Friday night I ordered ladybugs from growquest.com. They advertise a good price. However, on Sat, I get an email saying the guy can't ship the order. He said it's hot there and he's taking a break from small orders. (What, so he can fill large orders?) I wrote back to ask what size order he can fill and got no reply to that question. I also suggested he change the website to reflect current ordering status. He replied and said he didn't need to change anything, though he won't be shipping any small orders until September.

In short, if ordering from growquest.com, be sure to email first and ask if they are actually shipping the size of your order and when.

Any way, I went ahead aand checked on Amazon for live ladybugs. Wound up finding a better deal. With free shipping, I'm getting 9000 ladybugs for about the same price as I was going to get 4500. So it all worked out for the best. And with local prices, to get that many ladybugs, it would cost nearly $100.

Still having problems with too much sodium in the soil. Tonight, I dissolved some calcium tablets in water and bought some more Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). Put those and some ammonia in the garden sprayer and treated heavily. Treated more heavily with ammonia for the pumpkin and corn plants than the tomatoes.

The PVC wasn't working very well, so I got a bunch of tomato cages today.

A lot of corn has died off. Decided to try a short, cold tolerant variety, since weather should be cooling down by the time it would be harvested. It's supposed to be an early variety which died off earlier this year because of heat. Figured it's worth a try. Not enough time for a longer cycle variety.

Most of the sunflowers are dying off now. Cutting the flowers off and letting them dry to save seeds for next year. If nothing else, should have loads of huge sunflowers next year!

I'm suspecting the sodium problem may be why most of the other flowers haven't grown. Sunflowers have a really high sodium tolerance. Can't see any other reason they shouldn't have grown. Since I've heard various forms of livestock and poultry were raised here, it may take so much calcium and magnesium that it would be considered toxic under other conditions. Animal feed frequently has high levels of sodium, while pigs and chickens are fed kitchen scraps with salt in it. That just gets passed along in the manure into the soil. Not going to apply it all at once but keep applying occasionally until I get the desired result.

Ordered some Phos for the soil to push the Amazon order over the limit for free shipping. Soil is lacking Phos. So I should be getting several shipments this week. All needed items which I'm happy to be able to afford.

Getting to bed.

It finally rained through most of the night last night! (Locals will probably die from humidity today.) not a downpour but a slow, soaking rain which had time to reach deep into the soil.

The garden looks great this morning! :) After all the revisions to multiple rows, should hold moisture really well now.

Tomato plants are gaining height at last. More flowers forming and about a dozen tomatoes in place. Small but still green and growing. Last count as of Sat, 16 plants in the garden. Not sure where one came from. It's far from the rest of the tomato plants and I never planted any seeds there. Have 7 more in buckets.

One surviving strawberry plant and one pepper plant. Those also in buckets.

Now 56 pumpkin plants! That should mean a really good harvest, even if only half produce. Varying types from minis to extra large. No true giants but still hoping for at least one 100 pounder this year.

Generator went out on me this weekend. Have to take it back to Harbor Freight this morning. Wish I had the money to upgrade to a larger size. Best not to waste the money, though.

Decided to go ahead and get an estimate from a reasonable electrician on getting tied back into the grid. But with a meter which will run backward, so I can add wind and solar later. I will be building a system which produces more than I use. At least 3 kw/hr, probably more. Since I'm at work many nights and asleep most days, I don't use much power. That would mean a check from PNM each month. But I'll still add battery backup gradually.

Forgotten issue

In using insecticidal soap, there has been one issue I forgot about completely. Sodium.

Soap has lots of salt in it. Add the fact that desert soil is typically high in sodium and it causes problems. High soil sodium causes stunted growth, low yield and plant death (worse with high temperatures).

Considering the flat lay of my land, sodium can't be washed away. Another problem is that sodium can sink deep in the soil. Meaning when I turned the soil deeply, I brought more of it up. Yet heavy watering will bring more to the surface. This may be the problem with the north garden.

