The Yellow Farmhouse Garden

September 21, 2012

Early Frost in Southeastern Michigan

Filed under: Weather — bob @ 11:37 am

Every morning I get outside early, usually just before sunrise. One of the things I like to do is try to guess the air temperature. Unless I’m sick, I’m usually accurate within a few degrees.

Early Wednesday morning when I stepped into the morning air, I thought to myself: “It’s either cold out here or I’m coming down with something”.  Sure enough the thermometer on the porch read only 35 degrees.

I immediately  hurried out to check the garden. The plants in the upper elevation were fine however, the plants in the low spot were frosted. When I say “elevation” it really is not a hill I’m talking about. It’s just a gentle slope with a  couple of feet difference from one end of the garden to the other.

These leaves were white from frost early Wednesday morning.

Apparently, the air was very still Tuesday night. That allowed to cold air to flow down the slope and settle into the lower part of the garden freezing the plants.

My watermelon vines, green beans and three types of squash were killed by the frost. Up the slope, the sweet potatoes and tomatoes got nipped but are still alive.

Squash plant showing frost damage.

Unfortunately, the closest frost advisory that night was for the area near Saginaw, over 125 miles north from me as the crow flies.

From time to time, things like this  happen when gardening — it never pays to let down your guard.

July 6, 2012

Using a Surfactant to Save Water in the Garden

Filed under: Water,Weather — bob @ 2:00 pm

Because of the heat wave and lack of rain, I’ve had to water the garden just to keep the plants alive.

To conserve water, I’ve been syringing the plants one at a time with a watering wand.  Syringing uses much less water than spraying the entire area with an oscillating or impulse garden sprinkler.  It also helps keep the weeds down in between the plants since the soil there is so dry.

Using a water wand to syringe garden plants.

The soil in my garden is so dry it has become hydrophobic. The water,  instead of soaking into the ground, beads up on the surface  like water on a newly-waxed car hood.  So when I try to syringe a plant, instead of going down into the soil where the plant can use it, the water just runs off into the garden path. This is a common problem in many soils when they get too dry.

When my soil gets in this condition, I use a surfactant to help the water move into the soil. I keep a box of biodegradable dishwasher detergent in the garden shed just for this purpose.  About a tablespoon or so of the detergent to a couple gallons of water does the trick in my soil.

I use about this much detergent in my watering can.

I use my watering can to apply the solution right under the plants. You can see the change it makes in the soil as the water sinks right in instead of running off. This saves even more water when I syringe the plants.

It takes some time, but a watering can lets me put the solution right where I want it to go.

The surfactant won’t last all season but so far, I have had to make only one application. A couple of good rains will solve this problem.

Bob

Here’s a link to a good publication on hydrophobic soils: http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-25/

March 23, 2012

Worried About Warm Weather

Filed under: Insects,Weather — bob @ 1:02 pm

The warm spell in our area has broken all of the weather records. You don’t have to be an experienced gardener to see that everything is way ahead of schedule with all of the spring flowers blooming.

We’re so far ahead of schedule that the National Weather Service has decided that the growing season has started. They even plan to issue frost and freeze warnings. Usually we don’t see those for another several weeks.

Gardeners are rushing to finish up spring garden chores like pruning. I wrapped up pruning my fruit trees and grapes today. It looks like I finished just in time since they are budded out and are beginning to grow. Now I need to get an early insect spray on those plants. I missed the dormant oil spray because of the weather.

Insect pests are ahead of schedule too. While pruning the grapes I spotted  grape flea beetles. This little pest can be very destructive when grapes first bud out. They feed on young tender buds as they open. I’m sure we’ll find other insects out in the garden as well.

Not only are grape flea beetles feeding on the buds — they’re mating too.

A freeze later in the season is another worry. Open buds on fruit trees are very susceptible to cold weather damage. Freezing temperatures in April could ruin the fruit crop — buds that get frozen won’t produce fruit.

We won’t be out of the woods until the end of April or early May. The only thing we can do is wait it out and protect our plants the best we can.

Bob

February 2, 2012

Ground Hog Day

Filed under: Weather — bob @ 12:57 pm

Ground Hog Day is here already.  Most people probably look at this day as a quirky PR stunt dreamed up by the city fathers in Punxsutawney PA.  In Howell, they have Woody the Woodchuck.

I’m not sure, where or when Ground Hog Day got started but farmers in our area used to use this day as a reminder to check their hay and livestock feed supply.  If the storage bins were more than half-full, then they were in good shape until spring.  If not, then they would need to think about buying more feed because they might run short later on.

This all fits in with phenology, the science of observing natural events in the environment.  Phenologists record the dates of things such as when certain flowers bloom or when crickets first start to chirp in the spring.

Information like this, logged over many decades, may show certain trends like earlier blossoming of spring flowers.  Date like that could indicate a trend toward a warmer climate.

I remember when I was a little boy listening to farmers saying they needed to plant corn when the oak leaves were the size of squirrels ears. If you look at young oak leaves in the spring, you’ll notice that is just about the right time for field corn to go into the ground. The corn planting date changes somewhat from year to year depending upon weather conditions and that is reflected in the growth rate of oak leaves.

A well-known practical use of phenology is the timing of crab grass control. The blooming of forsythia is the signal for applying crab grass herbicide.

I wonder if professional phenologists argue that Ground Hog Day isn’t really phenology.  It probably doesn’t matter too much since meteorologists have already gone ahead and claimed this as their special day.

Bob

January 31, 2012

Warm Winter Days

Filed under: Potted Plants,Weather — bob @ 12:56 pm

This last day in January is the warmest we’ve had in a series of unseasonably warm days.  I hesitated to write about taking advantage of these kind of days because when they happen, they only happen once — then it’s winter again.  The way this winter is going we may well get a few more of these.

Days like this give us a chance to take care of our plants.

Take today for example, it’s nearly 60 degrees outside.  That gave me a chance to haul out all of the plants I’ve been overwintering indoors.

A few of my indoor plants getting a much needed shower outside — on January 31.

When plants stay inside all winter the insect and mite population can get out of hand.  Also, household dust can collect and clog stomata, the microscopic pores on the leaves. It’s through the stomata that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.  If those pores become clogged, photosynthesis slows down which weakens the plant.

So, in the winter, plants are subjected to a double whammy.  They are weakened by clogged stomata and then attacked by a growing pest problem.

The best thing you can do for your plants is to take them outside on mild winter days and hose them off with water. That’s exactly what I did today.

I also had a chance to moisten the tubers and geraniums that I have in winter storage.  It’s a lot easier to do this job outside where I don’t have to worry about getting water all over the place.

Plan to take advantage of the next warm day – if we have one—to help out your plants.

Bob

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