23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
All your questions are discussed and answered in detail in the many other discussions here about SVB that the search here will pull up for you. Just type SVB in the forum search bar at the bottom of the page. That way we don't have to type all the same info over and over again. :)
As to row covers, you only briefly uncover to hand pollinate then replace the cover. Bt is the abbreviation for Bacillus Thuringiensis, a bacterial-based pest control specifically for caterpillar type pest. It is sold under several brand names including Dipel and Thuricide.
Dave.
Here in the great North (near Detroit) I have seen no signs so far, and they usually show up for the 4th of July. I have painted the stems with old BT liquid (very stinky, I use Dipel now but it is a good way to use that mess) so I can not be 100% sure it was the winter, but one neighbor has planted zucchini for the first time, no BT not anything else, and they are completely unblemished. We are close to the northern range of SVB and I wonder if this winter has pushed the range south 100 miles or so.
It is very likely your soil mixture is unbalanced. In what way is nearly impossible to say. Peat has nearly no fertility in it and compost is extremely variable. Bagged composts are notoriously crap, often made with "forest products", meaning lumber mill sawdust. More marketing goodness than anything else. Your 2-5-3 fertilizer has only three things in it out of many needed for healthy plant growth. And as far as you know, none of these were actually deficient in your soil mixture to begin with. You may in fact have too much of something. That's why I prefer to use half soil and half organic materials in raised beds. That way I can add lime or whatever as indicated by my other (not raised) garden bed soil tests.
When you throw together materials for raised beds, it's often a guessing game as to whether it's adequate or not. That's why old Mel tells you use five different sources of compost. Because then you have a better chance of getting the things you need. But it's still a crap shoot.
It sounds like you have Jobes organic fert am I right? That stuff is good, but it doesnt give the plants the nitrogen kick I think they need to get you going in a container. It just takes too long to become available and sometimes it may be washed out of the container before it can even be used. I do use Jobes, but I also supplement with compost tea and Alaska Fish emulsifier at least once a month or more often if needed. It is also at Lowes/HD. It works great at getting your plants through those slumps.
A better comparison would be daylilies. Asparagus is not hard to please and will generally grow anywhere daylilies would do okay.
In most climates the purpose of the winter mulch is to prevent winter weeds and contribute to soil fertility, so just about anything will do. It does not have to be 6 inches deep unless you're in a cold climate with scant snow cover.
Yep, normal leaf mottling. However I just read that the blossom end rot on the fruit was caused by a calcium deficiency. Here is the article:
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/squash-blossom-end-rot-causes-and-treatment.htm
Here is a link that might be useful: Squash rotting on end
Old topic but subject always new.
Silvery mottling are common and normal. But it wont hurt to systematically spray cucurbita to prevent mildew, especially Powdery Mildew. There are both home made and brands sold at the stores. From home made I like 50/50 milk/water. From store brands I prefer Neem Oil spray. I, do a first round on my squash and cukes just tomorrow. I'd be sorry all the way to the bank if I did not do it and got PM.
Yolos, thank you for sharing how you made your trellis. Great Idea. So do you use netting of some sort?
That system will last for years. Do you pull up the rebar for winter? Love it.
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Steve349 - This was my first year using this trellis. I used nylon netting for the trellis. It will only last a year or two so when it starts to disintegrate I will try to get some cattle panels. I do not take down my trellis but leave them up all year. The 3/4 EMT should last a long time. The rebar is driven into the ground 1-1/2 to 2 feet into red clay. It is almost impossible to get the rebar out of that clay so I just leave the whole thing assembled. Next year I will plant something else there that needs a trellis - maybe watermelon and/or cantaloupe or cucumbers.
I've got parthenocarpic cukes, and glad of it,they're fruiting nicely. Wish I had parthenocarpic melons. Males and females both abundant and plentiful, but the bees are over in the echinacea and won't visit. Little fuzzies all turn yellow and die off from lack of sex.
As for zukes, I've got the all-female problem. Although mine tend to turn yellow and die before flowering.
I knew he said plastic, I only have paper plates on hand and was thinking "out loud" why those would not be a good substitution. ;) Is it hard to balance a big squash on a brick? I may be able to salvage some from next door. I rediscovered the lids to my buckets in the tunnel, so that will take care of 10 fruit.
Blossom end rot (BER). Most often seen on tomatoes early in the season, just as the first ones are ripening. The Virginia Tech publication linked below gives details. Google to find pictures of BER on peppers.
Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom end rot of tomato
I'm not convinced it's BER.
Thanks for the better pic. That was the reason why I asked for a closeup.
It COULD be BER, but the beige portion leads me more towards what everybody else thinks.. sunscald. Happens more to large fruited annuums, like bells. Best way to deal with it is acceptance.. You're almost always going to get a fruit or 3 that get it. Another way is shade cloth -- Peppers love sun, but some shade cloth during midday will help.
If it's BER, you'll see see rotting at the tips on many, if not all, the fruit. Hard to deal with BER once it's there since most forms of Calcium take so long to break down and be usable. Bone meal(or lime, but lime raises ph) added months in advance of planting is recommended to gardeners with Ca deficiency.
Kevin
A couple of weeks ago deer browsed some bush beans with big catnip plants growing on two sides. I don't think it's much of a deterrent, though it's a great bee plant. I let it reseed and keep 3-4 plants a summer.
Panels of fencing laid on the ground beneath fruit trees helps some -- the deer don't like stepping on it. Ditto sheet metal roofing.
Thanks Planatus,
That is why I asked! I didn't think it would work!
I picked up some old pallets from our shipping dept. as a quick fix and laid them around my other fruit trees. Because I didn't think they would cross them, so far so good.
I'm about done picking the rest of the nectarines and I'm waiting on the few apples that I have. A late frost killed almost all of my fruit tree blossoms and fruit. I didn't get a single peach, cherry, or pear.