The San Antonio Sandbur Patch

[Seven Bends]

Six years ago I dug a 3 foot wide by 1.5 foot deep trench, filled it with compost, cow manure, and garden soil, then planted my UC-157 asparagus. Despite the best care (and a ton of fertilizer), my yields have been extremely meager. This year I got 1 decent bowl of thin-as-spaghetti asparagus so I decided to kill off my asparagus patch. Seven days ago, I used a pair of loppers to cut the asparagus to the ground and planned to use Round-up the next week. However, yesterday I noticed about 30 fronds shot back to 4 foot tall and actually looked like they have a decent diameter. Now I’m thinking about keeping the asparagus for another year and trying another experiment.

Your plan sounds like a good one. I've finally decided to give up on my asparagus patch after three years of declining yields. This year, like you, I mostly only got very thin spears. I never even got enough to cook, and it's a pretty big patch. I inherited the patch from the previous gardener in my community garden plot, and it already was declining when he had it, so I don't feel too bad. The crowns are at least 20 years old, maybe older. I tried planting new ones but they died over their first winter. I think our soil is too heavy and soggy, and the pH probably isn't right. Also, we always get some hot weather in March, which prompts some fat spears to emerge only to get zapped by frost immediately, and this process repeats itself a couple of times each spring. That's got to be hard on the crowns, plus I never get to harvest anything, which is hard on me.

I'm not the biggest asparagus fan anyway so I'm not too sad about it, but I do hate failing! I'm consoling myself with the thought of all the other things I can plant in that area. First up will be some of the interesting beans I got from the MMMM, and a few pepper plants I couldn't fit anywhere else. I'm not looking forward to digging out the crowns, though.

[Wildcat82]

@ Seven Bends I've read many times that asparagus yield declines after 10-15 years. However, after my grandmother died, my mom dug up a bunch of asparagus crowns from her garden and transplanted them to our farm. I know these crowns were productive for at 40 years and may well still be productive there 60 years later.
Nebraska's climate ranges from 95 degrees in the summer to 20 degrees below zero in the winter with lots of snap freezes in the spring. And yet, asparagus grows wild (and is very productive) throughout the central part of the state. I think you nailed it when you said your soil is probably not right for asparagus somehow.
It's frustrating to see these skinny spears develop in these huge bushy ferns.

[Wildcat82]

The arrival of 100 degree heat means that spring is officially over. It’s time to grade how the garden has done so far. I think it’s essential to keep a written account especially here in central Texas since crop failures are so common down here.

