Jim Inman's (jinman) Garden - 2007

[TBDonnelly]

Aha!...you are a clever fellow, Don. You took that picture close up and I thought they were much larger than grape tomatoes.

Can we have a discussion of the "F" word? You know that word that really puts us gardeners on the defensive. It's been typed in this thread, twice, and did not get deleted. So, Ok... I'll try it.. Fu....fu...fu...fungus. There, I typed it.

Over the last few years the "fungus" has become more prevalent in my area. I've been 'reading up' on treating the fu.....fu....fungus. I'll share the info I've acquired and please join in!

Over the past month we have experienced some really "humid" weather. That coupled with being near a body of water puts even more humidiity in the air.

Tomatoes, cucumbers & zucchini plants seem to be more prone to picking up a fungus. Certain varieties more than others.

All of the remedies that I am aware of are temporary. They need to be re-applied every 7 - 14 days.

The remedies are, in no particular order:

Milk wash. 10% Skim Milk to 90% water.

General Purpose Fungicide: Daconil (Chlorothalonil)

Milstop (Ag version)(potassium bicarbonate)
Green Cure fungicide (Small gardener version)

Sulfur dust

Sulfur is the most recent remedy I have heard about. A neighbor had his soil tested at the local extension service. They recommended adding sulfur to his garden soil. Yesterday, I saw a powdered sulfur for dusting plants.
And a tip from Jerry Baker, America's Master Gardener: Collect all your old matchbooks. Cut off the tips of the matches(sulphur). Bury 4 or 5 match tips around each plant when planting.

So there you have it. All idea's welcome and appreciated!

Don

 

[jinman]

Can we have a discussion of the "F" word? You know that word that really puts us gardeners on the defensive. It's been typed in this thread, twice, and did not get deleted. So, Ok... I'll try it.. Fu....fu...fu...fungus. There, I typed it.

Don, fungus is not usually a problem here in Texas due to the dry conditions. Right now, dry is something most of us would welcome for a couple of weeks. For the first time, we are having fungus and molds appear in our garden. In my potato and melon patches, I've seen a white, fluffy, and powdery looking growth that looks like it is growing on the soil, but not on the plants. The problem with bugs, fungus, or any other pest is that you can't treat them when you get 1/2" to 1" of rain every day. Whatever you use will just wash off.

And I can't even hoe weeds. If I try to dig, my hoe turns into a big clod of clay that weighs 5 lb. I even considered taking my mower to the garden, but it would just bury up in the mud.

Here are some more pictures of our garden jungle. I'm including a picture of a mystery squash-gourd-whatever that is growing near some pumpkins on a plant that looks like a squash or pumpkin. I've never seen the mystery plant before and my guess is it is similar to a spaghetti squash because each one weighs about 7-8 lb. I'll post that picture first and then several others of my overwatered plants.

 

[Bird]

It's a fine looking garden, Jim, but it does look like you need to mow around it. I guess the only "mowing" we could do now would be with the string trimmers. When tomato vines grow out through the cages, I wonder how much trouble others have with separating them to save the cages for the next year. I know one year I had quite a job trying to pull and break vines to get them separated at the end of the season, but then I learned a trick that worked well for me and that was to use a machete. I just chopped off the vines around the outside of the cages before trying to pull the cages loose from the ground; fast and easy. Of course other folks may have some other, and maybe even better, ideas.

And for anyone who has never used a machete, you don't chop straight against what you want to cut, as you would with an axe or hatchet. Instead you use a slicing motion and you'd be amazed at the size of even saplings you can cut off that way. Even the biggest tomato vines are just nothing to cut with a machete.

 

[jinman]

And for anyone who has never used a machete, you don't chop straight against what you want to cut, as you would with an axe or hatchet. Instead you use a slicing motion and you'd be amazed at the size of even saplings you can cut off that way. Even the biggest tomato vines are just nothing to cut with a machete.

Bird, I used a machete to top all my turnips when I pulled them. As you mentioned, I used a slicing motion on top of a cutting board. The thiness of the machete blade seems to make it easy to use the slicing motion. Besides, I was afraid that if I chopped the tops, I might end up missing a few fingers.

 

[Bird]

Jim, what I meant was that you swing the machete like a hatchet, but instead of hitting squarely, you use a slight slicing motion just as the blade touches the object to be cut. When I first tried using a machete years ago, it didn't work very well for me. But then a neighbor hired some day laborers to cut small mesquite bushes from a pasture and I learned to use the machete watching those two guys. The machete turned out to be a very handy tool after I learned to use it right.

 

[schmism]

a very handy tool after I learned to use it right.

this is true for any tool.... if used correctly they are always better

 

[Bird]

this is true for any tool.... if used correctly they are always better

You're right, Steve, but I'm afraid there have been a few tools I never learned to use right.

 

[TBDonnelly]

I need to get one of 'dem machete tools.

Don

 

[Bird]

Looks like there's going to be an abundant supply of zucchini, Don.

 

[jinman]

I need to get one of 'dem machete tools.

Don

...or a hoop house stretcher.