Gardening/Maintenance Thread

[robbiestoupe]

The long, skinny ones are the tree. The others are wild grapes.

Not wild, but yes, grapes. Well, wild in the sense that they are climbing the tree

When I get home I'll cut into the fruit and snap a new pic. Perhaps plum, but there are no thorns. Do all plum trees have thorns? Thing is the fruits are falling to the ground before they ripen (unless it's a fruit that ripens with a green color).

The fruit is also somewhat fuzzy.

[blackjack68]

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/ ... t-drop.htm

[blackjack68]

It's peaches.

That's my final answer.

I'm still mostly guessing, but it's an educated guess.

[robbiestoupe]

I'm with you blackjack. Just strange that they are dropping like that, but the link you provided makes sense. It's either peach or nectarine. There are what appears to be peach pits everywhere on the ground.

My grandpa had a peach tree and I don't remember any of them "dropping" so this is all new to me. Of course he took great care of his tree (kept it no more than 6' tall) and this one looks like it's growing wildly.

[Willie Kool]

Yeah, if the fruit's fuzzy it's a peach.

[blackjack68]

Read up on fertilizing the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer (probably too late for this year) and trimming back the tree.

Also, plan on hand thinning the fruit when it is small so that remaining fruit has a better chance of thriving.

[robbiestoupe]

Thing is probably 20-25 ft tall. Going to be quite a task to thin the sucker out. Sounds like a fall project. Hmm, peach wood in a camp fire would probably leave a nice aroma!

[blackjack68]

Thing is probably 20-25 ft tall. Going to be quite a task to thin the sucker out. Sounds like a fall project. Hmm, peach wood in a camp fire would probably leave a nice aroma!

Peach wood is fantastic for smoking ribs.

[shafnutz05]

Our three dead poplars got taken down Monday and Tuesday. What a relief. I've spent the last several days trying to work on evening out the ground around the stumps to at least make it mowable for the time being. One of my first tasks is/was digging up the American Pokeweed roots that are in the ground, so it stops growing up.

Holy crap...no wonder these things grow like kudzu. The tubers of these things are ridiculously large...and as I was trying to shovel under/through them, you could just see the water seeping out of them. Not to mention the smell was a cross between a rotting animal and fetid garbage. I will eradicate these things from my property if it's the last thing I do.

[Willie Kool]

Our three dead poplars got taken down Monday and Tuesday. What a relief. I've spent the last several days trying to work on evening out the ground around the stumps to at least make it mowable for the time being. One of my first tasks is/was digging up the American Pokeweed roots that are in the ground, so it stops growing up.

Holy crap...no wonder these things grow like kudzu. The tubers of these things are ridiculously large...and as I was trying to shovel under/through them, you could just see the water seeping out of them. Not to mention the smell was a cross between a rotting animal and fetid garbage. I will eradicate these things from my property if it's the last thing I do.

I've eliminated several stands of Poke and a few of Japanese knotweed by digging. You could keep cutting off the tops for years, and they'd still grow back. Roundup will knock them back, but they'd be back the next spring. 10 years later, the Poke is long gone, but I still get a few shoots of knotweed every spring.

[shafnutz05]

Thanks WK, good to know. Yeah I finally realized it's time to just dig the roots out. I'm letting them sit out overnight before disposing of them.

[King Colby]

Novice gardener here... how early should i harvest the first peppers? I have like 1 pepper per bell pepper plant but theyre not growing due to the single fruit likely using all resources.

My jalapenos, habaneros, and chili pepper plants are growing like crazy though and tons of buds.

[blackjack68]

You'll get a lot more of the smaller peppers than the bells.

[blackjack68]

KC, what is your question exactly?

When should you harvest your bell peppers?

You should harvest when they reach the desired size, but keep in mind that they will get sweeter the longer they stay n the plant.

[blackjack68]

I like jalapeños when they are a good size and most of the time, I go for green, but I like to keep a few on the plant until they turn red...as long as you don't have anything nibbling at them.

[King Colby]

I have it all fenced in. I will definitely try a red jalapeno or two. I have a poblano that's almost ready to go... i love those.

I guess my question was, if i have some plants that have like one pepper each, should I just get rid of the pepper and pitch it to allow more plant growth, or just let it go.

Last year I had one single habanero plant and ended up with about 40 peppers from it.

[blackjack68]

I'd let the bells be.

I wouldn't allow more that 4-6 per plant once they start popping.

Are they getting full sun?

[cadams]

Best way to get rid of squash bugs besides a flame thrower?

[blackjack68]

Here's a start.

http://www.almanac.com/content/squash-bug

But flame thrower is an option.

[blackjack68]

Another option.

http://www.reformationacres.com/2012/07 ... ymphs.html

[mac5155]

My tomato and cucumber plants are HUGE right now.

[blackjack68]

Don't over water. Watch for yellowing of leaves. That's too much water.

1" of water per week is about right.

[mac5155]

Yeah, we figured out the gallon-age needed based on sq foot and use cans (as opposed to straight from the hose)

[Shyster]

Here's a start.

http://www.almanac.com/content/squash-bug

But flame thrower is an option.

http://throwflame.com/ On sale for $1,599!

[dodint]

I love Hosta. I'm laying waste to all our flower beds (save for one in the front of the house) and replacing all of it with either grass or Hosta. It looks great and is easy to maintain. Done and done.