What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

A great point about Honey bees not being a threat except when stressed about defending the queen and hungry from being out in a swarm for too long without finding a suitable home. I figured the postal person was stung by wasp or other bees. But planting a vine or similar over the mailbox will encourage them all and give cover for wasp nest. While a foraging honey bee is seldom a threat, except when directly contacted by the person on accident, that does not stop the fear a person who is allergic may be subjected to. Plant your flowers elsewhere, please. I am a former commercial beekeeper(800 hives with a friend) and Kept them at home for years (up to 30 hives). I was stung well over a hundred times once by a swarm that had been on a neighbors plum tree too long. She said it just showed up that morning. Likely not so. I often gathered fresh swarms in my neighborhood without fully suiting up. These guys went mad when I approached close, unlike the norm, and I am now fairly allergic and swell badly to a sting. While honeybees in a fresh swarm are safe and too full of honey to sting, that changes with time!

Unless they are killer bees...or murder hornets.

 

[TJAnonymous]

In your area, many, indeterminate tomato vines, using the two leader method, will reach 6 to 7ft. tall, if you can grow them all season long. They can just begin to hang over the top of the support and continue to trail a bit! The insect netting is great! I often use light row covers in the spring and fall, and heavier ones in the winter for weather and Insect control. I use the lightest in summer over some low crops for insect protection(flea beatles are terrible). A bit of sun protection in the south is good too, in the summer, even for tomatoes. Some market growers here, use 30% shade cloth here (in full sun fields). A low hoop house is awesome and far cheaper than a greenhouse or full size hoop cold frame/house. I grow some lettuces, greens, green onions,carrots and more all winter long here in zone 7, under row covers and/or in my covered raised beds. Happy gardening!

This is the netting I ordered -

https://www.agfabric.com/collection...-needed-insect-barrier-netting-16ftw-20ftw-12

I'd like to make a 2nd smaller hoop house that is 8' x 12' for some meyer lemon trees. I had a beautiful meyer lemon which appears to have died in the past month. It did not like coming indoors but went downhill especially in the past month. I tried to take it back outside, but it was too late. I might try again, but this time I'd like to keep it in a hoop house that can be covered like a greenhouse in the winter and just netting in the summer. The spot I have chosen has a wonderful south-facing sun exposure. It is blocked by my husband's shop on the north side and has a big gum tree to the west of it which should provide some good late afternoon shade when it is hottest outside. I figured if I could acclimate it to that spot and KEEP IT THERE all year, then I could avoid what happened this year with moving them inside and outside. Meyer lemons are so finicky.

 

[Birdsonghill]

This is the netting I ordered -

https://www.agfabric.com/collection...-needed-insect-barrier-netting-16ftw-20ftw-12

I'd like to make a 2nd smaller hoop house that is 8' x 12' for some meyer lemon trees. I had a beautiful meyer lemon which appears to have died in the past month. It did not like coming indoors but went downhill especially in the past month. I tried to take it back outside, but it was too late. I might try again, but this time I'd like to keep it in a hoop house that can be covered like a greenhouse in the winter and just netting in the summer. The spot I have chosen has a wonderful south-facing sun exposure. It is blocked by my husband's shop on the north side and has a big gum tree to the west of it which should provide some good late afternoon shade when it is hottest outside. I figured if I could acclimate it to that spot and KEEP IT THERE all year, then I could avoid what happened this year with moving them inside and outside. Meyer lemons are so finicky.

I think it is worth a try, I grow Hawaiian ginger and turmeric in the ground(uncovered!) outside my back door with a southern exposure, in zone 7! Both are tropical. I also grew a Sweet Bay Leaf tree for about twenty years there, until it finally died one cold winter. If I had kept it small and covered it in the winter it might still be growing. Good luck and have a great garden this year!

 

[BReeder!]

The heavy duty round tomato cages (4 rings) work pretty well here .. BUT they need to have 1 or 2 stakes driven well into the ground that helps to keep them upright. I use cut up trouser socks or thicker pantyhose for tying the plants where needed. I found a bag of the loops used for the square weaving that kids often utilize for weaving for potholders - they sell cotton ones and nylon ones - and the bag I found was nylon, so I'll be using those as ties this year.

Like @BReeder! I found trying to buy the fencing a bit costly, for what I wanted, so I went with the round cages.


