise" while sleeping, plus the dust from clothing, etc., so it probably helped with this. The main problem I had while out there today was with my eyes, but then, I've had that problem a lot with allergies, as always.

Today I saw my first open blossoms on the Red Brandywines - the last one to develop. And I saw the first fruit on a Sunsugar - later to start than some of the others, but they ripen quickly! I buzzed the blossoms on all of them, and there are a lot of fruits on many of them - been 3 days since I looked closely, or trimmed anything, and they are almost all doing great! Peppers and eggplants are doing great, too, and the Little Lucy okra is doing best, as always, though the Star Or David is close, in size. The cucurbits are starting to take off, and it is surprising how fast some of those parts I had to trim took off!

[pepperhead212]

I saw my first maybe half sized Thai Vesuvius, and Superchilis a couple days ago. That new Thai Dragon is much smaller than Thai Vesuvius, and a lot of blossoms, but just very small peppers forming, so far. Only a few peppers have no open blossoms (3 chinense, Japanese Yatsufusa, and Maui Purple), but they are doing well, and this is very early!

Tomatoes are doing great, and some of the cherries are starting to catch up with those crazy Oaxacan Jewels, Brandyboys, and Hippie Zebras. Those larger ones, from which I have been trimming those "excess buds" from the clusters, have shown not a single tomato with BER. The OJs and Hippies, especially, seemed to have clusters like on some cherries, with 10 or more blossoms, and I think that they just can't "feed" that many large tomatoes through the small stems. The largest of the first OJs is about 3" now, with 2 smaller ones on that cluster. Some of those cucurbits are starting to grow like they are on steroids! The bottle gourds and the one calabash gourd are about 4' up the trellis, and the kajari melons are also taking off - I'm trying to trim the early "suckers", but every time I check, there are more! Jin 301 cucumber is still the largest, but all are doing well. Eggplants are doing well, with some formed on Ichiban, String, and LA Long Green, though a while before any are useable size. Beans are late - maybe because several are tropical varieties! Some okra is taking off, with the Little Lucy and Star of David the largest, so far. Another couple weeks and it will be time to harvest garlic!

[pepperhead212]

I had to check all the plants today, and I was fairly lucky that only a couple were damaged by that wind - 2 peppers, which I set back up, and packed the soil around the roots and stems, and put some stakes next to them, and clipped the plants to them. One still looked wilted later, when I came in, but the other seemed to be coming back. There were several tomatoes that drooped over, but only one small branch broke on one tomato. The cucurbits seemed flexible, and weren't bothered, and the eggplants also didn't seem bothered at all. Some of the okra seemed drooped over, but they too seem flexible, and soon, I'll post some large stalks next to those for later in the season.

[pepperhead212]

I went to Aldi when it opened, and got home before 9:15 - the reason I go when they open, almost all the time! I checked the peppers and those weathered ones were perked up, and not the least bit wilted anymore - I was happy! It's supposed to rain sometime this morning, but, as usual, I'm not holding my breath.

[pepperhead212]

I went out today after it stopped raining for about 2½ hours (though I only got .03" then), and started trimming the tomatoes (and cucurbits) again. I went out yesterday, and sprayed most things with the surround again (some had washed of, but most things had a lot of new growth since last time. Today I trimmed the suckers, re-trained the vines through the trellises, and buzzed the blossoms, as I was doing these things. Usually, I would have stopped doing this, by now, but there just aren't very many pollinators around yet, due to (I assume) the horrible dry weather I've been having. Hopefully, I'll start seeing them soon, as those cucurbits need pollinating - what I do makes sure almost every tomato blossom self-pollinates. And there are countless tomatoes I see out there now! The Oaxacan Jewels and Brandyboys are still the largest by far, and getting loaded with tomatoes.
Two of the Oaxacan Jewel tomatoes, over 3 feet tall, 6-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two of the Brandyboy tomatoes, incredibly large, and loaded with fruits, 6-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also trimmed those suckers off most of the cucurbits, some of which grow them faster than the main vine! The calabash was the only vine that didn't have any suckers, but the vine was off the top of the trellis, over 6' high! I trained it to one side, and when it gets to the end, I'll snip it, and let it grow more runners, like the bottle gourd. Supposedly, it's flowers open during the day, so I don't have to hand pollinate them, like the bottle gourds.
Calabash vine - about 6 feet tall, with no suckers yet. 6-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two bottle gourd plants, most suckers trimmed, but a couple runners in each plant. 6-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I saw the first open blossom on an okra today! A Little Lucy, as usual, for the first, and I will save the first couple of pods, letting them harden on the plant - this way, with these first couple, there's no other varieties open yet, so it won't be crossed. I'll buzz the blossoms, to make sure they are self pollinated - those are other plants I always see a lot of pollinators on, so I'll watch for them there.

