End of the Season

I knew a week without water would be the end of my gardening adventures this year. The larger self-watering containers that had full reservoirs did ok, but this planter with tiny tom tomatoes and green onions couldn't handle the drought. Not enough rain last week. Not a chance. But there appears to be more at work here than just lack of moisture. The spider mites were starting to nibble away at some of the lower leaves and the plants were in a weakened state to begin with.

The Brandywine tomato plant is still doing well but hasn't put out any tomatoes. I started it too late and it's in a spot on the balcony that has never been all that great for tomatoes. Also, the cape gooseberry plants have shed most of their leaves and, I would say, are officially done. They each managed to put out a few fruits but the plants will be dead before they ripen.

Sounds like a horrible end to the season but all was not lost. My cucumber plants are withering too but I managed to pull this last harvest of cucs from the vines. The largest was 10.5 inches. We got lots of basil leaves this year and the plants are still putting out, despite being picked clear last week. And I still have some green onions.

Hail

This was a few days ago. We get hail maybe once or twice a year. This time it felt a little heavier than usual but nothing damaging. I don't have much growing on the balcony this year. A few tomato plants, green onions, cucumbers, basil and cape gooseberries.

Pulling Leeks and Onions

The tops of the onions were starting to brown. They all bent over some time ago. And the leeks looked to be about as big as they were going to get. Some of the leaves were starting to yellow a bit. So I decided it was time to pull them to see what I had.

The leeks grown in a bucket on the floor of the balcony didn't get very thick but the lack of sunlight meant they grew taller. The one leek I grew in a container in the sun was much thicker and better looking but wasn't very tall. Next time I'm going to grow them in a sunny spot with proper support and some kind of sleeve around them or something to block the sun so they get longer and whiter. I guess I could also pile up soil around them, or maybe plant them in deep holes that I can fill in once they start to grow.

The onions turned out ok with the largest being tennis ball size. I kind of wish they had been bigger. Not enough sunlight perhaps. Maybe the soil could have been better. They look nice but I have no idea how they taste.

Nearing the end

August is just about over and the plants growing on the balcony are giving their last push for the season. The onions can be pulled any time. Only one is putting out flowers and it's a small one. The rest are looking plump. I don't think they'll get any bigger.

The lone muskmelon on my vine is large enough to need a bit of extra support. I made a hammock for it from a small onion sack. This melon is not and will not get very big so the support likely isn't necessary. But the vine it's attached to looked a little weak so I figured better safe than sorry. The melon is just starting to develop netting on its skin, just as a muskmelon should I guess. I don't really know because it's my first time growing one of these.

And of course I'm still getting lots of tomatoes. One more handful from the tiny tim plants (I keep calling them tiny tom) and they should be done. And perhaps another big bowl of black cherry tomatoes. I had such low expectations for the tiny toms but we discovered that they work really well in a garden salad so maybe I'll grow them again next year. They take up very little space.

Spider mites and aphids have made a comeback, although usually I see them much earlier in the year. So far it's just the beans and strawberries hosting the spider mites. And only a small number of aphids on the peppers which I haven't been paying much attention to. I guess that explains why I'm seeing more yellow jackets (wasps) buzzing around. They like to lick the sweet aphid excrement off the leaves.

Onions and Leek

I seeded some Kale today in the space I had left in the onion container. The Spanish onions I planted in that container are doing well. A couple have stopped growing and don't look like they'll get any bigger. But the others are doing well and expanding their bulbs. We've had a few days of really strong wind so I positioned some sticks in the container to prop up the tops of some of the onions. A couple of leaves bending over is ok, but I don't want the tops to fold over entirely. Not yet anyway.

In that container I also planted a single leek. Most of the leeks I transplanted I'm growing in a bucket. But for some reason I decided to try growing just one plant in the onion container. It gets more sun than the others. I believe it was one of the weaker leek transplants I planted and after a month of thinking it wasn't growing it now appears to be doing quite well.

Spanish Onions

These are the Spanish onions I planned, started from seed in the kitchen window a few months ago. They are starting to form bulbs but they still have a long way to go. These have a 110 day maturity time. I put them up in the sunniest spot on the balcony and I made sure I started the seed early enough so they could take advantage of the summer heat to hopefully form decent sized bulbs. My fear is that after 110 days, all I will end up with are old wilted green tops.

I left space on the other end of this container for some kale. I want to start it sometime in late July or August so it matures as the weather starts cooling. If the timing works out right, maybe I can plant more kale after I pull these onions, and let it grow well into the fall through a frost or two.