23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I figure on early July as the last chance to plant warm-season crops like cucumbers, summer squash and bush beans. This is actually a good time to plant parsnips, especially if you pre-sprout the seeds in damp paper towels.
The wet weather pattern is frustrating, but I'll take it over drought anytime.
Planatus, thanks for that suggestion on pre-sprouting the parsnips. I will try that. I have already dug a trench for the parsnips just now, but I will cover it, because it is supposed to rain again. (That trench is just to make the soil for the parsnips nice and friable, so the seed can grow deep and long: I am not going to plant the seed at the bottom, in case you are worried!) And you're right about being grateful for the rain.
Here is another post on this forum where folks are discussing the same issue.
Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper leaf curl
Should have just added this to your previous post about this plant rather than starting a new post so I linked it below. That way all the info is in one place.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Your previous post of this question
Wow! All I can say is inspect the underside of the leaves for any sign of insects.
Is this all of your peppers or just one plant?
If it were a fungal type disease, usually they start at the bottonm leaves and work their way up..hard to tell from your pics, but it looks all over to me?
Have you had cold snaps in the last couple of weeks?..Could be cold damage.
Or...did you fertilize heavily recently?
9 times out of 10 it is caused by herbicide exposure. Even the slightest drift of it on the wind can cause this.
The one time out of 10 that it isn't herbicides it is caused by a severe infestation of aphids on the underside of the leaves.
Dave
I have not grown them myself but I was researching the matter. On Mother Earth News I found an article from a gardener who grows them in Canada:
Grow Sweet Potatoes Even in the North
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-sweet-potatoes-zm0z11zsto.aspx
The author said the trick in the northern regions is to use clear plastic to warm up the soil before planting.
On another link, a blogger from Seattle related his experience in trying to grow them--he was not very successful.
http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2011/01/growing-sweet-potatoes-in-seattle-is-it-possible/
However he did relate in the article that you can ALSO eat the leaves and they are quite nutritious. He said he planted his in black pots but the year he did it for--Seattle had a particularly cold summer. My guess is that it would be worth a try but warm the soil first.
A gardener here on Olympic Peninsula and close to the water grew them. He likes to experiment with things at least once. I took 4-Hers on field trip to his garden in October and he saved his peanuts and sweet potatoes to harvest when they came. The sweet potatoes were only a little smaller than those in store and about 6 to a plant. They were planted on the south side of a stone/ concrete foundation of his greenhouse outdoors.
I have to agree with you zeedman, in amongst the rat tail seed I planted one plant is producing short fat green pods, Madras? Whatever it is it's quite succulent and nicer than the long skinny purple ones, I still like them but not as much as the short fat green pods. In any case I received my Madras seed from Bountiful Gardens today and have already planted a few seeds. Thanks for the heads up on this one.
Annette
Agree - sounds like lack of pollination with the shriveled fruit. You can self-pollinate - see the link below.
Here's a list of yellow leaf possibilities:
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/why-squash-leaves-turn-yellow.htm
Here is a link that might be useful: Hand pollination of Squash
That's probably it. It is used for livestock feed and in bird seed mixes (among other things), so I wouldn't doubt it would be included in hen scratch, too. You can read the package and see if it's listed specifically as an ingredient. This part of your garden will be for the birds!
I plant a modest fall crop of potatoes about Labor Day for an early December harvest here in Gainesville, Florida. I then plant my main crop of potatoes (using freshly bought seed potatoes) in mid January for a late May harvest. Anything harvested from my main crop that is starting to sprout by Labor Day gets planted for the fall crop since fresh seed potatoes are not available locally at that time of year.
The first frost of the autumn generally occurs here between Thanksgiving and the first week in December, which allows about 90 days for my fall potatoes to mature. You would need to adjust your summer planting date accordingly -- I would guess around mid to late July for the Atlanta area. Just don't count on a huge crop of fall potatoes. I use them as a supplement to my main crop, which is planted in January. If you want to grow lots of potatoes, then plan for that to be the spring crop.
If finding seed potatoes in mid summer is problematic for you, you can always try grocery store potatoes that have sprouted or stash some spring bought seed potatoes in the refrigerator until you are ready to plant them in July.
This post was edited by courtneych on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 5:50
And onions shouldn't be dried all that long in the direct sun either.
If your onions weren't finished (matured), were harvested early - which in PA I would think it is too early to be harvesting them - then they will go soft no matter what you do.
Onions are left in the dry ground until the tops fall over and the necks turn dry and brown. Then harvested and dried out briefly in partial sun or even shade as it is the air circulation not heat you are after.
Now what to do to try to save them. Soak the carrots and beets in ice water for several hours - a cooler full of heavily iced water will help firm them back up some. Then either can or freeze them as they won't store for long as is.
The onions can be chopped and then either dehydrated and stored in jars or frozen in pre-measured amounts in freezer bags and used for cooking.
Dave
If you post where you read that it might be more clear...
Lots of thing can be pulled early but needs to be in the fridge and used quickly. Onions and garlic can be pulled and used before fully formed, but should not be dried/cured as what you may have read until the tops brown and dry while still in soil as Dave pointed out.
Carrots and beets need cool storage asap...i've used the ice water bath method after forgetting a harvest but it was in shade.
I don't pull much of that until much cooler september weather...carrots lasted through the holidays in cool storage...anything i pull early in summer heat goes right in the fridge...
Maybe you were reading about a completely different growing zone....but the carrots and beets does not compute for anywhere.
I know this is an old post but I have something to add regarding overwintering chard for seed. Last year I planted Erbette chard seed apparently too late as it did not come up. I assumed my seed was bad as I had had it several years already. To my surprise it came up this spring. I guess it was too hot when I planted it last year.
Anyway, those chard are now bolting and going to seed. so it is my guess that if you winter sow it and it can come up on it's own, which is really early, then you won't have to try to protect it during the winter. (unless of course Erbette is not biennial)
Sounds like your PH might not be right for carrots..do have your soil tested, then adjust for carrots.
I planted carrots this year in a new 5x10' raised bed of very soft soil. I had large bare spots where no carrots emerged. Germination was excellent in other areas. I replanted where the bare spots were and had some germination but not good. I have concluded that there is some soil organism feasting on carrot seeds or the vulnerable feeder roots. Quite possibly Symphylans as I know them to be present in my garden, but could be some other culprit. I suspect you have a similar issue but even worse. Raised beds with high organic matter content that are moist all year round can breed large populations of leaf-litter-loving bugs. Some of these bugs also love chewing on young, tender roots when available.
Dealing with below-ground pests is much worse than the ones above ground.