Spring Scorecard
Tomatoes – B My bed tomatoes were absolutely destroyed by broad mites but my container plants on the opposite side of my backyard, though affected by broad mites, still produced a respectable harvest. I’m sure most people up North would laugh at my harvest but my plants gave me enough tomatoes (probably 2 pints/week) since mid April. There is enough tomatoes set so that I’ll continue having some tomatoes til July which is about as late as one can expect. I’m satisfied.
Peppers – C Broad mites really attacked my peppers and I ended up yanking out and replanting all 10 peppers in my raised bed. I did leave a few planted in the native soil and they eventually outgrew the mite damage to become fairly productive. My replanted jalapeno and cubanelle peppers look great and are loaded.
Eggplant F – Established tomatoes and peppers seem to be able outgrow broad mite damage (assuming you spray a lot) but it seems eggplant can’t. All 8 of my Millionaire/Black Beauty became horribly stunted and never recovered. I tried planting my eggplant earlier than I probably should have and temperatures in 48-50 range may have affected the plants. Still, my replacement plants exhibited stunted growth when planted in warmer (lows in the 50’s) temperatures. In years past, I saw the same stunted growth when my eggplant were planted later in the Spring. Last month I replanted (for the third time) some Aswad/Black Beauty eggplant and they seem to be doing great so there is hope for some eggplant later in the year. It may be best to view eggplant only as a Fall crop here.
Burmese Okra – A I heard about Burmese okra on a Lazy Dog Farm video and this variety did better than my old standby, Clemson Spineless. The Burmese plants don’t grow out of control and are about 3 feet tall now. Clemson Spineless would be over 6 feet tall by now. The pods do seem to stay tender at a longer length that Clemson Spineless as well.
Elephant Garlic – A I end up harvesting about 15-20 good sized bulbs with excellent flavor. This is one of the best plants you can grow here.
Herb Garden – A The chives, scallions, sage, rosemary, basil, perilla, and sunflowers performed wonderfully. The perilla has stood up much better to the heat than expected and we’ve picked a bunch. My 6 chive plants are huge (18” by 18”) and me and my wife have probably picked a half bushel of chives for these 2 Korean ladies down the street. This year I’ve become a big fan of basil and use the Thai, Cinnamon, and Newton basil all the time. Every couple days I cut a handful of scallion tops for me or my wife. They are extremely productive.
Peaches – F Not a single peach on my June Gold or John Fanick peach. Both trees look healthy and had quite a few blooms in April but zero peaches for the 3rd straight year. I’ve always fertilized in accordance with advice I’ve read online but something is clearly wrong. I have both peaches growing in a 8’ by 8’ by 12” deep raised bed as recommended by the local extension agent. But since I doubt the roots can actually penetrate the hard clay here, I think the trees just aren’t getting enough nutrition. Therefore, I’m going to apply 5-10 lbs of Espoma organic fertilizer every month to try to kick these peaches into gear. If I get no peaches next year, both trees will get the chainsaw.
Blueberries - D My Titan, Brightwell, and Baldwin all have berries though production isn’t that great. I’ll probably harvest a grand total of 3 pints of tiny blueberries from the 3 plants. The plants don’t have any chlorotic leaves so the soil pH should be fine. Like the peaches, the soil probably just isn’t good enough to grow and produce more. My raised beds were initially filled with peat moss and pine shavings to make an acidic medium. Now, 6 years after planting, my rabbiteyes are only 4-5 feet tall. Every growing guide recommends using ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) fertilizer to help keep the soil pH acidic. However, the unstated assumption is that you’re growing in acidic SOIL. I’m going to switch to 1-2 lbs per month of Espoma organic fertilizer plus some Espoma Soil Acidifier to see if that helps. If production doesn’t improve, the blueberries may well be joining the peach trees in the scrap pile.
Ground Cherries – F I started the plants from seed back in early December and by late March they started to produce. In April and May, the ground cherries produced ton of little berries however, virtually all the little pods that fell off the plants (indicating they are ripe) contained little green berries. The few yellow berries I found had all split. I’m clueless why this happened. Perhaps broad mites stunted the plants into aborting fruit early? There really isn’t any way to spray the undersides of the leaves for mites since the branches just crawl along the ground so I may just have to give up on spring ground cherries. If I get ambitious, I may try for a fall crop.
Strawberries – D I’ll take the blame here for not fertilizing enough in the Fall. Spider mites killed about 1/3 of my plants last Fall but I still had enough plants for a full raised bed. Unfortunately, poor soil quality kept my plants from growing as they should. This Spring the tiny survivors got several huge doses of fertilizer and developed in beautiful plants with lots of flowers and berries. However, the plants didn’t have enough stored energy to set decent sized berries, just little red marbles. I got one pint or so but should have gotten much more. Grrr.

The summer and Fall harvest is looking to be better than the Spring. My Fall garden seems to always do better (no damned broad mites to worry about). The peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, okra, chinese long beans, herbs look great, the figs are growing nicely (Black Madeira has already set 10 figs) and I may even get some limes and lemons. I know most San Antonio residents give up on their garden by the end of June, but the season has a loooooong way to go.

Stay tuned.

[Wildcat82]

I have tried for several years to have a competition to see which cherries will set the best in high heat but this looks to be the first year I’m able to do it. Tonight I counted the fruit set on each plant. Most of fruit on the plants have set over the past couple weeks which is when our blazing temperatures started.

Black Cherry 37 (planted late February in container, no shade)
Blush 28 (planted late February in container, no shade)

Black Cherry 43 (Planted mid March. Under shade cloth all day. No blooms.)
Black Cherry 15 (Planted mid March. Under shade cloth all day. No blooms.)
Black Cherry 15 (Planted mid March. Under shade cloth all day. No blooms.)

