Vegetable Gardening?

Bombi

This is a great way to control many insects and its all natural. We just learned about Entomopahogens and nematodes that target insects. Anyone thinking about gardening really should look into it.

Here are some web sites on them:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05573.html
http://www.scitopics.com/Ecology_of_entomopathogenic_fungi_in_agroecosystems.html
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713655550&db=all
http://www.gardeninsects.com/beneficialNematodes.asp

Hope this helps all

Is the topsy -turvey thing just a planter, upside down?
Works well w/ tomatoes here?
I just can't get the tomoato or sweet pepper thing right...

I call my soil martian mud as it is rust colored clay.

Yup, it's an upside down, hanging planter and does work well with tomatoes and peppers. Long after I'd purchased mine and paid way too much for shipping and handling, I saw them at GBH.

I have peppers growing in one ... not sure what type, something I bought at GBH, and it's been growing for over a year now.

How I grow pineapples:

Cut the top off the pineapple, leaving about a quarter to half inch of the fruit part connected to the top part. Put it outside to dry for a few days (inside brings more fruitflies than ever). After the fleshy part is dried, I've used a couple of different methods that have worked:

#1 - Plant it in soil, as is, covering up to the spiny leaves.

#2 - Remove the dried end parts until you have just healthy spiny leaves and a core looking part. Put this in a glass of water, just covering the 'core part' not covering the spiny leaves. Change the water daily, and when roots appear ... it's time to plant!

I currently have 2 growing in my front flower bed, not getting enough sun, but they're still alive, with no pineapples appearing yet. I expect if I chop back the jungle and give them some light and food, they'll squirt out a pineapple.:-) The pineapple are very pretty when they appear, covered in little purple blooms along the outside. I have pictures of some that I've grown, I'll try to post them somewhere and share them here.

Happy pineapple growing!

~Jill~

Jill, I tried to grow pineapples the same way when I lived in New Orleans. For two years, they never did a thing! What was I missing?! How long did yours take? Did you do anything other than chop off their heads and stick them in the dirt? 🙂

Roadrunner ... they take a long, long time ... seemed like forever and I was so surprised and happy when I noticed one finally growing. Seemed like it took several months before I saw the little growth sprouting from the middle of the plant. I think I also gave it some plant food, that helped. And then it took several more months for that to grow and mature to be edible ... YUMMMMMMM.

~Jill~

Thanks Jill! Can't wait to try it again! There's nothing like fresh pineapple. 🙂

This is great! All the advice is awesome! Nobody has mentioned composting. Is having a compost pile advisable, or does it attract pedes and such? We compost all of our organic material, i.e. left over greens, fruit, leaves, onion skins, and whatever else will break down well. All we ever find in our pile are earth worms. The compost is awesome, and it keeps us from having to buy good soil. Just curious*-)

Yeah the composting is a good thing. It happens quickly in this climate. Just keep your bin away from the house and put some water on it occasionally.

I recently bought this book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580087965/ref=oss_product about gardening, and although I haven't had a chance to use it yet (waiting till I move to STX), it looks very good. There's lots about composting, too.

I've recently been experimenting with a type of composting called "Bokashi"
... I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Some great info on the web if you google and read the wikipedia info on Bokashi composting. I'd paste the link if I wasn't using my phone.

~Jill~

Found this book online also might be helpful!

http://www.amazon.com/Gardening-Caribbean-Iris-Bannochie/dp/0333565738

Have any of you Gardner's tried to grow corn ?

I finally bought parts to make a home-made EarthBox. I'll try it on my deck in Virginia. I wanted to try tomatoes. I'll report back at the end of the season.

Good Afternoon everyone!
I now have another thought/question if I may. I am growing heirloom tomatoes in my garden, and they are doing very well as of now. Where I live currently, we have aphids and horn worms that attack tomatoes. I have found that using lady bugs and praying mantis in my garden works well, as I like to grow organic. Do the Islands have any "friendly" bugs like these? Just curious... Oh, I buy these guys at Home Depot, and turn them out in the evening; that way they don't run off on you.
Thank you all for the great input/links, I sincerely appreciate the advice.

I have seen only a couple of ladybugs here and no praying mantis. Whitefly is the enemy of tomatoes here. Something is wrong with my tomatoes this year but I haven't figured it out. It must be some sort of bug. A friend of mine grew tomatoes this year with that topsy turvy thing that grows them upside down and has had great success.

I have the "Topsy Turvy" thing brand new in the box as we speak, and I pray that I can come down for a PMV prior to July for the teaching job I have applied for. If anyone wants it; you are welcome to it. We can trade for; I don't know, a sandwich maybe? Either way, we are coming in the first/second week of July for a PMV. We are committed and the Islands are gonna be home.

This topic is 3 years old,and I didn't find anything newer, so I'll get this one going again, hopefully.

I am looking to buy a composter ... The tumbler kind. Does anyone have one here ? Any problems with critters, bugs ?
Vegetable / herb gardening here is so different from stateside. I have yet to grow a tomato that tastes like the ones I used to grow in NH.
I'm hoping compost helps. Besides, we have been 'juicing', mostly greens, and I hate throwing away all that pulp.

Any advice, thoughts, ideas ?

I have had great results with a simpler method of composting. I have a large concrete planter that I throw my scraps in. That's it.

I did a base of leaves & twigs, then added earth, both local & bagged. Then I toss everything else in. I don't even need to stir it as everything breaks down so fast. When it rains I scoop off the excess liquid, which also contains the worms, and nourish the plants. Any scrap with a seed grows. It does not smell. And, the planter looks nicer than a plastic thingy!

