gardening in Bend?

[BendLocal]

Originally Posted by Greener_Pastures

Just curious if you gardeners in Bend have to deal with slugs much?

Not very often and not very many of them but they are around. Birds on the other hand...

[Greener_Pastures]

I deal with birds too, but that is great to hear about slugs, I probably remove and/or kill 30-40 a week right now (and that could probably be higher if I was more diligent about it), so the lack of slugs sounds heavenly. Thanks for the quick replies!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by Greener_Pastures

Just curious if you gardeners in Bend have to deal with slugs much? ...........

I get a few of them. They are very small, but I occasionally find them in my strawberry bed. Just exactly where I don't want to put any slug bait.

My ducks would eat them, but the ducks also love to eat the strawberry plants, so that one is not a good solution.

My pest problems are little grasshoppers and coddling moth. The turkeys eat the grasshoppers and there is nothing to be done about coddling moth except to spray.

My big problem is raiding by the birds.

[delta07]

I don't have an issue with slugs at all. I do get leaf miners in my lettuce and spinach. I also get some kind of onion & garlic borer. I am an organic gardener, so I mostly find myself picking off bugs and squishing. Hard to get the ones that are in the soil though.

[doaclown]

Had good success with potted broccoli never tried to actually plan it
Where should I go to find a Peachtree. They grew very well in NE Oregon

[SGradek]

We are 2 seasons new to Bend. We live at nearly 4,000 feet and last year we had August/September frost that destroyed all of our tomato plants even though we draped a cloth over them. This year we want to build a better cover that will allow us to cover at night and open for pollinators during the day. Suggestions please!

[CAjerseychick]

maybe check out the gardening forum, theres probably something on that there...

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Low tunnel. Hang 100 watt incandescent bulbs on thermostats so the lights come on at 45 degrees. That will prevent freezing.

[Rosefolly]

Someone mentioned Bend is USDA zone 5, but I just looked it up and got USDA zone 6. They revised the zones a few years ago so that is probably the reason. That doesn't really sound ridiculously cold, but on the other hand, I expect the cold lasts longer than the zone 6 I knew in Pennsylvania.

My husband has enjoyed growing tomatoes everywhere he has lived. May I assume that short season varieties would be best? On the other hand I collect and grow heirloom/antique roses. I do understand that I could no longer grow the tender varieties I grow in California, but there are lots of cold hardy antiques as well. It would be quite a change for me. I like growing apples and grapes, so I imagine I could still plant those.