What Are You Growing? 2020

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

5 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

Hey mate, best advice I can give ya with citrus is that they are very hungry feeders. I fertiliser with something different every change of the season apart from autumn/winter change. I’ll fertilise with say cow poo, then compost/manure mix, then blood and bone/chook poo mix. 
Probably a good idea to have some white oil around too for when the scale and ants come/citrus leaf miner/etc. 

Also when it comes time to prune, just prune to shape. 
Not saying this is all you need to know but if you want it to flourish........

Thats pretty much it in my experience. Citrus are not difficult. My main problem has been pests with the renters next door not giving a shit about there orange tree which gets full of bronze stink bugs every bloody year. They find there way to mine so it's a constant battle in spring and summer.

[The Captain!!]

48 minutes ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Thats pretty much it in my experience. Citrus are not difficult. My main problem has been pests with the renters next door not giving a shit about there orange tree which gets full of bronze stink bugs every bloody year. They find there way to mine so it's a constant battle in spring and summer.

Ha ha ha yeah mine are pretty much the same. I’ve been jumping the fence and spraying my closest neighbours tree down with white oil and fertiliser. 

I have 4 citrus espalier’d down my back fence and another 3 out the side (Not espalier’d) with a small Spanish fig. 

My citrus cop a hiding due to pests but I just keep on top with white oil and neem. I’ve planted comfrey around the bases of the trees which keeps them very dark green in colour.  Works a treat. 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Yeah I always used confidor. It kept the buggers away no problems but it got taken off sale and ran out of my concentrate prior to last season. Now I'm using the oil at the start of spring and spot spray with pyretherum every couple of days.

[Beerlust]

6 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

Hey mate, best advice I can give ya with citrus is that they are very hungry feeders. I fertiliser with something different every change of the season apart from autumn/winter change. I’ll fertilise with say cow poo, then compost/manure mix, then blood and bone/chook poo mix. 
Probably a good idea to have some white oil around too for when the scale and ants come/citrus leaf miner/etc. ..

+1

I bought a lime tree a couple of years ago. Everyone buys lemon trees, but limes are damn expensive in the supermarkets so I went lime tree. Anyways, watched the habits of the local insects, & noticed the harvesting habits of ants when the plant flowers. They appear to collect the nectar (I guess) from the flowers & noticed no fruit seemed to develop from those blossoms. Once the ants disappeared, remaining flowers seemed to develop into fruit. No sight of the ants in recent weeks, & new flower bulbs are sprouting all over the tree. Hopefully without interference from ants, they develop into fruit. 

First year I had an issue with white curl grubs. I didn't even know what they were.  Bastards of things, as you don't even know they're eating your plants because they live & reside underground in the root structure of your plant feeding off the roots of your plants & restricting the nutrient uptake & development of the roots of the plant diminishing it's development & productivity.

I'm on 'em now though!  

Lusty.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

21 minutes ago, Beerlust said:

 

I bought a lime tree a couple of years ago. Everyone buys lemon trees, but limes are damn expensive in the supermarkets so I went lime tree.

Yeah I don't know why that is. Supply and demand maybe?? I have found my lime tree to be the easiest to care for and the best producer. 

[The Captain!!]

I’ve been lucky enough to prune my lime tree into producing year round. I always have a small amount of medium size limes for use whenever I need/want. 

[iBooz2]

14 hours ago, Beerlust said:

+1

I bought a lime tree a couple of years ago. Everyone buys lemon trees, but limes are damn expensive in the supermarkets so I went lime tree. 

Yep I prefer limes over lemons and use a lot of them in my cooking.  Superior on fresh caught sea fish. Yum.

Also have a big lemon tree because I need heaps every spring to make gallons of ginger beer.

@Beerlust you had better keep an eye out for anything that resembles this on your lime tree.  Its a wasp that lays its eggs in the bark.  AFAIK the only way to treat it is cut off the infected branch and burn it.  It gets away quickly on you and before you know it the whole lime tree is riddled and is as good as dead.  The wasp's will fly straight past my lemon tree to get to the lime but now that they have destroyed the lime they are going for second choice which is the lemon.

Cheers - AL

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by iBooz2

[Beerlust]

Hi iBooz2.

