Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners - Page 25

awillie · February 25, 2014

I also got my last cucumber in the ground today. The majority were planted about 10 days ago. They look healthy, but have not grown due to cool nights. Tomatoes are about 4 inch tall in quart pots. Snow peas still producing. I will pull the last of the turnips soon to make room for tomatoes. Horse radish sprouted but birds ate the small leaves. I now have it covered until the leaves get larger.

flyingbrass · February 26, 2014

Last year my cukes sat around sulking until the weather wamed up. Then they grew like crazy and produced more than I could handle.

Horse radish sounds interesting. It will grow here?

tuk50 · February 26, 2014

I can't believe the weather this year... I have one peach tree that already has inch long leaves and has been blooming for the last two weeks and another peach tree that hasn't bloomed yet. I noticed some wild beans popping up in the garden last week, so I planted a row of bush greenbeans yesterday to just see if they would sprout. I've never been able to plant them before in Feb. Grandson even saw a rattlesnake a couple of days ago... they usually still have their earmuffs on this time of year..

awillie · February 26, 2014

Yes, horse radish grows here. You need to deep water about once a week in the dry, hot summer. It seems to take 2 years for the large roots to develop. I dug up one plant after a year and main root was little finger size. It was enough for rib roast and seafood sauce for the holidays.

I only find 1 or 2 worms a year in my garden I just started building up my sand and rock to dirt 3 years ago. I have a worm farm with red wigglers. They turn green fish pond algae into mud in 3 months time. I will start using the mud mixed with potting soil in some of my 5 gallon buckets . Hope the tomato plants like the mix.

desertlzbn · February 26, 2014

I have not planted anything, this weekend I want to plant some cucs, and zucchini.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

awillie · February 28, 2014

Flyingbass
If you want a Horse radish root for a start, PM me and I will send. I think it is a still a good time to plant.

flyingbrass · March 17, 2014

Thanks for the offer, but I don't eat enough horseradish to make it worth growing. One of those little prepared bottles lasts me a long time. About all I put it on is corned beef sandwiches.

So far, my garden is doing ok. Plants should really start growing now that the weather is a little warmer. My peppers were a bit pale, but they are greening up. My cucumber and cantaloupe plants aren't growing much yet. Nights as recently as a few days ago were dipping down into the 40's.

I think I'll wait until April to plant my yardlong beans.

tuk50 · July 9, 2014

Spending a bit of time in the garden this past week getting ready for the second half of the season.. monsoons perk up everything.. okra is a solid row of blooms and maters are slowing down, but should start up again with the cooler temps and hopefully set a few more.. peppers plants are full and starting to bloom again. Got the sweetpotatoes planted last month. Great squash harvest this season, for some reason I can't explain. So far the squash bugs haven't hit .. I think the rotation helped and as all the small plants grew I put vaseline on the lower stems.. I don't know if this made any difference or not, but I'm going to do it again next year. Planted my cowpeas last week and they love the monsoons.

oh yeah! picked my first tomato worm off a plant yesterday. (yech)

Mike Maurer · July 9, 2014

Squash Bugs are notorious around here,(Northwest of Albuquerque) there's even a new book out "If Squash Bugs are in Heaven, I Don't Want to Go". so I was very interested in your statement "I put vasoline on all the stems, and I haven't seen a squash bug! Tell me about it Please!!!
Mike

tuk50 · July 9, 2014

Mike, it is a long story and vaseline was the short version.

but since you ask.. I got a jar of burts bees salve for my chapped hands and the stuff stinks so bad I decided to use it on the squash plants instead of my hands. It is about the consistency of thick vaseline and stinks... the second thing is I rotated the squash to the other end of the garden, about 60ft from where I usually grow it.. the third and last thing is we have two horses, my grandson had two pigs for 4h, a dozen chickens and all sorts of bedding and spoiled hay and 10gallons of used coffee grounds from a coffee shop every week for the past year... this has made a beautiful compost that we put in the garden in January. I have 10 30ft rows and for the last two years have used the no till method by piling about 12-18 inches of the compost on each row and planting into this mixture in the spring. With all of the above I don't know which has helped with the squash bugs, but in 30years of gardening in the Tucson area this is my best squash year EVER. So your guess is as good as mine what is the reason, but I will do it the same next year and see if I can duplicate the results. ps all my squash loving neighbors love me...

