Wow! That looks great. I hope the citrus enjoy their new digs!
It doesn’t typically get cold enough consistently enough for us to need something similar for Lemon-san. Just about freezing temps means a move into the alcove in front of the door. Any colder and it’s a hop into the garage for one or two days. The freeze-a-gedon a few years ago was really rough on them. We had the tree in the garage and the poor thing lost every single leaf. We thought it was dead like the orange in the ground out back. But kept watering and doing the spring fertilizer anyway. It grew more leaves that later winter/spring than ever before and has been bushier ever since.
It was definitely Charlie Brown of Meyer lemon trees when we bought it. After a decade it seems happy and fluffy
Next time we have extended cold, we will just have to bring them inside and deal with the tree thinking it is spring later.
Brought in the last of the persimmons today. Always a little sad bringing in the last from the garden for the year, but it also means it’s time to start otting next years, and i suspect that next year’s garden will have to provide more than most of my past ones have. But it’s all good. Commence planning!
The Nonspecific Winter Holiday Cactus is recovering from abuse from the chaos kittens, so the camellia cutting I rooted in 2020 has stepped up to put on the holiday show.
thrips.
asking for tips on handling these nasty, nearly invisible pests that are destroying my seedlings. lost 80% of the seedling starts - squash, total loss; 7 of 10 peppers gone!
we don’t get low enough temps to kill off these bugs in winter time. we don’t even get frost! so i will start seeds in peat pots at this time to plant in the beds when they are big enough. these starts get sunshine, 70F warm weather and plenty of water. the soil is bagged (we don’t have “soil” here - just coral rock). this is most likely the source of our infestation, but the daytime exposure outdoors may have introduced the insects.
NOT going to poison our garden with chemicals that could leach into the surrounding waters or add nasty shite to our produce.
has anyone tried nicotine tea? this is where you soak tobacco in water, much like a compost tea, and sprayed on the soil/ leaves. does that affect beneficial bugs (bees, ladybugs, nematodes, etc.) does it even do anything for thrips?
these are not the big, shaggy hoary thrip that can be 3-5mm and visible on the outer stems of woody plants (had those on our 3 year old pigeon pea bush). no, these are barely 1mm, translucent and burrowing into the tiny green seedlings - so not easy to see.
after 10 years of island gardening, i am losing the battle. any thoughts, ideas or tips are greatly appreciated. i can’t lose my peppers, i mean, i’m already battling street chickens and iguana…
Yuck.
You could try beneficial nematodes or predator mites for longer-term. Might be good to inculcate your bagged soil with them. Though I know getting nematodes/mites shipped in live is a tricky business anywhere that gets hot.
Spinosad (Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew) should also kill them. But you need to be careful with it, especially as a spray, as it can kill bees. If the bagged soil is the issue, maybe you could do a drench before planting?
Trap plants like marigolds or chrysanthemums might help if the thrips are not in the soil. The ones wandering around lookin’ for a meal will go for them. Then you trash them once they are really infested.
I’ve never used sticky traps but I know some rose ppl who like them
We’ve kept my roses mostly thrip-free by planting garlic next to them and our robust population of ladybugs and assassin bugs. We didn’t used to have many until we planted some dill and it went to seed. Now we typically have at least one dill plant per bed. Or occasionally fennel. We also have the luxury of lots of dandelions. Which one of our neighbors hates. But he can stuff it. Dandelions are great for the soil and beneficial insects.
We don’t usually grow from seed. Partly because we are always late getting the garden moving. Partly because the bunnies seem to eat them as soon as they emerge. We usually buy small plants from our local garden store. Which closed this year
Biology and Life Cycle: Adults overwinter in plant debris or in bark. Females lay eggs in the spring that hatch in three to five days. Nymphs feed for one to three weeks, then molt to adult stage. Many generations a season.
Habitat: Most gardens. Vegetables, flowers, fruit and shade trees. Causes leaves to crinkle, especially on beans.
Feeding Habits: Adults and nymphs rasp and suck the juice from plant cells and cause silvery speckles or streaks on leaves. Flowers turn brown on the edges and don’t open properly. Thrips will attack many different kinds of plants.
Economic Importance: Causes reduced plant production and ruins flowers. A serious onion pest. Damage can cause decrease in bulb size. Spreads viruses.
Natural Control: Bigeyed bugs are the most important natural control, along with minute pirate bugs, lacewings, and lady beetles. Heavy rainfall also helps. Nematodes applied in water drenches will control species that pupate in the soil.
Organic Control: Spray with plant oil or neem products when necessary or release predatory mites or pirate bugs. Garlic tea and seaweed sprays are very effective. Cover plants with row cover material.
Insight: Will bite humans. Bite is similar to chigger bite and may cause a rash. Thrips do have one good point. Some species will eat spider mites.
One recommendation I remember is to bake your soil (then re-innoculate with compost and compost tea), dunno how realistic that is with the amount of soil you have. I’d avoid nicotine, it’s seriously poisonous (1mg will kill a human), and will do in most living things.
Start small. Biggest cause for failure is starting a larger plot than you can manage. And you will get better as you gain experience.
Don’t expect instant results. It can take a few seasons for the soil to go from lawn (yuck) to garden (yum!) Adding compost, mulch and such amendments as your soil type requires will take a few years to have an effect. I have incredible river bottom soil and it still took probably 4-5 years to get to where I wasn’t constantly having to add fertilizer or things to try to eek my plants through.
Plant what you and your family will eat.
There are way too many gardening channels on YouTube, but a couple really good ones are Epic Gardening and Gardening in Canada. These are folks who actually know their stuff (GiC is run by an actual University-trained soil scientist)
Amen to that. Every location is going to have its own soil type, microclimate, pest and disease pressures, macro and micronutrient needs, timing for first and last frost, etc. Learning what works for your location is probably the most important, and also the hardest, knowledge to attain. Because you really can’t look it up, you have just do it.
If there is a local-to-you gardener or farm or even a farmers market stall staffer who will give you some of their time, see if they have answers to:
Where do you get your compost? (because the quality of it can make or break you in a very real, time-consuming, “scrape it all out and bag it” way if you get it wrong)
Where do you get your soil tested? (as above) (it’s a really good idea to get your soil tested properly, and not, say, like how some “labs” I will not name in Texas, which provide soil “analysis” by zip code and not really be examining the samples I sent them)
What specific varieties of veg / fruit work here in this area for you-the-farmer? (then compare to what your family eats or just look at your biggest expenditures produce-wise from your grocery receipts)
Also:
Make sure that if your home as been treated for termites etc. that your in-ground garden is not located too close to your foundation bc: pesticides.
If there is a master-gardener program in your county (usually offered through a university/county extension program), consider putting in the time, or making friends with someone who has been through it.
(often available at bigger used bookstores, try to get a copy that is the least out-of-date possible if not buying new edition; has bug ID, short how-to on making compost, explainers for best practices)
Oh hey Rodale’s seems to have side-diversified and this looks interesting but I have never seen this specific edition before (“ultimate” eh?):
Where do people come out on raised beds vs. just working the ground to make it good for inground planting? I was thinking I’d start small with a raised bed and see how that goes, while maybe making
other parts of the yard ready for more cultivation later on?
