Got milk?

You know, ever since I learned that my cucumbers may not be cucumbers after all, the whole plant's been disappointing me. I got home yesterday to discover the leaves all wilted, despite a good amount of rain the day before. It's almost is if the plant is picking a fight with me just to avoid being sad when I say goodbye. (Little does it know that I'm not ripping it out - it's already bitten me once!) I think I'm going to do one of the homemade watering systems suggested by Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl. I'd been putting it off, but it's simple enough to do, and I've got the materials and the drill. May as well do something with them.

The other plants all seemed perfectly happy, but I gave them a drink anyway, in case we get some light showers today - if there's one lesson about gardening that's remained in my head since I was a kid, it's that shallow watering damages plants. If I do cukes again next year, I think a bigger pot would be good for them. Or perhaps just train the vines in a more vertical direction. Containers don't hold as much water as the open ground does, obviously, which creates one watering problem. But the cukes also have wide leaves that act like umbrellas over their pot, and I suspect less rain is getting in there than in the other plants' habitats.

I also fed my tomatoes some milk, another trick of Ms. Trail's. I'm mildly concerned about blossom-end rot, and I haven't supplemented with calcium at all. We had some milk that was long past its expiration date, so I went ahead and used it. Here's hoping it makes them happy!