The Desert Gardener will be show you how to grow peppers and tomatoes in a hot dry desert environment. With step by step instructions in real time. Not just advice, but the science behind it and well as dispelling a number on common garden myths.
a new gardener here!! This question has nothing to do with your video here I just have one question: I am having a difficult time getting rid of squash bugs What's a good organic and all natural insecticide that will kill the squash bugs I tried DE, and it helped for awhile, but the squash bugs are back!! HELP!!!
I've never dealt with squash bugs before, but I would suggesting starting by adding beneficial insects like ladybugs, parasitic wasps, and tachinid flies.
Glad to have run across your video about BER, which is a very complex disorder. I don't have room in my small backyard for an in-ground garden, so I only grow in fabric grow bags. I also have some GreenStalk vertical planters to save space. I only grew determinate tomatoes last year, and one variety was Roma tomatoes. I had the worst experience with BER on my Romas. This year, I am only growing indeterminate tomatoes and still have a couple of plants that produce tomatoes with BER. I learned something about nitrogen from you. Have not heard any other YT gardeners but you talk about that. In one garden group I am in, there is a gentleman who is a retired Ph D, Agricultural Research Scientist - Molecular Geneticist & Agronomist and has worked for seed companies many years. He is a home gardener too. We discussed BER. I told him I make my own potting mix from peat moss and include amendments, which one was dolomite lime to cut the acidity of the peat moss. He told me that was a problem that might contribute to BER. He said dolomite lime contains magnesium, which is a metal similar to calcium but has a stronger charge than calcium. It can replace the calcium uptake and cause BER. He suggested using water soluble calcium nitrate. I have been doing that and my tomatoes and bell peppers are doing much better. My weekly water soluble fertilizer is Medina HastaGro plant food, 6-12-6 NPK. I checked the label and the nitrogen is nitrate nitrogen and urea nitrogen. Good to know my fertilizer nitrogen source is ok. Happy gardening! 🙂
I would definitely recommend against planting Roma tomatoes if you are having issue with BER. Cherry and medium sized tomatoes are best. Yep, your friend is giving good advise. I did a potting mix video last year. Basically, compost and potting mix with some perlite and a bit of Azomite. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vqoUELZrrJE.htmlsi=B-__hYlkdUdcx-FD That might be a bit much phosphorus. Try to get a bit closer to a 3,1,2 ratio. I did a video about 2 months ago. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hTaGZZnAgz0.htmlsi=G1jgBMigrtQKTaCU Good luck.
Excellent information! I live in a very hot area near Sacramento, CA and have battled this disorder for years. I've found a decent results with 6" of alfalfa/straw hay mulch around each plant. Also to prevent another disorder, blossom drop, I get them in the ground no later than April 15 so that the fruit can set. Even if it's too hot for the blossoms to produce fruit, at least the earlier ones do well. Then, in late summer/early Fall, I get another round of fruit production because it's cooler. One of these days, I definetly want to get a 30-40% shade cloth.
Hi, neighbor! Where do you source your mulch? I never had this issue before but I moved to a new homestead last year and this is new ground that I broke. I should have added lime when I amended the soil earlier this year, but I never had to before.
I do not think this is a valid experiment if it stopped here. You observed either no at this stage or less tomatoes comparatively. But I've seen a high nitrogen fertilizer vs a more balanced fertilizer result in a very unequal amount of tomatoes despite the earlier observed fruiting stage for the balanced. That observation was such a shocker that I can't forget how the early appearances lied. Flowers and thus tomatoes came on earlier, but overall the results weighed less for those plants at the end of the year. Old school prepper urine vs mg tests is worth a watch and is what I'm referencing. This aspirin test also needs to make it a year imo and the tomato's weight needs to be kept.
Why did you do this in the first place? Snipping off lower limbs and leaves just to make room for more dirt so it rises up the stem makes sense with tomatoes, but what benefit is there for peppers? It doesn't grow more roots in that dirt, as far as I can figure it doesn't protect the stem from anything (to the contrary, I'd say), it does cost you some leaves and it's an additional barrier to get water to the roots. So what's the purpose? Can you tell us why you did it?
