The hard pruning and clean up continues. I’m thinking of penning a series of “Will It Live” posts to focus on some of the plant specimens I’m hovering over.
Variegated ginger got a haircut
All the tomatoes got potted last week and they are working on their indoor tan for now.
Potted tomato seedlings stretching out their legs
Finally cleaned out some of the trash from the stock tank beds to get a closer look at the veggies. Looks like kale, kohlrabi, wasabi radish and brussel sprouts are sticking around. They’ll need their tops lopped off however.
Weird and alien discovery. I just happened to find this yellow slime at the base of my Acoma crape myrtle…it looked like dog vomit. It hadn’t been there the previous weekend, so it must have popped up sometime later. Come to find out, it really is aptly called dog vomit slime mold, fuligo septica, a fungus that springs up from mulch.
Dog vomit slime mold at base of Acoma crape myrtle
It’s March and it’s time to kick off yardwork projects. It’s slow going weeding our turf-free backyard, so I squeeze in 5-to-15 minute plucking sessions whenever I can.
Weeding sections at a time
First major project is to lay down pre-emergent and fertilize the lawn. Which necessitated a run to the big box stores.
Which meant perusing the garden center for any desirable plants.
In one instance, there were plenty of bargain bin plants that were hastily thrown onto the dollar shelves due to frost damage. I managed to snag 2 Autumn Twist azaleas for $2 apiece.
$2 Azalea rescues
The Pink marguerite daisies and some purple spotted petunias also jumped into my cart, along with some bare root asparagus and 2 bags of gladiolus.
I ended my shopping spree with 3 succulents; I’ve been thinking of how I’d be populating my succulent planter, and these sedum and echevarria will fit the bill.
My Botanical Interest seeds came in, but apparently my order from Annie’s Annuals has yet to arrive (despite an ETD of 3/4).
Meanwhile, I continue to clean out the front yard, debating on what plants need replacement, what plants to monitor, what to divide and/or move and what to do with that zone 1 drip line that doesn’t seem to be doing anything.
There are still plenty of work to be done to clear the beds of storm debris and frost damaged plants. But the seed starting bug has already bitten me hard.
End of January, I had already started a batch of veggie soil blocks which include tomatoes, habaneros, bok choy, lettuces, spinach, bunching onions, and eggplant. I was lucky enough to source most of the seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, who had them in stock at the time.
I have perennial and annual flowers started in soil blocks as we end February in a flurry of garden prepping.
But of course, there are never enough seeds to start and plant.
From Annie’s Annuals (my first time ordering with this company):
I’m not the only one with a gardening bug. Seed companies and online plant purveyors have been hammered by the pandemic demand; most are advertising low inventories and out of stock items. My normal go-to vendors are struggling to keep up with the demand, I’m having a hard time filling out my wish list. Meanwhile, local nurseries are still recovering from the winter storm, so inventories might still be scarce as of this writing.
If I do find something I want, it’s usually through Amazon and I’m highly suspect of the quality. I’m still frustrated by the habanero pepper seeds I obtained through there; germination rates are very low, even after re-sow attempts as we are enter the 4th week since I planted them. I plan on moving them onto my growing stand with the powerful lights to see if that will spur them into germination.
As evidenced on my Instagram feed, my garden experienced the worst temperature extremes that Texas endured in the new year. We saw the lowest temperature I’ve ever witnessed in all the years I’ve lived in North Texas: -1F.
The historic winter storm knocked out power, water and cell data for 2 days. Our yard was buried in snow for at least 4 days. The community pond was completely frozen over.
Feb 16 Tannery Lake completely frozen over
The outdoor greenhouse tent could not sustain the plants housed within especially with no power to heat the space. Similarly, my garage was plunged in cold and darkness, freezing the most sensitive plants.
Feb 17 Weather damaged plants in stock tank and greenhouse tent
I’m still tallying the losses. The weekend following the storm, we set about to pruning the roses, and removed some dead branches and debris from the front yard. Most of the snow had begun to disappear by this time.
Feb 19 snow slowly melting away from front yard path
Feb 20 Tannery Lake still icy in some patches
Frost hardiness for some plants seem hit or miss. I had put out some nasturtium seedlings earlier in the year; those were a loss. But I also planted out some romaine lettuce seedlings, and they seemed to have survived.
Feb 21 stock tanks and backyard beds
Needless to say, this means more seed starting and emptying pots to make way for new plants.
Looking ahead at the forecast, it seems that we will be seeing highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s beginning the second week of March. I’m already thinking about all the gardening tasks I have to do to prep the beds to receive new plants.
Back in October I purchased a Quictent pop-up grow house in preparation of housing my frost-tender plants outdoors, including my first-this-year variegated lemon tree. It took 2 tries to get it right, but in the end I was happy with the results. All I have to say is watch the unpacking video, read the instructions, and watch the video AGAIN so that you don’t encounter problems in setup. I confess that I strayed from the step-by-step order and ended up snapping one of the fiberglass poles, held together by stretchy rope.
I walled off about 32 square feet on the patio with a cinderblock border about 3 blocks high, or roughly 2 feet tall.
I then unpacked and erected the tent, though I found it helpful on the 2nd try, to have an extra pair of hands setting it up. Strong winds can make setup challenging.
Originally, DH suggested a pass through, so we cut 4 pieces of lumber, stained them, and purchased additional planter blocks to create something of sliding system for a removable wall.
I picked up a wifi enabled mini hygrometer made by Inkbird to monitor night time internal temperatures. I soon learned that on frigid nights, the grow house really didn’t offer much insulation. I would have to find a way to heat the space.
String lights to the rescue. Or not! I dug through closets hunting down old Christmas string lights. Meanwhile, DH put together a light stand constructed from PVC pipes and erected it inside the grow house.
Unfortunately, the mini string lights didn’t produce enough heat to impact overnight temperatures inside the grow house. But it looked pretty enough!
Blue and white mini string lights, just not enough heat
Temperatures stayed anywhere in the range of 4 to 10 degrees above local outdoor overnight temps. And the tent was brighter too. Overall I used a total of 3 25ft string lights, connected to a splitter on the power cord end. The number of bulbs limited the number of strings that could be connected together, without blowing a fuse–unlike the LED strings that I had hung previously.
On the wall end, the power cord connects to a wifi-enabled dual headed outlet rated for outdoor use. It was handy to schedule times when the lights turned off and on. I could also run automation to turn on the lights when local temperatures dipped below a certain threshold.
All in all, it was a learning experience setting up the tent and heating it. Time will tell if this outdoor grow house setup can endure the harsh winter elements. The only grievance I have is with the delicate C9 bulbs whose filaments break very easily at the slightest blow. I discovered this after I tested every light beforehand, only to find bulbs damaged post installation.
