OmahaJB's 2010 Garden Journal

Tormato · June 16, 2010

Twenty p

unds from a "half-high" blueberry variety seems like a stretttttttttttch. Average harvests for other half-highs is about 3-7 lbs. My Northland probably has the most branching of all of my plants, so more than 7 lbs is quite possible.

The Pure and Simple x Darla Anita daylily flowered on Sunday.

Gary

OmahaJB · June 16, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tormato

Twenty p

unds from a "half-high" blueberry variety seems like a stretttttttttttch. Average harvests for other half-highs is about 3-7 lbs. My Northland probably has the most branching of all of my plants, so more than 7 lbs is quite possible.

The Pure and Simple x Darla Anita daylily flowered on Sunday.

Gary

Hah...you know I have to ask...colors of the flower? And is it of good size? When I bought the seeds I was warned that the colors could be a disappointment, and I read somewhere the size of the flowers are often smaller than the parents' flowers. I tried buying crosses where both sides of the cross had good sized flowers, but that may not matter. Hoping to see flowers here as well, but haven't seen a hint of a flower bud on any of them.

OmahaJB · June 19, 2010

This morning I weeded the garden, and put cages in for some of the tomato plants, and bamboo in for the others that needed it. Not much to report except to say most everything is doing well. A few tomato plants are slow growers still. I did use fertilizer a couple days ago so maybe that'll spark them a bit.

Squirrels are still being pests looking for their peanuts they buried in my garden area. Think I'll buy some of that material people have mentioned you can get at craft stores. Only thing I can do is cover the plants or by a BB gun. And the neighbors would surely call 911 if I start shooting up the neighborhood. And trapping them only to release them in someone else's neighborhood wouldn't be the nicest thing to do.

Have had many leaves on my eggplant and pepper plants chewed on. Today we found a couple dark colored pests on the top of one of the eggplant leaves near one of the blossoms. They were maybe a quarter inch long, and huddled very close together. No idea what they are but I will finally need to buy some type insect poison to put on the leaves.

Good news is one of my daylillies is budding. Will keep an eye out for the flowers.

That's about it. Hoping to see fruitset soon on several plants.

Tormato · June 21, 2010

Jeff,

PS x DA has burgundy petals with a yellow throat, and a small area of dark burgundy in between. The petals have kind of a watercolor "wash" to them. Since I don't have any other flowers this color, I'm not disappointed in them.

Several of my blueberry varieties started ripening over the weekend. This is much earlier than the past couple of years. I'm not complaining.

Gary

OmahaJB · June 22, 2010

Gary,

Sounds like an interesting looking daylily flower. I was hoping some of these would have good color patterns. But with crosses I know you can always be disappointed. How would you classify the flower size? Small, medium, large? And are the edges ruffled or whatever they call it?

Still waiting for my first buds to open up. There are two or three on the one daylily, and it seems it might have some white or light yellow in it, judging by the inside edge where the bud seems to want to open. It sure is growing larger than I thought it would at first. Originally looked like it'd be a fairly small flower, now I'd say at least a medium sized one.

Glad I bought those seeds on that auction site. It's kind of nice having something besides edibles.

On a sidenote, visited the garden today since we had storms very early this morning. Had to build the soil back up around a couple of the plants that were practically laying down. Also noticed the base of the vines of the Musquee de Provence seem to have been eaten away on the top side. The bottom side wasn't touched apparently. Don't know if this would have been caused by a vine borer, or if it's another insect, or what?? Funny, the Amish Pie just a few feet away hasn't been touched. I did notice some red ants close by running around like mad.

Everything else, copacetic for now....

OmahaJB · June 24, 2010

Another storm last night. Two more tomato plants needed to be righted and propped up with soil.

Musquee de Provence is being destroyed around the stem leading farther up. Vine borers no doubt. Worried my Amish Pie will be next. Will do some reading on how best to handle them. May even need to pull the plant. Will do something about this Saturday.

Good news: Troyka which is in a growbag has 3 peppers growing, and another pepper plant has 1. Also saw one or two Roma types growing.

Amish Pie has some huge flowers about to open. Two or three. Should see fruitset on my project dwarf plant soon. A few flowers on it now. Actually gave quite a few flowers on pretty much everything. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, melons, and squash. Still waiting on the daylilly flowers to open. Should be very very soon.

Another positive is the Stump/Guido cross is still alive. Honestly thought it had less than 5% chance of surviving in the ground since it was so tiny yet. The stem is thickening somewhat but it has a long way to go. If I can just get at least one tomato from it!

Realized today I had planted 3 'Not' Emma Pink seedlings, and one is doing very well, the 2nd 'ok', and the 3rd a little behind at this point in the season. Thought I only had two but was happy to have the 3rd. Increases the odds of getting something close to what I had last year, as in something outstanding.

