A VERY strange year of gardening

[mensplace]

Like many here, the heat is miserable ...a heat index of 104 today. JUST enough rain for a few minutes each day to mak it feel like the tropics. When I needed honeybees to pollenate my peaches there were none. NOW, as the peaches ripen, the honeybees surround each fruit to eat them, along with some HUGE "June Bugs" ,i.e., coppery green beetles about an inch long and half an inch wide...covering what little surface left by the bees...entire trees covered. At least with SOME rain, a few of the tomato plants have greened up again. Insects now of many descriptions in the main garden. I'm almost wondering if these things, like the fleas on my dog, have mutated and grown resistant to sprays. The fleas seem to love the canned flea sprays to cool off. My poor Cairn is tired of weekly baths. Poor kale and even the herbs are being eaten up. Then there are the 2 1/2 inch grasshoppers eating the tomatos. Sounds like something Biblical going on down here and now they are talking about 5 pound rats from Africa, joining the "KILLER Snakehead", constrictors, African Bees and many other imported threats. Listening to the news, it sounds like some 'B" movie, It's not safe to go out in the garden!!!!! Even the air quality is suspect. I'm NOT going to spray poison every week, so I'll just have to look towards the fall garden, but with August and September heat being even hotter, wonder whether planting now...with the heat and insects...is really worthy of consideration.

[Timmah!]

I remember summers past being warm & reasonable, & when it rained it was a nice shower most of the time. Now it seems ridiculously hot & humid, & when it rains, it's always some severe threat of one kind or another. Then again, it could just be hype by the weather folks, convincing you of imminent potential danger for the sake of competition. Does seem like summers past were nicer though.

[relichound]

I feel your pain. Here in my part of North Carolina this summer has been crazy also. Temperatures have been in the high 90's to 100 for most of June and July with heat index's at 105 to 110 and more heat on the way. It's also been very dry with just a passing sprinkle every now and then. Poor tomato blossoms are dropping like flies and now diseased plants are showing up like crazy. Gardening this year has been a real challenge to say the least.

Jerry

[Wi-sunflower]

Southern Wi has been on the warm and humid side most of this summer. 80s most of the time. While no where near what you southern folks have it's still been uncomfortable for us. But better than last year when we didn't really get a summer. No heat to mention at all.

But yesterday it didn't get above 70 til almost dark due to clouds and rain most of the day. Where I am 30 miles north of Milwaukee, we got over 2 inches of rain yesterday, and more is expected for today and Sat. It's going to be fun (NOT) picking for the Sat market.

But in the Milwaukee area from about 5PM, they got over 8 inches of rain in a short time. With a front stalled near us, the storms are "training" along the same path and will for the next day or so. Flooding all over the place. Roads closed. Cars stalled. Some tornados spotted but no damage reported so far.

What really sucks is this is only 1 week after the same area had 3-5 inches. This is our 4th "100 year" storm in the last 25 years. The second in about 6 years. (86, 96, 2003, 2010 I think are the years)

Last year I had a very dry fist 1/2 of the summer so I didn't have disease problems at all. But with the heat, humidity and RAIN, I expect to be seeing all kinds soon.

Another problem has been the fact that my old Allis G cultivator tractor has been more than tempermental this year so I haven't been able to put more than a little dent in the weeds. I don't know how we will even find the tomato plants by the time we have our field day the end of Aug.

Ugly,
Carol

[kygreg]

From what they say, sounds like we had better get used to hotter summers wether its global warming or just part of a natural weather cyble or both.

[dustdevil]

MP, all you can do is try. I trust you go out early in the morning and just before dusk to do your gardenwork...no need to stress your health in the heat. I figure you can run under the sprinkler during the day;-)Got any peppers in? It would seem they might be doing OK.

[Timmah!]

That's what I do: Garden from 06:00 to 09:00, doing things that are best done in full sunlight, like spraying. The rest I do at night with a head-mounted led light. That & some OFF! & I'm good to go.

[shlacm]

Originally Posted by Timmah!

That's what I do: Garden from 06:00 to 09:00, doing things that are best done in full sunlight, like spraying. The rest I do at night with a head-mounted led light. That & some OFF! & I'm good to go.

OMG, I have the LED headlamp too! Aren't they great? Actually, I stole it from my 13 yo who has one for BoyScouts/camping.

[dustdevil]

Timmah! Got any beans growing...how are they doing?

[Timmah!]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Timmah! Got any beans growing...how are they doing?

No beans, my good man. Just tomatoes. Will be expanding the garden for additional items next season, however. Looking for some land farther out in the country, it's too darnoodley noisy here anymore. Many might think it's nice & relatively quiet, but in comparison to when I initially moved to this house in 1985, it's gotten too urban for me. Used to be the 14 mile stretch of Dixie highway between Radcliff & the courthouse in Elizabethtown had all of 2 lights. Now there's 25 & the traffic's ridiculous.

[KKinAL]

This year definitely hasn't been the gardening year I expected. Of course we're in the same boat here in Alabama with heat & humidity. Most of my tomato plants are diseased, as well as squash , zucchini, & cucumber--I've sprayed fungicide along, but it didn't seem to help this year. (I've got to get out there shortly & pull up some stuff.) I also agree the bugs this year are crazy--and they have shown up earlier & a few new ones I've never seen before. Unfortunately one of the new ones is a variety of stink bug. Not one hornworm so far-- I wonder if the winter was too cold.

[amberroses]

Complaints about weather? I'll play too. Here in central Florida we had record breaking heat last Fall, then record breaking cold in the winter, this Spring more record breaking heat, and now record breaking summer heat. I'm a little unhappy for sure.

[rnewste]

It was reported in the San Jose Mercury News yesterday that the Bay Area is having its COOLEST Summer in the past 40 Years - - go figure!!

Raybo

[desertlzbn]

Originally Posted by mensplace

Like many here, the heat is miserable ...a heat index of 104 today. JUST enough rain for a few minutes each day to mak it feel like the tropics. When I needed honeybees to pollenate my peaches there were none. NOW, as the peaches ripen, the honeybees surround each fruit to eat them, along with some HUGE "June Bugs" ,i.e., coppery green beetles about an inch long and half an inch wide...covering what little surface left by the bees...entire trees covered. At least with SOME rain, a few of the tomato plants have greened up again. Insects now of many descriptions in the main garden. I'm almost wondering if these things, like the fleas on my dog, have mutated and grown resistant to sprays. The fleas seem to love the canned flea sprays to cool off. My poor Cairn is tired of weekly baths. Poor kale and even the herbs are being eaten up. Then there are the 2 1/2 inch grasshoppers eating the tomatos. Sounds like something Biblical going on down here and now they are talking about 5 pound rats from Africa, joining the "KILLER Snakehead", constrictors, African Bees and many other imported threats. Listening to the news, it sounds like some 'B" movie, It's not safe to go out in the garden!!!!! Even the air quality is suspect. I'm NOT going to spray poison every week, so I'll just have to look towards the fall garden, but with August and September heat being even hotter, wonder whether planting now...with the heat and insects...is really worthy of consideration.

for the fleas try Diatomaceous earth it really works on the little devils, just make sure to apply it OUTSIDE, or it gets everywhere.

[Timmah!]

I spied 3 hornworms on some transplants last week; they recieved the death penalty. Yesterday as I was perusing my raised bed, a solitary stinkbug- the first and only sighted thus far -buzzed me & landed on a hapless Brandywine... SMOOSH!