23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Thanks @Peter1142 for the response. I didn't think it was related to sun stress due to the fact it has been raining for weeks. But it's totally possible, B/C when it is sunny.....boy, is it sunny. Very hot and humid over here. I did some additional research and found some photos of Thrip damage that looks like this. So it's one or the other I guess. I suppose in either case, the leaves are okay to eat? I hope so, my harvest is pretty modest. Thanks!

Well I'm not an authority on the matter, but my romaine had something similar going on, and you could see it was only on the outer leaves exposed to the sun in summer, the inner ones were normal. And it didn't happen to the lettuce that matured earlier.

I ate them all and lived to tell about it ;)

I wouldn't worry about it, just wash it well of course. You can't expect blemish free leaf crops....

I bought them many months ago, the leaves seam to have a powdery underneath. If the main plants cant be saved do I need to destroy all the runners also, I have so many and I was hoping to grow more for next years plants.

They have been well watered and some of the others that are starting share a bucket with healthy looking plants. I would like to be able to at least save the runners.

Chris

It sounds like a fungus...which is (probably) an opportunist due to stressed conditions. Treating with a fungicide and correcting dryness or wetness or whatever other environmental stress made them susceptible to the fungus in the first place.

However, that's a definite guess and please don't take it as authoritative.

Most of my tomatoes got septoria leaf spot after two days of cool rain a couple of weeks ago. The tomatoes are continuing to ripen, and the crop looks pretty good.

I'm trying Plum Regal paste tomato this year for its blight resistance. It had very little early blight and was growing like a champ until the septoria episode. The fruits are bigger than Romas and there are lots of them.

Yes, the days in the 70 are followed by nights in the 50s. We had 45F last week. San Marzano is a southern mediterranean variety, this is no climate for it. Opalka is a polish variety.

Yes, all of the above should be of some help. However, I occasionally remind people of a simple, effective treatment learned many years ago. As a furrow/planting hole is made to plant beans, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, etc. (either young plants or seeds) toss in handfuls of regular granulated sugar and plant as usual.

For those with large gardens 40# bags of dried molasses can be substituted for granulated sugar. Available where horse feed is sold. This year we are trialing a dry molasses mix that has dried kale added. This is all that was available here. So far all plantings are healthy and repelling the RKN.

For plants that take a bit of time to mature it would be wise to scratch in a sugar top dressing halfway through the growing season.

There is still time in your zone to grow some other crops. Give this sugar method a try.

Thanks for the replies. Lots to think about!

Have a couple of water bowls around the tomato end of the garden.

Haven`t seen any new pecked tomatoes yet.

I am hoping that it works.

Thanks folks for your suggestions and information.

:)

I hate mockingbirds. I have yet to find a good use for them.

Still looking.............

I dont believe so. Everything I've seen of blossom end rot shows the bottom of the fruit as being black and molding. This looks perfectly normal except up close it looks like its shriveling a little and when I felt for firmness it was soft. Soft as in it gives just a little

when I go back in a few days (my garden is at a friend's house) if it hasnt gotten any better or worse, I'll take a photo

Squash borers? Your summer squashes are susceptible to these pests, too; if that is what the problem is. They seem to follow me whereever I garden; so I plant butternuts which they leave alone.

All of my gourds are dying. Even if one survived, lot of holes and bites. when insect bites this gourd, it secrates the glue kind of thing and my gourds looks ugly

I thought this post was about beans, not gourds.

I believe diotomaceous earth is considered organic, and controls most insects with a hard exoskeleton including stinkbugs - which are a relative of kudzu bugs. It's worth a try.

Maybe I'm reacting from having 35 acres filled with invasives. They are totally out of control here and I do miss our natives. Maybe it will all balance out in 1000 years or so.

Not warm enough.

Cucurbits need warm temperatures to take off. I would say 70s ++ and night temps over 50.
All these years gardening I have killed more cucumbers than any thing else, by planting too early, from seeds, from store bought starts

My vines are growing slow. Only 1 1/2' long!

I planted the seed directly in the garden in mid June.

The first seed that I planted in May, got ate by some creature so I had to replant.

It's been hot enough, so that's not the problem I have.

Concur. Piros hybrid is sold as a bell pepper but has the classic cheese shape with multiple lobes and somewhat flat.

This post was edited by farmerdill on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 17:06

Very interesting!

Do they taste like a regular bell pepper?

At least 1 study has shown that commercial vegetable washes are no more effective than tap water for removing pesticide residue. Rubbing the produce (and using a brush for thicker-skinned vegeables) helps more b/c it's primarily the mechanical action that removes the residues and dirt, not the "solvent".

I wouldn't wash any food with soap (though the study did use 1% dish soap, it didn't say anything negative about it but it wasn't any better than plain water), but have used vinegar to remove wax. Though I try to buy things without wax (I won't even touch grocery store cucumbers) - in fact, I don't buy a whole lot of produce except for apples, carrots, frozen veggies, and canned beans.

I'm not sure about salt, but soaking veggies (not something thin-skinned that might absorb too much water and then split) does help get the creepy crawlies out. But salt won't hurt unless you use a lot of it (salt ice water soak makes cucumbers crisper by drawing water out of the cells).

I think you'd have to wash with bleach solution like you clean countertops with to do any better at removing/killing Listeria like on the fruit that was just recalled. I know some growers use a bleach solution on cantaloupe but I wouldn't use it on peaches. And the FDA is saying not to wash the stone fruit that's recalled, just throw it away (they said the same about cantaloupe a couple years ago) since it may be contaminated internally not just surface.

Here is a link that might be useful: Washing produce

This post was edited by ajsmama on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 21:17

I always wash melons, apples and cucumbers from the store with watered-down antibacterial dish soap. But I don't with the ones I get from my own garden, those just get rinsed and dried with a paper towel before being refrigerated. I think I'll give the salt-water bath a try. Thanks for sharing that great idea!
Edie