The Superchilis have some almost full sized - about normal here, around 6-20, more or less. The garlic is looking good, but of course, the rain comes, once I stopped watering, to dry it out for harvest! That rarely cooperates, anyway.

[pepperhead212]

I went out late yesterday, and found the first infestation of aphids this year, on some cucumbers - two County Fair plants, and only one Wisconsin 58, of 4 other plants, had just a few starting up, on a couple of leaves. I removed 2 of the lower leaves, the undersides were so covered with those black aphids. I don't know if it was the sudden rain I got here (though it still wasn't that much) triggered this, or what did it. I killed them with some pyrethrin (I wasn't to concerned about doing this, as I have seen almost no pollinators, or other beneficial insects, with this extremely dry weather I've had), but in addition to that, I took some of my peppermint and rosemary, blended it with water in the Vitamix, and strained that through a cloth, and used that to make the gallon of spray. Don't know if it will help any, but it's worth a try. I was checking my plants closely, to see if any others had started getting these, and surprisingly, none of my okra had any (they are particularly prone to these things), an no more of the cucurbits had a sign of them, and none of the tomatoes, which usually are not prone, but some varieties I've grown were magnets for aphids, while others on either side, didn't get a single one! And usually the eggplants are more prone to flea beetles, but last night, I noticed that "sawdust crap" on the leaves of a couple of my plants. To late, so today I had to take care of those. A couple of those had a bunch of white aphids, instead of black, but just as pesky, and I trimmed some of the more dense plants, then sprayed them, like the cukes. Next, I checked under the covers of my peppers, and one of the 3 was just starting to get infected, with just a small amount of that sawdust down below. I sprayed all three of them, and hopefully that's end of those, but these things don't cooperate that often.

Here's one of those pepper Earthboxes that stayed clean of the aphids, and you can see the size of the plants - well over 2 feet tall. The largest peppers are about 1" long, with many more starting on all the plants.
Big Mic, Jalapeño M, and Pumpkin Spice Jalapeño, covered in Earthbox, 6-15 Some peppers about 1 in. long. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[PlainJane]

Your peppers are really looking nice!

[pepperhead212]

Rain total earlier ended at 1.12". I just went out and looked around to assess the damage. Didn't seem like any major problems, like the peppers a few days ago - some okras are tipped over some, but they are flexible, and just bent. The a few tomatoes have some branches bent the same, but not broken. And nothing was broken, just glancing around at them. I'll have to wait until things dry out, so I can handle them and clip them to the trellises, or stake all those okras. Sun's coming back out, so it should dry things out soon.

[pepperhead212]

I went out about 4:30 this afternoon, and everything was dried out, from the sun and the wind, so I could start handling things. Nothing was broken, fortunately, just bent. You can see this first Oaxacan Jewel way away from the trellis (those plastic clips actually broke!), and several more down the lane, away from the trellis. Same with the bent okra, all of which I put stakes on (a couple already had them), so next storm won't blow any over.
I was worried when I saw these plants, bent away from the trellis, after the TS I had earlier, but nothing broke! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Star of David and Little Lucy are the best growing of the okra, though the okra, as usual, doesn't have very dense foliage.
Little Lucy okra, 6-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Emerald okra in front of the Star Of David, 6-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Hill Country Red okra, in front of Big Buck, 6-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cucurbits are going nuts, and weren't bothered by the wind, with all those tendrils holding them in place. These melons are probably the smallest of my plants (the other kajari and the green bitter melon are larger), but taking off, and the kajari melon vines are trying to make another vine with every sucker, and it seems like even more than one tries to grow at the base of every leaf stem!
Kajari melon, on L, and White bitter melon, on R, shortly after the TS, 6-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[PlainJane]

You’re so lucky nothing broke off!

[pepperhead212]

I was out there today, and it was very cloudy, and when I checked, rain wasn't very likely until late tomorrow, and on and off for a couple days (though again, I'm not counting on any of them). My Metechi almost all needed dug up, but most of the others had 3 browned leaves, so I figured I'd dig them all up before the thunderstorms come tomorrow. I only got 28 smallish Metechi heads (about the same number of small heads I dug up a couple weeks ago that had browned), and 14 smaller and 40 larger Music heads, and every single Music clove I planted grew into a head! Tomorrow, I'll have Georgian Fire and Estonian Red to dig up, before the rain.
28 Metechi garlic heads, harvested 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

54 Music garlic heads, harvested 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The calabash and bottle gourds are both starting to flower, and it looks like the calabash is also a night flowering plant. Both had some opened by 8 pm, but all male - no females, like I often see with winter squash. But that's better than the one variety of bottle gourd that started with a bunch of female flowers, that were wasted, until the male flowers started up.

The eggplants are all starting to set fruits, so they'll be coming in soon.
Ichiban eggplant starting up, 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First Choruoku green eggplant, 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First Asian String eggplant, 6-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr