Next stage

Okay, so I have had the black plastic in place on some rows for a number of weeks now. This evening, I took one small section off and moved it to another area where weeds have gone insane. Low weeds. Had a battle with them last year but can't recall what their name. 

The section I removed plastic from is all brown and appears dead. However, that could change with light and more air. I'm going to give it at least a week before planting anything there. At first sign of anything green, the plastic goes back down.

The tomato plants have seriously bushed out in just about the last week. I now have dozens of tomatoes forming rapidly and hundreds of flowers where many more fruit will be. I am honestly expecting at least 300-400 lbs of tomatoes this year. This is truly the best the tomatoes have ever looked. 

On the other hand, not much else is growing. I left lettuce out of the picture this year to get the weeds controlled. Looking at the areas which I did not cover, I am really happy with that decision. The carrots I planted in the uncovered areas never came up. I think they would have, if not for the weeds. 

I am still keeping the clear plastic down in the tomato patch. I think that has a lot to do with how well tomatoes are doing. It retains moisture, removes hiding paces for damaging insects and at least limits how much any weeds under the plastic can steal nutrients. If the weeds die off, they will actually compost under the plastic and release nutrients back into the soil. 

I planted the watermelon and pumpkin plants out which I started inside. However, moved them out too quickly because daughter and I were leaving for vacation. Now only one watermelon vine survived.

All my cucumber vines started inside died off. I planted more seeds and have some vines coming up now. I'll probably have cucumbers but not for a while. Just going to have to do some work to keep the weeds under control manually around them. 

I'm actually not pushing for a lot from the garden this year besides tomatoes. I may focus more on the fall garden if things are finally controlled by then. I have been spraying more weed killer this year than ever. Just trying to catch the weeds early, so they have no chance to spread more seeds. I will continue with using that through the whole season and hope to need a lot less next year.

Displacement

Here is something which may seem odd. As I plant things in the garden, I am removing soil, grass and weeds and piling it up in the compost pile. Though I did just realize I need to place some black plastic over it, so the grass and weeds don't sprout. Over time, I will rotate contents into the compost tumbler, which reaches higher temperatures. The combination of composting and heat should deactivate the seeds. 

Got out and set up another sprinkler during lunch for the Cosmos and the Wisteria. Also set up a water line for the dog, so it will automatically fill his bowl, like I do each summer. I think it will be more successful this year because the younger dog is gone, who would chew up the water line, leaving it to drain on the ground and leave the dogs thirsty. This dog is smarter than that. I hope. 

Still no luck on the cannabis plants. they seriously attract white flies. I finally gave in and sprayed the hell out of them with poison. See if that helps.

Change of layout

I have decided to make a change of layout in the garden. Today I set the new seedless grape vine in the ground. In the main garden, instead of along the fence. What I want to do is establish an actual (small) orchard. Laying things out in a straight line in the main garden would make it easier to propagate new vines. I'll trim most of the vine runners up higher but leave one or two at the bottom, let them gain some length, bury them in soil until they form roots, then cut the connection to the "mother". No question it will take several years to establish a whole line of vines that way but that's okay.

Hmm. Okay, I just figured out I did something wrong. I set the vine in the ground at the end of the row. Should have done that in the middle. Then I could form two new vines at once instead of one. I'll have to move it. That way I can start with one vine and by the end of the year I'll have at least three. Next year that would increase to five, the following year seven. etc. Then I can keep them well trimmed and the grapes will grow to a good size. 

That doesn't mean I will ignore the grapes along the fences. I'll still extend them. I have kind of an emotional attachment to them now. 

Have to get the watermelon and pumpkin plants in the ground this week. 

White flies

Still having a problem with white flies on indoor plants. They're a huge problem here every year, both inside and out. I'm keeping the office windows closed and have taken to spraying flying insect poison several times a day in there. Tried insecticidal soap but with limited effect.

Problem is that they kill off seedlings until they are large enough to deal with the damage. Of course, they lay eggs and hatch in the soil, so they do damage at least from soil level up. Even those that survive take much longer to mature.

I've had lots of flowers and several cannabis seedlings die off from this. Cannabis seeds are not cheap, at up to $5 per seed. Just trying to get a few plants to maturity, so I can produce more seeds. 

Outdoor tomato plants keep looking better. Most of the varieties I'm growing right now don't tend to grow that tall, maybe 4 ft maximum but they bush out a lot, which they are doing. They have not yet gained enough size that I need to trim them back. I do have a few small tomatoes forming. They'll take a while because all these varieties are large tomatoes. No cherry or grape tomatoes this year. I only grew those for daughter and she has more liking for large tomatoes now and not small ones. That's good because it concurs with my own preference. That is, good if she doesn't eat all of them! Lol! 