One of the best tomato supports I've seen in use, was in windy eastern WA - high dry desert area. The woman (a retired rancher that sold her xx ranch acres and bought a 10 acre plot for her and her husband for their retirement) had a large garden plot, with these supports. She found the instructions in a magazine many years ago. Liked them so much she reproduced them again for this retirement phase. Basically envision a Y with a center post. These are the ends and middle, and these Y's get set into the ground. Now add horizontal connectors between the Y's - several up the vertical axes. So, they get wider on the Y, but can also put some on the center axes. On these horizontal connectors, can hammer in nails or use screws - in pairs - to provide a place to add another level of horizontal connectors between (and perpendicular to) the two sides of horizontal connectors. the nails/screws do not attach the two pieces together, rather, they are there to keep the boards between them, and the boards can be moved out or in, depending on where or how wide you need support. At the end of the season, it all stores flat, the "Y" ends/middle are flat, all the horizontal supports are flat, and nothing was screwed together (other than the Y's). Of course, wood is pretty pricey now, but if can source cheap or free lumber, then it could be an easy/reuseable tomato trellis system. We have not gotten around to making them, but hopefully we can make them now that we have things set out more where we want them.


Brandywines - stopped growing them, was never that impressed... might try them again at some point. I recall growing Purple Cherokee that tasted quite good, and was similar to a Brandywine, but with better production for me, but haven't grown those in a while either.

This sounds interesting, but is hard to follow. Are you able to sketch a diagram?

 

[BReeder!]

This is the netting I ordered -

https://www.agfabric.com/collection...-needed-insect-barrier-netting-16ftw-20ftw-12

I'd like to make a 2nd smaller hoop house that is 8' x 12' for some meyer lemon trees. I had a beautiful meyer lemon which appears to have died in the past month. It did not like coming indoors but went downhill especially in the past month. I tried to take it back outside, but it was too late. I might try again, but this time I'd like to keep it in a hoop house that can be covered like a greenhouse in the winter and just netting in the summer. The spot I have chosen has a wonderful south-facing sun exposure. It is blocked by my husband's shop on the north side and has a big gum tree to the west of it which should provide some good late afternoon shade when it is hottest outside. I figured if I could acclimate it to that spot and KEEP IT THERE all year, then I could avoid what happened this year with moving them inside and outside. Meyer lemons are so finicky.

This is concerning. I have a Meyer lemon and dwarf pomegranate on order. I intend to grow both as hose plants here in zone 5. I as considering placing them outside in the summer and bringing them in for the cold months.

 

[Sally PB]

Brandywines - stopped growing them, was never that impressed... might try them again at some point. I recall growing Purple Cherokee that tasted quite good, and was similar to a Brandywine, but with better production for me, but haven't grown those in a while either.

I've grown a single Brandywine plant (purchased) each of the last two years. I'd heard they were the best tasting tomato. Well.... not to me. They grew ok, but didn't produce much, and the tomatoes were... just blah. I might buy a plant again sometime, just to see if the third time is the charm. Or not.

 

[TJAnonymous]

This is concerning. I have a Meyer lemon and dwarf pomegranate on order. I intend to grow both as hose plants here in zone 5. I as considering placing them outside in the summer and bringing them in for the cold months.

I'm in Zone 7B right on the border of Zone 8. I've had my lemon tree for 3 years. The first 2 years I kept it indoors. It had mediocre growth. Last summer I moved it outdoors and repotted it into a giant container. It exploded and grew wonderfully. I was really excited and hoping to actually get some lemons this year. This winter I brought it into my south facing sunroom. It did fine until early January. Started losing leaves and never recovered. About a month ago I considered taking it outside.... Right after that Feb cold snap. But some other gardeners convinced me to wait. I took it out about 2 weeks ago but it was too late. All the leaves are gone and the wood is changing from green to brown, indicating the cambian is dead.

So now I have to start over.....

 

[WthrLady]

I think that's pretty much what @WthrLady does, grows them up a bent over cattle panel, kind of like an arbor.

Nope. My cattle panels aren't bent. I train my as they get higher than 4 feet to run along the top of the panels like a grapevine.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon gardeners. Not much time right now but hope you’re all well! I’m headed out to pull the last of the broccoli and give the ducks fresh water then a few chores before dinner prep. Have a good night all!

 

[WthrLady]

@Birdsonghill we gathered a swarm last summer like that. I've never encountered such an aggressive swarm before. The number of hits was INSANE.
The ONLY thing I can think of is that is was a forced, evacuation swarm, like the swarms home was destroyed, and while they were technically a swarm, they were out protecting their queen and not actually looking for a new home. However, while they took to the new hive it was so insanely, dangerous to approach that we eventually had to euthanize it.