Outdoor grow in Southeast Michigan 2024

[Beazy]

Just gettin some bark started like they do

Found the weird 'knuckle' on my plant. Okanangan Grape 'extra' and scraped the brown stuff off. Looks like healthy stem underneath.
Think I'm turning into a Nervous Nelly. LOL

View attachment 2204876View attachment 2204877

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Found the weird 'knuckle' on my plant. Okanangan Grape 'extra' and scraped the brown stuff off. Looks like healthy stem underneath.
Think I'm turning into a Nervous Nelly. LOL

View attachment 2204876View attachment 2204877

The cool little sciency thing that's really easy to do if you have an insta pot or a pressure cooker, is you can order a few Petri dishes and some potato agar. Very cheap. And just mix some up, fill the dishes. And sterilize em in the insta/pc.

Don't even have to refrigerate after that. Whenever you suspect fungal material, you can scrape it into the dish and seal it up and put it somewhere warm, and see if it begins to grow.

If it ever does, there's prob always someone on Reddit who could give a likely id with that dish held up to white light and a good photo. It's the easiest way to properly identify fungal pathogens that I know of.

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

By the way I actually agree that that is not something you should be really worrying about


I probably wouldn't have even batted an eye at that.


That one weird fuzzy thing you showed though. That would make me recoil in terror tbh.

 

[cpurola]

Ferts for the porch autos
2 gallons well water
1t Recharge
1t Megacrop

 

[cpurola]

Got a volunteer tomato plant. Think I'll let it go and see what it turns out to be.

Also found volunteer snap dragons between the greenhouse and the house.

 

[Captspaulding]

Let me put some Metamucil in it first!

Make sure that depends is dry and empty

 

[Organic13]

My volunteer tomatoes are always my strongest plants. I never cull any of them anymore. 3 growing out of the compost right now. I need to get in there today. May have to relocate them. I already have 20 some tomato plants.

Your gardens are beautiful. Snapdragons are some of my favorites. When they dry, I love the little skulls the seed pods turn into. Worst year for those disgusting earwigs I've seen yet. My zinnias our front are trashed from them. I may try the oil/soy sauce trap for them.

 

[Galgrows]

Ferts for the porch autos
2 gallons well water
1t Recharge
1t Megacrop

Yep i did the same this a.m. watering & ferts. It's hard to say @cpurola how long i have to go with these poor autos LOL. It's not gonna happen anytime soon from the way they look. Your place is still so lush & green mine is drying up bad. All except my garden beds. I've only had this place going on 3rd yr. Little by little yards are taking shape with my bushes, trees. My youngest daughter she's now in her 40's came by for 2days and her friend came with her with their dog. They painted 2 ugly walls in my garage boy am i happy with it. So much brighter an clean. I just gave the 2 doggies a bath and i'm pooped LOL.

 

[cpurola]

Yep i did the same this a.m. watering & ferts. It's hard to say @cpurola how long i have to go with these poor autos LOL. It's not gonna happen anytime soon from the way they look. Your place is still so lush & green mine is drying up bad. All except my garden beds. I've only had this place going on 3rd yr. Little by little yards are taking shape with my bushes, trees. My youngest daughter she's now in her 40's came by for 2days and her friend came with her with their dog. They painted 2 ugly walls in my garage boy am i happy with it. So much brighter an clean. I just gave the 2 doggies a bath and i'm pooped LOL.

Doesn't take alot to tire us out anymore. Hubby and I have a pact, work 2-3 hrs. a day. Even if it means knocking off at 2 PM! LOL
My two oldest are far away and don't visit often. We've resorted to hiring people or not doing things we need help with.
Hubby wants to insulate our detached garage, a few (too many) years ago we would have done it ourselves, but now....

My early flowering photos don't look so good. Two of them had bud rot that I cut out, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them. So cute.

The autos are being eatened by something, I think at night. They're still growing fast and starting to flower.

Early Flowering Photos (camera didn't pick up on the purple)

Porch Autos:
GDP

Eaten leaves

 

[cpurola]

My volunteer tomatoes are always my strongest plants. I never cull any of them anymore. 3 growing out of the compost right now. I need to get in there today. May have to relocate them. I already have 20 some tomato plants.

