24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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cybrczch(5)

I grow shallots from seed - usually Ambition hybrid. I start them in January/February (zone 5) indoors, then plant them outside the same time I'd plant onion sets (April). If I'm lazy, I'll leave the plants in bunches of 3-4, if I'm not I'll plant them singly. Harvest mid-summer, the bulbs are usually 2 inches long and about 1 inch in diameter. If I have any that survive the winter (as in they didn't end up in my stomach), I will plant them in the spring. These plants will usually send up a flower spike during the growing season, and give 1-2 large bulbs. Ambition doesn't make a lot of offsets, just bigger ones. I have tried planting bulbs in the fall, but they didn't survive the winter well.

EDIT to add: I've never grown the traditional french shallots or any other kind, so I don't know how they divide, if they give a lot of offsets or not.

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bcomplx(z6VA)

I get 2-3 rounded shallots from Ambition and other seed-sown varieties, but they are nicer with very little bolting compared to vegetatively propagated ones. They store 10 months or more.

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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Looks like Cercospora leaf spot. I just live with it. It comes and goes and mostly affects old leaves ime and in my garden seems to prefer the red chard. If it's too bad I just remove the worst leaves.

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bcomplx(z6VA)

Flora is right, I think. Pull off the affected leaves and the plants will come back strong if it doesn't rain all the time.

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valbell82

I wound up clipping off the leaves and then I noticed a garden with squash that had powder like mine on the leaves and there was plenty of zucchini so next time I will leave it alone!

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ZachS. z5 Littleton, CO

No matter what you do or don't do, PM is something that shows up each and every year on your squash and cucumber plants in late summer. Its pretty much just a fact of gardening. Treat or don't treat, depends on if you've had your fill of zukes yet or not (by September I most definitely have lol). I usually just let it go at this point in the year. Course here we can expect snow in 2 weeks anyways and that will kill off any squash plants regardless.

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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Yes, I read that. I take issue with 'all you can eat' - unless a couple of servings is all you can eat. And it depends very much on your climate. Peas don't start cropping until June in mine. They take up space for 4 months and have a low yield. They are followed by winter brassicas.

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glib(5.5)

Peas are productive only in zone 9 in winter, when you can get 6 months in the ground before planting summer crops. Even then, they do not hold a candle to numerous brassica, carrots or chard.

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

All I did was type "how long it takes watermelon to mature from pollination" in the search bar and then click on "Vegetable gardening forum" in the drop down menu.

But honestly the plant tendrils and seed leaf tells you when to harvest it regardless of when the post was made. Lots of discussions here about when to harvest them.

Dave

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galinas(5B)

I wish I have tendrils and seed leaf) The groundhog decided, that if it can't get to the fruit that is too big for it to get through(but it left teeth marks on it) the next best thing is to chew on what is tender and soft - on all three of my watermelon fruit) Anyway, we picked one today - it was ready and sweet). Thanks again, everybody!

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nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

I seem to get some at the end of each season. Not sure, but it seems that the more humid areas get it earlier.

I do make sure I don't compost the diseased plants. They go out to the far field compost pile! (diseased plants, flowering weeds, morning glories, roses). Of course, I'm a lazy composter and we don't get hard freezes, so tings don't really get killed by freezing. Nancy

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Humsi(USDA 9b/10a Sunset 23 SoCal)

Like Peter, PM is the bane of my existence every year without fail. Hot, little/no rain in the summer, foggy mornings to make sure leaves are nice and damp before they go into the afternoon heat, no freezing to kill it off over the winter, and lots of wind to spread it around.

I've gotten to the point that I just have replacement seedlings ready for things like squash and cukes that are guaranteed to get it, pull when the PM is to the point they stop producing and replace with my starts. The milk or baking soda concoctions don't do much, and I really don't want to be spraying copper or serenade constantly as we garden all year round here. I just figure it into my gardening plan and try to be prepared.

Oh, nancyjane, I never used to compost PM vegetation either, but I finally figured I'm getting it every year regardless and I hated throwing away all that potential compost. Into the compost it goes.

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daninthedirt(Cent TX; HZ10, Sunset z30, USDA z8a)

Thanks, tishtoshnm. My soil is over caliche, so it is basically full of free lime. My vinegar test results in a nice "head" of foam! That's a good CSU report, and makes the important point that if you have free lime, you ain't gonna get there, with regard to acid loving plants. I think the point about adding loads of organic material is that you eventually just displace a lot of the free lime. So it's still there, but the concentration is lower. Now, as I said, if you have alkaline water, as do I, you're just alkalizing the soil every time you water. So acidification becomes a losing proposition.

As to rainwater collection, that's a great idea, except the OP says that he/she hardly gets any rainwater. So it's a good idea in principle, but maybe not in practice.

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Marianne W (zone 10A)

I've been thinking about this for a while--I have a grasp on your conditions. My soil is alkiline clay & caliche, my water is 8.5 ph and I've got hard water, but not as hard as yours and about 6 inches of rain a year. So, yeah, makes sense.

