quote:

Originally posted by jackimoe:
I just noticed these two days ago. I can't remember what type of pepper plant it is. For some reason, the chickens like to peck at the ID tabs I put in the ground.

Might be a poblano or anaheim, but you'll have to ask the chickens

I'm trying something new this year and growing my sugar baby melon plant vertically. It went from 1.5 ft tall on May 7th to 4.5 ft tall on May 25th. Notice the center of the pic where it's attaching itself to the trellis.


Look at all the cherry and roma tomatoes! Yesterday's tomato harvest exceeded my annual tomato harvest in Canada. Also picked some basil and a couple jalapeños.


Had my first set back in the garden today. Yesterday, I was applying the weekly foliar spray of Neem and Actinovate, and for the first time a quart wasn't enough (my plants have gotten big). It was sputtering by the time I got to the last container which was spinach. Today, I found the spinach eaten to all hell and there was a big black caterpillar in there. I mixed up 2 quarts of Neem and Actinovate, and resprayed the entire garden.

UPDATE: Looks like I'll be going to HD tomorrow to buy Thuricide BT as it's more effective on caterpillars but still organic.

Looks like the creepy crawlies have found my garden. Lost two cherry tomatoes last night to a white caterpillar (different than the black caterpillar that got my spinach), and I must have crushed 40 slugs.

From what I've read, the organic products that work on caterpillars don't work on slugs so back to the store.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Looks like the creepy crawlies have found my garden. Lost two cherry tomatoes last night to a white caterpillar (different than the black caterpillar that got my spinach), and I must have crushed 40 slugs.

From what I've read, the organic products that work on caterpillars don't work on slugs so back to the store.

For those slugs,try crushing up egg shells in 1/8 size pieces and sprinkle around the stalk base.
Those slivers will learn them dead.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Looks like the creepy crawlies have found my garden. Lost two cherry tomatoes last night to a white caterpillar (different than the black caterpillar that got my spinach), and I must have crushed 40 slugs.

From what I've read, the organic products that work on caterpillars don't work on slugs so back to the store.

For those slugs,try crushing up egg shells in 1/8 size pieces and sprinkle around the stalk base.
Those slivers will learn them dead.

Thanks. I'm considering a similar approach. I've been reading about diatomaceous earth (DE) and its ability to tear them to shreds. I can purchase by the pound.

Have you tried DE? If so, how does it compare to crushed egg shells?

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Looks like the creepy crawlies have found my garden. Lost two cherry tomatoes last night to a white caterpillar (different than the black caterpillar that got my spinach), and I must have crushed 40 slugs.

From what I've read, the organic products that work on caterpillars don't work on slugs so back to the store.

For those slugs,try crushing up egg shells in 1/8 size pieces and sprinkle around the stalk base.
Those slivers will learn them dead.

Thanks. I'm considering a similar approach. I've been reading about diatomaceous earth (DE) and its ability to tear them to shreds. I can purchase by the pound.

Have you tried DE? If so, how does it compare to crushed egg shells?

Slug traps work good too. Bury a plastic or similar cup so the top is flush with the dirt. Fill halfway with beer and those suckers crawl right in and drink themselves to death

If you have any wood or bricks near your garden that aren't necessary get them out of there. They are like slug hotels.

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
Slug traps work good too. Bury a plastic or similar cup so the top is flush with the dirt. Fill halfway with beer and those suckers crawl right in and drink themselves to death

If you have any wood or bricks near your garden that aren't necessary get them out of there. They are like slug hotels.

I've stumbled across Gardenmyths.com, and here is what their tests have shown about the three organinic slug control products mentioned in this thread:

Beer - modestly effective, but sugar + yeast + water just as effective as most beers and much less expensive

Diatomaceous Earth - deters slugs to a certain extent, but doesn't work when wet and doesn't kill them

Eggshells - eggshells do not keep slugs away from plants or kill them.

Get yourself some praying mantises. They'll eat the shit out of bad garden bugs.

