Spring Garden-It's time for show and tell

Albert

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The theory that I've heard about pruning suckers is due to suckers producing less than the main stem. So it comes down to planting density and getting as many main stems as you can without creating disease, pest pressure or stress on the plants.
Agree totally on the density. You can generally tighten up 30% higher than what most recommend. Don’t sweat the disease, if you add a fipronil or imidacloprid drench you will not see TSW virus, and unless it stays really cloudy and rainy you won’t have to worry about bacterial disease much.
Went to a neighbors house today who is as good of a gardener as you will find. Lots of beefsteaks and creoles planted really tight, even more so than I have. He only suckered the first few nodes then walked away and had more fruit than I’ve ever seen in any environment. I should have taken a picture.
Where some people get into trouble being overly aggressive in suckering is by having too many open “wounds” by letting a plant get big then trying to remove too many all at once. Then your asking for disease and infection to set in.
Another effect of early sucker removal is to trick the plant into putting on more early blooms, but you will likely only notice it in the more determinate varieties.
 

alcoholica

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Agree totally on the density. You can generally tighten up 30% higher than what most recommend. Don’t sweat the disease, if you add a fipronil or imidacloprid drench you will not see TSW virus, and unless it stays really cloudy and rainy you won’t have to worry about bacterial disease much.
Went to a neighbors house today who is as good of a gardener as you will find. Lots of beefsteaks and creoles planted really tight, even more so than I have. He only suckered the first few nodes then walked away and had more fruit than I’ve ever seen in any environment. I should have taken a picture.
Where some people get into trouble being overly aggressive in suckering is by having too many open “wounds” by letting a plant get big then trying to remove too many all at once. Then your asking for disease and infection to set in.
Another effect of early sucker removal is to trick the plant into putting on more early blooms, but you will likely only notice it in the more determinate varieties.
yes, it's definitely something that needs to be maintained and not left to do once every three weeks.
 

Okeechobee Joe

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@Okeechobee Joe - how old is that hydrangea, very nice

It’s not an hydrangea. It’s a Japanese snowball bush, a species of viburnum. Coot. I can’t tell you exactly how old it is. It was here on this place when we moved here three years ago. It blooms for only a month or two in the early spring. It requires very little care except picking up some of the dead blooms off the grass or raking them back into the mulch where they quickly deteriorate.
 

crosscreekcooter

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@Okeechobee Joe - I have seen pictures of the snowball before and always assumed it was a variety of hydrangea. Learn something new every day. Thanks

Speaking of hydrangeas, I have 5 Endless Summer on the wrong end of the house that I need to feed and hit with some copper spray today.
 

LagoonGator68

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This Rose of Sharon is doing well this year.


Hibiscus?
 

Albert

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Got a couple pics from the big garden this evening. We had been dry but got 2” of rain over the last 3 days and this crop is officially hauling ass now. I need to get mepiquat chloride on ASAP, but the ground is too wet on the lower ends to use my sprayer. If it won’t dry enough by Thursday afternoon I’m calling the plane. 4442583D-0871-40C7-A462-AAC3418A2B10.jpeg 192A8F3C-DBB5-4EC5-A50F-186D9C4A7FEB.jpeg
 

crosscreekcooter

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Got a couple pics from the big garden this evening. We had been dry but got 2” of rain over the last 3 days and this crop is officially hauling ass now. I need to get mepiquat chloride on ASAP, but the ground is too wet on the lower ends to use my sprayer. If it won’t dry enough by Thursday afternoon I’m calling the plane. View attachment 23047 View attachment 23046

Al you schittin in high cotton :lol:
 

bradgator2

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I gave up real gardening a long time ago. I just dont have the time or patience for daily tending. As for landscaping, I want things that are also going to be low maintenance. Here is an awesome esperanza that finally “woke up” this year with an exploding crepe myrtle right behind it. The esperanza was transplant shoot from my mom’s farm near San Antonio to their home in Jax. That sucker is HUGE there. Then a transplant shoot to my property.

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bradgator2

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I also have what my mom always called a firecracker plant. This also started as a small transplant from hers. Yesterday, there was roughly 10 hummingbirds on it. This plant is awesome. It is a massive bush.
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bradgator2

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I have a few potted hibiscus. I love these but always end up killing them. Either I forget to pull them in before a freeze or dont water them enough.
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crosscreekcooter

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Nice hibiscus Brad, looks like it produces double blooms.
 

Albert

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Finally got to spray the cotton yesterday. Used a tank mix of imidacloprid for tarnished plant bug suppression, mepiquat chloride to keep the plants in a fruiting mode, and an amino acid complex to help manage heat stress. Here is the time-lapse project I’m working on.
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crosscreekcooter

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Well it's middle of July and my indeterminate beefsteaks have slowed production and although still picking 3 or 4 a week, they are mostly holdovers from late fruiting. I'm maintaining the same watering and feeding schedule as before but many of them are beginning to show signs of old age with no growth, stress, and lower leaves browning. I may try an aspirin foliar treatment which is supposed to wake up it's immune system. One of the Cherokee Purple volunteers gave it up this week and died in its sleep. I transplanted it several months ago into a 7 gallon pot with fresh potting medium however it only produced one nice tomato. I did pick two Cherokee Purple yesterday off another volunteer that somehow found it's way into the pot with a 3 year old datil pepper plant. Unfortunately the pepper plant is suffering from sharing root space and nutriens so I'm gonna pull the volunteer today and hopefully save grandpa.

I had hopes the sun shade cover would allow the plants to continue on and produce late season blooms and fruit, and while it has protected the plants from the heavy rains the jury is still out on a second crop. I have noticed 2 or 3 plants that have put out a good spurt of new growth so there is some hope for a few.

I originally planted 3 Super Sweet 100s and they have been exceptional, while one is getting some grey hair, they are 9' long vines, 2 of which are producing about 30 nice size cherry tomatoes every 3 days and now are loading up on a heavy second crop. At their peak I was probably averaging 30 a day and have given a schit ton to the neighbors. I would encourage you to give them a try, heavy producers and no disease problems.
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bradgator2

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Most of you know my mother passed away on July 5th. As I am at her house collecting memories and helping clean up.... I took some pics of her garden. She had a true green thumb. Everything she put into the ground grew like crazy. She has a ton of potted outdoor plants that I am going to grab and attempt to keep growing.

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grengadgy

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What’s my problem? I can’t get these things to grow at all.
How cool are your nights?
The ideal nighttime temperatures range between 59 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit with daytime temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees F. When temperatures fall above or below these ranges, problems with growth, flowering and fruit production occur.
 

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