What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

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Gardening is a cherished activity for many participants, with roots tracing back to childhood experiences and family traditions. Organic gardening methods are favored, emphasizing the use of natural techniques over chemicals. Current gardening efforts include cultivating perennials like blueberries and raspberries, alongside plans for vegetable and herb gardens. Participants express a desire for more space to garden, reflecting on the challenges of apartment living and the joy of nurturing plants. The discussion highlights cultural differences in gardening practices, particularly contrasting American and Spanish lifestyles regarding home and garden ownership.
  • #1,471
Evo said:
:cry: I cry for your no moose, comrad turbo.
Me, too! If moose knew how tasty they are, they would hide in the woods and never come out.
 
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  • #1,472
turbo-1 said:
Me, too! If moose knew how tasty they are, they would hide in the woods and never come out.
I love moose - with blackberry - or even better, cloudberry - sauce. :-p
 
  • #1,473
Mmm! My favorite is moose tenderloin sliced fairly thin and quick-fried in butter in a very hot skillet with salt and pepper. Serve with home-fried potatoes, onions, and garlic. Gotta have some fresh, hot biscuits to mop the drippings out of the skillet, too. I have never had moose served with any kind of sauce - it would have to be pretty delicate-tasting not to overwhelm the wonderful sweet venison flavor of moose-meat. I'm kind of a purist when it comes to venison - I've never even considered doing up the ribs in BBQ sauce.:rolleyes: The ghosts of my ancestors would certainly exact retribution of some sort.
 
  • #1,474
Fall is here. Several days ago it hit with a storm and temperatures have been in the 50-60's ever since. It's thrown several of my bell pepper plants into shock and they've dropped most of their leaves and blooms. The long term forecast doesn't indicate any warming, so I am afraid my hopes of a long growing season are shot. :frown:
 
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  • #1,475
Evo said:
Fall is here. several days ago it hit with a storm and temperatures have been in the 50-60's ever since. It's thrown several of my bell pepper plants into shock and they've drop most of their leaves and blooms. The long term forcast doesn't indicate any warming, so I am afraid my hopes of a long growing season are shot. :frown:
Our season has pretty much finished here too. Right now we're getting the remnants of Hannah, which is the first substantial rain in a few weeks. The trees and other plants are really stressed. It seems we'll have an early winter. The peppers stopped flowering weeks ago, the tomatos are full of fruit - they did quite well this year. The raspberries are starting to prepare for winter, but the blackberry canes are still growing and some of those reaching the ground have rooted. Only one of the blueberry bushes still has fruit - and they are very sweet.
 
  • #1,476
turbo-1 said:
Here is a way to get rid of them - put some cider vinegar in the bottom of a drinking glass, make a cone with an open tip out of paper, invert that cone into the glass and seal off the edges with scotch tape. The fruit flies will enter the cone to get the vinegar and won't find their way back out. You can dress up the bait with a piece of over-ripe fruit and perhaps a little sugar, but cider vinegar works all by itself.

My version.

ffliestrap.jpg


And it works. Filled with apple vinegar.
 
  • #1,477
Borek said:
My version.
And it works. Filled with apple vinegar.
That simple little trap works really well. During the times when we are picking tomatoes, peaches, etc and have them ripening on the counter, a trap like that keeps the fly population down to reasonable levels. Like you, I use cider vinegar with no other baits.
 
  • #1,478
Wine works really well, and they die happy.
 
  • #1,479
Astronuc said:
Our season has pretty much finished here too.

Curiously enough we have a little heat wave here in The Netherlands with temps in the 70s. I came too late to the new appartment to do much gardening but the pot plants (Fuchsia Begonia etc) are very happy flowering.
 
  • #1,480
Last night I awoke to the unmistakeable smell of skunk. I noticed that the night before some animal had rooted around in all of my potted plants, squirrels don't roam at night, so I was wondering what it was. I have never seen a skunk in this neighborhood before. I hope he is satisfied that there is nothing in the pots.
 
