June gardens

[Serenade]

6 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

We have three snow peas ready to harvest!

I am so excited that I have planned and entire stir fry around the peas! 😂

I so get this! 

[popmom]

I’m jealous of the snow peas. I love them!

I tilled up a new, small bed for my okra transplants and set them out. I need to plant more. 
 

It’s hot and dry here. I’m having to water all the things every day. I was hoping to hold off harvesting carrots until the end of the month, but they are looking wimpy in this heat. It doesn’t help that they are in grow bags on my deck. That deck gets really hot in the sun. Not one of my better ideas lol. Another “more error than trial”.

Edited June 7, 2023 by popmom

[Faith-manor]

16 minutes ago, popmom said:

I’m jealous of the snow peas. I love them!

 

Y'all, I am a total sap! I took the dog out for a walk, circled past the bed, and petted the pea pods! I am nuts. But it is the first harvest from my garden, and I am just over the moon. I then went to tell my broccoli plants that they were very good girls, and admonished a couple of saggy tomato plants - very green, but somehow not winding around their tomato cages and holding themselves up.

Stupid tomatoes. Buck up, jerks! Sigh. I need to go use some string and tie them up. But the air quality is so bad. We are 3 miles inside the official warning of "bad for sensitive groups" and then it goes to "bad for everyone". I am having constant headaches, runny noses, and watery eyes. The air purifier conked out. Chances are Mark can figure out why when he gets home. But right now, it is not an option for me to go work in the garden. By the time I got back inside with Lewis, I was not feeling good. I think that I may put down a pee pad for him this afternoon and give him permission to use it. The air can't be good for him either. Supposedly, it is supposed to improve a lot tonight so I am going to wait until dusk to try to work with those disobedient tomatoes.

[prairiewindmomma]

If you get a chance, run a sprinkler over their leaves. They get clogged with the crap also. Ours always bounce back once they are back to good sunshine, but it’s not unusual for them to be a little stressed during smoke events.

[Faith-manor]

3 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

If you get a chance, run a sprinkler over their leaves. They get clogged with the crap also. Ours always bounce back once they are back to good sunshine, but it’s not unusual for them to be a little stressed during smoke events.

Oh, thanks! I had no idea. They don't need to be watered, but I could have Mark put our outside hose on mist, and just use that for a rinse without overwatering them.

[Loowit]

My tomatoes aren't doing as well as I would like.  They are growing, but one while one has put on some flowers, it has yet to have any fruit.  The other hasn't flowered at all yet.  My pumpkins are growing about as expected.  Volunteer #1 is really growing fast now, and a second one popped up a couple weeks ago and is growing.  I will need to transplant it to a different spot though because it is too close to another plant.  I am looking forward to seeing what types of pumpkins they are.

My roses are doing well.  I gave them all a good prune in early May and they are now putting on some buds.  A few have started to bloom nicely.  The ones I transplanted are taking to their new homes and seem a lot happier and all of them have at least a few buds that should open in the next few weeks.

The blueberries put on a lot of berries this year, which I was happy to see.  I had to prune them back a lot and was afraid we wouldn't see much out of them this year.

We still have a lot of yard work to get done.  We cut down the tree that was causing the most problems with large limbs breaking off, but now we have large piles of tree we need to deal with.

 

[popmom]

I love to see everyone’s pics! 
 

@Faith-manor that smoke is worrisome. I hope y’all will be okay. I just checked the map, and it looks like it’s over north Alabama, too. I wasn’t expecting to see that. 

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, popmom said:

I love to see everyone’s pics! 
 

@Faith-manor that smoke is worrisome. I hope y’all will be okay. I just checked the map, and it looks like it’s over north Alabama, too. I wasn’t expecting to see that. 

My son in law has asthma, so I worry about him. They put an air purifier in his office, and have the air on so hopefully staying inside will work for him.

[Faith-manor]

Here are a few photos of my garden. Not everything. But, the air quality even with a mask, is still not great for me to be out in, so I made it quick. I also took photos of baby apples, and of my rose. But the problem photos of the blueberry bushes were terrible, and I forgot to take a pic of the black caps and the carrots. At any rate, I am most proud of Herbert and Henrietta, my home grown cucumber and his purchased friend. Twin bell peppers, Clement and Clarissa are getting up there, but their evil step sisters, Drizella and Ursula, seem to refuse to grow or do anything, the little twits!

