Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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June 24, 2019 | #46 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: connecticut,usa
Posts: 1,150
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I knew a guy once that bought praying mantis egg cases.
They hatched and all went into the neighbors' yard. |
June 24, 2019 | #47 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
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A good check of the bees here will happen when the field peas flower. I swear the bees and just about every kind of pollinator in the state of Georgia will be covering those blooms! That will be a while yet as the plants are just 6" tall now.
Meanwhile, they're kind of done with the corn as it's pretty much done releasing pollen. Just some honeybees looking for sloppy seconds. |
June 24, 2019 | #48 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
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I was outdoors a great deal today, at the remote garden that was a rental and still has some road closures from flooding. We finally have a stretch of sunny weather coming here. I planted bush beans ahead of the heatwave. It was a good day except for no bees!
I was there at high noon. Is the time of day a factor in not seeing any bees? I have a few natives I planted pre-rental, before I knew to buy native to the immediate area. I've gotten some tiny plants from a local native plant group and they document as to the specific hosts of each plant. Very interesting! I did see two squash babies so something must be around, just not in volumes I am used to seeing especially now when the tomato flowers are going crazy. - Lisa |
June 25, 2019 | #49 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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Sadly much of the commercial corn crop is contaminated with pesticides and herbicides (Roundup) which is really bad for the poor bees.
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June 25, 2019 | #50 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 963
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At my Urban Garden here in Cypress I am seeing more bees than I have seen in years. Every morning I see them working the Cucumbers and Peppers. Must be the Cleome that are attracting them.
MikeInCypress
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"Growing older, not up" |
June 25, 2019 | #51 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,886
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Sad to say that the honey bees and even the smaller kinds are MIA this summer. We have tons of bumbles enjoying Wejiela, Catmint and Roses, plus everything else that is in bloom. I'm so sad. We are rural, so there has been no spraying for mosquitoes. However it has been very wet this spring and perhaps the nests got flooded out .
Linda |
June 25, 2019 | #52 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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June 25, 2019 | #53 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I saw a honey bee with a jacket on that said Born To Bee Wild.
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June 25, 2019 | #54 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SC Ohio(proctorville)
Posts: 192
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Bees
Yard is full of clover and the honey bees found it abot 4 days ago..two weeks after the bigger black and yellow bumblebees. The honey bees look smaller than usual. Maybe because of all the rain?
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June 25, 2019 | #55 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,886
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I saw my first honey bee today, and a hummingbird moth . They love the catnip, babtisia and weigela
Linda |
June 27, 2019 | #56 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,069
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The main pollinators of my tomatoes are sweat bees--I see the little metallic green ones as well as slightly smaller black ones. They're very small bees, but they chew open the tips of the pollen tubes and sonicate to get at the pollen. In the process, they usually expose the stigma, which aids not only pollination but cross pollination between varieties. Tomatoes may not strictly need pollinators, but a study did show larger fruit and better fruit set when sonicating bees are around.
Honeybees don't bother with Solanaceae because the flowers don't produce nectar, and the pollen tubes require sonication to release pollen. Honeybees don't sonicate blooms. I do see the occasional bumblebee on the tomato flowers, but it's not that common--there's plenty else in my garden that they prefer over the tomatoes. If I'm growing any ground cherries or tomatillos, forget it--the bumblebees will just go to those and ignore the tomatoes entirely. But I'll see dozens of sweat bees on the tomato flowers every day. It could just be my garden, i.e., they found a niche in my particular garden where they don't have a lot of competition. I do see them on the other, more popular flowers, too, but they probably lose out a lot to larger bees. |
June 28, 2019 | #57 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: connecticut,usa
Posts: 1,150
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I did see a carpenter bee go to the cucumber plants yesterday,so they are around again.
Supposed to have sunny dry weather until Sunday. |
June 28, 2019 | #58 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: NC
Posts: 143
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Honeybees were working my cucumber blossoms hard this morning.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
June 28, 2019 | #59 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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June 30, 2019 | #60 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: El Lago, Texas
Posts: 1,100
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Mosquito trucks
In the geographical area where I live it is common practice for city trucks to drive the streets at night in the summertime spraying for mosquitoes. The spray, especially depending on which chemicals are used, can be highly toxic to bees if they come into direct contact with the spray. It is harmful to other pollinators too. Google this.
The problem is that some areas in the country, I remember this a lot from last year, had cases of the West Nile Virus.
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Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast |
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