  • #1,481
We are expecting a hard frost tonight, so I have harvested all of my peppers. I got at least 2 bushels of chili peppers of various types, though the habanero harvest was a bit thin. Guess who I found chewing on my jalapeno plants?
horntail.jpg

He and his cohort have also been chewing the skin off my jalapeno peppers. They chew the habanero plants, but they leave those super-hot chilies alone. Stupid, lazy assassin bugs! This guy was really fat and over 3" long - he could have fed a whole family of assassin bugs for days! Assassin bugs, you're fired!
 
  • #1,482
turbo-1 said:
we are expecting a hard frost tonight, so i have harvested all of my peppers. I got at least 2 bushels of chili peppers of various types, though the habanero harvest was a bit thin. Guess who i found chewing on my jalapeno plants?
horntail.jpg

he and his cohort have also been chewing the skin off my jalapeno peppers. They chew the habanero plants, but they leave those super-hot chilies alone. Stupid, lazy assassin bugs! This guy was really fat and over 3" long - he could have fed a whole family of assassin bugs for days! Assassin bugs, you're fired!
aaarrgghhh!
 
  • #1,483
turbo-1 said:
We are expecting a hard frost tonight, so I have harvested all of my peppers. I got at least 2 bushels of chili peppers of various types, though the habanero harvest was a bit thin. Guess who I found chewing on my jalapeno plants?
Pretty impressive tobacco hornworm Turbo! They seem to appreciate a varied diet (all in the nightshades). His days are already numbered, siince you've taken away the prize (peppers) plus the hard freeze. He won't be a very happy camper :wink:
 
  • #1,484
Are those real eyes on top of its head or just more spots?
 
  • #1,485
Math Is Hard said:
Are those real eyes on top of its head or just more spots?
I believe they are markings like the other pairs.. Here's some info from those more familiar with larval anatomy. http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2006/June/060622OSL.htm
...all caterpillars (lepidoptera) have some things in common. They have a well-developed head with chewing mouthparts. The head does not have eyes but usually has 6 eyespots called ocelli and a pair of short antennae.

Here's an ol' boy (from East Texas), who also found hornworms on his chiles..
(does he have a hog smoker in the background :rolleyes: ?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWioUe72aOw
 
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  • #1,486
Turbo, absolutely fantastic photo of the horn worm guy!

What's up with the frosty weather so soon?
 
  • #1,487
turbo-1 said:
We are expecting a hard frost tonight, so I have harvested all of my peppers. I got at least 2 bushels of chili peppers of various types, though the habanero harvest was a bit thin. Guess who I found chewing on my jalapeno plants?
horntail.jpg

He and his cohort have also been chewing the skin off my jalapeno peppers. They chew the habanero plants, but they leave those super-hot chilies alone. Stupid, lazy assassin bugs! This guy was really fat and over 3" long - he could have fed a whole family of assassin bugs for days! Assassin bugs, you're fired!

Bears a striking resemblance to this guy...

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/1571/jthqa0.jpg
 
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  • #1,488
baywax said:
Turbo, absolutely fantastic photo of the horn worm guy!

What's up with the frosty weather so soon?
Thanks! That was with my Canon 30D and 28-135mm at 135mm and about at the closest macro distance. He's one real ugly fellow - well, he was anyway. He is an ex-horn worm since shortly after I took his obituary photo.

We sometimes get frosts before summer is officially over - a northerly prevailing wind bringing down Canadian air is part of it, and very clear nights for maximum radiative cooling "seal the deal" as it were.
 
  • #1,489
lisab said:
Bears a striking resemblance to this guy...

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/1571/jthqa0.jpg
Close,[/URL] though I didn't notice Princess Leia in a gold bikini anywhere about.
 
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  • #1,490
Evo said:
aaarrgghhh!
You jumped the gun, Evo. TODAY is international talk like a pirate day.
 
  • #1,491
turbo-1 said:
He and his cohort ...

