Can a Slug-Caused Tomato Tragedy Be Saved? 14 May 24.

 This is the Supersweet-100 cherry tomato that I bought yesterday but didn't plant yet.  Overnight, something ate the stem.  I blame a slug.

Tomato plants are famous for growing roots from the stems, easily.  I will try to water-root the top.

I cut it with a single-edge razor for a clean cut.

Then, into water.

I'll keep it in my East - facing window and see what happens.

Meanwhile, here is the gaping wound.

I placed the cut iff "stump" outside with my other plants.  If it was planted above the cotyledon level, maybe it will regrow.  But I doubt that.

Tomato Seedlings Planted. 14 May 24.

Over the past four days, I planted the slicing / eating tomatoes, and the paste / salsa / cooking tomatoes.  I replaced the in- line drip irrigation (for last year's garlic and beans) with rescued individual emitters, one for each plant.  These are almost all dwarf tomato varieties, most from saved seeds.  They should reach about the tops of the supports.  The exception, Reisentraub, is more vigorous but can be trimmed.

The emitters all seem to be working.  This year, I invested in heavy duty wire ring supports to keep them more vertical.  That makes the cardboard mulching a bit more complicated but I will figure it out.

Similar for the sauce / salsa / cooking tomatoes.  Half are "Roma", a not-vigorous bushy determinate.  There are a couple of hybrid paste tomatoes too, last seeds from the packs.  Paisano and Plum Regal.  They are determinate and bushy but more vigorous and sprawling than Roma, so the supports will help keep the tomatoes clean and safe from slugs and sun exposed for sweetness and flavor.  The hybrids are more productive and larger, meaty tomatoes and are less work than Roma, but I also grow Rons because of sentimental reasons, and I can save Roma seeds each year.  So I feel like they  are "mine".

The redcurrent on the left needs to go.  It was accidental a pruned stick, stuck into the ground.  At the back are Egyptian Walking Onions, which will remain there until fall.

I also added an extra Reisentraub to the sauce tomato bed.  My cherry tomato seedlings didn't thrive, so I bought three plants - a dwarf type, similar to my heirloom dwarf tomatoes but is a hybrid cherry, called "Husky Red Cherry".  It should fit in, and I prefer dwarf types.  The other two are "Supersweet  100" which is too vigorous for these raised beds so needs a different location, and "Red Cherry" (!?) which might also need it's own location.

Blooming Roses. Cutting Rose Shows It's Color. 14 May 24.

 This climbing rose was grown from a "stick cutting", started three or four years ago.  Two years ago, it had  a set-back when I dug it up and moved it to its current spot.  It lost most of its roots in the process.  Now it's too tall for me to reach the top.  There were a couple of meager flowers last year.  Now or's covered with buds, and is among the first two blooming (Miniroses, kept growing all winter, are different of course).

Something tells me this is "Climbing Nr. Lincoln" but I'm not certain.

This rose is in its second Spring in my hands.  I planted it as a bare root, mail order, last year.  The variety is "Tropical Lightening".

I think there was more yellow / orange last year, in the variegated areas.  It's also covered with buds.

Reviving Overwintered Brugmansia. 11 May 24.

 I overwintered the Brugmansia in the garage with no watering at all.  Last month it bloomed, despite having no leaves.

I got it out and lightly pruned the top stems.  There are many growth buds.

I have watered it several times, to rehydrate the soil.  I don't want it to grow much larger, so I'm not sure about fertilizing.  It probably needs a larger container.

Planting The Chili Peppers. 11 May 24.

 Given a day in the 90s and another in the high 80s, I'm motivated to get everything into the garden.  I had the peppers containers mostly ready, so it went pretty quickly.

I added home made bone meal and coffee grounds to the soil before planting.  The drip irrigation system is flowing all of the way through.  I might change the one high flow emitter to slow flow to match the other flow rates.

I also planted the two pots of cilantro with two groups of pepper plants.  I want to space out the cilantro this year.