I have a tray of basil leaves in the dehydrator today which is making me feel contented. that stuff smells so good!

I need to use the edge mower around all the beds. But we are on a red flag warning not just for air, but wildfires. It is so dry. No one is to use any machines be outdoors that could potentially cause a spark. We were supposed to grill steaks  for our 35th anniversary this weekend, but there is a grill and fire ring ban as well. It is absolutely necessary no complaints. We just need to figure out something else.

The green bean seeds, replacements or the plants that were killed in the frost, have not sprouted yet. They have been in the ground about a week, and of course we have had this horrible ash air. I am concerned they might not sprout. I am keeping them moist, lightly watering each evening. No rain since May 7, but fingers crossed, some is coming on Sunday.

[popmom]

I picked a few more berries. A few green beans—enough for a couple of servings. I have two Better Boy tomatoes are ripening, so that’s exciting. We also have had no rain. I’m still watering every day. 
 

I can’t stay out long either. The smoke is here. My asthma is flaring, so I’m back on my steroid inhaler. I’ve just felt overall crummy the past couple of days. 

[Faith-manor]

We have a 70% chance of rain Sunday. I am excited for everyone but my tomatoes. That darned soil is still retaining so much soil. I can't tell if it is the clay content or the hugelkulture because we have the first 15" filled with rotting logs and sticks, then with leaves. I am very worried that the green wilted "I have too much water so I can't stand up straight" Amish Paste are going to just fall over and self harm. Sigh. Dumb things. I can't make them happy for anything. Does anyone think we should take a stick and poke drainage holes all the way down to the logs so the water has somewhere to go? Stick a few pieces of half inch pvc pipe in there poked in to soil level so there are some drainage tubes? I am worried about these things. The cherry tomatoes are happy campers. They have no cares in the world, and seem to be like the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of tomatoes. But not the Amish Paste. I have been letting that bed dry out for so long, and still.....I am beginning to hate the water meter.

Thoughts?

[popmom]

45 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

We have a 70% chance of rain Sunday. I am excited for everyone but my tomatoes. That darned soil is still retaining so much soil. I can't tell if it is the clay content or the hugelkulture because we have the first 15" filled with rotting logs and sticks, then with leaves. I am very worried that the green wilted "I have too much water so I can't stand up straight" Amish Paste are going to just fall over and self harm. Sigh. Dumb things. I can't make them happy for anything. Does anyone think we should take a stick and poke drainage holes all the way down to the logs so the water has somewhere to go? Stick a few pieces of half inch pvc pipe in there poked in to soil level so there are some drainage tubes? I am worried about these things. The cherry tomatoes are happy campers. They have no cares in the world, and seem to be like the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of tomatoes. But not the Amish Paste. I have been letting that bed dry out for so long, and still.....I am beginning to hate the water meter.

Thoughts?

hmmmm...

I would definitely want to try something like that. So does water run off of that saturated soil? So if you put pvc in, you could divert water to it?

What if you poked holes in that clay and filled it in with perlite or vermiculite? Or even tiny gravel? Not sure that would accomplish much. 

Otherwise you could tarp the whole bed and just don't let the rain in. Something like this??? I can't remember how big those beds are.

Edited June 9, 2023 by popmom

[prairiewindmomma]

We are in the blush of early summer. My roses, rosemary, lavender and grape vine are especially happy. I am pinching my kitchen herbs planted outside regularly, and my hydrangea have set their flower pods. The hydrangea I have been trying to kill for five years apparently left some hidden root structures some feet away, and I am going to let it be and let it flower but keep it very small. My baby apple trees are putting out too long of branches. The basic structure is fine but I will need to rebalance the tree next winter.

Dh un helpfully mulched over my seedlings when I was laid up the last week and only three of my watermelon plants survived. Literally everything else is dead if it wasn’t already several inches tall. I have very mixed feelings about that but it is what it is and his mistake may be for the best given how mobile I am at the moment. 

[cjzimmer1]

22 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

We have a 70% chance of rain Sunday. I am excited for everyone but my tomatoes. That darned soil is still retaining so much soil. I can't tell if it is the clay content or the hugelkulture because we have the first 15" filled with rotting logs and sticks, then with leaves. I am very worried that the green wilted "I have too much water so I can't stand up straight" Amish Paste are going to just fall over and self harm. Sigh. Dumb things. I can't make them happy for anything. Does anyone think we should take a stick and poke drainage holes all the way down to the logs so the water has somewhere to go? Stick a few pieces of half inch pvc pipe in there poked in to soil level so there are some drainage tubes? I am worried about these things. The cherry tomatoes are happy campers. They have no cares in the world, and seem to be like the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of tomatoes. But not the Amish Paste. I have been letting that bed dry out for so long, and still.....I am beginning to hate the water meter.

