Tag Archives: square foot gardening

Red Flag Warning

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I heard on the news this evening that all of Florida is under a Red Flag Warning. What that means is we have the “perfect storm” conditions for wild fires. We had them bad in 1998 and conditions now are worse then back then. Rain would be nice, lots of rain.

Funny thing our weather. It was like 50 degrees today, what’s up with that? Tonight will drop into the forty’s for some of our area.

These fluctuations in the weather can make gardeners a little nervous. Our tentgardens and netting products create a micro-climate your plants will love. The netting is really amazing. It protects from the hot sun by providing about 16% shade, and it gives 2-6 degrees of protection from frost. It calms the high winds and heavy rains and acts as a shield to hail. On top of all this, it protects from insects and garden pests like rabbits, squirrels, and deer. The benefits go on an on. I suppose you could say I just get caught up in this netting thing…

Garden Club to hear about SFG and Tentgardening

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Steve Earls of SFG Supply in Eustis, Florida will present an hour long program on Square Foot Gardening to the Groveland Mascotte Garden Club on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 from 10am-11am. Mr. Earls will introduce this very popular gardening method and also demonstrate tentgardening. Tentgardening uses special netting to  protect gardens from insects and animals. For more information, go to tentgardens.com

Tomato Suckers and Moths

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Yesterday, I opened up my tentgarden to cut the suckers off my tomatoes. This is a practice that every gardener should do. The object is to cut out those tomato branches or stems that grow in the “V” of other branches coming off the main vine. These stems usually don’t produce much but will grow hugh if you let them, taking energy away from the main vine and other branches that are fruiting.

While I was doing this, I noticed two moths that seemingly came out of nowhere. They were heading towards the now unprotected tomato plants. Though I was successful at thwarting their flight plan, the experience got me to thinking about how those moths were looking for places to lay their eggs. If I hadn’t stopped them, then I could be picking off green-horned tomato worms about the time my tomatoes start ripening.

Our netting products are great for keeping these insects out of the garden. In fact, make yourself a tentgarden and enjoy clean and healthy tomatoes, greens, cucs, zuccs, and whatever else you want to grow! Not to mention you’ll save money and time that would have been spent trying to keep the bugs off your plants the whole growing season.

Mikroclima and Tunnet Netting

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Mikroclima and Tunnet are  manufactured in Italy. They are available for purchase here in the United States through SFG Supply at tentgardens.com. Mikroclima is very light and stretchy and conforms to most any shape that it’s laid over, whereas Tunnet is heavier and more stiff. Both materials have a similar knitted pattern. Tunnet, because it is heavy-duty, is better suited for covering semi-permanent structures, large hoop houses, and green houses. Both allow air and moisture to penetrate. The nets are excellent crop covers.

Tentgardens…the beginning

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Tentgardens came about when I just had season after season of failure trying to grow cucumbers, squash, and the like. Seems like the plants started out great and about the time I’d get two cucumbers or squash, the plant would start dying. The leaves would turn yellow and crispy and the vine would dry up.

After closer inspection, I noticed these bugs at the base of the plant literally sucking the juice from the vines. Determined to be victorious, I tried pepper sprays, oils, dusts, and  a lot of hand picking these bugs off my vines – daily.  No matter what I tried nothing worked.

Turned out these bugs were actually Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (BMSB).  It appears that the USA has been invaded by an insect from China.

I began searching for a way to overcome them and what I found was what I call a tentgarden. A simple barrier between my garden and the outside world. I actually grow my garden inside a special net tent. The netting holds up well in our Florida sun, and prevents these and other bugs from getting to my crops. The netting also allows air and moisture to penetrate the barrier.  This is the perfect solution; no toxins, no energy, and no more frustrations.