Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

Originally Posted by PlainJane

Barb, I called around to all the landscapers and stone yards in Jacksonville and got lucky on the second place, Stone Plus. HD, Loews don’t stock them. I’ll check the brand when I get home from work but I noticed it said Starke, FL. They are 3.99 for 2 cf. So not cheap but not crazy either.

They are a very nice size - truly fines - no big pieces in 4 bags so far.
My beef with ‘mini’ nuggets for the rest of the garden has been that some pieces are tree-sized.

[Zone9b]

I’ll be interested how your snap beans, that you planted late, continue to fair. Looks like the weather is warming again, at least for a while, so your beans may pick up a bit. I like peas a lot and tried growing garden peas, but had little success. More recently I have been growing snow peas and have had quite a bit of success with them. I’ve had greatest success with Mammoth Melting Sugar which produces a large vine and requires trellesing. Last year they produced a lot of peas and kept producing into late spring. I planted these this fall on 11/17. I also grow Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Peas which don’t require trellesing. Not as productive but don’t require the hassle of trelleses.

Well, the bush beans are looking like quitters and will be pulled this weekend to make way for more lettuce.
The pole Romano beans are still going, just slower.
I’m growing Sugar Magnolia, Golden Sweet, Magnolia Blossom and Royal Snow for peas this year. Somehow I’ve never grown MMS; don’t know how I’ve overlooked it.
I use my Texas Tomato Cages for peas and favas, or the bamboo poles once the beans are done. I’ve never trellised - do you think harvest is increased by it?

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by PlainJane

Well, the bush beans are looking like quitters and will be pulled this weekend to make way for more lettuce.
The pole Romano beans are still going, just slower.
I’m growing Sugar Magnolia, Golden Sweet, Magnolia Blossom and Royal Snow for peas this year. Somehow I’ve never grown MMS; don’t know how I’ve overlooked it.
I use my Texas Tomato Cages for peas and favas, or the bamboo poles once the beans are done. I’ve never trellised - do you think harvest is increased by it?

Your growing snap beans in the Winter has emboldened me. I planted 50 seeds of Gold Rush Bush Snap Beans in a Raised Bed yesterday. It is supposed to warm up for a few days, so maybe they will germinate. I have never grown this variety before or any yellow bean for that matter. I probably should have tried a variety that is cold resistant, such as Jade II or even Provider. Jade and Jade II are said to be resistant to cold, stress, heat and rust.
Yes, I think it would be easier to harvest trellised peas as opposed to harvesting caged peas. This season I placed my rows 16” apart in raised beds. That maybe too close at 16” and if so next year I will try 20”. I have a lot of old dog cages and I use the sides solely for trellises. That makes it easy. We just stand them up then push in stakes and tie them to the stakes.
Larry

Seems like I grew Gold Rush a couple of years back and got a decent harvest. This year I grew only 2 bush beans (Soleil and Provider) the rest were pole. (Tamara, Seychelles, Red Noodle, Purple Pole Pod, Hilda) I like going vertical when I can.
Haven’t grown Jade or Jade II but I’ve found Provider to be pretty heat tolerant. The best though was Red Noodle, and it was amazingly fast to produce.

[Barb_FL]

Marsha - What do you use for powerdy mildew on tomato leaves? On the Esterina plant (the worst one), I even have it on the stems?

I have an 'insurance' Big Beef next to it, and I've cut so many PM leaves off, there is hardly any leaves left. Stem and fruit look fine.

---
I sprayed a limited # of plants with baking soda - the leaves turned crunchy but the plant looks PM free since. It didn't have much PM to begin with though.

I did a stint with Neem Oil in my hose end sprayer, but I hate what neem oil does to the vessel it's in. It does come out better in the hose end sprayer than a pump sprayer which just ruins the brush too when trying to clean it out.

Weather has been so weird - continual hot / cold, etc. Broccoli heads are about half the size as normal.

[ginger2778]

I hate neem, I refuse to use it. I use copper for PM, works great!

Neem is pretty messy, and I’ve been unable to clean it out of my pump sprayer completely. I’m now using that sprayer for the bleach solution so I don’t really care. The neem did help a bit against both aphids and various foliar diseases this year though. I tried 1 baking soda treatment; it didn’t seem to do much.
I’m going to see if I can get ahead of things this time around using the bleach spray B54Red described. I’ve loaded up on Seabright Labs sticky traps so that should help with the aphids and white flies.

First wave of warm weather seeds finally started. I’m about a week late. Oops.
Eggplant, Peppers and ‘Maters.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by PlainJane

First wave of warm weather seeds finally started. I’m about a week late. Oops.
Eggplant, Peppers and ‘Maters.

Wow! I normally don't start my tomato seeds until the end of January and even then I start them in the garage under grow lights.
But I'm learning from you. I planted some Casidy Bush Snap Beans Jan 6th and lo and behold they are up.
Larry

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Wow! I normally don't start my tomato seeds until the end of January and even then I start them in the garage under grow lights.
But I'm learning from you. I planted some Casidy Bush Snap Beans Jan 6th and lo and behold they are up.
Larry

These are going under lights on a heat mat, lol. I’m not THAT crazy!

I will be starting the next batch of lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli outside on Monday, plus more snow peas.

My pole beans finished up last weekend. Bush beans a couple of weeks before that.

You’re a bit warmer than me, so you may get away with snap beans outside now. If you like fava beans they love this weather. Mine are blooming.

Anyone in the N. Florida (Jax, St. Augustine) area want to go in on a 4-pack of Urban Farms fertilizers?
I’m looking to get a gallon each of TTF and Apples & Oranges but I don’t want the other 2 gallons to sit around.
I’d make the order and cover the shipping charges to my house. Whoever wants the other 2 gallons would reimburse me and I’d be happy to meet up somewhere in the Jacksonville area or as far away as St. Auggie.
I’ll be putting the order in next week.

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by PlainJane

Anyone in the N. Florida (Jax, St. Augustine) area want to go in on a 4-pack of Urban Farms fertilizers?
I’m looking to get a gallon each of TTF and Apples & Oranges but I don’t want the other 2 gallons to sit around.
I’d make the order and cover the shipping charges to my house. Whoever wants the other 2 gallons would reimburse me and I’d be happy to meet up somewhere in the Jacksonville area or as far away as St. Auggie.
I’ll be putting the order in next week.

I bought the 4 pack a couple of times, and have left the unused ones inside the house for over a year and it was fine. I am finishing off some now that was bought about 18 months ago. Even after I open it, I store it in those nice big plastic bags they ship it in.

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

I bought the 4 pack a couple of times, and have left the unused ones inside the house for over a year and it was fine. I am finishing off some now that was bought about 18 months ago. Even after I open it, I store it in those nice big plastic bags they ship it in.

Hi Barb - I’ll do that if there’s nobody interested in the Jax area. Can’t be without it!

[JaxRmrJmr]

Originally Posted by PlainJane

Hi Barb - I’ll do that if there’s nobody interested in the Jax area. Can’t be without it!

Funny, but that is exactly why I logged on here tonight! To ask if anyone wanted to split a 4 pack. I offered two years ago and had no takers. 1 gallon is $40 but drops to $25 per gallon when you buy 4. I would like 2 gallons of the Tomato Food. I live in Mandarin. PM me and I'll give you my contact info.