Trimming the lower leaves is so they don't rest on the soil. That can introduce soil born diseases. Adding more compost is for the nutrient value. Now that things have settled there is room for more.
@@desertgardener2151 That doesn't make sense to me because the added dirt is along the stem and I wouldn't think it could imbibe nutrition from the new compost without having roots in the new compost. How does that work? But hey, I don't know everything! So I'll mull that over. It raises a new question though. If this works in a pot, why wouldn't it work in a raised bed? But I don't see anybody doing this in a raised bed. What do you think?
I'm doing a few experiments this year with mulch in containers, mulching some, others not. I'm in a very different climate, northern MN, and while we do get hot summer days, I've heard that mulching peppers specifically might not be the best idea because they like the heat and want warm soil. I mulched every container last year and the peppers did okay... time will tell.
Topping or pinching Capsicum is one of those myths that was started from incomplete rumor and just won't die. I would mulch but every time I try it my birds rake it out of the pots the very next day.
Man, you deserve a lot more views than you have here. Your advice is spot on IMO for all the research I have done. Great job and I am subscribing even though I'm from Minnesota.
I sprayed excessive nutrients on my plants for about 3 days straight. Now the plants are more yellow and look unhappy. How do I fix this, please? Thank you
I do yes, but to keep things simple I've been using it on an as needed basis. For example if I see a small plant or one with the bottom leaves yellowing that is a sign of a nitrogen deficiency, so I'll whip up a batch of KNO3. I will be doing a deficiency video soon.
tested here: mosquito bits sprinked sparingly on the soil, and cinnamon sprinkled on top of soil. both work great as preventative and from treatment. The mosquito bits really go a long way, and cinnamon in bulk is not expensive just takes a dusting over the soil
You can always sterilize your fertilizer by baking it an an oven or otherwise heating device. I would suggest to do it outdoors. It stinks to high heaven. When finished you have to inoculate with the good guys though because there is nothing left alive when you’re done!
You didn't mention what by accident I've discovered to be the best preventive measure against fungus gnats--- moving air (i.e. fans, oscillating or otherwise). I have tried twice before to grow tobacco plants from seeds, and both times the plants where completely destroyed by the gnat before I understood what they even were. So I dumped the soil I was using, and used a peat/vermiculite/perlite mixture instead, which I thought was going to be the cure. It has helped, but honestly, I think what is keeping the gnats and all flies away is my re-attempting in a room with a strong overhead household fan, and a small personal fan I have directed over the plants. No gnat, especially fungus gnats which are notoriously bad flyers, is able to penetrate that wall of moving air to even make it to the plants, much less land on them without being blown away by the wind. Of course, if you have a large operation this is not practical but if you have a smaller group of houseplants, even a regular overhead house fan is effective, on the highest setting.
*DO NOT use dish-soap on your plants, it'll 90% KILL your plants!!!* *1-TBL spoon dish soap with 3-TBL vinegar and 24-Ounce water in a container without cover OR cover WITH holes, THIS WORKS REALLY WELL!!!*
Yes they do hurt plants they munch on roots. Yes yellow sticky traps work ghey catch the hell out of them. BTI works perfectly and it only takes a little bit per gallon so ita not that expensive it is $10 for a bunch at Walmart. Youre very one sided and opinionated for someone who is supposed to be experimenting you didnt experiment much or you would know what i am saying is correct. Nice try
Fungus killed ~75 of my sprouts last season. I was quite upset. Shortly after, 20+ young pepper plants were taken out by slugs and snails. I'm also in southern Ca. Thanks for sharing these tips.
I agree with you. All the other natural remedies seem to only drive them to new locations to do more damage. I have 7 traps in my front yard now after gophers completely ate my garden. All my hard work nurturing my plants down the drain. 😭 I tried to coexist, but it’s impossible.
I have had good success with the purchased yellow sticky traps. Making my own with vaseline was all but useless. I've also had success with the boiling water method. I'm sure it kills good microbes also, but mostly I've used it for starting plants that would later be transplanted outside, so I'm not too concerned with having a lot of microbes in the seed-starting soil. Neem oil is probably the best.
