23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I am confused!!! Why are you trying to fix a problem when you don't even know that the problem exists??? As I mentioned before the first step is to check the PH of the soil. The results of that will tell you if you have a problem or not. A lot of home remedies don't work especially if you don't know for certain that you even have a problem. Then stick with the proven remedies to fix the problem.
Hans
Here is a link that might be useful: Muscadines And More
I agree totally, Hans. Note I said 'you have to lower the pH if it is not low enough naturally.'
Nancyjane - you need to get your soil tested to see if it will suit the Blueberries. (Raspberries tolerate a wide range of pH) Either that or look at the kinds of plants which grow happily in your immediate area. Do Rhododendrons, Camellias, Kalmias and heathers thrive? If so you probably have acidic soil.
Home made concoctions of oak leaves will not acidify soil to any appreciable extent. Nor will pine needles. Trying to alter the pH of a bed full of alkaline soil is a massive job. I'd just grow them in containers or a raised bed where you can replace the native soil with an Ericaceous mix. But ONLY if the native soil is tested and found to be alkaline.
What dill said. Check with you local county extension for planting dates. Seed packages are not accurate at all for planting dates. I would think where you are, late October/Nov planting would be about right. They won't do much in the winter but as soon as there's more light and a tad more warmth, they'll produce over and over.
Kevin
Do a Gardenweb search for Chilli Thrips. It's a fairly new invasive pest working it's way up from the Gulf. It hit me for the first time this year in the Highland Lakes area. Many of the big box store starter plants were even showing CT damage around here a couple weeks ago.
Here's a recent thread on them...
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg0511302622994.html?27
Sunni, I think what you are looking for is called a Japanese Red. I grow them every year here in Florida with great success. I order my seedlings from tatorman.com, and have never been let down. The seedlings are shipped out around mid April. Hope that helps...Farmer Joe in Florida..
Hello!
MeriClone Labs is open again after a hiatus. Please visit our website to see our available varieties.
Evan William
MeriClone Labs
Here is a link that might be useful: MeriClone Labs Sweet Potato Plants
I think it works because that plastic is slippery and they perhaps cannot climb up. Before I did that, bunch of my small plants were eaten up and I thought it was cutworm until one morning I caught the slugs in the act. I have several seedlings still intact for few days now.
Yeah the wind snapped off one of my only two watermelon plants and I need to replace it with a store-bought one. They come 4 to a pot, and it kills me to have to snip off 3, but like was already mentioned, if I try and separate them, all 4 might die. Cucurbits are not like lots of other plants that can be roughed up and survive.
Raptor666: I have separated them before without problems. I in fact look for pots at the store that have more than one in it but they should not have grown too large so the roots are not wrapped around.
Here is how I do it: Cantaloups and watermelons are generally sold at the seedling stage with just one or two sets of true leaves. Water the pot well so the soil medium (which is usually peat moss or some thing else really porous and falls apart easily) is well soaked. Take the plant out of pot. I take a thin sharp nail or similar wire. Poke the ball vertically and just separate those roots. If the roots are already going around in the pot then first take a sharp blade and make a few vertical cuts only on the outside of the root ball so to divide those wrapped up roots. Plant each one individually directly in the prepared garden soil.
You can't burn any plant with 2-7-4 unless you apply it abusively. But even organic fertilizers can harm plants when used inappropriately.
Does that makes it ideal for pumpkins? No. It is low in nitrogen for pumpkins. Normally they need a nitrogen rating of at least 5 or more. It is high in phosphorus for many plants although pumpkins do appreciate extra phos. Not that it will hurt other vegetables but it is just wasted phosphorus which can run off and contaminate any near by sources of water. Pumpkin recommendation unless trying to grow giants is 5-10-5.
Does that mean you "can I just toss it willy nilly around the vines/roots as it's organic?" No. You side dress the individual plants per the label instruction amounts but you may need to feed it more frequently. In other words you increase the frequency, not the amount used at one time..
I can't find a copy of the instruction label to read anywhere so you'll have to check yours.
