23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Oops, sorry, I got my Els and Las mixed up in my last post. I was trying to say there was still a reasonable chance for El Nino AND it doesn't really mean rain. Below is a partial list of myths about El Ninos. I linked the whole site below.

Myth 5: When there is an El Niño, there is lots of rain in California. No -- The answer is not always and not everywhere. Historical records for the past six plus decades for Central California, including the SF Bay Area, show that during the twenty-two El Niño events the rainfall has been roughly above normal (i.e., > 120%) half the time and below normal (Over the same span, Northern California had three wet years years during the five strong events, with five above-normal seasons during the seventeen weak-to-moderate El Niños.

Southern California showed more of a wet bias during strong El Niños with above-normal rain in four of the five seasons, near normal the fifth year. During weak to moderate events Southern California precipitation was above normal six of the 17 seasons, near normal six seasons and below normal the remaining five yearss.

The bottom line is that California can get wet during El Niño, but not always. As a matter of fact, the California drought in the 1976-77 winter was during a weak El Niño. It is important to keep in mind that El Niño is not the only thing happening in the atmosphere and that other patterns can either enhance or detract from its overall impact.

Here is a link that might be useful: El Nino vs BA rain

I think what I was trying to say is that LA and EL really don't make sense to us lay people and that the weather people seemed to be kinda giving us some hope that the drought would ease! THEN they hit us with the possibility of a 10 YEAR drought!
Our area is very Ag and we are trying to plan for the worst. Nancy

Hi NewTX
Do your amaranth leaves look like this? I have the same problem, but don't know what it is or how to fix it :(

baltimore_figs: you can see my leaf in the first post. The spots are disappearing now, I still have some old leaves that are like that and some new ones, but the brand new ones that come out don't have that now or have less. I don't know what's going on, and not sure if i should save seeds. The other amaranth plants I have in my planter box are now being attacked by some green worms eating them up, not sure where they are from, they are everywhere except my chives, no one wants to eat my chives. :-D

While those raised beds do look great, as Dave strongly pointed out, you've created a very un-natural place for your plants to live.
I think the best option now is to carefully remove the plants from the beds, then remove half of the compost. Using a digging fork or shovel, dig deeply to mix the soil under the beds with the compost. Then after mixing, take a soil test and send it into a nearby lab (or try the link below). Adjust the soil ph with lime and add other necessary nutrients the test results suggest, then replant.
Not so easy, but unfortunately you missed some important steps the first time around. Don't worry though, everyone does!
-Mark

Here is a link that might be useful: soil test

No, sorry, not "taken aback" and any frustration that came across isn't directed at you. I just get so frustrated at the crazy sources out there that keep giving out such faulty info to new gardeners. Stuff like - "use straight mushroom compost for your garden and it will be great" - when they know it won't be without lots of other stuff/work.

They never bother to explain that compost has to be converted to nutrients usable by the plants and that conversion requires active, diverse soil bacteria and by soil-dwelling residents - worms, beneficial nematodes, grubs, pill bugs, etc.

They eat and digest the compost and poop out nutrients the plants can use and absorb with water. They are all lumped together under the label "soil food web". Unless you directly add them (which many do) and add dirt to the compost (which already contains them), it takes seasons of time for them to move into the beds.

Add to that the issues others have mentioned with mushroom compost (as opposed to manured compost) of low nutrient levels, high salts, and alkaline pH. All of those issues also require time to resolve themselves. The soil food web needs time to grow, the salts need time and rain to leach out, the compost needs time to decompose and neutralize the pH down to neutral, and the low nutrient levels need to be supplemented with additional sources.

You don't have to wait numerous seasons to use the beds. They can be used but you do have to supplement the nutrients and the soil web until the beds are well established and that takes seasons. You will also have to add fresh compost 2x a year as the beds shrink (decompose).

So mix in as much dirt as possible, research adding Mycorrhizae (bio-organics), look into nutritional supplements (both organic and synthetic), and accept very limited results this year. Over the winter the bed will be improving (any new beds need to be fall constructed) and salt leaching out so next year will be better if you keep up the supplements. By the 3rd year you'll see substantial improvement and by the 4th you'll have great beds that only need minimal side dressings with fresh compost to sustain good growth.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Ah, if that's what was meant, I agree with you ltilton.

Perhaps the OP could clarify.

The one I planted in a 5 gallon bucket is doing well and is very healthy. Your problem was probably the cold nights that zone 5 seemed to have.

