Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners - Page 9

Tracydr · March 18, 2012

Took the drain tube out of my puppy yesterday. Actually caught my Doberman trying to take the drain tube out for her, lol. Today, the Doberman was trying to help her get the stitches out, lol.
"hey, Lucy, these things itch. Can you chew on them and pull them out for me. Sure, Gizmo, I'd love to help, no problem!"

flyingbrass · March 18, 2012

It is 8:00 p.m. and the thermometer on my porch says 46.1. The sky is clear. Ugh. I'm hoping that with so much humidity the temp won't drop too much tonight.

We had some hail earlier today, but it was fairly small.

Tracydr · March 18, 2012

It was 41 here this afternoon with a windchill of 38. I held off planting the last half of my tomatoes this weekend and brought the seedlings inside. I feel like they're never going to get planted! It's supposed to be a low of 38 tomorrow night.
If anybody needs tomato seedlings, I have lots of extras, I posted my list on another thread but can post them here or you can PM me.
Got a rose and hibiscus planted today, then got rained out. Oh well, restarted some sweet scotch bonnets and aji dulce seeds since I only had a few come up from the first planting. I'm determined to get a bunch of sweet Caribbean seasoning type peppers to try this year. I love the flavor of habaneros and scotch bonnets but can never use enough of them because of the heat.
These c.chinoise varieties seem to be a bear to germinate, even with a heat pad. My best success has been placing them outside in direct sunlight and letting the heat cook them. That seems to get them sprouting.
I had great luck, though with my chiltepans, which I'm excited about, since they're native to the Sonoran desert.
Also have plenty of purple tomatillos (which I've never grown) and a couple of new to me varieties of eggplants. ( ping Tung long and LA green) eggplants and tomatillos are doing great and need to be repotted.

flyingbrass · March 18, 2012

Tomorrow night worries me also. My plants are too big now to cover with the boxes I used before.

I have a few jalapenos, poblanos and sweet bananas planted, but I'm looking for some more pepper plants, preferably relatively mild-heat ones. I wouldn't mind trying something a little warmer, but I'm not a super hot pepper fan. A really hot jalapeno is too much for me.

None of the cubanelle seeds I started this year germinated. I didn't even try bells this year because my seeds are so old.

Tracydr · March 18, 2012

I just checked the weather. I think what was listed as tomorrow night was really tonight, early in the morning. Like around 4 am. Tomorrow night, looks like it will be around 41 for my area.
I didn't bother trying to cover the twelve tomatoes in the garden, I have replacements, if needed.
The peppers and eggplants outside are huge and have handled far colder weather. They are actually 3 years old! The eggplants and peppers have the heat mass of the house wall. Eggplants also have the dryer vent, which they seem to love, hot, humid air fairly often, lol!

desertlzbn · March 19, 2012

I covered everything that I had planted except my potato plants and that is just because I forgot about them. Last year I went to the different grocery's bakeries, and asked them to save me their frosting buckets, they are the perfect size to cover newly planted tomatoes. The plants in my greenhouse and hoop houses are looking better stop I may be able to sell them after all

desertlzbn · March 20, 2012

Burrrrrrrr, it is getting cold here folks, make sure you ask have your babies covered! I covered all of my all of my potato and tomatoes so I can only hope for the best.

desertlzbn · March 20, 2012

When I got up this morning, there was a layer of frost on everything , I sure hope my covers worked

tuk50 · March 20, 2012

It was a very hard freeze here last night.. the yard was still crunchy with frost right at sunrise and there was hard frost on the windshield. I went to a nursery in Tucson and all their tomato plants in the patio had frost bite on them.... brrrrrrrr!

desertlzbn · March 21, 2012

All of my plants were ok today, sprayed sulfur again tonight to combat the russet mites.

Tracydr · March 21, 2012

Where do you get your sulfur spray? Does it work pretty well? I had a lot of trouble with mites last year.

desertlzbn · March 21, 2012

I bought a 30 lb bag from crop production services, it is the brand Cosavet DF. If you need some and are going to be in Tucson, let me know, and I will give you a couple of cups. You only need 1 or 2 TBLS per gallon of water. It has really helped my plants. They are looking much better.

desertlzbn · March 21, 2012

http://www.google.com/m?q=cosavet+df...ed=0CB4Q1QIoAA

I am on my phone, can't get the pdf to attach, so here is the google link.
You may have to copy and paste.

desertlzbn · April 2, 2012

Hey all you Zonies, how are your gardens growing, have some tomatoes fruiting right now, kale is huge, beets are almost ready, peas are almost done, tomatoes are almost all planted, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons are all planted, and now where am I going to plant the rest of this stuff?

flyingbrass · April 20, 2012

My tomatoes aren't doing nearly as well as last year.

