23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Dear Sir, i already read the article concerning vernalizing artichoke seeds a while ago. They mentionned two methods:
1: Seed chilling necessity
2: Plant chilling nrcessity

Concerning seeds, it is a very easy task to put the seeds in the fridge at 2 degrees celcius, or 34 degrees F for 40 days.

Concerning plants, you can put them in a cold mid shaded area from February until March, or put the plants in the freezer at 2 degrees C for a whole month, bringing them outside weekly for few hours to prevent rot.

I myself planted Green globe variety during last year spring, without vernalizing, and they produced during the next February, after having their chilling need.

Hope that helps

In the Phoenix area, I've had good luck planting in the fall. The small artichokes acclimate and are big enough to make it through any light freezes with some mulch. In spring they always provide me with tons of chokes.
I'm now in NC and I have several baby artichokes getting ready to plant out in zone 8. This will be my first time in NC for any gardening at all.

I agree. I've never grown watermelons but it just looks like physical damage - you get the same on other cucurbits. I think your first guess that it is from rubbing on the trellis was right.

Hi im having a similar problem,please check the pic below and let me know what is causing it and any remedy if possible?

Here is a link that might be useful: sugar baby watermelon photo

My experience differs, Daninthedirt. But on consideration that's likely because you're in Texas and I'm way North of you. The OP's in Georgia so, yes, there's probably more light available through windows than up here. So I need to change my statement and add something about latitude.

I raise all my seedlings in a glazed porch with no artificial lighting. But it is always going to be second best in light terms to outdoors.

I think it's less a matter of latitude and more a matter of the window size and arrangement in the inside room you're using. Let's face it. If I'm on the equator and my picture-window room is badly shaded by trees outside, it's not a good place to raise plants. Of course, the yard outside directly under those trees is going to be no better.

All inside rooms are not created equal.

That certainly doesn't look like aphids to me; it looks like the frass (poop) left behind by a caterpillar. And I have the very same thing on one of my chard plants--never seen it before-and there is some kind of caterpillar producing it.

The thread is old so probably pointless to add to it but I do think they are aphids. You can see the cast off skins in the photo too. Black aphids look just like those, at least the ones we get here do. There is a species which particularly loves runner beans and favas. But I've never seen aphids of any description my chard.

It has been too cold this year for watermelons. They are easy to grow if it is hot.

Watermelons like loose and rich soil, but I have raised my best perhaps in heavier virgin soil.
This year in central Indiana it has been cooler and ripening was delayed, but they were of large size.

No they cant fly...but unless you took them a mile or so from your house they will come back.

I kill them on sight. I pick them and kill them or if there are a few
on the pants I will squirt them with a water/dawn solution. Works great and doesnt hurt the plants or the environment.
It also works on grasshoppers just takes a little longer to kill them.

This post was edited by shayneca25 on Thu, Sep 18, 14 at 21:41

C'mon, shayne....squashbug nymphs can't find their back to a plant once removed.

Thanks Tracydr! :)

I'm going to grow the "Lunchbox" variety next year. The Red type. Can't wait! They are supposed to be really good.

I heard they are pretty testy) After I lost whole second crop of carrots due to the woodchuck eat all the foliage I am thinking about eating... a woodchuck) Just need to come up with a way to convince my hubby) He has special thing to furry guys and can't agree with me on the next dinner menu)

They are rodents. Where I am you can't shoot them (Houses are too close) and it's illegal to trap and release them elsewhere. And costs $200 - $250 to have them removed by a company. So I will trap and drown next year. They decimated my Dino Kale this year.

The soil test is key. Without that you have no idea how much K or P is in your soil. It was an eye opener for me. Being in western oregon I knew I had at least an adequate K level, but I found I also had a very high P level as well. So I have stopped using bone meal. I also found out I needed to add 200 pounds of lime, yikes. Adding balanced fertilizers only makes sense if your soil is uniformly deficient, which is not likely.

Hairy carrots! it's not just me?

So many people telling you to get a soil test. That's often a good idea, but not such a do-or-die thing. It is good to know your approximate pH; everything else follows that.

One problem with relying on composted material to provide a specific thing like potassium is that the stuff's specific nutrient levels are extremely varied due to what was used to make it. Hardwood ash is also extremely variable and very alkaline.

Since gardening is long-term and you are only being cautious, you might add rock minerals such as greensand. It has very slow (eon-scale!) K release, especially if your pH is high, and you may need a lot but a lot won't generally cause any problems.

Gardening is also local, so take all that with a grain of salt (poor source of K).

As I understand it, root veggies get more woody in the high summer heat as well. That's why they're typically grown in the spring and fall. Spring Turnips should have been harvested by now and fall turnips aren't ready to plant yet...maybe in the coolest zones you could plant seeds now... Check your local Agricultural Extension or the one nearest you for exact planting dates.

Susan

I really like "Just Right Hybrid". It is more tolerant of cold weather than many other turnips, but it is not recommended for spring planting. I tried it once. Didn't work out at all. The catalog I got it from also says it is for fall planting only. It should mature in cool weather.

Timing could be tricky in Ontario. In my experience, this variety doesn't make cute little "baby turnips" if you get the timing wrong and nasty weather threatens. Roots stay skinny until the tops are really big. Tops are good though. Mild, hairless. Tough midrib.

I don't think it is 100% turnip. I think it has some other brassica in its background.

At 60 or 70 days, depending on the weather, you should have a big, thick-skinned turnip that is tender and sweet. Not the prettiest to look at, as there are roots hanging from the bulb. They hold in the ground much better than most turnips as the weather turns cold (for California) or rainy, but I don't think they're as cold hardy as, say, kale.

I tried planting them in early July, and the seedlings just sat there, unhappy with the heat and not growing until the weather cooled, and I won't even be close to being on target to get sprouts this year unless we have a very mild December and I get lucky with Christmastime sprouts. I assume I will have similar troubles planting in June, it will probably be hot by the 4th of July. Was it perhaps the variety, can you recommend one for our zone for growing over summer?

TracyDR: That makes sense. My available horse manure does break down quickly, and in MA we have chopped leaves! I JUST happen to have bed very much like your description. I was planning onions, but perhaps I will put a few Brussels at one end, to test my soil!

Mark: I am rolling in cabbage immediately next to the Brussels, and they are just starting to head up nicely. Which is good, cause we just started eating second planting of Caraflex from another bed. I parked them there, on a lasagna compost system, sans carpet, from last year. I didn't expect much, soil was very young, but they are great.
Our summer was cooler than usual, nights in low 60's, and hi 50's. Most days 70-80, with a week or so higher in August. Basically perfect broccoli weather. A local vegetable gardening friend told me to look at calcium in the soil. Does low calcium affect Brussels, but not cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower? My memory says it is a trace nutrient... Off to check.
KateQ