May Discobs 2019

[nj2va]

Latest LWX forecast for Arlington is calling for mostly sunny in the morning then clouding up with a chance of showers this afternoon/tonight.  Hopefully today is the last day of the chilly/mucky weather.  

My flowers are yearning for sun and warmth.

[nw baltimore wx]

More than 4" of rain over the past four days.  Uncle.

[EastCoast NPZ]

Wow, it's nice out there!  Cool dry air, cloudy, and breezy.  Oh am I ready for Fall!  

2 months and 1 week until NFL camps open.

3 months until Octoberfest hits the shelves.

[mappy]

2.89" the last five days

[frd]

49 minutes ago, mappy said:

2.89" the last five days

Wow, did you plant a garden?  I measured 1.40 inches in my gauge in the last 5 days.  This side of the Bay the rainfall was less to a degree, and the areas effected more random. More uniform in your area I believe. 

I planted my garden, or most of it , on this past Saturday waiting and waiting for a dry spell which never happened.  The plants were looking not so good so I had no other choice.  Will have to assess by Thursday the impact of the recent wet soil and nasty conditions on the tiny plants 

[mappy]

46 minutes ago, frd said:

Wow, did you plant a garden?  I measured 1.40 inches in my gauge in the last 5 days.  This side of the Bay the rainfall was less to a degree, and the areas effected more random. More uniform in your area I believe. 

I planted my garden, or most of it , on this past Saturday waiting and waiting for a dry spell which never happened.  The plants were looking not so good so I had no other choice.  Will have to assess by Thursday the impact of the recent wet soil and nasty conditions on the tiny plants 

I had my sprouts hanging out on the deck, and planted them Saturday too. I checked them yesterday, they seemed okay. Our veggie garden doubles as a brush pile, so we had to wait for a dry day to burn the brush, then a dryer day to till and stuff. But they are in the ground, so fingers crossed they will be okay. 

[nw baltimore wx]

The records keep coming...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/weather/bs-md-rain-record-20190513-story.html

[frd]

34 minutes ago, mappy said:

I had my sprouts hanging out on the deck, and planted them Saturday too. I checked them yesterday, they seemed okay. Our veggie garden doubles as a brush pile, so we had to wait for a dry day to burn the brush, then a dryer day to till and stuff. But they are in the ground, so fingers crossed they will be okay. 

I wish you the best with your plants.  Hopefully the end of the week is better garden weather.

While we are talking plants all these decades I have planted tomatoes and finally figured out why in mid summer my pretty tomatoes plants get that leaf color change to yellow-ish and then they curl up and gradually the stem and leaves curl up and die . 

I thought it was magnesium, then thought it was lime,  ( ph level ) then though it was too much water ( well the too much water at one times gives you the cracks you see in tomatoes,  but it is not responsible for the blight and leaves curling, etc. 

Finally discovered it is a some sort of fungus in the soil. 

I read by mid summer when the grounds warm up, that when you water your plants it splashes up the soil and makes contact with the lower leaves and then works its way up the plant. 

Once in the soil little you can do about it ( I think ) So the only solution is to put mulch or other barrier to prevent the splash up .

Mappy, you have this problem with your tomotoes ? 

 

 

  

[Eskimo Joe]

57 minutes ago, frd said:

I wish you the best with your plants.  Hopefully the end of the week is better garden weather.

While we are talking plants all these decades I have planted tomatoes and finally figured out why in mid summer my pretty tomatoes plants get that leaf color change to yellow-ish and then they curl up and gradually the stem and leaves curl up and die . 

I thought it was magnesium, then thought it was lime,  ( ph level ) then though it was too much water ( well the too much water at one times gives you the cracks you see in tomatoes,  but it is not responsible for the blight and leaves curling, etc. 

Finally discovered it is a some sort of fungus in the soil. 

I read by mid summer when the grounds warm up, that when you water your plants it splashes up the soil and makes contact with the lower leaves and then works its way up the plant. 

Once in the soil little you can do about it ( I think ) So the only solution is to put mulch or other barrier to prevent the splash up .

Mappy, you have this problem with your tomotoes ? 

 

 

  

As someone who regularly grows heirloom tomatoes, I have found it best to mix in some bone meal when planting tomatoes as it provides magnesium and calcium for the young plant.  This mitigates the chance for blossom end rot.  About two weeks after planting, I snake a drip hose through my bed, tack it to the soil with lawn pins and then cover everything with straw.  The straw significantly reduces the splashing of rain and soil onto the lower parts of the plant and reduces the chance for fungus.  

