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Post by philagardener on Aug 15, 2015 18:52:40 GMT -5
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Post by philagardener on Aug 14, 2015 6:54:07 GMT -5
Wow, sounds close to unstoppable! Looking forward to hearing how it tastes, too.
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Post by philagardener on Aug 12, 2015 6:31:32 GMT -5
I found the "tendril" tips of Purple Podded Parsley Pea surprisingly sweet when young. This is a variety worth exploring, although as others have mentioned it seems variable with respect to pod coloration. (The leaf phenotype relies on stacked recessive alleles, so will be a good indication of the rate of natural outcrossing between rows in my garden.) The plants are very pretty in appearance as well, but they do tend to flop around (since they can't cling to a support). I ran into issues late in the season when a heavy rain collapsed the plants, breaking a lot of stems, so I will be trying a "California weave"-type support (tucking the stems between doubled strings) next season. They are relatively short plants so a few courses should do a good job.
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Post by philagardener on Aug 11, 2015 20:27:08 GMT -5
Those pods do look nice. Sorry it has been such a battle with diseases.
On the other front . . . I thought it was really difficult to import seed into Australia . . . .
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Post by philagardener on Aug 6, 2015 21:10:05 GMT -5
Did you pool samples from several different locations? Those are really low numbers . . . Has anyone grown any crops on that land before it was subdivided?
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Post by philagardener on Aug 6, 2015 20:09:26 GMT -5
Looks like different things are going on. Picture 1 could involve a few different issues, or something as innocuous as burned leaves from watering on a hot, sunny day. Tomato diseases are complicated to call. Others should add the benefit of their experience! Picture 2 looks like septoria leaf spot (compare to the photos at the bottom of this link). I try to control leaf problems by mulching (good!), pruning discolored leaves (trash, don't compost) and not watering from above. Tomatoes, especially heirlooms, can be a pretty finicky lot without a lot of disease resistance. Some years, I just lose 5-10% of my plants but the key is keeping things under control so the rest don't succumb. Picture 3 looks like a variegated branch on your pepper. The albino (white) parts of the leaf don't expand as quickly as the green parts so you get a puckered appearance, although I suppose it could be a virus that is causing bleaching. Aphids and other sucking insects can spread viruses in the garden, so removal is an option here as well if it starts to show up elsewhere, but I'd tend to just watch it for now. Otherwise, those plants look pretty good! Good luck!
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Post by philagardener on Aug 6, 2015 19:24:24 GMT -5
Interestingly, I ran across this in a local botanical garden a few days ago. Strikingly beautiful! So now I know it can grow in the mid-Atlantic.
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Post by philagardener on Aug 3, 2015 6:28:16 GMT -5
Be careful breathing that smoke! Hope it is stopped soon, but it sounds like it is going to be a long fire season for the dry West.
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Post by philagardener on Aug 2, 2015 6:52:43 GMT -5
Is the primary difference shorter internodes on the bushy plants? Those are really great looking!
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Post by philagardener on Aug 1, 2015 20:36:48 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, kwhitney992000 ! Either pine needles or peat moss can be used to lower the pH of your soil and add organic material. It is worth having your soil tested to get a better idea of what is going on. Your local extension agent can provide you with an Michigan State University mailer www.msusoiltest.com/get-your-soil-test/
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Post by philagardener on Aug 1, 2015 12:26:23 GMT -5
After losing some backyard privacy last summer when trees came down in a tornado I planted an area with multi-head sunflowers and various corn kernels (that had sprouted in wet ears downed by the storm in the field) by just pushing seeds down into unimproved soil and dead lawn. The result? Besides being a great privacy screen it was the best corn and sunflowers I've grown to date! I have no idea why the allopathic properties didn't kick in. Maybe because the corn already had sprouted they had a head start?
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Post by philagardener on Aug 1, 2015 5:36:19 GMT -5
littleminnie , those volunteers look great. How are the cukes doing in there?
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Post by philagardener on Jul 30, 2015 4:57:34 GMT -5
I have 4 garlic weed patches... These are places where I have grown garlic for the True Garlic Seed Project in the past, but I can't use them again cause that would make it hard to distinguish between weeds and what I'm growing on purpose... Today when I was weeding near one of them, I noticed beautiful garlic flowers. Well formed. Purple as can be. About 5 plants. The tiny bulbils had mostly fallen out by them selves. They weren't in any sort of row, just randomly arranged, but in the general vicinity where I planted the original GRIN bulbils. I'm hyped. They were gorgeously developed flowers. The bulbils falling out spontaneously resembles the phenotype of Z058. I'm intending to take surveyors tape and a camera with me next time I go to the garden, so that I can document them and mark them. A weed by any other name . . . could be a winner!
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Post by philagardener on Jul 28, 2015 5:58:17 GMT -5
Some folks carefully slice the stem along its length with a razor blade, or poke a thin wire up the stem hollow from the damaged entry point (where you see that light brown frass), to destroy the larva. After surgery, bury the stem so the damage will heal and new roots will form at the nodes. It can help to bury nodes further up the stem above the damage site to generate a distributed root system (this also can be a helpful preventive measure, and if the stem is covered with soil the moth can't lay eggs on it).
I have a lot of trouble with SVBs and as a consequence grow mostly C. moschata, which are more resistant to damage because they have solid stems.
Good luck!
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Post by philagardener on Jul 27, 2015 11:11:23 GMT -5
It isn't really safe in the house either - I had a squirrel chew right through the screen on an open window yesterday and get in while we were out.
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