What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[turbo]

Until this year, I killed Japanese beetles whenever I saw them - actually not a real good idea. The trick is to look them over good before you kill them. If they have one or more white spots on their backs (usually up on the thorax), leave them alone. The white spots are the eggs of a parasitic fly. The adult flies visit flowers and eat nectar and pollen, but the maggots need a live host. This beetle has 6 eggs on it. Within a day, the maggots will hatch out and burrow into the beetle. The beetle, sensing the attack will drop to the ground and try to burrow in - that gives the maggots a nice safe place to develop. When they are ready to molt into the adult form, they will dig themselves out and starte eating and mating to produce the next generation of beetle-killing maggots. I'm a bit concerned about the maggots' viability in this case - I have never seen 6 eggs on one beetle, so I hope that's enough food for all of them.

 

[Borek]

If you will kill only those spotless, soon you may expect Japanese beetles in your garden to evolve white spots on their backs.

 

[turbo]

If you will kill only those spotless, soon you may expect Japanese beetles in your garden to evolve white spots on their backs.

I'm not THAT effective at killing beetles. Perhaps if everybody else adopts this approach...

 

[Evo]

Ok, I managed to get a better picture of the mystery bug that cannot be identified. Surely, someone can identify this thing?

It also has sheer wings and can fly. looking at it with a magnifying lens, it has overlapping "plates" like a shrimp, and it can easily bend it's body, it will raise it's rear end up into the air, I think it's excreting that white tail stuff when it does that.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2645/unidentifiedbug9.jpg

Unlimited GOOBF cards for the first successful identification!

 

[Evo]

Kurdt has identified the bug, it's a planthopper nymph!

 

[Kurdt]

I think its a planthopper nymph Evo

 

[Evo]

Yes, you are awesome! I think oubache's friend had it the closest previously saying he thought it was in the leaf hopper family. http://bugguide.net/node/view/105/bgpage Astro also thought it might be an adult version of a leaf hopper nymph, turns out these are also nymphs, but a different family.

How on Earth did you find it?

 

[Kurdt]

Determination.

 

[Borek]

Wow, disruption of causality.

 

[Evo]

Now that the mystery bug has been identified, here is my cherry tomato plant, named Kurdt, and the local critters having breakfast outside my bedroom window. Also, my wild baby bunny, Herman, is getting big!

I'm still waiting to get peppers and eggplants.

 

[Evo]

Almost forgot. Here is my two tone California blonde squirrel, aka the MIH squirrel.

 

[turbo]

Now that the mystery bug has been identified, here is my cherry tomato plant, named Kurdt, and the local critters having breakfast outside my bedroom window. Also, my wild baby bunny, Herman, is getting big!

Now, where is that Holy Hand-Grenade?

 

[Borek]

Not yet pâté sized.

 

[Evo]

Not yet pâté sized.

 

[Evo]

I just saw a piece on tv about the disney hydropnic gardens. I want to work there! This isn't the tv piece, but will show you some of what they're doing.

 

[Evo]

Is anyone having any luck with their garden this year? I got one great haul of cherry tomatoes, but they had already set in a greenhouse when I bought them, so that was cheating. All I've gotten so far this year is a handful of small tomatoes, a few tiny jalapenos and a couple of tiny mexibell peppers. No poblanos, no new mexico peppers. I have two 1 inch long banana peppers, 1 cubanelle and 2 bell peppers. The eggplants have lost all of their blooms. Yesterday was the first day we hit 90 this year, not normal.

I'm so desparate that I've started carrying my poblano around the yard to keep it in the sun for as long as possible every day. I will be thrilled if I get a single pepper off the plant.

I estimate that I spent $60 on my garden this year and I'll be lucky to get $20 of produce. But like my neighbor said, it's the fun of growing them. It's not been fun watching everything fall off due to the cold.

I know turbo's garden has turned hydroponic. Any pictures turbo? Are you going to have much to can this year?

 

[turbo]

I have little or nothing to look forward to, Evo, unless we get an intense stretch of sunny days and an extended Indian summer. I have pretty much written off the stunted chili plants, and we haven't gotten a single cucumber yet. The tomatoes (apart from a sporadic cherry) are all green. We're into August and should be buried in produce!

We got all of the German white hard-neck garlic out of the ground today, washed, bunched and hanging in the garage. It will take at least a couple more mornings of hard work to get all the Russian hard-necks out, cleaned, bunched and hanging. My breathing problems have limited me to cooler-weather labor. Once mid-morning heat and humidity rolls around, I'm done. It didn't rain today or yesterday (apart from torrents in the wee hours ~1.5"), but the garden is still a swamp.

 

[Evo]

That's heartbreaking about the peppers. I actually had to buy jalapenos the other day. I should have a ton right now.

At least you got garlic.

 

[turbo]

I know. We have jalapeno, habanero, cayenne, Hungarian wax, etc, and I'll get little or nothing this year. Very sad. I've got some new ideas for chili relishes/salsas and I won't be able to try them.