I have resolved to grow ONLY black cherry next year. Each year I try some other variety in addition to, and am totally disappointed. This year it was Cerise Orange and I think the other one is Juliet. The Cerise is literally chocking out a couple plants in adjacent cages, but the fruits are small and seem to ripen randomly, so picking a decent amount is a lot of work. Juliet is fine, just kind of bland. Last year it was some little red thing that had tough skins. Black cherry is without fail tasty and prolific, and the toms are a perfect size for eating fresh, or cutting in half for salads. The plant is almost as obnoxious as Cerise though, so I'm going to give it it's own little kingdom next year rather than planting it in the common tomato bed.

You could try to overwinter garlic in the beds like I do during the winter. It will come up in the spring, and you can plant other things when you pull it up next year?

Thanks for the recs!
I started planting some brussels sprouts and cabbage. After breaking up and tilling a fraction of this bed, I am EXHAUSTED. This is pathetic lol!

Gardening was much easier in my 30s, I realized today. And a lot faster!

I don't know if they will make it once it gets colder given how late in the season it is, but I'm also going to plant some shiso/perilla plants I've started from seed, as well as some mint....in hopes they'll take over haha.

I also started some serranos but think I will pot those up until spring and then move them into the ground. The warm weather here has been heavenly in starting seeds. In SF, I'd just watch my potting soil do nothing!

Grasshoppers, stink bugs or slugs would be my guess.

I'm up in southern ontario and have also just realized my entire crop is infested with these paper maggots. Does anyone know how to control this for next year I heard that they live in the soil until next year... I'm wondering if there is a way to treat the soil before I plant the peppers other than crop rotation.

I lost a bunch of my broccoli seedlings, leaves all eaten clean off the small plants, more than once, along with lettuce seedlings eaten to the ground, and carrot leaves eaten. I am spraying the seedlings with Sevin at this point, but it is probably too late for Broccoli. I have a fenced in garden and no one has left any signs of digging in, or eating anything bigger than a seedling.

If I give fall gardening a try again next year, it will be with row covers for sure. There's too many pests to try and sprout seedlings in midsummer, especially ones that grow slow and weak due to the heat.

Gophers cause my disappearing veggies. They will take out a 3 x3 section or so, leaving nothing there. They have so much to choose from they only eat their favorite plants. In spring I had to replant tons of peppers and broccoli.

Freezing would be really easy, and if it did not have to be in the freezer long term, then it could be taken out if I needed the freezer space.

Thank you, Tim

We got weevils in our pantry last year! YUK!
My daughter used to work for a pest control company and said you have to dump EVERYTHING and wipe everything down with a bleach solution! We then did the thrift store round to find glass and plastic containers for everything we keep in the pantry. We would just cut out the label and/or instructions and tape them to the containers so we knew what to do. No problems since. Nancy

I've read with interest how neem oil is relatively save for bees, but I've just come in from my zucchini patch where the powdery leaves are covered with bees who are unmistakably gathering the powder, or eating it. Most had full pollen pouches. I've observed this for the last few days, and finally able to believe my eyes, decided to google to see if anyone else has had this experience.

I found a woman who posted on a site that she observed lady bugs eating the powder off her powdery leaves and took a picture of it.
I'll try to upload the address.

Consequently I have grave doubts about spraying the leaves at any time when the bees are actively harvesting the powder. Yes, I know it sounds weird. I would love to hear from anyone else who might have some experience with this. Why would fungus be a beneficial substance for bees or lady bugs????

No bees were eating my powdery mildew, that's for sure. :)

The Immunox didn't do much. My plants are pretty much all dead at this point, except for butternuts which seemed to be more resistant. Still got a nice harvest, though.

I've grown ginger in pots for years. It should continue to do fairly well in a bright indoor spot in the winter. You should watch the development of the root; I've had ginger root grow big enough that it broke through the side of a plastic pot. Store bought ginger gets around four feet tall, and can make very nice clumps. If the root is starting to get too big, just cut some of it out. Depending on the variety, you might also get some flowers on your plant; not very spectacular, but certainly interesting.
Renais

That's helpful. Thanks. So basically, the limiting factor is the root getting too big for the pot. But as you say, that's just a matter of cutting some of it out. But it just keeps growing after that? I guess every year or so I have to do some delicate poking through the soil to see where the root is.

I'm experimenting with growing tomatoes in different sized modified 5 gal buckets. Some are full 5 gals without the water reservoir, some are 5 gal less the reservoir. The ones on the right are Big Beef Hybrid, the ones on the left are Early Girl Hybrid. I've also set up 2 large containers with 2 each of the same to compare. They are all watered with a simple gravity/siphon system I cobbled together to simplify watering.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Yes I have!