Watermelon vines are coming up. I'll get them in the ground as soon as they form some true leaves. I have them outside already, in partial shade so they will adjust more quickly to sunlight. 

Not seeing any carrots in the garden which I planted. Though they can remain hidden for a while. Still a chance for the, since weather has been warm but lots of cloudy days. If seeds had a chance to germinate, they will come up.

Strange thing. The potatoes in the solarium had stopped growing while the cilantro was growing. Now that the cilantro went dormant, the potatoes started growing again! Any way, I removed the cilantro and planted more red potatoes in containers a few minutes ago.

I had been holding off on tying the tomato plants too much but checked closer this evening and wound up having to tie some of them quite a bit.

I do have to do some more revisions of the irrigation and put down more black plastic. The weeds are going wild under the translucent plastic. So, translucent plastic is a definite failure.It has kept the weeds contained so they don't spread but not much else. 

Computer updates

Today so far I am kind of stuck doing computer updates. For a long time the video card channel in my motherboard wasn't working. Computer was function on the native Windows driver, so it was okay for most things. Could not send video to the TV or play computer games. Would overheat the processor with some videos, then I learned even that was only on one browser, so I switched browsers. 

Ordered and installed a new motherboard. Not only did the motherboard not work but it fried my 8 core processor.

So I ordered another motherboard and 6 core processor from a different vendor. Installed that last night but had to install drivers and updates this morning, along with tweaking the system so it works how I want. 

Once I get that done, going to get outside and get some things done. Kind of tired because I woke up sick at 4:30 AM. Mostly passed but slept late and not so energetic today thus far.

Tomato plants are taking off like rockets now! Hundreds of flowers and I saw the first baby tomato of the season yesterday. 

Been testing the soil and it became very alkaline again. Started doing frequent acid treatments at much higher levels than ever before. It's doing some good. 

Cucumbers are still suffering. This is second attempt and several have died off. Maybe I need to get them in the ground instead of containers. Do that today and see how they do. 

This year I am growing cannabis. Mostly in containers but may move some out to the garden once they reach a large enough size to transplant. Then compare how they do. Down side to planting outdoors is that there will be no harvest until fall. Yes, I am licensed on the medical program here. Trying to grow my own because it has the potential to save me thousands of dollars. I'm a really light user and if I get one plant to harvest it would last me several years. 

The blueberry bushes are looking decent. No berries, though. Either need larger containers or get them in the ground. Before I can do that I have to intensely treat and acidify the soil where I'm going to plant them. 

Finally got a living pomegranate bush and a wisteria bush and both are looking good so far. Need to harden them off and get them moved outside, also. 

Finished the garden fence two weekends ago to keep the dog out and provide a trellis for some plants. It looks rather decent! Yay! The footers are each set in concrete, so it should be stable. 

My plan is to build an arbor down at least part of the center of the garden and have grapes and wisteria growing on it. 

All my Gladiolus bulbs seem to be doing well, even after transplanting them out to the garden. 

I now have four red grape vines. Seems when the neighbors installed their privacy fence they buried part of the vine, which formed roots and then turned into new vines. That's funny because these are the same neighbors who killed a green seedless vine while building that fence. Now the four vines are growing across and through the fence! I'm keeping the vine cut back a lot more this year, trying to increase the size of the grapes. But what they did also taught me a method of propagating the vines, since every attempt at growing from cuttings was not working for me. Not sure what I was doing wrong. Doesn't matter. That method will work for a lot of vines and bushes, maybe even trees in some cases. Going to give it a try. Already started an attempt with the green seedless grape vine. 

I have been successfully propagating tomato plants by cuttings. I added 4-5 plants by that method and took four more cuttings this week. They seem to be doing okay so far. Give it a bit more time. 

Got watermelon seeds started this week and they're coming up. Need to get more potting soil and get pumpkin seeds started. I just waited this year. Maybe between starting later plus the plastic on the mounds I can avoid most of the squash bugs this year. 

Increasing plant population

The plant population is increasing. 

Gladiolus are coming up, in the garden and in pots. So are carnations and asters. I was surprised to find the nasturtium pretty much leaped out of the soil (okay, 3 of them) and are already about 4" tall. Since I just planted them Mon or Tue night, that wasn't expected. 

I am on the medical cannabis program and had bought some seeds a few weeks ago. Four of the seeds germinated out of five. They're growing taller. Little slowly but I have not yet had them in complete full sunlight. They are outside now.

