Weather on repeat

 We had the AC on all night last night because it was miserable inside the apartment despite it being in the 70's after dark. I heard the manager reprimand someone, maybe one of the gardeners using a hose that it wasn't necessary and water was expensive.. So that got me thinking.

Yes it got that hot two days in a row.

Anyway, I was pulling the  hose out a few days ago and then when I put it back the ancient weather beaten door came off the overhead track. I couldn't figure it out so I left it mostly closed but hanging by one set of wheels. So then when I heard about the water issue I realized I was using gallons and gallons of water when it wasn't necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I grabbed one of the gallon water jugs and used the other hose to fill it up and do that for watering. I'm using maybe only six gallons of water between the raised bed and the poor oregano. Really going to have to dig that out and let it restart again. It's been surviving on minimal or no water and shows it. 

The tomato has flowers, maybe one tiny little fruit started but if I can't keep it watered it'll likely abort. It needs to be another foot or two taller than this to be mature with fruit. Tomatoes love well draining but moist soil and that's not happening often enough. Will try and get out tomorrow evening and give it and the onions (also not growing a whole lot in this heat) another dousing.

Figured the tomato would do really good being a slicer but just did a little more research and there you have it....  it's a spring/fall crop not midsummer. Might as well just rip it out at this point. It's not growing because it's too hot. Dangit! I should have done more research on that one on the spot. I would have picked out a different one for sure.

Frustrating for sure, the AI answer said it can be planted in June/July... NOT in San Diego and I made a point of putting that in the search. With our weather this needed to be planted next month maybe. 

So heat and more heat and that's about it. Not going to expect any fruit off that bush any time soon.... 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                

Well the heat has been brutal

 Almost killed the tomato. It doesn't get comfortable to be outside until almost dark and not going to water the garden then. 

 That's what it's been like. Luckily the soil is holding moisture a lot better so it wasn't too stressed out and I was able to get out day before yesterday and get it soaked again. It's kind of hazy overcast today which only means it's not nearly as hot but a bit more oppressive. 

Lost the tip of one of the branches which looked like it was laying on the hot metal of the cage. And actually it was starting to flower so nipped those buds off. Why do they do that? No where big enough for fruiting properly and being a total teenager about it. So it is all much happier now and still alive. 

This was yesterday, figured I should get out and water again, unhooked the other hose and then dug around with the trowel. Nope. Soil still has enough moisture and tomorrow I may not be able to water so Saturday it is for watering again. Still haven't planted anything else because it's been too hot and I've been preoccupied with other things. 

 

Gorgeous sunset the other day. All pink and purple and blue, ignore the spots in the sky, those aren't planes or anything just bugs caught on the screen. Jacaranda is still in bloom as well, hummingbirds and bees are taking advantage of it all day.  

People have been noticing that trees and flowers that normally don't bloom this late are in fact blooming. Jacarandas typically in San Diego bloom anywhere from March through May with peak around May. But here it is mid-August and it started blooming at the beginning of the month. Like it's switching the calendar since it is a southern hemisphere tree, our summer/fall is their winter/spring. Global warming and all that wreaking havoc on plants and animals.

More news when it happens. 

 

 

Not much to report

 Tomato hasn't died, the soil is retaining water despite it being in the mid 90's for the last three days. In facr, it's growing rather well. As it should.

I actually think it's gained an inch. It was hardly wilted at all when I went out late in the day to water. The soil was dry but not too bad. These pictures are from the day after I watered and two days of 95-96 degree heat. So I guess all the bed needed was more compost and some fertilizer to hold onto the water.  I didn't even go down to check on it today, I'm that confident it's perfectly fine.

A lone, small green feather from one of the parrots had drifted onto the soil. I put it with the larger black feather from a crow I have on the crate 'table'. The parrots are making their regular migrations in the morning and evening still, it's that time of year. Crows are being more noisy, I heard a Mourning Dove the other day but only briefly. The heat is keeping the birds quiet because, it's just too hot to do anything but sit somewhere shady. It's also not breeding or migration time for most. 

