2021 Garden Thread

[Fish24/7]

Belgium Giant report.

All good 👍

12 gorgeous plants all loaded with flowers, some have already set. I counted an average of 60 flowers per plant, now they wont all set and make fruits, but at least half will , thats been the average in the past. So the first harvest  should be in about 80 days give or take. Best tomatoes Ive ever tasted, and definitely worth the time and effort. As you can see I try not to prune the suckers this early in the year.  More branches, more tomatoes has been my experience. Late in the year they get heavy pruning. Until then its just some defoliation when necessary. 

(The chicken wire is there to keep my cats out , they will  keep the woodland critters away too,have never had a squirrel or rabbit or deer problem with 4 predators patrolling the yard)

 

Sweethearts report

All good 👍

There are a few clusters of green fruits now hiding in there. My fiirst time growing this kind😃 . Will see how they taste in a just few weeks!

 

Watermelon patch is off to a slow start, had to make a soil ph adjustment and that should help speed things along now.

 

[Dutch]

First ripe tomato this year.

[oneshot]

Birds got them all last year. This year I put up netting so not many but off to a start.

oneshot

 

[Fish24/7]

https://youtube.com/shorts/A5L8bdYY9FY?feature=share

Hungry Dog picks and eats a tomato

 😄

[Fish24/7]

So far everything looks happy😀

Sugar Baby melons

 there's a lot of green tomatoes now on the vines, they  will grow  bigger and bigger for the next few weeks now, some could grow to be Giants 😉

 

[Fish24/7]

Where are all the bees and hummingbirds?? 

I'm in the garden every morning, every evening. There's over a dozen different flowering plants. I have a hummingbird feeder hanging. I have not seen a bird this month. Last month I had 2. 

Bees, pretty much non existent. We live in Ozark county MO. The clover was blooming this month, no bees in it, I have honey suckle, two kinds, not a single bumble bee,or any bee kind in sight . 

Something is seriously wrong.

No bees on the tomatoes either. I've been hand pollinating and using blossom set hormone because of this. My neighbors have the same problem. I talked to a friend who lives 5 miles away, no humming birds, no bees at their place either..

[tho1mas]

I have had the same thoughts this year. I have two feeders out with only three (I think). Long time between filling time. I usually have many more?

[BilletHead]

16 minutes ago, tho1mas said:

I have had the same thoughts this year. I have two feeders out with only three (I think). Long time between filling time. I usually have many more?

               A bunch here early tho1mas. Then the little guys practically vanished. Last several days booming back in.   I wondered two things. Nesting and we were real wet and lots of natural food around.. Then in our area we have became dry, really dry. Grass turning brown and the farmers with irrigation are using it. Maybe the birds food source is drying up? 

[BilletHead]

6 hours ago, Fish24/7 said:

Where are all the bees and hummingbirds?? 

I'm in the garden every morning, every evening. There's over a dozen different flowering plants. I have a hummingbird feeder hanging. I have not seen a bird this month. Last month I had 2. 

Bees, pretty much non existent. We live in Ozark county MO. The clover was blooming this month, no bees in it, I have honey suckle, two kinds, not a single bumble bee,or any bee kind in sight . 

Something is seriously wrong.

No bees on the tomatoes either. I've been hand pollinating and using blossom set hormone because of this. My neighbors have the same problem. I talked to a friend who lives 5 miles away, no humming birds, no bees at their place either..

                      Funny the honeybees don't really do much in the vegetable garden. We have other pollinators that do a good job in the garden though. As far as bees I have bees lots of bees they fly out daily to who knows where. Like other fauna they have the knowledge to utilize what they are provided in certain times of the season.

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

Then the little guys practically vanished. Last several days booming back in.   I wondered two things. Nesting and we were real wet and lots of natural food around

We used to get a pulse early then none throughout May and June then a pulse again in JulyAug until they migrated south in Sept/Oct. I always attributed that to not having good nesting cover on our property and they simply were not around. Though we always had at least one male the whole season. We never had the hummer load that you guys have in Billetheadville.