Hi from Texas

Just joined yesterday...and got to rejoin today with new board lol. Read Mel's book last year and put off getting started. Plan to make my boxes this week and get going.

I am from Greenville Texas - just east of Dallas.

Thanks to everyone and I look forward to meeting you all!.

Ben Stanley

i too just joined yesterday and again today good luck with your garden, maybe if i can show my sister who lives in corpus christi that another texan has had success with this method i might be able to get her to convert

Hello fellow Texans,
I joined the SFG site and posted a message in the "Welcome Mat" just days before the forum was revised and updated. So... by way of introducing myself again, I'm a 2nd year SFG'er in Frisco, Texas (north of Plano, west of McKinney). Would love to share info and compare notes with other Texas SFG'ers as the growing season unfolds.

Last year I lost all my cucumbers, squash, cantelope, pumpkin, and watermelon to vine borers. :-( Surely this year will bring better results.

I have two raised beds. One is 3' x 24' x 12" and the other is 2' x 15' x 12". The top 6 inches is Mel's Mix, the bottom 6 inches is a topsoil (good 'ol dirt) amended with manure and compost.

- Tim

timwardell wrote:

Last year I lost all my cucumbers, squash, cantelope, pumpkin, and watermelon to vine borers. :-( Surely this year will bring better results.

- Tim

Tim: The vine borers were probably the larva from the squash moth. Control includes removing the larva by slitting the vine were the moth laid her eggs (usually at the base of the vine) and physically removing the larva. After the larva is removed cover the damaged area with soil/Mel's Mix and hope the vine re-roots. As a preventive you can put a sticky substance on the base of the vines (Tanglefoot is one brand) to catch the moth(s). Also an organic insecticide such as Neem Oil can be used if sprayed every few days on the base of the plants. The Organic Gardening Magazine recommends companion planting with onions and garlic and also making a spray out of onions and garlic and spraying on the plants. In his new book, "ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING COOKBOOK" Mel recommends companion planting radishes, nasturtiums and tansy. I fought them last year and lost most of the squash.
This year they are toast!

God Bless, Ward.

Last year was a tough time for gardening in central Texas -- the weather was horrible and the pests unbelievable. This year has to be better. When I was in the country and had plenty of room, I tended to plant squash and cukes in two different places believing that one will become a sacrificial offering to the vine borer and the other might escape. Worked most years. This year with less gardening room I will probably have to do the cutting and removing larvae thing. But then again with the hard winter, we might not have as much problems. (Fingers crossed).

hemantx wrote:Just joined yesterday...and got to rejoin today with new board lol. Read Mel's book last year and put off getting started. Plan to make my boxes this week and get going.
Ben Stanley

Ben,
How big are your boxes and what are you planting? Does Greenville have that nice East Texas sandy loam?
- Tim

WardinWake wrote:
...As a preventive you can put a sticky substance on the base of the vines (Tanglefoot is one brand) to catch the moth(s). Also an organic insecticide such as Neem Oil can be used if sprayed every few days on the base of the plants. The Organic Gardening Magazine recommends companion planting with onions and garlic and also making a spray out of onions and garlic and spraying on the plants. In his new book, "ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING COOKBOOK" Mel recommends companion planting radishes, nasturtiums and tansy.
God Bless, Ward.

Ward,
I'm not familiar with Tanglefoot. What exactly is it and where can I find it? Also, wouldn't Neem Oil harm the beneficial insects as well as the bad ones? ... As for companion planting I do plan surround the squash, melons and cukes with nasturtiums. I've also heard that sunflowers are good companions for cucurbits and have found some smaller varieties that I'm considering. My only hesitation is I worry their seeds might draw the birds closer to my veggies - they come for the sunflower seeds and stay for the tomatoes.
- Tim

Hi!

Welcome to the SFG forum!

Be sure to post lots of pictures of your SFGs! Take some as your making your garden and as the season goes along, it's always fun to see how it goes from just bare to full and lush with plants.

This is texas gator,
Does anyone in Texas have a good inexpensive source for Vermiculite?

Tim:

Tanglefoot is a sticky substance used in apple orchards. The apple tree owner makes or buys a fake red apple and applies Tanglefoot to the fake apple and hangs it in his tree. The bad bugs are attracted to the fake and become stuck to it. It can be ordered through most orchard supply houses.

Neem oil will kill beneficial as well as bad bugs. The key is to spray Neem only at the part of the plant where the bad bugs are prone to visit. If sprayed over most of the plant Neem can control squash bugs as well as the squash moth.

God Bless, Ward.

randallhperry wrote:This is texas gator,
Does anyone in Texas have a good inexpensive source for Vermiculite?

On a thread last year there was a post out of Huston that had the lowest price anyone on the forums had found. Something in the range of $12.00 per bag and was at a pool supply/installation company.

God Bless, Ward.

Hi there! I have never tried square foot gardening and I can't wait to get started. It has been a long, long winter here in North Texas and I am ready to get outside again.

randallhperry wrote:This is texas gator,
Does anyone in Texas have a good inexpensive source for Vermiculite?

Good AND Inexpensive tend to cancel each other out in the great vermiculite hunt (the first hurdle for anyone attempting a SFG. ;-)
There's a feed store in downtown Frisco that sells the 4 cubic foot bags of course vermiculite for about $25 per bag. Also in Frisco, Shades of Green nursery carries large bags of fine vermiculite. I don't recall what their prices were exactly - maybe $27 per.
- Tim

jeboo wrote:Hi there! I have never tried square foot gardening and I can't wait to get started. It has been a long, long winter here in North Texas and I am ready to get outside again.

What part of North Texas are you gardening in?

jeboo wrote:Hi there! I have never tried square foot gardening and I can't wait to get started. It has been a long, long winter here in North Texas and I am ready to get outside again.

Jeboo: Welcome the the Square Foot Gardening Forum and family. This is the place to ask questions and get answers. Also this is the place for you to answer questions that other folks may have. Generally the number bit of advice that we give is if you do not have a copy of the book, "ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening" is to get a copy for yourself. I find that I refer to the book on a regular basis. The book is available in most book stores, many Lowe's, and here in our bookstore.

Again Welcome, God Bless, Ward.

Hi, I'm Joyce from Marshall Texas. (N. East) Excited about starting my 1st. SFG. (Can't what to eat some of my own sugar peas and tomatoes)

welcome to the boards!

and i am learning a lot on this thread about prevention and treatment of bugs. . .

good to learn more info!

hope to see you post often - someday (2013) we're looking at a move to austin area actually (has a good Deaf school there) so i'm very interested in tx growing patterns. right now i'm in zone 5,5b or 6 depending on what zone lookup chart you use. *grin*

joy01 wrote:Hi, I'm Joyce from Marshall Texas. (N. East) Excited about starting my 1st. SFG. (Can't what to eat some of my own sugar peas and tomatoes)

Hi Joyce,
Welcome to the SFG community. Good luck with your 1st time.

Just got our vermiculite today from Well's Brother's Farm Store in Plano, TX. It was less than $25 for 4 cubic feet.

$25.00 seems to be the price in many areas. I purchased a bag a few weeks ago at that price.

God Bless, Ward.