Yet Another Storm in Zagreb City

Well, yet another storm has struck Zagreb city and my balcony garden plants were once again under heavy attack. My plants were tossed all around the balcony and you could find cherry tomatoes all around. Luckily, I managed to save some, but I suspect there are more down in the park, in front of my apartment building. The rain was falling like crazy as you can see from this picture taken from my balcony.

The wind was also blowing like crazy and my tomatoes were once again the once which have gotten it the worse. Here's my balcony garden tomato jungle, all messed up!

Unfortunately, we've lost a considerable amount of fruit(veggies). These are just some of the casualties, at least those I managed to save!

Just a half an hour later the sun was shining, like nothing happened!

I'll be able to estimate he real amount of damage in a couple of days, but for now I can only hope that my plants will recuperate and keep on growing as well as they were. Even though times like these are hard for every gardener, I try not to feel bad. When something like this happens, I just plant some more seeds and instantly I feel a lot better! However, before I do that, I have to take care of my balcony, because it looks like a little swimming pool!

Balcony Tomato Emergency

Another extremely windy day on my balcony, once again with serious consequences for my balcony plants. Again, mostly because of their height, my balcony tomatoes were the ones most damaged!

I can tell you, it wasn't a pretty sight! My tomatoes were all tangled, the stems and branches were heavily bent and tossed all around. The wind had no mercy for my balcony plants! Here's a picture of my balcony tomatoes that might show you what I'm talking about.

I hurried to save my plants, but most of the damage had already been done. However, I had to help my tomatoes somehow! Italman to the rescue! Considering the jungle they created on my balcony garden, it takes some acrobatic skills to prune, stake and tie them. It's almost impossible for me to approach some branches, but I hope I managed to tie them enough and they won't brake under this sweet weight they're carrying. I even inserted a few additional stakes, but I can't find one tall enough for my crazy growing urban tomatoes.

That's the best I could do, but on a brighter or better said greener side most of my herbs seem to be fine. However, I'll be sure to check out the state of my entire balcony garden(plant by plant) early in the morning! Balcony herb garden update No.2 follows!

Rampage on my balcony

After a week or so of extremely sunny weather with temperatures ranging from 20C(night) to 36C(day), we've had some rain finally. The temperatures I mentioned above were measured in the shade of course, but in the open, in the concrete jungle, even in my apartment it gets a lot hotter!

However, it wasn't just raining, it was extremely windy and the only thing I can tell you is that my balcony garden plants aren't lonesome in their suffering. As soon as I came home, I hurried to the balcony to check out my plants, but most of the damage has already been done. I really don't want to get in details right now, but I can only say it wasn't a pretty sight. I have additionally tied,supported and splinted my cherry tomatoes, but it looks like about 30% of my crop is gone with the wind. After I've done all I could to help my plants, I went on a bicycle ride to clear my head and get some fresh air. Soon, I stumbled on some casualties........

This tree needs a hug, at least a good bye one!

It was a good shady spot to park a car on a sunny day, but s... happens!?

Hmmm, after all I can only be grateful that most of my urban grow plants are more or less o.k. Soon I'll be able to assess the real damage done on my balcony garden, but for now I can only hope that my plants will heal and keep producing fruit as they were!

Extremely hot and sunny

Last few days were extremely hot and sunny, and the weather forecast says the same for the next week. It's hard for me to function normally these days, not only because of very high temperatures, but because of a terrible toothache I'm experiencing.
However, I'm very happy that my tomatoes will receive enough sun in this crucial time and I know it will make them taste ooooh so great. I have to be patient, another week or so and it's tomato celebration day! Take a look at my balcony tomatoes, ripening and enjoying the sun!

Will it be enough?

Well, it's still raining, but at least now my plants are standing upright. I've added some additional support for my balcony tomatoes and tied everything as best as I could. I wonder will it be enough!? For sure, it will make things better for my plants, but still I couldn't find a stake big enough for my crazy growing tomatoes. The plants that were injured were taken care of and now I can only wait for them to heal. I can only hope it wont stress my plants too much and effect flowering and fruit producing. Unfortunately, I haven't had and still don't have a camera to record the state of my balcony garden before&after the night that caused problems in my urban garden. However, here are a few photographs of veggies taken a few days ago after the rain.

Wet Tomatoes







Still I haven't done anything regarding the aphid and spider mite issue, but I hope rain will do some of my work. Right now, there's no sense in applying Neem oil because the rain would wash it off. Nevertheless, I'll have to spray some on my plants as soon as the rain stops falling. I'll be posting some information on Neem oil, soon too. Hopefully, I'll have the camera to record some of the stuff I'm writing about in this garden blog of mine.

Windy Balcony Garden

It has been raining almost all night&day and temperature has fallen significantly. I have a feeling that my plants love it, but it was extremely windy and that's certainly not a good thing for my balcony garden plants.

My tomatoes are supported with stakes, but they overgrew their support couple of weeks ago. Insufficient support is becoming a problem, especially when strong wind is in question like these days. When not supported enough branches and vegetable flowers get tossed around a lot and you can easily loose your crop. Last few nights were pretty fatal! I can see that a lot of delicate cherry tomato flowers are missing. i.e. have fallen off. Not to mention that few of my cherry tomatoes got injured, so I'll have to do some splinting and patching. I hope I wont loose what's left of my veggie flowers, i.e. future veggies. The thing to do right now is create adequate support, but I can't find a thing in my apartment tall enough to fit this purpose. I'm not focused on balcony or garden design, I just want to make my plants happy and I'll do what I have to do.

It's time for some urban garden action!

After the rain

Wind and rain

Last night was extremely windy, but fortunately it brought some rain with it and right now I can say it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. I know most of you are waiting and hoping for some rain and I hope your wishes will be fulfilled!

However, even if rain is a welcome guest in my garden, very strong wind can create a few problems, as it was the case last night. Fortunately, it woke me up so I was able to minimize the damage. I had to move some of the containers, just to be sure, don't want to see them falling. All the cuttings and baby plants are o.k., but they were also sheltered. On the other hand, those plants left in the wind, especially those that weren't sufficiently supported are the ones that reacted the worst, logically. It doesn't look like a lot of damage has been done, but I'll be able to say for sure in a few days.

Keep on growing!

Right on time

It just started to rain and my plants(tomatoes especially) are loving it! Right on time!

Nevertheless, rain and wind can present a lot of problems when your plants are not supported enough. Right now, there´s not a thing in hand that I could use for this purpose. The only thing left for me to do is to strengthen the existing support.

This is a little photo session recorded from my balcony:

Before



What´s pouring, take a look!



After

Under watering

Over watering is a common problem, especially with seedlings and small plants. Too much water drowns the roots, cutting off their supply of oxygen. In such condition, your plants will grow very slowly and if over watering continues more problems will appear.

Under watering, on the other hand, is less of a problem. However, it is a fairly common problem, especially with plants in containers in hot summer days. Small pots/containers dry out quickly and need daily watering, so bigger pots, means less watering. Not enough water dries out the root hairs, causing them to die. If this situation repeats itself over and over, it will probably stunt your plant and maybe cause slower growth.

Here´s an example of my under watered tomato plant