<p>That’s a true bummer JYM. :(</p>
<p>Edited to say that I did recently read (and I will have to deal with this myself) to be careful when staking established plants because you can disturb the established root system. I had temporarily staked my small plants to a smaller bamboo stake initially, but am going to have to do some restaking as they are outgrowing the small stakes.</p>
<p>Arghhh- fog is back.</p>
<p>Staking tomato plant is an engineering project my husband and I put together, I had to build a system to stake hundreds of plants effortlessly. They can be unruly.</p>
<p>I learned the hard way about top heavy tomato plants in pots, in the aftermath of an relatively rare wind and rainstorm three seasons ago. With regard to staking, I always place the stake in the pot BEFORE I transplant a seedling.</p>
<p>Could people please tell everyone where they are? I wish they would reinstate the option to give location in the side bar.</p>
<p>re retaining walls. I have pictures of deer navigating the ones in our WI backyard, and of fencing and junipers that grew large enough to stop them. Encroaching shade and deer were reasons I quit most gardening efforts there.</p>
<p>Next question - pollinating. We seem to be shy honey bees in these parts (mid atlantic) my cucumbers are flowering and hubby just suggest i go swirl a q-tip around the flowers to pollinate them myself. Is that a real thing? </p>
<p>Hand pollination has NEVER WORKED for me, despite frequent attempts. What a disappointment!</p>
<p>I just watched a youtube video. You need to know the difference between the male and female flower. You could have just been polinating the males. The male cucumber is just the flower, the female is the cucumber with a flower.</p>
<p>In my experience, the first cukes to bloom are all male. You have to wait for the females to bloom and several times i had no males when needed. I use a q-tip. Cukes are sensitive to transplanting. You can’t disturb the roots. </p>
<p>I’ve got lettuce that won’t grow past a half-inch- first time I ever had that problem. Same for the tomatoes I started from seed. (I grow in containers, these are still in medium grow pots.) But this year, my bush string beans are going gangbusters. In the past, most never germinated. This year, it’s just luck. A lot depends on how the summer weather starts. In the NE we had the right number of cold days, then sunny, enough rain. </p>
<p>When I stake late, after the plant is established, I teepee the bamboo around the outside of the pot, tape it in place and tie the top- so not to disturb roots. Works. When we have a bad windy day, I can move containers. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for what to do with a ton of dill? I’ve made a dill/yogurt dressing, but still have quite a bit of dill. Same with cilantro. Has anyone ever dried their herbs? </p>
<p>You can freeze cilantro or make cil pesto (or just a cilantro puree in a mild oil- 1 c cilantro to 1/4 c oil) and freeze that. For the bunches: wash, thoroughly dry, place the bunch in a resealable freezer bag. Add a second bag, then press out as much air as poss, seal both bags. I dry thyme and tarragon. I wash, dry thoroughly, then lay them across a few layers of fresh paper towels and roll that up, place it in an airtight bag, get out the air and keep it in a dark enough place. Works for me. I check every so often. </p>
<p>Freezing is much better than drying, IMO. You can chop it up and freeze in ice cube trays to make individual portions of herbs that you can put into your recipes without the need to thaw out the entire package. </p>
<p>I did put basil pesto into a small ice cube tray. Then later moved the cubes to their own bag.<br>
Do you freeze the chopped cilantro by itself or in oil? I thought the natural oils in the cilantro needed to be protected form air to preserve the taste-?<br>
If you freeze bunches of cilantro, you can just pull off what you need and toss it into the recipe, frozen. </p>
<p>I never freeze cilantro since it is cheap and available year round from stores, but I did freeze dill using this method:</p>
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<p>Apparently, the same method would work for cilantro:</p>
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<p>You can do that with basil as well. However what I do is rinse and dry it, throw it in the food processor with a teeny bit of olive oil and freeze it in small containers. That way it doesn’t turn black.</p>
<p>I love cucumbers and onions in apple cider vinegar, water, dill and some sugar. </p>
<p>@eyeyamom, I hand pollinated cucumber all the time. It’s easily to find female cucumbers because it’s stick out(the opposite of human :D), while make cucumber is just a flower. The trick is to wait until the male cucumber is a little powedery, and you peel all the petals and leave just the middle part and then you smear it on the flower part of the female cucumber. It’s not hard to do because on average, I have about 5-6 cucumbers a day. Yes I have this bad habit of growing too many cucumbers and tomatoes and then give them away.</p>
<p>The Hungarian wax peppers have blooms and the beginnings of fruit. Still, the plant stem and the pods are tiny, which makes me wonder if I will have the same problem as last year’s pepper plants, which remained so small after an entire summer’s growth that I wondered if they in fact were ornamental plants.</p>
<p>Thinking that it may be a soil problem, I went online before commencing container planting this year to get some hints about soil. You wouldn’t believe the extent of the arguments online, topsoil vs. potting soil. The comments got so bad as to induce name calling from folks whom disagreed.</p>
<p>I don’t think using topsoil is the cause of my meager results. Last year and again this season I made a good mix of garden compost, goat manure and bagged topsoil. It drains well and I had very good seed germination in it. Maybe it’s just the peppers that are a problem because my Pinstripe Eggplants loved the pots and soil I had them in last year.</p>
<p>My take: potting soil can be looser, allowing roots to make their way. Lately, I’m seeing lots that says compost and manure need to be aged- which is why i think they advise, for some vegetables, to amend ground soil in late fall. (Don’t ask me the science.) Other than the seedlings I mentioned, I’m doing well with about 1/3 each of compost (bag from last year,) peat, and top soil in containers You can also look up the Mel’s Mix recipe from square foot gardening. </p>
<p>I see this for Hungarian peppers: To truly thrive, they must be planted in a [sunny] south-facing location with fertile, fast-draining soil. Also see not to fertilize, unless the Ph is way off. </p>
<p>Yesterday when I was tending to my community garden, the garden coordinator gave me something I have never had before - garlic scapes. Long greens that curl out in a circle this time of year here (Ohio) - you can use them in stir fry etc. Very garlicky! Just put some on our homemade white cheese pizza! Still have lots left - I’ve found recipes for Garlic scapes salad dressing and a pesto. </p>