So far, so good....it's warming up too.

 So got out to the garden in the evening, nothing amazing happening, went back upstairs and got my green wire to tie up some of the tomato branches. It's really warming up and is expected to be in the 90's by next week. No bueno.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning and evening shot of the Jacaranda, what a difference lighting makes. I am thankful I am not allergic to it and can enjoy it without suffering. (neighbor lady is  raking and sweeping up the flowers every day though.)

Still no sign of the caterpillar so someone said maybe a bird got it. Overnight? Not likely, more likely it crawled away and dug into the ground to pupate but still no damage on the plants. That's my story and sticking to it. As long as my plants are being left alone and the tomatoes all grow big and red I don't care where it went.

The garlic is a bit more free and clear now. I tied up the tomato and trimmed off a small branch that was going that direction. I was wondering why the tomatoes are more yellowish and as it turns out, it's perfectly normal. They'll go from green to yellow green then the oldest ones will start getting pinky orange and then turn red. 

 Yay!

 

Same plants hours apart. Again the difference lighting makes in a garden. But just another chance to take some beauty shots of the fruit of my labors.

I know the tomatoes we get in the store are cheap at .99/lb  but they are also almost rock hard even though they are 'ripe'. They pick them green then treat them with a gas to ripen the color. These beauties will be ripening on the vine and hopefully of the same size as store bought. 

 

I think the radish tops are getting a bit sunbaked but the leaves toward the back are still chewed.  I think those are still the same ones as last time so I just pinched off one to check Also you can see the size difference as they go from the shadier part to the front of the bed. Not sure if that's nutrient, sun exposure, or moisture level in the soil is likely it.  Hard to see but the picture on the right of the south bed has a small seedling coming up. Not remembering what I planted there other than cilantro and onions. A bit too soon for the cilantro, I just planted that day before yesterday.

 

I decided to move the cucumber seedling. I used the ice scoop to get the entire rootball with lots of dirt and dug a similar size hole. I did this after I watered so everything is good and wet. Yes I planted seeds in that area but I'm impatient and that cucumber was too close to the tomato. If the other seeds come up I'll move them to the back.

I put the cup cover back over it just in case. Was tempted to do that with the little seedling in the south bed but didn't have anything to cut the bottom of a cup off.

 And lastly a nice shot of the blooming hibiscus and lantana. They are both recovering well from being butchered thankfully and it's just cute having the little American flag stuck in there somehow.

Oh, those are spider plants under those bushes also. Yeah, they're surviving even though they're a shade plant. Odd couple plantings right?

Camouflaged invader and seeds planted

 But first, the weather report.  It's going to be in the  low to mid 80's for the next week and a half. Still mostly okay considering there is a mitigating breeze to keep things reasonable. No flower pictures but have pictures from my foray in the garden last evening. The tomatoes really aren't that yellow either, just my phone camera.

It was getting rather dim when I went out, the pictures are brighter than it actually was and along with my decaying vision I didn't notice the invader in the right hand picture.

It was RIGHT THERE and I  missed it. A rather large tomato hornworm! Didn't realize it was there until I was getting into bed and opened my phone to do something. Looked through the pictures and I'll be dipped!. It was full dark by then, hours later so I took my chances and didn't go back down. Son of a gun... of course it wasn't there or anywhere to be found when I went down early this morning.

Just more pictures of my burgeoning tomatoes. I knew I was getting to cocky and comfortable with them being ony nibbled on.

I wouldn't be surprised if that hornworm is responsible for the cucumbers getting mowed down.

Definite slug and snail damage on leaves that were touching the ground. I pulled most of these off the south bed plants but that one in the upper left, that's more caterpillar damage than slugs like the one on the bottom.

I brought one of the flimsy plastic cups down and cut off the bottom for a protector around the cucumber seedling and also planted three more seeds in the container. Those will get divied up along the trellis and hoping it will be a mass of cucumbers there. Everything was still quite damp so didn't water them in last night but did so this morning.

