So my garden is growing. My husband did a great job putting together a smaller raised garden bed for me this weekend. We worked together in the HOT Florida sun on Sunday and I replanted about 13 of the pepper plants that were becoming “lost” in my original garden. It has been funny to watch my husband get into this. Originally he told me that I need to start “small” with one or two pots of veggies.. Well, as you can see, the one or two pots have turned into five pots, a 5×5 raised garden bed and a 5×2 raised garden bed. And, I did come out of pocket a bit more than I would have preferred.. Oops! 🙂 I can see now that I had way too many plants in my original garden. Every one of my plants were so cute and little when I bought them at Lowes and now I’m watching the Zucchini plants, cantaloupe plants and squash overtake everything! Who would have thought these plants grow so much? 🙂
Side view of both raised beds.. I do need to get one more tomato thingy as one of my Roma tomato plants doesn’t have a holder supporting its branches. (What in the world is the “holder” called – my mind can’t think of the name?)
Close up of Cucumber plants. You can see I’m still dealing with dry/dead leaves.. The plant is still producing lots of flowers although from the research I’ve done online, all I am seeing are “male” cucumber flowers. Does it typically take some time for female flowers to appear? Also – I just read the comment left by Christina on my previous gardening post HERE and she said maybe the plants need some nitrogen? I’ll have to look into this.. Any recommendations for good fertilizers with nitrogen? I used some coffee grounds earlier this week because I read that was a good fertilizer.. But truthfully, I had no idea what I was doing and I only used the grounds on the cucumber plants, jalapeno plants (it is thriving but I thought maybe it could use some help since it is producing so much fruit?) and the basil that is struggling…
My original potted tomato plants is still doing well. I was frustrated, though, because on Sunday, I found a tomato that was starting to turn red and the bottom was all eaten away. I don’t know what got to it but something did…
New raised garden with the transplanted pepper plants. Thus far everything is still thriving although only one plant is producing flowers. I’m thrilled that none of them died after the transplant though! And, yes – I realize this garden is still probably way too populated. But what was I supposed to do? Throw away plants that were perfectly healthy? 🙂 I’ve only had one green bell pepper plant die so far and that was last week before Sunday’s transplanting project.
Zucchini plant flower. (Male flower – yes I did spend at least 2 hours online looking at the differences between male and female cucumber, zucchini and squash flowers…). You can kind of see that there is something greenish on the inside of the flower? That is a bee. I’ve spent much time fretting about my garden because there seems to be a major bee shortage – i.e. ZERO bees. But yesterday, I saw my first bee and watched it gather pollen. And today there were three bees gathering pollen as I took these pictures. So, I was happy! **What do you guys think about me helping the pollination process? Many of the blogs I have read says I should use the boy flowers to pollinate the girl flowers.. Today I found my first two girl zucchini flowers so I attempted to help the pollination process. Do you all recommend this??
Oh – and a basil update. I removed the basil from the small container I had it is and replanted it into the large raised garden bed. I also cut back most of the stalks.. I will let you know how it does. I still have a very bad feeling that it won’t make it which is frustrating because I would cook and use basil on a daily basis if it was “healthy” and thriving..
Oh – and lastly – below is a picture of three peppers I picked today (Anaheim pepper and jalapeno peppers). I tell you what.. that Jalapeno plant was by far an awesome purchase. I am picking jalapenos on a daily basis and it keeps producing more! Love it!
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
Watch the birds with your tomato plants – those boogers irritate me to death! The RIGHT powdered sulphur works very well (it has to stink…LOL). I can’t find any RIGHT sulphur – bummer! I heard red Christmas ornaments work well too but they didn’t work for me this year. So, I had to put up bird netting – blah! Good luck! I am a rookie so I am excited. I am picking jalapenos, onions and grape tomatoes every day. I get excited when I see all the squash – I wish I can pick them – LOL We have similiar things in our gardens. 🙂
Beth! Good idea on Christmas ornaments! I’ll have to watch the birds – espeically since I have 3 bird feeders positioned directly behind my gardens! I wish I had onions.. I didn’t plant any.. Did you plant them from seeds? Someone left a comment on my website telling me to look for onions by the “bulb” section in Lowe’s but I couldn’t find them.. And now it is probably too late to plant which is a bummer. We use onions every day so I am so jealous of you!
Your basil isnt thriving because it is getting too hot for it. it prefers more spring like temps. try putting some panty hose over your ripenin tomatoes. they stretch to allow for growth but create a barrier against pests.