After tilling using my friend's fancy BCS tiller, I added 3" or so of aged horse manure and the low end of the recommened amount of bone meal. I didn't till in the manure, just turned in everything by hand.

So far, things aren't good. My plants are growthwise a few weeks at least behind last year. Maybe more. It's odd how some plants, even neighbors, are growing better than others. New growth on some is pale with some minor signs of interveinal chlorosis.

Peppers in the same soil are slow this year also, mostly just sittting there, doing very little. Their leaves are very damaged, which I attribute to aphids. Peppers last year started out similarly, but had gotten past this by now.

I really hope there isn't any herbicide in the manure I used. I've read that tomatoes and other susceptible plants (beans and peas are used to test) can take many weeks before exhibiting the damage from such.

All I know is that compared to last year, I've messed up. Too much water maybe due to the manure holding more? The manure itself? The bone meal I added? Other things? I don't know.

To help eliminate salts as a factor, last Sunday I soaked the hell out of everything in my garden. I'll bet everything got at least 8" of water, likely more. As an experiment, I mixed some Osmocote into the top inch or so of soil around a few plants. Others got some blood meal.

Now, to address the possibility I've overwatered, I'm letting everything dry out very well. To get some immediate nutrients to the plants, I've sprayed with seaweed and even half strength regular blue Miracle Grow.

Time will tell what happens, but I think I did too much this year. I would have preferred to add manure several months earlier. That could be part of the problem too -- decomposing crap sucking up nutrients to decompose. That's why I'm tending to add ferts with fairly high nitrogen.

The 4 Sophie's Choice I planted in a bed this year have set fruit, but they aren't nearly as big or nice as the plant I gave to a neighbor to grow in a pot. And my potted ones last year were about like his. Bigger leaves, and just nicer plants, and that is using MG potting soil.

How are others here faring this season?

March 20, 2012	#129
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	It was a very hard freeze here last night.. the yard was still crunchy with frost right at sunrise and there was hard frost on the windshield. I went to a nursery in Tucson and all their tomato plants in the patio had frost bite on them.... brrrrrrrr! __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

March 18, 2012	#121
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Took the drain tube out of my puppy yesterday. Actually caught my Doberman trying to take the drain tube out for her, lol. Today, the Doberman was trying to help her get the stitches out, lol. "hey, Lucy, these things itch. Can you chew on them and pull them out for me. Sure, Gizmo, I'd love to help, no problem!"

March 18, 2012	#122
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	It is 8:00 p.m. and the thermometer on my porch says 46.1. The sky is clear. Ugh. I'm hoping that with so much humidity the temp won't drop too much tonight. We had some hail earlier today, but it was fairly small.

March 18, 2012	#123
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	It was 41 here this afternoon with a windchill of 38. I held off planting the last half of my tomatoes this weekend and brought the seedlings inside. I feel like they're never going to get planted! It's supposed to be a low of 38 tomorrow night. If anybody needs tomato seedlings, I have lots of extras, I posted my list on another thread but can post them here or you can PM me. Got a rose and hibiscus planted today, then got rained out. Oh well, restarted some sweet scotch bonnets and aji dulce seeds since I only had a few come up from the first planting. I'm determined to get a bunch of sweet Caribbean seasoning type peppers to try this year. I love the flavor of habaneros and scotch bonnets but can never use enough of them because of the heat. These c.chinoise varieties seem to be a bear to germinate, even with a heat pad. My best success has been placing them outside in direct sunlight and letting the heat cook them. That seems to get them sprouting. I had great luck, though with my chiltepans, which I'm excited about, since they're native to the Sonoran desert. Also have plenty of purple tomatillos (which I've never grown) and a couple of new to me varieties of eggplants. ( ping Tung long and LA green) eggplants and tomatillos are doing great and need to be repotted.

