New Gardner in Houston

[JenniferY1131]

Hi a!
I just started gardening recently on my apartment patio. I'm new to gardening and find that I have lots of questions! Hoping this forum will help me to become a better gardner (not sure if I spelled that right lol).

 

[marlingardener]

Hi Jennifer! We are in Texas also, on a small farm in central Texas. We will all give you as much help as possible so you will have a thriving garden on your apartment patio.
I assume you are doing container gardening. Please tell us what you are growing, and how big the containers are for your plants.

 

[JenniferY1131]

Hi! Yes, I'm doing container gardening. I have tomatoes, jalapeños, parsley, bell peppers, and Cayenne peppers!

My parsley is in a container that has a diameter of 18 in. Planter.
My tomatoes are in a pot that has a diameter of 9in. and depth of 9in. (I think this might be too small but I'm worried about transplanting them at this point.
My jalapeños are just little buds now so they are in a 5in. planter.
Bell peppers are in a planter are in a pot size 14.13 x 14.13 x 12.9.
My Cayenne peppers is in a pot about twice the size of my Bell pepper pot.

I hope I'm making sense with these specs. Like I've said, I'm pretty new. I had a situation with caterpillars and snails about two weeks back that pretty much destroyed my parsley. I used this insect killing powder which seemed to get rid of the caterpillars but it still looks like something is getting to the leaves of my Bell peppers. Not sure what the issue is.

 

[marlingardener]

Jennifer, be careful about killing the caterpillars on the parsley. Parsley is a host plant for swallowtail butterflies.The butterfly lays eggs on the parsley, which hatch and grow into caterpillars, which make a pupa from which a butterfly emerges. When I harvest parsley I am very careful to check for eggs and caterpillars. Dill and rue, among other herbs, are hosts also.
Your tomato is definitely in too small a pot. Transplant it into a 5 gal. bucket with holes punched in the bottom for drainage. The tomato may wilt down for a day or two, but will recover. When transplanting it, try to disturb the roots as little as possible.

 

[MaryMary]

Welcome to the forum, JenniferY1131!!


Sorry for the slight hijack, but...
P.S. @marlingardener, I'm glad I clicked this thread! I don't grow parsley, as we don't use it much, but I'll try to find a spot for it now! They can have it!! (Wait... will I get the caterpillars here, in Ohio?)

(Edited to add: Yes!! Found this..."The giant swallowtail is the state's largest native butterfly." Woo-hoo!!)

 

[Trellum]

Hi there, Jennifer! Nice to meet you and welcome to the forum I'm sure you will get the help and inspiration you need on here If you got any questions, please don't hesitate to ask; we are here to help.