What are your garden plans for 2021?

[larry_stewart]

My garlic leaves are half dead or almost all dead, but the bulbs are teeny-tiny. Thoughts on how to get larger garlic heads?

That only happened to me once ( last year), but I was able to figure out my issue, it was over watering. I figured the bulbs would need water to bulk up the last few weeks of development. Well, was wrong. Garlic doesn't like overly damp soil. A few weeks prior to harvest, I noticed the leaves were dying sooner than usual, and a few plants looked totally dead. Its been like clock work, year after year for me. July 4th is our annual garlic picking day at my house. Anyway, so about mid June, when I noticed this happening , I decided to pick a few to see what the deal was. Sure enough , the bulbs were underdeveloped , damper than usual and some were ether rotted or when pulling up on the greens ( in the case, browns) the leaves just separated. At the point I figured let me salvage what I could , so I harvest that whole bed. 1/3 were fine, 1/3 were small but useable and the other 1/3 I lost. Of this bed, they had to be used quickly, as the outer layers of skin were just too most and underdeveloped to dry properly.

Luckily, I had a second bed that have better drainable soil. That bed was fine. I learned my lesson from last year. Im not over watering, and I also added some sand and other things into the soil to help it drain better.

Ill find out in a few weeks.

That being said, thats the only time I experienced . Not saying this is what's going on with your situation , but something to think about.

 

[larry_stewart]

Here are a few pics. One is a side by side of a healthy garlic ( nice white outer skin) and the overwatered one ( muddy, slimy and discolored outer skin). The bad one is slightly smaller than the nice one, but this was one of the bulbs that I salvaged . The other pic shows the majority of the garlic heads small, and some non existent. Above the ground, the stalks/ stems were nice and thick. I thought for sure I'd have nice big bulbs under ground, but my overwatering stunted their growth and basically killed them.

 

[pepperhead212]

Ideally, the last 3 weeks before harvesting garlic would be rain-free. Of course, weather doesn't cooperate too often! I've had bad years when I'd have non-stop rain the weeks before harvest, and had terrible storage garlic those years.

 

[larry_stewart]

Ideally, the last 3 weeks before harvesting garlic would be rain-free. Of course, weather doesn't cooperate too often! I've had bad years when I'd have non-stop rain the weeks before harvest, and had terrible storage garlic those years.

I wish I was able to blame mine on the rain, but it was my own ignorance and lack of homework that put me in my situation. Luckily I had one bed that drained well , so it wasn't a total loss. Live and learn

 

[bethzaring]

We had an unexpected freeze last night, 29*F, and the only plants I had out that were vulnerable were 3 eggplant plants, and they are toast.. Everything else is fine; onions, garlic, celery, strawberries, spinach and lettuces. 37*F is predicted for tonight so I will put off for one more day starting to set out tomato plants. 38*F was predicted for last night so it is guaranteed to freeze again tonight!

 

[bethzaring]

My garlic leaves are half dead or almost all dead, but the bulbs are teeny-tiny. Thoughts on how to get larger garlic heads?

Plant garlic in the Fall, October or November. Plant the largest cloves you can buy. Garlic sellers have eating and planting garlic...buy the planting garlic, the cloves will be larger than the eating garlic.

 

[pepperhead212]

We had an unexpected freeze last night, 29*F, and the only plants I had out that were vulnerable were 3 eggplant plants, and they are toast...

Sorry to hear about that! I'm hoping these weren't some unusual types, that you started from seed, which obviously can't be done again quickly, but they are something that you can replace locally.

My garlic is doing great - the German Extra Hardy and Estonian Red are the largest, but all are doing well. About 6 weeks until harvest; no scapes yet, but should be coming soon.
Garlic, 5-24. L row, German extra hardy. Middle row, Estonian Red, R row, Metechi. In the back, Giant Montana. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those 42 day tomatoes, though they were the second to flower, and smaller than the Kustengold, now have the most open flowers by far - 5 clusters open, with 5 or 6 flowers in each.
42 day tomatoes, 5-24, with 5 clusters of open blossoms. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

Thanks pepperhead. The eggplants were nursery bought Black Beauty, nothing special. You inspired me to go out a photograph my garlic and onions. I have 7 rows of garlic in an 18 foot long raised bed. 4 rows are German Extra hardy (for their large cloves and flavor); the two outer rows on both sides of the bed. The middle rows are Red Chesnok and Purple Glazer

 

[pepperhead212]

Looks great, bethzaring! You can't ever have too much garlic and onions!

