The Gardening Thread

[Volunteer_Kirby]

One of my store-bought pepper plants was labeled a red bell, but it’s not. It grew relatively tall, but produced no fruit until now - two small green oblong peppers that I harvested when patches of black appeared on the skin. These are thin skinned, about the size of a jalapeño, but no “heat.”

The plant is flowering, again. I’ll post pics of fruit in the future. Any ideas as to identifying this plant?

Small, elongated peppers are not uncommon when planted late in season or during extreme heat. Too much shade will did that too. Most new fruit aborts by the time we hit July/August here in C. TX, the ones that survive are generally much smaller and skinnier ; although there are some exceptions with the native Pequin or small leaf pepper varieties.

 

[GVF]

Your suggestion of a cubanelle strikes a chord. In my experience, Serrano peppers are a bit hotter than your average jalapeño.

Too bad it's not a hot red cherry.

Best hot pepper vinegar I've ever made was from a blend of Cayenne, Jalapeno and Hot Red Cherry. Nice heat, but not excessive and great flavor. The greens and gumbos loved it.

 

[Tin Man]

Monarch butterflies are visiting my flower gardens. They especially like the zinias.

Edit: There’s a native butterfly colloquially referred to as a false monarch. The underside of their wings resemble those of a monarch, but the topsides are speckled orange, and they’re a bit smaller in size. Seeing these side by side with the monarchs makes it easy to tell the difference.

 

[me_grag53]

Does anyone have coneflowers? I started with the original purple and all new plants spreading were also purple. I added 2 hybrid colors later, a coral and a rust color. I now have at least 5 or 6 colors including a creamy white one and a yellow one. Most if not all have complained that their colors are reverting back to purple or pink but I have the opposite going on.

 

[VolNExile]

Does anyone have coneflowers? I started with the original purple and all new plants spreading were also purple. I added 2 hybrid colors later, a coral and a rust color. I now have at least 5 or 6 colors including a creamy white one and a yellow one. Most if not all have complained that their colors are reverting back to purple or pink but I have the opposite going on.

I have just purple coneflowers, the species - not any named hybrids - and they are just remaining purple. They have faded a lot in the heat though, but just to a dull pink, not a complete change of color.

 

[me_grag53]

I think pink and purple are the native colors. We let ours die naturally. Finches pick the seeds. It is fun to watch. Not all are strong enough to hold them up. We have had ours for years though ,if that makes a difference.

 

[VolNExile]

I think pink and purple are the native colors. We let ours die naturally. Finches pick the seeds. It is fun to watch. Not all are strong enough to hold them up. We have had ours for years though ,if that makes a difference.

We turned out front yard into a native plant pollinator bed. Looks a little raggedy, as they all do in their first year, but it's coming along great.

Wait till the neighbors (who've been very supportive) realize that the dead flower stalks will remain until Feb or March to provide seeds for birds and over-wintering for insects. bwah hah hah

 

[Go aeiou]

We turned out front yard into a native plant pollinator bed. Looks a little raggedy, as they all do in their first year, but it's coming along great.

Wait till the neighbors (who've been very supportive) realize that the dead flower stalks will remain until Feb or March to provide seeds for birds and over-wintering for insects. bwah hah hah

Any hyssop? I think it's native to North America.
It is my favorite plant this year(2nd year). It stands out in a bed of mostly blue blooms, and it's still full of bumble bees.

 

[VolNExile]

Any hyssop? I think it's native to North America.
It is my favorite plant this year(2nd year). It stands out in a bed of mostly blue blooms, and it's still full of bumble bees.

The contractor (I recognized that this was beyond my physical abilities) used all perennials, but I grow anise hyssop and love it. I’ll add it in spring.

The equivalent magnet for pollinator insects in front is boneset. Three+ feet high, covered in white blooms, and dozens of bumblebees, honey bees, syrphid flies, sweat bees, and gorgeous blue-winged wasps.

I counted 70-something (all insects) for last weekend’s Great SE Pollinator Count.


