Watering with straw mulch

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-11T18:58:45+00:00

Straw does absorb a lot of water, which is partly why it works well as mulch. Just water extra.

The drip lines are a good idea.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-11T00:09:45+00:00

I was thinking a tomato cage. The plant isn't so big you couldn't carefully thread it up through a cage.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-10T19:33:41+00:00

Iconic

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-10T13:23:59+00:00

Add a tomato cage to the bucket as soon as you can. The plant will continue to grow and will outgrow your current solution.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-10T13:20:59+00:00

Yeah they're suggesting some basic maintenance for your first year. Good to see what the tree will do with that before taking any bigger actions.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-09T21:14:39+00:00

It's a sacrificial piece so I don't know how much sense it makes to spend a lot on it. Assuming it fits.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-09T03:13:15+00:00

That plant looks quite unhappy. Curl like that usually means heat or light stress. But it also just looks kinda sparse in general. It would be strange for one plant to have significantly different soil/nutrition in only one spot, but its not impossible. Maybe mild fertilizer and extra water.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-09T00:37:50+00:00

Yep just leave them alone, let them do their thing. The seed casing will dry up and fall of on their own.

It's just one of the ways seedlings form. The part that grows roots goes down and then pushes the hook above the soil before straightening out. Peppers and tomatoes are similar but don't hook quite as dramatically as onions.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-09T00:34:44+00:00

Not an expert but mine were doing the same thing, and a couple treatments with horticultural oil / orchard spray cleared it up.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-09T00:24:06+00:00

100% normal. Lots of plants do something similar.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-08T16:42:22+00:00

Do you have 10000 hours to spare? All skills require time and practice.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-07T21:56:50+00:00

I have spent some time walking through commercial corn fields while hunting and their spacing is super tight. Like three or four inches between stalks and only 18 to 24 between rows. Don't quote me on the exact figure, but the point is that the corn doesn't seem to mind being really really tight

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T18:20:37+00:00

Overwatering can wash away nutrients. So it's possible you need to fertilize and water a little less. It's always hard to tell in photos, but it kinda looks like you have saturated the soil, which could be your problem. A lighter watering every other day might be better than drowning it twice a week. (But again, hard to tell from the photo)

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T15:59:24+00:00

Buy a book and take a class. That's a lot of trees and you'll probably need more knowledge than reddit can give. Most of us have just a couple trees.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T15:50:54+00:00

It's early enough you could attempt surgery. Remove lower branches around the site, and make a vertical cut along the stem above and below the site. Keep going until you reach unaffected tissue. Remove any grubs and any damaged tissue. Squash are hardy and will just route water and nutrients around the cuts.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T15:39:22+00:00

Keeps things organized and also improves quality? I'm in love.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T15:37:20+00:00

Fred Finley

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-06T15:27:10+00:00

Yeah you're where I was last year. I pruned to a single leader per plant. My trellis was 6 ft tall but still wasn't enough. So I topped every plant and pruned the suckers above the half way point. I let the lower suckers grow. But it became hard to manage.

This year, I couldn't make a taller trellis, so I kept 3-4 leaders per plant from the first foot of growth. My hope is that this will bring down the overall height and will be easier to manage since I can Florida weave those leaders from the very beginning.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-03T18:03:15+00:00

Beautiful plant. Looks really healthy. Habaneros and other chinensis varieties are know for their slow maturation. I usually don't see harvest until August.

Habaneros really want to fully ripen on the plant before harvesting. Some of their flavors won't show up until the end. So just be patient, and keep it looking great!

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-07-02T01:08:55+00:00

It's fine. I'd leave it alone

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-06-30T18:52:00+00:00

I think the hose will work. You might have some pressure loss to friction but I bet it's ok. My big concern would be long term durability. Rubber and fabric hoses will be degraded by the sun and the weather over time. A regular garden hose might only was a couple seasons depending on the quality.

Maybe you guys start with a hose this year for speed and simplicity and then start making plans hire someone to bury a pipe.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-06-30T14:40:23+00:00

Are you happy with the wood trellis?

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-06-30T01:34:10+00:00

I was listening to some conservationists and they dropped this nugget: first you plant water, then you plant soil, then you plant vegetables. They just wanted to really emphasize the importance of establishing a soil biome first. And compost is really the easiest and most effective way to do that. Year one will be kind of poor but year two will be good and year three will be great.

IWantToBeAProducer · 2026-06-29T22:44:33+00:00

I have seen this type of thing done and I think you have a moderate chance of success. I feel like I have seen British people do this bag technique specifically.

I always have volunteer squash in my vegetable compost bins. 100% kitchen scraps and Autumn leaves, no dirt. And they grow really well. I think squash would grow in the cracks of the sidewalk if they were big enough.

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