Good start to the season so far...

OmahaJB · June 29, 2010

Seven, yes seven, peppers were on my Troyka plant. It's the only pepper plant in a grow bag. The next best pepper plant has one pepper so far. Although most everything in the garden is flowering like crazy.

The two eggplant plants each have 1 growing with plenty of flowers as well. They are also in 5 gallon growbags.

The 4th plant in a growbag is La Roma which has 5 tomatoes on it so far.

So for me at least, container gardening is a winner, which also means I need to do much better improving my garden soil for in-ground plants.

Don't think I mentioned this plant by name, but the one that was chomped down to the stump, that was replaced by La Roma in the grow bag, was Pattiewhacker. The only one I had. So if you read this Patty, I'll unfortunately not have results to report for that cross.

Maybe next year.

I'm allowing my Musquee de Provence go for now. I've posted alot concerned it might have squash vine borer issues, but I'm not convinced that's what caused the damage yet. I've seen no problems with the plant other than the stem damage and the fact the vine is not as prolific as Amish Pie, which may be normal, I don't know. Will watch it's progress. It is growing buds, but the flowers are not close to opening yet.

Amish Pie is pretty much a monster considering how little space I gave it. To be honest I had no success last year with melons or squash/pumpkins, that I didn't think they'd survive. AP has very large flowers which is neat, but they sure do take a long time to open.

Garlic greenery is looking bad. Hoping it means alot of energy is being put into bulb development. Don't remember them looking this way the last two years.

Daylily flowers on the one plant will open very soon. Thought it would be open before today, however it's just about to start. Still think it'll be a lighter color around the edges.

Cream of Saskatchewan has alot of flowers but none have closed yet that I've noticed, so no possibility of melons yet.

Cheering the Guido/Stump cross on. I planted seedlings in May bigger than this is right now. Am very pleased it didn't die off and is getting stronger and slowly bigger. If I can get at least one tomato from it, it'll be a success.

Considering trying to grow Delikatessa cucumber from seed at this late date. The one I planted did not survive for some reason. My guess is when a squirrel was searching for his buried peanuts he destroyed that plant and my small Charantais vine. I did see an empty shell close by when the plants mysteriously disappeared. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try. It was my only cucumber planted.

In another thread I noticed Armenian mentioned. Actually a melon but used like a cucumber. Will give that a try next year if I have a garden.

Another thing I want to grow is Delicata squash. Seems the perfect size for cooking and the posts about it in another forum are good. I googled pics of some of the ones mentioned and that stood out as perfect size to cook as part of a meal. The Amish Pie I'm growing will be alot of squash if it grows out ok. Will have to freeze some probably.

Now....Good day!

June 16, 2010	#1
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,966	Twenty punds from a "half-high" blueberry variety seems like a stretttttttttttch. Average harvests for other half-highs is about 3-7 lbs. My Northland probably has the most branching of all of my plants, so more than 7 lbs is quite possible. The Pure and Simple x Darla Anita daylily flowered on Sunday. Gary

June 19, 2010	#3
OmahaJB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 1,821	This morning I weeded the garden, and put cages in for some of the tomato plants, and bamboo in for the others that needed it. Not much to report except to say most everything is doing well. A few tomato plants are slow growers still. I did use fertilizer a couple days ago so maybe that'll spark them a bit. Squirrels are still being pests looking for their peanuts they buried in my garden area. Think I'll buy some of that material people have mentioned you can get at craft stores. Only thing I can do is cover the plants or by a BB gun. And the neighbors would surely call 911 if I start shooting up the neighborhood. And trapping them only to release them in someone else's neighborhood wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. Have had many leaves on my eggplant and pepper plants chewed on. Today we found a couple dark colored pests on the top of one of the eggplant leaves near one of the blossoms. They were maybe a quarter inch long, and huddled very close together. No idea what they are but I will finally need to buy some type insect poison to put on the leaves. Good news is one of my daylillies is budding. Will keep an eye out for the flowers. That's about it. Hoping to see fruitset soon on several plants.