(not my photo)

 

[zhangliao04]

Been a while since I’ve last posted, but after what happened yesterday I had to give an update. Peppers have been good this year especially the Hungarian paprikas and pepperoncinis. I have too many pepperoncinis to know what to do with and that is from 2 plants. I now have almost an entire large shaker fully of homemade paprika pepper at the house. It smells SO MUCH BETTER than store bought. I’m probably going to make this a yearly plant. Also made ancho powder and chipotle powder as well with more coming. I’m done with large peppers like poblanos and bells for now. I can never seem to get big ones consistently. I got a few, but not many.

Blueberries are growing well. No berries because of my mistake using a tarp to cover them during a frost.

Raspberries produced a lot again, but not as long as last year. The hot, no-rain spells have hurt their production I think.

Cherry bushes are growing well and bushing out nicely

I just got my peach trees I. Yesterday and planted them yesterday evening when I got home. 1 contender and 1 belle of Georgia variety. Any help with keeping them alive is much appreciated lol.

 

[zhangliao04]

Thinking about building some more raised garden beds. What configuration have you all found that works the best for you? Straight line, C-form, square, etc.?

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

Does anyone have coneflowers? I started with the original purple and all new plants spreading were also purple. I added 2 hybrid colors later, a coral and a rust color. I now have at least 5 or 6 colors including a creamy white one and a yellow one. Most if not all have complained that their colors are reverting back to purple or pink but I have the opposite going on.

You got Cheyenne Spirit. One of the few seed stable varieties. Comes in about 5 different colors.

They are great plants. For those interested, the best (Tennessee) orange is probably Tiki Torch & Sombrero Orange. The Cheyenne Spirit & Mellow Yellows orange comes close, Tangerine Dream is quite nice.

I have seen Sombrero Orange recently so think it's becoming more common. Tiki has been around for a minute I think. The rest are quite old but still grown commercially.

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

Been a while since I’ve last posted, but after what happened yesterday I had to give an update. Peppers have been good this year especially the Hungarian paprikas and pepperoncinis. I have too many pepperoncinis to know what to do with and that is from 2 plants. I now have almost an entire large shaker fully of homemade paprika pepper at the house. It smells SO MUCH BETTER than store bought. I’m probably going to make this a yearly plant. Also made ancho powder and chipotle powder as well with more coming. I’m done with large peppers like poblanos and bells for now. I can never seem to get big ones consistently. I got a few, but not many.

Blueberries are growing well. No berries because of my mistake using a tarp to cover them during a frost.

Raspberries produced a lot again, but not as long as last year. The hot, no-rain spells have hurt their production I think.

Cherry bushes are growing well and bushing out nicely

I just got my peach trees I. Yesterday and planted them yesterday evening when I got home. 1 contender and 1 belle of Georgia variety. Any help with keeping them alive is much appreciated lol.

Some oldtimers like to use a product called SuperThrive when doing stressful transplants on trees or shrubs. Can't help beyond that as I don't know your area or how many chill hours yall get. But if it's a bigger tree (15 gallon plus) you can put a tree gator and make the effort minimal.

 

[Tin Man]

Thinking about building some more raised garden beds. What configuration have you all found that works the best for you? Straight line, C-form, square, etc.?

If I were to rethink my raised garden bed, I’d split it in two, such that the middles could be reached from either side.

 

[VolNExile]

Thinking about building some more raised garden beds. What configuration have you all found that works the best for you? Straight line, C-form, square, etc.?

We have three 14’x4’ beds (14’ because that’s how much space we had.) They’re in parallel rows with about 18” between. Each has a cross-support midway with a 1x12 plank on top, making a walkway - mainly used by the cat, but we use them as a shortcut to get to the other side without walking all the way around the full length.

^^^Easy access to the full beds with four foot width! I guess if you play for the NBA, you could make it 5’, but your back and arms will thank you for only having to lift heavy plants and produce across 2’. The only thing I’d change maybe is making the crossing planks 2-by’s for more stability, but we were using up scraps.

We have a 16’x4’ bed against the side yard fence, and I would definitely have made it 3’ deep max, b/c it’s a PITA to get to the back of the bed, climbing over the plants in front. We now have some 12” square pavers as landing places when we wade in. This bed is at right angles to the three parallel beds with a 30” path, which allows room for the wheelbarrow, soaker hoses, etc.

