Thursday Yardening
Today is sunny and mild. :D Regrettably I won't have as much time as I want for either yardening or writing, as we have multiple houseguests coming over.
I started by making drain holes in the new large trough and square pots. Closer examination revealed that they all had punchout circles for drainage. Leave those alone and you have a solid potcover; punch them out and you have a pot to plant in. We punched them out. The squares went fine, using a hammer and nail around the edge of the punchline. The trough had ones with a raised X that looked like it was meant to hit. Don't do that. The first one punched out effectively, but the second one created a crack across the bottom of the trough. I reinforced the crack with duct tape inside and out. It will probably shorten the life of that trough a little, but I expect it will still last a while. Chalk it up to a learning experience.
I ran out of potting soil. The original plan was to pot up a four-pack of peppers (in the trough) and a four-pack of cherry tomatoes (in the two squares). After filling the trough I realized I was running low, so I just put the four Cubanelle peppers in there and reassessed. I decided to fill the smaller new trough and I put the Ghost peppers in that. That one also cleverly includes a wire across the middle to discourage it from spreading. So not bad, but now I'm out of potting soil with a ton of things to plant. >_< I shall have to focus on ones that don't require potting soil; the bareroot stuff from earlier in the week needs planting soon anyhow.
Cubanelle is a new variety to us. They are advertised as sweet rather than hot, but the foliage has a harsh peppery smell. I am curious whether 1) the flavor description lies and 2) whether the smell will discourage pests. Last year a hornworm got in my plants and ate some before I found him and smushed him.
Ghost peppers are among the hottest. Well, this ought to be interesting if they actually fruit up. My partner likes the crazy things.
EDIT 5/24/18 -- In subsequent rounds, I planted 4 more privets along the south edge of the south lot, then covered, mulched, and watered them.
I started by making drain holes in the new large trough and square pots. Closer examination revealed that they all had punchout circles for drainage. Leave those alone and you have a solid potcover; punch them out and you have a pot to plant in. We punched them out. The squares went fine, using a hammer and nail around the edge of the punchline. The trough had ones with a raised X that looked like it was meant to hit. Don't do that. The first one punched out effectively, but the second one created a crack across the bottom of the trough. I reinforced the crack with duct tape inside and out. It will probably shorten the life of that trough a little, but I expect it will still last a while. Chalk it up to a learning experience.
I ran out of potting soil. The original plan was to pot up a four-pack of peppers (in the trough) and a four-pack of cherry tomatoes (in the two squares). After filling the trough I realized I was running low, so I just put the four Cubanelle peppers in there and reassessed. I decided to fill the smaller new trough and I put the Ghost peppers in that. That one also cleverly includes a wire across the middle to discourage it from spreading. So not bad, but now I'm out of potting soil with a ton of things to plant. >_< I shall have to focus on ones that don't require potting soil; the bareroot stuff from earlier in the week needs planting soon anyhow.
Cubanelle is a new variety to us. They are advertised as sweet rather than hot, but the foliage has a harsh peppery smell. I am curious whether 1) the flavor description lies and 2) whether the smell will discourage pests. Last year a hornworm got in my plants and ate some before I found him and smushed him.
Ghost peppers are among the hottest. Well, this ought to be interesting if they actually fruit up. My partner likes the crazy things.
EDIT 5/24/18 -- In subsequent rounds, I planted 4 more privets along the south edge of the south lot, then covered, mulched, and watered them.