Thoughts?

Amish paste look like that even when they are happy.  We know to never use an Amish paste as a visual of does stuff need water because they always look like that.  

[Faith-manor]

21 hours ago, popmom said:

hmmmm...

I would definitely want to try something like that. So does water run off of that saturated soil? So if you put pvc in, you could divert water to it?

What if you poked holes in that clay and filled it in with perlite or vermiculite? Or even tiny gravel? Not sure that would accomplish much. 

Otherwise you could tarp the whole bed and just don't let the rain in. Something like this??? I can't remember how big those beds are.

We have opted to create structure and tarp the beds. It is all ready to fix and we will cover it before bed, and then uncover tomorrow after the storm clears.

We have 8 more baby snow pea pods, and a bunch if blossoms. Those peas are my happy plants, and I appreciate them so much.

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Amish paste look like that even when they are happy.  We know to never use an Amish paste as a visual of does stuff need water because they always look like that.  

Oh good grief! Now I just want to yell at them a lot! They are going to be the death of my gardening experience.

The water meter still says there is excess moisture. Not as bad. It was 84°F today and sunny so it used some of it up. But since the meter still seems to indicate that they can't handle the soaking that is coming tomorrow, we rigged some structure around them, and will put tarps over before bed time and tie down, then uncover as soon as the storm has passed.

[Faith-manor]

Also, my Amish paste have scolliosis. Sigh. I have caged and staked them, and they still insist on sagging like toddlers refusing to go to bed at night. Is this normal? I am seriously questioning my sanity in growing the dumb things. My mom thought she was buying Amish Paste but accidentally grabbed Early Girl, and darn it, those things look magnificent. I want to shame my tomatoes, "Look at this photo! Look at it! Why can't you be more like your sister?" They are making me bonkers. Everything else is really coming along, and my cherry tomatoes are making babies. But these stupid paste tomatoes.....

[popmom]

I watered today but that’s it. Officially in some sort of full blown autoimmune flare. Most of today I’ve been in bed—my body feels like a piece of lead. At least I can hold my phone at the moment. I’ll take it. 🙂

 

[Sneezyone]

3 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Also, my Amish paste have scolliosis. Sigh. I have caged and staked them, and they still insist on sagging like toddlers refusing to go to bed at night. Is this normal? I am seriously questioning my sanity in growing the dumb things. My mom thought she was buying Amish Paste but accidentally grabbed Early Girl, and darn it, those things look magnificent. I want to shame my tomatoes, "Look at this photo! Look at it! Why can't you be more like your sister?" They are making me bonkers. Everything else is really coming along, and my cherry tomatoes are making babies. But these stupid paste tomatoes.....

This is normal. My San Marzanos and Martino’s Roma have the same growth habit. The branches grow out then down and sometimes curl in

[Faith-manor]

25 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

This is normal. My San Marzanos and Martino’s Roma have the same growth habit. The branches grow out then down and sometimes curl in

I swear these things are conspiring against me!!! Thanks for the info.

[prairiewindmomma]

3 hours ago, popmom said:

I watered today but that’s it. Officially in some sort of full blown autoimmune flare. Most of today I’ve been in bed—my body feels like a piece of lead. At least I can hold my phone at the moment. I’ll take it. 🙂

 

Me too. If you haven’t watched Love Village on Netflix, it’s very sweet and entirely G rated and everyone is respectful…very unlike other reality matchmaking shows.

[fairfarmhand]

Late to the party but I’m here.

tons of blueberries ready to pick. 
dry dry dry here but hoping for lots of rain tomorrow.

tomatoes look good. Just flowers though not fruit yet. Corn looks good despite the dry. Cukes doing ok. Beans are meh this year. 

[Rosie_0801]

I've planted out a fragrant saltbush, a something that was labelled as ruby saltbush but isn't and one of my culinary lavenders. I hope the not-ruby-saltbush is something edible and doesn't want to grow too large...

[Faith-manor]

13 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I've planted out a fragrant saltbush, a something that was labelled as ruby saltbush but isn't and one of my culinary lavenders. I hope the not-ruby-saltbush is something edible and doesn't want to grow too large...