Later today I put some chicken wire around my row of pole beans, as I am having a major problem with rabbits! I churned up the soil on both sides, and held it in a trench with landscape staples, and supported it with a few stakes, and filled the trenches in with the soil, then tamped it down. The ends are sealed off with a bunch of cable straps. The rabbits should be kept out by it. If I lived in a rural area, I'd shoot all those things, and cook with them, but that's not legal here! Plus, no telling what they've eaten, in others yards.
Newly enclosed pole bean row by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Noticed my first scape yesterday.

 

[Kathleen]

Thanks for the advice! I'll take it. They may be small, but they smell amazing!

 

[pepperhead212]

Got my first tomatoes forming today - several on the 42 Day, and one, very small one on the larger Kustengold. The Sunsugar, which is usually my earliest, opened quite a bit later, and only a few, so far.
42 Day tomatoes forming, 5-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

As I was looking at the 42 day plants, I started realizing that they are probably determinate, since it is smallish, and getting a LOT of flowers on it, though tradewindsfruit.com didn't list it as either. So I looked them up, and found them on other sites, and they are determinate. I'll see if they are the type of determinate that simply produces one type, then dies off, like Sunset did with me, or if they come back.

 

[GotGarlic]

Got my first tomatoes forming today - several on the 42 Day, and one, very small one on the larger Kustengold. The Sunsugar, which is usually my earliest, opened quite a bit later, and only a few, so far.
42 Day tomatoes forming, 5-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

As I was looking at the 42 day plants, I started realizing that they are probably determinate, since it is smallish, and getting a LOT of flowers on it, though tradewindsfruit.com didn't list it as either. So I looked them up, and found them on other sites, and they are determinate. I'll see if they are the type of determinate that simply produces one type, then dies off, like Sunset did with me, or if they come back.

What is the white stuff on the leaves?

 

[pepperhead212]

What is the white stuff on the leaves?

That's Surround, or kaolin clay - a totally inert and safe compound (the Kao part of Kaopectate), which keeps a lot of insects off plants, because they don't like the feel of it! I stop spraying the cherry tomatoes, as well as hot peppers, as soon as they start showing fruits, because it's sort of a pain to wipe off all those small fruits - not so bad with larger ones, and eggplants. It's not something I use with greens for that same reason, even though it would keep a lot of their pests off - too much surface area to clean off!

Surround stays on leaves well, as well as the fruits - something it is used for in a lot of organic commercial farms - unless there is a very heavy rain, but even then, the undersides keep fairly well covered, which is where it is most effective, since that is where many insects congregate. I make sure that the undersides are well sprayed, on the eggplants, okra, cukes, and squash, though after a while, it gets hard to get to all those leaves of the winter squash, with them growing all over each other!

 

[larry_stewart]

I really wished I like radishes.
Bringing them in to work tomorrow to distribute.
Saving a few to slice thinly in salads for texture.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

larry, try them pan fried in a little butter. Cut in half and saute until they're a little tender and browned. They aren't the least bit bitter. You can roast them, too, but it's not worth turning the oven on just for radishes.

Those look beautiful. I wish I was your neighbor right now.

 

[bbqcoder]

Pretty soon I will be harvesting lots of strawberries. Been picking 5-6 daily to munch on but most are still green. Have six different varieties growing. One of my favorites is Mara Des Bois. Giant plants loaded with medium small berries. Here’s a picture of one of the plants.

 

[cookwewill]

I really wished I like radishes.
Bringing them in to work tomorrow to distribute.
Saving a few to slice thinly in salads for texture.

I totally love radishes Just a slice of toasted bread with some butter and slices of radishes on top of it... that reminds me of my childhood

 

[larry_stewart]

Pretty soon I will be harvesting lots of strawberries. Been picking 5-6 daily to munch on but most are still green. Have six different varieties growing. One of my favorites is Mara Des Bois. Giant plants loaded with medium small berries. Here’s a picture of one of the plants.

Thats a lot of flowers on one plant !!!
Looking good.
I picked one Rogue strawberry last week that decided to ripen way before the others. Looks like the rest should start kicking in this weekend. First one was very sweet. I got some on the ground and others in hanging basket ( that actually overwintered).

 

[larry_stewart]

I totally love radishes Just a slice of toasted bread with some butter and slices of radishes on top of it... that reminds me of my childhood

Wish you were my neighbor, you're have an endless supply