When I feel good about the drip systems, I'll add a crunchy leaf mulch to all of the plants.  They also get slug bait.

Last year, most of these had three plants per container.  This year I'm planting two.  I think they will benefit from the space, especially since I think these hybrid plants will be more vigorous.

Up-Potting Red Mini Rose. 11 May 24.

 Similar to the yellow rose, I potted the red grocery store mini roses into a group pot (in both cases, I also kept a plant of each in larger decorative glazed pots).  

The red one is smaller.  I had kept it in bloom longer, and repotted on good potting soil much later - maybe a month?  They are doing fine but, again, the heat will be a big challenge to keep with.

I don't have a glazed ceramic container of the right size, so this will have to do for now.  I don't know if this one will grow as large as the yellow one, yet.

In this case, there are three plants in the container.

I tentatively identified this rose as Daniela but like the issue with SunMaid, I can't know for certain.

I am interested in seeing how these roses respond to the care I give them.  So far, they seem to be thriving.  

Up-Potting Mini Roses in a Group Container. 11 May 24

 With temperatures heading above 90 (Early May!), the small containers will dry out quickly and be harder to keep up with.  Also, the plants are big enough now, that they are top heavy.   I don't need so many individual plants.  So I opted to plant them in a large group pot.

This is the after photo.

I sat the potted rose plants in the partially filled container, to evaluate the fit.

The rose plants are very healthy, with healthy roots. The plants were not root bound yet.

I think they will do well in the group container.  There is a lot of root-room.  

I'm still not 100% certain of my identification of this rose as SunMaid Kordana.  There is no way to know for certain.   For example, Golden Aloha Kordana and Sunstar Kordana look similar, to my eyes.  Also, growing method, age of bloom, lighting wavelengths and intensity, affect the bloom.  I guess it doesn't matter, since I won't be propagating or selling any.  It is just for my own enjoyment.

Caladium Starting to Grow. 7 May 24.

 I kept the planted caladium tubers on the seed starting mat.  Two of the three tubers are growing, plus an offshoot from one.  This one is the most vigorous so far.

Shallot Seedlings. 7 May 24.

 The shallot seeds have been germinating.  They are uneven because they got sloshed around in the rain.  Still plenty for a test of how they grow and will they be worth it in the future.

More Mini-Roses Blooming. SunMaid Kordana? 7 May 24

These are from the first pot of yellow Valentine's Day grocery store mini-roses that I bare-rooted, separated, planted individually in good potting soil, and have been watering with Schultz liquid house plant fertilizer per label instructions.

I've been taking them outside for full sun during the day, and inside to prevent too much chill, at night.  I actually think they would be fine outside 24/7 now, since the hybrid teas and English roses are in bud.

If I can find a good container to group at least three, maybe four of these, I'd like to do that soon.  The tall narrow pots sometimes fall over, and I don't care to have a total of five separate plants. 

This is from the same group, bloomed much earlier.  With time, the flower size enlarged very much and the yellow color became very pale.  Soon I will prune that flower stem back to a good looking, lower bud.

This plant has a new flower but from a base shoot, now, and another starting from a taller branch.

Planting Four O'clock, Morning Glory, and Bush Bean Seedlings Outside. 7 May 24.

 I planted most of the Four O'Clock seedlings and about half of the Morning Glory seedlings outside.  It was rainy all day and the soil was muddy.  I didn't want to wait any longer.  They looked like they were starting to suffer in their small containers, and more difficult to manage.

That purple label is next to a plant from overwintered Four O'Clock roots.  It's difficult to see due to the dark colored, small, leaves.

I also planted the only bush bean seedlings that grew earlier.  There are just two.  I'll start more.  I'd like to see how early I can start them.

I gave all of the seedlings a scattering of slug bait, too.

Alpine Strawberry Seedling Germination. 7 May 24.

 Some of the alpine strawberry seeds are germinating.  In my reading, I expected slower.  This is only a fraction of the seeds I planted, and it's quite uneven so far,  but it looks like plenty already.