Sounds lovely.

[Lady Florida.]

I pulled the broccoli. I knew when I planted it that it was probably too late and now the daily 90+ temperatures are here to stay. The zucchini didn't do well either so I pulled it too. Carrots are still growing, and I harvested the last of the potatoes. The only other edibles I currently have are heat tolerant herbs - basil, rosemary, and green onions.

My plumeria is finally blooming. Two years ago I bought three from Facebook Marketplace. Two died but the one kept hanging on with just one or two leaves. I almost gave up on it a few times but am glad I didn't.

My front garden is coming along. I have a bunch of monarch caterpillars and it looks like I'll need more milkweed. My other native plants are doing well. I made a pollinator pot and put a few more plants the ground. I have a Cavendish banana tree in a pot that's looking pretty good but the Meyer lemon (also in a pot) doesn't seem healthy. I need to try and diagnose the problem. I was so looking forward to Meyer lemons so I want to keep it growing.

I cleaned out my attachments so hopefully I can add a few photos in my next post.

 

On 6/4/2023 at 10:25 PM, ikslo said:

 

 I’m happy rainy season is upon us. I have more pots than last year though. Which means if we get a hurricane headed our way, I will have tons of storm prep to move them all. Which I didn’t really factor in when I was potting my gazillion tomatoes.

Need to get some fertilizer for the tomatoes. I didn’t feel like going to the store this weekend. Maybe I’ll swing by tomorrow. 

 

Yes, I'm glad the rainy season is here and I don't have to water so much. What kind of tomatoes are you growing? My Everglades tomatoes got powdery mildew and then I let it go too long. I'm going to have to try again. The tomatoes we got before it died were so flavorful. 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[Lady Florida.]

The banana tree looks good. The sad looking plant to the right is the Meyer lemon. I have two hibiscus bushes - the pink one is a dwarf. The double bloom is in honor of my mom. She had the same color double bloom on the side of the house where I grew up.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[Lady Florida.]

The one plumeria that survived is pink. I didn't remember which was which and hoped it was the yellow one, but I can't complain.

 

[Faith-manor]

56 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

The banana tree looks good. The sad looking plant to the right is the Meyer lemon. I have two hibiscus bushes - the pink one is a dwarf. The double bloom is in honor of my mom. She had the same color double bloom on the side of the house where I grew up.

Gorgeous! Love these flowers!

[Faith-manor]

55 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

The one plumeria that survived is pink. I didn't remember which was which and hoped it was the yellow one, but I can't complain.

 

What a beautiful color!!!

[Faith-manor]

Okay so after getting everyone's hopes up that significant rain was coming, and that thunderstorms and high wind were going to be a thing, the hourly forecast is nothing but cumulative 1/4" ,nothing but drizzle, perfectly still. I swear our local meteorologist have been partying on weed for weeks now, and just playing us! We decided that drizzle and a 1/4" is not enough to hurt those tomatoes since the top inch of soil is bone dry anyway. We also decided that since there is not going to be any high wind, it was better for them to have the uva rays, and the exposure than to be in the dark all day. Everything has been uncovered. And low and behold, those stupid Amish Paste idiots almost ALL have blossoms that weren't there yesterday. I just can't with these plants. I swear they have meetings about me, and what they are doing is plotting against my mental health as retribution for my years as a serial plant killer. Sigh. I think maybe I need to just stop worrying about these mean spirited tomatoes.

What was super fun to see was that in the night, 8 green bean plants popped up out of the soil.

Also, I have a carrot coming up in the cucumber bed, and a radish near the peppers. The only thing I can think of is that a bird or two carried these seeds and dropped them. I don't know how else they got into a completely different bed. Happily, a whole row of scallions have sprouted. I am feeling optimistic about the garden for the moment. I did pick two blossoms of Henrietta and Herbert. I love their tenacity, but they still are not big enough to support fruit so I am concerned about letting them give me cukes yet. I have however decided that the stubbornly tiny chili pepper plants who produce blossoms every single day instead of growing simply refuse to cooperate. I can deal with Henrietta and Herbert because whenever I pinch blossoms, like good children's they grow and spread a little. The chili peppers are just flipping me  proverbial middle finger, and I am done. I am going to end up with such small chili peppers that I will probably need a magnifying glass to harvest them. How I will get the seeds out, I do not know.

