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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 10, 2023 1:16:42 GMT -6
Okay, one feed store, out of about a dozen, had straw in stock. All of them had various types of hay, the straw was $11/bale, hay is ~$25 and up/bale. I could have used a dozen, but my budget allowed for two.
Edit; add pics -->
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 11, 2023 8:20:57 GMT -6
Okay, I had to replace the HH plant on the far (East) end of the first row, for the second time. There's something there that just loves munching on it, but I can't catch it. Fortunately, it doesn't bother any other plants, nearby. Hopefully I won't need to replace it again. The HH plant on the opposite end of the adjacent row, suffered a bit from overwatering, it wilted and afterward dropped most of its leaves. It looks to be recovering, but I'll replace it, if I need to.
Now that there is a generous layer of straw mulch, around the plants, and completely covering the drip irrigation system, helping to keep the irrigation water cool - the plants suddenly stand out much more, it's a good look for them.
I see what heavyhitterokra meant about red in some of the HH plants. Out of the several dozen which I have growing right now, there is one that has quite a bit of extra red in its stems and petioles, and even has a slight reddish-pink tint to a developing seedpod which it is currently hosting. This seed definitely will carry that additional information, with it, as it goes into later stages of this process.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 12, 2023 9:03:49 GMT -6
I spoke too soon about plants near it not being attacked, last night something ate all the leaf blades off the two small branches forming on the SIR next door to the beleaguered HH. Left the petioles, just ate the leaf blades. That's about the same that had been done earlier to the 1st replacement HH plant, though they haven't yet bothered its newest replacement.
I hate to admit it, but I just replaced three HH plants in the second two rows. One had just been a replacement - one misstep and it was gone - I need to be careful where I put my feet. Two others were due to grasshoppers. I'm almost out of HH backup plants, hopefully I won't need any others, but I'll plant half a dozen, just in case.
I took these around sunrise, makes them look different. The last two show the area where I keep the backup plants. 9th pic, from the top shows the HH plant with extra red. It's difficult to see it, in the pic, but that pod has a little reddish blush, near the bottom and near the tip. You can also see red on the stems and petioles - all the other HH plants only show red where the petioles connect to the leaf blades.
I took a fresh batch of pics-->
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 13, 2023 12:30:31 GMT -6
One item of note: the corolla of HH usually drop off spontaneously, 6-8 hours after pollenization; SIR corolla, after 12-16 hours, form a cap over the fruit/pod, they too, eventually drop off.
Flowers, self-pollinated or pollinated with a different plant of the same variety are marked with a white label. SIR flowers pollinated with HH pollen are marked with a blue-green label. HH flowers pollinated with SIR pollen are marked with a pink label. When a plant looks like it may bloom the next day, I mark it with a stainless steel skewer. I label the seed pods after the corolla falls, unless it is self-pollinated, then I label it right after pollination. Otherwise it might be mislabeled as an F1. I remove/reposition the skewers right after pods are labeled.
Here's a closer pic of the HH with extra red (if you look close you can see the extra red in the stem/petioles/base and tip of pod) -->
And a few other pics-->
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 17, 2023 6:03:03 GMT -6
I still haven't located any empty mineral containers, but I just planted my last available backup HH plant and one of my backup SIR plants into individual 25 gallon fabric pots. And, I already have an HH plant planted in a rigid 15 gallon pot.
I did a little bit more investigation of the fire ants. It's like they've sequestered themselves inside the HH pod. They are completely ignoring the poison bait surrounding them. The SIR plant which had first had an issue with the fire ants. Has two developing pods, which curiously, their tips were curling towards the stalk. On closer inspection it appears to be caused by the fire ants chewing their entrance holes only on that side of the developing pods - these ants are sneaky.
All plants in the first two rows (HH and SIR) of F1 creation plants are now supporting pods. It is now time to prune-off flower buds, until the first batch of F1 seed is ripe. Of course the second two rows (HH and FQR) are just about to begin blooming. All SIR plants appear to have nearly identical red pigment color, intensity and pattern. It's not quite dark enough to lean towards purple. However, FQR plants are exhibiting some minor variations; degree of dwarfism, leaf shape, and intensity and shade of color. Most are red, some are a deeper shade, a dark purple (the color I'm aiming for).
Here are the pics of the newly transplanted HH and SIR potted in 25 gallon pots -->
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 17, 2023 6:26:08 GMT -6
Those transplants look nice, Tucson grower. I have to admit that I am definitely a fan of dark red on plants. It’s just a beautiful color.
I don’t know if you have access to food-grade diatomaceous earth [not the kind they sell for swimming pool filters, which likely is kept in the garden sections of stores all around your area—it is here]. I’ve had success using that on plants to help knock back the ant population. If the ants aren’t going for the bait, the diatomaceous earth is a mechanical means to eliminate the ones who crawl through it. It’s not fast-acting, but I’ve seen it be effective.
I’m sorry the fire ants have taken such a liking to your okra. The good thing is, though, that if you can get the ants under control, the plant should be able to overcome the damage.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 17, 2023 9:32:25 GMT -6
I've used diatomaceous earth, decades ago, but not for ants. I even lived once in a location where it is dug out of the ground (Lompoc, CA).
I'm gonna need to search out a local source. Everything is worth a try when it comes to helping me reach my goal.
