Drip Irrigation
I purchased the components to water my trees. It is getting hot on the hill here, and my thirty tiny Ponderosa pine trees need to be watered regularly. So, on the advice of This Old House and Drip Depot, I took my shopping list and set out to compare prices. However, when you get to the store with stars in your eyes, you kind of forget yourself.
However, the older gentleman working the drip irrigation supplies department was really invaluable. Confronted by thousands (seemed like) of boxes of tiny parts, with negligible differences, I grew disoriented. The Minion made matters worse by pointing out that I didn’t have nearly enough “Goof Plugs.” I didn’t even know those existed until today. Too bad they are not multi-purpose….
Anyway, I told the Home Depot Associate what I wanted to do, and he said, “you don’t need half that stuff…”
So, I came home with Hose filter connectors, half inch line, quarter inch line, 1 gallon per minute emitters and lots of staples to hold them into the ground. I am going to assemble this tomorrow, so I’ll post the results.
Be cool if it works…
Chores
Today, I crossed several things off my list:
I went to Home Depot and bought a replacement cucumber plant. I felt smart, buying one pot for $2.84 which had 5 good sprouts. I separated them, and now have two cucumber sets for the garden. I planted them in 85 degree weather, and they promptly wilted. I gave them a shot of Shultzes fertilizer, so I hope they live!
I also bought a Big Bertha bell pepper (again, two plants) and separated them. I put them in where the radishes had phased out. They are currently flanked by carrots. Cross your fingers.
We have a winner…
It is official. A tomato plant from the greenhouse was the first to fruit. The Stupice plant has a quarter-sized tomato on it! I have checked it at least three times today. I can’t wait to taste it.
14 of the 17 tomato plants in the greenhouse have blossoms; shouldn’t be too long. The three stragglers are all planted in the same type of soil: potting soil that I got at the local garden store and mixed with a little bit of peat moss. These seem much heavier, and they definitely don’t dry out as fast. In contrast, all the other plants are in the mix of peat, vermiculite, potting soil and compost. Their growth is robust.
I set all the plants outside in the sunshine yesterday; I didn’t see any pollinators in the greenhouse, regardless of having the door open all day. Call me paranoid.
In the garden, I removed the Wall O’Waters from the 16 plants out there, and I replaced the tomato cages. Right now the 54 inch cages dwarf the plants. They also show great growth, but seem way too small for the supports I put them in. Reminds me of a two-year-old wearing Dad’s shoes.
The tomatoes planted with a handful of wood ashes don’t seem to be any bigger so far. Maybe that will be a taste issue. I also pinched back the axil buds on all of them. I want them to thicken up so they can hold all that fruit.
Blossoms!
Today, as I watered the greenhouse tomato plants, I was shocked to notice what looked like blossoms on one. The plants are probably only 8 inches tall. Sure enough, there are four baby blooms forming on one of the Stupice tomatoes. This is the “ultra-early” variety (60-65 days) which I planted back in March. It is an indeterminate, potato-leaf variety from Czech, with 2 inch fruit. Yahoo!!!
I ran right out to the garden, opened the Wall o’Waters and sure enough, there were blossoms on one of the Stupice plants in the garden. These guys have only been in the ground for TWO weeks. The heat last week must have spurred them on.