One big thing that will help is leeching your garden. The most effective way is with rain water--it will pick up more of the minerals and alkalinity than your well water will. So, if I were in your position, I'd run gutters along my roof eaves and then connect the downspouts to hoses. I'd run a temporary hose system from the rain gutters out to the GH and flood it every time it rains. No pumping needed, no permanent install, no storage and you'd get enough water to leech with.

Not sure about affordable water treatment systems for your greenhouse. It will depend on what your test results say. But, I'd look into those portable water treatment systems designed for villages in the third world, I'll Google around to see if I find any that are cheap solar distillers.

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Helen Zone 6 Ohio

I'll keep an eye on them. One vine seems to be dying. Others are still green, as are the pumpkins. I have them in several locations so they are not ripening at the same time. The dying vine has some powdering appearance to it so I guess that is some kind of blight.

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elisa_z5

The powdering appearance is probably powdery mildew -- very common in squash family plants this time of year, and will not affect your pumpkins. Agree with others here that leaving them on the vine is best as long as they are not in danger -- you could put them up off the ground on an inverted plate or some such to protect from burrowing insects, and/or throw some netting over them to protect from deer.

When you harvest, the best storage conditions are cool and DRY, so beware of a humid basement or a garage with windows that are open to morning fog. An unheated bedroom is often suggested (we should all be so lucky to have big houses with extra bedrooms!), but it gives you an idea. I put mine on shelves in an area away from the heat of the kitchen.

Also, as others have mentioned, once fully ripe and cured in the sun for a week or two, they will last for months, even into spring, so lasting until late October will be a cinch.

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glib(5.5)

Mais o menos. I could speak english at work, and that held me back. My wife is pretty good, and my daughter went to school and became fluent. I miss pedaling to work (not that I could get a car easily. The bureaucracy there is atrocious), and breakfasts with two bananas, two papayas, two guavas and a cup of coffee.

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jessekimmerling

I'm in the same boat. I'm planning my garden for a location at sea level in Ecuador. I'm in the seed buying stage, so I can't comment about results. I'm attempting about 10 types of peppers, amaranth, thai long beans, asian eggplant, a couple tomatoes that will probably struggle, thai basil, cilantro. Everything else I'll buy in Ecuador from local farmers... lemon, orange, papaya, lemon grass, mint.

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

<I purchased a soil test from my local hardware store and the N was high, PH was between 6.5-7.0.>

In this case I agree with the others - do nothing. Simple time fixes any high N issues.

But for future reference those do it yourself kits are a rip-off and quite famous for being inaccurate. What they are actually testing is the water you mix with them so you should never do anything to your soil based on one of them. For about the same price you can get a professional soil test done through your local county ag extension office.

Dave

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daninthedirt(Cent TX; HZ10, Sunset z30, USDA z8a)

You could cover your bed with shredded leaves, but it'll do a lot more good to dig them in. Especially if you're trying to use up nitrogen. Aeration will help remove ammonia, which is a volatile form of nitrogen that comes out of urea that bacteria use to produce non-volatile nitrates. Covering your bed with a top dressing won't help that aeration.

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jnjfarm_gw(5a)

I replant green beans every 2 weeks. I pick off of a bunch for about 2-3 weeks and then out they go to make room for another crop.

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Peter (6b SE NY)

My French Filet bush beans produce a consistently decent harvest until frost. Of course, nothing beats that first flush of beans... or the production of the Fortex pole beans.

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

I can't say. It isn't a one or the other choice. it is different spectrums at different stages of growth.

I grow in greenhouses so we only use lights for supplemental lighting and we only grow to transplant stage and aren't interested in blooming or fruiting.

Most of us here are outdoor gardeners which is why I referred you to the other forum where they deal with those issues all the time. They can also explain why the fixture has to be so close to the plants (4-6" above max) and what that does to the effective footprint size of the light and why 9 hours isn't nearly long enough (16 hours minimum is a common recommendation), how you will have to control for the molds and humidity issues in basements, etc.

I don't see the dimensions on your box but even a 4 foot 4 tube fixture only gives an effective light footprint of 2x3'. If you look at all the light set-up pics over on the Growing from Seed forum and the Growing Under Lights forum you'll see multiple fixtures used butted up next to each other.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Dave

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balloonflower(5b Denver CO)

I have not been on the "growing under lights" GW forum, though it sounds interesting and I will have to check it out. You could also look into forums at the aquaponic source--I haven't been there much since I don't have room for a system, but have been to their local store and they are very knowledgeable. Touring their factory, they gave just quick runs on the pros/cons of different lights. I also have fluorescent fixtures that I use over winter with my potted herbs, but it's more just to keep alive and not encourage growth.

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zzackey(8b GA)

What is a passive greenhouse?

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katerlyn

I had beautiful yellow blooms last year. Was so surprised when the vine reached long lengths and still no flowers this year, possibly the same seeds. I thought it might be because I egged it on with horse manure compost tea, something new. The other plants just got 3 leaves and quit... I loved those yellow blooms! I will try covering them?

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William Hartley

Thanks. I will remove any plants which show any symptoms and spray the others with what I can get my hands on.

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Peter (6b SE NY)

I suggest you contact your local extension to report the case and get a confirmation. They do free testing for LB, and can recommend a treatment.

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