But, despite my angst, I am finding myself feeling very happy puttering about with my plants, and eternally grateful that they chose to give me a chance instead of committing self harm because of the botanical rumors about me. 😁

We already have expansion plans for fall. Mark has a line on another stack of 24 free pallets, and is going to make two more 3'x13' beds, and a couple 2'x4'. We want to fill them with soil and compost this fall, add some other soil amendments, and cover with tarps to hold the heat in with the hopes the leaf litter and grass clippings compost nicely through the winter. He is also going to add two more green bean beds in the double stacked pallets which should bring my potential number of green bean plants to 80. I am going to grow even more broccoli, and try my hand at Brussels sprouts, plus a lot more celery. We use these four green vegetables A LOT. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I wonder if the Amish Paste just needed a bit of heat. Are your daytime temps consistently in the 80s? It’s something we struggle with here. Tomatoes are harder to grow this far north compared to when we lived closer to the equator.

[ikslo]

2 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

[…] the Meyer lemon (also in a pot) doesn't seem healthy. I need to try and diagnose the problem. I was so looking forward to Meyer lemons so I want to keep it growing.

[…]
Yes, I'm glad the rainy season is here and I don't have to water so much. What kind of tomatoes are you growing? My Everglades tomatoes got powdery mildew and then I let it go too long. I'm going to have to try again. The tomatoes we got before it died were so flavorful. 

 

Have you tried copper fungicide for your citrus? I dose mine a few times per year.

We’re growing Everglades, Romas, and San Marzano. Mites or something was getting some of my Everglades, but I sprayed Neem and tossed a bit of fertilizer their way and they seem to be maybe recovering. I still have done that need pots though so if they don’t come pack I will pull them and pot the backups. We’ve had a steady crop. The determinates are almost done, but I have seedlings to replace them with when I harvest the last of those.

[ikslo]

2 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

The sad looking plant to the right is the Meyer lemon. 

I think the lemon looks fine!

[ikslo]

I attempted some gardening this morning, but now it is too hot, so I jumped in the pool and am now lounging under the umbrella.
 

Maybe later when there is shade I will start my compost bin that I got free from the county for attending a really informative 🙄 webinar on composting. 

[Lady Florida.]

16 minutes ago, ikslo said:

Have you tried copper fungicide for your citrus? I dose mine a few times per year.

 

I haven't but will give it a try. This is the first time I've actively tried to grow citrus of any kind. Everywhere I lived before already had mature trees when I moved in. All I had to do was pick the fruit when it was ready. 

14 minutes ago, ikslo said:

I think the lemon looks fine!

The leaves don't look so good although I did notice some new growth at the top today.

[ikslo]

Proud of my mango tree. This was planted from seed last spring. It struggled for a bit and I had to cut off some leaves which had gotten some kind of bug/disease, but it totally rebounded this spring and is looking really happy now.

[fairfarmhand]

IT'S RAINING!!!

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I wonder if the Amish Paste just needed a bit of heat. Are your daytime temps consistently in the 80s? It’s something we struggle with here. Tomatoes are harder to grow this far north compared to when we lived closer to the equator.

That could be the issue! We have only had 10 days over 75 degrees since they went into the beds May 7th. This coming week will only be 65-72 degrees. I probably can't expect them to look any better. We tend to start getting hot weather by the end of the month so hopefully there will be improvement.

[SHP]

I have suspected we have snails and today it was confirmed. 

The Japanese beetles are on their way.

 

Help.

[popmom]

On 6/11/2023 at 3:48 PM, fairfarmhand said:

IT'S RAINING!!!

We finally got some, too. And we are forecast to get as much as 5 inches over the next several days. 😬 It’s a good thing though. 

[popmom]

15 minutes ago, SHP said:

I have suspected we have snails and today it was confirmed. 

The Japanese beetles are on their way.

 

Help.

What will you do about the beetles? They are UNBELIEVABLY sneaky!! Every day when I check my beans, I look for them. I take a cup to knock them off, but I’ve yet to get a single one!! I’ll see them—as many as 6 on a single leaf. If I so much as touch the plant, they disappear in a flash. It’s just insane. This is my first rodeo with Japanese Beetles. My beans are surviving so far…

 

I am feeling a bit better as of today. I planted some bush beans.  I have room for more, so I’m soaking more seeds. 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by popmom

[Rosie_0801]

4 minutes ago, popmom said:

What will you do about the beetles? 

Hand held vacuum cleaner.

