24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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planterjeff(7b Grant Park Atlanta)

Time to get some cats :)

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NewTXGardener (8a Dallas)

Or dogs! ;-)

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galinas(5B)

I have the same problem. Beets died for me twice this year - first in the ground, second in the deep cells. And not only beets. All root crops this year are terrible - carrots died, turnip, that I NEVER had any problem with wilting few in a day, and it is not a root maggot, as I have it covered. I guess the most problem at least in my area is a huge difference between soil temperature(bellow norm due to the long winter) and very high day temperature(90+F). I heard that cold roots can't pump water fast enough to keep up with what leaves evaporate. Naturally, we try to water already wet soil and create perfect fungus conditions... I seeded beets again in the ground, hopping that the weather finally getting it sense...

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agardenstateof_mind(USDA 7 NJ)

The only thing I've noticed is that the trusses seem to form in hardest to reach location :-)
Very nice tomato plants!

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bwood1982

No lie about that. Lol

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Gosh, someone with a pasture should know the identity of milkweed! Does he graze animals where there's lots of milkweed?

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glib(5.5)

This is similar to milkweed but not one. And I have had them for a long time side to side. Milkweed has thicker stems and wider, glossier leaves. Perhaps henbane or swamp milkweed?

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Peter (6b SE NY)

DTM is much longer in the Fall. I blame my lack of success with Fall gardening partially on the lack of sun, and the huge amounts of pests. Germinating and seedlings in summer heat is also a challenge. I am not sure I will try any major summer plantings this year.

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illiveggies

Another online tool that helps in planning for succession planting is EdenPatch. Full disclosure - I have been growing vegetables in a community garden for the past 12 years, and am part of the team that is building EdenPatch.

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stef2222_zone5

Why didn't I think of that?! Yes, collards.

Thanks so much!

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zzackey(8b GA)

LOL! Sometimes the obvious is too easy!

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sweet_daddy_zim

We have a lot of rabbit pressure, but we have had minimal garden losses despite having no fencing whatsoever -- I spray the perimeter of our raised garden as well as plants whose leaves I don't plan to eat for a week or more with a peppermint oil-based, non-toxic spray. It smells good to me, but apparently the rodents aren't thrilled.

There are some other sprays which use "putrescent egg solids" or garlic which seem to be effective. Some of these are tolerable-smelling, others are horrific smelling to humans...but only for about 2 days, then our poorly developed noses fail to detect the residual scent. Other mammals seem to remain grossed out for weeks.

Part of our success is also probably due to the fact that the cats and dog occasionally kill a rabbit. The cats have no interest in squirrels and the dog is too much of a spazz to catch them, but the squirrels don't show a lot of interest in our garden most of the time.

We also have voles which the cats kill ALL THE TIME, but as the cats are getting elderly (and we're DONE with cats after these two), I'm going to sink a foot's worth of wire mesh vertically along the perimeter of the garden box I'm remodeling just as a prophylactic for our eventual cat-free future. The dog thinks dead voles are gross and the live ones are apparently too slow-moving to be of any interest chasing.

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gumby_ct(CT it says Z5)

Squirrels and birds are difficult to deter...
I have a toy (plastic) snake I bought some years ago to deter birds in the garden. While I am not sure it does deter birds I have seen it deter (on many occasions) a squirrel that comes up on our deck.

IF you know where the squirrels enter the garden a toy snake may work - but then it may not. Tho it is worth a try to have a garden ornament ;)

I have successfully used rose & blackberry trimmings to deter birds and squirrels from damaging seedlings.

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planterjeff(7b Grant Park Atlanta)

I have my peppers in raised beds too with great drainage, but we had 3 weeks of straight rain/clouds and I noticed mine turned a little yellow green too. But after a week of full sun they are now back to normal. It could be this. Have you noticed the color getting back to normal now that we've had a week of no rain?

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Green Thumb

Planterjeff, I have noticed the bell peppers are beginning to kinda come around. It may have just been all the rain and cloudy weather. Can't say for sure, but I haven't done anything else to them. Keeping my fingers crossed. The New Mexico chili peppers I planted still aren't doing so good, but that could be due to the hot humid weather. It gets hot in New Mexico (where these peppers originate, but not as humid as South Louisana, so that could be the answer to those peppers. Thanks for the input.

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ilodato(6b)

Each spot looked like this. I have 4 bunches like this. How many seeds would you guess that is? It looks good today still but it did rain, so....

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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

That looks fine.

Chard 'seed', like beet seed, is actually a cluster of individual seeds. So if you sow one 'seed' you inevitable get a cluster of seedlings. So your pants could just be the result of a single 'seed.'

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weirdtrev

Yes, you often directly seed pumpkins. Squash in general don't transplant well, which doesn't mean you can't do it you just have to be really delicate with the plant and can't leave them in small pots past the first true leaf stage.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

The image sure looks like sun scald to me!

Suzi, I'll make a suggestion that can help you prove your neighbor wrong. 'Surround', a kaolin clay spray can be an enormous help in keeping borers, beetles, and sun/heat at bay.

It's used commercially, but is now available in sensible sizes for backyard growers. I've used it for years on my cucurbits, beans, and tomatoes without fail. It is approved for organic growers (and Certified Organic growers).

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ZachS. z5 Littleton, CO

"Weed to others" is right. In the US burdock is an invasive and noxious species, then again so is mullein but that doesn't stop people from growing it.

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jbb3710web

Thanks everyone! Burdock has been dug up!

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Nitsua(6b MO)

fadiver ... That's a UK expression, not an autocorrect issue - slang term for 'a very long time'.
Donkey's Years

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FADiver (7B, eastern Virginia)

Oh, haha! I assumed floral meant to type "dozens of" and it corrected to "donkeys".

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jimmy56_gw (zone 6 PA)

I grow the same here also, Just like Dave said, Mine really started breaking ground the last few days with all this warm temps we been having, When they get about 6 inches high then cover with dirt then repeat.

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wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

Some potato pieces sprout about 8 shoots...too many skinny ones in a crowd for best results unless you like small potatoes. I suggest leaving 4 stalks per piece. I try to plant them a little deeper to start with and don't need to hill so high. They like cooler soil than here in central Indiana and high hilling dries out faster.

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LoneJack Zn 6a, KC

You are welcome. Good to know you won't be relying on these transplants to get your cucs! Good luck and stick around. There are some really knowledgeable gardeners on Gardenweb that have helped me a lot the last several years as my gardening went from a minor hobby to a MAJOR obsession.

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shoegaze99

I'll for sure be sticking around. I've been reading the forums for the last month or two and have found them very helpful so far. I look forward to being a more active part of the community now that I've officially started posting. Everyone here seems great.

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lucillle

"Chemicals that are applied by label directions are safe"

So very VERY not true. DDT, Diazinon, all sorts of insecticides were taken off the market AFTER years of use. There is much we do not know about chemicals, some are safe when used correctly, some are not, some we won't realize the damage done for years to us and to our families.
I'm not by any means putting down the good that some chemicals can do. But to believe that they are all safe when used according to label directions is naive.

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Sarah Wadleigh

Living next to a cornfield is way different than having neighbors that use Roundup. On a farm, the herbicide is applied from above and will definitely drift onto your property. Especially because you want to grow organically, this location is not ideal. My husband and I are in the same boat. Looking for a place where we can keep bees and grow organically. Sad that we live in such a toxic world.

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