Your gardens are beautiful. Snapdragons are some of my favorites. When they dry, I love the little skulls the seed pods turn into. Worst year for those disgusting earwigs I've seen yet. My zinnias our front are trashed from them. I may try the oil/soy sauce trap for them.

Thanks for the compliment! I was hoping the zinnias would grow tall like State Fair ones but no, not this year. I planted the wrong variety.
Good luck with the traps. I bought some butterfly nets (kid size) and will try and catch whatever is on my plants. Standing and balancing on the landscape blocks while trying to catch a bug is a recipe for disaster! (fell backwards last year but my poor Auto cannabis plant cushioned my fall and lost it's main stem halfway up)

20 tomato plants plus? I did that once upon a time ago. I had a huge vegetable garden, all colors, shapes, had to try all and it was a blast.
Kids moved away, allergies got worse and I stopped. Except for the tomatoes. This year I have two Super Sweet cherries, two Black Krim, 2 Cherokee Purple, 4 salad in the flower beds.

Let me know if the trap works.

 

[MICHGANDER9]

I personally wouldn't do regs outside unless I sexed them. I wasted my time last year on a plant. Never again

I usually do feminized if i have a choice but if not then reg Beans usually you can read sex about 2 months in

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Doesn't take alot to tire us out anymore. Hubby and I have a pact, work 2-3 hrs. a day. Even if it means knocking off at 2 PM! LOL
My two oldest are far away and don't visit often. We've resorted to hiring people or not doing things we need help with.
Hubby wants to insulate our detached garage, a few (too many) years ago we would have done it ourselves, but now....

My early flowering photos don't look so good. Two of them had bud rot that I cut out, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them. So cute.

The autos are being eatened by something, I think at night. They're still growing fast and starting to flower.

Early Flowering Photos (camera didn't pick up on the purple)
View attachment 2205368

Porch Autos:
GDP
View attachment 2205373
View attachment 2205372
View attachment 2205371

Eaten leaves
View attachment 2205374
View attachment 2205375

Have you seen any active culprits of those eaten leaves while at the plants? im just curious lol.

That looks like the damage japanese beetles leave in the meadows here. (I dont even know if those are that far north or not though either)


Ive been obsessively observing pests here since i moved in. At least here, ive noticed the caterpillars tend to start eating from the edge of a leaf, inchworms will start anywhere, and the beetles, which many species love to feed at night when its hot and dry, *i think* like to start eating leaves from the vein lines out. Just like in your last picture there. The aphids make scabs in the middle of a leaf first, the mites make scabs near the outter edge. (Ive let the pests come along during the drought so i can catalogue which of my plants are most pest resistant, have had a few spinosad days now lol)

Have you seen these guys around up there? I havent ever seen em in KC or out west, but when i moved back here theyre everywhere now, werent years ago. And someone else posted after finding them on their cannabis plants recently too. Ive pulled several off mine.

A couple of my plants keep having more holes eaten, just like these, and theres never anything on them when i look, but they keep happening. I have found some of these on my plants like i said, but none actively feeding. I dont know about these guys, but i know lots of other beetles are more active at night when its hot and dry like its been (here anyway)

The one thing i cant totally figure out, is whats causing my night time leaf holes. I think its these guys. But really no clue.

On a separate but imo funny note. I grow lots of cacti and succulents, its my other plant hobby. Earwig damage and slug/snail damage on succulents looks exactly the same and it took a long time for me to realize nothing was crossing my DE... earwigs were making nests in the bottoms of my cacti, and feeding in large groups on only the cactus because the DE was effectively trapping them with the plant.

 

[Captspaulding]

Doesn't take alot to tire us out anymore. Hubby and I have a pact, work 2-3 hrs. a day. Even if it means knocking off at 2 PM! LOL
My two oldest are far away and don't visit often. We've resorted to hiring people or not doing things we need help with.
Hubby wants to insulate our detached garage, a few (too many) years ago we would have done it ourselves, but now....

My early flowering photos don't look so good. Two of them had bud rot that I cut out, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them. So cute.

The autos are being eatened by something, I think at night. They're still growing fast and starting to flower.

Early Flowering Photos (camera didn't pick up on the purple)
View attachment 2205368

Porch Autos:
GDP
View attachment 2205373
View attachment 2205372
View attachment 2205371

Eaten leaves
View attachment 2205374
View attachment 2205375

Looks like snail damage.

