Urban Gardening - Spread the Word

Jim - yes the Harriet Carter type was the one I had in mind. I liked her price, too. I just wonder how sturdy the stand is, the advert doesn't say what kind of metal it's made of.

I'll have to check prices at Amazon now I know what to look for.

Thanks, Jim ^_^

Ok, finally went to the Aggie Horticulture site and according to them, I should plant garlic Oct - Nov. I suppose that makes sense since stephanietx said she would plant Sept - Oct but she is a bit farther north. Ronniger's had some exciting softneck garlic varieties, too.

Linda, we're in the upper 90s and low 100s this week, with heat indexes (indices??) in the lower 100s. We're absolutely frying!

I'm not rooting anything, just nursing the established plants along through the heat.

Hey Steph,
Yep. Our Zones are pretty compatible. My 10 tomato plants are out in full sun with no shade cover, so they're at the mercy of the sun. I'm thinking I'm gonna take some cuttings and root them inside the cool of my office where I can keep an eye on em for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully they'll be established enough to go back into the eBuckets.

Linda

My bush beans seem to be bearing the most stress from all this hot weather. Everything looks so pathetic in the heat of the day, but they perk back up in the early evening. The watermelon is growing like crazy, but not setting fruit yet. I see lots of little girls, but nothing's gotten pollinated yet. The cantaloupes have started setting fruit. I've got one mound that has 3 melons on it. The other mound, which gets more shade, hasn't set fruit yet, but it's growing like crazy and is covered with flowers. I did plant my bell peppers and jalapenos behind the taller stuff this year in hopes of avoiding so much sunscald on them. They seem to be doing great, but not setting fruit yet either. It went from cold to hot and skipped the nice gradual warm up we normally get.

Here's the smallest cantaloupe.

Saw the photo of the OPM on the other thread. Awesome looking plant.

Just like everyone else in the south the heat is zapping everything. I don't remember it being this hot on the first day of summer as a kid. And when it was hot we had more rain, almost every afternoon between 3 and 6 pm in July and August.

At this point I'm giving up on most everything until September. Harvested a total of 8 tomatoes from three plants. Three of the contender type bush beans are still trying (bless their lil' hearts). My zukes and squash have gone the way of powdery mildew and maybe a combo of SVB, haven't actually got the knife out to cut into the stem.

The cucumbers and canaloupe seem to be the only two veggies (technically I guess they're both fruits) still doing well in this heat. So I'll focus on them for the rest of the summer.

Have any of you tried seriously pruning back tomats for July and August to see if they set again when it cools down a bit? I ask this because it seemes like most of the folks that are responding to this thread are in Texas and we have (basically) similar weather. My train of thought is this: If I prune them back from almost 6' tall to 2' tall, all the energy going into them for the next two really hot months will be in branching out/ suckers - then maybe by Sept. it will be cool enough that the flowers dont get zapped.

Be well, and if you aren't well, at least be good, but if you can't be good, then just try to have some fun!

Yes, the heat is brutal. My swiss chard is still going like a champ as is yours, dude.

Ok, stupid question about Bt...how is it sold?? I assume it is sold as a mix (ready to spray) by various companies. What are some common brands? I went to Lowe's recently and couldn't find it, even looking at the ingredients. I know, I know...but really, I couldn't find anything. I would have asked a worker but none were handy and I was ready to leave.

I think we have Ortho Bt. It's actually sold as a liquid concentrate that you have to mix up. The diluted solution doesn't last for more than 24 hrs, so you can't store it.

I purchased bt from here:

http://homeharvest.com/bt.htm

Haven't had to use it yet. The black wasps usually find the caterpillars before I do, although they did miss one that ate a hole from one side of a green tomato to the other!

I also squish with my fingers any I see.

I've oversummered tomatoes and am doing it again. They did great and then set fruit like crazy in the fall. And then the $%*&#@! tomato hornworm got the plant when I had to go out of town. Stupid bug died an awful death for his transgression.

Melissa,
Did you start with re-rooted cuttings or did you just keep your original mater plants alive? Mine look so totally pitiful, doesn't seem like I have a lot to work with, except to start again with new cuttings.

And, they've grown so tall already, andy new growth will surely bring them down!

Linda

Just kept the original plants alive. They looked pretty awful, but I kept picking off the bad looking leaves, watering, and feeding them. They rewarded my efforts by setting a huge crop almost at once when the weather cooled.

You could give them a haircut after they're done making maters this summer.

That's what I do. I just pluck off the dead looking stuff at the bottom and let them go wild at the top.