Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[JaxRmrJmr]

Good looking lettuce. That's the Paris Island? I have to find a space and way to keep lettuce going during the hotter months....

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - Thanks for the bean lesson. I'm growing Provider and Bush ? from Burpee (got the pack at HD, Lowes, Walmart). I mixed and matched them but the plants all look similar.
What do you think of Provider? . . .

I tried Provider in the fall of 2015, which was my worst ever bean season. They were doing so badly that I pulled them 14 days after they germinated, but it was a bad bean season for me all around.
Fall seems to be a more difficult season here in Florida than the spring. For one thing Rust seems more prevalent and not a lot of snap bean varieties appear to be resistant to rust.
This fall I will probably plant Crockett and Boone, both of which are said to be resistant to Common Bean Mosaic and Rust, which are said to be a problem in Florida. Also both of these varieties are continuous, offering an extended harvest period without successive planting.
Others varieties, that I am aware of, that are said to meet this definition are Espada, Jade and Jade II.
In the Spring when disease pressures seem to be less in Florida I may give Masai Dwarf Filet variety a try.
Masai pods are reported to be 4” long and the flavor is said to be exceptional. Masai is resistant to BMV but not Rust. Although Masai is supposed to be susceptible to rust and heat it preformed fairly well in 2012 bean trials in Africa and Puerto Rico.
I can’t help but look for that Brandywine of snap bean varieties.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Larry - Where do you buy your bean seeds?

Jax - I think BotanicalInterests.com have the best lettuce seeds. For me, they beat everyone with the PI. They always give a free pack too; it's the mix one. Sometimes you can find BI seeds on a garden center rack.

In the fall I did great with Little Gem - bought seeds from Bakers (Rareseed.com). Their lettuce seeds are good too.

I use to grow lettuce 9 months a year then felt I lost my Lettuce MOJO; found out my seeds were just old. For lettuce seeds, doesn't pay to stock up at all.

My Super Jericho Lettuce seeds came from Harris Seeds and HighMowing. I need to take a picture so you can see the difference between those and the PI.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - Where do you buy your bean seeds?
J

Barb,
I shop a wide range of vendors for all my seeds and even check locals including Dollar Tree, Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot to see what they have. Always looking for value and trying to minimize shipping costs.
I have thought it might be interesting to do a group buy at the beginning of the season, but the complexities would probably outweigh the advantages. Crazy ha? A non profit seed coop.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Barb,
...
I have thought it might be interesting to do a group buy at the beginning of the season, but the complexities would probably outweigh the advantages. Crazy ha? A non profit seed coop.
Larry

This winter, I posted on TV looking for people to split a SunChocola order. 100 seeds were $26 but buying a packet is costly for 5 seeds, then shipping costs. I had 6 takers counting myself; 3 were just for 10 seeds. I had the seeds shipped to my house and had the people pay be back after they received the seeds from me; it all worked out well. Beans are a lot heavier though.

[Barb_FL]

My afternoon bean harvest....

First two pepper pictures are Yellow Monsters - I agree, they are monsters.

Last one is Red Marconi - can't really tell but plant is loaded.

I bought the Yellow Monster seeds from rareseed last summer; planted some for fall; hurricane came ignored all my pepper plants. It produced anyway, same as the Red Marconi. So if it can make fruit under those horrible conditions, I thought it was worth sowing the seeds from those plants for spring. Both are the my robust pepper plants I've ever grown. I also gave a plant to my neighbor and hers is doing awesome too.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

My afternoon bean harvest....

First two pepper pictures are Yellow Monsters - I agree, they are monsters.

Last one is Red Marconi - can't really tell but plant is loaded.

I bought the Yellow Monster seeds from rareseed last summer; planted some for fall; hurricane came ignored all my pepper plants. It produced anyway, same as the Red Marconi. So if it can make fruit under those horrible conditions, I thought it was worth sowing the seeds from those plants for spring. Both are the my robust pepper plants I've ever grown. I also gave a plant to my neighbor and hers is doing awesome too.

Nice looking peppers! I have some peppers set but it is slow going.

[Ricky Shaw]

hell's bells that's some well fed pepper plants, fabric pots rule.

