Never thought of that conspiracy ------- yet! I thought Krogers was the only ones that paid off the weathermen - but they limited it to the winter!
What's Growing in the Garden
- Thread starter trc65
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- #642
Nice looking spuds! Probably too hot to plant any more down there now, but if you can find seed potatoes, could plant more towards end of August into September when the temp drops a little.
Meant also to say, my replant of okra and green beans have sprouted finally. Maybe too late to get any yield off of them. I don't know. Beans are less than stellar. Only about a dozen plants. Next year I'm thinking about mulching the row of peas/beans right after planting to help retain moisture needed for germination.
I got to get them to sprout first
!
Do you know what your soil PH is? It's one of the biggest things I've found to effect the plants performance and blossoming/production.
I have very alkaline soil here, planted a tomato plant years ago that grew but didn't get a single flower on it. Started dumping my coffee grinds/water at the base of the plant to acidify the soil and the difference in a week was profound.
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- #648
You will definitely get a bean crop. They are only a 60 day crop, so you should have beans before Labor Day. You can plant beans up until about middle of August and still get a crop in Zone 5. Don't know how long okra takes, but I'd think you should get something out of them.
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- #649
Beans of all types are nitrogen fixers, so turning them under does add a little N to the soil, but even more important, tilling under any green plant material increases organic matter and promotes a healthier soil. It also decreases disease pressure as you are destroying any active infections and lessening future inoculum.
Don't know the pH of the soil. I've thought about one of those soil pH meters, though.
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- #651
Harvested the first variety of garlic this afternoon and got them hung in the shed to cure. This is 'Chesnok Red.
Now you're going to make me envious... Love good, homegrown garlic and Chesnok is at the top of the list. Have not been able to grown any with any success since moving out here. Looks like it did well.
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- #653
Is your soil too alkaline for garlic?
Chesnok has the smallest bulb of the four varieties I grow, but really like the flavor. Not too hot raw, but retains good flavor when roasted. Stores good, but not as long as the others I grow.
BTW, also have Armenian, Carpathian and Spanish Roja. Spanish Roja is supposed to store about the longest, but the other two store nearly as long, and retain better quality than Spanish Roja.
Chesnok has the smallest bulb of the four varieties I grow, but really like the flavor. Not too hot raw, but retains good flavor when roasted. Stores good, but not as long as the others I grow.
BTW, also have Armenian, Carpathian and Spanish Roja. Spanish Roja is supposed to store about the longest, but the other two store nearly as long, and retain better quality than Spanish Roja.
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Round #3. I had mentioned that some of my beans had sprouted, about a dozen plant. Went ou this morning to water and they were gone. Rabbits got them. So broke up the ground and planted the last packet of pole beans. Put a light covering of mulch over them and watered. One of the next mornings I'll get out the new galv. chicken wire I bought last year. Too hot to do it today. 90+ degrees by 10AM.
Speaking of watering. I've got a couple of rose bushes mulched an water periodically. Today I noticed some yellow blotchy leaves on one. Too much water, not enough in this heat, need to spray with diazanon again?
Speaking of watering. I've got a couple of rose bushes mulched an water periodically. Today I noticed some yellow blotchy leaves on one. Too much water, not enough in this heat, need to spray with diazanon again?
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- #655
Sounds more like a foliar disease called black spot. Check out this site and look at pictures/descriptions to see if something matches your symptoms. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/roses/disease.cfm
Exactly. My soil is/was way too alkaline, also more shade than sunlight here in the forest isn't helping.
I started amending it to bring the Ph down but it's not a fast process and then life happened yet again. This year is the first I'm trying to grow anything since probably 2008. Hoping I'll have better soil when I move north, I'm looking forward to growing garlic again.
Carpathian and Spanish Roja are also serious favorites, especially Spanish Roja. Also used to get one called Turbin. If I remember correctly it was an asiatic, much like Chesnok, haven't been able to find it for several years now.
You save your own harvest for next years seed or buy it?
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- #657
I always save the biggest and best to replant. Only bought garlic for seed twice in 17 years. First when I grew garlic for the first time, and then about 5 years ago when I wanted to try the Armenian and Carpathian. The Spanish Roja and Chesnok are descendants of the original seed I bought.
Filaree Farm is the supplier I've used before, they are an organic seed grower in Washington State. They've got a great variety of nearly all types of garlic, but if anyone wants some you should get orders in soon for best selection. Order now for fall delivery.
Looked for "Turban" and they list it as a category of garlic, rather than a variety. Mostly varieties from China and former Soviet republics. Hardnecks that are early maturing, weak bolting, and smaller plants.
Filaree Farm is the supplier I've used before, they are an organic seed grower in Washington State. They've got a great variety of nearly all types of garlic, but if anyone wants some you should get orders in soon for best selection. Order now for fall delivery.
Looked for "Turban" and they list it as a category of garlic, rather than a variety. Mostly varieties from China and former Soviet republics. Hardnecks that are early maturing, weak bolting, and smaller plants.
I've been wanting to get a decent meter for years but so far I've just used the simple shake & bake tests you can get at any garden center. Just put a measured amount of soil in the vial, add contents of a test capsule, distilled water, shake and match the color to the chart.
This one also does NPK if you want. The procedure for that is a little bit more involved but not terrible.
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- #660
I don't test for pH. I know my soils well enough to know I'm in a good slightly acidic range. A lot of the cheap meters aren't worth bothering with, they just don't work. I'd recommend looking for some litmus testing paper specifically marketed for soil testing. They are cheap and fairly accurate as long as all proceedures are followed closely.
Unfortunately, the Extension service in Illinois doesn't run a soil testing lab for homeowners.
In Wisconsin, all you have to do is take a soil sample to your county extension office and for about $25 you get a complete soil analysis as well as fertilizer recommendations for veg and fruitcrops. It's a service that is used extensively and really helps prevent over use of fertilizer in urban areas.
Unfortunately, the Extension service in Illinois doesn't run a soil testing lab for homeowners.
In Wisconsin, all you have to do is take a soil sample to your county extension office and for about $25 you get a complete soil analysis as well as fertilizer recommendations for veg and fruitcrops. It's a service that is used extensively and really helps prevent over use of fertilizer in urban areas.