What is everyone's best technique for keeping the birds outta the tomatoes? Netting? Bird bath near by? I have even heard putting a red glass Christmas ornament near by. Please don't say shoot them because I live in the burbs and I am sure Karen would call the cops.

Sorrell Booke said:

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What is everyone's best technique for keeping the birds outta the tomatoes? Netting? Bird bath near by? I have even heard putting a red glass Christmas ornament near by. Please don't say shoot them because I live in the burbs and I am sure Karen would call the cops.

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Pick them before they get that ripe. As they start turning red you can pull them and they'll continue ripening indoors.

Sorrell Booke said:

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What is everyone's best technique for keeping the birds outta the tomatoes? Netting? Bird bath near by? I have even heard putting a red glass Christmas ornament near by. Please don't say shoot them because I live in the burbs and I am sure Karen would call the cops.

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I used to put up nets but would still occasionally have issues with squirrels. This year I let the plants get too big before putting up the net so I have been picking before they get too red. Been pushing the envelope a bit. So far I've had no issues.

RE the Xmas ornament... I've heard a similar suggestion but with painting a baseball red and connecting it to the fence post. Supposedly they try to eat it and then get turned off by it being hard and then don't touch the actual tomatoes. Never tried it so I can't not verify.

So the googles tells me I have powdery mildew on my pumpkin leaves.

Is the best course of action simply removal and disposal? Anything else needed or recommended?

You can try some neem oil. Its supposed to be an effective control for powdery mildew.

I actually have some handy! Had aphids on my milkweed last week, and that stuff worked wonders.

Sorrell Booke said:

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What is everyone's best technique for keeping the birds outta the tomatoes? Netting? Bird bath near by? I have even heard putting a red glass Christmas ornament near by. Please don't say shoot them because I live in the burbs and I am sure Karen would call the cops.

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Bird baths don't work. Christmas ornament has limited success. Netting and picking when they first start to turn is only success I've had.

What can be applied to plants for grass hoppers and still be safe for consumption

AgsMnn said:

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What can be applied to plants for grass hoppers and still be safe for consumption

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Sevin will work. But wait about a week after applying before harvesting/eating anything and wash well.

I have to determine tonight what kind of animal wants a .22 bullet in the skull. Bastages dug into two of my rows. This means war! Putting out a camera tonight!

zooguy96 said:

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I have to determine tonight what kind of animal wants a .22 bullet in the skull. Bastages dug into two of my rows. This means war! Putting out a camera tonight!

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My neighbor may or may not have seen me shooting a squirrel stealing tomatoes while in my underwear this morning

22 silencers are fun.

Yeah, I'll actually have to come up with some other idea. I'll probably end up going with a pellet gun. Neighbors are too close for 22.

Camera ready to go!!!!

It's probably an armadillo or a skunk. We just started getting dillos in our area.

Ran irrigation today. Will be so much easier, and will save water and time hand watering. Yes, I know I need to weed. You can also see all the dead privet I've cut down.

Hey guys, just found this thread and I wish I'd seen it earlier. I'm new to gardening and planted my first one in early April. It's a few raised beds with sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelons, blueberries, and blackberries.
The watermelons didn't make it and were replaced a few weeks ago with some green beans.

I think I've identified a few mistakes already:

• planting too late (I'm in zone 9a)
• not applying fertilizer at the start (fertilized for the first time about 3 weeks ago)
• insufficient sunlight (~3 hours direct sunlight due to trees. I've since cut one down and now get about 6)

I'm concerned about the tomatoes and corn. Everything I've read about the tomatoes says they should pretty much be done producing by now. Mine had issues with yellow leaves and overall very stunted growth, and have not produced anything. Is it too late for them? Will they produce in the fall once the temperatures decrease? I have three indeterminate plants and two determinate.

As for the corn, the seed package says it matures in 70-80 days. Mine are 63 days out from sowing and barely knee-high, nowhere close to having any corn to harvest. Do these plants have any hope of producing? I'd like to try the tomatoes and corn again at the end of July. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

Tomatoes can have yellow leaves due to a number of reasons. Too little sunlight. Not enough nitrogen. Under or over watering. They are difficult plants. Based on what you've said, I'd say probably not enough fertilizer. I fertilize mine at least every 2-3 weeks (my soil sucks).

Also, you want to water them at the base. Using a sprinkler (which gets the leaves wet) can lead to fungal diseases with tomatoes.

In reply to. Sw14

To late for green beans. To early for watermelon
Green beans. PLanted by may 1 or before

Watermelon. Plant about may1. Ground has to be hot

Tomotoes. I have tomotes till july 1 and later most of the time

College station

About to plant cantaloupes again First batch is doing great

Plant peas now also Okra

Are you setting fruit into July? I'm in Fort Worth and anticipate the end of fruit setting in the coming weeks as it continues to warm up.

SW-14: If the tomatoes aren't yet setting fruit you may get a handful of tomatoes before they're done from heat. The plants will survive through summer and continue growing if they're watered. Depending on the care you could get a late harvest in the fall on all the plants. The indeterminite plants will need to be pruned if you let them run through the summer. Mine are already a foot overhead and will become a tangled mass of vines if I take my normal approach and forget about them after they quit producing.

No sometimes picking into july still setting fruit now But that was last year. It is awfully hot now so may not set but i still have alot of tomotoes. I also have a big garden though

Its hard to tell from your photo but I would consider laying down some mulch. It will do wonders suppressing weeds and is a game changer for water retention.

Yeah, I probably will. Just got done with installing irrigation.

Looks great by the way. I am jealous of all the room you have. My setup is wedged in a tiny backyard.

I haven't harvested even 5% of the tomatoes I have on the vine. I picked one plant clean to make pickled green tomatoes. Otherwise I've picked about 5 lbs off various plants including the 1 lb-er I picked last week.

I'm trying to find a fertilizer injector for my drip irrigation, but it seems no one has them in stock. Is there a method where I could make my own (to work with a water hose attachment)?

Is anyone here an expert on identifying bushes? You heard me.

My wife says these are cool, and we need some for our front flower bed. Any ideas as to what these are?

I figured out how to run fertilizer through my system.

Here's my setup:

Basically, an irrigation system I got from Lowe's you run off your water hose. It has a pressure regulator and a back flow valve.

I'm going to get a trash can, which will serve as my fertilizer mixer. Then, I'll use a sump pump to pump the liquid fertilizer through my system and then run the system for however long to get the fertilizer to the roots.

My friend's system is shown (he uses a commercial grade system).

And from the prior 2 days...

XpressAg09 said:

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Is anyone here an expert on identifying bushes? You heard me.

My wife says these are cool, and we need some for our front flower bed. Any ideas as to what these are?

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we have those....I had hoped to keep them at a medium size....3-4 feet tall....seems like they don't want to flower at that height...they want to be tall and they need A LOT of sun

Looks like Leucophyllum frutescens, common name Cenizo/Texas Sage/Purple Sage.