Gardening, Part 2

Interesting. I was always under the impression they were. I’ve grown butternut and uchiki kuri under/through my corn and they’ve done well. I thought most winter squash tended to put out leaders and ‘wander’ whereas soft summer squash tend not so spread so far, making winter squash a better bet in corn patches.

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Good to know you’ve had success with them!
I was making that statement based on my (perhaps flawed) understanding that Native American farmers traditionally grew (and still do grow) something closer to the mexican gray summer squash in the US southwest.

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Ah, well, I’ve no awareness of a Mexican grey summer squash, here in the grey and cloudy UK - but fast becoming more like the US southwest, I suspect. :wink:
I’d assumed they’d grow winter squashes that can be stored and eaten through the bare times of winter. Is the Mexican squash a ‘spreader’? If so, it would probably do just as well as winter squash do, threading its way through a corn/maize patch.

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One month since the last pic.


Even the shortest plant is 3 feet tall. The leaves were yellowing so I added some all purpose liquid fertilizer and some cal-mag to the water a couple of days ago, and despite 100+° days, they are greening back up. One of the plants is already exhibiting buds, making me wonder if I mixed up an autoflower, because it seems too soon.

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Sunlight is probably driving the flowering. I look forward to the potency reports, that will be more important than when it flowers.

If it doesn’t work out, and if you have south-facing windows that aren’t shaded, consider starting the seeds in February (zone 6-7), or March (zone 5 or 6)?

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Meet our local lubber grasshopper. We have hundreds of these in my yard. They breed and birth on the back patio and then spread around. They’re enormous, and also poisonous for the birds.

Next to a US dime.

Description.
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/lubber.htm

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lubbers are the worst! jeebus i hate those bastards!
mum had them - way upstate in Pasco (north of Tampa) - and they would DESTROY anything good planted there!
thank the Great Conch we don’t have those gawd awful beasts down here!

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I think it’s more likely that either I put an autoflower out in this setup, when I intended to keep them all photos, or this particular seed was mislabeled. It’s happened before. Turns out, people who sell marijuana seeds don’t seem to be especially detail oriented.

As it is, this one is only 2 months old and already showing flowers, it’s behaving exactly like an auto would. It’s even shorter than the other two.

But it’s all good. It won’t go to waste. :+1:

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Kenan Thompson Snl GIF by Saturday Night Live

Keep them over on your side of the border, please. KTHXBYE!

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Too late. For you too, @FloridaManJefe :

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mostly constrained to the mainland. not even Key Largo, the northernmost island has them, to my knowledge.

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Horror No GIF by Aardman Animations

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Once it’s flowering visibly, it won’t do much vertical growth either way, but it’s very likely autoflower if it’s that age from seed like you say.

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oooh! baby watermelon surprised me today!
“mini sugar sweet” yellow melon finally makes. can’t wait!


we started these a little late in the season, but given the total wierdness of our semi-tropical climate, it will have plenty of time.

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Found a pest eating the leaves on my pole beans. Japanese beetle?
Anyone have any control recommendations?
(Located in Pennsylvania these days FWIW)


(Edited to fix image error)

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You posted your picture before it was uploaded. This guy?

Do NOT get the bait bags. It will only attract more of the buggers. Instead, you can use their own defense mechanism against them.

If the bugs feel threatened they will just drop off whatever leaf they are on. So get yourself a small bucket (around 3 gallons) and put a few cups of water and dish soap in the bottom. In the evening while they are chilling out, give the plants a light spray of water from the hose. That will stop them from flying off. Then take your bucket of soapy water, place it under the leaves the bugs are on, and bonk the leaf with a stick. The bugs will fall off into the water and drown.

Do this for a few evenings and it should take care of the worst of your problem. You’ll have to do this again the next year to take care of the grubs already in the soil. After that you should only need occasional touchups.

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I suppose flies have to sleep somewhere? About 30 mins after dark, hanging out on a tree shoot.

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In this state they are called “rests”, not “flies”

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My garden aspirations were comically lofty at the beginning of the summer and failed to account for how little free time I would have, but all in all I’m pretty darn happy with what I was able to accomplish in 2 3’x4’ raised beds.

Wins: curly endive (so good in salads and it just keeps growing!), carrots, zucchini, kale, strawberries, broccoli

Losses: my beets stopped growing when the roots were about 2" and critters discovered them (we feasted on the remaining baby beets), my bean plants only put out a handful of beans and this was a letdown. My chard seedlings got blown over during a windstorm before they could make it into the ground and I was too lazy to try again.

Goals for next year: build more beds and fence everything in, try Japanese eggplant, lettuces, and summer squash

Behold, the first two zucchini and a crapload of kale:


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