It has begun, and short post

 The heat has begun not garden work. It was 86 when I woke around 10 this morning and by 11 it was 90. By 11:30 it was 94. Needless to say we closed up when I got out of bed this morning and may not open up until close to 10 tonight.

I got out and watered anyway because the plants needed it.

The sunflower will be pulled tonight hopefully. I doused it well but it is done for the season, if I didn't have a cat I would have cut the flower at it's peak and brought it inside. He would have tried to eat it and likely knock it over and cause a mess. 

I only watered, didn't do anything else because...90 in the shade. So not much else to do or say, I think even the gophers are staying underground because nothing new was showing. The two mounds may have new dirt but couldn't tell.

I can't even think of anything to talk about for gardens other than water, water, water but not in the middle of the day like I did. I remember at the nursery being told to water early and well before high heat days. Then they wondered why we were hanging around inside with nothing to do. Not going out in 94 degree weather just to pull weeds. Everything was watered, wasn't going to sweep the aisles in that heat. So stand inside and help customers as they arrived. 

Just a note, plants in thin walled containers suffer more from root stress than in clay pots or ceramic. The thicker walls of the ceramic pots insulate better and if they are light colored or white it will reflect the heat rather than absorb it glazing also helps reflect heat as it is a shiny surface. Yes they are heavier to move but then, if you have a huge plant on a big patio why are you going to move it?

Stay cool, take an evening walk when it's cooler outside. This will be over soon.

Suffering through the weather

 Closed up early today because we were going to be running the oven and stove for lunch. Still kept the rest of the apartment tolerable and comfy.

Not much else in the garden to report. The bucket pepper is very, very green and has flowers but no fruit. Guess what that means. Too much high nitrogen fertilizer.

It's been not so limp after I soaked the soil really well, guess it really needed water. The aphids are covering the new growth on the cucumber. Didn't see any beetles or larva running around as much though. And then there's the sunflower that is just covered with  lace bugs.

Those are all eggs and juvenile lace bugs. I think I'm going to have to pull that sunflower and spray it down with neem tonight. The flower is mostly done, the petals are starting to shrivel so it's time. Video will be posted on my fb garden page. Don't watch if bugs make your skin crawl, I find it fascinating though.

 

 

I'm also a bit concerned about the bean and cucumber conflict. When I looked at the bean plant I thought it was mildew then realized it was caterpillar/worm damage on the back side. That bean is going to have to get pulled as the cucumber is starting to grab it. It is also in the shade all the time so not ideal location. Maybe move it to the full sun north bed?

Took a picture of this because it shows  me trying to coax tendrils to the stakes. That long one I had tried to latch onto the stake on the right, instead it just said 'nuh uh' and want off in the opposite direction. Another already curled one was in prime location for that stake and still had to coax it to curl on it. 

So things are winding down as the heat climbs. Still too hot to set up the raised bed and likely won't have the money for soil anyway. Another few weeks maybe.

More important things need to be taken care of with my meager income before I splurge on soil.

Days are blending together

 I almost forgot to post today! Went out in the evening when it was cool and remembered pictures I had taken yesterday. Ooops!

It's going to be in the extreme heat for the next few days but the evenings are positively pleasant! first up though, an interloper..or rather looper.

Saw the damaged leaves and didn't take long to find the fat green looper worm that caused it. Pulled it off and chucked it over the wall without taking a picture. I pulled a couple of leaves off the cucumber hoping it would shock it into making better flowers.

Still no luck with female fruit on there yet so it's going to be a dud I suspect this year.

 

We took a trip to storage to see if there was anything we could pull out and sell or give away. Much too much work to do for now and Jon asked if I wanted to take the raised bed to storage. I gave it a good consideration and said no. There's still hope for having a garden.

 

Life finds a way. I mentioned that this camellia got hacked back a while ago but also that they grow back quickly. It's already regrowing and I can only hope they don't hack it back again any time soon.

It is now much later than I had intended to post this but things happen. More tomorrow as usual.

Combining photos, nothing different.

 From here on out weather is going to warm up to the 90's for a week. More often than not I'll be going out in the evening for my main checking and do a quick cursory look in the morning.

The prospective bed for the new garden. Scraped and dug and leveled best I could. It's not sloped for sure but if they want it level level, that's going to be difficult. Plenty of room to work with but still a long ways off from getting a usable raised bed. Gravel underneath? Not a chance, but will definitely be sure to use that poultry netting on there before things get going.

Biiig difference, I watered everything that needed it this morning and hope that the pepper isn't going to give up entirely. Having that kind of fluctuation on a plant is not good, much like it is for us and animals. The soil being in the bucket heats up faster in the root zone than if it were in the ground. I also moved it to the mulched bed for better drainage. Discovered two earwigs and a worm underneath. I watered them too.

The picture on the left is to illustrate the shifting of the shadows. That was taken around 11 am and the shade has covered the bed completely compared to a month ago that only did it by half. All the sun those plants are getting is coming in the early morning. Looking for pictures from a month ago and saw one from two weeks ago and at 11:45 there was more sun on that bed by half. Fall is coming according to the sun.

