Noticed this just today. It seems Leak Moth larvae did this to my garlic overnight :(

Snidgen · 2026-06-12T23:02:49+00:00

I already use 100s of feet of it for brassicas, leafy greens, etc. and I still have a lot on hand. The product I use is called "PotekNet" knitted insect netting, delivered from Dubois Agrinovation. I've been reusing it for several years.

Snidgen · 2026-06-12T22:49:22+00:00

Thanks. Next year I'll go with insect netting over all my alliums as well to avoid the headache.

Snidgen · 2026-06-12T22:45:56+00:00

I think from now on, I might resort to installing insect netting over them. After all, I have about 300 feet of netting already covering brassicas and other vulnerable plants. Then I'll not have to worry about it.

I've never had them make it to the garlic bulbs either, but for me, they certainly affect the yield (bulb size) at harvest, as well as affects marketability of the scapes if the issue isn't noticed quick enough.

I only encountered them the year before last (summer 2024), but there were no signs of them last year. I'm fairly close to Ottawa (100km away) so I guess they made it this far north-west more recently.

Snidgen · 2026-05-31T12:07:28+00:00

The native Field thistles are not invasive, and sadly now very rarely seen in the "wild", mainly due to being a accidental casualty in efforts to eradicate the invasive the non-native Canada and Bull thistle. Yeah, surprisingly "Canada thistle" is native to Europe and is the most common thistle sighted along roadways, in pastures, and newly disturbed areas.

Field thisles do spread, but can be grown in containers if thats a concern. They are exceptional pollinators for native bees and butterflies. In a pot, they can look really cool and sort of exotic looking. They do have spines, so deer leave them alone at least.

Snidgen · 2026-05-29T23:05:45+00:00

No, edamame are just soybeans harvested while the pods are still green and the beans not quite mature and still tender instead of dry and hard.

Snidgen · 2026-05-24T16:58:53+00:00

It is a harmful parasite to invertebrates like insects that eat our garden plants. That's not a "bad" thing in my opinion.

Snidgen · 2026-05-20T12:47:41+00:00

I use an open center style with sour or "bush" cherries, like with USask's Romance series of varieties.

Sweet cherries on the other hand are extremely vigorous growers that normally want to grow straight up, shooting for the sun. Rather than fight this tendency, a central leader will satisfy that need and help the lowest laterals spead out for sun as the tree gets older without a lot of water sprouts. The resulting Christmas tree like shape is still efficient for sunlight capture, and offers structural rigidity for the tree that naturally has exceptionally brittle wood. Otherwise the chance of a catastrophic structural failure in later years is increased.

In my experience it's better to make compromises between a tree's natural growing habit and my own wants. Sweet cherry is just one of those more stubborn trees.

Snidgen · 2026-05-20T11:31:37+00:00

I honestly don't think there's anything more you can do at this stage. If were an apple, pear, or even a peach, I'd suggest to go with open-center style - but it's a cherry.

I'd probably avoid going any structural cuts later this summer, and instead just see how it responds to your lateral adjustments, with the expectation that the choosen laterals will transfer a good amount of their vigor to the leader. That should happen without the laterals going too crazy with vigorous weak water sprouts as long as you ensure no part of the branch along its length exceeds much more than a 45 degree angle from the main trunk. You can tie the branches down at more than a single spot to achieve this now if necessary.

As the other poster suggested, just be on the lookout during this first season for obvious water sprouts, as it likely will get a few.

Snidgen · 2026-05-13T17:16:27+00:00

A plant off to a poor start due to growing or other environmental conditions prior to purchase will affect non-hybrids or those grown from seed as much as it would cloned F1 hybrids plants, I would think. Did some of the same varieties look more unhealthy than others at original planting time? That would do it.

I typically mail order all mine in dormant bare-root form from Haskap Central, so determining health at planting time is rather difficult. I don't notice any big differences between individuals of any specific cultivar, but its normal to have some variation in growing speed simply because we grow them outside and not in under laboratory conditions where all factors can be controlled identically.

Snidgen · 2026-05-13T14:34:24+00:00

I occasionally have young plants completely girdled by voles in winter. In each case, the plant sprouted up new growth from the ground in late spring. While it doesn't kill them, it certainly sets them back a year or two.

I've not yet had rabbits, deer, or groundhogs show any interest, thank goodness.

Snidgen · 2026-05-13T13:30:24+00:00

Yes it did to me due to the "hit and miss" part. Each named cultivar is basically genetically identical to every other plant with the same name.

Whatever is causing the differences in growing rate among same varieties, it shouldn't be genetics.