And some fresh pics from this morning (bottom pic, SIR with 4 pods, 3 F1 and 1 self-pollinated) -->
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 22, 2023 9:20:47 GMT -6
Observation: Now that the daytime high's are regularly, over 100'sF okra planted in the ground has stopped flower development, either carrying seedpods, or not . All those in pots seem unaffected, except those carrying seedpods.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 22, 2023 21:42:38 GMT -6
I just returned home from visiting the dermatologist about how my hands and fingers are so dry they're slippery, which makes it more difficult to maintain a decent grip on things, like a pen or silverware. The consensus was, that since my hands appear, perfectly fine, to the eye, there was nothing they could do for them. The Doctor did suggest ointments containing urea might provide some relief. It's probably that I'm spending so much more time in this higher temp and lower humidity environment, while being somewhat older, now.
Anyway; as soon as I returned home I inspected my ripening F1 seedpods; I discovered that, one other HH pod, on the opposite end of the first two rows, was under attack. I've ordered diatomaceous earth, but it won't arrive until the 20th-21st of July, so I placed some poison bait near the affected plant and will be periodically spraying any offending ants with dish detergent water. I'm thinking of painting some tea tree oil on the ants seedpod entry points, perhaps lightly over the outside of the entire affected seedpod.
Edit: Additional update - I thoroughly dried out the seed I rescued from the fire ants, then I chose the darkest 5 and soaked them in water, overnight. Good news; two of them began germinating, even before I transferred them to the ziploc bag. Apparently I will possibly be growing some F1 (HH x SIR) plants almost immediately. Hopefully they will demonstrate their hybrid origins by early-on showing more color than a typical HH plant. I will plant these in individual 7 gallon pots, early tomorrow morning. If they turn out to be hybrids, I can begin selecting for parents of the F2 generation - woo hoo.
It does appear that I may just be able to squeeze 2 generations in, per season - at least, in theory. We will see; if only it gives me enough time to properly screen each generation. I may be able to finish this process, in less than 10 years.
Update on update: I just planted all 5 of the pre-soaked, pre-sprouted, potentially F1 seed. All 5 of them had begun to send out their root/radicle.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 23, 2023 13:27:50 GMT -6
Okay, I just finished doing my first (HH x FQR) and (FQR x HH), on two adjacent plants in the 3rd row of the F1 production area.
I'm keeping maturing flower buds trimmed off of the first two rows, so as to let all their energy go into producing their first run of F1 seed. From south to north; row 1 is the southernmost, next is row 2, both rows 1 and 2 are HH and SIR alternating and opposite, so that, excerp at the ends, each plant is surrounded on 3 sides by its pollination partener (front, back and across).
A plant, here or there, seems to be struggling, while most are simply taking off. I suspect they may be being parasitized (robbed from) by the too near vicinity of native tree roots.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 29, 2023 21:14:38 GMT -6
Those 5 pre-germinated seed, none ever emerged.
Despite the heat and wind, everything seems to be back to blooming, even those plants with few leaves. Only a few are still too small to bloom, yet.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 30, 2023 9:04:20 GMT -6
Okay, the first seedpod, on a SIR plant, pollinated with HH pollen, has begun to dry out and split open. This inspired me to harvest it. I plan to let it complete drying, before I collect the seed from within. My first naturally ripened F1 seed.
That first seedpod of HH pollen on a FQR plant, was unnaturally aborted, I cut it off and ate it. I did this because I discovered the hog ring I had labeled it with had pierced the stalk (almost right in its middle) connecting the fruit to the plant. An unnatural piercing. It might have introduced undesirable factors (such as pathogens) into the seedpod.
Pic of ripe seedpod, SIR x HH -->
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jun 30, 2023 13:28:05 GMT -6
Well, today I didn't make a replacement for the sacrificed seedpod (FQR x HH), but, I had 7 HH flowers and 1 FQR flower. I used pollen from the FQR flower to pollinate all 7 of the HH flowers. I believe I'll get better results with crosses in that direction, anyways. Now there are a total of eight HH x FQR seedpods, developing. I self-pollinated the FQR flower, to eat in a day or two. I also had many HH flowers in the first two rows,but not a single SIR flower, so I settled for using HH pollen from the best looking pair of HH plants,to then pollinate all the HH blooms, this is selection for 'land race". Being it is selection based on plants that perform best in my local growing conditions.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jul 1, 2023 17:01:19 GMT -6
I had gone back out and checked over every plant in the first two rows and also discovered 2 pods of HH x SIR that were ripe and beginning to split open. I collected them, too.
Edit: Update; I've now cleaned and dried the potentially F1 seed. I'm concerned that some of the seed from all the pods were undersized. They still look mature, just much smaller then a usual okra seed. Of course, the majority are the size I'm most familiar with (about the size of a small pea). I was just wondering what might be the cause of this. I'm thinking the most likely cause, is their growing conditions, and that they're being grown, for the first time, in such a hostile environment.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jul 2, 2023 9:28:41 GMT -6
Over in the F1 production area, there are lots of blossoms to pollinate today, in all 4 rows.
And, in the potted plants area, I discovered a 'White Velvet' blossom, which was ready to open, today, was being attacked by fire ants. Fortunately, they are presently causing no other obvious trouble, at this time (I'm anxious for the D.E. to arrive). There are a few locations where grasshoppers will not let okra plants grow. I plan to try a remedy using neem oil, since they won't be able to grow at these locations, unless something can control their feeding. I hope neem does not harm okra plants, so I will test its effectiveness on the afflicted plants - it can't be worse than what they endure, presently.
Yesterday I tried to catch and destroy almost a dozen that were about 3 inches long and feeding on my garden. They managed to completely elude me. It was very irritating. I hope the neem is effective.
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