The brown caterpillar looking thing is I believe a Delphastus beetle larva that is mowing through the aphids. Might be a Lacewing larva as well but in any case, nature is taking care of pests on their own. There are a few tiny ants going through there as well because they're 'farming' the aphids for the nectar. All you guys crawling around, get to pollinating my plant!

Maybe I need to stress it out like pick a couple of leaves off or something. Shock it into making female flowers.

This is the shorter cucumber and the tip is covered in aphids dripping their honeydew everywhere. Need more beetles and their babies to take care of it.

Other than that, it's a waiting game still. Waiting for the weather, waiting for money, waiting for ...yeah basically it.

Temperature makes a difference.

 So it's breezy and a 'little' cooler today, will see how long we hold out before having to close up. I did get out last night and check on things. No major disruptions but did make a change or two.

Just for nothing better to do I started scraping the mulch off the fence bed. Managed to fill the bucket again, the rest can stay in there when I level it.If you can see the series of small holes, that was me probing the soil with the stick for the tunnel direction. Gopher tunnels are rarely straight lines.

I decided to rip out the pepper in the ground because there were no flowers, it seemed to be getting worse and not at all like the one in the bucket. The roots just were not going out very far or they were chewed.

Now today when I went out at noon, that bucket pepper looked completely different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Most people would panic and grab the hose, I know I watered really well day before yesterday so am not going to touch it because when I go out this evening, if it looks like the top picture, I'm leaving it alone.

If that chair and tank sprayer were known to be abandoned they would be in the trash right now. They aren't mine, not sure if the owner is even in the complex anymore. It just adds to the trash look of the garden and makes it look like no one cares. I need to have something I can improve ya know?

Plants and their care and details have been a part of my life for close to thirty years. That's a career and professionally it was my job. I wanted to keep doing it for a much longer time but life and all that changes things. I ne thing I've learned is nature waits for no one. It has it's own schedule and will do what it's doing until something changes. It's not entropy because there is life and death in some way or another.

Meanwhile, seasons change and the parrots came through trashing the sycamore trees again. I heard the hawks calling so am looking forward to next years nesting. If we're here.

Oh there was a tiny beetle climbing on the cucumber. The first name that came to mind was a Delphastus beetle'which is a beneficial that eats aphids, whitefly and other pests. Hot diggity if that weren't what it was! My brain still works! There are aphids and whitefly on that plant so a beneficial has found it's way there!

The adult and the larvae eats whitefly at all stages and also eat aphids no matter the size. So no help for the leaf miner but at least other pests are being dealt with. Yay !

Good things in the garden after all.

Same weather, different day.

Going to be blistering for the next few days so we're already closed up before noon. I got out and watered last night (evening) and checked on things.  Nothing new, but as I was watering the north bed, the bean plant caught my eye. It looked like it had a flower!

After watering I got down and double checked, nope it was the edge of a leaf that got damaged. I was standing there for a good minute thinking, 'you little bastard if you got a flower before the older ones did....'

So this morning went out to just check and good thing I did. Gophers making mounds, luckily not in my beds but dangerously close to the south bed.

The beans are looking good but now that I've seen the mounds I'm suffering from anxticipataion again. I didn't put any netting along the wall which is where they came from before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Examining the cucumber for any signs of fruiting and I discovered aphids first on some of the buds further down, then tiny sugar ants further up. They aren't the bigger ants that can invade your kitchen, these are tinier and I actually saw some in the kitchen window. Well if there is a chance of pollination I'm all for it. Even the aphids were smaller than usual, but this is summer and bigger ones come out in the spring. ::knockonwood:: No cucumber beetles at least. 

Not pictured is the one branch that was running along the ground, had to turn it so it curved along the netting border rather than running out over open ground. Because my luck a gopher or some other animal would find it.

 It is just way too soon and too hot to put the raised bed together. Waiting another month when it starts (hopefully) to cool down again. And by month I mean end of September into October, because we've had hot weather that time of year before and more frequently now.

I remember when it got cooler in the fall or at least it seemed like it. September and October it actually rained sometimes. I think it rained once on Halloween but it was not a heavy rain. Actually when I was a kid living further north near Pasadena I remember it being almost cold in the evening before going trick or treating.

I know I've whined about this before but I'd like to live somewhere that I can actually plan on cool weather in October and November. At this point I would even put up with 'some' snow because that would actually give me more to do in the garden the rest of the year. I have been remarking for a few years now to anyone that will listen that the weather patterns are shifting such that winter, for us at least, is shifting to start in December and running to February. We get very little spring type weather and it's a very short season that runs right into summer that starts in June (sometimes May) and runs to October or November.

 So as far as my garden is going, in a holding pattern though I am tempted to pull the peppers since they aren't producing and it's kind of useless. The dirt that's in the bucket I'll use in the fence bed as part of the base for the new raised bed (since that's where I got the dirt from anyway). Might do that tonight. Have to figure out what to do with the buckets since they have holes in the bottoms.