March 18, 2012	#124
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	Tomorrow night worries me also. My plants are too big now to cover with the boxes I used before. I have a few jalapenos, poblanos and sweet bananas planted, but I'm looking for some more pepper plants, preferably relatively mild-heat ones. I wouldn't mind trying something a little warmer, but I'm not a super hot pepper fan. A really hot jalapeno is too much for me. None of the cubanelle seeds I started this year germinated. I didn't even try bells this year because my seeds are so old.

March 18, 2012	#125
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I just checked the weather. I think what was listed as tomorrow night was really tonight, early in the morning. Like around 4 am. Tomorrow night, looks like it will be around 41 for my area. I didn't bother trying to cover the twelve tomatoes in the garden, I have replacements, if needed. The peppers and eggplants outside are huge and have handled far colder weather. They are actually 3 years old! The eggplants and peppers have the heat mass of the house wall. Eggplants also have the dryer vent, which they seem to love, hot, humid air fairly often, lol!

March 19, 2012	#126
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	I covered everything that I had planted except my potato plants and that is just because I forgot about them. Last year I went to the different grocery's bakeries, and asked them to save me their frosting buckets, they are the perfect size to cover newly planted tomatoes. The plants in my greenhouse and hoop houses are looking better stop I may be able to sell them after all

March 20, 2012	#127
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	Burrrrrrrr, it is getting cold here folks, make sure you ask have your babies covered! I covered all of my all of my potato and tomatoes so I can only hope for the best.

March 20, 2012	#128
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	When I got up this morning, there was a layer of frost on everything , I sure hope my covers worked

March 21, 2012	#130
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	All of my plants were ok today, sprayed sulfur again tonight to combat the russet mites.

March 21, 2012	#131
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Where do you get your sulfur spray? Does it work pretty well? I had a lot of trouble with mites last year.

March 21, 2012	#132
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	I bought a 30 lb bag from crop production services, it is the brand Cosavet DF. If you need some and are going to be in Tucson, let me know, and I will give you a couple of cups. You only need 1 or 2 TBLS per gallon of water. It has really helped my plants. They are looking much better.

March 21, 2012	#133
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	http://www.google.com/m?q=cosavet+df...ed=0CB4Q1QIoAA I am on my phone, can't get the pdf to attach, so here is the google link. You may have to copy and paste.

April 2, 2012	#134
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	Hey all you Zonies, how are your gardens growing, have some tomatoes fruiting right now, kale is huge, beets are almost ready, peas are almost done, tomatoes are almost all planted, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons are all planted, and now where am I going to plant the rest of this stuff?

April 20, 2012	#135
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	My tomatoes aren't doing nearly as well as last year. After tilling using my friend's fancy BCS tiller, I added 3" or so of aged horse manure and the low end of the recommened amount of bone meal. I didn't till in the manure, just turned in everything by hand. So far, things aren't good. My plants are growthwise a few weeks at least behind last year. Maybe more. It's odd how some plants, even neighbors, are growing better than others. New growth on some is pale with some minor signs of interveinal chlorosis. Peppers in the same soil are slow this year also, mostly just sittting there, doing very little. Their leaves are very damaged, which I attribute to aphids. Peppers last year started out similarly, but had gotten past this by now. I really hope there isn't any herbicide in the manure I used. I've read that tomatoes and other susceptible plants (beans and peas are used to test) can take many weeks before exhibiting the damage from such. All I know is that compared to last year, I've messed up. Too much water maybe due to the manure holding more? The manure itself? The bone meal I added? Other things? I don't know. To help eliminate salts as a factor, last Sunday I soaked the hell out of everything in my garden. I'll bet everything got at least 8" of water, likely more. As an experiment, I mixed some Osmocote into the top inch or so of soil around a few plants. Others got some blood meal. Now, to address the possibility I've overwatered, I'm letting everything dry out very well. To get some immediate nutrients to the plants, I've sprayed with seaweed and even half strength regular blue Miracle Grow. Time will tell what happens, but I think I did too much this year. I would have preferred to add manure several months earlier. That could be part of the problem too -- decomposing crap sucking up nutrients to decompose. That's why I'm tending to add ferts with fairly high nitrogen. The 4 Sophie's Choice I planted in a bed this year have set fruit, but they aren't nearly as big or nice as the plant I gave to a neighbor to grow in a pot. And my potted ones last year were about like his. Bigger leaves, and just nicer plants, and that is using MG potting soil. How are others here faring this season?