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What's Growing in the Garden

trc65 said:
That used to be my thought with black raspberries also. The best ones were always in full shade on the backside of the rows.

All that changed when I planted a new patch last year. They were planted in full sun and similar to yours, get that after about 9:00 a.m.

The size and production is great on the full sun patch. However, I've also kept them weeded, fertilized and watered along with bark mulch to help with water and weeds.

My theory of what was happening with my b raspberries and your blackberries is that even with watering and fertilizer, the weeds were taking enough out of the soil that the berries were stressed. The plants were probably not getting enough water or nutrients for a good crop. Those in the full sun were drying out and small berries resulted. On the shady side, the stress is alleviated to a degree by the shade and the berries were bigger. I see the same thing with the wild berries.

All the wild ones have an incredible amount of competition from other plants, but in the shade the berries are always bigger.

I think if you can get the weeds cleaned up and some mulch around the plants to help retain water and prevent weeds, you will start seeing an incredible crop of berries.

There are studies that show that even 4-6" tall weeds can reduce yields in many crops that are much taller. Getting weeds under control early is important.

Having said all that, I know the reality of the situation, and that is why I went with a thick layer of bark mulch to help. Otherwise, there just aren't enough hours in a day, and you can only do so much.
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That sounds reasonable and fits with what I've observed. When I bought the property to build on I had a 3'-4' wide row 150' long running N-S of wild blackberries running along the edge of the woods. I use to get 6-10 gallons off them. The the weeds and saplings took over and now most vines are gone and only produce small berries not worth picking.

I've decided to mow all of them down this Summer and start over. I'll let a 1'-2' wide row regrow and transplant any I can into the row. Keep the row clean and mulched like I do my raspberries. The rest, I'll keep mowed and sprayed. In two years I should start getting a harvest.

"Having said all that, I know the reality of the situation, and that is why I went with a thick layer of bark mulch to help. Otherwise, there just aren't enough hours in a day, and you can only do so much."

A thick layer of mulch can retard weed growth?? I thought it only was for water retention? I can get new or 5+ year old wood chips. Does it matter which one?? I've been using the latter to hopefully reduce any Nitrogen loss.
 
djg said:
That sounds reasonable and fits with what I've observed. When I bought the property to build on I had a 3'-4' wide row 150' long running N-S of wild blackberries running along the edge of the woods. I use to get 6-10 gallons off them. The the weeds and saplings took over and now most vines are gone and only produce small berries not worth picking.

I've decided to mow all of them down this Summer and start over. I'll let a 1'-2' wide row regrow and transplant any I can into the row. Keep the row clean and mulched like I do my raspberries. The rest, I'll keep mowed and sprayed. In two years I should start getting a harvest.

"Having said all that, I know the reality of the situation, and that is why I went with a thick layer of bark mulch to help. Otherwise, there just aren't enough hours in a day, and you can only do so much."

A thick layer of mulch can retard weed growth?? I thought it only was for water retention? I can get new or 5+ year old wood chips. Does it matter which one?? I've been using the latter to hopefully reduce any Nitrogen loss.
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A decent layer of mulch does a great job of preventing annual weeds from germinating. Many need light for germination, and those that may germinate are too delicate to penetrate the layer of mulch. Perennial weeds may still grow through the mulch, but they are much easier to see and then spray or dig.

Additional benefits of mulch include potential reduction of disease developing (prevents inoculum from splashing from soil to plant) and keeping the root system a little cooler.

As to fresh or aged mulch, I'm not sure there is a clear advantage. Fresh is going to last a little longer, aged will break down faster and increase organic matter at the surface quicker. Aged has the potential for introducing weed seeds depending on where and how it was stored.

As to binding fertilizer, there are probably differences, but not sure it matters. I'm still using granular and watering it well after application to get it dissolved and into the soil. Some will obviously bind to the mulch, but the issue of mulch binding all your nitrogen doesn't really occur with surface mulch, it's only a problem if a lot of mulch was filled into the soil.

If there is no difference in obtaining old vs new, I might tend to put old down this year and follow it up with newer in future years.
 
trc65 said:
A decent layer of mulch does a great job of preventing annual weeds from germinating. Many need light for germination, and those that may germinate are too delicate to penetrate the layer of mulch. Perennial weeds may still grow through the mulch, but they are much easier to see and then spray or dig.

Additional benefits of mulch include potential reduction of disease developing (prevents inoculum from splashing from soil to plant) and keeping the root system a little cooler.

As to fresh or aged mulch, I'm not sure there is a clear advantage. Fresh is going to last a little longer, aged will break down faster and increase organic matter at the surface quicker. Aged has the potential for introducing weed seeds depending on where and how it was stored.

As to binding fertilizer, there are probably differences, but not sure it matters. I'm still using granular and watering it well after application to get it dissolved and into the soil. Some will obviously bind to the mulch, but the issue of mulch binding all your nitrogen doesn't really occur with surface mulch, it's only a problem if a lot of mulch was filled into the soil.

