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alabamanicole

So I planted the peppers...

alabamanicole
11 years ago

... even though I know we could still have a freak blackberry winter. But the soil temp is 72F, the 10 day forecast looks like late May or June, they were outgrowing their pots and have been outside almost non-stop for 6 week and frankly they were burning up in the pots. The ground seemed safer.

My tomatoes are starting to look stressed, too, but their pots are bigger so they might be okay root-wise. I moved them into the shade along with the smaller pepper starts I didn't use.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but wow this is a crazy spring. I am not looking forward to the hordes of squash bugs we're going to have.

Have you guys planted anything ahead of schedule?

Comments (6)

  • drippy
    11 years ago

    Yes, ma'am, I planted two pepper plants I bought a couple of weeks ago - I have probably a hundred seedlings in my windowsill waiting to get bigger and go out; they're my insurance against a late freeze. Same deal with tomatoes - I had wintersowed 13 varieties and all came up. The other day I planted 6 very small seedlings into a raised bed, (along with some dill I bought) and transplanted the rest into separate cups so I can move them indoors if necessary.

    My peas, radishes, spinach are all doing well - fall lettuce is putting out a second flush of leaves, and fall kale is bolting. I'm holding off on squash for awhile, as I'm going to try planting under remay this year - can't see any other way around the squash bugs.

    Just praying that all this warm weather doesn't produce more tornadoes.

  • outsideplaying_gw
    11 years ago

    I'm tempted, but I don't really have my garden ready. Hope to by late this week and I'll definitely be putting some things in the ground. I have done so early before and I'll do it again this year. Drippy, what is remay? I'm sure we'll be fighting the squash bugs, darn things!

  • alabamanicole
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Drippy, my spring crops haven't done well at all. Slugs and heat, mostly. The lettuce in a planter on my deck looks great (part shade), but the peas are too small and just starting to bloom.

    I'm tempted to plant the summer squash now and hope it gets a jump on growth before all the bugs come out. I'll be using row cover, too, but last year when I pulled out the squashes they just moved on to the other plants. Two years ago they didn't show up until late and my then the plants outgrew their predations. This year they are probably already lounging nearby waiting for the buffet to open.

    outsideplaying - Remay, or floating row cover, is a lightweight spun material that acts partially as an insect barrier and partially as camouflage from foraging insects looking for a likely spot to lay eggs.

  • AndinMobile
    11 years ago

    I'm in Mobile, and have planted EVERYTHING! OK, I'm a definite newbie, though at 68 yrs old, I grew up with gardens and was married to a man with a green thumb for 35 years. I just never PLANTED the garden, simply dealt with harvesting & preserving. Also, that was in very NORTH Alabama. I have green beans, squash, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and they are all growing like crazy. Problem? Something is eating the leaves...and I don't know what it is. There are some kind of tiny fly looking things on them, yellow & green colored. What can I use to take care of this? I don't have much money to spend on garden, so want to go as inexpensively as possible.
    Also, does anyone know of an extension office in Mobile County?

  • drippy
    11 years ago

    Alabamanicole, my peas are still on the small side, but I didn't plant them all that long ago - mid-March, I think. I haven't had too much problem with slugs in the vegetable (raised bed) garden area, but man, they are everywhere in my ornamental beds. We got 'em in MA, too, but I never saw shells (except at the ocean proper) until I came here. My yard seems to be littered with them.

    I'm working on some travel plans, and planning new plantings around summer absences. Squashes will be on the late side, I think.

  • barberberryfarm
    11 years ago

    AndinMobile: Here is the link to the county map for extension offices in Alabama. Just click on the county you're in.

    Here is a link that might be useful: ACES County Offices