2023 Gardening (outside)

[jjannie]

I've never heard of a round zucchini, is it something new, do they taste the same? Wow, bell peppers already, that's impressive. Do you know if there is a limit on how many years you can over winter them? We have had a down turn on our green beans, I think it's the heat we are getting down here or maybe the bees aren't out pollinating them but out number went from 150 every other day down to 35 yesterday, hope this trend doesn't continue.

Picked another 200 beans yesterday and another round zucchini.  The round ones taste just like long zucchini do. 

Noticed evidence of those bad squash bugs arriving so I started spraying the soapy water on them once the sun had set. Saw some adults and some newly hatched ones and did my best to crush any eggs I found on underside of leaves so all got the spray. Will do again this evening so hopefully we've caught it at right time because we knew what to look for. 

I started some new bush beans in GH and outside and all have sprouted up nicely so once the originals aren't producing very well those 2nd ones will be starting up.

Wow, that's amazing, sounds like this warm weather is really helping your GB grow. That's too bad about the squash bugs, so you just spray the soapy water on the bottoms of the leaves or the whole plant?

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

[wiperhunter2]

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

[jjannie]

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

  LOL - should be soil not sole!  Saw no more bugs tonight - not even new hatches. Smashing the eggs  is best not sure just spraying them penetrates the egg very well.  Picked some cherry tomatoes and some Mex Sour Gherkins from the GH. Tomorrow morning I'll be picking more green beans.

[wiperhunter2]

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

  LOL - should be soil not sole!  Saw no more bugs tonight - not even new hatches. Smashing the eggs  is best not sure just spraying them penetrates the egg very well.  Picked some cherry tomatoes and some Mex Sour Gherkins from the GH. Tomorrow morning I'll be picking more green beans.

OK, that makes sense. I hope this cooler weather gets our GB's producing again, it has been  how few we have been getting. Not effecting our squash and cucumber production.

[jjannie]

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

  LOL - should be soil not sole!  Saw no more bugs tonight - not even new hatches. Smashing the eggs  is best not sure just spraying them penetrates the egg very well.  Picked some cherry tomatoes and some Mex Sour Gherkins from the GH. Tomorrow morning I'll be picking more green beans.

OK, that makes sense. I hope this cooler weather gets our GB's producing again, it has been  how few we have been getting. Not effecting our squash and cucumber production.

our Armenian cukes in the GH are being slow to produce. The Mexican Sour Gherkins in the GH are producing like crazy they're so fun grow for snacking. I didn't get the green beans picked yet (life got in the way) so maybe when it's not raining today, I'll get them done. 

Having Radon mitigation install going on here today. Nice to get it taken care of as our testing levels were pretty high. It's just really noisy, but the guys are very polite, and very professional but it'll take about 8 hrs as we needed 2 systems installed. 

Pumpkins are doing well, we've planted them where they'll get a bit more sunshine on them. Stupid magpie birds had pulled out one of my seedlings, nasty birds that they are. 

Some of the early girl tomatoes are blushing but the big Parks Whopper tomatoes are still quite green still.

[wiperhunter2]

Once you load your sprayer 1 Tablespoon dish soap per gal of water, then you shake it to get it well foamed up, then you spray away. Squash bugs breath from their sides so once they get coated with the soap they suffocate typically within seconds, 30 at most. I spray the bugs when I see them but also coat the surface of the sole for any I didn't see. 

Spray in evenings when they are most likely to be out, they don't like the sunshine. Last night I only found 1 adult and NO new hatches. They'll lay eggs on underside side of the leaves in little rust-colored clusters, you can smash (kill) them by supporting the front side and using flat stick or wide depressor to minimize any more damage to the leaves and press. Hoping this evening to see new arrivals/hatchings.

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

  LOL - should be soil not sole!  Saw no more bugs tonight - not even new hatches. Smashing the eggs  is best not sure just spraying them penetrates the egg very well.  Picked some cherry tomatoes and some Mex Sour Gherkins from the GH. Tomorrow morning I'll be picking more green beans.

OK, that makes sense. I hope this cooler weather gets our GB's producing again, it has been  how few we have been getting. Not effecting our squash and cucumber production.

our Armenian cukes in the GH are being slow to produce. The Mexican Sour Gherkins in the GH are producing like crazy they're so fun grow for snacking. I didn't get the green beans picked yet (life got in the way) so maybe when it's not raining today, I'll get them done. 

Having Radon mitigation install going on here today. Nice to get it taken care of as our testing levels were pretty high. It's just really noisy, but the guys are very polite, and very professional but it'll take about 8 hrs as we needed 2 systems installed. 

Pumpkins are doing well, we've planted them where they'll get a bit more sunshine on them. Stupid magpie birds had pulled out one of my seedlings, nasty birds that they are. 

Some of the early girl tomatoes are blushing but the big Parks Whopper tomatoes are still quite green still.