If there is no difference in obtaining old vs new, I might tend to put old down this year and follow it up with newer in future years.
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Thanks. I don't mean to drag this on, but I thought fresh mulch, whatever kind robs or binds the soil of Nitrogen when it decomposes?? Maybe I misunderstood? My mulch, new and old, are on big 6' high piles, free of weeds.

The last couple of years, I've mulched every row crop in my garden with the old. That includes the blackberries and raspberries, just not as heavily as you mentioned. I guess my fruit trees, especially my 1 yo cherry trees, could benefit from a thick layer of compost?

And I've never fertilized my berries, blackberries or raspberries. What kind? Miracle Grow or just 12-12-12?
 
Mulch is of course high carbon, which to break down needs nitrogen. However when it is on top of the soil, it isn't binding anything in the soil with the exception of maybe the top half inch where the mulch is in direct contact. It's probably using N at that level, but really isn't preventing a majority of the N moving into the rooting zone. As long as you are watering in the fertilizer, really not a problem. Could always up the N rate a little, but a lot of fudge factors are already built into the recommended rates.

The 12-12-12 is just fine.
Various web sources mention 60-80 lbs actual N per acre for blackberries, split between bud break in the spring and right after harvest. Around a half pound of 12-12-12 per 10 foot row should be close. If you are splitting applications, use half that amount each time.

Raspberries need a little more and should use a pound per 10 ft row.
 
Well, it took a couple of nights for the coons to come back to my sugar water trap, but just after the witching hour they came in mass.

Now, theoretically speaking, if you happen to catch the mother in the trap, 3 young ones might just hang around long enough to be dispatched. And then if you walk around the corner, there might just be another adult that is a bit confused and stands still long enough... So, theoretically speaking, getting a count of 5 in one night means you can probably safely rehang your bird feeder in the morning.
 
trc65 said:
Well, it took a couple of nights for the coons to come back to my sugar water trap, but just after the witching hour they came in mass.

Now, theoretically speaking, if you happen to catch the mother in the trap, 3 young ones might just hang around long enough to be dispatched. And then if you walk around the corner, there might just be another adult that is a bit confused and stands still long enough... So, theoretically speaking, getting a count of 5 in one night means you can probably safely rehang your bird feeder in the morning.
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Without a camera running, I might hang that old feeder about another week just to see if you missed the cousins...
 
trc65 said:
Well, it took a couple of nights for the coons to come back to my sugar water trap, but just after the witching hour they came in mass.

Now, theoretically speaking, if you happen to catch the mother in the trap, 3 young ones might just hang around long enough to be dispatched. And then if you walk around the corner, there might just be another adult that is a bit confused and stands still long enough... So, theoretically speaking, getting a count of 5 in one night means you can probably safely rehang your bird feeder in the morning.
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Theoretically speaking, you got five in one night? That's incredible! I had a problem with ground hogs burrowing under my wood piles. Theoretically speaking, four caught lead poisoning and I haven't seen one since.
 
Hope y'all ain't into these theories because there's a green jeans in here. If I had that problem, I'd just shoot the dang things and qut worrying about theories. 🤣🤣🤣 But theoretically speaking, you gotta watch those GW's in Illinois
 
My 2nd half row of potatoes dried up so I dug up the Kennebecs. I was pleasantly surprised despite not really taking care of the properly. They spread throughout the whole width of the row and out produced the Yukons.

IMG_7974.webp IMG_7976.webp

Almost a full 5 gal bucket for a 15' row. Lot of small ones, but some big ones too. Better than I've ever had. Glad I dug them now instead of waiting like some of you do. A half dozen were rotten and I found several white grubs around them.
 
To leave potatoes in the ground past maturity here would be to waste a lot of time, fuel, seed and fertilizer, when the space, etc. could have been used productively. Rot would set in with the first summer rain.
 
I've been mulching my raspberries and then moved onto my fruit trees. I was a little startled to see this on both of my peach trees. It's only at the bottom of the trunk.

IMG_7977.webp

What caused this? Is it bugs or critters? It is not weed whip scaring; I don't come close to the trunks? Anything I can do for it? Spray it? Wrap it? Put a guard around it?

I'd hate this to progress and I'd loose these trees.
 
djg said:
My 2nd half row of potatoes dried up so I dug up the Kennebecs. I was pleasantly surprised despite not really taking care of the properly. They spread throughout the whole width of the row and out produced the Yukons.

View attachment 290949View attachment 290950

Almost a full 5 gal bucket for a 15' row. Lot of small ones, but some big ones too. Better than I've ever had. Glad I dug them now instead of waiting like some of you do. A half dozen were rotten and I found several white grubs around them.
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since i can't really grow outdoors here, all i can think is that's about $10 worth of potatoes at the store.
my watering bill would be about $200 for those results
 
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