23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I plant Little leaf and Adam Gherkin Hybrid, they both parthenocarpic, we have bad cucumber beetles issue, so I have to plant in a screen house. Little leaf is a little slow to start and not gynoecious, but very dependable for me. Adam did OK, at least started earlier and it is gynoecious. Also tried other gynoecious European cucumbers, but they seem not to like even our zone 5 b summer heat. Not sure how Little leaf and Adam will do in zone 9.
Brussels sprouts that develop hollow stems is caused by either a severe boron deficiency in the soil OR excessive nitrogen and a rapid rate of growth while still very young. That leaves the plant susceptible to any number of soil-borne fungus and bacterial diseases.
IMO your plant is displaying some of the classic symptoms of Yellows (Fusarium Wilt) and there are also other potential fungus issues at work. At this point of advanced disease the plants cannot be salvaged. Sorry.
Dave
Thanks Dave.
I pulled them today and split apart the stems. A couple of observations.
1) Black specks inside the stems. Maybe frass? My son found a couple of cabbage worms on the seedlings a few days after we got them from the nursery.
2) Molted skin - Brown black inside the stem
Overall, they went quickly, so I think (and use that lightly based on my amateur status ) that there was a pest that helped a fungal issue take hold.
This was my third time in 5 years trying to grow Brussel Sprouts. One year the soil wasn't right, One year the soil was good but I planted out too soon and we had a blazing hot summer (bitter plants with loose heads), now this year. :-(
Thanks for your input!
Slimey (love the name BTW!) send some rain our way! Severe drought!
Lori- I think we got to 98*ish Fri. Today was cooler, but still 90ish!
So, will my beans and tomatoes suffer? It's supposed to stay warm for a couple more days. Nancy
As both I and stac5455 said above, the leaves are the best indication for when to harvest.
When planting, the tip of the shallot bulb (assuming you're planted bulbs and not transplants) should be about even or a little above the surface of the soil. At this planting depth the bulbs will push themselves up above the soil surface when they are bulbing, as is evidenced in yolos' photo. Deeper planted bulbs/plants will not do this.
Rina, the leaves of your shallots still look quite green to me. I think they need a little more time.
Rodney
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sat, Jul 26, 14 at 16:57
Rodney
Thank you again. I didn't pick any more; here is another photo of what's in ground. I am sure I planted them deeper than you suggested (they were bulbs, not transplants).
I have few with tall flower stalks, is that 'normal'? I am really novice at this...Thanks again. Rina
yolos
looks like you have more bulbs than me in the clumps.
This post was edited by rina_ on Sat, Jul 26, 14 at 21:02
I went out to the garden this morning with a bowl of cereal in hand. Then I added fresh blueberries to my bowl from the bush. After eating my berry delicious cereal and throwing out the paper bowl into the compost pile, I picked an onion, a cucumber and a tomato for a salad later. I also picked a few late strawberries for my little ones. Will go back out later to grab some fresh lettuce. Nothing beats walking the garden and popping fresh fruit straight into mouth. :-)
We picked red currants, black raspberries & crab apples daily for a few weeks. So far this year, no figs. The blackberries, grapes, melons, corn, carrots, peaches & pears are not yet ripe. The mulberries will be left on the tree for the birds. :-)
Happy Gardening!!
Your limited description really doesn't provide any clues that would narrow down the choice of possibilities. The most common pest is cucumber beetles of course and some of them are yellow but they also have stripes or black polka dots and they don't slime the plant. See the link below with the pics and see if that is them.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Common Pests of Cukes and Squash
Yes I agree I need to put up a photo. I reorganized my office and now can't find some things (lol) like my camera and the card for it. I'll steal my husband's iphone and take some pictures to post.
About the weather- it hasn't been too cool for sure. Upper 80s or more every day, alternating with days of constant rain, which doesn't do anything to cool anything off- just makes the weather soupy and uncomfortable.
Not sure about sunburn. I had considered BER but again I'll get photos up soon.
Thanks!
Black Plastic is used early in the season to keep the soil RELATIVELY warm. It does not heat up the soil to such an extent and depth to kill micro organism. White plastic possibly can do that because it works on GREENHOUSE EFFECT. black plastic ONLY absorbs solar heat and get warm and then warms up the soil that it is touching. But its major advantage is that, being black, it will not radiate heat into the space at night also prevent cooling the soil by air movement over it. Also, in the spring time rain water can also cool down the soil. So BP can fend off that too.
I had covered my beds with Black Plastic weeks before planting but I took them off in June.
The bottom line is that keeping black plastic or black fabric can contribute to warming up the soil, which is not desirable during the summer months.
Well, those of you who get early frosts, you can pick them and if they even have a hint of blush, they will ripen on your counter top just fine!
I have a counter (in my newish kitchen) that just holds pickings, either ripening or getting ready to process! Nancy
As long as the flowers come from plants of the same species, Cucurbita pepo, which includes most summer squash, they should pollinate. Male flowers from one zuke should pollinate the females from the same plant.