Sounds like your garden is really kicking into high gear. What makes one location high and one area low for radon gas? We checked ours years ago and the levels were normal. Is this system they are installing at your place covered by insurance?

[jjannie]

What is, "the sole", you mentioned above? Will spraying the eggs kill them or is smashing them them only way to kill them?

  LOL - should be soil not sole!  Saw no more bugs tonight - not even new hatches. Smashing the eggs  is best not sure just spraying them penetrates the egg very well.  Picked some cherry tomatoes and some Mex Sour Gherkins from the GH. Tomorrow morning I'll be picking more green beans.

OK, that makes sense. I hope this cooler weather gets our GB's producing again, it has been  how few we have been getting. Not effecting our squash and cucumber production.

our Armenian cukes in the GH are being slow to produce. The Mexican Sour Gherkins in the GH are producing like crazy they're so fun grow for snacking. I didn't get the green beans picked yet (life got in the way) so maybe when it's not raining today, I'll get them done. 

Having Radon mitigation install going on here today. Nice to get it taken care of as our testing levels were pretty high. It's just really noisy, but the guys are very polite, and very professional but it'll take about 8 hrs as we needed 2 systems installed. 

Pumpkins are doing well, we've planted them where they'll get a bit more sunshine on them. Stupid magpie birds had pulled out one of my seedlings, nasty birds that they are. 

Some of the early girl tomatoes are blushing but the big Parks Whopper tomatoes are still quite green still.

Sounds like your garden is really kicking into high gear. What makes one location high and one area low for radon gas? We checked ours years ago and the levels were normal. Is this system they are installing at your place covered by insurance?

 its weird, because they say one house can have it and their neighbors will not. So if you've had it tested and you're good you probably don't need to worry about it. Ours was a mid-high level so we figured we just needed to bite the bullet and get it fixed now. 

picked 175 green beans today... and that early girl tomato will be ready to pick in the next couple days.

[jjannie]

Had to harvest part of one of wintered over bell peppers. It was so loaded with peppers that it broke off big portion of it. So all of the peppers it had on it are now processed for freezer storage for future stir fries and we kept some of them for a today stir fry as well. 

There's no doubt those wintered over bell peppers are producing well. I'll definitively be doing that again this fall. 

Today, I'll harvest the rest of the original bush beans as their replacement plants are starting to bloom for a 2nd round of harvesting. 

It was 47 degrees here last night. So, we got the house really cooled down over night.

[wiperhunter2]

Had to harvest part of one of wintered over bell peppers. It was so loaded with peppers that it broke off big portion of it. So all of the peppers it had on it are now processed for freezer storage for future stir fries and we kept some of them for a today stir fry as well. 

There's no doubt those wintered over bell peppers are producing well. I'll definitively be doing that again this fall. 

Today, I'll harvest the rest of the original bush beans as their replacement plants are starting to bloom for a 2nd round of harvesting. 

It was 47 degrees here last night. So, we got the house really cooled down over night.

Wow, that's amazing that the branches broke this early, I've had it happen later in the season but this early just goes to show how well those over Wintering plants are doing. It got down to 58 degrees here, the coldest it's been here in months.

[jjannie]

my pumpkin vines are starting to yellow and die back. Think upper 40s night temps are not to their liking at all. Also we've only got one pumpkin to a harvestable size. We were down on vines as well thanks to those dang magpie birds pulling out the young transplants! At least we got something. 

We haven't set any grapes on our vines this year? They've grown like crazy. Do you prune out the older vines?

[wiperhunter2]

my pumpkin vines are starting to yellow and die back. Think upper 40s night temps are not to their liking at all. Also we've only got one pumpkin to a harvestable size. We were down on vines as well thanks to those dang magpie birds pulling out the young transplants! At least we got something. 

We haven't set any grapes on our vines this year? They've grown like crazy. Do you prune out the older vines?

All things come to an end I guess, I'm starting to see the same signs in my garden and my yellow squash and zucchini have really slowed down on their production.
No grapes again, that's really too bad, I was hoping by now they would start producing. How many years has it been since you planted them? It's a good sign they are vining out though, for a few years after planting, the starts will spend all their energy just growing vines. Hopefully by next year you will start getting grapes. When you start grape vines you should never prune them, unless they take over the area you have for them to grow. The sign for me was the grapes stating new vines of their own, when the vines get so thick they grow toward the ground and  they take root in a new location, if yours have not done that yet I would not trim them. The idea is to have the entire area so full of leaves from the vines that they start growing to the surrounding trees or other vegetation. For some reason they like it when their leaves are so thick it totally covers the grapes underneath. I think along with plenty of sun, plenty of water make all the difference. I'm cutting back now but when we were in the heat of the summer I watered twice a day for 25 minutes each time.