You can order Ladybugs, Mantids, and other predators here.

http://www.arbico-organics.com

Releasing 4,500 Ladybugs is a hoot.

I just picked the peppers that were posted a few responses above. I still can't remember the kind but I think they were Bonnie brand "Big Bertha".

Out of the three, the longest was 7 and 3/4 in length. I'll pick at about 5 inches or so next time I think. We have had a blast of warm air here so tomatoes are on the plants but still small and green. My corn plants are about knee to waist high and the chickens are leaving them alone now.


For those that are interested in peppers.....

Bonnie has a great link on the site.

https://bonnieplants.com/peppers/choose-your-pepper/

Nice looking peppers.

My garden is really pumping out the tomatoes. I cooked up a storm with them this weekend:

celebrity tomatoes for salsa along with my serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro. The batch was about 5x larger than I usually make. One container in the fridge and 4 baggies in the freezer.

roma tomatoes for marinara along with my basil. It made a 2 quarts so I made shrimp penne tonight using a quart, and froze the other quart.

Husky cherry red for greek salad. It was delicious with my prime NY strip (helluva lunch).

The bad news:

the spinach didn't recover from the caterpillars and died. On a positive note, I was at the grocery store today and they had a malibar spinach plant on the rack for $4. It's supposed to do well in the heat so I think it's a good fit for my garden.

The variety of carrots that I planted was supposed to grow 4" long but only one did. Planted when Farmer's almanac said to plant and harvested when they said the harvest. The spacing was per the seed packet's after thinning spacing.

Onions, carrots and small herb bed in back

Six jars of pickling cucumbers in the fridge tonight!

Temps are up but rainfall is down. I've got one Bigboi red tomato and 10-15 cherries. Lots of green ones on the plants.

I'm doing stuffed peppers this weekend since I should have 6 or 7 of them ready and some more tomatoes.

Some shakshukamaybe for breakfast Sunday depending on the tomatoes.

First harvest of malabar spinach of the season.


It's a heat loving vine so didn't plant until June, and it has had crazy growth. I've never knowingly eaten this Asian variety of spinach so I'm looking forward to it.

It tastes different than regular Spinach and its thicker leaves have a different texture too. However, I did like it's light, mild flavor.

July 4th was the first harvest of sugar baby watermelons of the season:


I've been growing the watermelon vertically on a trellis and had to get out a ladder to harvest the melon. Here is a June 24th pic of it on the vine:


I put it in the fridge for 24 hours, and was so excited to eat it. I sliced it open and was so disappointed as its meat was still white and seeds still white (this variety turns bright red and has black seeds when ripe). It passed all of my known tests for being ripe, but I've read a little and have more tests for next time.

My jalapenos, serranos, and malabar spinach are going gangbusters in Houston's summer heat. My bell pepper plant is huge, but had to cut off all of the peppers as they were getting blossom end rot (BER). My tomatoes have had zero BER so it's odd that my bell pepper is getting BER since it gets the same fertilizer w/ calcium and the same epsom salt foliar spray.

We have two growing seasons in Houston so the rest of the garden is dormant (e.g. my two heat resistant indeterminate tomatoes are slowly producing) or dead (eg. my green beans). I'll be able to replant in September.

How is everybody else's garden doing?

My peppers aren't doing too well. I don't fertilize and I haven't been on top of the watering. I get a few here and there but I'm doing a lazy man's garden. My cucumbers are dying off because we haven't had much rain.

Cherry tomatoes are doing great and the other tomatos are so-so.

I still have more than enough to cook with and I hope the corn will really come in. I'll freeze as much as I can.

I get 20-30 cherry tomatos every three days and try to pick them a little early. Takes about five days till they are good and juicy.

The top four on the left weigh about 2 lbs each.

My cukes are just going crazy. I'm getting this many almost twice a week. This is the last batch I'm keeping and will start doing some trading with the rest of them.



Eight more quarts of bread and butter pickles. Twenty-four total now, which should last me the year.



Brought in a huge zuke this morning as well. Looks like dinner and a couple of loaves of bread.