Taking a slight chance financially. Ordered some seeds from a company in Amsterdam. The company has been around a while and they have a seriously extensive website including translations of language and currency into a number of languages and currencies. The only company I've seen that offers guaranteed delivery. Doesn't mean they are the only ones, just the only ones I've seen. Long as all works as planned, it winds up much cheaper than buying from the local dispensary, who charges $4 per seed. The seeds I ordered come to less than $2 per seed after shipping to include guaranteed delivery. These are also supposed to be the most prolific producers, up to 1.5 lbs per plant. (I don't use much at all. One lb would last me several years, long as it doesn't go stale.) Down side is a low CBD content. But if the purchase goes well I'll order some more expensive strains from them later. 

A couple of the tomato plants are beginning to flower, Surprising because they're not very tall yet. Though I have seen plants flower and then rapidly gain size while the fruit is small, in a rush to gain strength to support the fruit. 

Glad I got the last tomato plants in the ground a couple days ago. Wind picked up today and probably would have knocked containers over. 

Few days later than planned but got the lavender seeds started today. That's okay, gave them more time to stratify. 

Wow! I have to get more dish tubs. I have like 15-20 of them but turns out they're all in use already. Found out when I went to get seeds for watermelon and pumpkins started. Guess I'll get some more this weekend.

Rainy night

Rainy night tonight. No complaints from me!

Since last posting, the cucumber seeds came up. 

Strawberries look better but did suffer some sun scald because they were greenhouse plants. They seem to be okay, though.

Got plastic sheeting on most of the mounds in the garden a couple weeks ago. Then this weekend I got most of the tomato plants in the ground with tops sticking out of the plastic. Give it a couple more weeks and maybe start pulling the plastic off. I'll wait as long as I can, depending on how the plants look.

Planted carrot seeds. Not completely sure they'll germinate. I think there are just enough nights below 50 degrees for them to do so. Meanwhile, the container carrots are getting close to being ready to harvest. 

Got milkweed seeds in the mail. Had to stratify them for a couple of weeks. Got them started tonight. Hoping they flower this year. Be really good to attract lots of Monarch butterflies!

I have a couple dozen Gladiolus of various colors coming up. If I get them hardened off and in the ground they should flower in a few weeks. 

Wrapping the trees saved the plum and apple crops. Still hoping for blueberries this year. Not sure because the two different types bloomed at different times. 

Got the sunflower seeds planted this evening. Slightly late but not much. The seeds already in the ground in the back yard are just starting to come up. Not seeing Cosmos yet but they start late and then make up for it. 

Need to get watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin seeds going this week.

The irrigation system is completely up and running. No timer for the front zone at the moment. I have my vacation set up as two separate weeks, so I figure if I seriously soak the ground before leaving town for a couple of days, shouldn't be a big problem. But maybe I'll get a timer for that zone any way. I ran the two back zones for as long as 4 hours (with drip irrigation) at a time a few times to flush surface sodium as deep as possible. I actually hope that if I keep doing that, over time the salt will be flushed too deep for roots to reach. Maybe washed completely away, since the water table is so close to the surface. 

I'm working toward the future configuration of the garden. Tried to order some wisteria. Then Bank of America got their heads up their asses. The order was canceled. Have to reorder when I get a new debit card. Not worth going into all of it on my garden blog. In time, I'd like to have an arbor the length of the garden covered with wisteria. I had ordered seeds for Chinese wisteria before I knew it takes 15 years to flower! Instead, I'll buy Amethyst Falls wisteria, which allegedly flowers the same year and grows very quickly. I also want rows of tomatoes and a small vineyard. Plus a row of blueberry bushes, more apple and plum trees and one pomegranate tree. 

Tomatoes back outside

Moved the tomato plants back outside this evening. Most seem like they'll bounce back in a few days. One or two are gone. Cucumber vine is completely dead.

So, need to get more cucmber seeds going tonight. 

Zone 1 still needs some revision for the tomato plants. Was going to get that done tonight but ran out of daylight. 

Still waiting for the shade fabric and garden staples to arrive. 

Had good luck with plastic buckets this evening. (Guess it doesn't take much to make me happy, eh?) Got 7 buckets from the grocery store, varying sizes. Those will come in handy! 

Since starting this post I got the cucumber seeds started. Six containers, three varieties, two seeds each container. 

Seeing more things coming up inside. Strawberries aren't looking so hot. I may have planted them too deeply. If the crowns are covered even slightly they die off. I removed some soil from them today. If not looking better tomorrow, may have to pull them up and replant. 

Zone 2

Zone 2 of the irrigation system is up and running now. May have to replace one sprinkler. I think there's not enough pressure in this zone because the zone is too big. Either that or there's a pressure leak somewhere. I'm letting the system run for a few hours tonight, so hoping any leaks may be more visible tomorrow.

Letting it run to flush the system and the soil to leach off any surface salt. Also to get any remaining grass and weed seeds or roots to start growing so I can deal with them. It also wakes up earthworms and microbes for the spring, bringing them closer to the surface.

