In the Garden

No peppers and melons?

wxman — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:17:52 GMT

I'm having some issues with some of my peppers as well. I've been told that peppers require a lot of water. I know that the ones that are having trouble are being watered with other plants that use a lot of water and may not be getting enough. My community garden is on an automatic watering system and several of my pepper plants wilted while plants on either side of them were doing fine. Last year I had a great pepper crop with the same system but I had the peppers grouped together. Next year I'm going to put my peppers all together so I can give them extra water and see what happens. As for the melons I've never had luck with them so I gave up years ago. They really need a lot of water and sun. They also have a long growing season and we sometimes don't stay warm long enough for them to ripen.

Joseph

No Peppers or Melons, Please.

badgerrr — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:31:19 GMT

I'm wondering about something going on in my raised bed.

Our bed has good store bought ground; and have been using it for maybe 5 years. I fertilize with compost tea (suppose more like worm casting tea) and usually use sphagnum moss to mulch (though this year am just using newspaper.)

When we plant tomatoes things grow well. Zucchini, Cukes and Broccoli just explode outta the ground. But every time we try to plant any melon or pepper we always meet with dismal failure. We plant from starts, and they will grow for a bit but never really amount to anything. Our biggest melon was the size of a golf ball and never got a single pepper.

Any idea what our problem might be?

Holly Pollination

badgerrr — Mon, 21 May 2007 05:41:56 GMT

The little woman would like a few Holly trees in the yard for making wreaths at Christmas. The guy down at Decker Nursery said that the English Holly is the classic for wreaths. So I bought one female and have it planted near the fence off to the west of the house. Woulda bought 2 cause I understand a male must be present for the female to produce berrys. Couldn't locate a Male in Deckers stock. So I still haven't procured that male yet. My Question is......

Do I really need an ENGLISH holly to pollinate an English holly? Understand these things can grow pretty big and I'd rather not have to wrangle another big shrub/tree if I don't have to.

Best Pear Tree

badgerrr — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:31:32 GMT

In time, I plan on taking down our funky old apple tree and getting a good, shade producing pear tree in close proximity. But I know nothing about pear trees and am wondering what kind to get?

Will be planting the pear next spring and letting it grow for a few seasons with the apple tree still up (we need the shade) When it looks like the pear is big enough to compete, we will slowly prune the apple out of existance.

We'd like something that grows a nice tastey pear and would provide good shade. Of course, it needs to be a species that thrives and is hearty in this area.

Any suggestions for what tree I should be looking to plant next spring?

Seeding grass in late Oct/early Nov?

perdurabo — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:52:29 GMT

Hi folks,

I'm buying a new home in Creswell with an unlandscaped back yard. By the time I get settled in, it will be late Oct/early Nov. Would that be too late to seed?

Also, does anyone have any rough pricing estimates for $ per square feet, to get one of those handy trucks to stop by and shoot your yard with mulch/top soil?

Trimmin' da old Apple Tree

badgerrr — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:09:33 GMT

There's an old apple tree in the back yard that I did a major trim job on 2 seasons back. Now, of course, the silly thing is coming alive with sprouts. I just got in from pruning them off. My tactic has been to use my shears to teach the tree what directions I want it to grow in.

Is there anything I can do to retard the problem ? Is there anything to know that will improve this situation or make it less laybor intensive?