Porter Improved 14 (absolutely covered in blooms. Planted mid April. Under shade cloth half day.)
Porter Improved 6 (Planted mid April. Some shade.)
Porter Improved 6 (Planted mid April. Some shade.)
Black Plum 14 (Planted mid April. Under shade cloth half the day.)
Black Plum 8 (Planted mid April. Under shade cloth half the day.)
SS100 (?) 15 (Planted mid April. Under shade cloth half the day.)
Juliet 22 (Planted mid April. Some shade.)
Juliet 6 (Planted mid April. Some shade.)

Coyote probably has 10-20 tiny tomatoes. Both Super Sioux have about a dozen fruit but almost all of them were set before the heat wave.

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[Wildcat82]

Every night for the past week, I've used a vibrating toothbrush to see if it helps pollination. Pretty sure its helped. I thought my shade cloth would make a huge difference but frankly I don't see much difference between plants under the shade cloth and those out in direct sun all day.

Weirdly, my tomato production hasn't changed at all over the past 2 months. When the heat wave started, the broad mites died off. It seems both affected my production about the same.

Right now, I'm mainly harvesting the older Super Sioux and Black Cherries. The newer plantings of Black Plum, Porter Improved, and Juliet are just starting to come online. Here's a few pictures I took tonight.

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[Wildcat82]

After a month of 100 degree temperatures, I’m still harvesting a good amount of tomatoes. Black Cherry, Super Sioux, and Blush have continued producing well during this whole period. However, the prolonged heat is finally taking its toll since blossoms are becoming more rare. I figure I have another month of fruit still on the vine unless the weather cools off.

I’m coming around to the idea that eggplant is, at best, a marginal plant here. Plant it too early and cold temperatures permanently stunt the plants. Plant later in spring and it gets too hot to set any fruit. In addition, eggplant seem to be far more vulnerable to broad mites and spider mites than tomatoes or peppers. Right now, my 6 eggplants that have been in the ground for 70 days and are 3 foot tall have zero fruit set. The 2 tiny fruit I harvested a few days ago aren’t worth eating.

The Burmese okra production has been poor the past couple weeks and the few pods I get are mostly stunted.

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[Seven Bends]

Tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins look great! How's the flavor on the Mama Mia Giallo peppers? I'm growing them for the first time this year, in a comparison with Big Daddy, but they're nowhere near ready yet.

Sorry to hear about your eggplant troubles. You probably already know this, but the eggplant in your picture should have been harvested earlier, while the skins were still shiny. They're definitely only suited for compost once they get dull like that. I guess you were trying to give them a chance to get bigger, which is understandable. Hopefully if your plants hang on through the heat, you'll get some good fruit when the temperatures drop a little.

[Wildcat82]

Tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins look great! How's the flavor on the Mama Mia Giallo peppers? I'm growing them for the first time this year, in a comparison with Big Daddy, but they're nowhere near ready yet.

Sorry to hear about your eggplant troubles. You probably already know this, but the eggplant in your picture should have been harvested earlier, while the skins were still shiny. They're definitely only suited for compost once they get dull like that. I guess you were trying to give them a chance to get bigger, which is understandable. Hopefully if your plants hang on through the heat, you'll get some good fruit when the temperatures drop a little.

The Momma Mia's have a nice sweetness to them and I really like them as stuffed peppers. They're productive and kept producing nice sized fruit. You'll like them. Sunscald is affecting them badly so I think I'll try digging them up and transplanting them under my shadecloth. I'd really like to see them put out more peppers.

[worth1]

Odd that you're having so many problems.
My Juliet are putting out more than I want to deal with.
The okra pod has insect damage on one side causing it to be deformed.
I've seen fire ants cause it..

[karstopography]

Some peppers are especially prone to sunscald it seems. Giant Aconcagua is real bad for this in my garden. Jupiter Bell pepper is another sunscald specialist.

