23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Depends on your definition of "heirloom" It is an open pollinated commercial variety released in 1956. To save seeds, just remove seeds from a ripe melon, wash them, and let them dry. store under cool dry conditions. Devloped in California, it is not well suited to the southeast.
Thanks. That's what I needed to know. Yes, I was using the word "heirloom" to describe something open-pollinatable. If it's not well suited to Texas, I guess my plants never got told that.
The seed-saving potential of many vegetable species is not something advertised by the seed companies. No big surprise, I guess.
When you have just a few melons, you watch each one...I know I do. The first clue to ripeness is that the given melon has stopped growing. Also the CLOSEST tendril to the melon has turned yellow and then brown...about a 4 day process. Then check the melon [carefully turning it] on the bottom. It should be creamy/ yellow where it lay when ripe...better to wait a couple days extra than to pick early...if in doubt.
With baby type melons the bottoms may or may not turn colors so conclusively.
Your plants generally look healthy in the photos and bugs are a normal part of gardening. They only become a concern when the damage they do is severe - yours isn't - of when there are lots of them. Your melon leaf in the first picture shows some signs of very early Downey Mildew (the yellow spots). Otherwise I wouldn't worry about the problems you have described.
Splits in stems aren't caused by bugs but by inconsistent soil moisture levels. Just leave them alone and they will usually scab over. The stem base damage in your last pic is due to slugs or snails and there are organic controls for them but it doesn't seem to be hurting the plant.
New gardeners too often over-react and that can lead you to doing more harm than good so developing some patience and tolerance for less than perfection goes a long way toward successful gardening. :)
Dave
When one half of the tops have fallen over, gently push the rest of them over. In a few days pull them and let dry in the sun. We have had good luck the past few years, keeping them in our spare refrigerator. Store them in a netted onion sack. Check them often, usually have them keep till mid Dec.
Taste it -- even if they sold you a cross pollinated plant, it may still taste good. You could try using it young (green) like you would zucchini, and once it's orange you could use it in any recipe that calls for pumpkin or winter squash. I usually taste stuff raw, and if it's passable raw, it will taste better cooked and with seasonings.
Or look up recipes for Columbian squash!
Just as with fruit splitting, vine splitting is caused by inconsistent watering practices. Excessive wet periods followed by very dry and then wet again - whether it be rains or gardener-supplied. As the moisture levels move from one extreme to the other the stems swell then shrink, then swell again and crack/split.
To prevent it we have to do everything we can to stabilize the soil moisture levels.
Dave
I also am on the border between 5a and 6b with lower than normal temperatures. I saw more stink bugs indoors during winter when we had record breaking cold of -15 to -20 than I have seen this summer. I've seen only a handful of Japanese beetles and only one tomato worm, no aphids and also almost no lady bugs. Last year there seemed to be hordes of them. The photo is of the only hummingbird (or sphinx) moth I've seen this summer when I normally have many of them along with a host of swallowtails. My plants seem to be getting enough visits from pollinators, but I haven't seen any bumble bees or honey bees this summer.
On the other hand, the cold, damp weather has been very inviting to disease. I had to trash a couple tomato plants and many petunias, which normally thrive here, due to fungus infections. And my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are a couple weeks behind in producing. Okra is pitiful.
I have been on this earth for many decades, and I think weather patterns are changing in significant ways.
gardengal: It's true. Overhead watering is discouraged with many veggies because of fungal issues. But your spraying an anti-fungicide, so the practice isn't so frowned upon then. At least that's what I've reasoned.
As far as the quick spray every morning thing. Dunno how others do it. I mulch with keeps moisture in and reduces dust and occasionally give the mulch a good soaking. and yes, in the morn.
And you're doing the right thing in being proactive with prevention. Usually, it's identify, then treat. But with mildews and fungal issues, it's always best to treat before you see the symptoms.
Kevin
Thank you, Kevin! Mulch is just great all around :). I didn't even think about the dust aspect. That's helpful for hard rain storms too. I am happier with prevention this year than last year's discovery and treat, yikes. Newbie gardener to raised beds last year and had lots to learn lol and still learning. Thanks again and hope your garden is doing well!
I'm sorry: I can't remember the name. I can't remember how I was able to find it before. It is essentially a weed, but I believe that I found that some in Asia eat the stuff with the flower. Perhaps they even cook the leaves similar to Poke Weed, but perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me about that. With all that almost useless info, I just wanted to let you know that you can consider it to be a weed and yank it/them out.
edit--- OK, found it by searching on 'heart shaped leaf weed'. From Wikipedia: It is Velvetleaf and has been grown in China since around 2000 BCE for its strong, jute-like fibre. The leaves are edible, stir-fried or in omelette. The plant is known as maabulha in the Maldives and its leaves were part of the traditional Maldivian cuisine, usually finely chopped and mixed with Maldive fish and grated coconut in a dish known as mas huni.[4] The seeds are eaten in China and Kashmir.[5]
Wikipedia goes on to say it is invasive in the US and inhibits conventional crops.
This post was edited by chas045 on Fri, Jul 18, 14 at 20:51
Do you plan to grow these outside?
If so, wrap those pots up with duct tape and get them outside and start hardening off, then transplant to a muck bigger container. The yellow spots could be from overwatering, but could also be a Magnesium deficiency. Are there MICROnutrients in that fertilizer?
Plants look great otherwise. They just need to get outside. Google hardening off if you don't know how.
Stop watering everyday from here on out. Peppers like to dry out between waterings. A good way to tell if they need water is to stick a wooden skewer a few inches deep into the soil. If soil comes out on the skewer, don't water. If no soil, water thoroughly. Let dry out completely before watering again.
Kevin
I suspect the Azomite supplied micronutrients. And do hope you pot that up in much larger container. Peppers in general are self-pollinating.