23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

What is the ratio of the mixture you are using? That makes all the difference as heavy application can do more damage than good.

Standard recipe is 1T each of soap and oil to 1 gallon of water lightly misted. But the effectiveness on whiteflies is debatable.

Dave

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:15PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a

Dave: I thought the ratio was a 1-2 percent solution. Which is about 2.5-5 TB soap to gallon water.

Veeta: Like Dave said, too strong of a solution can cause more damage than good. Here's what I would do in your case... I'd either use just soap or just neem oil(anti-feeding properties). And with the soap, I'd hit the plants about ever 4 days at dusk for a couple weeks, rinsing them off with water the following morning to prevent any damage from the hot, summer sun. Or...

spend a few extra bucks and order some lacewing eggs/larvae.

JMO.

Kevin

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 7:00PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
2ajsmama

I lost all my zukes to SVB last year (knock on wood haven't seen them this year) and squash bugs were bad too. Bagged all the dead plants, even the yellow squash (SVB didn't like that as much) at end of season and I still had lots of SB this year. Read that they'd hide in mulch so was afraid to put hay down but then I did a few weeks ago and WOW lots fewer eggs now - but we've been having a lot of rain too maybe they don't like it wet.

Now anybody got any controls for cucumber beetles? I read Surround but don't know about spraying everything with clay if it's hard to get off. Could do sticky traps I guess, too late for trap crop.

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 8:34AM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

'Now anybody got any controls for cucumber beetles?'

Sure, but most seem intimidated to try this. Cucumber Beetles emerge here in mid May. These are the live over the winter adults. They will immediatley seek out young cucurbits [squash, cukes, cantaloupes, gourds, and watermelon] seedlings. They eat the cotedons and bury in the soil to lay eggs. IF you kill all of them at that time, you will have few to none for the second generation. [Some spotted ones may be driven in on the wind from the south]

At this time, [June-July] if you will carefully spray some Sevin on top of a few of the leaves in the evening, you will decimate the population.....See, you don't have to drown everything with poison!!! A stitch in time saves 899. The beetles love the blossoms, but I believe they also like some bits of green leaves too....that where you get them.

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 10:55AM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
Bloomin_Onion(2/3)

I've got zukes in the garden, zone 3, and have harvested about 7 this year but production is picking up now. The plants are wimpy? How wimpy? Are they stunted? Pics with scale? I've no idea if it's the weather, your soil or what that's causing the situation, but if they're as big as they should be and just not fruiting, then yeah a soil test and correction with the appropriate nutrients, probably non-organic unless you can get ahold of a liquid compost tea would be your best bet to kick start them into fruiting. Make sure the females aren't shrivelling up under your nose from lack of pollination. However, if the plants are stunted or just not growing then perhaps the prognosis is less optimistic for the rest of the season, depending on where you live and the length of your growing season, how hot it gets where you are, etc. Hot weather (high 80's-90's) consistently can harm production. If the soil was tilled well enough, loosened up so it's not packed so hard that the roots don't have room to grow, then you should be able to fix your problem if the plants are growing, just not fruiting... but your yield will obviously be hindered as some of us have already harvested a few fruits by now.

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 1:51AM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

I've heard that in most new construction, the soil is highly compacted (and sometimes filled with crappy soil)
I would start fresh with a couple loads of compost, even some topsoil for regular landscaping.
Get a tiller and load up the compost from the dump (or a landscaping place)
You might want to terrace and/or do raised beds in the hilly area.
But for your current situation, can you find someone who has compost tea? (something you might consider starting, a compost pile!) I just found a place that gives it away (2 gal, able to dilute it up to 10 gal!) To buy the stuff is quite expensive, but if you can find a source......Nancy Good luck and happy gardening!

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 2:17AM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Looking at the fruits, my 1st thot was solanum -- ie, weeds.
Strange that you'd get the same thing from 3 different seed packages.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:07PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
AiliDeSpain(6a - Utah)

Did you start them indoors or direct sow?

    Bookmark     July 18, 2014 at 12:21AM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
mdy113

yea..i may have to deal with smaller sized eggplants this season, oh well, i just hope they taste good. my ichiban's have been awesome, i hope these are as well

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:24PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

They look kind of small for Black beauty, but like said, if it stops growing get it.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 10:13PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

I think it would be speculation to declare anything. Uh, what are bottom leaves?

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 10:07PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

First: When you see a tiny cuke shrivels and dies, that means that it was not pollinated. That could be due to lack of bees and/or male flowers.