2 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

 

@Beerlust you had better keep an eye out for anything that resembles this on your lime tree.  Its a wasp that lays its eggs in the bark.  AFAIK the only way to treat it is cut off the infected branch and burn it.  It gets away quickly on you and before you know it the whole lime tree is riddled and is as good as dead.  The wasp's will fly straight past my lemon tree to get to the lime but now that they have destroyed the lime they are going for second choice which is the lemon.

Cheers - AL

 

Cheers for the heads up. 

BTW Neem Oil is a good treatment for curl grub. You just need to emulsify it in a soap solution so you can apply it.

Cheers,

Lusty.

[Thirsty Jim]

That is the gall wasp and it is everywhere on citrus in Melbourne.  I have seen trees with galls as big as your wrist but the tree still produces fruit.  Ultimately they will destroy the tree but owners are loathe to have their citrus cut back hard to get rid of the galls while the tree continues to produce fruit. 

The problem is that if you are a good gardener and remove the gall wasp you are fighting a losing battle if someone else in the neighborhood doesn't remove their's.  There is a way of cutting the gall with a razor that exposes the pests to the light and kills them but you need to be careful not to ring bark the tree in the process and keep everything nice and sterile.

This is a beautiful illustration of the pest  by EH Zeck of the NSW DPI back in the 1950's ...

I have been pruning citrus for gall wasp over the last couple of weeks.  It is thought that the wasp is more inclined to attack young spring growth so pruning in Autumn may help mess with them.

[Pezzza]

On 4/7/2020 at 3:33 PM, MUZZY said:

Thanks, Ben. I wouldn't have known that. I've always been a set and forget type of gardener. Just whack things in the ground and hope for the best. But with this tree, it's sentimental value makes me want to ensure it flourishes.

And probably don't aim to overwater it... they like well drained soil which is not everywhere.... well probably most plants in the world do besides Mangroves.... and Murray River Redgums.

So don't drown it in water Muzz...

My Grandparents used to live in Enfield years ago and had great orange and grapefruit which did well... so hopefully yours will be a ripper (think you are in Adelaide?)

[Malter White]

@Bearded Burbler thanks mate.

Yes, I'm in Adelaide. I set it in mainly sandy loam and raised it a little to assist draining. I've been watering regularly but have backed off a bit in recent weeks as it's appeared to have established itself.

[Pezzza]

The rain has been kind to the Rhubarbler... harvested a good load today - only some of which is seen below - corner LHS of pic you can see the second plant coming back from near death by drought... cuppla tiny leaves...  The Rhubarbler lounging on the Rosemary plant which is also coming back from near drought induced extinction and now flowering and providing something for the local bees ; ) 

 

[Pezzza]

Spuddlies are doing a nice late delivery after a delayed start with the drought:

[The Captain!!]

Thats great news @Bearded Burbler Looks like some nice size ones too.

[Pezzza]

5 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

Thats great news @Bearded Burbler Looks like some nice size ones too.

Cheers Cappo!  Yeah there is nothing like water from the sky to help things grow mate ; )

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

On 4/2/2020 at 5:38 PM, James of Bayswater said:

GREENY1525229549 , The Seed Collection is based in Ferntree Gully - my neck of the woods.   I put a large order in two years ago but I must admit I have been disappointed by the germination rates especially of anything more exotic.  It was great that they sell small samples at $1.20 a pack but not so good that they didn't germinate well.  You should be fine with your selection though as they are easy growing.   

I wasn't fine mate. Eyeballing I think I got about 50% or even a touch less germination rate. Enough for my plant out for winter veggies but still that's not good.

[Thirsty Jim]

No it is not good.  I am sorry to hear it.  Nobody expects 100% germination but other suppliers like Eden Seeds are very good and exceed 80% in most cases.   

My experience made me more determined to collect my own seeds which in most cases is dead easy and well worth doing.  A friend gave me seeds for tomatoes that her father had grown locally generation after generation for 16 seasons.  Those seeds germinated without fail, the plants were strong and productive and the fruit was delicious.   I collected the seed again last year and it was same story this season.  I collect the seed again and will use it again next season.

[Pezzza]

A few rosy red cheeked radishes coming good after surviving the stinkin' cheat snails in the early days:

[Malter White]

Highly exciting times for Muzz. My first harvest from my first attempt at vegetable gardening... spinach. I can't believe how nice it is. I wasn't expecting it to turn out so healthy looking.