 

 

Holding pattern but news.

 Another blistering hot day, closed up before noon due to needing to go to the grocery store and it was comfortable when we got back. Nice.

I went to the garden briefly to make sure everything was still standing, wilting but standing so just insert pictures from previous days and nothing has changed.

I was able to ask the asst manager about putting the raised bed in and he had to call the maintenance guy because 'it's his property'. Apparently he thought I was going to put in something grandiose or something. Anyway yes, I can put it in, but they don't take any responsibility for it and I have to take it with me when I move out. Good enough, kind of what I expected anyway but it will have to wait for a bit longer for the weather and money to get soil.

I measured just in case and the fence bed is the spot that will fit at this time. It's level and bigger than what I need so that's set. I only used five feet of the wire netting so I have plenty left as a base under the frame. I might do some more math and see how much I need and if there's enough to put around/under the other north bed.

On my morning perambulation with Rocky I noticed a few things that were still good for where we are.

Clear and vibrant blue skies set behind deep green trees.  I looked up to see what kind of airplane was flying overhead and noticed the color just needed to be shared.

Then on the way back to the apartment the chirping twitter of the resident Anna's hummingbird. The window in the lower right picture is our kitchen window. This is the jacaranda tree on the corner of the building that the downstairs neighbor has hung her wind chimes and decorations from as well as hummingbird feeders. That's a red Mandevilla that she is growing over a shepherd hook or small pergola, don't remember.

So good things in the garden, just not mine. I will try and get out tonight to water as the existing plants do need it now. 

Oh, but the planning can begin on what I can plant when the garden bed gets set up. Things that will thrive in cool weather and good soil, edible and flowers. It's not a big bed but it's big enough.

A surprise to be sure!

 Weather today is the same as yesterday so will be closing up soon. Nothing remarkable happening for the plants but I did get a picture of the plumeria and then there's the surprise at the door yesterday afternoon.

I heard a loud thump in the front room whilst occupied in the bathroom and thought maybe Jon had fallen, nope. A big box was delivered. I didn't order anything, Jon didn't order anything, the label said it was for me.

What the heck? Then we looked at the label and I remembered one of my old college friends and a fellow gardener had said a few weeks ago she wished she could send me a raised bed. Well she did. (Thank you Laurie!)

Sweet friend of mine. It's like a permanent kind of metal raised bed frame and looks like it needs two people to assemble but it is only 40Lx24wx29h. About the same dimensions as any of my three beds. Jon raised the same concern that if we move we can't take it with us if it's full of dirt so it will have to stay behind or we can put it in storage for when we do get a place of our own. If we get the money enough to get our own place, we'll have the money to get a new one. Or there will be ones already in place. First I need to get permission to put the bed in.

So that project is going to wait for a bit as it is too hot to do serious assembly and I don't have any soil to put in it. But here's the general plan once i can do it.

I assessed the fence bed area because where it sits needs to be level and this is the most level unplanted area. This is progression of events that would have to happen:

The mulch would have to get scraped off and saved. (Day 1)

Level out the soil with shovel and water, filling tunnels and holes. (Day 2/3)

Lay down the remaining chicken wire netting, securing it with dirt or logs. (Day 3/4)

Assemble it in place as per the directions. (Day 4/5)

 The retaining border may or may not be kept in place, the dimensions are almost the same. 

 Netting is 2' x 25' originally. I don't think I used half of what I had. 2 ft wide is pushing it because ideally I needed 3 feet wide. I can double what I have left crosswise and that should cover it.

And of course this is all based on whether I can actually put the frame there. The other part is, no money for soil and from my calculations I will need roughly 6 cu ft. Kelloggs makes (or used to make) a 3 cu ft bag of raised bed/potting mix. They likely still make it but it may not be available in  my area. They are 2 cu ft bags now and run about $9 each and weigh almost 40# each. 

Updates as they happen.

Meanwhile, the plumeria and other things in the garden.

 

Didn't get close enough to smell the flowers but they are very pretty. Definite color difference on the peppers and the one in the ground is losing lower leaves. Not sure if it's overwatering, heat stress or both.

 

The cucumber is pulling the stakes inward as the tendrils latch on and curl. no big deal but I had the right idea with using an inverted cage as the other small one is not quite reaching the next tendril to a support. This pepper is even smaller than the other one so I think that plant is done. Flowers are blooming but the leaves are falling, it's stressing about something and not putting good size fruit out. 

Oh the things I could grow in that bed! Fall veggies would be lettuce and peas, carrots, maybe a potato in one end. Can you believe I still have some of those gold potatoes from when I harvested? They haven't shriveled up or sprouted yet! And yet a bag of russets I got after those were pulled were sprouting in about three weeks. Thinking about it now, the gold potatoes are off by themselves, not in a bag or bowl. The bagged potatoes are all crammed together and if they are like apples they will create their own gasses to promote growth/aging. So that's the key.

Anyway, a surprise gift has given me hope again for an actual garden.