If that's a "he", then why ... how do I say this ... why does "he" seem to need a bra?
 
  • #1,492
Dem's not woman parts, dey're the front feet. Look at the hairs and compare to the other feet. Obviously, he could be a she. It was easier to kill "him" that way, though. I don't know if moth larvae are sexually ambiguous, or are already gender-leaning or gender-specific before pupating... :confused:
 
  • #1,493
turbo-1 said:
horntail.jpg
Wow! That's an amazing photo! It makes him look so cute, I want to cuddle him! :biggrin:

Assassin bugs, you're fired!

:smile: I'm actually glad you posted a picture of an assassin bug earlier in the thread. I found ONE in my garden this summer, and knew to let it live. But, I don't think one can do very much against the onslaught of grasshoppers and crickets. Ember defends the house from invading crickets (I have a lot of dead crickets with missing legs near the front door :rolleyes:), but there's no stopping them outside.
 
  • #1,494
Moonbear said:
Wow! That's an amazing photo! It makes him look so cute, I want to cuddle him! :biggrin:
Oooh, you're sick! These guys are death to tomatoes, peppers, etc.

This particular one was bigger than my middle finger (the one that I would have been willing to give him) and I hope that I can avoid a similar infestation next year. He left a slippery wet spot on the ground after I took his obituary photo.
 
  • #1,495
turbo-1 said:
Oooh, you're sick! These guys are death to tomatoes, peppers, etc.

:smile: It's your fault for taking such a good photo of him! What can I say, he's very photogenic. :biggrin:
 
  • #1,496
Moonbear said:
:smile: It's your fault for taking such a good photo of him! What can I say, he's very photogenic. :biggrin:
My photos tend to be rather clinical as opposed to artistic. I took this one because that rascal was huge, and he and others had decimated many of my plants.

I still can't believe that you think he's cute. Ugh.
 
  • #1,497
turbo-1 said:
My photos tend to be rather clinical as opposed to artistic. I took this one because that rascal was huge, and he and others had decimated many of my plants.

I still can't believe that you think he's cute. Ugh.

But it is artistic. He's perched there, with those spots looking like eyes, chomping on what's probably some precious jalapeno part, but posed just like a squirrel nibbling an acorn. He even looks like he's wagging a tail, with that horn on his "butt." Now, if you put his post-mortem photo up, I might not think he was so cute. :wink:
 
  • #1,498
Moonbear said:
But it is artistic. He's perched there, with those spots looking like eyes, chomping on what's probably some precious jalapeno part, but posed just like a squirrel nibbling an acorn. He even looks like he's wagging a tail, with that horn on his "butt." Now, if you put his post-mortem photo up, I might not think he was so cute. :wink:
He didn't look so cute after getting stomped. Kinda flat, distorted, and "mushy". I felt better, though.
 
  • #1,499
Ouabache said:
I believe they are markings like the other pairs.. Here's some info from those more familiar with larval anatomy. http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2006/June/060622OSL.htm

Thanks, Ouabache!

OMG, you guys - I know why I am fascinated with turbo's photo now. It reminds me of the most powerful object of desire that I have ever known in my life. I first laid eyes on this at the age of three when it came on a television commercial, and I knew that some day, some how, it would be mine:
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/gift_guide/galleries/kids/photo01.jpg

Maybe some of you know what I am talking about.
 
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  • #1,500
Math Is Hard said:
Thanks, Ouabache!

OMG, you guys - I know why I am fascinated with turbo's photo now. It reminds me of the most powerful object of desire that I have ever known in my life. I first laid eyes on this at the age of three when it came on a television commercial, and I knew that some day, some how, it would be mine:
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/gift_guide/galleries/kids/photo01.jpg

Maybe some of you know what I am talking about.
I was too big to have an Inchworm. :frown: But you can never be too big for Teddy Ruxpin!

We should make kids toys for adults.

The Spawn of Evo had a little frog car that blew bubbles out of it head when she'd push it along. <sigh> Those were the good old days.
 
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