It's not the heat that stops my tomatoes. It's the stink bugs. I saw my first blooms today, but they are not ready to set tomatoes. The first ones don't count.

I plant my squash at the ends of my other vegetables. That gives them plenty of space.

no pics Bill?

Long timer, first timer.

We've been experimenting with gardening around here for a few years now. We've learned a lot of lessons the hard way, and learned a lot overall.

Part 1:
Last year I lost every large variety tomato I grew to birds. I could go out and target several one to be picked the next day or two, and by the time I got to them they would vanish.

How are y'all protecting you maters from Birds?

Part 2:
Is anyone here growing from Heirloom Seeds? If so, can i get some advice on what varieties I need to look for that do well in our climate?

Looking for the basics, Peppers, Maters, Squash, Green Beans, Melons, etc????


Part 3:
One plant I always thought was a slam dunk has been my nemesis out here, OCRA!

I cannot get Okra to grow worth a dang out here. Every year they stunt about 1' tall and die. I have a pretty good handle on just about every other thing I plant, but just bang my head against the wall every year on ocra.

Part 4:

Taters; Tried taters last year for the first time. Tried the tire method due to limited space, and it all seemed like it was working as planned until it came time to harvest. Had the stack of tires 5 tall, tipped it all over and dug out a handful of taters the size of a baseball, or smaller.

Any advice?

1. You can use bird netting or a scare crow, I have a couple of plastic owls and if I see them near them I'll shoot a shotgun.

2. I have used California Wonder for bell peppers, Brandywine & German Johnson for tomatoes and Kentucky Wonder for green beans. That's off the top of my head, there have been others over the years.

3. What's your soil like? Maybe over watering.

4.n/a

Got my Celebrity Tomatoes & Jalapeños planted Saturday, I left just enough room for my Cherry Tomatoes (right side) that are a few weeks behind. I probably wont plant the Cherry's for at least 3-4 more weeks.


I had to put two plants at the end of my onions to leave enough room for the Cherry Tomatoes. The plants on the far left in this picture (below) are my Jalapeños. The foot print in the onions is from one of my dogs (Star).

Looks good CC

1. I used a few pinwheels, like the cheap plastic one you get at the dollar store. That seemed to work ok for the birds, but then I had rabbits get in my garden.

2. Celebrity tomato seeds, sweet 100 (cherry tomatoes) grow very well for me and seeds will produce.

3. Never grown okra

4. Taters need cooler soil to do well. My first batch in early spring always produce better than my late season ones. Probably because of the heat. I grow the little red 'new potatoes'

Picking okra is the problem, not growing it.

I grew twenty of the Heatwave II last year. I grew them from seed and yes they set fruit in high ninety degree weather. The Taste was just like store bought, bland. My Homesteads produced right alongside them, and had a good acidic flavor.

Thanks for the info LC. The Heatwaves are new to me so I thought I would give them a try. But I also plant more varieties as well.

I finally planted our garden yesterday and decided to put in a separate sprinkler system on a whim. It has awesome coverage and should also reach our tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets if I place them around the perimeter. $30 in materials should save me hours of watering this growing season.

That is redneck engineering at it's finest. Good work!

Very nice setup Tech

Is it on a timer?

I have a timer but I haven't configured it yet. I'm not sure how often and how long I should set it for yet. Is every morning for 10 minutes too much at this point?

I just check with my finger at this time, stick it down an inch and if its dry I water. Kind of hard to answer with all the variables.

It's probably too much depending on how much water is coming out of the jets. Every other day is probably ok. Remember, you want the roots to go down to the water. Too much watering will discourage that.

Nice set up Tech! I usually water mine about every 4th day or so(3rd day when it starts to get hot) and soak them pretty good. That way the roots grow deeper. My bucket tomatoes hold water pretty well through out the year and I can move them to shadier parts of the yard in the summer.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

We tied a 107 year old record for heat today. My tomatoes are blooming. Looks as if my onions will be bulbing by next week.

Also, a little hijack. I hope the quail will soon start nesting.

Anybody else watch the forecast last nite thier saying were going to get a light freeze Monday morning, I'm kinda worried because just like you all I just put all my plants in the ground

I dug my tomatoes up once and replanted them after the frost.

I got my zuccs, squash, cucumbers, green beans, and tomatoes in the last couple of days. Half of the cukes and squash are struggling pretty bad. Hopefully they make it, if not will just dig them up and direct sow some more seeds

My Accuweather app shows nothing below 39 degrees here in the Metromess for the next 15 days.

yep, they said north tx county's, I should be good.

Looks good East.