[frd]

1 hour ago, Eskimo Joe said:

As someone who regularly grows heirloom tomatoes, I have found it best to mix in some bone meal when planting tomatoes as it provides magnesium and calcium for the young plant.  This mitigates the chance for blossom end rot.  About two weeks after planting, I snake a drip hose through my bed, tack it to the soil with lawn pins and then cover everything with straw.  The straw significantly reduces the splashing of rain and soil onto the lower parts of the plant and reduces the chance for fungus.  

Wow, this is simply brillant, thanks a bunch !  

[mappy]

3 hours ago, frd said:

I wish you the best with your plants.  Hopefully the end of the week is better garden weather.

While we are talking plants all these decades I have planted tomatoes and finally figured out why in mid summer my pretty tomatoes plants get that leaf color change to yellow-ish and then they curl up and gradually the stem and leaves curl up and die . 

I thought it was magnesium, then thought it was lime,  ( ph level ) then though it was too much water ( well the too much water at one times gives you the cracks you see in tomatoes,  but it is not responsible for the blight and leaves curling, etc. 

Finally discovered it is a some sort of fungus in the soil. 

I read by mid summer when the grounds warm up, that when you water your plants it splashes up the soil and makes contact with the lower leaves and then works its way up the plant. 

Once in the soil little you can do about it ( I think ) So the only solution is to put mulch or other barrier to prevent the splash up .

Mappy, you have this problem with your tomotoes ? 

The only issue i have had with tomatoes is having way too many! lol last year I had one Tiny Tim tomato plant that ended up taking up an entire corner of my 10x10 bed. 

But, as EJ mentioned, I have dealt with blossom rot (my squash, cucumbers and zucchini was hit hard by this last year). Last year when it happened we added crushed up Tums to the base of each plant to give some extra calcium and they bounced back.

My veggie garden doubles as our brush pile in the off-season, so this year after we burned our brush, we tilled in crushed up tums with the ash/charcoal from burnt brush. then I lay garden fabric down and that's it. we have chicken wire that goes around to keep the animals out, as the garden is set away from the house. 

hopefully we don't have any blossom rot this year. fingers crossed. and the garden drains well so we never have standing water in it. 

[Eskimo Joe]

1 hour ago, frd said:

Wow, this is simply brillant, thanks a bunch !  

No problem.  Our tomatoes are going in this weekend.  When I have the aforementioned setup in place, I'll post a follow up picture.  

One last tidbit.  If you want to use liquid fertilizer, that's great and should be used right after the fruit forms.  You really only need to feed the plants once a season.  I strongly recommend against the tradition Miracle-Gro "blue" powdered fertilizer.  It's so nitrogen heavy that you will only get an abundance of leaves.  Try instead the Miracle-Gro Tomato Plant Food, it's an 18-18-21 mix with a decent amount of trace elements (copper, zinc, iron, maganese) that staves off blossom end rot, etc. if things get wet again.  I love gardening and should have started the lawn & garden thread for the subforum this year.

[CAPE]

56 with a stiff breeze, some clouds and sun.

Very nice March day!

[Eskimo Joe]

12 minutes ago, C.A.P.E. said:

56 with a stiff breeze, some clouds and sun.

Very nice March day!

37­ degrees in Garrett County at 1:40 pm this afternoon.  Feels more like early March...hope we epically torch this summer and get a legit tropical event(s).  

[yoda]

12z Euro looks nice Friday and Saturday temp wise at least... back into the 80s

[JakkelWx]

Feel bad for the northern folks in the NY and NE forums as they might miss out on these warm temps the last 10 days of May. Down here its a different story. (at least in the long run, probably a few warm days here and there). Probably gonna get a lot of thunderstorms this summer here with plentiful 90 degree days.

[poolz1]

As someone who regularly grows heirloom tomatoes, I have found it best to mix in some bone meal when planting tomatoes as it provides magnesium and calcium for the young plant.  This mitigates the chance for blossom end rot.  About two weeks after planting, I snake a drip hose through my bed, tack it to the soil with lawn pins and then cover everything with straw.  The straw significantly reduces the splashing of rain and soil onto the lower parts of the plant and reduces the chance for fungus.  

