Things are coming along...

As usual, I began my evening of gardening by weeding.  This time I wore jeans, which was a good idea :)  My tomato, pepper, eggplant, and bean plants looked a little taller and bulkier.  Some of my zinnia plants had come above ground...just leaves right now, though.  Also a few of my zucchini and squash plants were growing. 

 Our sugar snap pea seeds were in, so I planted 2 long rows of 36 seeds (across 3 feet of soil).  Next I planted more seeds in the places where seeds had not germinated yet...hoping these will germinate!  Some of my squash, zuchinni, okra, and marigold plants had failed to germinate, so I'm hoping next week the new seeds I planted will be growing!

I dug trenches around the visible plants and placed fertilizer in them (then recovered with soil).
I also sprayed Thuricide on all my plants, to prevent caterpillars from munching away the leaves.

In class we discussed climate and how it relates to plant growth.
Climate refers to precipitation, temperature, humidity, light, and wind.
In Florida our rainy season is from May-November.
 While some rain can be beneficial, rain in excess can cause problems (favors disease, reduces quality and yield, wastes fertilizer, etc...).
In Northern states sleet and snow can pose threats to a garden...something we don't have to worry about here in Florida! Though, snow can be a good insulator.  
 In Florida it is too hot to have a good garden in the summer.  Whereas in Wisconsin, a summer garden is great.   Doing a fall garden in Florida works well since our first frost isn't until November 5th.
As we all know, humidity is pretty characteristic to Florida's environment. Humidity reduces water loss in plants.   In an area like New Mexico or Colorado, the air is really dry and therefore the plant loses water which can cause wilting. 

          There are measures we can take in order to protect our crops from extreme weather:
            -Cover the crops (frost protection)
                 -soil and cloth
           -Huge fans (frost protection)
           -Irrigation (frost protection)
                -sprinkler, surface, seepage, and drip
          -Shade cloth (heat protection)
          -Don't grow in a hot season! (heat protection)