I would probably like three beds in a squared-off C, corners not touching, so that I could sit in the center with a cold drank and survey it all, but when your entire lot, house and all, is 0.15 acre, ya do what ya gotta do!

 

[Go aeiou]

Thinking about building some more raised garden beds. What configuration have you all found that works the best for you? Straight line, C-form, square, etc.?

We have Eastern Red Cedar mills in middle TN and it's faily cheap. I buy 1x8x8 and make 4x8 beds. Have expanded some to 4x12 feet. Easy to reach 2' to the center.

The mill I use:

Eastern Red Cedar Lumber | Grant Cedar Mill | Tennessee, United States

Welcome to Grant Cedar Mill, Gordonsville, TN-We buy Eastern Red Cedar Logs and sell Eastern Red Cedar Lumber.

www.grantcedarmill.com

 

[VolNExile]

We have Eastern Red Cedar mills in middle TN and it's faily cheap. I buy 1x8x8 and make 4x8 beds. Have expanded some to 4x12 feet. Easy to reach 2' to the center.

The mill I use:

Eastern Red Cedar Lumber | Grant Cedar Mill | Tennessee, United States

Welcome to Grant Cedar Mill, Gordonsville, TN-We buy Eastern Red Cedar Logs and sell Eastern Red Cedar Lumber.

www.grantcedarmill.com

Wish I had access to affordable cedar!

 

[GVF]

I have just purple coneflowers, the species - not any named hybrids - and they are just remaining purple. They have faded a lot in the heat though, but just to a dull pink, not a complete change of color.

I added purple cone flower back this year. About half a dozen. Mine have gone to seed and brown in the heat and drought. I just quit watering.

 

[GVF]

Been a while since I’ve last posted, but after what happened yesterday I had to give an update. Peppers have been good this year especially the Hungarian paprikas and pepperoncinis. I have too many pepperoncinis to know what to do with and that is from 2 plants. I now have almost an entire large shaker fully of homemade paprika pepper at the house. It smells SO MUCH BETTER than store bought. I’m probably going to make this a yearly plant. Also made ancho powder and chipotle powder as well with more coming. I’m done with large peppers like poblanos and bells for now. I can never seem to get big ones consistently. I got a few, but not many.

Blueberries are growing well. No berries because of my mistake using a tarp to cover them during a frost.

Raspberries produced a lot again, but not as long as last year. The hot, no-rain spells have hurt their production I think.

Cherry bushes are growing well and bushing out nicely

I just got my peach trees I. Yesterday and planted them yesterday evening when I got home. 1 contender and 1 belle of Georgia variety. Any help with keeping them alive is much appreciated lol.

My experience with Contender Peach I planted last fall. Just keep watered regular. minimum half gallon a soaking every few days for first few months. This is critical as I did not keep that up long enough in the beginning. And assumed the heavy spring rains would suffice. Keep watering atleast a gallon a week after first 3 months. Water test is to stick finger down into root ball near trunk. If dry'ish, need to water. Don't freak out if it stresses and loses leaves in the spring when the heat starts up. Just keep the ball moist. Peaches can be finiky first year or two. Apples are a bit more accepting. Mine is in the ground just a year next month, and has lost its leaves 3 times now, as has my cherry bush. And they will come back fairly quick with watering. One established well, you can let mother nature take over. Fertilize before the cold for hte first year roots, and right as blooming starts I think. Just twice a year. Fruit tree fertilizer. Wrap the trunk first year or two during winter to keep freeze from splitting bark. I take my wrap off as it warms up. I just use that spiral white plastic trunk wrap. Loose for air flow but protective. Also keeps deer from rubbing antlers. We've had two high heat extended droughts this summer. Been hard to keep up with everything.

You may already know, but I just learned yesterday...blueberry roots are typically on 6" deep, with a ton of fiberous feeder roots than run out just below surface up to 4'. And I been spraying for grass/weeds around the bushes to keep it killed off for bed definition and mulching. and ease of mowing. And they should be dressed with a combo of small pine nuggets, compost, peat moss and bone meal in the fall and spring. My dad planted about 8-12 blueberries when they retired to hte farm. Never pruned. They are enormous. Can only pick the upper berries off a ladder. They are self sufficient in good soil, mulched only by the blue grass.

