Learning to grow a garden in the Southern Costal States

[liz stevens]

We moved from Central Indiana to just outside Houston Texas over seven years ago and I'll be darned that I still haven't adjusted to gardening in this climate. We did have to start a new garden spot, and we brought in trailer loads of compost over the past few years, fenced it to keep the rabbits and dear out, things grow in the humidity, boy do they grow, but by the end of June the heat takes over and everything pretty well dies out. If it is not the heat its the birds and bugs, namely stink bugs. This year we took care of the birds, built chicken wire cages to go over our tomato plants in order to do so. Even made little trap doors to reach in and get the tomatoes, but then came the stink bugs. Loved watching the birds dive in and hit the chicken wire. But the bugs ended up taking over again, no matter what I sprayed or did. Any ideas on how to get rid of these? They don't take any chunks out, they just needle into the tomatoes and spoil them. Kind of like putting poison into them.

Then we have an opportunity to do a fall and winter garden, another opportunity that I'm still figuring out. I get the fall tomatoes just about ready to ripen, then we get just that one frost and nails them. We did have very good look with cabbage, lettuce and other cold crops this year, so I'm a gaining. In fact they survived some of the coldest temps that Houston has seen for sometime, and no bugs! It appears the fall and winter gardens here might actually be the way to go. Does anyone else have similar experiences? I would love to have my little spot in Indiana back for my fresh produce.

 

[big brown horse]

I never gardened in the summer when I lived in TX. We lovingly called that the dormant season.

I couldn't do raised beds b/c the soil would get too hot and dry out too fast.

 

[~gd]

Do you get three crops per year in Indiana? I am Central NC so I am not going to be a lot of help. We get our land ready to plant during the thaws in the winter and throw a mulch over it which is usually enough to keep it from freezing each night. When we start to get freeze free nights usually about mid march we start playing with stuff that will germinate in cold soil and plant our cold frames with things to transplant once it warms up. I say playing because we might start out and risk 1/4 of our planting early, wait a week or two depending on the weather, and gamble another 1/4 etc most plan on planting twice as much as they want and if we have a good year we claim to have planted a row for the Lord and donate to those that don't have land for gardens. If the Lord claims his share by sending bad weather...Thats life! June and July it gets HOT and humid with late afternoon-early eveing Thunderstorms. Just be ready to water if the rains don't come. August you hide in the house and plan what to try to save with water just before dark. If it hasn't been harvested it might just dry up and die, blow away if we get a H'cane that year. The fall is usually very productive if you can get things to germinate, usually plenty of sun and rain and the plants seem to be in a rush to get things done before our mild winter sets in...

 

[Buster]

Have you tried companion planting? There may be some plant out there that repels stink bugs. Some people use Marigolds as a deterrent for some bugs. I tried that once and it worked okay.

I would also look for varieties that work well locally. Something you pick up at Lowes or Home Depot or something isn't likely to be adapted to your region. Ask around for some locally adapted plants.

Seems to me, though, you live in an ideal area for gardening. Plenty of rain, lots of sun, moderate winters. You could probably garden year round once you get these problems figured out.

By the way, I noticed a sudden dearth of wild birds in our back yard when we picked up a couple of big geese.

 

[Lady Henevere]

This year we took care of the birds, built chicken wire cages to go over our tomato plants in order to do so. Even made little trap doors to reach in and get the tomatoes, but then came the stink bugs. Loved watching the birds dive in and hit the chicken wire. But the bugs ended up taking over again, no matter what I sprayed or did. Any ideas on how to get rid of these?

Were the birds going for the tomatoes or the bugs? Birds are usually pretty good for bug control. Perhaps you could take the chicken wire off the top of the cage and let the birds pig out on the stink bugs.

 

[k0xxx]

Having grown gardens in a very similar climate (the New Orleans area), I know what a pain stink bugs can be.

Try a homemade spray of nicotine and soap. Get some tobacco, and let it steep in a gallon of water for a day or two. Then strain it, and add a small amount of dish washing soap. It's pretty effective on them.

DE will also kill them and is more "organic" friendly, but it takes longer.

As for the heat taking a toll on the garden, we just planted our least heat tolerant plants early, as well as other things that thrived in the heat. Okra, eggplants, and such, will produce all through the hottest months. Then in late summer we replanted tomatoes.

The nice thing about the NOLA area is that you can effectively get up to three plantings, plus a fall garden if you time it right.

 

[2dream]

Sounds like my Mississippi climate is a lot like your Texas climate.
Right now I don't have any advice either. The last few years have been crazy and things that have always done well are going belly up in the heat this year. Last year was floods first then no rain at all with unbearable heat. So far this year its just been no rain and unbearable heat.
We have always had an over abundance of tomatos. This year we almost had none. My green beans did not even make and I always have green beans.
So I guess I am going to have to do like you. Trial and error. We always have a fall planting of cool weather crops but that did not work out to well last year either due to the extended hot summer.

 

[PunkinPeep]

If you can get your hands on this book, you will find it to be priceless.

Year Round Vegetables Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston, A Natural Organic Approach Using Ecology, by Bob Randall, Ph.D., Executive Director Urban Harvest

ISBN # 0-9705207-0-0

The edition i have is about ten years old, so i imagine there's a newer one available.

If you can't find it anywhere else, you can probably get it from Nature's Way in Conroe.

http://www.natureswayresources.com/

Or from another Urban Harvest associate

http://www.urbanharvest.org/about/yearroundveg.html

He tells you exactly which varieties of which vegetables to plant in which weeks of the year and what to plant them with for optimum output in our area. He talks about pest control, local resources, and almost anything you can think of. In my opinion, it's totally worth whatever you have to pay for it.

When it comes to stink bugs, he actually talks about it in several places in his book, but here's one portion of what he says:

Leaf-footed stinkbugs have small red offspring that look very much like beneficial assassin bugs. Juvenile leaf-foots have a large flat upper rear leg. In March or April, if you find a group of small red bugs on tomatoes or blackberries, especially with a large leaf-footed stink bug, you should probably assume they are juvenile stink bugs and kill them. By doing this you may save yourself many months of problems. If they are on any other plant (such as beans) and found alone, they are probably assassin bugs and should be helped. Always kill every stink bug you see. I grab them with my fingers and squash them under foot. If you kill all stinkbugs, you will eventually have almost none.

If you have too many stinkbugs at the moment, pick the tomatoes when they first color slightly. In taste tests, it has been found that tomatoes ripened indoors in good temperatures out of the shade and away from roaches, taste just as good, and often have less insect and rot problems. This will also fight bird damage.

I hope this is a little bit helpful to you. :/

 

[liz stevens]

Yes, thanks so much.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Yes, thanks so much.

You're welcome.