Installed the metal straps on the compost tumbler, so the door will stop warping in the sun. It's showing good results, composting much, much faster than the compost pile. In 2-3 weeks I think this batch will be useable. I do need to tumble it every day or two, now that the door will stay closed. I do have air holes drilled in the sides but if I don't turn it, the stuff on the bottom goes into anearobic decomposition, which smells pretty bad. More air mixed in speeds up composting, too. 

They referred to frost last night. In my area, it came closer to a hard freeze. The grape vines lost all their green leaves. Glad they hadn't flowered yet. I managed to avert damage to the apple and most of the plum tree with wrapping them. 

Lots of stuff

I think I'm just going to keep this saved as a draft and add to it during the course of the day. Gives me something to do when I take a break.

Last night I applied glyphosate to the garden. This morning I followed up with sulfuric acid.

I have gone full toxic this year to wrestle the weeds and unwanted grass under control.

I'm using full strength acid with no added water. The one thing I am adding is pure household ammonia. I applied pure acid one day and an acid/ammonia mix another day. It seems the mixture is much more effective. And then that effect is compounded if applied in direct sunlight. I applied acid one evening and had some effect but not quite enough the next day. This morning I applied the mixture in direct sunlight and was seeing the effects on the first section before I was done with the last section, so about half an hour. I'm hoping the whole garden is black by late afternoon. 

Right now it's 10 AM. 

My plan is to get the irrigation system partially running this weekend. Water the soil and apply clear plastic sheeting to the tomato section, then put tomato plants in containers out to weigh the plastic down and install irrigation to them. In 2-3 weeks the glyphosate should be dissipated/inactivated, so I can cut holes in the plastic, plant the tomatoes in the ground and anchor the plastic around them for a few more weeks. 

Right now I need to go drill holes in more stumps and apply Epsom Salt and acid. From what I can tell so far, it seems to be working. I am re-applying the acid every couple of days, to fill the holes I drilled. No signs of growth on the two stumps I've treated so far. I may just maintain that procedure through the summer, until I'm convinced I have killed off the roots.

However, I also need to trim smaller invasive trees and go get more glyphosate. Ran out. 

I had been letting the dog run around without the invisible fence collar. However, couple nights ago he turned over several tomato plants in containers. I think I managed to save all of them this time. He was eating the potting soil. So I powdered to op of the soil with cayenne pepper. Not good enough. This morning I went out to feed him and he had gotten out of the yard. He came back but I have a new cable run and put the collar back on him. He's laying around, looking guilty. He knows he did wrong and he knew it before he did it. Dogs know when they're doing something wrong but do it anyway. I am in no way sold on the whole poor short term memory for dogs theory. If they are getting into something and walk away from it and/or look guilty as soon as they see you, they understand completely but it doesn't stop them. In addition, eating the potting soil gave him diarrhea. Good! Hope it gave him stomach cramps, too!

A big problem with the apple tree last year was ants. I tried treating the ant piles but to no avail. Today I applied fly paper strips to the trunk. If I have to replace it that shouldn't be a problem. I get them at Dollar Tree, so they're 4/$1. One strip will treat up to 2 trees but if the problem is too severe I can use a full strip for each tree. I didn't see as many ants on the plum tree but I still treated that one as well, just in case. Think I lost most of the plums last year just because the tree was too young to deal with the winds. Still not quite developed enough but maybe have a few more plums than last year. The apple tree put out a few apples last year but most fell prey to insect damage. 

Now 2 hours after acid application and seeing a big difference. If not enough to my liking by late afternoon (while still in full sun), I'll do one more application. 


3:30 PM. Seeing a lot more effect that I wanted to see. It even has something of a burned odor, which I wasn't really expecting for some reason. Just because there's no actual combustion. However, I am going to do one more application.

I'm dragging butt. However, I went to Walmart and got more glyphosate. Cut down the nuisance trees behind and next to the shed and sprayed what was left liberally with the glyphosate, including the trunks but especially at the spots where I cut because that absorbs fastest, from what I understand. 

Like I said, dragging butt. I think it has to do with gastric problems. Took something for it and going to take some creatine in a little bit.

Okay, I did the last acid treatment. It is seriously looking like this is going to work! One of the best things about this is that it only takes a few hours to see where you need to apply more. It took 3 gals to bring things under control right now. I think all it should take the rest of the year will be spot treating. I hope it soaked down to the roots, as it appears to have done. 

I can part of the irrigation system running tomorrow. Need to order some new parts because Home Depot stopped carrying my preferred micro-sprinklers and never did carry replacement parts. Going to try out some new sprinklers that have a wider range. They cost more but with a wider range I would need fewer of them. 

Done with the garden for today. Need to get a few things done inside the house.