Bug Protection For Newly Sprouted Seedlings

Today I want to show you what I came up with for keeping the bugs -- whatever they may be; I haven't actually caught them at it -- from chewing up newly emerging seedlings.  I had this trouble last year, and never did get any cucumber plants to grow because of it.  I think I planted four different times with the same results, no cucumber plants!  The thing is, once the plant gets past that first critical stage of getting the second to third set of true leaves the bugs usually leave them alone for some reason, and if there are a few bites taken out the plant seems to survive and continue to grow.  I play it safe and leave these contraptions on until the plant grows enough to reach the opening at the top. 

What You Will Need:

• Institution-size food cans.  In our area the local pizza parlor leaves them at their back door and are free for the taking
• Milk jugs, one gallon size
• Pair of old scissors  (I think the plastic would ruin a good pair, but use your own judgement)

What You Will Do:

Remove the bottom of the can.  The top will already have been removed from whoever you got it from, of course, and it will most likely be clean.  You end up with a short fat tube, open on both ends.  Place this tube around your newly planted seed, and push it down into the soil an inch or two. .  OR plant the seed let it sprout, then plan on covering it.  Either way works.

Next take a milk jug and poke holes in it around the top and sides (a screwdriver heated over the flame on your kitchen stove works great). Remove the bottom of the milk jug so you are left with the top, straight sides, and no bottom. Now, using those old scissors again, cut a slit at two or more of the corners of the jug so it will fit over the outside of the can.  It needs to be snug enough so the wind or watering will not knock it off, so don't cut too deep at first go.  Take your time and keep checking the fit until you get it just right.

Do NOT leave the cap on. You want to give your seedlings protection, but they will need good air flow, too. If you leave the cap on you will cook your little plants when they sprout.  Take the milk jug portion back off and water your newly planted seed thoroughly.  Check on it every few days to make sure it doesn't dry out. 

Leave this contraption on your plants until the seed has sprouted and grown large enough that the can/jug combo becomes too small, and you see the plant will soon be growing out of the top. By the time the plants are filling up your can/jug they should be past that tasty stage the bugs like so well and they can be removed. 

It isn't pretty, but it works very well. 

The plant on the right grew up in the can/jug contraption.  You will need to look closely, but there's a plant on the left that was on its own.  Quite a difference!!!   Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.

Indian summer

Good morning!  Or afternoon ----- I am a little late posting this week, and I know I missed last Monday altogether; it has been very busy around here.  The plan this morning was to grab a cup of coffee and sit outside to watch the sun rise.  That was the plan anyway, until I actually went outside.  COLD!!!  I came back in to check the temp and it read 34 degrees!!!!  This caught me by surprise as I have not been monitoring the weather reports; but it is, after all, September.  Keeping an eye on weather predictions will have to become routine now in order to cover everything in the garden on that one killer night we usually get.  It will extend our harvest by quite a bit.  Seems like most years we get one good freeze that kills everything and then it warms back up. So I am still hoping for an Indian summer because I am so not ready for winter. Fall is such a beautiful time of the year and I love it, but this year I am yearning for as much summer as possible.  I looked up the meaning of Indian summer and it was explained as 

1.A period of mild weather occurring in late autumn.  (YEAH!!!!!)

2.A pleasant, tranquil, or flourishing period occurring near the end of something: the Indian summer of the administration   (ooooooh, this begs for a comment, but I will refrain :-)   
 
I froze corn and canned some "Dilly" beans (pickled green beans) yesterday.  The previous week I picked jalapeno peppers and bells and got them sliced or diced and frozen.  Wood stacked, lawns mowed. Scurrying around like a squirrel getting ready for winter.  I am beginning to ramble so I will leave you with this picture of some of the produce from my veggie patch.  Have a fabulous week!!!!
 

Tomatoes ----Yes!

Hello there!  So glad you stopped by Two Dogs today because I am about to burst with news.  You will think I am getting feeble minded when I tell you that news, but that's OK.  I'm smiling from ear to ear and please remember:  Only crazy, whacked out people smile all the time!  Uh huh! :-)    So what's this fabulous news?  Remember those tomato plants I put in the ground in MARCH?  Planted in-ground and covered with a Wall-o-waters?  These plants endured numerous hard freezes for several days at a time, some nice days, some downpours of rain, hail --- the whole gamut -- but mostly too-cold-for-a-garden-to-grow weather.  After all that, June finally arrived, and the weather seemed to settle down, although we did have a cold night or two beyond our supposedly frost-free date.  Those tomato plants survived although a couple of them looked pretty rugged.  The hot/cold seesaw didn't do them any favors and I had to remove a few branches that were pretty much done for.  BUT ------ almost to a plant, there are tomatoes already setting on those vines.  They aren't big, but they are there and the plants are covered with lots of blossoms.  I even have ripe tomatoes on two of them!  It is unbelievable and I just had to take a picture to show you. 

Ignore those lurking weeds!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Garden party.........

It's not exactly the party you are thinking of, but it is definitely a party in my garden. A planting party. It's cold here in the mountains of northern California and our growing season is pretty short, especially when it comes to tomatoes and melons ---- actually there are only a few plants that are not frost tender this time of year. I planted my peas last week, and they should be fine as will the rhubarb plant. I also put in 1 tomato plant and used one of those wall-o-water thingys around it to keep the plant warm at night where it is still getting into the low 20s. I have used these W-O-Ws before and they work very well. Now pepper plants are also very tender but I wanted to see if I could get one planted this early and have it survive. I paid a buck for a small bell pepper plant in a peat pot and put it in the ground at the same time as my tomato plant. In addition to the wall-o-water, I used a plastic milk jug with the bottom cut off and no cap. The order is: pepper plant, milk jug, wall-o-water. My thoughts are that you should use plants in peat pots so you can plant pot and all. This will prevent shock. So far my little pepper plant has survived and thrived. I am thrilled with the results. We had a storm come through this past weekend so I am anxious to see what happens when the night time temps drop even lower, possibly into the teens as it usually does after a storm. If all is well I will be planting my entire garden this coming Saturday ----- a full 2 months before normal planting time in our area. Wouldn't it be wondeful if this works?  I will keep you posted on the results!  Thanks for stopping by.