Lots of plants that were not doing much earlier this season are now really waking up and putting out lots of growth. The horsegram aka lablab vine has completely taken off since my July update. The tomatillo and pepper plants are also budding and putting out fruits now. So lots of activity going on here in the garden.
The horsegram vine has grown a lot with vines spreading up the trellis. It is starting to crowd out the pepper plants found at the base so we need to trim it once it awhile to make sure we keep it growing where we want.
The lettuce plants have completely bolted so we are just leaving them be. We may collect the seeds, since this bed needs more dirt added we plan on redoing the soil next year.
Lots of salads have been made this year, though we plan on growing them differently next year. Using wood chips around the plants on top of the dirt so mud does not splash up on the leaves. Hopefully that will make cleaning them much easier.
The tomato plants have mostly let us down, the fruit they are producing is going bad. We think it may be related to a calcium and magnesium deficiency. Using a liquid fertilizer we hope to bring them back into good shape but it takes time to see changes in them.
Melon aphids were affecting our cantaloupes but we treated the undersides of the leaves with insecticidal soap and seems they are now bouncing back and putting out new flowers. Our other bed has fruits growing, though they are quite small at the moment.
I love beans, so growing this vine is something I am really looking forward to harvesting. Right now its all vegetative growth, but I am hoping to see flowers soon and then bean pods.
The dense canopy of these vines are promising.
Funny, when we planted them in early spring they did nothing.. just started turning yellow, and then one day they just woke up and starting quickly growing.
Another late starter are the pepper plants. They have been in the ground for months and are just now forming flowers.
Even the trinidad scorpion peppers are flowering.. oh man soo much pain is on the way.. lol a spicy good pain.
Funny how few insects tried to feed on the leaves. We would notice little spots where a bug started eating it and then said no thanks and left..lol
Many tomaillos are on the way as well, waiting for their husk to crack open so its not time yet.
That sprawling plant is one of the tomaillo plants.. Amazing it was once just a little seedling.
With many peppers on the way and the tomaillos ripening I should have lots of tasty salsa to make.
We forgot to label what is what, so I guess a taste test is how I will need to figure them out.. lol this could be painful.
Loving how big they are getting.
The gold and red potatoes have not done very good.. Not much growth top side. I think the spuds I used to start them were kind of old.. need to look for more green potato spuds next year.
Its hard to say exactly they are not doing so well but I think its related to what I mentioned above being old spuds.
The brussel sprouts plants have done nothing for months, though I think when it gets cold I may see them do something.
Many more tomatoes on the way, just hope they form right with the liquid fertilizers we have been giving them.
We ran out of tomato cages, so hopefully these guys will be okay. They are so small right now so its hard to say if they will even need supports by end of year.
Lots of fruit but 90% of them are rotten on the plant, that end rot has been a big problem for us this year.
Even the cherry tomatoes are showing signs of being upset and not producing good fruit. Hoping the cal-mag helps eventually.
We just hope one day the fruits will form right as we keep giving them the fertilizers they need to help stop end rot.
The sweet potato plants I have had no doubts about, they always do great and need very little help. And of course they are thriving... lol
We got two beds of these, so we should get lots of spuds :-)
Since we did not fill up all the beds this year, some areas a little more overgrown than others.
But in general we used most of the beds and plan on using even more next year with lots of beans.. since they seem to do so well.
The chicken and duck enclosure is mostly done, but since nothing is going on in there right now we have just yet the weeds take over.
Speaking of weed, I am unsure of the fate of these four cannabis plants. Two of them are showing signs of fungal infection. We may kill them, or just let them die off on their own.. not sure yet. Hard decisions to make.
Next year I may grow in pots outdoors, seems this is a soil bourne problem. Even though I used good garden soil I guess it spread through the native dirt or something like that.
Really hope I can salvage some of it, not all the buds look bad.
So lots going on, some good.. some bad and some great.. But compared to last year, we are making great progress on the garden. And we hope to learn from the mistakes we make this year and apply some new ideas next year to hopefully resolve issues that come up.