[ginger2778]

Serious case of pepper envy here. Barb, you are awesome!

[beefyboy]

Beautiful peppers and plants! where is your exact location out of curiosity Barb? I had a great pepper year also growing Giant Marconi!

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Serious case of pepper envy here. Barb, you are awesome!

Agree.

btw, I was in Fl a week ago and understood exactly what you (Barb) were saying about the wind. Every day it was windy. None stop.
But, my allergy was none existing. So, I do not complain.

Marsha, I saw baby mangoes for the first time. Still fascinated by that plant. Wondering why west coast in Fl does not have mango trees.

Larry, thanks to you I am growing broccoli again and now reading about beans.

Ginny, did you go fishing lately? We did not fish at the ocean side because of the wind and rough waters. In the Pompano inlet it was much more quiet and looked like an aquarium. Water was clear and you could see all kinds of species, including huge ray. Beautiful display, we had fun feeding them.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Agree.

btw, I was in Fl a week ago and understood exactly what you (Barb) were saying about the wind. Every day it was windy. None stop.
But, my allergy was none existing. So, I do not complain.

Marsha, I saw baby mangoes for the first time. Still fascinated by that plant. Wondering why west coast in Fl does not have mango trees.

Larry, thanks to you I am growing broccoli again and now reading about beans.

Ginny, did you go fishing lately? We did not fish at the ocean side because of the wind and rough waters. In the Pompano inlet it was much more quiet and looked like an aquarium. Water was clear and you could see all kinds of species, including huge ray. Beautiful display, we had fun feeding them.

Its true now that you mention it, west coast does seem to have fewer mango trees. I wonder why? Pompano should have lots though.

[JaxRmrJmr]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

So I took a look at the email photos. I don't think they have a virus. There is a condition, I forget what it is called, poorly understood, that causes this in young plants, and only some even though treated like all the rest. I have had this happen to some every year. If I wait long enough, they almost always grow out of it. I wouldn't worry about them passing this ailment to others, it isn't something contagious. I personally wouldn't worry about them too much.
It's also been hot and dry lately and they might have bigger stoma than other varieties, letting out more water to result in leaf curl. They don't look that bad to me, but I do see what you are talking about.

I just looked again, they are in black pots in our heat, and closer to the edge than their mate in the container. The heat may be too high for that plant's young roots.

I wonder if I couldn't see the photos because I use Samsung products?

I went ahead and pulled the very poor looking Cherokee Purple and replaced it with a Sungold. That and Dr Carolyn's white cherry are the only two cherries I planted when I know I should have planted more for my MIL and Stepmom.

The German Queen looks to be pulling out of it, but not quite there so we will see. It has to set what fruit it will set before early to mid June as the day and night temps get too high.

[JaxRmrJmr]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

My afternoon bean harvest....

First two pepper pictures are Yellow Monsters - I agree, they are monsters.

Last one is Red Marconi - can't really tell but plant is loaded.

I bought the Yellow Monster seeds from rareseed last summer; planted some for fall; hurricane came ignored all my pepper plants. It produced anyway, same as the Red Marconi. So if it can make fruit under those horrible conditions, I thought it was worth sowing the seeds from those plants for spring. Both are the my robust pepper plants I've ever grown. I also gave a plant to my neighbor and hers is doing awesome too.

Beautiful looking pepper plants there! Do you feed them the same as your tomatoes? I have some pepper plants further down line in my self watering system from my tomatoes but they are not looking very good. My thought was that they would finish up what the tomatoes didn't use, but they are just looking all knarled and curled up.

I am having problems this year that I haven't had before. I have a system that causes the supply water to overflow when it rains heavy, thus flushing it. We usually get that rain every week here in N FL, but we are going on 25 days with no rainfall. I wonder if that is the problem...... I need to flush my system since the rain isn't doing it. I think I just answered my own question buy typing it out.

One remaining question... do you feed your peppers the same as you do your tomatoes?

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Its true now that you mention it, west coast does seem to have fewer mango trees. I wonder why? Pompano should have lots though.

Is it possible that the planting of Mango trees increased significantly with the very large migration of Cubans into SE Florida in the 60s and beyond?
Larry