The other day, I was sitting in the back yard listening to the cicadas singing in the trees, and it reminded me of summers on the San Marcos River. When I was a child, my dad would take us to the river when ever he had a day off on the weekend. My sisters and I would fish, splash around in the water, my dad would grill something for lunch, and my mom would worry about us going out too deep. I know it's hot right now, but is it really hotter than it used to be? I was hot then also. Or is it just that we are getting older? I think with all the stress of everyday life, work, raising a family, we want to just relax on our off time, but the heat makes it uncomfortable. I think my comfort level is more sensitive than when I was a kid.
Speaking of cicadas, I unearthed a cicada nymph while digging a hole for my dog poop composter. I had never seen a cicada nymph before. I've seen many exoskeletons on tree trunks, fence, or plants, but not one still underground. Cicadas live underground for two or more years feeding on tree, and grass roots before emerging as winged adults in May or June. Nymphs may stay in the ground as long as 17 years. Adults feed on tree sap, but don't pose any real threat. The singing you hear are the males trying to attract females for mating purposes. Females lay their eggs in tree twigs, and after several weeks a small nymph will hatch, drop to the ground, burrow in the soil, and start the whole cycle again. Many animals prey on cicadas from birds, snakes, frogs, to insects. I have even seen a cat capture, and eat a cicada. The most interesting predator is the Cicada Killer. They are large, solitary wasps that hunt cicadas to provide food for their young. Cicada Killers sting cicadas, paralyzing them. Then they drag them to their burrow in the ground, lay an egg on it's body, and seals the burrow. The egg will hatch and the larvae will feed on the cicada, then will overwinter in the soil before emerging as an adult the next summer.
Sitting there that afternoon, I imagined myself sitting in a lawn chair, my feet in the cool flowing water, cold beer in my hand, and the smell of the river in the air. I love that smell. Enjoy your summer, and may the singing of the cicadas take you to some relaxing place.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Dog days of summer...
Why do they call it Dog Days Of Summer? My dogs are sitting on the sofa, in the A/C, taking a nap. I guess not all dogs have it this easy. It does'nt matter, it is very hot, and it is early June.
Your garden may be suffering right about now, but there are things that still need to be done. Watering is of course at the top of the list, along with weeding. I have been watering my container plants daily, and today had to mow around the garden. It is amazing how fast the grass will grow in just a few days. The sunflowers look great, towering above me to about 8 feet. My cherry tomatoes are still setting fruit and may continue with plenty of moisture. Zinnias are still blooming, but need to be deadheaded to keep new flowers going.
This week I had several people ask me about their squash and cucumber plants. The first question was that squash plants were rotting at ground level. Although he had harvested several squash, and the plants looked nice and green, now the plants were falling over and the stem was rotten. After further investigation, it appears that they have fallen prey to somre sort of root rot. The extra moisture from recent rains has enabled the disease to spread rapidly. It is time to pull all the plants and dispose of them in the trash, don't put them in the compost pile as this will spread the disease later. Practice crop rotation, which means don't plant the same vegetable in that location for 2 to 3 years. Buy disease resistant varieties, and keep your garden clean.
The other question was about cucumber plants not setting fruit. Cucumbers require pollinators to pollinate the flowers which will result in baby cucumbers. There also has to be male and female flowers for this to happen. In this case, no female flowers had appeared yet. Female flowers are identified by having a swollen bulb bellow the flower, while male flowers are just a flower on a long stem. Pollen is transfered from the male flower to the female flower by insects such as bee's and fly's. Female flowers appear several days after male flowers and need to be fertilized within one day. Many things can prevent this from happening, like no pollinators in your garden to incliment weather preventing pollinators from doing their job. You can intervene by hand pollinating flowers your self. Use a small brush or Q-tip and harvest pollen from a male flower and deposit it on a female flower. Swab the center of the female flower and then wait for the cucumber to start growing. If not successful, the female flower will wither and fall off. You may also remove a male flower and brush the center of a female flower, depositing pollen on two or three flowers with on male flower.
You may only have to do this a few days, once there are plenty of pollinators and, plenty of male, and female flowers, nature will take over. This technique will work on squash, and pumpkins as well.
Try to work in your garden early in the morning or late in th evening, it is much cooler then. Drink plenty of water and rest frequently. Happy gardening.
Your garden may be suffering right about now, but there are things that still need to be done. Watering is of course at the top of the list, along with weeding. I have been watering my container plants daily, and today had to mow around the garden. It is amazing how fast the grass will grow in just a few days. The sunflowers look great, towering above me to about 8 feet. My cherry tomatoes are still setting fruit and may continue with plenty of moisture. Zinnias are still blooming, but need to be deadheaded to keep new flowers going.
This week I had several people ask me about their squash and cucumber plants. The first question was that squash plants were rotting at ground level. Although he had harvested several squash, and the plants looked nice and green, now the plants were falling over and the stem was rotten. After further investigation, it appears that they have fallen prey to somre sort of root rot. The extra moisture from recent rains has enabled the disease to spread rapidly. It is time to pull all the plants and dispose of them in the trash, don't put them in the compost pile as this will spread the disease later. Practice crop rotation, which means don't plant the same vegetable in that location for 2 to 3 years. Buy disease resistant varieties, and keep your garden clean.
The other question was about cucumber plants not setting fruit. Cucumbers require pollinators to pollinate the flowers which will result in baby cucumbers. There also has to be male and female flowers for this to happen. In this case, no female flowers had appeared yet. Female flowers are identified by having a swollen bulb bellow the flower, while male flowers are just a flower on a long stem. Pollen is transfered from the male flower to the female flower by insects such as bee's and fly's. Female flowers appear several days after male flowers and need to be fertilized within one day. Many things can prevent this from happening, like no pollinators in your garden to incliment weather preventing pollinators from doing their job. You can intervene by hand pollinating flowers your self. Use a small brush or Q-tip and harvest pollen from a male flower and deposit it on a female flower. Swab the center of the female flower and then wait for the cucumber to start growing. If not successful, the female flower will wither and fall off. You may also remove a male flower and brush the center of a female flower, depositing pollen on two or three flowers with on male flower.
You may only have to do this a few days, once there are plenty of pollinators and, plenty of male, and female flowers, nature will take over. This technique will work on squash, and pumpkins as well.
Try to work in your garden early in the morning or late in th evening, it is much cooler then. Drink plenty of water and rest frequently. Happy gardening.
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