<p>I hate to brag but I have tomatoes of all sizes. These early types that I purchased the plants from Lowes/Home Depot. As for brown spots on the tomato leaves, I’ve seen some plants have it(actually maybe one plant in the same spot as last year). All I did is pinch the spotted leaves and the tomato plant seems to be fine.</p>
<p>So today I went to our Master Gardener plant workshop/plant sale. AND I came hope with not having purchased a single new plant or vegetable! I have everything.</p>
<p>But I did learn some stuff. Instead of putting the surplus tomatoes in pots, I’m going to put the bush beans in pots - their roots don’t require as much room, and can go in pots half the size. Also, discovered that I don’t like any of the solutions to fall blight (red lava rock around the plants, copper spray. The trick is not to splash any water from the ground up on the leaves when the first cooler days hit. (It’s why rain in late August/early September in western Washington can be as devastating as it was last year.) Put the eggplants in the very hottest part of the garden (and a little bit of black plastic around them can be really helpful. Pinch off all but maybe two stems of tomatoes - more energy will go into fruit rather than into the plant. Alternate planting of peppers, beans, and tomatoes so that the tomatoes don’t crowd each other. You can grow fennel in pots!</p>
<p>mini–sounds like fin. I admire your restraint in not buying anything, but coming home with valuable tips!</p>
<p>We’re just about done cutting this year’s asparagus. This year, in significant numbers for the first time since planting in the mid-90s, some critter is chomping off the tips about 1 foot above the soil line. We don’t think it’s deer (we’ve always had them & they’ve never bothered it in the past). We think it is a carpet bagger ground hog that has taken up residence in a brushy compost pile near the patch.</p>
<p>I could stick the end of a shotgun into the pile and blast away. Wife vetoes this option. I’m too lazy to move the pile.</p>
<p>What to do? Have-a-Heart trap? Rent-a-terrier? Even if we get the one GH, he may be part of a gang. We could put up stakes & netting but then the ferns and black snakes get all tangled up in it. Or maybe … hot pepper wax? That’d be one p*ssed GH though, I’m afraid he’d root up all the crowns in spite.</p>
<p>The Ukranians have surplus nuclear weapons…</p>
<p>tk21769–My brother stuck the end of the outflow hose of his air conditioner in the ground hog hole and the ground hog fled the same day!</p>
<p>They are selling lovely standard gardenias. Fragrant and lovely shape. I’d love to plant it right outside of my kitchen door except I know they are not hardy. They will lose flowers after I plant them and die soon after. Has anyone had experience with gardenia? Have they develop hardier specimen?</p>
<p>how about a mock orange instead?
[Growing</a> Mock Orange Shrubs | Home & Garden Ideas](<a href=“http://www.homeandgardenideas.com/gardening/shrubs-bushes/planting/growing-mock-orange-shrubs]Growing”>http://www.homeandgardenideas.com/gardening/shrubs-bushes/planting/growing-mock-orange-shrubs)</p>
<p>what zone are you?
[Hardy</a> Gardenia](<a href=“http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/shrubs-vines/gardenia.shtml]Hardy”>http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/shrubs-vines/gardenia.shtml)</p>
<p>zone 6. I looked into Mock Orange a while ago and ruled out. Forgot the reason. The gardenias they are selling is in tree shape that will be perfect for the spot I have.</p>
<p>Will the geraniums I had in the cellar all winter long come back?
I put them out side & took off all the dead stuff & I have been watering them.
They look kind of “viney” like.</p>
<p>They may come back. My mums are coming back like that. If it’s “viney”, you may plant them deep to cover all the “viney” part. It will be as good as new when new growth comes up.</p>
<p>My mums are coming back too. Last year, I planted the Easter Lily pot in the ground, they are also coming back now. My tomatoes are still green, wondering when they will turn red. They look super yummy. However, my basil plant is not doing so well.</p>
<p>Plants are so amazing. I bought a mum last autumn for my front porch. I was told that, as a forced bloomer, it wouldn’t last, so when the blooms died off, I just threw it, pot and all, next to the back door (the weather was not conducive to anything else!). This spring I went to dispose of the pot and dirt properly, and there the poor thing was, lying on its side, putting all sorts of shoots out. I re-potted it, and now it’s growing beautifully.</p>
<p>I was just given a dozen extra little tomato plants from my intense gardening neighbor and some raspberry bushes which likely won’t produce until next year. Because there are many trees in our area I am trying the tomatoes in several different spots to see which get the best sun & heat. I will try some in our micro-climate warmest place courtyard, too, though in pots. Wish me luck</p>
<p>Does anybody have a wine vineyard? I just joined a class for building one.</p>
<p>I no longer eat anything planted in the ground/yard. You have no way to know what has been dumped in the soil. I grow all edibles in pots or raised beds.</p>
<p>You can get your soil tested- ( which can be a good idea anyway- cause then you know what it needs)
[Elisabeth</a> C. Miller Library: Plant Care Websites](<a href=“http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/hort_web_sites/plant_care.php]Elisabeth”>http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/hort_web_sites/plant_care.php)</p>
<p>Igloo–My experience with mock oranges is that they can be trashy–self seeding everywheere. How about a gardenia that you bring indoors during the winter? I do that with a hibiscus. It looks a bit morose during its winter hiatis, but recovers well enough in the summer sun.</p>
<p>dylanr–sounds a bit drastic. Do you live in the city? Have property that the previous owner used herbicides on?</p>
<p>I’m sure pesticides or herbicides have been used on most properties, but I am more concerned about leads and such, radioactivity, etc. Stuff that requires expensive and specific
testing to identify.</p>
<p>And, because something is present in one soil sample, does it guarantee the whole property has the same contamination or lack of it?</p>
<p>Thanx for the link EK!</p>
<p>Hey! We had a black bear in our yard this morning. Hoping he will keep away the deer.</p>