The Frugal Garden: Nematodes #1

 Have you ever had a plant in your garden suddenly start to decline, then die?  Then when you pull up the plant it’s roots are gnarled and bumpy.  You are probably dealing with root knot nematodes.

Nematodes are a tiny worm like creature that can do incredible damage, and are prevalent here in Florida. Fortunately, there are ways to limit the damage they can do.

The first line of defense is solarization.  Several weeks before planting your garden cover the dirt with plastic, weigh it down and leave it.  The sun will kill the nematodes off, but the beneficial worms will just dig deeper and return when you remove the plastic.  In colder climates this has the added benefit of warming the soil and quick starting seed germination.

There is quite a debate on whether to use black plastic or clear plastic.  I use a dark colored tarp that I can use to cover other things in case of a tropical storm.  I’m not sure that the color even matters, so use what you have at hand.

There are two other methods that I use to control nematodes and I will cover them in future posts.

God bless,

Pam

The Frugal Garden: Bits and Bobs

 I wanted to share a few ideas from trying to garden during our ridiculously hot Florida summers.  This year I tried out shade cloth for the first time.  You can buy shade cloth in different strengths; the one I chose was 40% sun protection (like sunscreen).

I purchased some small hoops and placed the shade cloth over a raised garden and over a regular garden row.  It did extend the season by a month for pak choi and bok choi.  The down side is that the cloth kept out pollinators, but the slugs loved the shady environment.

My Seminole pumpkins did well.  I’ve been planting them along fences, shrubs and wherever I can find a bit of space.  Then we do our best to encourage the vines to stay out of high traffic areas, but where there is adequate sun.  When they are ripe they are a buff color and the flavor is strong and sweet.  They are a really good choice for areas that are too hot and humid for regular pumpkins.

Before you move into your down season (summer for me) mulch like your life depends on it.  The mulch protects the garden soil and the beneficial organisms within it.  I prefer straw type mulches, but anything you can obtain can be used.  My area does provide free mulch piles in our county parks, but I won’t use it in my vegetable gardens because I don’t know if they are contaminated with insecticide or, even worse, weed killer.

Hurricane Ian came through south of me.  I only lost a few plants, but some people lost their entire gardens (or worse their homes).  Don’t allow setbacks and losses in the garden discourage you.  Every year every gardener faces failure.  Think of failure as a learning experience and an opportunity to try new things in your garden.  The most successful gardeners look hopefully to the future.

God bless,

Pam