r/TexasGardening

First time growing loofah. They are the only thing thriving in the heat.

Nocturnal Leaf-Stripping, Soil-Stirring, and Stem-Cutting: Roof Rats?

Damage includes getting on a window ledge and knocking containers off, destroying seedlings. Pictured plants are on a table. The height and physicality required suggests rats (which are present in the trees at night), doesn't it.

Never known them to strip leaves and sever stems (inches above the soil), though: have you?

Most of the plants are Capsicum, chiles, but with a small basil lopped in half (and not consumed), also. Seems so destructive, wanton, and wasteful. Took weeks of growth to get these lemon jalapeño and sugar rush plants grown enough to plant up or set out for the Autumn.

Thanks for any ideas on pest ID.

u/Karl_Chillers — 19 hours ago

▲ 12 r/TexasGardening+3 crossposts

Texas G Round 2

These mostly happy girls were sampled and sent to the lab yesterday. ^_^

Week 3, day 4. They should be fully dine with their stretching so I will go in and do a bit of trimming tonight then start light defoliation in 4 days.

My bad for taking so long between updates!

u/Rychen90 — 1 day ago

▲ 4 r/TexasGardening+1 crossposts

Greenhouse question

I’m planning on buying a greenhouse to keep a few tropical plants alive through the winter. Will a simple space heater be able to keep it warm (above~40) on cold nights? For context I live in dfw zone 8b and the greenhouses I’ve been looking at are 6x8 ft

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u/Born-Midnight7094 — 3 days ago

▲ 2 r/TexasGardening+1 crossposts

Little guidance for these guys please.

I just moved into this complex and these are in front of my place. There’s already drip irrigation but parts of the flowering plant weren’t really dying when I first arrived. Is this expected in August in Texas? Is it just a birth/death cycle or should I do something or be cutting away the dead?

u/Pickalodeon — 3 days ago

▲ 9 r/TexasGardening+1 crossposts

Fall vegetable garden prep

I had success with some summer veggies but recently culled everything as the heat and pests were getting beyond my ability to control, and I wanted a fresh start to prepare for the next growing season. I have plans for lots of root veg (carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, garlic, shallots), greens (spinach, kale), herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley), and bush beans. My empty beds are being topped up with fresh compost and I am trying to time out the planting of these things, as almost all are direct-sown.

I've seen conflicting information - for example, I've seen posts encouraging sowing carrots and bush beans in mid to late August in central texas, but other resources like the A&M fall planting guide say the average planting date for carrots is in November.

This time of year (August-Sept), if you've given up on summer tomatoes/peppers/eggplant/okra, what are you up to in the garden? Are you sowing some root vegetables early? Are you putting new summer starts in the garden for another harvest before the first frost?

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u/formalde_heidi — 10 days ago