[jjannie]

my pumpkin vines are starting to yellow and die back. Think upper 40s night temps are not to their liking at all. Also we've only got one pumpkin to a harvestable size. We were down on vines as well thanks to those dang magpie birds pulling out the young transplants! At least we got something. 

We haven't set any grapes on our vines this year? They've grown like crazy. Do you prune out the older vines?

All things come to an end I guess, I'm starting to see the same signs in my garden and my yellow squash and zucchini have really slowed down on their production.
No grapes again, that's really too bad, I was hoping by now they would start producing. How many years has it been since you planted them? It's a good sign they are vining out though, for a few years after planting, the starts will spend all their energy just growing vines. Hopefully by next year you will start getting grapes. When you start grape vines you should never prune them, unless they take over the area you have for them to grow. The sign for me was the grapes stating new vines of their own, when the vines get so thick they grow toward the ground and  they take root in a new location, if yours have not done that yet I would not trim them. The idea is to have the entire area so full of leaves from the vines that they start growing to the surrounding trees or other vegetation. For some reason they like it when their leaves are so thick it totally covers the grapes underneath. I think along with plenty of sun, plenty of water make all the difference. I'm cutting back now but when we were in the heat of the summer I watered twice a day for 25 minutes each time.

 maybe they are too close to those spruce trees.  think they are at least 3-4 years old, maybe a little older. I'll do my best to keep them out of pines and hope for the best. We had a few last year but just not seeing any this year.

[wiperhunter2]

my pumpkin vines are starting to yellow and die back. Think upper 40s night temps are not to their liking at all. Also we've only got one pumpkin to a harvestable size. We were down on vines as well thanks to those dang magpie birds pulling out the young transplants! At least we got something. 

We haven't set any grapes on our vines this year? They've grown like crazy. Do you prune out the older vines?

All things come to an end I guess, I'm starting to see the same signs in my garden and my yellow squash and zucchini have really slowed down on their production.
No grapes again, that's really too bad, I was hoping by now they would start producing. How many years has it been since you planted them? It's a good sign they are vining out though, for a few years after planting, the starts will spend all their energy just growing vines. Hopefully by next year you will start getting grapes. When you start grape vines you should never prune them, unless they take over the area you have for them to grow. The sign for me was the grapes stating new vines of their own, when the vines get so thick they grow toward the ground and  they take root in a new location, if yours have not done that yet I would not trim them. The idea is to have the entire area so full of leaves from the vines that they start growing to the surrounding trees or other vegetation. For some reason they like it when their leaves are so thick it totally covers the grapes underneath. I think along with plenty of sun, plenty of water make all the difference. I'm cutting back now but when we were in the heat of the summer I watered twice a day for 25 minutes each time.

 maybe they are too close to those spruce trees.  think they are at least 3-4 years old, maybe a little older. I'll do my best to keep them out of pines and hope for the best. We had a few last year but just not seeing any this year.

When you get a chance, take a pic of your vines, so I can see what they look like. It won't hurt for them to run on the pines but they could grow so high that you might not be able to get to the grapes.

[jjannie]

Well, yesterday we selected the bell peppers that we will winter over for next year. Doing this, we definitely got more peppers on the ones we had wintered over. It just gives us more peppers and its pretty simple to do. They get SO full of peppers we learned they'll need to be staked or caged when we put them back out next spring. 

We also started seeds in the inside (grow towers) for later this winter. So far, we've been very happy to have fresh stock of salad makings. We even found a container version of a cherry tomato that has produced well it. Broccoli, we use its leaves for darker greens in our salads - we never get to them or the cauliflower to make heads/crowns - add some nutrients than just having straight lettuce. 

Each week we clear out some garden stuff to toss in trash - winter composting never works for us. Jeff has been cleaning out the pond to remove plant growth that'll die and make it hard on the fish. We lost quite a few last year even though we did some of that last year. So we're hoping to not lose any this winter.

[wiperhunter2]

Well, yesterday we selected the bell peppers that we will winter over for next year. Doing this, we definitely got more peppers on the ones we had wintered over. It just gives us more peppers and its pretty simple to do. They get SO full of peppers we learned they'll need to be staked or caged when we put them back out next spring. 

We also started seeds in the inside (grow towers) for later this winter. So far, we've been very happy to have fresh stock of salad makings. We even found a container version of a cherry tomato that has produced well it. Broccoli, we use its leaves for darker greens in our salads - we never get to them or the cauliflower to make heads/crowns - add some nutrients than just having straight lettuce. 

Each week we clear out some garden stuff to toss in trash - winter composting never works for us. Jeff has been cleaning out the pond to remove plant growth that'll die and make it hard on the fish. We lost quite a few last year even though we did some of that last year. So we're hoping to not lose any this winter.

They shut off our secondary water now but my garden had been going down hill for weeks. Now it's time to start pumping water from my big water tank, to finish off the year. It's going to be interesting to see how your bell peppers do next year, good to hear the first year over wintering worked out so well.