How does your garden grow?

ruffdog · May 10, 2019

Still too wet to till here. Even the farmers are late getting in the fields....only something like 7% of the corn has been planted. We have a shorter growing season anyways so a late planting hurts.

JPRambo · May 10, 2019

I planted 5 blueberry plants on my north Georgia property 5 years ago. They did nothing for 3 years. Then I put 2 pounds of sulfur around them. And poof they are off and running now. I was there two weeks ago and blueberrys are all over them. I hope to get a few more than the birds get this year. I hope to be there as they are rippening.

Jstpssng · May 10, 2019

My Grandmother used to cover her blueberry bush with cheesecloth to keep the birds away. I don't know how well covering them would work though if you're away a lot.

I will have to remember the sulfur for my cranberry patch. They are just getting established but lowering the ph might help keep the weeds down.

Millwood · May 10, 2019

JPRambo said:
I planted 5 blueberry plants on my north Georgia property 5 years ago. They did nothing for 3 years. Then I put 2 pounds of sulfur around them. And poof they are off and running now. I was there two weeks ago and blueberrys are all over them. I hope to get a few more than the birds get this year. I hope to be there as they are rippening.

The correct ph range is critical for Blueberries to produce. Our local ph is 7, so it took 400 pounds of Montana Sulfur and 25 yards of green wood chips to bring it down to 5.9 ph in a 80 x 125 foot patch.

dragoneggs · May 10, 2019

We have naturally acidic soil here and our 4 blueberry bushes go nuts every year. We don't do anything really but last year, my wife put fir branches down as sort of a weed blocker knowing they are acidic. Didn't hurt. We added a bunch of peat moss a long time ago to the virgin soil just to hold more water as we have sandy glacial till that drains extremely well.

Oaktree · May 11, 2019

Jstpssng said:
My Grandmother used to cover her blueberry bush with cheesecloth to keep the birds away. I don't know how well covering them would work though if you're away a lot.

My wife uses nylon netting over her blueberry and strawberry plants. It's sold as deer netting, but seems to work with birds too.

jaxs · May 11, 2019

CADplans said:
BUT, a "tester" can skew results to be what they want the answer to be,,, :confused2:

Even on a good day,we see that happening. :liar:

dragoneggs · May 11, 2019

Oaktree said:
My wife uses nylon netting over her blueberry and strawberry plants. It's sold as deer netting, but seems to work with birds too.

We use what sounds to be the same stuff to close off our blueberry bushes. For extra long fence posts and a light frame around the top and zip tied together. Every once in a while a bird will find its way in but they never can get out. But I assume it has a nice feast before panicking until I free him.

Jstpssng · May 11, 2019

Oaktree said:
My wife uses nylon netting over her blueberry and strawberry plants. It's sold as deer netting, but seems to work with birds too.

dragoneggs said:
We use what sounds to be the same stuff to close off our blueberry bushes. For extra long fence posts and a light frame around the top and zip tied together. Every once in a while a bird will find its way in but they never can get out. But I assume it has a nice feast before panicking until I free him.

I was throwing out the cheesecloth as an example, but there definitely have been better products introduced since then. I used a product called Reemay Season Extenders - Reemay to keep the birds away when my grapes were ripening. It eventually got brittle from the sun and disintegrated. Funny thing, about 5 years ago I moved my chicken coop about 20 feet from the grape trellis; and haven't had bird problems since.

robbyr · May 15, 2019

Sigarms said:
Taken yesterday, blueberries we planted last year are shaping up nicely for next year.

Dumb question, is there anything anyone has found that works for killing grass/weeds by laying it over the area? Wife wants to get away from the plastic tarps, trying cardboard. Yes, I know, just pull them all out. Seems to be a never ending battle.

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If youæ±*e not too much against spraying google epsom salts, vinegar, and dish soap weed killer recipe.