I love spring and late fall. Perfect time of year, not too cold, not too hot (usually) birds are making noise, but the garden slows down then as well. I'm really hoping that tomato gives me so good fruit in another few weeks. If it's a good producer I'm going to start growing that one instead of Roma, hard to give up on Roma but I really like slicing tomatoes for sandwiches instead. I can buy Romas at the store for doing pico salsa and things. 

Have I planted any beans on the fence? Nope. I really need to ditch all the seeds I have and start from scratch again but now it's too late in the season other than nurseries for buying seeds.  One of the people in the garden group posted a picture of 20 some odd packs of seeds they picked up at their local Dollar Tree that were selling for a penny. Of course my local one had nothing left in summer garden stuff. Have to go check the library I suppose.

Hoping for a hose replacement either for birthday or Christmas, still hauling it out every time I have to water and now have my designated 'garden pants' (previous pair of jeans). I was considering getting a watering can and still might do that next month. 

So that's it, another update when something happens I suppose. 

 

 

And restart

 Got a little extra money again and was able to get a bag of soil, fertilizer and a new tomato plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four days ago, completely dug through and despite the dry top it was still dark underneath but still dry. Still digging out liquid amber roots from the logs and can't put a tomato cage very deep without running into the logs. More on that later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic was a failure as well. Just too dang hot and I couldn't keep them wet enough. Going to have to give up on anything with a bulb or tuber unfortunately.  I think radishes are still okay as well as carrots but will see how I feel about that later. 

It was 95 today and we had a couple of reasons to go out which is how I decided on getting the garden supplies. HD wasn't that crowded for a Friday, was able to finagle getting 10% off a torn bag and found a tomato plant (double in the pot!) I decided on.

Planter needs another bag or two to get topped off but was not in the budget or energy to do it. I used the Raised Bed and Potting soil because that was the price point and I have used it before. The tomato is a Bush Champion II, apparently more disease resistant (not really necessary for me) and is determinate only getting about 2-4 feet tall. I wanted to put a small melon in but of course, it would have to be from an actual nursery or seed and wasn't happening so settled on a good slicing tomato. Hopefully a good one. 

After soil dump, post stirring around with fertilizer and then after watering and placing the tomato. I watered, shoveled, watered again, let it settle, shoveled again, watered some more (soil was REALLY dry) so after the water settled at last I was exhausted, sweaty and shaking from exertion. I was just going to leave the tomato like that and thought, nope. It needs to get planted. There was still dry soil toward the back of the planter dangit! This soil I swear is the most hydrophobic stuff and then when it does get wet it holds for a while. It might have some peat moss in it but I'm thinking it's something else going on. 

 And there you have it. Since it's a bush variety I plunked it right in the middle with a cage which it will likely outgrow but oh well. Not supposed to plant tomatoes in the same planter every year yada yada.... I threw enough fertilizer in there it won't need any for a while. I snagged that pot when I saw it had two plants in it because more is better right? 'Technically' I could have divided them but wasn't going to take a chance on breaking them. I also couldn't bury them much deeper either so with a water well around them they'll be fine. I have some scallions that I can plant out around them and might toss in some marigold seeds and see what happens.

 I thought I got a picture of the west bed after I watered, but guess I didn't. This is after tossing the fertilizer on but before watering.  That soil also has a hard time absorbing water but has more clay and native soil in it than the raised bed. Go figure. I didn't do anything to the south bed, that's for another time or I might finally let Dolores have it but I think she's kind of winding down on doing gardening.

That's my exercise for the week. Yep, got my muscles worked and cardio, full workout. That's my story and sticking to it. 

All done... too hot to garden anymore

 I knew it would be sad and ugly since I didn't get out to the garden to water yesterday... my experience and intuition was right. It is 90 outside, low humidity and partial high spotty clouds so that means... garden in distress.

It is confirmed though, of those four plants, the two on the right and back are indeed bell peppers and the other two remaining were probably jalapeños. They are all now compost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One midsummer empty bed. The two peppers that were on that plant are indeed bells but since they were only about an inch long, it was not worth caring for them in this heat. I would have to be down there every day, early morning before the heat to water them. You can see by the soil after I pulled them that there is very little moisture left.