So, I read that the best way to counteract the effects of sodium is adding magnesium and calcium. Which is another issue, because desert soil is commonly low in calcium. I also heard less officially that Phos helps counter it.

So, this afternoon, I added some Epsom salt (mag sulfate) and the last of my calcium supplement to the garden sprayer, along with the soap. See how that works. Though I guess I'll be investing in more Epsom salt soon.

Against conventional wisdom

Still been having problems posting here, so hope this works.

For weeks, I've been leaving windows open during the day in an effort to keep it a little cooler inside. Still, it's been sweltering. Today, decided to close the windows. Seems that works much better. Wish I had figured that out sooner.

Since last successful post here, I've dug out a number of rows in the garden, mixed in mulched wood chips and compost and replanted. Seems like the right move so far. Have new growth coming up already. Now just hope they survive. Problem has been with growing plants trying to dig their roots in deeper. Clay has locked moisture at the top while making deeper soil too dense.

Dug up and potted a bunch of tomato plants. They were suffering from either heat or insects. Current mixture seems to be more effective on the bugs. Lemon Joy. But I have to treat several times a week. Hard to do with my new schedule. Still, the 15 remaining tomato plants seem to be improving. Have at least a dozen tomatoes growing and more random flowers budding.

Counting over 20 pumpkin plants at various stages of growth. Some are an appreciable size while others are just sprouting. Still more which have yet to be seen. Though I have had a number of pumpkin plants start growing and then die off. Still too hot and dry for them. Once they sustain enough heat damage, they don't recover.

Need to get fertilizer next paycheck.

Grapes!

My other blog on myspace now has cell phone posting, so I'm taking this one back to being more focused on gardening. The other one is more personal.

Grapes have started ripening. They're still small, though slightly larger than last year. They're also seeded but taste good. They should make good juice, wine or vinegar!

Some tomato plants are looking better and getting larger. Others not so much. Several I dug up and brought inside are looking much better. So I think I'll dig some of the weak ones up and bring them in tomorrow. Walked through and counted surviving plants today. Have 21 in the garden. One hanging upright. Two inside looking good and two more inside I'm trying to recover.

Amazingly, small pepper plants have started growing. They were planted months ago and had not grown. Not sure they'll have time to produce anything at this point.

Cucumbers have shown themselves hardier than expected but no cucumbers yet.

Some melon vines still survive but have stayed the same size for months.

Green bean vines have started growing. If weather cools a few degrees, I'll have time for a decent harvest.

Pumpkins are once again my biggest hope. Number of new vines coming up and existing plants gaining decent size. Not seeing ones under the trees yet but only planted them a few days ago.

Corn looks pathetic. Not much else to say. Giving it this week, then going to dig out the completely bare or severely weak sections, dig in compost and mulch and replant. Even if it's late, anything which even partially grows can be composted or dug back in to improve things later.

With stable employment, by April or May, I can have a significant portion of the solarium built, along with a solar powered well pump in place. By sometime next summer, I can have the solarium completed, though probably not the shed (which may evolve into a new house). I doubt much of it will be glazed but can have partial shade and wind portection built in. That will help maintain soil moisture and regulate temperature. Glazing may have to happen gradually. I'm fine with it if it has to be one panel at a time until it's finished. My other blog on myspace now has cell phone posting, so I'm taking this one back to being more focused on gardening. The other one is more personal.

Grapes have started ripening. They're still small, though slightly larger than last year. They're also seeded but taste good. They should make good juice, wine or vinegar!

Some tomato plants are looking better and getting larger. Others not so much. Several I dug up and brought inside are looking much better. So I think I'll dig some of the weak ones up and bring them in tomorrow. Walked through and counted surviving plants today. Have 21 in the garden. One hanging upright. Two inside looking good and two more inside I'm trying to recover.

Amazingly, small pepper plants have started growing. They were planted months ago and had not grown. Not sure they'll have time to produce anything at this point.

Cucumbers have shown themselves hardier than expected but no cucumbers yet.

