23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I started one Marketmore cucumber in a 20" diameter pot about a month ago. This is my first go at cucs in pots. That plant is climbing a 6 foot tomato cage and is looking good. Lots of blooms this week. Hopefully there will be fruit soon.
pnbrown, I have been growing various melons since 2006. the first few years I merely started indoors and planted out then depending on the season would have varying degree's of success dependant on variety. The last few years I get boat loads even with our very strange short and cool year we had this year. I fabricated a bunch of 4x8 mini green houses which go over top of either garbage bags or black weed barrier. I must pay close attention to the weather forecasts as it can get so hot inside it totally fries everything if I don't open the ends on a 70-75F day it can get well into the hundreds.
I have gone a little melon crazy and this fall/winter I will be fabbing up even more bigger homes for some of the more rampant growers who love heat. I haven't even finished harvesting this years crop and I am already getting a whole acre dedicated to growing melons prepped.
Glenn
I have more than 10 bags of old sunflower seeds, even the Russian Mammoth. All of them are smaller than the seeds I can buy from a supermarket.
Yes, I'll test plant some seeds in the winter inside to see if they germinate. I do not see the reason for the farmer to spray any chemicals. The only problem if the seeds are too old. But I think sunflower seeds can be good for a couple of years.
Because the black oil birdseed sunflower seeds are so inexpensive just buy another 25 or 50 lb. bag for next year and don't give it all to the birds. I plant it wit a 2-row tractor drawn corn planter (bean plates) and I'm cutting on my third planting for this year. Most people comment on how mich nicer the flowers are than the ones they are growing when I take to market. When I had mixed varieties on first planting (auction seed purchase) the majority of the customers preferred the generic birdseed sunflowers. So by all means plant them and expect about 50% of the flowers to be attractive enough to cut, same as for the expensive seeds. For each planting expect a 2-3 week cutting period before outer petals begin to drop; always best to cut flowers within a few days of first opening. Other flowers give you a slightly longer cutting window.
I agree with Rodney "somewhat." The somewhat part is I think it IS a Jalapeno, just with some pod shape variation. Not to mention that there are oodles of Japapeno varieties that are short and squatty.
Agree about the corking also. One other reason why I think Jap. Japs are notorious for corking.
Kevin
Back when I was growing shiitake, I had to do the dunk tank thing also to get fruiting flushes going. Truth is, it's too long ago to remember much about time intervals and such. But it sure was a fun hobby for a while.
I eventually tired of that very step-soaking and then restacking water-logged, uh, logs. But it sure did work. Back in those days, I found that in addition to oak, shellbark hickory also fruited well, which of course means nothing to a Floridian.
+o
We're also in MI, and some friends got us interested in doing shitake logs 10 years or so ago. Our first logs we used boxelder and walnut because that's what we've got here on the property. We got zip - nada - for 9 years, though we could see the characteristic white threads growing on the logs. Then last year they surprised us and gave us about 7 beautiful mushrooms. That got us jazzed again, and we started more logs, this time with oak we got from a friend. A month or so back during one of the strange cool rainy periods we've been having this year, they started to fruit. I could see at least 7 buttons, and then - the slugs ate them all!
We were also told this year that we should be soaking them in drums or troughs - we picked up a used plastic drum, but haven't used it yet. But it's raining today - will have to check later to see if anything new is happening.
So, anyway - Bob, if you can find a way to dunk them, do so. But you still might not see any results till next year - patience.
Digging is hard work, but you will get to know the site and soil that way. BTW, I love tiered beds.
This early in the fall, I would throw cover crop seeds over the cultivated soil. Oats are great because they winterkill by January and become a winter-to-spring mulch. In spring you can rake away the oat debris and start planting.
I have 2 new female buds that have not opened yet, but my leaves are tiny compared to yours. And they're being attacked by aphids and squash bugs. I killed like 15 or so squash bugs this morning. I've got a few ladybugs there eating away the aphids and a couple of them made love on one of my leaves this morning and there was another one laying eggs, so I think the aphid problem will be under control. Hate those squash bugs! If those 2 little female flower buds do pollinate, is it too late now for them to go to maturity? I think our first frost is expected to be like the first or second week of November.
The 2 Joi Choi plants (given to me by a gardening friend) that I set out made it into spring and then went to seed. I had stopped harvesting outer stalks in December due to the bitterness. I think we got as low as 25 on 2 or 3 occasions... But don't recall getting much lower. Getting below 20 is possible but doesn't happen often. When it does we don't stay at that low for very long.
Broccoli & cauliflower are my favorites. I've planted them as long as I can remember. I usually set out 150 to 200 broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts and concur that they can handle the lows.
If your calendar shows seeding Joi Choi through September, I can probably add a couple of weeks considering I'm in a warmer zone.
This year I'm adding Cavolfiore di Sicilia Violetto (purple cauliflower) and Romanesco Veronica as new trials. According to our local garden center expert, the Romanesco Veronica is a proven hybrid for our area but will succumb to low temps. The purple cauliflower is an OP cultivar given to me by the same gardening friend. I don't have much luck with OP brassicas so not dedicating much space to it...Green Goliath broccoli is the only OP brassica that does well for me.
Thanks for your reply/input.
This post was edited by grandad on Tue, Sep 9, 14 at 15:10
You may have a much wider window. I can't plant before September because ground temps are too high. Pleasant summer this year, but most years we get about 30 days of 100+ in late June July August. Never been sucessful with bBrussels here, because I can't get them in early enough. They will handled our winter but bolt in February before forming heads. My experience with Green Goliath is the same, better than Gypsy but very similar.
Have not grown Veronica but have grown Grafitti . it does well when the heat holds off. 
I grew the red seed and black seed yard long beans. The black seed ones produced earlier and are still producing. I agree, they were very prolific. The red seed ones - they started later, and yielded a little less, but were delicious. I am leaning towards planting more of these and less of the other beans.
Check Seed Savers Exchange's Facebook page, there is an article on Sept 6,2014 about this vegetable:
""Seed Savers Exchange
September 6
We sampled marmalade from a recipe for "Garden Lemon" melon this week at Heritage Farm. That's right, melon marmalade! The seeds and recipe for this melon were donated by Laura Paine, who received them in turn from long time seed steward Duane Kaiser. The melon was only ever used by his family to make jam!""
Yes Nerys54, if I can find my seed!
I thought I put them in my fridge in the shed.
I was going through my seed stored there yesterday, while getting ready to start some stuff and I couldn't find the seed!!!!!!!
I still have plenty of time to find them, but knowing me, they probably got thrown out with some empty packets of other seed!
Well, I found the seed and planted them.
I harvested a few weeks ago and I didn't get the rainbow of colors that I was expecting.
Like in Shinies picture, Some ears were almost all yellow and some were almost all dark blue. I had very few red kernels.
I will plant the saved seed next year and hopefully get more color.
I planted my Broccoli Transplants (Premium Crop) yesterday evening. Put them under Tulle to keep the bugs out and put a shade cloth on the south side of the bed. It will get morning sun and very shaded shade in the afternoon. Just after I spread the wheat straw mulch we got a thunderstorm with 1 inch of rain. The soil temp this morning in that bed is 80*.
I have carrots sown, rutabagas and turnips up, lettuces sown, and broccoli transplants set out. Hopefully can get the bed ready for the greens this weekend. I consider Farmerdill my personal mentor on fall gardening. I have used his dates for about four years now with consistent success.
It is in the low nineties daily right now, with lows in the low to mid seventies. Still hot. I am watering everything daily for the time being. So far, so good. Of course, my garden is small and I can give it this kind of attention.