Kelly's 2016 Apartment Patio Garden

[ginger2778]

Very very nice, Kelly.

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Very very nice, Kelly.

Thank you!

[Worth1]

I'm really happy to see everything is coming along nicely.
Are you the only person at you complex that has a jungle or are there others as well.
The apartment patio gardener folks impress me the most as to how they do so much with so little room.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I'm really happy to see everything is coming along nicely.
Are you the only person at you complex that has a jungle or are there others as well.
The apartment patio gardener folks impress me the most as to how they do so much with so little room.

Worth

We're the only one in our building with plants, but there are other gardeners in other buildings in the complex. Most are growing flowers and small trees, but one lady on my dog walking route has about 4 cherry tomato plants, 3 pepper plants, and various herbs. She also grew cabbage earlier this year.

It's definitely a challenge, but at the same time we have certain advantages like always being protected from hail and heavy rain, low risk of sun scald, no risk of things being dug up by critters, etc.

[Deborah]

Your garden rocks!

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Your garden rocks!

Thank you!

[TexasTycoon]

First tomato is getting pretty red, will probably use in a sauce with a frozen one from last year today or tomorrow:


Harvested the carrots today because the tops were starting to brown and the heat is really kicking in. I'll definitely try again in the fall, but some of these are pretty decent (these were planted in January):


We have basically one bean plant still alive. I think the mold spores may be in the pot itself, so I planted a few more beans in a different pot to see if we can still maybe get a decent harvest. The one plant is climbing and is a bout 2 feet tall, while the one that looks like it's about to die is a little shorter. This rain is messing with us pretty badly.

Bell peppers are getting bigger, can't wait to harvest those guys.

Basil has mealybugs, minor infestation but I know they're likely on other plants as well. Big insecticidal soap spray will happen this evening.

Satsuma is putting out new leaves, but almost all the marigolds planted at the base are dead or dying, no idea why. I'm wondering also if I need to support the fruit soon since a couple of them are now golf-ball sized and the branches are bending.

Hollyhocks are still kicking even with the leafminer damage, sage is doing well, cilantro never took off, marjoram finally woke up, catnip is doing well, and some of the celosia I planted February 2015 are sprouting (a couple are popping up in the landscaping in front of our patio too, oops haha). Lavender is still doing really well and putting out new flowers spikes almost as soon as I harvest them.

[Worth1]

Glad to see you haven't drowned from all of the rain.
My cilantro croaked too.
More than likely from the shade.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Sorry I haven't been on much, there's been a lot going on, lots of family drama and increased load at work and basically I'm just feeling stressed. Our 17 year old cat Topaz passed away Monday night, so I've been a little down in the dumps from her being gone as well.

And on top of that, we're starting to see even more bug issues in our garden, mealybugs and caterpillars in particular. I'm likely going to dig up all of my hollyhocks tonight or tomorrow because the extensive leafminer and mold damage attracted tons of mealybugs to them and yesterday I killed a fat caterpillar who was having a great time munching on the leaves that are left.

I've lost count of how many times we've had to pull up and restart our beans because of all of this rain bringing in mold. This time will be the last restart, if it fails then oh well I guess we won't have beans this year. I have a feeling there are mold spores in the potting medium itself (which I can't change out due to how we have the trellis rigged in there), so I started a couple of beans in a different pot and put that pot near the box the trellis is in. One of those starts is looking really promising and is already two feet up the trellis, so here's hoping.

Our tomato plant is still doing okay, it's had a little bit of spider mite damage that I've clipped off and sprayed for and the mealybugs are starting to find their way from the hollyhocks over to the tomatoes, so I'm scraping them off as soon as I see them. We have 11 baby tomatoes in various stages, and unfortunately one is ripening too early because we haven't been consistent with watering (I'm blaming that on the rainy weather too). It's only about golf ball sized and it was yellow yesterday, so I'll probably take it in tonight and we'll see if it's any good once it turns red.

Both of the bell peppers that are growing are looking good, though the plant's leaves are still weird from what I think was thrip damage in early development. Jalepeno plant got infested with aphids so it was cut way way back and has some tiny new growth at the base.

Satsumas are getting plump and heavy, so I'm supporting them where I can by tying branches together. It's putting off a ton of new leaves, too, so that's good to see. All of the marigolds and cosmos we planted in that pot suddenly died, and I haven't figured out why but I pulled them all out and tossed them.

Lavender is still kicking and putting out new flower stalks almost as soon as I harvest them. Sage is still doing well. Catnip is getting big, but now it makes me sad to see it since we have no use for it anymore. Marjoram is growing, and a couple of cilantro seeds sprouted late, so we'll see what happens with those.

All in all, the garden is still doing better than last year, but I need to be more consistent with watering and spraying for pests. I'll post some pictures later when I get home.

[dmforcier]

There's really nothing one can say that makes it easier when one's fuzzy, naughty friend passes away. Just know that Topaz appreciated what you did for him/her. Cats are funny that way; they know but they rarely let on.

