I was under some physical restrictions and bed rest orders last week, so this week has been a flurry of planting and weeding to get some more summer veg gardens up and running.

Our squashes and pumpkins are pretty much ready to be planted

And my front gardens are absolutely popping off now

What’s growing on with you all?

  • xylem@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    I’ll just say climbing plants are as good as having a pet! I love watching my cucumbers, peas, and squash reach out their lil grabbies - it’s so cute!

    On a not-as-fun note I have Three-lined Potato Beetle on my potatoes. They haven’t done a huge amount of damage so far and don’t seem too interested in my other plants yet but if anyone has mitigation strategies let me know!

    • LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.orgOPM
      0·
      3 months ago

      I love vines too! bee heart emoji

      Those guys would eat your Goji berry plants too, if you had them… Jesse from No-Till Growers had a video about potatoes in which he recommended taking a potato and cooking it, mashing it a little, and placing the mash and some compost - each in their own breathable bag - into a bucket of water and letting it ferment for a day or two. Then take that and water your spuds with it. It should give a microbial boost to your plants to help them be less attractive to the beetles. I’ve also read that the beetles can be a sign of nitrogen imbalance in the plant. In the past with small crops of potatoes I’ve just manually picked them off but that can be a hassle with more than a few plants.

  • Rin@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Heyo! So recently we got some new plants, and thank you for the tip a while ago to re-pot my aloe, it’s doing much better now, I think. The middle is still brownish red, but the rest is very strong and green, and there are still parts of it growing out of the center.

    I’d post pictures but I’m on mobile, maybe when my power comes back on!

    My mom bought a tropical hibiscus which I’m not sure will survive but we’ll see. It seems to be doing well enough. I managed to get an english lavender and I’ve been told by a friend who knows more about plants that it looks very healthy. And roses have been really hard to grow for us but one of the two rose bushes my mom bought seems to be doing well too!

    Questions, though. I’ve read that lavender wants pine needles over leaf mulch, are they significantly better? I’m also wondering how much I should be watering it, we’ve had a lot of storms lately but I want to stay on top of it.

    Thanks for any more tips and thanks for the thread!