24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

The plant in the photo doesn't look healthy to me. It has powdery mildew and appears stunted in growth. Whether that is causing the color issues or not I can't say but it could sure be a contributing factor. So could heat, lack of nutrients, and fruit left far too long on the vine. When fruit is left to turn yellow, to go way over-ripe, the plant tends to shut down.
But abnormal fruit coloring is almost always a lack of nutrients issue.


Grew Clemson Spineless in 5 gallon bucket with home made mix (1/3 ProMix BX, 1/3 coir and 1/3 Perlite with Tablespoon of Osmocote). Fertilized with MaxiBloom 5-15-14 weekly. Clipped each leaf when I harvested the 3" pods. NO branching at all. They have been very productive. Will plant 4 per 5 gallon bucket next year. They only get about 4-5 hours of afternoon sun on the deck. Over 5' tall now and beginning to show signs of stopping production (9-1-2015).


I got decent production - more than I can eat so I can't complain - but we did plant two rows because I started way too many seeds. I don't think the weather alone can cause leaves to yellow and wilt (sometimes the telltale half of the leaf), but who knows.
As you can see in the pic, we've had a second round of flea beetles this year.

High humidity coupled with hot air temps are the enemy to pollen. It turns tacky and no-viable. That leads to blossom drop. So that may part of the problem. There is a FAQ here all about it.
Plus, with self-pollinating plant like eggplants many times the pollen has already been distributed even before the bloom opens all the way. So that may be what you are seeing too.
Dave


Amusingly, aged urine will precipitate out white crystals that are called Struvite, which is a phosphate material containing magnesium and nitrogen. Struvite is great fertilizer. I have to think that disgust about using urine for fertilizer would be relaxed if it weren't actually a golden liquid, but an inoffensive white powder instead.

I have never had squirrels take EVERYTHING. Absolutely everything? Since it's probably not the Southern Arizona Black Squirrel (Pic), have you considered the two-legged neighborly twit?
There are advantages with having coyotes everywhere but they don't chase everything away...

That looks more like downy mildew to me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downy_mildew
I have powdery mildew. Milk with oil and dish soap has been working for me. My sugar pie pumpkins stopped producing until I started using the solution.

I feel like the picture about half way down this page is pretty close to what I have.
http://scriptogr.am/waste24brass
I will try the baking soda + water solution

I had pm on my virgina creeper, lilac, squash and pumpkins. I used a combination of 4 cups milk, 2 T canola oil, 1 t of dish soap (surficant) and 2 and a third gallons of warm water to control it. I apply the mixture weekly. So far, the vagina creeper, squash and giant pumkins are PM free. Some is still present on the sugar pie pumpkins, but its about half as it was.
I tried using a fungicide on the squash, but it did nothing. The milk is working better than I could have imagined.


It is still a little early to plant the beets. I would wait 2 or 3 weeks when the weather breaks and then plant. The biggest hurdle is the pH. Beets like a pH of above 6.5. Peat moss is about 4.5. I tested miracle gro and it is about 5.0 to 5.5. It would take alot of lime to adjust the pH to above 6.5. It is possible. I did it once with spinach which also needs a high pH. It took a couple of times the get the pH right though.

"Turns anaerobic"? Anaerobic bacteria don't live in the presence of oxygen. If it's sitting in a garbage can, it's unlikely that anything growing it it is anaerobic. Unless you've removed the oxygen from your garbage can, which would be a cool trick. Anaerobic bacteria live deep in the scum at the bottom of a pond.
That your liquid turns green is just that you have free-floating algae growing in it. It's a plant. You have plant fertilizer, and plants are growing in it. That green algae is telling you that your fertilizer is good. Put it on your plants. Think of it as fertilizer with a light dose of added green manure.

< Fortex develops seeds early and is typically bulging when I pick them.>
Early compared to what? My first 3-4 pickings have no noticeable seeds. Can't feel them or see them unless you cut them open. So try picking them much earlier Peter. "Bulging" with seed is well beyond ideal picking time.
Dave

It happens extremely quickly (pods maturing). I would have to pick every day, they can literally double in size in a single day. The bush beans hold for nearly a week before getting large, tough and seedy. Anyway, I think they taste fine that way. They do not get tough or lose flavor. It is even noted: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6614-fortex.aspx

Concur. Ripe colors for bell peppers include Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, and brown similar to tomatoes. All the purples are red when ripe. There are green to yellow and green to orange varieties. There are several varieties of green when ripe (Staysgreen, Permagreen) The browns (Chocolate) actually turn red but don't give up the green resulting in a brown color. However if one one wants ripe pepper, It is more efficient to choose a variety developed for ripe peppers. Colored peppers like purples and whites were bred to hold thier immature colors and take a long time to ripen.




jopolitesse- Doesn't sound like it was anywhere near mature yet. You can probably use it as you would a large summer squash.
Rodney
Agree with Rodney - it is safe to eat, it the taste that will determine if you want to eat it or not.
Dave