Herself’s Houston Garden

The schizophrenic weather has had me carting plants in, plants out, plants in.  They went out for the last time yesterday, it’s every plant for himself after this.

I went to both the Conroe Master Gardener plant sale and Mercer’s March Mart last month.  I didn’t buy as much as usual.  I was looking for more tropical plants, but the recent weather is making me wonder about the wisdom of planting lots of tropicals.

I have several Lunch bunches at Mercer penciled into my calendar, as well as Jerry’s Jungle the 17th and 18th , Florescence the 21st and 22nd, The Houston Orchid show 24/25/26 and The Woodlands Garden Club “I’ts a small, small world” flower show the 29th. So things are busy. There is also The Texas Forest Expo the 24->26 this month I’m not yet sure if I’ll make that event or not. I just received a note telling me that Hope Farms Gardens will be open weekends from 4/25 till 5/24. I’ve never been but it has been highly recommended to me.

I finally put a compost bin in the yard last week, and have been busy filling it and tearing out more of the front lawn.

When it’s been too cold to work in the yard I’ve been reading lots about gardening and industrialized food supply ( The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals). If you eat or garden you’ll want to read this book.

I’m hoping to do more propagation and some more challenging gardening projects this year. I already hack computers, it’s time to start hacking the garden, and botany, and biology. The future lies in that direction.

New things I learned this week:

Time release fertilizers do not break down when the ground is below 55′F and when it is hot here they break down immediately burning plants.  Only use time release fertilizers in the spring and fall.  Stick to more traditional fertilizers in the summer and winter.

2 teaspoons of molasses per gallon of water makes a good fertilizer.  In addition it keeps fire ants out of the garden.

Spring and snakes in the garden go together.  Snakes to watch for are:

Copperhead: Copperheads all have brown rings shaped like Hersey’s kisses along them

Corals: Black, thin yellow, red, thin yellow band in that order

Cotton Mouth:  Black line with white line top and bottom across eyes like a mask.

While you won’t likely die from a snake bite from these guys it’s still a good idea to go to the hospital and get checked out.

We certainly know about hot weather down here in Houston. This is the first year I’ve lost plants to the heat, and they were lost early on.

Leaf scorch can be bacterial or it can be caused by dry windy conditions. There is no hope for plants with the bacterial leaf scorch. For those with it caused by windy, dry conditions you can help. Plants take up moisture through the roots and disperse it to the leaves where some of it is evaporated to cool the plant. On windy days more moisture is lost from the leaves. Plants need to be able to take up more moisture faster to replace it. You’ll see leaf tips turn brown and it can progress turning all the leaves all brown before stems wilt and the plant dies. More water is the answer to this. Water regularly and deeply so plants can reach water deep down in the soil.

Too much sunlight will turn your leaves from green to white. If you see leaves bleaching out provide those plants with more shade.

Fertilize less in July and Aug. The plant can’t handle the heat and new, rapid growth. I fertilize heaviest in the spring and the fall and not at all in the summer and winter. But summer thunderstorms can rapidly deplete what little nutrients we have in our soil. If you see yellow leaves with green veins add some iron and nitrogen to your soil. Half the recommended strength is best for summer fertilizing.

Mulch. Mulch greatly cuts down on water loss and it helps keep those roots just a little bit cooler. In time it will break down and add badly needed organic matter to the soil.

If plants are wilted in the afternoon and the ground is not damp, give those particular plans a deep watering with your garden hose. Let it trickle out slowly for a long time.

No matter where you live, your trees are trying to maintain a leaf temperature of about 70′F. There is every reason to think that other plants do the same. This is the temperature at which photosynthesis takes place. The control of the temperature is done through water uptake. So give your plants the water they need and keep things well mulched.

See also:
How hot weather effects plants
From Canada to Caribbean: Tree leaves control their temperature

Asparagus – Jan 15->Feb 15th

Beans ( lima and snap ) – March 1->April 7th and Sept 1->Sept 21

Beets – Feb 1->28 & Sept 21->Oct 15th

Broccoli – Jan 21->Feb21 & Sept 15th ->Oct 15th

Cabbage – Jan 21->Feb 21 & Sept 15th ->Oct 15th

Cantalope – March 21->Jun 30th

Cauliflower – Jan 21->Feb 21 & Sept 15->Oct 15th

Carrots- Oct 15->Nov 15th

Collards – Jan 21->Feb 15th & Sept 15->Nov 1

Corn – Mar 1->March 31

Cucumber – Mar 21->Apr 30

Eggplant – March 21->Jul 7th

Kohlrabi – Jan 21->Feb 28th & Sept 21->Oct 31

Lettuce – Jan 21->Feb 28th & Oct 7->Nov 30

Muskmelon or Watermelon – March 21->Jun 30th

Okra – Apr 1st->Jul 31st

Onions – Jan 15->Feb 15

Peas, snap – Sept 21->Oct 15th

Peppers – March 15->April 30th

Potatoes – Feb 1->Feb 15th

Pumpkin – Mar 15->Jul 15

Radish -> Feb 1 -> Mar 7th & Sept 1->Nov 15th

Southern peas – Apr 1->Aug 21

Spinach – Oct 1->Nov 15th

Squash – Mar 15th ->Apr 30

Sweet potatoes – Apr 1->Jul 15th

Swiss Chard – Jan 21->Feb 15 & Sept 21->Nov 7

Tomatoes – Mar 1->Mar 31

Turnip – Feb 1 ->Feb 28th

See also:
Houston Vegetable Garden Blog
Urban Harvest, Success with vegetables requires timing

Home Vegetable Gardening video from UC by a local Master Gardener
Part II of Home Vegetable Gardening video