More greenhouse work

We carefully added a small space heater on a dedicated 12 gauge extension cord (and 2 smoke detectors), plastic shower curtains, an interior roof, the grow light we've been using inside, and other things to keep the cacao plants happy.  For a little while, we had mold in this area, so we added an above table fan to keep air moving well.  The fan under the table blows air over several very large bags of water, which we hope are working as a thermal mass to keep temperatures more stable.

We also moved a bunch of plants (banana, dragonfruit, strawberry, pineapple) into the outer area or the greenhouse to help protect them from upcoming frost this winter.  It seems like we're getting closer to keeping things alive this winter; wish us luck!

Chocolate Bananas

I removed the roofing from our shed overhang today in preparation for our shed to greenhouse conversion project (yay!).  However, this sent the temperature in the tiny greenhouse skyrocketing over 107 F!  I got the mister running continuously which shaved off about 9 degrees, but the temp started rising again!

I've heard that some farms use banana trees to shade cacao trees, so I'm trying that now!  Banana and chocolate, together like they should be ;)

Garden status late July

The tomatoes have stopped producing so much, the peanuts are getting large, and we've already harvested a couple of watermelons!  The watermelon plant is taking over everything!  It's climbing the fence, blanketing the yard corner, and sneaking into the strawberry bed!  There are several more watermelons growing, including one that's hanging on the fence! (look to the right in the picture)

The other plants seem to be doing about as well as usual, though the (relatively new) banana plants put out new (large) leaves about once a week, or possibly once every few days.  It's been pretty hot here, so we water every day, sometimes twice per day for some plants, to try to keep things alive during 100+ degree F afternoons.

Banana plants!

I found a couple of large banana plants at the nursery today and couldn't resist.  They cost $30 each.  Gardener says they'll produce fruit if we can keep them from freezing in the winter.  If we can't keep them from freezing, then they'll come back but not produce fruit.  I don't know what variety they are but gardener says they should be self fertile.

We go through a lot of bananas at home, so I hope these produce something good to eat.  If not, at least we'll get some good experience with banana plants, which seem to be hardier tropical plants than cacao.