Some melon vines still survive but have stayed the same size for months.

Green bean vines have started growing. If weather cools a few degrees, I'll have time for a decent harvest.

Pumpkins are once again my biggest hope. Number of new vines coming up and existing plants gaining decent size. Not seeing ones under the trees yet but only planted them a few days ago.

Corn looks pathetic. Not much else to say. Giving it this week, then going to dig out the completely bare or severely weak sections, dig in compost and mulch and replant. Even if it's late, anything which even partially grows can be composted or dug back in to improve things later.

With stable employment, by April or May, I can have a significant portion of the solarium built, along with a solar powered well pump in place. By sometime next summer, I can have the solarium completed, though probably not the shed (which may evolve into a new house). I doubt much of it will be glazed but can have partial shade and wind portection built in. That will help maintain soil moisture and regulate temperature. Glazing may have to happen gradually. I'm fine with it if it has to be one panel at a time until it's finished.

Whiteflies

Went to dig out some of the suffering tomato plants, pot them and bring them inside. When I did, I found whiteflies. LOTS of whiteflies. Like, by the tens of thousands! It's a miracle any of the tomato plants are still alive.Went to dig out some of the suffering tomato plants, pot them and bring them inside. When I did, I found whiteflies. LOTS of whiteflies. Like, by the tens of thousands! It's a miracle any of the tomato plants are still alive.

So I mixed up a batch of insecticidal soap, nicotine and vegetable oil. Sprayed that all over the garden very heavily. Have to repeat that every few days for a while.

In a few weeks, can get some ladybugs and praying mantis eggs.

With that many whiteflies, that's probably most fo what has been wrong with the garden. Things haven't responded no matter how much I've watered. After heavy watering, things should have looked better for at least a short while. They haven't been visible on the plants. I only saw them when I started digging and saw them under the mulch and down in the soil.

I planted more pumpkins tonight. LOTS of pumpkin seeds. In this case, I'm planning on thinning, if too many seeds begin to take. Some earlier plants are gaining in size. This is the outer edge of the dates for planting pumpkins but some should fruit by Halloween and others by Thanksgiving. Never did get any true giant seeds this year. Too late now. Maybe next year. At least once I would like to grow a 400 pounder or larger.

I also planted more green beans, corn and carrots.

Temps are dropping slightly and slowly. Highs are forecast for the mid 90's instead of high 90's too 100+ as it has been for a few weeks.

So maybe there's still some hope for the garden this year. Maybe.Went to dig out some of the suffering tomato plants, pot them and bring them inside. When I did, I found whiteflies. LOTS of whiteflies. Like, by the tens of thousands! It's a miracle any of the tomato plants are still alive.Went to dig out some of the suffering tomato plants, pot them and bring them inside. When I did, I found whiteflies. LOTS of whiteflies. Like, by the tens of thousands! It's a miracle any of the tomato plants are still alive.

So I mixed up a batch of insecticidal soap, nicotine and vegetable oil. Sprayed that all over the garden very heavily. Have to repeat that every few days for a while.

In a few weeks, can get some ladybugs and praying mantis eggs.

With that many whiteflies, that's probably most fo what has been wrong with the garden. Things haven't responded no matter how much I've watered. After heavy watering, things should have looked better for at least a short while. They haven't been visible on the plants. I only saw them when I started digging and saw them under the mulch and down in the soil.

I planted more pumpkins tonight. LOTS of pumpkin seeds. In this case, I'm planning on thinning, if too many seeds begin to take. Some earlier plants are gaining in size. This is the outer edge of the dates for planting pumpkins but some should fruit by Halloween and others by Thanksgiving. Never did get any true giant seeds this year. Too late now. Maybe next year. At least once I would like to grow a 400 pounder or larger.

I also planted more green beans, corn and carrots.

Temps are dropping slightly and slowly. Highs are forecast for the mid 90's instead of high 90's too 100+ as it has been for a few weeks.

So maybe there's still some hope for the garden this year. Maybe.