June 21, 2010	#4
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,966	Jeff, PS x DA has burgundy petals with a yellow throat, and a small area of dark burgundy in between. The petals have kind of a watercolor "wash" to them. Since I don't have any other flowers this color, I'm not disappointed in them. Several of my blueberry varieties started ripening over the weekend. This is much earlier than the past couple of years. I'm not complaining. Gary

June 22, 2010	#5
OmahaJB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 1,821	Gary, Sounds like an interesting looking daylily flower. I was hoping some of these would have good color patterns. But with crosses I know you can always be disappointed. How would you classify the flower size? Small, medium, large? And are the edges ruffled or whatever they call it? Still waiting for my first buds to open up. There are two or three on the one daylily, and it seems it might have some white or light yellow in it, judging by the inside edge where the bud seems to want to open. It sure is growing larger than I thought it would at first. Originally looked like it'd be a fairly small flower, now I'd say at least a medium sized one. Glad I bought those seeds on that auction site. It's kind of nice having something besides edibles. On a sidenote, visited the garden today since we had storms very early this morning. Had to build the soil back up around a couple of the plants that were practically laying down. Also noticed the base of the vines of the Musquee de Provence seem to have been eaten away on the top side. The bottom side wasn't touched apparently. Don't know if this would have been caused by a vine borer, or if it's another insect, or what?? Funny, the Amish Pie just a few feet away hasn't been touched. I did notice some red ants close by running around like mad. Everything else, copacetic for now....

June 24, 2010	#6
OmahaJB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 1,821	Another storm last night. Two more tomato plants needed to be righted and propped up with soil. Musquee de Provence is being destroyed around the stem leading farther up. Vine borers no doubt. Worried my Amish Pie will be next. Will do some reading on how best to handle them. May even need to pull the plant. Will do something about this Saturday. Good news: Troyka which is in a growbag has 3 peppers growing, and another pepper plant has 1. Also saw one or two Roma types growing. Amish Pie has some huge flowers about to open. Two or three. Should see fruitset on my project dwarf plant soon. A few flowers on it now. Actually gave quite a few flowers on pretty much everything. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, melons, and squash. Still waiting on the daylilly flowers to open. Should be very very soon. Another positive is the Stump/Guido cross is still alive. Honestly thought it had less than 5% chance of surviving in the ground since it was so tiny yet. The stem is thickening somewhat but it has a long way to go. If I can just get at least one tomato from it! Realized today I had planted 3 'Not' Emma Pink seedlings, and one is doing very well, the 2nd 'ok', and the 3rd a little behind at this point in the season. Thought I only had two but was happy to have the 3rd. Increases the odds of getting something close to what I had last year, as in something outstanding. Good start to the season so far...

June 29, 2010	#7
OmahaJB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 1,821	Seven, yes seven, peppers were on my Troyka plant. It's the only pepper plant in a grow bag. The next best pepper plant has one pepper so far. Although most everything in the garden is flowering like crazy. The two eggplant plants each have 1 growing with plenty of flowers as well. They are also in 5 gallon growbags. The 4th plant in a growbag is La Roma which has 5 tomatoes on it so far. So for me at least, container gardening is a winner, which also means I need to do much better improving my garden soil for in-ground plants. Don't think I mentioned this plant by name, but the one that was chomped down to the stump, that was replaced by La Roma in the grow bag, was Pattiewhacker. The only one I had. So if you read this Patty, I'll unfortunately not have results to report for that cross. Maybe next year. I'm allowing my Musquee de Provence go for now. I've posted alot concerned it might have squash vine borer issues, but I'm not convinced that's what caused the damage yet. I've seen no problems with the plant other than the stem damage and the fact the vine is not as prolific as Amish Pie, which may be normal, I don't know. Will watch it's progress. It is growing buds, but the flowers are not close to opening yet. Amish Pie is pretty much a monster considering how little space I gave it. To be honest I had no success last year with melons or squash/pumpkins, that I didn't think they'd survive. AP has very large flowers which is neat, but they sure do take a long time to open. Garlic greenery is looking bad. Hoping it means alot of energy is being put into bulb development. Don't remember them looking this way the last two years. Daylily flowers on the one plant will open very soon. Thought it would be open before today, however it's just about to start. Still think it'll be a lighter color around the edges. Cream of Saskatchewan has alot of flowers but none have closed yet that I've noticed, so no possibility of melons yet. Cheering the Guido/Stump cross on. I planted seedlings in May bigger than this is right now. Am very pleased it didn't die off and is getting stronger and slowly bigger. If I can get at least one tomato from it, it'll be a success. Considering trying to grow Delikatessa cucumber from seed at this late date. The one I planted did not survive for some reason. My guess is when a squirrel was searching for his buried peanuts he destroyed that plant and my small Charantais vine. I did see an empty shell close by when the plants mysteriously disappeared. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try. It was my only cucumber planted. In another thread I noticed Armenian mentioned. Actually a melon but used like a cucumber. Will give that a try next year if I have a garden. Another thing I want to grow is Delicata squash. Seems the perfect size for cooking and the posts about it in another forum are good. I googled pics of some of the ones mentioned and that stood out as perfect size to cook as part of a meal. The Amish Pie I'm growing will be alot of squash if it grows out ok. Will have to freeze some probably. Now....Good day!