The compost pile is holding at about 106°F in the hottest section. I’m hoping yesterday’s turning didn’t slow it down too much. I plan to leave it alone for a few days and see if it climbs higher.
I watered the lemon tree again after a few dry days at the surface. I keep finding conflicting advice on citrus watering, which isn’t surprising. Most of the contradiction seems to come from vague context. Someone in a cool, wet climate might water once a week. Someone in Southern California in summer might water daily or more.
The consistent thread is this: container lemons want evenly moist soil in a fast-draining mix so roots never sit in stagnant water. For now, I’m watering this two-foot-tall tree in its 5-gallon nursery pot about every two to three days. It’s December in Yucaipa and warmer than normal, about 75°F today. But likely dropping into the 60s over the next few weeks. With shorter days and cooler nights, water is lingering in containers much longer than it did in summer.
I planned to spray insecticidal soap on the potatoes and beans today, but the heat picked up faster than expected, so I pushed that to tomorrow. I pruned several badly damaged potato leaves and removed one nearly dead plant from the west planter near the last rose bush. That spot was always a gamble. It’s crowded, and I planted there mostly because I had too many potatoes and the soil looked fertile. I left just the stem. Whether it rebounds or not, the data point is useful.