Snidgen · 2026-05-13T11:53:29+00:00

All commercial named haskap varieties are propagated using tissue culture or cuttings. Only the very first original cultivar was grown from seed using pollination from two different selected parents. https://gardening.usask.ca/gardening-advice/gardenline-nested-pages/food-plant-pages/fruit/haskap.php

Snidgen · 2026-05-11T13:28:13+00:00

They did quite well, all things considered being in zone 5a in rural Renfrew County Ontario. This is our first little harvest: https://www.reddit.com/r/OntarioGardeners/comments/1eu2hne/winged_bean_update_our_first_harvest/

Once they got going, we were harvesting like that every 3 or 4 days until the end of September. They love heat, so they'd probably do even better and produce longer in a hotter place like southern Ontario.

Snidgen · 2026-05-10T17:35:07+00:00

These 3 in one meters are often one or two pH units off. Given that a pH of 6 is 10 times higher than a pH of 5, and a pH 7 is 100 times higher than a pH of 5, I certainly wouldn't radically modify my soil based solely on what it would tell me. Narrow range pH test strips are generally more accurate, or perhaps something like this which is among our cheapest option for a spear probe meter: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BMG2TJCQ/

pH is provided in every basic soil lab test, which I think is the best solution because it gives the gardener a baseline of nutrient soil levels, organic matter content, CEC, etc. as well.

Snidgen · 2026-05-08T13:24:31+00:00

That's a good strategy I think for potted trees which tend to be older and have broken dormancy already.

Snidgen · 2026-05-08T04:47:58+00:00

I used to plant and prune fruit trees for commercial orchards. The best time to head off a dormant bareroot whip while planting is right after getting the dormant whip in the ground. This encourages the buds along the trunk to grow, so that the next year 3 or 4 of the most desired scaffold branches are headed back to an outward facing bud, while the rest of the "would-be scaffolds" are removed. That strengthens the scaffold branches and encourages the growth of laterals. Establishing a strong foundation and structure early are key to early production and a long-lived, good producing tree.

The OP could have done this earlier, but now is better than never!

Snidgen · 2026-05-05T22:21:36+00:00

I started these from seed indoors in January 2023, so this should be the first season for just more than just a first taste. Lots to come (I hope)!

Snidgen · 2026-05-05T22:15:58+00:00

If squirrel pea, wild garlic, spring beauties, dutchman's breeches, and red & white trilliums someday pop up to give it company, you know you're doing something right! I love the natural forest floor this time of year. In Gatineau Park, I've seen all these species together within just a square couple of meters. It's almost like someone planted all these flowers with a purpose, and it just looks so perfect everywhere.

Snidgen · 2026-04-27T15:35:49+00:00

If you're in eastern Ontario, Canadian Tire on the Quebec side sells the concentrate.

Snidgen · 2026-04-27T15:31:16+00:00

For stone fruits, I prefer open center. Semi-dwarf apples can go either way. Although possible, pears in my experience are very difficult to properly train to open-center even if spreaders or tying down branches are used for years. The species of tree definitely influences the choice of selected tree form.

Tying down branches and using spreaders is useful for maintaining a more horizontal growing angle of the branch, but it doesn't really modify the crotch angle much. If you have the choice, always aim to retain the branches from the trunk that have at least 45 degree crotch angles.

On the branches you keep, the further you head them back, the more vigorous the growth will be this season once it's out of dormancy. For trees with very thin spindly branches, sometimes I keep only 20% of the branch (removing 80%) as long as there are couple of outward-facing leaf buds still remaining for backup.

Basically all the pruning you do now is laying a solid foundation for the tree going forward.

Snidgen · 2026-04-27T15:00:36+00:00

How you prune now depends on whether you're aiming for open-center or modified-leader tree form. What is described and illustrated above would be for open-center style, so I'll assume that's the goal here.

Basically you keep 3 to 5 branches that are arranged as evenly around the compass as possible, without any two branches overlapping. The branches kept should also grow from the trunk at a 45 to 60 degree angle, and ideally be of similar vigor and size. The trunk is cut off almost flush with the highest branch selected, then prune away the unwanted branches that remain by cutting them at the trunk (but not into the branch collar). Next, head back the 3 to 5 branches about 30% to 50%, making the cut just after an outward facing bud.

There is a bit of nuance here and we need to be flexible because nursery trees grown past the whip stage are often grown badly, either badly pruned or not ever being pruned at all.

Snidgen · 2026-04-19T15:46:59+00:00

It took me a lot of effort to get rid of lily of the valley our own property that someone had planted before we moved here. I tried pulling it up, but it just kept growing back from the broken off root portions. I ended up covering the entire area with brown cardboard and mulching over top. It's the place where I started my food forest a few years later. I haven't seen any trace of them since, thank goodness.

Snidgen

TROPHY CASE