 

[popmom]

Just now, Rosie_0801 said:

Hand held vacuum cleaner.

 

I’m going to try this. But they are so sneaky…I’ll have to be very stealth in getting the thing plugged in and in place!

[SHP]

32 minutes ago, popmom said:

What will you do about the beetles? They are UNBELIEVABLY sneaky!! Every day when I check my beans, I look for them. I take a cup to knock them off, but I’ve yet to get a single one!! I’ll see them—as many as 6 on a single leaf. If I so much as touch the plant, they disappear in a flash. It’s just insane. This is my first rodeo with Japanese Beetles. My beans are surviving so far…

 

I am feeling a bit better as of today. I planted some bush beans.  I have room for more, so I’m soaking more seeds. 

 

Neem oil worked great last year

[Faith-manor]

6 hours ago, popmom said:

We finally got some, too. And we are forecast to get as much as 5 inches over the next several days. 😬

 About the snails (since I managed to quote the wrong post, sorry SHP!!!!!) I have no idea if this works, but I saw this on a show called, 'Grow, Cook, Eat" out of Ireland. Fun gardening show! Anyway, they dug down into the soil to bury saucers of beer up to the rim. The slugs snails are supposedly very attracted to the beer and climb right in the saucer, get drunk, and drown. Even if they climb out, apparently the ethanol will still kill them. The elderly man to the east of us who keeps a small container garden says he uses a tuna can of beer in each pot and even if there is a little bit of a lip to climb over, the slugs and snails very willingly make the effort. He believes they smell the yeast and "Like frat boys driving past a bar, can't help themselves". 😂

Edited June 14, 2023 by Faith-manor

[Faith-manor]

Also, six more green bran seeds sprouted. I now have 14 green bean plants terminated from seeds I planted, and I am feeling rather accomplished.

I am considering pruning the tomatoes. There are branches on every plant that are so low, the leaves are just laying on the soil. I know that makes them vulnerable to fungus and insects. But, I have no idea how the plant will react to the trauma. Is pruning okay?

[BeachGal]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

Also, six more green bran seeds sprouted. I now have 14 green bean plants terminated from seeds I planted, and I am feeling rather accomplished.

I am considering pruning the tomatoes. There are branches on every plant that are so low, the leaves are just laying on the soil. I know that makes them vulnerable to fungus and insects. But, I have no idea how the plant will react to the trauma. Is pruning okay?

Yes, you can prune those low branches. Back when I grew tomatoes, I would prune when the plant was dry and there was no rain in the forecast, just to be on the safe side.

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

Also, six more green bran seeds sprouted. I now have 14 green bean plants terminated from seeds I planted, and I am feeling rather accomplished.

I am considering pruning the tomatoes. There are branches on every plant that are so low, the leaves are just laying on the soil. I know that makes them vulnerable to fungus and insects. But, I have no idea how the plant will react to the trauma. Is pruning okay?

It's totally fine to prune lower branches as long as their is still enough upper growth to support the plant.  So if your plant is only 6 inches tall, I'd recommend holding off removing leaves but if it's bigger and there is plenty of top growth yes remove lower branches.  My plants are typically 2-3 feet tall when I put them in the ground, I usually remove the bottom 6 inches of leaves or so.  Sometimes higher if there is a particularly droopy branch.  I also cover the soil under the tomatoes with cardboard.  Helps with water retention, weed suppression, and keeps the leaves from making contact with the soil.

[Sneezyone]

JAPANESE BEETLES…I curse thy name! The carnage they’re wreaking on my grapevines and raspberry leaves is unreal. They’re supposed to keep this up for six weeks! Ugh. There go my dolmades…sigh.

We’ve harvested at least eight zucchini so far so that’s cool. We’re grilling four of them this weekend for our family and friends, plus hot banana peppers from the garden. I thought I was gonna get to grill my first eggplant of the year too but, when I cut it off today, I noticed a 1/4” hornworm hole. Now I’m afraid to look inside.

We finally have enough heat for our tomatoes to ripen. We have a ton of ‘em this year and DH is starting to get impatient. It’s our favorite crop, hands down.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Faith-manor]

Sneezy, I called our master gardener at the county office, and he said to take a quart of water, add 3tbs of dish soap, and few drops of neem oil or cedar oil, tea tree will also work just not as well as neem. Mix, put in a spray bottle, and treat plants regularly until the darn evil bastard buggers are gone.