With your choice in peah varieties, you should have that eye to back of head roll with each bite. I grew up on fresh GA peaches from the UGA Experiment Station orchards. There is nothing better IMO. When we go to south GA to see grand kids we always stop at Lanes in Warner robbins to get a big box.

 

[GVF]

We have three 14’x4’ beds (14’ because that’s how much space we had.) They’re in parallel rows with about 18” between. Each has a cross-support midway with a 1x12 plank on top, making a walkway - mainly used by the cat, but we use them as a shortcut to get to the other side without walking all the way around the full length.

^^^Easy access to the full beds with four foot width! I guess if you play for the NBA, you could make it 5’, but your back and arms will thank you for only having to lift heavy plants and produce across 2’. The only thing I’d change maybe is making the crossing planks 2-by’s for more stability, but we were using up scraps.

We have a 16’x4’ bed against the side yard fence, and I would definitely have made it 3’ deep max, b/c it’s a PITA to get to the back of the bed, climbing over the plants in front. We now have some 12” square pavers as landing places when we wade in. This bed is at right angles to the three parallel beds with a 30” path, which allows room for the wheelbarrow, soaker hoses, etc.

I would probably like three beds in a squared-off C, corners not touching, so that I could sit in the center with a cold drank and survey it all, but when your entire lot, house and all, is 0.15 acre, ya do what ya gotta do!

You could work in some of those raised bed carts here and yonder that I see online.

I'd like to re-do my strawberries in a cedar raised bed. They are in tires at the moment, and I didn't like that so much. That link above is only 20-30 minutes from my house, and seems much cheaper than Lowes, including gas and time.

 

[zhangliao04]

Some oldtimers like to use a product called SuperThrive when doing stressful transplants on trees or shrubs. Can't help beyond that as I don't know your area or how many chill hours yall get. But if it's a bigger tree (15 gallon plus) you can put a tree gator and make the effort minimal.

The trees are ~5 ft tall. I have heard of SuperThrive I’ve just never used it. A bud of mine at work has a bottle I think. May ask for a splash or two.

I’ve never used a tree gator before. In fact, these are my first rodeo into tree keeping.

 

[zhangliao04]

We have three 14’x4’ beds (14’ because that’s how much space we had.) They’re in parallel rows with about 18” between. Each has a cross-support midway with a 1x12 plank on top, making a walkway - mainly used by the cat, but we use them as a shortcut to get to the other side without walking all the way around the full length.

^^^Easy access to the full beds with four foot width! I guess if you play for the NBA, you could make it 5’, but your back and arms will thank you for only having to lift heavy plants and produce across 2’. The only thing I’d change maybe is making the crossing planks 2-by’s for more stability, but we were using up scraps.

We have a 16’x4’ bed against the side yard fence, and I would definitely have made it 3’ deep max, b/c it’s a PITA to get to the back of the bed, climbing over the plants in front. We now have some 12” square pavers as landing places when we wade in. This bed is at right angles to the three parallel beds with a 30” path, which allows room for the wheelbarrow, soaker hoses, etc.

I would probably like three beds in a squared-off C, corners not touching, so that I could sit in the center with a cold drank and survey it all, but when your entire lot, house and all, is 0.15 acre, ya do what ya gotta do!

I hear ya! Our entire lot is just a tad under 0.19 acres. I have a 10’x16’ bed that has my blueberries and raspberries. I plan on making the new ones much thinner for ease of access, like you did. I like the look of the multiple rows side by side, but there is just something about the squared-off C shape that I just really like (maybe having everything within arm distance from one spot). I like the 4’ width you did because it allows for at least 2 rows of plants.

I also plan on spreading pine bark mulch all around these beds to give a nice look to the back area.

 

[zhangliao04]

We have Eastern Red Cedar mills in middle TN and it's faily cheap. I buy 1x8x8 and make 4x8 beds. Have expanded some to 4x12 feet. Easy to reach 2' to the center.