Dave
A funny story. last year I grew one pumpkin plant in a 5 gallon bucket and thought I was doing a pretty good job. Until I took a trip to the local dump and saw a HUGE volunteer dark green pumpkin plant with huge green pumpkins on it, growing out of the yard waste/compost pile :-/ I was obviously under fertilizing my plant. Not that it would have ever gotten that big, but my main thought was 'definitely not enough nitrogen on my plant.'
Like Noki said, I'd only worry about seeds rotting in soil that's too wet for too long, but beans and corn are on the larger side and wouldn't do that quickly.
Though...even as I type that, I'm reminded of the cherry tomatoes that drop on the soil in the summer, somehow last all the way through fall, winter and spring and come up as volunteers the next year. So maybe rotting seeds are more a myth than a reality....
Where are you? You seem to have a mix of warm and cool weather plants. Broccholi, spinach and usually chard being cool weather and the rest warm weather.
I have found with warm weather veges, if it's too cool, they simply aren't ready to grow and wait for the weather they want, then take OFF!
Also, sometimes if you buy starts that are root bound, they don't do well. Just a couple of thoughts. Nancy
I'm in NY. It's definitely been cool weather here, but I've had one of the tomatoes and two of the peppers in "Wall-O-Water" type things, and they aren't doing any better than the ones without them. And the chard hasn't grown any either, while the ones that I shoved into spaces in some crappy window boxes that I can never get to grow ANYTHING have doubled in size.
I started most of the plants myself, and tried to tease out any roots that were looking like they were starting to be rootbound, and the roots didn't look anywhere close to as rootbound as you often find in starts you buy - but needing to get the beds built & filled did put them about a week behind the other garden spots were plants are doing better. Would a week be enough time to become rootbound?
My soil in my community garden plot tested at 7.8. We still grow tomatoes, tomatillos, corn, beans, peas, and other random small plants tucked in with no problem. Add as much compost as you can and you should be fine. We're on our third year with the community plot and notice a change for the better each year with the continual composting.
I have two new strategies I'm trying this year. I did row covers last year. They worked, but were kind of a PIA.
Firstly, I'm painting the leading vines with Sevin. That way, the Sevin doesn't get everywhere. Not on the leaves, flowers, or fruit. Just on the vines that the SVBs are trying to penetrate. Just the leading vines. Not the leaf stems. I don't care if they kill a leaf. Takes about fifteen minutes every two weeks to do this, though when the vines are tangled, it gets a bit confusing. A cheap one-inch paint brush works great. I suppose a sprayer with a narrow spray head would work as well.
Secondly, I'm mounding dead leaves and mulch on the vines. The leaves stick up out of the mulch. If you bury the vines, the SVBs can't find them. If the vines root, so much the better. Of course, at the end of the season, you just dig the mulch in. Now, this is for vining squash. Might not work as well with upright squash.
So far so good. No SVB damage seen.
I did what Dan is doing last year, and 50% of the plants survived. I also slitted open plants that stopped producing, although between the borer and the slit they survived but never produced much after that. Still, it is a problem to give away all those zucchinis in late July and August.
The sprinklers are watering our alfalfa field. We have an awesome gravity fed watering system in our area - we have hand lines but many farmers use wheel lines. There is a natural lake in the mountains that feeds the system from May until October - cold clear water - 24/7 - Love it !! One of many wonderful places to live for a great quality of life if you like rural living - like we do!
I direct seed only what has to be done that way because the risks are so high. With cukes I start seeds in containers and direct-seed a few more plants when the seedlings go out. That extends the harvest a bit.
Don't know what your summers are like, but I'll wait until mid July and start a few more cuke seeds so there will be fresh cukes for fall salads.
Cucumber 'county Fair' and 'Little Leaf' are both highly resistant to the bacterial wilt spread by the cucumber beetle. Both are pickling cukes, but they taste better than regular cukes anyhow, in my opinion. 'Little Leaf' is also highly resistant to downy mildew.