I keep them on the warming mat at night, and in the bright light during the day.

Up- Potting Over-Wintered Chive Seedling Pot 4 May 24.

 Last year I planted this container of chive seedlings some time last year.  It overwintered in the kitchen garden.  Now it's growing again.  I want to give them lots more room.

This is the before photo.

They looked pretty root bound.

Rather than tease the roots apart, I just sliced through the soil with a knife.

All of the roots seem to have reached outward, then wind around.  

I sliced it like a cake, into wedges.

Then planted in a much roomier container.

I don't think these will need much TLC.  They should do fine, until they overgrow this container too.

I find it much easier to grow chives in containers, than in-ground.  Much easier to keep weeds out.

Better Hummingbird Photos. 4 May 25

 I moved the feeder closer to the camera.  This camera also doubles as a front door cam, although that was not my intent.

 

Hummingbird Camera. 3 May 24

 Let's see if this uploads.

I converted the webcam bird feeder to watch hummingbirds.  I also set up the solar charger.

Caladiums Germinating. 30 Apr 24.

 I've never grown Caladiums.  Bought these tubers on a whim.  I planted them in small containers to germinate them, and kept them on the seed starting mat.

Growth points are starting to emerge.

Still a long way to go.  Caladiums are tropical, so they need a lot of warmth.  I'm keeping them in the sunroom.

Starting Alpine Strawberry Seeds. 30 Apr 24.

 Alpine strawberries are tiny, but so packed with flavor that they are worth the effort.  Or so I read.

I ordered some alpine strawberry seeds, and they came yesterday.  They are small, so need to be planted near the soil surface.

The instructions state they need 60F to 70F, and bright light, to germinate,  I'll keep them on the seed starting mat at night, and in the sunroom during the day.

It might be too late to start them, for a crop this year.  Assuming they grow.  But then they might be ready for next year.

Overwintered Mirabilis (Four O'Clock) Roots Growing. 30 Apr 24.

 Earlier, I was cleaning out a container that was stored in the garage.  Last year it contained annual flowers.  I forgot that among those, were Mirabilis.  Removing the soil, I found two nice roots.  

I cleaned up the roots and planted them in containers to see if the would grow.  Leaves have begun to emerge.

While cleaning the pots  I pulled off what I thought was a weed.  Now I think it was the Mirabilis growing long and thin due to almost no light.  I didn't know if the roots would have new growing points, but I giess they did.

Slugs get into the plants that are in the ground outside now.  I'll let these grow for a month or so, then plant outside.

Here is the photo of the roots.

Earlier post here.  The roots needed about three to four weeks to start growing.

Yellow Jacket Queens Trapped. 28 Apr 24.

 These look larger than yellow jacket scouts.  Plus, the queens might be the only ones flying around in late April (maybe).

If so, that means probably fewer nests and fewer yellow jackets to deal with in the orchard.

I do need to set up more traps.

Grafting Project Update: Feral Black Cherry. 28 Apr 24.

 For several years of dog walks, I watched after road mowing crews mowed off the side of a large feral black cherry growing in the county roadway easement.  When I could access the cherries, they were delicious and different from the usual sweet cherry, black and with a "black cherry flavor".  

I salvaged some sticks and grafted to a sour cherry (I think North Star?') that wasn't mature yet,  headinf there. I thin that was two, but maybe three, years ago.

Here are those black cherry branches now.

They are much more vigorous compared to the sour cherry tree.  The big tufts of flowers, are the feral black cherry.  The more sparse flowers are the sweet cherry.

I think I can prune back the black cherry about 1/2 after they bear.  There are some sour cherry wild seedlings in the duck yard - maybe I can graft onto those, and try to preserve the original sour cherry.

Up-Potting Tomato Seedlings. 27 Apr 24.

 I repotted more than half of the tomato seedlings.

Apple Grafts Update. 27 Apr 24.

 A number of the apple grafts have growing buds now.