The mill I use:

Eastern Red Cedar Lumber | Grant Cedar Mill | Tennessee, United States

Welcome to Grant Cedar Mill, Gordonsville, TN-We buy Eastern Red Cedar Logs and sell Eastern Red Cedar Lumber.

www.grantcedarmill.com

Would be tough for me to get out that far from the Maryville area. Would love to have this over here. You are lucky!

 

[zhangliao04]

My experience with Contender Peach I planted last fall. Just keep watered regular. minimum half gallon a soaking every few days for first few months. This is critical as I did not keep that up long enough in the beginning. And assumed the heavy spring rains would suffice. Keep watering atleast a gallon a week after first 3 months. Water test is to stick finger down into root ball near trunk. If dry'ish, need to water. Don't freak out if it stresses and loses leaves in the spring when the heat starts up. Just keep the ball moist. Peaches can be finiky first year or two. Apples are a bit more accepting. Mine is in the ground just a year next month, and has lost its leaves 3 times now, as has my cherry bush. And they will come back fairly quick with watering. One established well, you can let mother nature take over. Fertilize before the cold for hte first year roots, and right as blooming starts I think. Just twice a year. Fruit tree fertilizer. Wrap the trunk first year or two during winter to keep freeze from splitting bark. I take my wrap off as it warms up. I just use that spiral white plastic trunk wrap. Loose for air flow but protective. Also keeps deer from rubbing antlers. We've had two high heat extended droughts this summer. Been hard to keep up with everything.

You may already know, but I just learned yesterday...blueberry roots are typically on 6" deep, with a ton of fiberous feeder roots than run out just below surface up to 4'. And I been spraying for grass/weeds around the bushes to keep it killed off for bed definition and mulching. and ease of mowing. And they should be dressed with a combo of small pine nuggets, compost, peat moss and bone meal in the fall and spring. My dad planted about 8-12 blueberries when they retired to hte farm. Never pruned. They are enormous. Can only pick the upper berries off a ladder. They are self sufficient in good soil, mulched only by the blue grass.

With your choice in peah varieties, you should have that eye to back of head roll with each bite. I grew up on fresh GA peaches from the UGA Experiment Station orchards. There is nothing better IMO. When we go to south GA to see grand kids we always stop at Lanes in Warner robbins to get a big box.

Thanks for the peach information . I will do my best to keep these guys as happy as I can. I have some Dr. Earth’s fruit tree fertilizer. Will put it down over the next few weeks and then next spring. Need to fertilize my berries as well.

My blueberries and raspberries are in a raised bed filled with a 50/50 soil/mushroom compost mix. I still get mushrooms growing in there from time to time. Not so much lately with this 2nd hot and dry spell. I will fertilize the berries with a good 10-10-10 for the fall/winter feeding and then again in spring when leaves start to appear. A fertilizing in May also helps. Raspberries try to take over the bed so I pull up ones where I don’t want them growing lol. Built a trellis for them this year. Helped a lot, but built too high so I will need to lower the arms a foot or two.

I read about how blueberry bushes tend to have an iron deficiency. During my readings I found a research article that stated having grass around blueberry bushes helps with iron deficiency. This is due to the grass emitting a ligand that attaches to the iron in the ground and allows for the uptake of the iron into the roots. Blueberries don’t make this ligand, but grass does and in more than enough amounts for the grass. The paper stated they had better growth with the blueberry bushes surround by grass (pretty much as close as you can get it to the base of the bush) than those not.

How are your carmine jewel cherries doing? My Romeo and Juliet are doing fine. Have growth all over. At least a few inches from each growth spot. I think these hot spells have slowed growth down because the period of cooler weather and rain that we had they really grew out. So I expect more growth here soon when temps drop.

 

[VolNExile]

I hear ya! Our entire lot is just a tad under 0.19 acres. I have a 10’x16’ bed that has my blueberries and raspberries. I plan on making the new ones much thinner for ease of access, like you did. I like the look of the multiple rows side by side, but there is just something about the squared-off C shape that I just really like (maybe having everything within arm distance from one spot). I like the 4’ width you did because it allows for at least 2 rows of plants.

I also plan on spreading pine bark mulch all around these beds to give a nice look to the back area.

One nice thing about planting in raised beds is that you don't have to plant in rows! - unless you're trellising, etc.

Anything other than trellised stuff I just plant in blobs.