 

[cpurola]

Looks like snail damage.

We do have slugs but they usually eat the tender seedlings.
I believe it's Japanese Beetles during the day and Asiatic Beetles and earwigs at night. THEY eat EVERYTHING.
Basil was one of their favorite plants and I grew them last year as a trap crop. Sorta worked.
Forgot about them in the excitement of planting and didn't plant it this year.
Need to read my notes better.
Japanese Beetle - Day

Asiatic Beetle (and earwig) - Night

 

[Captspaulding]

We do have slugs but they usually eat the tender seedlings.
I believe it's Japanese Beetles during the day and Asiatic Beetles and earwigs at night. THEY eat EVERYTHING.
Basil was one of their favorite plants and I grew them last year as a trap crop. Sorta worked.
Forgot about them in the excitement of planting and didn't plant it this year.
Need to read my notes better.

Not sure if it does work on them or not,
Marigolds?

 

[Thatoneguyyouknow_]

Looks like snail damage.

Yea it does, but it doesnt have slime trails, thats how i figured out it was earwigs causing my "snail" damage. It genuinely looks identical to snail damage, just without slime trails left behind.

Snails dont usually go higher up on big plants outdoor plants either. On mine they like to get at the newest growth on interior shoots. The soft tender stuffs. And i can usually find slime trails too when snails and slugs have been about.


I have damage on my leaves identical to that and been watching more pop up every day, but couldnt ever find whatever was causing it. Theres none of this damage where i usually see snail damage, which i also have a small amount of personally. (been testing my pheno's pest resistance, unfortunately my favorite plant, PB1 comes in dead last by a margin xD )

personally i suspect japanese beetles and earwigs. Exactly the same as @cpurola's uspicions lol.

 

[Captspaulding]

They are the bane to my outdoor gardens existence here in the moon.



Scourges. Earwigs too….fuckers.

 

[cpurola]

Not sure if it does work on them or not,
Marigolds?

Nope. Do you have a lawn there? If so, they're the white grubs who love to eat grass roots. If not, no problem.
I haven't used it yet, but there is a BT equivalent to spray on plants that they eat and then starve to death. Takes a while.
Hate spraying shit on my plants or I shoulda done it already.

 

[Like2Grow]

That tomato plant looks like a Vulcan Targ strain ;-). Obviously a fighter !!!

Got a volunteer tomato plant. Think I'll let it go and see what it turns out to be.

View attachment 2205159

 

[Organic13]

Thanks for the compliment! I was hoping the zinnias would grow tall like State Fair ones but no, not this year. I planted the wrong variety.
Good luck with the traps. I bought some butterfly nets (kid size) and will try and catch whatever is on my plants. Standing and balancing on the landscape blocks while trying to catch a bug is a recipe for disaster! (fell backwards last year but my poor Auto cannabis plant cushioned my fall and lost it's main stem halfway up)

20 tomato plants plus? I did that once upon a time ago. I had a huge vegetable garden, all colors, shapes, had to try all and it was a blast.
Kids moved away, allergies got worse and I stopped. Except for the tomatoes. This year I have two Super Sweet cherries, two Black Krim, 2 Cherokee Purple, 4 salad in the flower beds.

Let me know if the trap works.

I planted taller sunflowers in front of a row my zinnias that I had marked as short sunflowers. Those aren't getting eaten up as badly as the ones in the front of the bed. Makes me wonder what is off in the food chain to have such an abundance of those nasty things.

I'm hopeful you catch whatever it is. Never in my life did I think I would find joy in killing insects with my bare hands but I don't mind at all. Some will destroy your garden overnight. Please don't be balancing on blocks anymore. Injuries hurt much worse now and take forever to heal from. More than beauty was wasted in my youth. Definitely took my body and health for grated. Ha

I can my tomatoes and a lot out of my garden. Pepper jelly is a staple in these parts. Planted for 7 hours yesterday. Still have my flowers to get into the ground. I'm so late. That heat have screwed me.

This will be my first year for Black Krims. I'm excited. I have a handle full of new heirlooms I'm growing. I also have varieties that have crossed here and I just keep planting. I'll always have at least one cherokee purple. Incredible performers. Nothing beats a garden fresh tomato. Can't wait. I pickled green tomatoes last year. Maybe a new favorite.

Enjoy your weekend.