Texas in August -- HOT!!

After a nice break from the heat during the end of July, August has come with a vengeance.  Its been over 100 for the past few days, and today it was about 102-103.  In Texas its like we have 2 growing seasons.. fall and spring.  Winter and Summer are in a strange way similar in that you can grow a limited  selection here during those times, but its tough, and only a few plants can take it.

Pumpkins/Squash

The Sugar Pie vines have all been ripped out and all those pumpkins have been harvested. I think the final count was about 17 pumpkins.   So the only pumpkin vines that remain are the Rouge Vif d'Etampes vines (or at least few runners that have survived!)  I've really debated if I should pull these out, or try and keep them alive though August, and hope they perk up and produce more in the fall.  But in any case, I do have some successors waiting in line.  I have them in pots, and covered with tulle netting, to protect them from SVBs, squash bugs, and cucumber beetles. (More on pests below).

So I'll have to decide where exactly to put these, when they outgrow their pots, which is looking like it will be pretty soon!  I will definitely have to keep them covered with tulle for a while, due to all the pests out there.  

The Hubbard Squash vines are still around, and there are 2 small squash that are maturing, but I dont think they are going to get very big. Their vines have been damaged by SVB, and they are not looking that great.  This weekend I cleared out a huge section of their vines.  I ripped out many segments of their vines that had been damaged, or looked sickly.  I think the combination of SVB damage, and the intense heat had really taken a toll on much of the plant, so it was time to prune it and make it more manageable.

I took the lawnmower and mowed down big areas of overgrown grass and sickly looking vines, but I did keep a few healthy looking runners that remained, and gave them some care, including picking off any SVB eggs, injecting BT into vines segments that might be infested, and I buried those vines.

Now that the plants are smaller again, and more manageable, it will be easier to get in there and inspect them, pick off SVB and squash bug eggs.   The vines looked pretty wilted this afternoon. We'll see if they recover tomorrow hopefully.  With how dense it had become, I had not taken care of them much. The area had been overgrown with tall grass, and was just a breeding ground for pests.  

But in the mean time, I am working on the next generation of squash plantings.  I am hoping while they are young then can survive the killer August heat and grow, and when it starts cooling off  (probably end of Sept) then they can start producing fruit.

The Pests

One mistake I made this year was to plant  too many pumpkins/squash too close, and then not be able to take care of them.  I think the effect was that I raised an army of SVBs and other pests.  I've seen tons of them the past few weeks flying around, and have killed many. And I see lots of eggs being laid.  I have also had squash bugs make an appearance this year.  Last year they were not a problem. They might be part of the reason so many parts of my vines looked rather sickly, and many leaves have withered and browned.  Also the cucumber beetles have been bad. Their number have decreased a bit the past few weeks though.  I have not sprayed any chemicals, ( I prefer to be organic) and especially since I've seen baby anoles around, and toads at night, and don't want to harm them or the bees.  I have not sprayed neem either because with so many vines it would be expensive and time consuming to cover them all.

But I think this weekend I definitely made a dent on the SVBs.  I ripped out a lot of infested vines, and took out grubs and fed them to my chickens.  Many eggs were removed from vines I kept.  I also resorted to spraying Sevin from a spray bottle to get the moths, which fly around very fast when its hot. I set it on "stream" mode, and got a few that way. 

So on my next batch of squash, mostly summer squash, and a couple Rouge Vif D'etampes, I definitely will keep them under tulle netting to protect them from the hoards of bugs, as long as I am able to.  A couple weeks ago I started some seeds in pots: Yellow Crookneck,  Bennings Green Tint Squash ( an hierloom patty pan type), as well as a couple Rouge Vifs.  I put the summer squash in the ground a few days ago.  Here is a picture of the seven plants, all covered by their tulle teepees, and well mulched.  When they outgrow their teepees, I will cut out a bigger section of tulle, and them cover them with a bigger teepee, and save this tulle for future use.  

Other Plants

The sunflowers are pretty much gone now, except for a lone plant close to the compost bin.  I chopped down many of them to clear out the old Hubbard squash patch.  I did plant the okra seedlings in in the ground too. They are Emerald Okra, which I started from seed a few weeks ago.  I put in 5 plants:

I have them in tomato cages to protect them from me stepping on them while I am working in the area.

Okra is one of those few type of plants that can take the extreme heat.    Peppers also do well, but I decided to not grow any this year, except a couple of plants my mother in law gave me last weekend. I put them in, but today they were looking pretty wilted. I am not sure what type they are. They were supposed to be bells, but are hot, and look more like poblanos. But they are thin fleshed... strange.