I'm going to heaven even if there is squash bugs.. I'll just use this method... LOL!

Mike Maurer · July 9, 2014

My wife has Burt's Bee's lotion but that doesn't smell bad. I'll have her look for the salve. Compost is not supposed to work with squash bugs, supposedly gives them a place to hide. So I guess it might be the salve. I also move mine around and that doesn't seem to help. Actually the first year I grew pumpkins and squash there had never been a garden here and not one in several miles and the bugs found me! Both the squash bugs and the vine borers.
"If Squash Bugs are in Heaven, I Don't Want to Go" is a fun read, actually not about squash bugs, but about farming and gardening in this valley here and some of the old settlers..

tuk50 · July 9, 2014

http://www.amazon.com/Burts-Bees-Bee...EK4DNFJNVB95TM
this is what I have and unless they changed the formula it really does stink...
I wonder if the 12 to 14 inch depth of the compost on top of the soil makes it too deep for the squash bug to survive. When the larva leaves the squash stalk it goes straight down in the soil, which is where the deepest part of the compost is piled. Also when I did this there are massive amounts of worms in the compost for a few months and again this may have some effect.

SharonRossy · July 9, 2014

Think it would work with squirrels?

tuk50 · July 9, 2014

Spud, (Jack Russell Terrier) takes care of all the squirrels around here... LOL!

Mike Maurer · July 10, 2014

Yes the ground squirrels, rabbits and pack rats are as bad as the squash bugs, a constant war here. I don't have a Jack Russell , probably should get one. Sometimes I wonder why I try to garden at all when I go out and see that the rabbits have eaten a bunch of my bean plants, (or other things).
Mike

February 26, 2014	#363
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	I can't believe the weather this year... I have one peach tree that already has inch long leaves and has been blooming for the last two weeks and another peach tree that hasn't bloomed yet. I noticed some wild beans popping up in the garden last week, so I planted a row of bush greenbeans yesterday to just see if they would sprout. I've never been able to plant them before in Feb. Grandson even saw a rattlesnake a couple of days ago... they usually still have their earmuffs on this time of year.. __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

July 9, 2014	#368
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	Spending a bit of time in the garden this past week getting ready for the second half of the season.. monsoons perk up everything.. okra is a solid row of blooms and maters are slowing down, but should start up again with the cooler temps and hopefully set a few more.. peppers plants are full and starting to bloom again. Got the sweetpotatoes planted last month. Great squash harvest this season, for some reason I can't explain. So far the squash bugs haven't hit .. I think the rotation helped and as all the small plants grew I put vaseline on the lower stems.. I don't know if this made any difference or not, but I'm going to do it again next year. Planted my cowpeas last week and they love the monsoons. oh yeah! picked my first tomato worm off a plant yesterday. (yech) __________________ Hangin on for dear life! Last edited by tuk50; July 9, 2014 at 07:12 AM.

July 9, 2014	#369
Mike Maurer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 105	Squash Bugs Squash Bugs are notorious around here,(Northwest of Albuquerque) there's even a new book out "If Squash Bugs are in Heaven, I Don't Want to Go". so I was very interested in your statement "I put vasoline on all the stems, and I haven't seen a squash bug! Tell me about it Please!!! Mike

July 9, 2014	#370
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	Mike, it is a long story and vaseline was the short version. but since you ask.. I got a jar of burts bees salve for my chapped hands and the stuff stinks so bad I decided to use it on the squash plants instead of my hands. It is about the consistency of thick vaseline and stinks... the second thing is I rotated the squash to the other end of the garden, about 60ft from where I usually grow it.. the third and last thing is we have two horses, my grandson had two pigs for 4h, a dozen chickens and all sorts of bedding and spoiled hay and 10gallons of used coffee grounds from a coffee shop every week for the past year... this has made a beautiful compost that we put in the garden in January. I have 10 30ft rows and for the last two years have used the no till method by piling about 12-18 inches of the compost on each row and planting into this mixture in the spring. With all of the above I don't know which has helped with the squash bugs, but in 30years of gardening in the Tucson area this is my best squash year EVER. So your guess is as good as mine what is the reason, but I will do it the same next year and see if I can duplicate the results. ps all my squash loving neighbors love me... I'm going to heaven even if there is squash bugs.. I'll just use this method... LOL! __________________ Hangin on for dear life! Last edited by tuk50; July 9, 2014 at 01:32 PM.

