23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I've tried it for the first time this year. So far, so good. Also, the stems are EDIBLE!!! I cut off the leaf at rubbed a paper towel over the stem until all the stickers came off (for some pesky stickers, I used my thumbnail from behind the safety of the paper towel. They steam like asparagus or can be snipped in to pieces like green beans. They taste like a combination of green beans and the squash. They are DELICIOUS cooked up in eggs. They don't store long, though, maybe a couple of days in the fridge before the shrivel and loose all their moisture, But then you can use them like a dried vegetable as they weren't moldy, just shriveled.

The leaves are edible too, but I haven't figured out a way to remove the stickers from them. They just tear underneath the paper towel. Some sites say you can peal them, but really, how do you peel a leaf??? Also, if you boil them in soups the stickers aren't supposed to be an issue, but its too hot out here for soups, so my leaves have been finding their way to the compost heap or the trash if they're spotty.

Oh, and yes, I've been cutting at the base of the stem where it comes out of the main stalk of the plant. The stemps are hollow, so it's scary. You'd think anything could crawl in there and infect your babies, but the bottom stems tend to turn yellow and brown and rot off anyway, and the lower leaves are the first ones most likely to get diseases, so removing them has to be good for the plant too.

Occasionally cukes are deformed like that. However, in the photo, I see no leaves except for one. And that leaf is brown and shriveled up. That is not normal. On a healthy cucumber plant there should be a lot, and I do mean a lot, more leaves than I see. You didn't spray with vinegar again, did you?

Rodney

That cuke also looks like it may have sat too long on the vine without being picked. Did it look better a week ago?

I don't think the soil(neither in the pots, nor in the bed) was to blame. The plants were happy in the pot. Secondly the plants root never managed to get out of the pot.

About Cucurbits:
They are very cold sensitive. I don't know what your climate is like but they did not die of cold, although it could have contributed.

At this stage, you should either start anew from seeds or get new plants. EVEN IF you are successful in reviving them, they are so badly stressed that any plant started from seed today will come and surpass those. Just within last week I lost some of my cucumbers to cold. There is no or little hope when cucurbits are stressed. I am going to re-seed again.

Maybe something funky in the steer manure? Maybe you could have your soil tested at your local ag extension office?

I bought white skin purple fleshed sweet potatoes from the flea market and tried to grow but failed 2 years in a row.

My bro has a small patch growing in his yard, planted by his late mother in law.. It comes back every year. So I think you're ok leaving them in...

Just about a week ago, I was visiting a friend. I saw a pot that wad dug just like that. Lo and behold, few minutes later a chipmonk came started doing it in front of our eyes. We covered the pots with chicken wire.

Those hole are two big for birds and too small for things like skunk , raccoon.

Yes darn those chipmunks!! There's one I think that eats my strawberries every morning. He is always near my strawberry plants. Some of them look obese due to the amount of things they eat from our garden :-]

I grew tromboncino squash last year and routinely picked the babies just before the flowers opened. Couldn't tell the difference in the taste.

My understanding is that all squash can exhibit parenthocarpia. Some squash are much more likely to do so (and are often thereby simply called a parenthocarpic variety), and some are less likely to do it. So I'm not sure you can say that one variety simply won't do it.

I think you answered your own question. Take the remaining plants over to your bf's or move the plants to a sunnier, drier location. if rain is still in the forecast, try to shield them. They simply need drying out. Pepper plants hate wet feet. They're very resilient though, so hang in there.

Best way to water peppers is drench thoroughly, let dry out almost to the point of bone dry, water thoroughly, and so on.

Kevin

Hi,

It looks like you have Southern Blight. It is a fungal pathogen and is very common in places that have high humidity and a lot of rain.

You can spray the plants with Neem oil, it's organic, or with a fungicide.

Good luck

Not poisonous, although I've never heard of people eating zucchini leaves. In Africa, pumpkin leaves are eaten and they are a close relative.

The young leaves with some stem can be quite good. Before they get fuzzy, prickly.
A better edible leaf is on the serpent or also called Cucuzzi. It is actually an edible gourd and has a smooth leaf. I prefer it so don't bother with the regular zuc leaves.

Last year the first frost was so late i had a whole second crop and did cut all the fresh growth for a meal but that is rare...

I also grow a variety that produces an unusual abundance of flower for stuffing...
A local nursery sells this seed provider so i grow a bit of these...
(good pole beans as well)

Here is a link that might be useful: Franchi

sorry, I'm new to posting and didn't know if I could put more than one photo per post. I will get the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis - and repost a photo of my garden in a couple of weeks...hopefully all photos in one post and all plants bug free. It's a large garden and the bugs seem to only bother some plants and not others - for example the squash, cucumbers, corn, sunflowers aren't bothered at all!? I have tried hand picking the bugs but can't keep up with the bugs...

I don't know what else you're growing, but BT should be good for the brassicas and anything in the nightshade family for fornworms(peppers,eggplant,maters, etc)

Here's a tutorial for posting multiple pics.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: tutorial

No, won't hurt birds or fowl. Though, I wouldn't spray it right on the guy, LOL

I think Lowes is where I got mine. Safer is the most common brand, but just look at the ingredients of anything labeled caterpillar killer. If it's Bt and also has that "OMRI" organic certified label on the front, you should be good.

And if you can spend the 15 bucks, help yourself out and get a 1-gallon sprayer!

I checked at Lowe's the other day and they didn't have it -- they used to! Home Depot and maybe even Walmart will have it

Make sure the BT is the "K "variant. The "I" varant is for mosquitos and fungus gnats.

Your rooster -- I'd find a couple of the caterpillars, pick up the rooster, and show them to him. he might clear up your problem in no time. And no, BT only harms caterpillars.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Fri, Jun 20, 14 at 18:26

I've done it both ways...more work to put it down and take it up, but there are fewer weeds. It isn't necessary here for heat.

I don't get any real production from the vines where they have rooted. I planted them a little closer this year. maybe that will lessen the tendency to lunkers.

I tried it this year but I have a hard time figureing out the watering schedule. The plants without it look much better...

Interesting discussion. I too have not followed any of the previous ones. I agree with Digdirt's comment that the difference is probably whether you are starting with a 'good base' or not.

I just recently resumed vegetable gardening (I used to have a home based nursery so my priorities were flowers for the longest time). In the time I've been away, the no tilling camp seems to have flourished. I have a small community garden plot. We just started it last year, and the 'base' wasn't great. This year we were given a truck load of compost/top soil mix and we could add as much as we wanted. My DH added about 6 wheelbarrows to a 4 X 16 foot box, as he was tilling it in by hand, the lady who's in charge, said "Oh no, you don't have to dig it in, just put it on top". DH ignored her.

Can't say for sure, that it was the tilling in of the compost mix, but this is a photo of my garden (Middle Front) one month after sowing the first batch. Ladies on the left planted exactly same time as me, and with much of the same seed (we get lots of seed donated). Lady on the right had started hers a week or two earlier and had bought some starter plants, (ie not all were from seed).

Big bushy plants at front are Tomatoes I bought. I planted some Kale and Brassica starters provided by the gardens (same as the others). You can sort of see mine compared to Lady on right, we both have them at the far left of our plots. Mine are much further along than hers, and she planted hers the same day or earlier.

Interesting case study, Raehelen!