" I found zero protection from “repellent” plants."
I’ve long suspected that to be the way things really are. Companion planting sounds nice, but your further, scientific explanation makes a lot more sense.
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I would have to agree regarding @bogman science. What appealed to me about this article was the part about sharing a space until one out grew the other.
It says "to interplant large growing, warm season transplants, such as tomatoes and eggplants, with fast growing lettuce, radishes and greens. By the time the warm season plants get large enough to shade out the greens, you’ve harvested most of them. "
I put some arugula in with some garlic bulbs that I threw in a container with plans to harvest as greens. We shall see!
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He ate the first two true leaves. So there’s nothing to plant unless it regrows. Still I’m waiting to see what happens. lol.
Now that makes good sense, I’ve always thought
Ha- we have to plant them in sept-oct to grow garlic and arugula here
@ewsflash, when do you harvest them?
The garlic went in in November, and I just added the arugula. I haven’t ried arugula in years, but I try garlic and shallots every year, usually at Thanksgiving. Here’s a recent picture.
I have tried so many things, and while two of five buckets are less successful m these buckets seem to be the right balance of moisture and drainage for me. Lately I’m growing Creole varieties.
I’ve only grown arugula a couple of times, in a planter in my back yard, and garlic only once (stuck a clove from the store in the garden to see if it grew- it did). The problem in southern AZ is that the summers are so hot it’s murder on anything but chiles and eggplant, basically. Eggplant can handle any heat you give it as long as it’s kept hydrated. I’ve grown cilantro, which is absolutely wonderful homegrown. Your garlic and shallots look fantastic, by the way. What part of the world do you live in?
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The timed interplant strategy can work really well. I had fava beans south and next to peas. The peas grew above and behind the favas, on a trellis, so they all got good sunlight. Later, when the peas were done Angled luffa (Si Gwa, Luffa acutangula) took over the trellis. Planting short plants on the south (sun facing) side, near the base of taller plants can result in better use of space and yields.
Of course, in many cases, planting warm growing plants and cool growers at the same time or close to the same time is not wise. Here, radishes are getting light frosts and lettuce must be planted when it’s cool. These cold soil and air temperatures can quickly lead to death or disease in warm-growing plants. If enough space is left between cool-growers, when the soil and air have warmed up, you can plant small starts of tomato, eggplant, peppers, etc. in between the maturing cold growers.
Crazy how different our growing zones are. Shrinkrap has blooming peas and I’m just thinking of planting them this weekend, which is early! Some great potato varieties just arrived from Wood Prairie Family Farm, in ME.
Potatoes haven’t been grown here for years, so they should do well in some “new” ground which has recently been cleared.
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Ah! You are in southern Arizona! I am in Northern California. I am technically in the “Bay Area”, but my climate is between that and the Central Valley.
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It IS crazy! I have a lean to greenhouse that is not quite a year old, and the fan came on today! I thought I had the thermostat set high enough ( like 90 F!) that I didn’t have to think about it yet, but apparently I do. Nighttime temps have been in the forties,
Is planting in the new ground for disease control? I can think of a few reasons why you don’t plant the same thing year after year in the same spot, but I’m curious
Ewsflash, yes, in this case I’m trying to avoid growing anything in the nightshade family, unless it’s in new ground or soil which never had nightshades:
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Eggplant, Tomatillo, Ground Cherries, Eggplant and Peppers. After many years of growing these, root diseases crept in and the disease was spread by moles, which tunneled up and down the rows, spreading the plague. I trapped out the moles, but it will take years before the disease pressure dies down. Now, Alliums, beans, brassicas and others are growing in those rows.
Even when nightshades are reintroduced, Ill treat the plants with a biofungicide, like Actinovate and probably another type of microbe-based fungicide.
In general, it’s a good idea to grow something unrelated in a given soil when planting the following year, especially if disease pops up.
It’s also a good idea to sterilize/sanitize tools or rototillers when moving from spot to spot, just in case. Disease pressures tend to be worst on the east coast, where growing conditions are often great, but hot, humid weather is the summer norm.
This brings up a theoretical issue with interplanting: If you plant a whole bunch of mixed veggies together, close by, and disease shows up, it’s harder to relocate the following year or grow unrelated plants, especially if two or more soil-borne diseases appear.
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I’m trying to figure out how to get a sumo orange seedling - or tree. Seems very elusive.
I thought about getting buds and trying to graft, but I’m running out of time for that to work (especially with the buds and root stock constantly out of stock).
Any ideas welcome!
Well, since Sumo citrus are supposed to be seedless, the seedling idea may be tough. Citrus do, sometimes, make clonal seeds which are polyembryonic. One seed sprouts more than one stem upon germinating; these tend to be identical to “Mom”.
Sumo is a fairly controlled trademark for a plant that’s available with other names. You might try these folks or search for another source. Good Luck!
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Yes - there are nurseries that sell small plants or seedlings, but sporadically.
One can also get bud wood and graft it onto rootstock oneself - but I had the idea too late and won’t be here long enough to see that kind of experiment through.
I’ve called and emailed a few nurseries. Fingers crossed.
Re the website - thank you, but I discovered while researching this that there are very strict laws about shipping citrus. CA can’t ship out for the most part, nor will others in, because of disease.
Really! What are some other names?
The “official” name in Japan is Shiranui", but companies like to invent new names so they can trademark them and restrict sales. It’s not like a patent; the plant itself is not covered, just the name. “Dekopon” is another TM name. It’s known as Hallabong (Korea) and Kinsei (Brazil). Expect more names to pop up as growers make new names to get around the TM names. This approach to naming gets very confusing!
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@bogman, mind blown! Husband LOVES Samos, and can tell which week in the season they are.
I see my first peas!
The Dwarf Grey I started a few weeks ago. There’s two other larger seedlings in there as well. I think Sugar Lace.
I flung some extras in the container, and one has a purple flower! Maybe it’s Dwarf Grey.
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I don’t have a good space for a garden which is probably just as well as I have a black thumb but I love living vicariously through everyone’s beautiful posts. Especially now when it feels like it’s been winter forever. Thanks all!
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