Happy Spring.
It was nice having spring for a change, but when it got hot, it got hot. Now it looks like it will stay hot for a while. When the nighttime temperatures get above 75⁰, tomato flowers no longer pollinate properly, and the plants fail to set fruit until those nighttime temperatures drop again. Just keep your tomatoes watered, and when the temperatures drop, give them a dose of fish emulsion or compost tea and they’ll be off to the races again. If you feel that your plants are too big and unruly, you can wait until all the tomatoes on the plant have ripened and trim them down to 18 to 24 inches. Then when the temperature drops again, those plants, with their big, well-established root systems will take off and supply you with tomatoes until frost. This saves having to buy, re-plant and baby new transplants, which is especially difficult in summer heat.
Of course, you can also plant heat-set, or heat tolerant tomatoes for the summer months. These plants are different. In heat tolerant tomatoes the increased nighttime temperatures does not cause changes that prevent fertilization. No fertilization, no fruit, of course. Some varieties recommended by the Ag Center are Florida 91, Heatwave II, Phoenix, Solar Set, Sun Leaper, Sun Master, Solar Fire, and Talladega. Do not be in a rush to plant these tomatoes. They are not happy in the cool of early spring. Late April or early May is plenty of time to plant these varieties that are designed to tolerate summer heat.
Well, if you remember my discomfort with all the space around my squash plants and my plan to do the Three Sisters backwards, I found out that there is a reason they are planted in the order corn, then beans, and finally squash. I planted my corn among the developing squash plants when the leaves were about eight inches across, but by the time the corn came up, the squash had filled out, taking over the bed space with twice as many 14-inch leaves. Only a few corn plants made it, and there is no way now that the beans will ever be able to germinate with all the shade from the huge squash leaves. These are some of the most enthusiastic squash I have ever seen. I planted Emerald Zucchini and Patty Pan, and I tell you, five plants absolutely FILL 22 feet of four-foot wide bed. The other three feet contain bush beans that are setting beautiful little one-inch beans. I’ll be eating them by next week. The zucchini are producing like mad. I checked them on Sunday and they were not quite large enough to pick, they would have been edible ‘baby’ zucchini, but I like them six to eight inches, so I left them on the plant. I could not get to them on Monday and on Tuesday, they were giants – a foot long and three inches in diameter. I was afraid that they would be pithy and full of seeds, but they were great. I didn’t even have to peel them. This is a great variety for the home garden.
The photo shows the squash that I picked on Tuesday, with the largest squash cut open. You can clearly see that the seeds are undeveloped. I blanched these and froze them for the time being, but will probably dehydrate them for long-term storage. Actually, freezing makes the dehydration process go more quickly because it disrupts the cells, allowing the water to evaporate more easily. In fact, to dry whole dewberries it’s best to freeze them first. Otherwise, they would take twice as long to dry.
I picked beets last week. They didn’t get to the freezer or the dehydrator, we just ate them and they were delicious. The first planting of peas is about finished, and the second planting is peaking. Something unusual did happen though. I planted all sugar snap peas, based on the names and descriptions: the first planting was Oregon Sugar Pod, that one was a good sugar snap pea. At the same time, I also planted Cascadia, but only a few plants came up, so a week later I over-planted the area with Mammoth Melting Sugar, but the peas that grew were not snap peas, but standard shell peas. The pods are inedible, but the peas are good – just more work than I really wanted. It must have been a mislabeled batch, but I don’t remember which company I bought the seed from, so there’s no recourse. I guess in the future I should make note of where I get my seed as well as the name of the seed and the date planted. Maybe I need larger markers.
I finally decided to take out my two young citrus trees. The blood orange died. There is no trace of growth. The Improved Meyer did send up growth, but it was all from below the graft, so I pulled it up. The new citrus are all doing well. I put in an Owari Satsuma, a Ruby Rio grapefruit, a Hamlin Sweet orange, and a Lisbon lemon. I hope that they will become well established before we have another winter like the last one. My apple tree is loaded with fruit and the nectarines are bearing well for young trees. The fruits are not huge, but they are tasty. The two trees bear at different times giving me a longer harvest period and not so much of a load to deal with at one time.
The dewberries are about finished and the blackberries are filling out nicely. By next week, they should be ripening up and ready to eat. I dehydrated most of the dewberries, the ones I didn’t eat fresh, and I plan to do the same to the blackberries. Dehydration is a nice storage method that requires less space and no energy to maintain.
You can continue to plant pole limas and eggplant from seed until the end of May, peanuts until mid-June, and eggplant plants and sweet potatoes until early July. All types of melons can be planted until the beginning of August. Summer squash and Southern peas can be planted until mid-August, and cucumbers and pumpkins can be planted all summer long.
After the summer break, you can plant late tomatoes from seed in June and set out transplants in July. Begin planting shallots in July and bell peppers from seed mid-June to mid-July. Start setting out pepper transplants mid-July, and even though it seems very hot, you can plant seeds of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage July 1 and Chinese cabbage July 15.
Insect Report: Today I saw a batch of leaf-footed bug and squash bug juveniles on the squash. I used the Louisiana Stomp method on some of them and dumped the rest into soapy water. I saw black aphids on the stems of the pole beans, but none on the bush beans. I mashed some of them, but did not want to eliminate them all because the predators need food. It’s been four years now since any chemical pesticides or herbicides have been used on the property and the ecosystem is coming into balance nicely. There are ladybugs everywhere, I even saw ladybug larvae, and I saw a number of assassin bugs, all good signs of a well-balanced ecosystem.
