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Post by daylilydude on Oct 4, 2017 3:55:26 GMT -5
Do you like having winter weather so you have a break from gardening.... or would you rather garden all year long?
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janr
Junior Member
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Posts: 31
Joined: July 2015
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Post by janr on Oct 4, 2017 7:34:52 GMT -5
Our growing season is so short. I would love to be able to garden all year. Just because you can, doesn't meant that you have to. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/3247375/images/AgR8NN4iidU1wy_OcyQm.png)
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Post by paulf on Oct 4, 2017 7:50:36 GMT -5
I hate winter weather, but I would still take a break. The need is there to stop, reflect on the season, assess the successes and failures and plan for the next season. And rest up. As it is there is no choice for us to escape winter except for short visits to Florida.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 4, 2017 9:16:01 GMT -5
I do need a break from this! It seems like a great thing, to be able to garden year-round, but then I wouldn't have the incredible enjoyment that I get from that first ripe tomato every year, or some of those dishes that I can only make when some of those summer veggies are available, when I make them the first time every year. Some herbs I grow year round, since I simply can't be without them, but even if I could grow tomatoes indoors, I probably wouldn't, due to the reasons noted before.
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Post by september on Oct 4, 2017 9:58:07 GMT -5
I really enjoy the break from gardening, just wish our spring came a month earlier so that some of the long season crops would not have to squeak in under the frost wire. I've tried winter window sill gardening with tomatoes and peppers in my south facing bay window. The tomatoes all eventually get white mildew, and if the peppers are brought in from outside, they ALWAYS carry aphids into the house which end up spreading to house plants and then to my spring seedlings. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but I am eyeing a very petite and perfect serrano pepper plant now in the ground, that is just begging to be brought inside. I never see any aphids on these outdoor plants, and they get a long dunk and swish in a soapy tub with every leaf and stem submerged. Still, in about a month aphids appear from ![???](//storage.proboards.com/3247375/images/11qV_BRY4HbBOBB4teSL.png) ?
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Post by meandtk on Oct 4, 2017 13:18:20 GMT -5
Winter weather here is so short that it only slows down gardening. The temps so seldom drop below 25*f , so greens easily over winter. I plant corn and taters in mid February. I like that.n'Tis better to take a break in July.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 4, 2017 15:07:21 GMT -5
september I know what you mean about the bugs coming in on plants brought in from outside. I don't bother bringing peppers in (I have enough frozen and dried to last most people a lifetime! lol), but I have 3 things that I have to bring in - my kaffir lime trees, curry tree, and bay laurel. The curry and limes seem to get scale eventually, and I fugure that it has to come out of the soil. So, when repotting them this year, I put a bunch of diatomaceous earth into the mix, and stirred a bunch into the surface area, to see if this would work. Aphids, OTOH, I believe appear by spontaneous generation, and there is no stopping them. lol
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Post by ladymarmalade on Oct 4, 2017 17:17:59 GMT -5
I hate winter. I would love to have a longer gardening season, but I don't want the trades offs that go with the longer season- the bigger bugs, poisonous snakes, regular ice storms that knock out power for days, etc.
However, I do need the break because when the gardening gloves come off for the season, the sewing machine comes out and my work space is converted into a sewing room for our dance studio. I live in such a small space that I cannot preserve the harvest AND have my sewing machine out at the same time. So it works for me, and I trade one hobby for the other. Usually about the time I'm finished tweaking costumes for the year, the seeds are beckoning to be started
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Post by september on Oct 5, 2017 9:43:12 GMT -5
september I know what you mean about the bugs coming in on plants brought in from outside. I don't bother bringing peppers in (I have enough frozen and dried to last most people a lifetime! lol), but I have 3 things that I have to bring in - my kaffir lime trees, curry tree, and bay laurel. The curry and limes seem to get scale eventually, and I fugure that it has to come out of the soil. So, when repotting them this year, I put a bunch of diatomaceous earth into the mix, and stirred a bunch into the surface area, to see if this would work. Aphids, OTOH, I believe appear by spontaneous generation, and there is no stopping them. lol Dang scale is about as hard to get rid of as aphids, but at least it tends to stay on the same plant! I've battled scale on my potted lemon, lime and orange trees for years. When bringing them in for the winter, I wash all leaves and stems with a soapy solution, rubbing off all visible "clam shells" and a finishing hard spray with a hose. Then I keep checking them at least once a week and remove any missed ones with a Q-tip and alcohol, or just flick off the white immature ones with a toothpick. You have to keep at it and not let them get to the brown stage when they release the micro babies. By the end of the winter they look free of visible scale, but I don't have time to monitor them outside during the summer, so I see they are once again full of brown scale shells. Dang aphids come riding in on my potted bougainvillea and fuchsias too. I've learned to severely cut them back to bare stems and remove some of the top soil layer when bringing in. Never did put the bougainvillea outside this year. I'm getting kind of tired of removing those wicked thorns anyway, so may just dump it once and for all. I will be interested to hear if your diatomaceous earth worked.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Oct 5, 2017 9:58:23 GMT -5
I like the winter gardening. It's a lot more relaxed in pace since the plants grow more slowly in the short days and cool to cold nights. Also, there are usually plenty of mild or cool sunny days that are great for getting big projects done (tree trimming, digging beds, etc,) without being miserable in the heat.
It's July and August that are rough here. While I don't completely take a break from gardening in those months, I tend to do the bare minimum because it's so miserable outside. I definitely understand why many South Florida gardeners just don't even bother during those months!
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Post by ladymarmalade on Oct 5, 2017 9:58:45 GMT -5
I really enjoy the break from gardening, just wish our spring came a month earlier so that some of the long season crops would not have to squeak in under the frost wire. I've tried winter window sill gardening with tomatoes and peppers in my south facing bay window. The tomatoes all eventually get white mildew, and if the peppers are brought in from outside, they ALWAYS carry aphids into the house which end up spreading to house plants and then to my spring seedlings. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but I am eyeing a very petite and perfect serrano pepper plant now in the ground, that is just begging to be brought inside. I never see any aphids on these outdoor plants, and they get a long dunk and swish in a soapy tub with every leaf and stem submerged. Still, in about a month aphids appear from ![???](//storage.proboards.com/3247375/images/11qV_BRY4HbBOBB4teSL.png) ? Hah! I am reminded that last year I brought in a Black Pearl pepper plant because it was so pretty. I trimmed it down real good- even the roots got a hair cut- and I washed it and planted it in fresh soil. Things were going well all winter until it was almost spring and all the sudden it was LOADED with baby spiders. That thing went outside so fast! This year my pepper plants aren't looking as tempting to me. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/3247375/images/uJ3wHzVudwy0q4vAqilQ.png)
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