It's been a bleak week, BUT.....

[DirtMechanic]

Don't know WHAT happened to ours. The plants didn't get 3 1/2 ft. tall and only a handful of okra (I'm being generous). Planted 5 or 6 Emerald seeds REALLY late (in August) and before the first frost they were well over 5 ft. tall. Every year I put out 25-30 plants.

Sound like a root issue. RKN?

 

[Meadowlark]

...What numbers could you point me to for humidity?

Few places anywhere have a higher temp/humidity combo than this part of Texas. 100/100 isn't unusual in August. Okra absolutely thrives in those conditions...arguably better than any other veggie I know. Melons and cow peas also do well at high heat/humidity but nothing loves it more than Okra. If I planted Okra in March or April or early May, it would just sulk and not grow until the temp/humidity gets up there to its liking.

I love Okra but I don't even think about planting it until the onions and potatoes are harvested in late May.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Then you harvest late. By then it would be in the way of the winter crops of course. Okra feeds over such a long time compared to others. Our average temp is 90f and our average humidity is sponge.

 

[Meadowlark]

Then you harvest late. ...

No, not at all. I garden year around. Continuously harvesting.

I don't even start winter crops until Sept. or later ...and by then we have enough Okra to feed our County, LOL. The spring is for potatoes, onions, beans, squash, radishes, tomatoes, and corn; the summer is for Okra, melons, all kinds of cow peas, peppers, cucs , and late corn....but the hottest most humid loving plant is Okra.

 

[David from Dothan]

Have had to transplant to bigger pots......AGAIN. This time to 4 1/2 pots. Root bound AND putting on baby squash. Thinking that I won't start until FOUR weeks before last frost, next year.

 

[DirtMechanic]

ok I am all ears and eyes because so many say do not mess with curcubit roots!

 

[David from Dothan]

ok I am all ears and eyes because so many say do not mess with curcubit roots!

Stay tuned.....film at 11........

 

[David from Dothan]

ok I am all ears and eyes because so many say do not mess with curcubit roots!

......AND, I have learned, over the years, that plants, generally, have a remarkable survival instinct and if you don't tell them negative stuff like, "you don't like to have your roots disturbed".....they can have an amazing tendency to do just the opposite of what they're "supposed" to do.......Ya just never KNOW.......

 

[DirtMechanic]

Oh, the things you do not say in that post! Like me, my idea about betadine, and this nasty little fungus that shows up on my squash flowers late in the summer! I have it all worked out see? It cannot fail. Cornmeal first and if the trichoderma gets the runaround then BAM! like a old episode of Batman and Robin. It cannot go wrong!

 

[G.W]

Looking good David

Had some damping off fungus on my leeks, so sprinkled some cornmeal on the surface.

View attachment 49673
Hey David, I hadn't heard about cornmeal for Fungus, does it absorb the moisture? What does it do?

 

[David from Dothan]

Don't KNOW for sure, GW...... Chuck says it does and I kinda lean toward experience talkin'. Too, just knowing earthworms love it is reason enough for me to give it a shot.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Cornmeal feeds a group of fungi called trichoderma. Trichoderma eats other fungi such as some of the types that cause damping off. Cornmeal is food for biogical warfare fungi-style, the trick being trichoderma does not hurt the plant. It is capable of being in a symbiotic relationship with a plant, even being an endophyte, which is being inside the root rather than outside.

From the Wiki:
Several strains of Trichoderma have been developed as biocontrol agents against fungal diseases of plants.[7] The various mechanisms include antibiosis, parasitism, inducing host-plant resistance, and competition. Most biocontrol agents are from the species T. asperellum, T. harzianum, T. viride and T. hamatum. The biocontrol agent generally grows in its natural habitat on the root surface, and so affects root disease in particular, but can also be effective against foliar diseases.

The Trichi Wiki

 

[alp]

Will polenta/cornmeal help suppress slugs/snails? Will cornmeal kill off good fungi, @DirtMechanic ?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Will polenta/cornmeal help suppress slugs/snails? Will cornmeal kill off good fungi, @DirtMechanic ?

I suspect the best way to use cornmeal for slugs is to use it with beer, which you may also enjoy as you pick the slugs by hand.

And trichoderma IS a good fungi, so no.

You know better than anyone that if one throws a garden party, one surely is benefitted by knowing who is on the guest list! As a good garden party host, one could leave some beer for those attending that you did not get to meet personally!

 

[alp]

Millionaire, 58, added £100,000 to his luxury £1.2m Sandbanks holiday home's value by butchering two protected trees in his back garden to increase the natural light on his patio, court hears

• Trevor Beale is accused of hacking two 60ft Scots Pines
• His £1.2m five-bedroom house is rented out for £4,800 per week in the summer
• Defence argue the increase in value is a 'drop in the ocean' for Beale
• He has pleaded guilty to two charges of contravening tree preservation rules

So roadrunner, you might have unknowingly added value to your house!

Mind you, the light level in this country is feeble compared with that in your country!

 

[alp]

I suspect the best way to use cornmeal for slugs is to use it with beer, which you may also enjoy as you pick the slugs by hand.

And trichoderma IS a good fungi, so no.

You know better than anyone that if one throws a garden party, one surely is benefitted by knowing who is on the guest list! As a good garden party host, one could leave some beer for those attending that you did not get to meet personally!

Quite funny, DM!

 

[DirtMechanic]

Quite funny, DM!

Cleaning out the shop! Thanks for the break!

 

[David from Dothan]

Well, it's February 17........of course.... it's SUPPOSED to be 80°. So the "winter" got cleared outta the greenhouse and moved ALMOST all of the seedlings to it. For the next 2 weeks, the temps are PREDICTED to stay in the spring range......It's only 3 weeks and 2 days until the "last" frost date.....It's been a good day, Tater.....

 

[DirtMechanic]

Well, it's February 17........of course.... it's SUPPOSED to be 80°. So the "winter" got cleared outta the greenhouse and moved ALMOST all of the seedlings to it. For the next 2 weeks, the temps are PREDICTED to stay in the spring range......It's only 3 weeks and 2 days until the "last" frost date.....It's been a good day, Tater.....View attachment 49998View attachment 49999

I cleaned up my shop today and was asking Becky what she did with my grow lights. Just letting her know it is that time again. Our trilliums are popping out of the ground and that is a sure sign of spring around here.