Ants Did This?

Hello everyone! So since the last update 12 days ago I have pumped some new life into the mix, getting a fresh start late in summer. Since the mishap with misidentifying the squash for watermelons, I have to redeem myself. Sure squash is a desired fruit, and yes it is a fruit. I had to look that up. God forbid I misidentify it again! But squash sure is not as sexy as watermelons are they? So what better way to make things right then by growing not just watermelons, how about yellow watermelons!

So I have 6 starts from seeds of the yellow watermelon, which I hear is what all the cool kids on Tik Tok are talking about these days. Not sure, but I do know some seeds happen to fall in my lap. Never had one before, so why not grow it to see what all the talk is about.

---

I started the seeds in the seed propagation tray I have had laying around. I have to say on the small scale this thing is very handy! I recently have heard melons do not like to be transplanted, but I went ahead, and started them in small pots anyways. If I started on the ground snails would defiantly eat these up. So in order to make sure these mature, Ill need to grow them out on top of the compost bins, far from where snails would stumble upon them.

So when I first started out I was worried about the gophers. Quite worried actually, and even made a big deal about them because I thought is 100% certain that would be an issue. Well that never came to fruition, thankfully. Then the snails. Which where an issue for the smaller plants. But when they grew up, snails no longer where a worry. Then there where ants, and I thought they would be an issue for the watermelons. Well.....We know what happened there lol

It turned out the ants are becoming a problem on the corn! They're farming aphids on a few of the ears. Luckily it is only a few. They where on another corn plant, but I treated that with some Doctor Enzymes, and Green Cleaner. It worked well, but the ants just moved their farming operation to another plant. So I am just leaving them to it, to keep them isolated to just one plant. But the other day I saw something quite cool.

---

Ladybugs chowing down on the aphids! They where going to town. I once tried to use ladybugs indoors for thrips, but they didn't do so well. Probably because there favorite food are aphids, and it was fun to watch them.

The common ladybug or lady beetle — every school kid's favorite insect — is a great, natural solution to aphids. It's reported that a ladybug will eat some 50 aphids a day. If you're lucky enough to have ladybugs in your garden, their larvae will eat their weight in aphids each day
Source

A corn plant untouched by any pests:)

Then the corn on the side of the property are doing very well!

A sneak preview on the Glass Corn
I know I have showed one before, but this corn is just amazing to look at! Even as it dries it seems it is changing colors.

The cherry tomatoes are also churning out some beautiful colors. I almost did not catch this one, since it was being blocked by some foliage, I thought it was pretty impressive.

---

But not as impressive on how much I am harvesting off this one plant! If you love these in your salad, or for anything else, just grow one of these, and you will have an abundance. Low upkeep as well, but I am sure if you let this grow on a trellis, it would be even more productive.

Pucker up!

Colors are one thing, but shapes are another cool, and maybe even funny thing plants can do. I've seen some weird leaf formations on cannabis many times, but this Beef Steak may take the cake!

---

I have harvested the Serrano's. They are not as spicy as I hoped them to be, but they taste so good!

---

The habanero is trying. If you have been following along you would know this pepper, or actually all of my peppers have been quite shitty. Ill be happy with a few, and if Ill tell you what, Ill even eat one when it's ready. I can try to make a video, but no promises, since I am really am clueless on uploading them. But I will take a before, and after pic.

---

A squash that I left in the ground is starting to grow again. Since now I know what exactly they are, and they are actually preferred when young, I will see if I can get a few off of it.

---

So yeah that's about it, the marigolds are still going strong, and hopefully will stick around till the end of this season. We have been having some very nice weather, and will have our best weather ahead of us. Hopefully I can get a few good yellow watermelons. I got 3 great starts that you seen above, and probably will just put 2, since now I know how much room melons need to grow. But then again they probably will not grow large due to shorter days with sun. But if you stick around, and watch out for updates, we will see. Thanks for reading:)