This is what one of the beds looked like from about early May to late June. Most of what you're seeing there is lemon cucumber vines and tigger melon vines. I got a ton of each fruit, but the vines were soon COVERED in aphids. Several treatments with organic insecticidal soap didn't solve the problem. By the end of June, all of the netting that's along the left side and the back of this bed was covered in the vines, which in turn were covered in aphids. In a matter of days, my view of lush greenery turned to a mass of sad, dessicated twigs. More on this shortly...
Before I move on to the actual work accomplished this weekend, let me take a minute to tell you what else you might see in this picture if you look really closely. There are Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, several varieties of French and African marigolds, some green bean and soybean vines, several herbs, and some pepper plants. Unfortunately, the lemon cukes and the tigger melons enveloped and stunted or killed much of this.
Moving on to the work accomplished this weekend... I decided that the cooler weather (low to mid 90s instead of hovering in the low 100s), I was going to get into the bed picutured above for a major clean up. I also targeted these nearby crape myrtle volunteers.
Another, equally bad picture of the crape myrtle babies that were about to see a nasty end!
I'm all set up here to start pulling the vines off. Actually, over the last several days, I've just been grabbing a handful and yanking, a few at a time, just to try to get the clean up process started and to try to bring an end to the reign of aphids sooner rather than later. Using the insecticidal soap made me sad, because for one, I didn't want to use ANY chemicals, organic or not, on this garden. And for two, it's a product that doesn't discriminate. I probably killed a ton of aphid-eating lady bugs when I applied it. Sorry, Lady Bugs!! Here you can see the dried up vines tangled throughout the netting on the corner-side of the bed. They had been covering it, top to bottom, left to right. The task for today was to pull it out completely and then manage the triage on what remained in the beds.
Here you can see here the masses of weeds that have taken over my aisle ways. I've tried to keep them at bay, to no avail. Eventually there will be pavers here, but until the weather is a little cooler, I'll just have to keep looking at these blasted weeds!! The pile in the middle is the junk I pulled out of one of the two beds I was working on today. This is refuse "other than" the lemon cukes and tigger melons; mostly stuff that was long overdue for cleaning out. A couple of huge icicle radishes (whose seeds I saved and have planted in the kitchen for microgreens!), one or two royal burgundy bean plants that I didn't realise were still alive, some dried up soybean plants...
I've cleared out the dried up cuke/melon vines on the right side here and am working on the rest of the squares in the grid. I need to trim up the marigolds and see what else is worth salvaging.
Just another view of the bed. You can see the cleaned right side. You can also see the congested, overgrown left side of the bed. Both sides had been like this before I started. As previously described, over the last couple of weeks, I had just been pulling this and that, willy-nilly, just to try to get the job done. It was quite hot until very recently!
Here the bed on the right is complete. In the back, right hand corner of this bed is a tomato plant that had been completely hidden by the cuke vines. It doesn't have a single blossom or fruit on it, nor have I seen previous evidence of its fertility. Perhaps now that it will get some sun it will grow. Or maybe it's just an anomoly and isn't going to produce anything. Only time will tell. I've tied it to the netting with old pantyhose. I LOVE old pantyhose for tieing plants. It's so strong, but gives and tends to not pinch or lacerate like other fasteners can. And it repurposes old pantyhose!! The only other hangers on in this bed are 3 marigolds which all got haircuts, and a scraggly sage. You can see that the left side is as yet untouched.
This shows the back of the left side of the bed (thusly, on the right side of the picture). Just for perspective. There is actually quite a lot of still-green vine, but again, the aphids. These vines are hairy and sticky, and this just make the little nasties stick even more steadfastly. Trying to wash them away with a healthy blast of the hose as several websites and other sources suggested was useless. I could almost hear the little sap-suckers laughing at me.
And from the front. I'm thorough, I know, I know.
HOLY SMOKES!! All cleaned up. The left side of the bed had two healthy tomato plants left. A SunGold Cherry Tomato, and another - maybe a tiger tomato. Can't remember now. Also, two exceedingly tiny jalapeno plants were still eeking along under all of that vine-age. They're small, but now they'll get sun, and a little protective shade from the mature tomato. A few marigolds held on as well. There were aphids covering all of the tomatoes, but as they are not nearly as hairy and sticky as the cuke and melon vines, a blast of water really did take them off, as far as my eye could tell. I was amazed. I really thought that piece of advice was hogwash!
From the back. I'll need to redo all of those white markers. For one, all of those plants are now gone. Add to that that the markers are sun-faded and brittle... Plus, I started making cool metal garden stakes earlier this year, so I'll keep going with those. A bit more work, but worth it!
One last look! Ahhhh, sigh of relief!
I trained the cantaloupe vines up the blue fence. They're hairy/sticky, like the cucumbers and tigger melons, so it's easy to wind them together. It's sort of like "hook and loop" tape. But they' aren't quite strong enough to hold the melons up. Sooo... more pantyhose!!
What I harvested today. Some marigolds, rudebeckia, zinnias, 3 kinds of 'maters, and a cantaloupe!
Today was a really lovely day for me. I would like to personally thank the powers that be for giving us this slight break in temperature. It was fantastic to get back into the garden and improve this bed so drastically. I learned a LOT, including but not limited to the following:
- The garden netting I used on the back and left side of this bed (and one other) is MUCH stronger than I ever thought it could be. By the end of the clean-up, I was just yanking fistfuls of vines through the netting, figuring I could always buy another. No need. It sagged a bit, but held fast. Love it!
- A hard jet of water really CAN be useful against aphids. Awesome!
- I now know how to better use the netting. I didn't train my young plants up it enough, and I think that would have made an impact.
- Lemon cukes and tigger melons are much too aggressive to plant in this configuration. I will try them again next year, along the fence. Both fruits are light enough that they won't damage the wire. I would just have to pay attention to how the runners affect the wood so that they don't tear it up. While I do want the cukes, I could do without the tiggers if I had to. They're cute and aromatic and make a nice presentation, but they taste EXACTLY like cantaloupes. For the same energy, I get a much bigger fruit, a much more plentiful crop, and didn't have the aphid problem!
- Knowing that the cukes and melons were the primary reasons that many of my other crops didn't do well is reassuring. I lost several types of peppers, herbs, other 'maters... Now I know and next year will be more fruitful. Literally!
- The soil mix I spent so much money and back-breaking time on was well worth it. The root systems I pulled up were healthy and happy, and while they anchored well, they also pulled out with ease, without tearing up the beds or flinging soil around. I brushed as much as I could back into the bed before bagging the refuse.
It was so good to get back in there. So good!
xoxo
E