 

[Proton Soup]

i'm getting a steady supply of yellow tomatoes off the one plant. the pink ones have only yielded 2 so far. it seems that a long stretch of hot dry days rendered the blooms infertile, but once the rain came and things cooled down, fruit started to form. with any luck, there will be a steady supply of large pink beefsteak type tomatoes in a few weeks. the cucumbers have slowed down a bit, but yield was really good there. the basil grows like a weed, but the rosemary is slow go (at least it is perennial and survived the first winter). pepper plants are just starting to set fruit. i started them from seed a bit late. the asparagus seedlings don't look all that well. i think i need to get them transplanted soon. would still take a year or two for those to put out.

edit: oh, and i was weeding the vines off the fence today that were shading my corner plot when a wasp stung me on the thumb. that was not such great luck. fortunately, it doesn't seem too bad, just a little soreness in the joints. i just kept going after the attack with the hope that the movement would help flush out the poison and keep it from getting too stiff.

 

[Dadface]

The tomatoes are fruiting late this year but am hoping for a good crop.Doing very well with chard and courgettes(zuchini) but that's about it as far as the veg is concerned.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I have been getting the garlic dug out, washed, and hanging under cover for the last couple of mornings. We were attempting to get the last of them harvested this morning when (surprise!) thunderstorms with torrential rains came through. It's still raining - we got over 1/2" in about 1/2 hour. My garden is officially a swamp - I'm sure it's been added to maps by now.

 

[hypatia]

My tomatoes have been doing great, so have the cukes and summer squashes. This cool summer seems to have stunted the growth, but not the yield of my veggie plants. My herbs on the other hand, blossomed very early and then the new puppy ate most of them. I could not get too mad at him, because he had the sweetest little Basil kisses!

 

[Andre]

Meanwhile we're having an ideal summer in the Netherlands, max temperatures generally in the mid 70s, sometimes 80s lots of sun and enough showers and short rain spells to soak the soil whenever it was required. The garden is exploding in green. Too bad most of that is weeds as I had not been able to prepare the tiny garden after the move.

 

[dlgoff]

I could not get too mad at him, because he had the sweetest little Basil kisses!

LOL Maybe you should grow mint.

 

[turbo]

The rain finally let up, so I could finish getting my garlic harvested. Here is some of it, hanging in the garage to cure. I planted German and Russian hard-neck varieties last winter, and every single clove sprouted and developed into a nice bulb. I got over 150 Germans and over 300 Russians. I may have to find people to give garlic to, because although I generally use a lot in my salsas, chili relishes, pickles, etc, canning looks to be out of the question this year. The cold wet "growing" season stunted my plants, I have pretty much written off the chilies. I'll get some tomatoes and maybe a few cukes, but not enough to let me make pickles and sauces.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't have much in my garden. Not a single tomato since the deer ate the plants just as they were blooming. I have one or two yellow peppers of some sort growing...I can't remember buying this type of pepper though and suspect I wound up with a mislabeled plant...it looks sort of like a banana pepper, but much fatter. I don't even know if it'll be sweet or spicy until I try it.

 

[Borek]

I may have to find people to give garlic to, because although I generally use a lot in my salsas, chili relishes, pickles, etc, canning looks to be out of the question this year.

You can pickle garlic alone.

 

[lisab]

You can pickle garlic alone.

Haven't seen you for a while...been on vacation, Borek?

 

[Borek]

Yes, we get back yesterday. Trying to catch up with life, universe and everything

 

[Evo]

Welcome back borek! How was the vacation?

 

[Borek]

Great - we had perfect weather, unheard of earlier this Summer. Yesterday it was raining again.

Will try to post some pictures later.

 

[lisab]

I was out of town for several days last week. While I was gone, we had rain at my house, followed by a couple days of warm sun. My cherry tomatoes went crazy! I picked several pounds today but also picked many with split skin . Some are obviously rotten. But most split only in the last day or so...are these safe to make tomato sauce? After all, they are fairly acidic, which would tend to inhibit bacterial growth...right?

 

[turbo]

My wife and I make sauces out of tomatoes that are split or damaged, as long as they don't have visible rot-degradation going on. Many of our tomatoes last summer got collar-rot due to the very wet weather, so we trimmed out the dark spots, scalded and peeled them, and made sauce. Ain't dead yet, so it must be safe, right?

 

[Astronuc]

I was out of town for several days last week. While I was gone, we had rain at my house, followed by a couple days of warm sun. My cherry tomatoes went crazy! I picked several pounds today but also picked many with split skin . Some are obviously rotten. But most split only in the last day or so...are these safe to make tomato sauce? After all, they are fairly acidic, which would tend to inhibit bacterial growth...right?

The split tomatoes should be OK, if the split during the last day or yesterday - as long as there is no mold or fungus or rot. I've eaten such tomatoes off the vine.

The last few days have been wonderful - sunny and relatively dry. We could have used days like these 3 months ago when the weather was cool and wet. Now the best days are at the end of the season.