Second, If you do not pick the cukes young, the plant will spend a lot of energy on it to develop seed. That is the plant's ultimate mission. So if your cucumber is called "straight Eight " (just example) pick it when it is about 7".

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 4:02AM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jimmy56_gw (zone 6 PA)

Some people say bees are getting more an more scarce, We need them to pollinate.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 9:56PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
conchitaFL(10 Hutchinson Island)

Yep, I have to pick everything right at color break and ripen it inside if I want any for me instead of all for the rodents.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 4:01PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
catherinet(5 IN)

Thanks all.
conchita.......I hadn't thought of that! I think I'll try that.

Actually......I had a female cardinal hit my window (on purpose) from 6a.m.-9p.m. every day. It drove me nuts. I got my fake owl (which was in my shed with my golf cart, hoping to scare away the mice that chewed the wires)........and put it on a stick and positioned it in front of the window. Worked like a charm! I think she was more scared of it than the mice get though. Oh, yes..I was saying.........I was thinking of putting it by my cherry tomatoes, to see if that would work.
But I have the feeling I'll be picking the tomatoes early.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:59PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Many reasons exist for less than expected bloom & fruiting.
You can't go on "I believe ..."
If you suspect you have low phosphorus, get a professional test.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:03PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Agree with Jean. Normal bonemeal is just phos with little to no nitrogen so this must be some special mixture. Plus bonemeal is very slow acting - like 6 months from now it might affect the P level in the soil Meanwhile the damage is done.

Many times we try too hard and by trying to fix what we think might be a problem we end up doing more harm and making the problem worse. Patience costs us nothing and does no harm either.

Dave

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:19PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Pea weevils?

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 8:05PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jbaldwin

My Pumpkin plant is suddenly dying too! I also have a drip irrigation system, so I just don't think it could be root rot. I also have squash bugs, but I keep their population under control. I dug around in the stem, carefully, and couldn't find any sort of root worm. I did find one wire worm, I've had problems with those in the past in my potatoes.
The plant suddenly wilted yesterday, I gave it an extra round of watering, and it perked up to normal last night. It got watered again this morning, and now in the heat of the day it's looking worse and worse. Could it be some kind of wilt?

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 3:57PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
BeccaSmith(6)

Hi jbaldwin! I was told my issue was the squash bugs. It is also normal for squash plants to wilt during the heat of the day and perk back up when the evening cools off, could this be what is happening?

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 5:22PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
achang89(Z6)

No. Deer never touch my Kabocha, japanese pumpkins. I saw footprints near the plants, but nothing was touched. Even the watermelon was not touched.

Basil and chives are left alone. I assume the case with most herbs.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 3:33PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
Peter1142(Zone 6b)

I did say "almost".... I have kept them out of my garden in a heavy deer area with fencing, but in the winter they get crazed and I have little doubt would jump my fence without blinking, right now they have plenty else to eat... I'm sure someone else will have some suggestions.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 3:55PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
sunnibel7 Md 7(7)

The leaves will sweeten after frost, no need to remove them.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 9:49AM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
prairiemoon2 z6 MA

Ok, thanks Sunnibel!

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 2:40PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
elisa_z5

Great--I'll add to my garden chewing gum collection:
Juicy Fruit for the voles and Watermelon for the ground hogs!!

    Bookmark     July 16, 2014 at 4:38PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
jonfrum(6)

If the burrow is on your property, run a pipe/hose from your car/truck/bike exhaust pipe and gas 'em. No muss, no fuss.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 1:40PM
Sign Up to comment
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
Firephly

Temperatures have been high, in the 90s. I hadn't seen the blossom drop one, just blossom end rot. I just now read it, thank you.

The flower on the bottom HAD opened, for sure, the one above it did not though and there is one over the other side, which also opened. All of them started to shrivel at the same time.

I have at least 3 more female flowers coming up right now, so fingers crossed they do okay. They haven't opened yet, but should within the next couple of days I think. Got plenty of males floating around right now (3 open today, fortunately there are like 5 more currently growing with about 3 at around the right stage for when the females open up!) so I guess we'll see what happens. Would you recommend hand pollinating these new females?

    Bookmark     July 15, 2014 at 1:07PM
Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo
djkj(9b)

I hand pollinate early morning - before the sun comes out fully, it a nice window.

    Bookmark     July 17, 2014 at 1:31PM
Sign Up to comment
© 2015 Houzz Inc. Houzz® The new way to design your home™