I got the cultivator and started digging, what I did discover were roots. Lots of them and they smelled of Liquid amber trees. The gosh darn logs I used as filler are sprouting roots and growing into the bed. I knew there were roots in there before but it's even worse now. If I tried to use a root inhibitor product I wouldn't be able to grow anything in there. They're too deep and embedded to dig out and would increase the amount of soil I need to fill the bed. So just have to rip out as much as possible and keep adding soil to compensate. The roots of the peppers weren't that developed either which is testament to not having enough fertilizer or water. I really need about ¼ bale of straw for mulch during the summer.  Bark mulch is almost useless because I'd have to rake it out and it doesn't break down as quickly as straw.  

So, fertilizer and a bag of soil this week for that bed. The garlic I'm about to give up on as well, I should have watered but again, too hot to drag that hose out in the middle of the day. I have my grubby pants on and a t shirt so will see if I have the energy in the evening.

It's too dang hot! 

 

 

Today was the day

 It was still rather warm by 7 pm but watering had to be done. Everything was bone dry and frankly, I was done with the tomato and cucumber. I only got two pictures because once I got my gloves on to work, didn't take them off until I was headed upstairs and I was exhausted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pulled off the few tomatoes that were left if they even had a blush of red to them then decided it was time to hack it down. When I pulled the stump out the soil was absolutely bone dry, how these plants have survived going that dry between watering is beyond me. I then looked at the cucumber, checked the largest one and it was even more of a 'J' shape and none of the others had pollinated. Yup, not worth the water and energy so up it came. Also dry as a popcorn fart and very few roots. I then checked the peppers, decided the front right one was basically done and yanked that one but left the others. They may all come out by the end of the weekend.  

So I watered, and watered, and dug, and watered and will check tomorrow to see how well it soaked in. 

 If I pull up those peppers then what? Too early for peas, too late for beans and I would have to look for the right type if I did want to plant them. If I wanted to get actual plants then it's not too late for tomatoes and peppers. I was only planning on spending about $40 for soil and fertilizer so will see what happens. 

As always. Can't plan on anything because everything can change in a moments notice. Or not. It's Saturday tomorrow, not a good day to go to any garden center or hardware store but might hazard a trip to get some fertilizer, maybe some soil. And a pizza from Costco, maybe some chocolate.

Almost yanking time

The weather is ramping up as the tomatoes are winding down. This weekend will be yanking time hopefully, due to the mites on the cherry vine. Probable jalapeños with the cherry tomatoes. 

 The peppers are small but had a feeling they would not survive the heat and grow to mature size so I pulled them off. There's only a few more tomatoes left on the vine and thus, going to try and yank that soon.

The cucumber seems to be going gangbusters. That large one is a bit crooked and the others seem to be bending as well. One small one wasn't pollinated but that's okay, seems to be two or three more waiting to grow.

I pulled the Terra Cotta plant, just not worth the effort to keep it. I had watered the previous day what I thought was thoroughly, but when I pulled up the plant it was still dry as a bone where the roots were. I need to figure out how to keep the soil moist longer and deeper. Can't be out there watering every day, doesn't need it and sometimes every other day is too long. Just can't win with watering without mulch. Oh and the bell pepper, I think the plant to the right is also a bell judging from the base of the stem where the fruit is forming. So two bells and three jalapeño I guess and still wondering what to plant after these are all done.

 

 

 One or two more roses blooming and still smell heavenly.  The little pink single one that I trimmed back... not a repeat bloomer so that's done for the season unfortunately. The Angel Face that's hidden by bushes, never bloomed. Poor thing. Sign of the season, leaves freshly trimmed off the upper branches of the sycamores due to the migrating parrots. They're coming in again morning and evening now and they're selectively removing leaves from where they roost. Going to have to read up on the reasoning for that.

That's all the news for now, entirely too hot to go get soil today and I have other things to do in the afternoon. Will see when that gets done since I don't need it right away.