You could also try one of those fake owls or a fake snake… They work well against all types of unwanted “guests” (rabbits, chipmunks, birds, etc.), but also doesn’t require much extra work (except to just set it up and move it once in awhile) and is “all natural.” You don’t have to spray or put anything artificial on any of your produce.
Don’t fret too much about the lack of bees. Other insects also help pollinate, like several varieties of wasps. You could use a Q-tip to “help” the pollination process if you want to.
Peppers grow easily in the heat of Florida! My brother’s been getting LOTS of yellow squash and zucchini too, so he’s been giving lots away to everyone. His cucumber plants look exactly like yours. 🙁 The summer heat makes gardening a real challenge! Good luck!
Your basil is probably getting too much sun.
A few years back I lived in an area where the bees were lacking and my squash was not getting pollinated. I decided to pollinate them myself and it was one of my best years with squash! It is as simple as going out in the morning (before the flowers close)picking a male flower, peeling back the petal and wiping it inside a female flower. It has become a part of my morning routine and so now I have become a permanent pollinator. Bees or no bees!
Love the updates! Keep them coming!
Blessings!
~Louise
The coffee grounds work great and if you go to Starbucks and ask them they will give you a big bag of grounds for free!
I spoke with a Charlotte County master gardner last night about my zucchini. She said it is too hot for them now. I also was convinced mine were not being pollinated. They blossom great then crisp into to nothing – even with afternoon shade! My cukes look like yours but now I am up to four cucumbers. For now, I’ll be happy with that. My tomatos seem to be hanging in there with morning sun only. Going to wait for cooler weather to plant more…. — PS Great job on ABC News!
Yay, your garden looks better than mine girl!! If you go to Home Depot or Lowes on the food bottles or bags you will see the 3 #’s like these
3-12-6, or 30-10-10, The numbers on the bag represent a chemical analysis by percentage. The first number is Nitrogen. The second is Phosphate, and the third is Potash. Nitrogen is used for top growth on a plant. Phosphate is used for blooming, and Potash is used to develop the root system.
Plants deficient in nitrogen have thin, spindly stems and their growth is stunted. Their older leaves turn yellowish-green from nitrogen starvation (chlorosis), while newer leaves are supplied with the available, but limited nitrogen. (copied from a website)
I have found that the “Orchid” plant food ALWAYS has the highest Nitrogen levels. I have been researching it too and haven’t bought one yet but I think this weekend I will buy the Orchid food. Maybe you shoudl use the nitrogen on your Basil too since it has long “legs” lol.
As far as Bees go.. You should always plant a Flower or two that attracts bees within your garden. (another something that I haven’t done yet either. ) Rather than type all of this out, check this page out about attracting bees and other pollinators.
http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants.htm
I love that we are growing gardens and even though I have never not had a garden in my life, I am “new” to the Florida Garden, I am learning right along with you girl! 🙂 When you do feed your cukes, do NOT top feed them. Only feed them on the ground itself.
Christina – Question- is there a problem using Orchid plant food on veggie plants? Can you use it on more than just orchids? Just curious. I will definitely check out the site about attracting bees. I know I read that catnip attracts bees? So much to learn! I’m having fun though! Thanks for following and helping me through this journey! 🙂
No, there is nothing wrong with using Orchid food on Veggies. The only reason they name them different things, is so that the “average Joe” doesn;t HAVE to know what the numbers on the labels mean. Like Tomato food, which causes blooming and in turn more tomato production as long as there are bees around, or like Orchid food, is because Orchids need more Nitrogen than other things. For the Cukes, logic tells me that this would be perfect. I mean, I keep reading NITROGEN, NITROGEN, NITROGEN..lol for leggy plants AND yellow leaves.. so this HAS to be perfect. It’s strange though, I am rethinking making my beds so close together since the dirt here isn’t very fertile and I need to use different fertilizers on different plants, lends me to believe that if I mix different fertilizers accidentally in the ground.. what will happen to my plants?? LOL Like I said, all of the fertilizing stuff is new to me too because in Virginia, Tennessee, we just spread some home based fertilizers on the garden (manure), used the tractor to plow it into the ground and never had to do it again the whole summer.
By the way, my Black Prince Tomatoes are changing colors! They aren’t very large but since they are the first that is to be expected. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into one of them. 🙂 They are almost a red/brown color right now. **EXCITED** lol
and,you’re welcome! We’re learning together girl!! If you find anything interesting.. email me or post it so I can learn with you!! 🙂