Gardening: (2016– )

[dcarch]

9 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

I have two and a seedling.

 

Animals got my crop this year :-((

 

Would you like to have my recipes for squirrels?

 

dcarch 😆

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

There was a overnight frost last weekend that did in my 2 zucchini plants but didn't kill my tomatoes.

Still a lot of green slowly ripening as we've been going through an unusually warm late October.

Indoor hot peppers: Carolina Reaper, Habanero and Jalapeno. I had to trash the Jalapeno plant due to a disease problem that I didn't want spreading to the other plants.

 

[KennethT]

@Senior Sea Kayaker Have you ever topped your chilli pepper plants?  I'm debating whether I should top mine but it looks like the keriting is already splitting its apex....

 

Edited October 25 by KennethT (log)

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@KennethT

I have topped, and pruned, some of my hot pepper plants. It's dependent on the variety and growth pattern. 

I'm not familiar with the variety you're growing however I tend to top if the plants get too leggy to encourage more side growth.

In the case of jalapenos I always have to top the initial shoot and the side shoots to promote a fuller plant. 

With habaneros it wasn't necessary as the plant produced plenty of side shoots and filled out without any pruning.

Cheers.

 

[KennethT]

Do pepper plants make suckers that need to be removed?  There are a bunch of these sprouting:

[haresfur]

On 10/24/2024 at 10:33 PM, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

There was a overnight frost last weekend that did in my 2 zucchini plants but didn't kill my tomatoes.

Still a lot of green slowly ripening as we've been going through an unusually warm late October.

Indoor hot peppers: Carolina Reaper, Habanero and Jalapeno. I had to trash the Jalapeno plant due to a disease problem that I didn't want spreading to the other plants.

 

 

For what it's worth, my experiment last autumn was successful plucking off all the leaves to get more light to ripen the tomatoes.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

Do pepper plants make suckers that need to be removed?  There are a bunch of these sprouting:

 

I'd leave them and see.

They should fill out the plant and start budding.

Again I'm unfamiliar with that varietal so just my $0.02.

 

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

1 hour ago, haresfur said:

 

For what it's worth, my experiment last autumn was successful plucking off all the leaves to get more light to ripen the tomatoes.

 

I'll agree to a point. These are indeterminate varietals so I topped them a few weeks ago and removed any suckers and spent leaves.

The 'trick' is to convince the plant its time is up and to put all it's energy to the ripening tomatoes, therefore seed production, so leaves are necessary.

Exposing the tomatoes themselves to sunlight won't make any difference.

 

 

 

[KennethT]

3 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

I'll agree to a point. These are indeterminate varietals so I topped them a few weeks ago and removed any suckers and spent leaves.

The 'trick' is to convince the plant its time is up and to put all it's energy to the ripening tomatoes, therefore seed production, so leaves are necessary.

Exposing the tomatoes themselves to sunlight won't make any difference.

 

 

 

Most tomato plants only need about 4 feet worth of leaves on the vine.  Professional greenhouse tomato growers use indeterminate varieties and let the vine grow to 30 feet long (using a string attached to the roof and leaning the plant as it grows), only keeping the top 5 or so feet full of leaves.  The rest of the vine just has tomatoes.

[KennethT]

12 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

I'd leave them and see.

They should fill out the plant and start budding.

Again I'm unfamiliar with that varietal so just my $0.02.

 

 

Thanks.  I pinched off the top of one of the keriting plants just out of curiosity so I can compare the two.  Both rawit plants are already compact - I wouldn't attempt pinching them yet.

[curls]

Cleared a bed and planted two varieties of hard neck garlic that I picked up from a local nursery. First time planting both of these varieties but I liked the descriptions. The varieties are Duganski and Romanian Red. I’m hoping that the wildlife doesn’t dig them up.

Nursery descriptions:

- Duganski is a mid-season purple stripe type. A stunningly beautiful garlic with large bulbs and an amazing flavor that matches its looks and size. Purple outer wrappers protect the violet-tinged cloves that burst with a fiery flavor and mellow out with a pleasant aftertaste.

 

- Romanian Red is a late-season porcelain type. A magnificent garlic in every way, these huge heads contain 4-5 fat cloves with a hot, pungent, long-lasting flavor. The silken skin on the cloves is streaked with purple-red, and the heads are wrapped in creamy white. Excellent storage too.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Brought in all of the remaining tomatoes this morning.

Seemed like the right time.

 

[RWood]

My meyer lemon trees did pretty good this year.  Looks like we'll have a dozen or so lemons from both of them.  It's been warm so far with only one cold spell. I think they should be ripe before the next one.  

[rotuts]

@RWood

 

I grew up w two large Meyer lemon trees .

 

I did not appreciate them until later in my life 

 

good work .

Edited October 28 by rotuts (log)

[RWood]

5 hours ago, rotuts said:

@RWood

 

I grew up w two large Meyer lemon trees .

 

I did not appreciate them until later in my life 

 

good work .

Yeah. I never knew of them until we moved to California. The house we lived in had three trees.  Both my mom and her cousin planted them when they bought houses. I was on a mission to get a couple of trees when we got back to Georgia. I’ve been surprised they have done well. They will be put back in the garage once it gets colder. 

[gfweb]

My paw paw google research turns up GI problems when you cook or dry them.  The offending agents are a mystery so far.

 

 

 

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Garlic planted (70 with a mix of purple stripe and porcelain varieties), mulched with straw and weighed down with chicken wire and rocks.

Other beds 'wintered' with compost, lime, soil, shredded leaves, egg shells.....

 

 

[haresfur]

Decided it was time to harvest my biggest cauliflower before it got away from me. About 1.6 kg. Had to pick out a few earwigs but such is life.

 

 

 

[Paul Bacino]

Absolutely Beautiful!!!

 

[haresfur]

Harvested my garlic crop except for some elephant garlic that I will give a few days. I think these started as last year's crop but I just left them because they didn't really do anything. Have some more that didn't do anything this year, so I'll leave them and see what happens.

 

[chromedome]

No pics, but last night's roast duck was accompanied by (among other things) a casserole made with some of my last pattypan squash (harvested a few weeks ago, but still sound), and both kale and broccoli picked from the garden immediately before dinner. It's been an up-and-down year in the garden, but I'm happy to still have fresh things coming from a few beds at this time of year. Last year I managed to keep a few things going with just rudimentary covers over them, and picked my last few greens as part of Christmas dinner. Hopefully I can do the same this year as well.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I brought in all of my remaining tomatoes a little over 2  weeks ago and have had them ripening. Not as good as right off the vine however I would like to give a solid thumbs up to the Black Cherry varietal which does have a taste and texture very close to right off the vine. I've always included this variety and will be putting more vines in next season.

Indoor garden doing well.