[Wildcat82]

Some peppers are especially prone to sunscald it seems. Giant Aconcagua is real bad for this in my garden. Jupiter Bell pepper is another sunscald specialist.

Cubanelles seem less susceptible to sunscald than the Momma Mias'/Marconi's even though they are the same type of pepper. Maybe the color has something to do with it?

The Mammoth Jalapenos and a couple mislabeled others I have under the shade cloth are completely avoiding the sunscald problems.

[Wildcat82]

Odd that you're having so many problems.
My Juliet are putting out more than I want to deal with.
The okra pod has insect damage on one side causing it to be deformed.
I've seen fire ants cause it..

I noticed a lot of fire ants on my okra a couple weeks ago so scattered some fire ant killer granules near the okra. Fire ants are gone but I'm still seeing a lot of malformed pods.

The tomatoes I planted in late February are huge bushes and are putting out quite a few fruit and seem to be handling the heat well despite getting full sun all day. However, the plants I set out in late April weren't that big when the heat wave hit. The shade cloth hasn't seemed to help them that much and they are growing slowly. The 3 Juliets there are trickling out a couple fruit every day.

I think the key thing I've learned it that you want to have big established plants well before the inevitable heat wave hits.

[GoDawgs]

I noticed a lot of fire ants on my okra a couple weeks ago so scattered some fire ant killer granules near the okra. Fire ants are gone but I'm still seeing a lot of malformed pods.

Several things can cause malformed pods, the main ones being:

Fire ants: https://www.walterreeves.com/food-garde ... ollinated/

Leaf-footed bugs and stink bugs: https://okrainmygarden.com/what-causes- ... s-to-curl/

[worth1]

I noticed a lot of fire ants on my okra a couple weeks ago so scattered some fire ant killer granules near the okra. Fire ants are gone but I'm still seeing a lot of malformed pods.

Several things can cause malformed pods, the main ones being:

Fire ants: https://www.walterreeves.com/food-garde ... ollinated/

Leaf-footed bugs and stink bugs: https://okrainmygarden.com/what-causes- ... s-to-curl/

Basically anything that causes damage at any stage can cause it.
That part of the pod just stops growing correctly.

[Wildcat82]

I noticed a lot of fire ants on my okra a couple weeks ago so scattered some fire ant killer granules near the okra. Fire ants are gone but I'm still seeing a lot of malformed pods.

Several things can cause malformed pods, the main ones being:

Fire ants: https://www.walterreeves.com/food-garde ... ollinated/

Leaf-footed bugs and stink bugs: https://okrainmygarden.com/what-causes- ... s-to-curl/

No stink bugs or leaf footed bugs here. Must be the fire ants. I'll have to do a closer inspection tonight.

[GoDawgs]

Check and see if there are any fire ant mounds near the okra. If so, do a slow pour of 1 gallon water with 1/4 cup dish washing soap mixed in right down the middle of the mound. Cheaper and safer than putting ant bait granules next to your okra plants.

[worth1]

They could be running an aphid ranch.

[Wildcat82]

Check and see if there are any fire ant mounds near the okra. If so, do a slow pour of 1 gallon water with 1/4 cup dish washing soap mixed in right down the middle of the mound. Cheaper and safer than putting ant bait granules next to your okra plants.

I'll do it tonight. I don't see any obvious ant hills but I must be overlooking something. Maybe there a hill hidden in my sprawling oregano plant near the okra row. I'll report back in a week or so. Thanks.

[worth1]

@GoDawgs
The dreaded fire ant doesn't necessarily make a permanent ant hill.
Especially if it's dry.
But you can put something down like a chicken bone and you can track them to tiny little holes in the ground.
In Texas you can sit or lean against a tree with no obvious signs of an ant hill and soon you'll be covered in fire ants from nowhere.
Horrible creatures.

[Wildcat82]

They could be running an aphid ranch.

Haven't noticed any aphids. Russet mites have made a reappearance on my tomatoes so tonight I'm spraying them with Grandevo. While I'm at it, I'll just spray with okra also since Grandevo also kills aphids. Can't hurt.