July 9, 2014	#371
Mike Maurer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 105	Squash Bugs. My wife has Burt's Bee's lotion but that doesn't smell bad. I'll have her look for the salve. Compost is not supposed to work with squash bugs, supposedly gives them a place to hide. So I guess it might be the salve. I also move mine around and that doesn't seem to help. Actually the first year I grew pumpkins and squash there had never been a garden here and not one in several miles and the bugs found me! Both the squash bugs and the vine borers. "If Squash Bugs are in Heaven, I Don't Want to Go" is a fun read, actually not about squash bugs, but about farming and gardening in this valley here and some of the old settlers..

February 25, 2014	#361
awillie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: phoenix, AZ Posts: 11	I also got my last cucumber in the ground today. The majority were planted about 10 days ago. They look healthy, but have not grown due to cool nights. Tomatoes are about 4 inch tall in quart pots. Snow peas still producing. I will pull the last of the turnips soon to make room for tomatoes. Horse radish sprouted but birds ate the small leaves. I now have it covered until the leaves get larger.

February 26, 2014	#362
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	Last year my cukes sat around sulking until the weather wamed up. Then they grew like crazy and produced more than I could handle. Horse radish sounds interesting. It will grow here?

February 26, 2014	#364
awillie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: phoenix, AZ Posts: 11	Yes, horse radish grows here. You need to deep water about once a week in the dry, hot summer. It seems to take 2 years for the large roots to develop. I dug up one plant after a year and main root was little finger size. It was enough for rib roast and seafood sauce for the holidays. I only find 1 or 2 worms a year in my garden I just started building up my sand and rock to dirt 3 years ago. I have a worm farm with red wigglers. They turn green fish pond algae into mud in 3 months time. I will start using the mud mixed with potting soil in some of my 5 gallon buckets . Hope the tomato plants like the mix.

February 26, 2014	#365
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	I have not planted anything, this weekend I want to plant some cucs, and zucchini. Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

February 28, 2014	#366
awillie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: phoenix, AZ Posts: 11	Flyingbass If you want a Horse radish root for a start, PM me and I will send. I think it is a still a good time to plant.

March 17, 2014	#367
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	Thanks for the offer, but I don't eat enough horseradish to make it worth growing. One of those little prepared bottles lasts me a long time. About all I put it on is corned beef sandwiches. So far, my garden is doing ok. Plants should really start growing now that the weather is a little warmer. My peppers were a bit pale, but they are greening up. My cucumber and cantaloupe plants aren't growing much yet. Nights as recently as a few days ago were dipping down into the 40's. I think I'll wait until April to plant my yardlong beans.

July 9, 2014	#372
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	http://www.amazon.com/Burts-Bees-Bee...EK4DNFJNVB95TM this is what I have and unless they changed the formula it really does stink... I wonder if the 12 to 14 inch depth of the compost on top of the soil makes it too deep for the squash bug to survive. When the larva leaves the squash stalk it goes straight down in the soil, which is where the deepest part of the compost is piled. Also when I did this there are massive amounts of worms in the compost for a few months and again this may have some effect. __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

July 9, 2014	#373
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	Think it would work with squirrels?

July 9, 2014	#374
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	Spud, (Jack Russell Terrier) takes care of all the squirrels around here... LOL! __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

July 10, 2014	#375
Mike Maurer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 105	Squash Bugs Yes the ground squirrels, rabbits and pack rats are as bad as the squash bugs, a constant war here. I don't have a Jack Russell , probably should get one. Sometimes I wonder why I try to garden at all when I go out and see that the rabbits have eaten a bunch of my bean plants, (or other things). Mike