I'm curious, with all the space you have, why do you grow so many things in containers? There's lots of reasons, the big one is I don't have a rototiller yet. The grapes that were there have left a bunch of roots sticking up, it's hard to even get a shovel in there to break it up with all those little root runners. I could really use a super duty stump grinder/rototiller to really grind things up in that area! I also need to get a soil test as I'm sure the grapes have depleted it? Vermin & weed/grass control is another, I could also use a truckload or 3 of good top soil/compost/manure mi ..read more

HBR’2023 large fruited tomatoes Wes SG’22.8 Tidwell German 8/20/14 Bull’s Heart 2009 Caspian Pink SG’22.8 Coer from Antuza 2022 Terhune VGC’22.8 George’s Greek Breakfast PL F4 Wessel’s Purple Pride X SG’22 (brown) Captain Lucky 2014 Pineapple VGC’22.10 Mikado White PL VGC’22.8 Royal Hillbilly 8/7/14 Campbell’s 146 2012 Faelan’s First Snow VGCX’22 Faelan’s First Snow X VGCX’22 (FFSxDwfChocolate Lightning SFH’21?) Beaverlodge Slicer VG.SIP’22 Redfield Beauty 2013 (runty, may not survive) Volunteer PL in HBR’14(Stump of the World? Soldacki?) Bloody Butcher 2010 Schmeig Stoo NOT (xAmana Orange ..read more

I got hummingbirds in those last year - first time in anything, in my garden! They also attracted even more butterflies than anything else I have grown. Today, I took advantage of the overcast and cooler weather, and uncovered my 3 covered pepper Earthboxes, to make sure nothing was taking advantage of the fact that I can't see under there, at least if it's something small! No aphids, or anything else growing under there, and those plants are growing faster than the uncovered ones! I think it's because they are slightly warmer, and peppers love heat. These are between 1½ and 2' - I couldn't k ..read more

Yesterday I picked about 3/4 quart of ripe small berries & that made me think berries are about to stop producing. Then I see lots of small green berries and lots of blossoms. Maybe 2 minutes of water is not enough. So I watered the plants 3 minutes. Then I returned every 5 minutes to water 3 minutes again. That makes a total of 12 minutes of water that had time to soak into the soil and not run off into the walk area. Today I picked another quart of ripe berries. Plants have lots of runners growing in all directions I need to do something about that very soon. Every night another bowl of ..read more

Hello! Growing tomatoes in a hydroponic setting (perlite), leaves are curling upwards (almost closed) and the lower leaves are having this whiteness on the bottom then dying. Pictures enclosed below. I don’t think its powdery mildew, its not fuzzy and it follows the veins in the leaves. I'm using a generic synthetic vegetation hydroponic solution. Statistics: Posted by Insxncere — Sun Jun 04, 2023 12:28 am ..read more

I am used to rail systems being flow by. Which means you have a constant stream of hydroponic solution going by the roots and recirculated through the reservoir. Something like how a fountain works. Ebb and flow systems: intermittently flood and drain. Usually it is more like a 15-20 minute cycle not a 30 minute cycle, but I guess that is possible if the roots don't dry out too much. I have only have experience with biofilters that use hydroton or cinder for media, not just the plugs. DWC: Deep water culture. Growing on floating rafts with aerator or pump to circulate the water. Kratky is a ..read more

Wow, Its so hot there! It is still 76 degrees at 11:48 a.m. The trades are back at 7 mph so it does not feel as muggy as the last couple of days. It is overcast with thick clouds. This may bring convection showers later in the day. There is a 20% chance of rain. It won't be much, less than a tenth of an inch if any. I don't get a lot of difference in day and night temperatures. The overnight low's this week are 66-69. The highs are forecast around 81 degrees, but it may not get that high today. Humidity is relatively dry 62%. I agree it does matter where the wind is blowing from. Kona winds f ..read more

Pretty! I forgot I wanted to grow them this year. (That’s what happens when they clear your basket before you get the chance to pay. (I do consider it a “cooling off” period — a chance to reconsider because I always put too many things in the cart/basket. ) Last time I did, I watched hummingbirds hovering over them to drink just like in pictures. I was intrigued because these are not tubular flowers. Statistics: Posted by applestar — Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:23 pm ..read more

The largest Mexican Sunflower plant got the first blossom today, with a lot of buds on that, and the smaller plants getting buds on them now. First Mexican Sunflower of the season, 6-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Statistics: Posted by pepperhead212 — Sat Jun 03, 2023 7:29 pm ..read more

94° yesterday, but only supposed to get to 73° today, and mid 50s overnight. Only one high to 80° forecast in the 10 day, but no rain, for the most part. It seems like either way too much, or not enough, depending on where you are. And I'm smelling the smoke again - I don't know if it's that fire they've been talking about in Nova Scotia, the 5,000 acre one in Ocean County, or the newer one in Burlington county, that's just gotten started. It all depends on where the wind is blowing from! Statistics: Posted by pepperhead212 — Sat Jun 03, 2023 2:02 pm ..read more