I'm about to buy (via Amazon) a simple upright and aesthetically pleasing composter identical to the one I used for 15 years with great success. I agree with the previous poster that simplicity beats all - in fact right now until the new one comes I'm using a big plastic storage container with a lid which I converted for temporary use. Just drill holes in the sides for air circulation and it works like a charm. I wouldn't buy a tumbler kind as it's just not necessary in this climate. The one I'm buying is vented, has a lid, and sliding panels on the bottom which allow you to simply remove the completed compost as needed without any digging.

Never had a problem with insects. You want the good ones like the beetles which munch on the new stuff going in and quickly process it naturally (:D )and if you attract a few worms then all the better!

Have fun - growing veggies here is a challenge and there's quite a bit of trial and error involved but it's very rewarding. You'll eventually find the right tomato which tastes good and the cherry toms are the best bet.

Since the topic has kinda rose from the dead figures I'd chime in....

You can get the beneficial insects sent here but some times they won't ship because of the time of year. Amazon, Nichols Garden supply both will ship ladybugs here and they work wonders when it comes to organic pest control. Once the ladybugs make their home you will always have em around and not to mention they are kinda cool to look at.

I had some good luck with 2 different types of tomatoes here both from Burpees. Heat Wave and 4th of July were the names. They both produce tons of 6-8 oz tomatoes and will have that "tomato" taste. Another trick is the time of day that you pick the fruit as to how good the flavor is ( learned as a kid, had farmers on both sides of the family). Try and pick the fruit early in the morning or in the evening after you water. Plant sugars, and as a result flavor, will be more ample during those times. Another thing that I learned about why a lot of the tomatoes have little flavor is how long they have been refrigrated. Here is one link..... Hope it helps 🙂

HELL YES! lol!

I grow EVERYTHING here and its freaking awesome! Sorry.... I get pretty excited about my garden as I could never get anything to grow in AZ.

For those who know my posts from previous.. my orangelo watermelon has 2 HUGE melons now and my yellow strawberries are blooming now too. I've been giving away lemon basil, unbelievably good jalapeños, tarragon, basil, bok choy, cabbage, cilantro, oregano and more to my neighbors and landlord because I cant use it all and hate it to go to waste. We haven't bought lettuce, onions, tomatoes squash or zucchini or fresh herbs in months and LOVE that its all heirloom, organic NON GMO crap, YIPPIE!!! Shameless plug for baker creek heirloom seeds!! They DO ship here and are a small family run local non GMO company. I use 100% baker creek seeds. The flavors will blow your mind.

We also have big purple bell peppers (still green but big) and my favorite Tabasco peppers! Once I get a bunch my hunny is gonna make me mango and Tabasco pepper hot sauce.. my FAVo! I had to replant the squash and zucchini as something at the two whole plants in ONE NIGHT!?!? Was crazy, didn't eat anything else but just that. I also planted some broccoli that's getting big, some mint and some green beans that are all taking off now. All this in a 4x8 raised bed LOL! Our avocado tree is also fruiting which were stoked about. Also have a good bunch of bananas were snacking off of despite the damn crazy ants in the kitchen, had a papaya yesterday from one of our trees but it tasted weird so I tossed it and of course lots of mango's.... I mean LOTS. Its dangerous to stand underneath them I found out the other day. Duh.

I've been getting pretty deep with my free diving and today I bought my first Hawaiian sling and am going to start practicing spearfishing on my days off. How freaking awesome to be totally self sustaining? Not that we will because mama likes here ice cream (which I guess I can make) but its cool to know that you can 😉

We grow bananas, sweet plantains, carambola, guava, sugar cane, sour oranges,, tangerines, papaya, pumpkin, and kitchen herbs.

For local vegetables we go to Josephine (Coral Bay Garden Center). She often has cherry tomatoes. One of our neighbors grew and sold beefsteak tomatoes for years.

For water we collect from 3000 sq. feet of roadway. I think we get 500 gallons/inch of rain.

Filtered sunlight gives our plants a heat break.

We also grow Bamboo.

Sloop Jones

Please tell me you're on STT?? We LOVE LOVE LOVE carambola and rarely find it here. We were at Coki yesterday to watch the bonita that Ive seen this past week hunting and at the second fruit stand just at the main road we found some. We bought all she had $10 of them for $1 each lol. Id LOVE to buy some or trade some herbs and whatever from my garden for some more when you have them.

/www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Insect/05556.html

this stuff will kill the caterpillar on cukes, zuccini etc

Another option: On recommendation from this board I started using organicide. Its mostly fish oil, with some peppermint oil. You can harvest same day and its organic. They have it at HD. Works pretty good, still have a few small pests but nothing that seems to do that much damage. I dosed 3 times, once every 2 weeks and now haven't had to for months.

I also have a 12 inch Ameiva now living in my garden and I suspect he is doing the job now of getting the bugs in there. Theres a big male crested tailed anole that sits on the rail every day and flashes for the ladies. He will let me touch him, bold fella. Also see red eyed frog and coqui frogs in there too. So cute!

Great garden/pics! You go girl!
Bet you are loving this rain!!!
What's the 12 inch critter?

Yep, standing or parking under a fruit baring tree not a great idea.
Ditto for under de coconut, too!

Its an Ameiva - kinda like a skink but one on steroids. He is HUUGGGEE and has several tunnels dug in my garden. I keep trying to get a pic of him but he is very fast. Almost had one a couple days back right as he was coming out of one of his holes but he saw me and took off. I believe it to be a STX Ameiva but they are critically endangered and not sure if they are on STT so I need to get pics before I say 100% its that. It could be a skink of some type but I think he is too big. His name is Barry.

I'll ask my biologist friend and let you know but doubt they are endangered but we can find out..
I have them around here all over the place but just know them by local name - ground lizard!

Your mission should you choose to accept it:

Try to get a pic and send it to me and I'll forward on to her.