I tried straw as a weed barrier and for moisture retention a few years ago. It really worked great but it brought slugs with it unfortunately. The garden most effected was the one that gets only part time sun....maybe that had something to do with it?
Trying wood chips this year along with some natural repellents. Those suckers destroyed my cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

Great tip with the bone meal...thanks!

[frd]

1 hour ago, losetoa6 said:

Definitely a winter like feel early this am

39

Euro says these BN temps will be a big time lost memory by Sunday and especially late next week.  Next Friday it has upper 90s in Va with some areas near 100 in southern Va . It can stay down  there hopefully.  70s is good with me 

Battlezone of storms maybe. Ventrice thinks activity picks up next week. Plus, this weekend I expect the beginnings of a  rapid warm up in the surf zone ocean temps , I am betting on 70 degree ocean temps by June 30th, we are at 55 degrees F. right now near Cape May, NJ

[frd]

9 hours ago, poolz1 said:

I tried straw as a weed barrier and for moisture retention a few years ago. It really worked great but it brought slugs with it unfortunately. The garden most effected was the one that gets only part time sun....maybe that had something to do with it?
Trying wood chips this year along with some natural repellents. Those suckers destroyed my cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

Great tip with the bone meal...thanks!

How much straw did you put down in terms of thickness, thin or a thick amount ?   And wood chips does seems interesting . 

What about regular mulch, any thoughts on that ?   I am not talking the dyed type, just a basic mulch.

I guess if my garden was in total sun I would simply use straw as EJ mentioned.   I need to decide in a couple weeks what to do. 

[EastCoast NPZ]

38F for the low.  Incredible!  Could see my breath when I walked outside this morning.  Best May morning ever!

[mappy]

5 hours ago, losetoa6 said:

Definitely a winter like feel early this am

39

Euro says these BN temps will be a big time lost memory by Sunday and especially late next week.  Next Friday it has upper 90s in Va with some areas near 100 in southern Va . It can stay down  there hopefully.  70s is good with me 

low was 39 for me too. 

[JakkelWx]

Warm nights ahead 

[BlizzardNole]

I got 2.7" over last weekend and have 4.7 for May so far.  I really want some warm, sunny weather to get my flower garden going that I planted last Saturday.  My vincas and marigolds look unhappy and my tropical milkweeds are just sleeping.

[poolz1]

How much straw did you put down in terms of thickness, thin or a thick amount ?   And wood chips does seems interesting . 
What about regular mulch, any thoughts on that ?   I am not talking the dyed type, just a basic mulch.
I guess if my garden was in total sun I would simply use straw as EJ mentioned.   I need to decide in a couple weeks what to do. 

I put down about 6" which compacted to about 3". Great weed control and almost too much moisture retention in the spring. My hope is that wood chips won't allow slugs to live under the "carpet" during the day and come out at night.

Mulch should work fine. I used a cheaper option called wood carpet from a local nursery. But, I have 4 gardens to cover and it was more economical. The only thing to be careful with is not mixing the wood chips in with the soil... The initial decay will rob the soil of nitrogen. I actually replaced one of our large gardens that receives full sun with a 20x4 hugelkultur raised bed. Hoping I won't have to water at all. Anxious to see how that goes this season!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[smokeybandit]

Hey it's raining again.  Haven't had rain in at least the last 48 hours

[frd]

The rain here was rather heavy for a short period of time.  

[EastCoast NPZ]

My nephew is getting married on Saturday in Annapolis.  Any locals familiar with the climate there?  My forecast high for Saturday has steadily risen all week long to now into the 80s.  Will water keep it any cooler there?  Not looking forward to sitting in the afternoon sun in a suit with temps 80+.

[frd]

1 hour ago, EastCoast NPZ said:

My nephew is getting married on Saturday in Annapolis.  Any locals familiar with the climate there?  My forecast high for Saturday has steadily risen all week long to now into the 80s.  Will water keep it any cooler there?  Not looking forward to sitting in the afternoon sun in a suit with temps 80+.

Well, the NWS forecast I justed checked has it at 79 degrees F. on Saturday afternoon as a high temp. Saturday:::

A slight chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

 

The upper Bay is cool still, but when you zero in on the winds during Saturday afternoon they are very light and variable. I believe wind is a non-factor, hence the air temp should not really be effected by the Bay SStT.  

[North Balti Zen]

Yeah, I couldn't believe the rain that popped up Baltimore north - at least it was relatively short lived and legit bright sunshine now. Let some drying commence.

[Skywalker03]

Beautiful sunny afternoon in downtown DC.  More days like this please.