Sorry to hear about your garden troubles. This has been a weird year in the garden.




I now what you need! A kitten -- no, two!

[Worth1]

Considering your age was Topaz a pet/friend you had in High school you took with you when you left home?

I know when I left home my two cats Suki and Boomer both Siamese left home to and took up with a lady down the road after my father died at home.
My dog Rip stayed with the cows he was friends with on the place we sold as well as my pet Brahman bull.
Rip and the bull grew up with each other from babies.
Lady my dads dog an Australian shepherd border collie mix was given away and the other Siamese cat Mary Lee was put to sleep she was 19 years old.
The only pet my mother kept was her doberman and when she passed away.
He was given to a lady the only other person that it would let around it besides family and a girl friend I grew up with.

I guess what I am trying to say is for people that leave home it must be nice if they can take their critters with them.

I am sure Topaz had a good life.

Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

There's really nothing one can say that makes it easier when one's fuzzy, naughty friend passes away. Just know that Topaz appreciated what you did for him/her. Cats are funny that way; they know but they rarely let on.

Sorry to hear about your garden troubles. This has been a weird year in the garden.




I now what you need! A kitten -- no, two!

No kittens, haha. We've got two basset hounds and the apartment complex didn't know we also had a cat (there's a 2 animal limit).

Originally Posted by Worth1

Considering your age was Topaz a pet/friend you had in High school you took with you when you left home?

I know when I left home my two cats Suki and Boomer both Siamese left home to and took up with a lady down the road after my father died at home.
My dog Rip stayed with the cows he was friends with on the place we sold as well as my pet Brahman bull.
Rip and the bull grew up with each other from babies.
Lady my dads dog an Australian shepherd border collie mix was given away and the other Siamese cat Mary Lee was put to sleep she was 19 years old.
The only pet my mother kept was her doberman and when she passed away.
He was given to a lady the only other person that it would let around it besides family and a girl friend I grew up with.

I guess what I am trying to say is for people that leave home it must be nice if they can take their critters with them.

I am sure Topaz had a good life.

Worth

She was actually my husband's family's cat, a kitten of another family cat named Sapphire. Shortly after we moved into our first apartment in 2007, my MIL also had to move to a place that didn't allow animals, so we took Topaz in. I had two cats, a black cat named Fidget and a tabby named Snoop, as a child/teen that stayed with my mom when I left and have both passed away within the last 5 years. Topaz definitely had a good life, and she was happier with us than she was at my MIL's (I spoiled her, and my MIL also had another cat that went to my BIL who used to torment Topaz, so she was happy to get away from her). I remember at my MIL's she would get matted patches of fur on her back and even with us she would rip fur out of her lower belly and back legs until I realized the chemicals in the litter we were buying were bothering her skin and switched to natural litter. She used to be very shy and standoffish as well, but living with us she came out of her shell and was very talkative and even playful sometimes. It's just hard getting used to her not being around since we've had her so long, ya know?

[TexasTycoon]

Anyways, here's a picture of our premature tomato that I clipped this morning:

[TexasTycoon]

Picked another preemie tomato last night, a little bigger than the one above. We've been better about regular watering, so I'm wondering if the summer temps are stressing the plant? Still about 10 more baby tomatoes left ripening on it.

Also, the satsuma is blooming for the second time this year, while it's already got about 7 or 8 golf ball-sized fruits on it from the first bloom back in February/March. Am I right to assume this is just from stress and the blooms likely won't set fruit? Lots of new leaves and growth, too, which makes me happy since it's a very lopsided plant and I want it to fill out a bit more.

Our tallest bean plant is one I planted in a different pot, it's almost shoulder height on me now (I'm 5'7"), and there are two others climbing on either side of it (it's in the middle of the trellis), one more getting ready to climb, and one little baby bean sprout. Hopefully we'll get some beans this year and I didn't (re)start these guys too late.

[TexasTycoon]

Sorry for the lack of updates/photos/activity in general. Been going through some mental/emotional issues and haven't had much interest in much of anything lately. I'm slowly taking steps to get better, but it hasn't been easy and it's frustrating because this lethargy and pessimism isn't like me at all.

Anyways, garden's still mostly alive and kicking. The majority of the hollyhocks succumbed to...something...not sure what but mealybugs likely played a part as they're all over the place now. About 7 or 8 tomatoes have ripened prematurely (at a little bigger than golf ball size) and there are a few more hanging on that might get bigger. Satsuma is doing good, only about 6 fruits on it now but better than none I guess. Two of the bean vines reached the top of our 6 foot trellis and I'm trying to train them back down it since there's nothing else for them to grow on, no beans or hints of beans yet. Lavender is still alive but no longer flowering. Basil is bolting. Both bell peppers that were growing ripened and were soft so they got tossed, they were teensy too and the plant looks sickly and might get tossed soon. Catnip is still growing even though we no longer have a cat, not sure what I'll do with it. Marjoram is bolting. Sage is getting leggy.