Re: New England June 2014

cpl100 6/30/2014, 1:11 pm

I have a question about watering. The next three days will be at least 90 degrees. Would you all water every day? What about herb plants that are supposed to like being 'dry'? Do you water them during a heat wave like this or do you just walk by their desert-like pots? I know if they are seeds or little seedlings just erupting we would definitely water daily in hot weather (or even not so hot weather). But I am easily confused in other situations.

Thanks.

GardenGroupie 6/30/2014, 3:52 pm

Hi Mollyhespra, I have never tried to get rid of ants before this year and the only problem I'm having is they are building mounds in the middle of squares where I've plants lettuce and carrots seeds. If they would just move off to the side, I'd be glad to co-exist. There are regular old black ants around and they don't seem to do anything but take stuff away. No problemo.

Today I mulched the bed and worked carefully around the seedlings. I believe they should be gone soon as I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on the bed before I mulched and I dotted the mounds with borax/sugar drops as well.

May they not live to haunt me another day.

NHGardener 6/30/2014, 4:11 pm

cpl, having just spent over an hour watering the garden, your plants might tell you if they need watering. My mother was visiting so I didn't get to water the past few days, and when I went out there today, the squash/vine plants were very droopy, obviously begging for water. I watered everything really well. The green beans and pea beds were pretty dry. If it feels like the soil is dryish again tomorrow, I'll water tomorrow too. If it feels like it's still a little damp, I may just go for every other day, in this heat. If the vines start to wilt, water.

I'm looking forward to getting a good layer of mulch on top of everything, decomposing, and adding more, so that water is retained better.

Oh for a soaker hose system, preferably hooked up to a rain barrel... ultimate...

lyndeeloo 6/30/2014, 4:36 pm

Cpl100, I've been back and forth over whether to water or not so much this season it made me crazy. Many of my plants looked yellow and not thriving the way they should. The soil seemed dry so I watered. No improvement. Seemed my problems were from over watering. I bought a moisture/light/pH meter at HD for $9 and the problem is solved. I was really, really over watering. The probe reaches down to the level of plants roots and in my case was reading off the charts wet. I stopped watering completely until the readings came back to where they belong. The plants look so much better and I don't water anywhere near as much as I did before. I check a few spots in the gardens before watering to be sure it really needs it. It's nice for me because I have a lot of plants in pots as well as 3 different gardens with different types of soil and they all dry out at different rates.

quiltbea 6/30/2014, 7:02 pm

lyndeelou.....I agree that having a moisture meter is invaluable. Sometimes we just can't gauge it right with the finger or touch. That meter tells the correct story.

Marc Iverson 6/30/2014, 7:19 pm

cpl100, it's not whether it's herbs or veggies or flowers you have in pots so much as that you have them in pots. Pots are exposed to a lot more heat because they don't have the surrounding soil and etc.(water, air) to moderate temperatures, and sometimes because they serve as a natural conduit for rising heat when placed directly on the ground, kind of like the second story of a house can be so much hotter than the first. It is necessary to water potted plants far more often, and give them far more of a drenching, than one does plants in the ground.

It also helps to have bigger pots, it seems. They dry out less quickly and have bigger surfaces to dissipate heat from. My mint and other herbs take hot weather far better in big pots than small. The same plant that's very vulnerable in a one-gallon pot is very tough in a 3-gallon pot. Same with flowers, etc.

cpl100 6/30/2014, 9:33 pm

Thanks. Yes, I did realize that plants in pots do need more water than those in the ground. I do have large pots!

I hope I remember to get a water meter the next time I'm at one of that type of store.

NHGardener 7/1/2014, 8:55 am

Well, I think a solution has been found for the vole problem, because now there's a weasel I've spotted running thru the garden area the past few days. Cute little thing, but ducklings are probably on his menu. It's a relief that (s)he's probably going after the voles, because they are adept at using available tunnels to get to their food, and they like mice, but the exterminator is also pest. They also like chicken eggs (and chickens).

Anyone have any experience with weasel redirection?

mollyhespra 7/1/2014, 10:20 pm

NHGardener wrote:Well, I think a solution has been found for the vole problem, because now there's a weasel I've spotted running thru the garden area the past few days. Cute little thing, but ducklings are probably on his menu. It's a relief that (s)he's probably going after the voles, because they are adept at using available tunnels to get to their food, and they like mice, but the exterminator is also pest. They also like chicken eggs (and chickens).

Anyone have any experience with weasel redirection?

Oh, boy. That doesn't bode well for the ducklings. I don't have any chickens, but the farm down the street where I get my eggs has had a problem with weasels and I'm told they're cunning, sneaky little things with a serious case of bloodlust. I've heard a number of stories involving weasels and chickens that aren't for the faint of heart. Do you keep hens? I can't remember. Either way, I would imagine that keeping their potential food supply out of harm's way might encourage them to go elsewhere.

**camprn** 7/1/2014, 10:53 pm

Thank your lucky stars it's not a fisher.

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