Until next time, Good Gardening
It was nice having spring for a change, but when it got hot, it got hot. Now it looks like it will stay hot for a while. When the nighttime temperatures get above 75⁰, tomato flowers no longer pollinate properly, and the plants fail to set fruit until those nighttime temperatures drop again. Just keep your tomatoes watered, and when the temperatures drop, give them a dose of fish emulsion or compost tea and they’ll be off to the races again. If you feel that your plants are too big and unruly, you can wait until all the tomatoes on the plant have ripened and trim them down to 18 to 24 inches. Then when the temperature drops again, those plants, with their big, well-established root systems will take off and supply you with tomatoes until frost. This saves having to buy, re-plant and baby new transplants, which is especially difficult in summer heat.
Of course, you can also plant heat-set, or heat tolerant tomatoes for the summer months. These plants are different. In heat tolerant tomatoes the increased nighttime temperatures does not cause changes that prevent fertilization. No fertilization, no fruit, of course. Some varieties recommended by the Ag Center are Florida 91, Heatwave II, Phoenix, Solar Set, Sun Leaper, Sun Master, Solar Fire, and Talladega. Do not be in a rush to plant these tomatoes. They are not happy in the cool of early spring. Late April or early May is plenty of time to plant these varieties that are designed to tolerate summer heat.
Well, if you remember my discomfort with all the space around my squash plants and my plan to do the Three Sisters backwards, I found out that there is a reason they are planted in the order corn, then beans, and finally squash. I planted my corn among the developing squash plants when the leaves were about eight inches across, but by the time the corn came up, the squash had filled out, taking over the bed space with twice as many 14-inch leaves. Only a few corn plants made it, and there is no way now that the beans will ever be able to germinate with all the shade from the huge squash leaves. These are some of the most enthusiastic squash I have ever seen. I planted Emerald Zucchini and Patty Pan, and I tell you, five plants absolutely FILL 22 feet of four-foot wide bed. The other three feet contain bush beans that are setting beautiful little one-inch beans. I’ll be eating them by next week. The zucchini are producing like mad. I checked them on Sunday and they were not quite large enough to pick, they would have been edible ‘baby’ zucchini, but I like them six to eight inches, so I left them on the plant. I could not get to them on Monday and on Tuesday, they were giants – a foot long and three inches in diameter. I was afraid that they would be pithy and full of seeds, but they were great. I didn’t even have to peel them. This is a great variety for the home garden.
The photo shows the squash that I picked on Tuesday, with the largest squash cut open. You can clearly see that the seeds are undeveloped. I blanched these and froze them for the time being, but will probably dehydrate them for long-term storage. Actually, freezing makes the dehydration process go more quickly because it disrupts the cells, allowing the water to evaporate more easily. In fact, to dry whole dewberries it’s best to freeze them first. Otherwise, they would take twice as long to dry.
I picked beets last week. They didn’t get to the freezer or the dehydrator, we just ate them and they were delicious. The first planting of peas is about finished, and the second planting is peaking. Something unusual did happen though. I planted all sugar snap peas, based on the names and descriptions: the first planting was Oregon Sugar Pod, that one was a good sugar snap pea. At the same time, I also planted Cascadia, but only a few plants came up, so a week later I over-planted the area with Mammoth Melting Sugar, but the peas that grew were not snap peas, but standard shell peas. The pods are inedible, but the peas are good – just more work than I really wanted. It must have been a mislabeled batch, but I don’t remember which company I bought the seed from, so there’s no recourse. I guess in the future I should make note of where I get my seed as well as the name of the seed and the date planted. Maybe I need larger markers.
I finally decided to take out my two young citrus trees. The blood orange died. There is no trace of growth. The Improved Meyer did send up growth, but it was all from below the graft, so I pulled it up. The new citrus are all doing well. I put in an Owari Satsuma, a Ruby Rio grapefruit, a Hamlin Sweet orange, and a Lisbon lemon. I hope that they will become well established before we have another winter like the last one. My apple tree is loaded with fruit and the nectarines are bearing well for young trees. The fruits are not huge, but they are tasty. The two trees bear at different times giving me a longer harvest period and not so much of a load to deal with at one time.
The dewberries are about finished and the blackberries are filling out nicely. By next week, they should be ripening up and ready to eat. I dehydrated most of the dewberries, the ones I didn’t eat fresh, and I plan to do the same to the blackberries. Dehydration is a nice storage method that requires less space and no energy to maintain.
You can continue to plant pole limas and eggplant from seed until the end of May, peanuts until mid-June, and eggplant plants and sweet potatoes until early July. All types of melons can be planted until the beginning of August. Summer squash and Southern peas can be planted until mid-August, and cucumbers and pumpkins can be planted all summer long.
After the summer break, you can plant late tomatoes from seed in June and set out transplants in July. Begin planting shallots in July and bell peppers from seed mid-June to mid-July. Start setting out pepper transplants mid-July, and even though it seems very hot, you can plant seeds of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage July 1 and Chinese cabbage July 15.
Insect Report: Today I saw a batch of leaf-footed bug and squash bug juveniles on the squash. I used the Louisiana Stomp method on some of them and dumped the rest into soapy water. I saw black aphids on the stems of the pole beans, but none on the bush beans. I mashed some of them, but did not want to eliminate them all because the predators need food. It’s been four years now since any chemical pesticides or herbicides have been used on the property and the ecosystem is coming into balance nicely. There are ladybugs everywhere, I even saw ladybug larvae, and I saw a number of assassin bugs, all good signs of a well-balanced ecosystem.
Until next time, Good Gardening
MaryAnn Armbruster, Ph.D.
MaryAnn Armbruster, Ph.D. is a certified Advanced Master Gardener and member of the Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners.
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