Some of you said I was ambitious trying to grow cauliflower and broccoli at my first go. You were right. They sprouted well, no florets yet, but the leaves have so many bullet holes from the cabbage moth grubs they look like an extra from the movie Scarface.

[Pezzza]

16 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

cabbage moth grubs they look like an extra from the movie Scarface.

Mate I fkkkkn hate the rottttttten basssstard things seriously...

I live in the Booooondogglers...closest village - which might have some gardeners in it I guess - is more than 5km away with only paddock in between - and yet these rottttten thievin' cheatin' filthy things can find my Brassicas every time... had some Kale that mightily survived the drought - hammered by the rottters....  think you can use Derris Dust... Caulis and Broccs are fine to grow - but not for the Cabbage White.  Mate reckons if you put up Fine Mesh Bird Netting the butterfly cannot get through... I can't be phhhharqued to do that... and instead try to grow nice veggies it does not like. 

So - as you now know - they don't eat festive Spinach mate - so that is PURE GOLD - and your spinach loooks bllllllooooody great!   And yeah does taste nicer fresh. Well done Muzzy!

[Thirsty Jim]

You are doing better than me ... with the spinach anyhow.   I can't seem to get them going.  Everything else is moving along but the spinach.   It seems to have stalled.  Maybe I need to threaten it with the big spoon.  Works on my beer. 

As for the brassicas I have a couple of these ...

That is 5mm  netting stretched over cheap electrical conduit and held in place by spring clips liberated from the office cupboard.  It does two things :  It keeps the white cabbage butterfly at bay and it stops the the birds.  The birds aren't interested in my cabbages but they will pick up snail bait if they can get at it.  But don't tell anyone.  We are supposed to be organic. 

[Malter White]

@Bearded Burbler I think for future seasons I'll likely expand the spinach area and forget the brassicas. The brassicas need too much attention for my liking.

@James of Bayswater I have no idea why your spinach isn't taking off. Just as I have no idea why mine has.  Although the land my house is built on used to be market garden about 25 years ago. In our early years of living here I'd occasionally have spinach springing up through my lawn. I'm in Adelaide so it could be the climate and/or clay soil that has helped me.

[Thirsty Jim]

The Brassica family is large and everywhere.  The Cabbage butterfly will go all of them, and there are heaps of wild brassicas so living in Woop Woop wont save you. in fact some of my hippy dippy mates can forage a feed from down by the creek no problem  (personally I think they just follow the butterfly and pick what it lands on.).  

Brassicas :  Broccoli, Cauliflower,  Brussells Sprouts, Kale, Turnip, all the mustards, choy sum, wom bok, rutabaga (swede), rapeseed, canola, collard greens, kohlrabi and a whole bunch of Asian greens that I can't tell one from the other.  I am sure to have left one out. 

Apart from nets I suggest Dipel, commonly marketed by Yates as Nature's Way.  It's very safe and doesn't affect bees, ladybirds, birds or pets but it is death to caterpillars and loopers of all descriptions. 

@MUZZY  if you are looking for something easy to grow try Broad Beans.  They make an impressive stand up to  5 feet high, you can eat them young as whole pods but when they mature they need to be shelled as the pods go furry.   The are prolific producers and will grow right through winter.  The only issue with them is that they can get blown over but I usually tie some twine around the stand so they support one another.  Sometimes called Fava beans.   Terrific with liver and a nice Chianti ...

 

[iBooz2]

Muz, Muz, Muz @MUZZY

I for one cannot believe you have never, ever grown your own vegetables or even just one of the buggers. Not one vegetable in your lifetime, unbelievable.

Well done with the spinach anyhow, things are looking up.  Perhaps some peas are now in order.

@James of Bayswater James as you know its been very, very gloomy here in Melbourne these last few weeks weather wise, my veggies and seeds have gone into stall mode.  Need some bloody sunshine.

Cheers - AL

[Malter White]

3 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

Muz, Muz, Muz @MUZZY

I for one cannot believe you have never, ever grown your own vegetables or even just one of the buggers. Not one vegetable in your lifetime, unbelievable.

A few herbs over the years eg, basil, parsley, chives but didn't ever bother with vegies.