 

The angle of the light tells you it was very early in the morning. I was woken by the apt. manager saying we needed to come down and check our car and move it.

Anyway, after that was done went to the garden to see if I could find the caterpillar and lighting, early morning eye fog and other factors were against me. The cucumber baby was still alive the leaf I had put down as a bait was mostly untouched.

 I fluffed, ruffled, shifted and moved as many of the leaves and branches as possible but it was difficult to tell if I brushed up against the critter since the tomato stems are just as cool and soft as a caterpillar. 

What I find interesting is all of these are Roma tomatoes, all seeds from the same package. Some are round, some are pointed, some are 'olive' shape. They are all looking good though and I need to bring some of the green wire down to tie up a few branches. You can see these pictures are all of the front one that had the hornworm on it.

Leaves are pretty much wilted and had a little chewing but nothing major. Slug traps had nothing new in them so have to re-bait them tonight as well. I picked those up while I was watering because I knew even with the water moving around it would still be dry under them. Which it was.

 

 While I was watering I suddenly noticed this huge beauty at the bottom of the trellis tomato. Biggest one of any of them just hanging out and  being protected by the rest of the plant. That may be of size and color to pick very soon. I may cut some of the leaves back around it so it gets some sunlight. Another little one hanging out behind the trellis I think I noticed the other day.

 

And lastly, there's still a garlic that is hanging out behind the tomato. Keep forgetting about it because it's being covered by the tomato. Might have to transplant it over some because it's not getting enough sun there. I can't reach it either because of the rassafrackin jade plant.

Still think I'm going to start cutting it back bit by bit and just toss the cuttings behind it. Doing it a few here and there every week and if the lady asks about it I'll be of two minds, 'oh I did a little cutting and it seems ot be doing much better' or 'I noticed it was kind of looser on the sides, not sure what it's doing'. I did tell her I wasn't going to mess with it but also hadn't planned on it completely flopping over like it did and getting in the way.

Will see what I find this evening.

 

 

 

And one cucumber down already.

But first, flower pictures just in case that thumbnail cycle picks this post. I think the orange bougainvillea is 'Orange King'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The middle cucumber didn't even have a chance, barely cleared the soil and was mowed down. The only one left is next to the tomato. Going to plant more of course, I am bound and determined to get cucumbers going this year. A friend advised cutting the bottoms off some clear plastic cups and put them on them and if I had nylons I would put that on top. Will try and protect the last cucumber tonight.

 The only things in the traps were a slug or two and oddly enough earwigs and in another, pill bugs. Whatever is mowing them down isn't bothering with the traps. Might have to start some seeds in a cup and then transplant when it gets big enough.

I am just so ticked off really. They must have come up from below where the logs and leaves are because I don't see any signs of slime other than on the pieces of bark I used to cover the trap.

I needed some green onions for making salmon patties today so pulled the largest ones, which weren't very large, and brought some seeds down to replant in various places. Need to do the same with some cilantro but knowing where I put other seeds hard to find a spot or three to put them.

 

Planted some onions between the tomatoes and the radishes are still getting chewed but they're tiny holes so with the pill bugs I found I suspect that may be them. I found the earwig in the other trap but they do like to eat small leaves as well. I need to get them before they eat the plants which is difficult without buying something. I just boiled the eggs so will have some eggshell to spread around, maybe.

Just getting a bit frustrated now with those cucumbers. It can't be the cutworm because it should have moved on to being a moth by now. Will stir up the dirt on both sides of the trellis hopefully tonight (wish that stupid jade wasn't in the way) and drop some more cucumber seeds in the 4" that the sunflower was in. I only need two in one spot if it's going to produce the way it should. 

It's only going to be in the low to mid 80's over the next week and a half so nothing too heinous for temperatures but still very warm for planting things. Should have watered where the seeds were this morning but oh well. Will be watering this evening as well hopefully. (I get sucked up into doing things on the computer and by the time I remember I needed to go out before dark, it's dark.)