Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 10:36 AM

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Gardening

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Fighting the "bug-of-the-month", the weeds (the weeds from Hell actually, I'd almost swear that some evil person is feeding them steroids), the weather and the ever oppressive humidity, I think wistfully of my perfect future garden in Ajijic. To keep from having too many little unpleasant surprises I thought I'd better check with all of you lucky ones who are already there.

Besides leaf cutter ants, what special problems do you have to deal with in your flower and vegetable gardens?

Kip
kip

Bubba

Aug 7, 2003, 10:55 AM

Post #2 of 13 (364 views)

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Re: [Kip] Gardening

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Kip:

As you know "oppressive humidiy will soon be a thing of the past.

Tha ants are a really serious problem. Control takes determination.

The paradox here,as in Hawaii, is thet the lack of an annual freeze means that nasty little buggers that like your plants do not die. Therefore, pests are a problem.

I am a tomato freak. Mexico is the home of the tomato, right? However, normally, the tomatoes available commercially down here are the insipid Romas and when they get actual round tomatoes, they could use them for FedEx packaging. So Bubba here decided to bring down some heirloom tomato seeds from such far flung places as France and California. Last year his crop, grown in containers, was a disaster. This year, the tomatoes grew well, more or less, but were not sweet and were very acidic. Even the "super sweet" cherry tomatoes are not very sweet. Now, acidic tomatoes may be good for cooking but they make a lousy BLT which used to be a reason to stay alive from season to season when I lived in Alabama and Northern California.

Please, someone, tell me what I am doing wrong!

Don

Aug 7, 2003, 11:23 AM

Post #3 of 13 (353 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Gardening

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We don't grow tomatoes where we live, about 60 miles south of Chapala/Ajijic, we have fruit trees, because they grow tomatoes here commercially for export. Beautiful, big tomatoes. Our tianguis sell all types of tomatoes. Some of the big ones sell for as low as 5 pesos per kilo. When out exploring the surrounding areas, you should stop by our town and visit some of the feed etc, stores. They can probably give you some advise and inform you where you can get seeds, plants and the proper soil sweetners, etc.

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 11:27 AM

Post #4 of 13 (351 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Gardening

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Think horse manure. I'm only half kidding. I'm not sure if it will make them sweeter or not, not having been there yet to try stuff out, but I know we use it on everything and it really has "grow power"! We raise horses so we have an unlimited supply, but judging from the amount of "clip clop" I heard in Ajijic, it should not be a rare commodity.

I know that this would be cheating and I've never tried it on tomatoes, but when I get melons that don't have much flavor I add a little sugar, lemon, salt and cayenne to them. Presto tasty! Maybe slicing them and marinading them for just a few minutes might help,.. don't know, just a thought.

Kip
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Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 11:39 AM

Post #5 of 13 (347 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Gardening

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We have a huge fire ant problem here. Vicious little *#/!#!! Have they ventured into your territory?

And halleluya for the lack of oppressive humidity!

Kip
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Bubba

Aug 7, 2003, 12:05 PM

Post #6 of 13 (343 views)

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Re: [Kip] Gardening

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Kip - you are in for a surprise. Bubba is from Alabama and remembers when fire ants first arrived back in the 1950s. You dare compare scrawny fire ants with our leaf cutters? Our ants can be seen on a summer evening, barbequing fire ants to enjoy along with a nice potato salad. We call our ants "The Terminators". I caught them hauling off an apple tree and had to buy it back from them. Down here, you spray them and they ask if you were light on the pour.

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 12:22 PM

Post #7 of 13 (337 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Gardening

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Now the big question,..do they bite? Those rotten fire ants get you before you even realize that you're trespassing! Sounds like the leaf cutters might be big enough for target practice with a sling shot. Maybe the answer is making them a " game animal" for all of the hunter types from up here who are going crazy withoukipt something to hunt.

Kip
kip

johanson

Aug 7, 2003, 1:00 PM

Post #8 of 13 (331 views)

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Re: [Kip] Gardening

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Many is the night that my gardener and I have followed the line of ants back to their mounds. Being from way up North, I wasn't smart enough to know that they might bite. Thank god the ones on my property don't seem to bite anything but the leaves on the tree and an bushes. Sometimes they even chew the grass on the path they are following.

(This post was edited by johanson on Aug 7, 2003, 1:02 PM)

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 1:27 PM

Post #9 of 13 (321 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gardening

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Just how big a critter are we talking here?

Kip
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Gary Anderson

Aug 7, 2003, 1:49 PM

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Re: [Kip] Gardening

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I've seen a couple with saddles on them.
____________________________________________________________
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22 . . . ." - Joseph Heller

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 2:39 PM

Post #11 of 13 (312 views)

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Re: [Gary Anderson] Gardening

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English or western?
kip

johanson

Aug 7, 2003, 2:57 PM

Post #12 of 13 (310 views)

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Re: [Kip] Gardening

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you wrote, HOW BIG ARE THEY?

Gee the ones without saddles were about a half inch or less. They weren't real big, just real hungry

Kip

Aug 7, 2003, 3:08 PM

Post #13 of 13 (308 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gardening

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In Oregon my Mom used to mix up powdered sugar and Plaster of Paris. The ant hills we had would get three feet high. Her mixture worked great. When we moved to Mississippi she was positive that the same strategy would work with the fire ants. Nada. Didn't even faze them , but maybe on the leaf cutters?

Kip
kip