# How Does your Garden Grow?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 8, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261 "2018-08-08T07:00:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/21 "2018-08-08T21:48:55Z")

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Our gardens are going gang busters now that it is hot. However, our new beds are not fenced and the deer have found them. They are devouring everything :mad: Tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, winter squash, beet tops - everything! Well, everything except for the weeds. We are hoping the sheer amount of vegetation can outpace their hunger. We’ll have to install a fence next year (this is the second year with the new beds).

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/22 "2018-08-08T21:52:40Z")

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Yeah, the wildlife issue. One year, had a big old batch of strawberries. Just before they were ready, rabbits came in and took exactly one bite of each one. Just enough to ruin them all and let ants get inside.

Now, they die on sight!

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/23 "2018-08-08T22:12:29Z")

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> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Yeah, the wildlife issue. One year, had a big old batch of strawberries. Just before they were ready, rabbits came in and took exactly one bite of each one. Just enough to ruin them all and let ants get inside.
> 
> Now, they die on sight!

We had a rabbit problem for a couple years (they would eat every squash flower - bastards!), but they’ve been gone for a couple years. Maybe it’s the cats? One of my previous dogs caught one and looked so shocked when it was in his mouth he let it go. Pointers aren’t the smartest dog around.

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/24 "2018-08-08T22:51:50Z")

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Rabbits are so thick out here, at night its like the ground is covered in a moving carpet. If I’m awake at sunrise, I can just open the door and slaughter them with a BB gun. 😉

The vegetable garden is safe in boxes now, but those bastids eat my expensive trees!

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/25 "2018-08-09T00:23:32Z")

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> [@MissTake](#):
>
> Container plantings: Discovered squirrels really like roma tomatoes. So far I’ve only harvested one. One little mater. They’ve had quite a few.

Dialogue with Mom:

Me: Mom, the squirrels are eating all your tomatoes! What shall we do?

Mom: Oh, I’m so glad they like them. Let’s plant more tomorrow!

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/26 "2018-08-12T00:43:57Z")

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The rabbit eats the growing tips of the beans, effectively killing them. Squirrels eat the tomatoes (actually, the inside seedy part and discards the rest). The summer began with unending rain and we have had virtually no rain since. And the zucchini have all got powdery mildew and are dying. So lousy.

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**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/27 "2018-08-12T01:12:10Z")

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Just harvested a nice bunch of bananas.

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**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/28 "2018-08-21T09:26:26Z")

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> [@Voyager](#):
>
> Haven’t seen the annual gardening thread, so I thought I’d start one. How is your garden doing this year?

Looks like there [is a 2018 thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=849234&page=2), but it wasn’t very active and probably had dropped off the page when you looked for it.

We’ve had some rain and my newly planted Beefmaster and Big Beef fall tomatoes look great - thick stems and very bushy so far and the peppers are still going strong.

My pomegranate tree had three or four flowers on it last time I posted. One of those flowers has started to produce a fruit! I know that I’m not supposed to let it bear any in the first year, but since there’s only _one_ I may let it go to see what happens.

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**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/29 "2018-08-21T13:11:25Z")

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8 years in this house and I finally worked out a system of drip lines and hanging chicken feeders that has us drowning in fresno & banana peppers, and tomatoes; and the marigolds in the porch planter have gone bonkers. Next summer I have to work out all over again where to put things in the new place. I’ve given up growing things on the ground, wild morning glory grows faster than you can pluck it, and it eats Roundup for breakfast.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/30 "2018-08-21T14:30:33Z")

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We’re getting far fewer tomatoes this year, and very few bush beans. Perhaps it’s because it’s been so damned hot. Also, the cucumbers are bitter, for some reason. The only thing that’s done well are the herbs and salad greens. And the pear tree has really produced.

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/819261/31 "2018-08-21T14:37:27Z")

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> [@wguy123](#):
>
> Our gardens are going gang busters now that it is hot. However, our new beds are not fenced and the deer have found them. They are devouring everything :mad: Tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, winter squash, beet tops - everything! Well, everything except for the weeds. We are hoping the sheer amount of vegetation can outpace their hunger. We’ll have to install a fence next year (this is the second year with the new beds).

They were eating too much. We ended up buying some spray which contains egg solids (rotten eggs). It has worked amazingly well! They will not touch anything that has been sprayed. My wife goes out and does a little spraying on any new growth each night now.

Tomatoes are awesome! If any of you were our neighbors, you’d be getting some this weekend. We only have 20 plants worth. :D:cool:

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