23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening



Hi All,
I ordered and grew "Skyscraper White Sweet Corn" from Gardeners Choice, I believe. Gardeners' Choice filled the order but was not responsive otherwise.
My corn grew to 14 feet and provided large ears of ghostly white sweet corn, very tender. I've always wanted to try it again. It was definitely not feed corn; and all my neighbours were amazed. One expert said I wouldn't get any ears off it because it had grown too tall.
I got 18 ears off 7 plants.
Perhaps GC isn't careful, but they weren't lying for me.
je

The container soil is probably the biggest factor.
Soil-less mix and/or potting soil lets the roots develop faster.
If you had dug a hole the same size as your container for your in ground tomatoes and filled it with the same soil they would probably be equal.

I think I found the website. It says that the broadcast rate for all those products is 1 tablespoon per square foot.
I don't think that could really hurt.
"Feeds continuously up to 9 months" though, so only once per season.

If the aged cow manure wasn't really completely composted, that could be your problem. Manure and compost can cause scab. Potatoes are actually heavy feeders, and in a container they do better with a balanced chemical fertilizer, preferably soluble and watered in once every week or two. Your problem could be caused by too much water, in which case things will improve. Good luck.

There seem to be a lot of Organic gardeners on this forum, so I will say this, then duck.
Potatoes need fungicide, both before and after planting. Get a liquid fungicide or soluble powder, and water your plants with the recommended concentration for spraying. If they come back, continue to spray the plants every couple of weeks until the plants die off naturally.
Late Potato Blight caused the starvation of millions of people in the 19th century. They would have been eternally grateful for chemical fungicides. You may have what is known as early blight.

glib - I think I just picked the right year.
I started these for transplant in early March, set them out in two batches, early and mid April.
It was a very cold spring here and the first batch grew slowly. Those plants are still smaller than those of the 2nd group, which had been the smaller seedlings I didn't want to put out early. The ones in the photo are from that mid April group, so they were out just about a month.
Interestingly, both groups started to raise up their stalks all at once, just in the last couple of days.
Next time, I'll start the seeds in successive batches, to see if I can extend their season.

I suppose I could start seeds March 1, then transplant (perhaps under cover until April 15) April 1, and hope for the best. Really, the last 7 weeks has been good growing conditions in Michigan, warm with plenty of rain. I have eaten only fava greens so far that were direct seeded under cover in March, plus the usual overwintering/perennial stuff. Thanks to both of you.

Yeah that one is primarily a frost protector, note how it says "traps heat and moisture" and "frost protection" on its label? It will need supports and either opened at the ends for cross ventilation or rolled up in the heat of the day once the seedlings germinate.
Linked insect barrier below, it weighs less than 1/2 as much and little to no heat trapping.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Insect barrier row cover

Ditto to what derek, the original poster, said. My plants shoot up rapidly after a good rain. It always amazes me. I don't, nor do I feel a need to, understand the science behind it. :)
...except for this week, when we had 3.5 inches of rain in one day! The plants did not appreciate being drowned.


I have an orchard. I put in posts and wire to suspend the main line around 2 feet off the ground. There is some buried main line as well, but I don't like having too many buried lines because if they should leak it might take quite some time before you notice, and quite a long time to find the leak location. Burying one relatively short line shouldn't' be a problem, though.
You could use garden hose as your main line and move it when you mow.
You can connect your system to use the rain barrel at all times. Use your garden hose to manually fill up the rain barrel when needed. Or you could even use a float valve to automatically top off the rain barrel from the hose. Then everything would be zero pressure.
I think a hose timer will work OK with zero pressure. So you could have branch A be main line, back-flow preventer, pressure reducer, hose bib A. Branch B would be water barrel, hose bib B. Connect the hose timer to hose bib A when you are home, and hose bib B when you are out. Don't forget to turn on the hose bib before you go on vacation!
If you can get your rain barrel 10 feet above your garden, everything will work much better. If you only have one or two feet of pressure, even drip irrigation might not work very well.
I believe most drip irrigation is designed to work at 5 psi (hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong). That is like 11 feet of water pressure, I believe.
--McKenzie

Thanks a lot, Dave, I have exactly the same problem.
And keep up the good job of posting again and again not to overwater tomatoes, half of mine are currently dying because I did not listen to you :-(
I watered them, a lot, with the hose, four days in a row after transplanting, and despite dry wind and hot sun, they are turning yellow :-(
Oh my fifty babies grown from tomato fest 's seeds I'm so sorry I didn't do like you said !

I had the same problem last year, but it was with winter squash. I pollinated them with zucchini pollen, and it worked. Just like Dave said. Your plants will get bigger eventually, and you will have more flowers, so you shouldn't have to do this for too long.
-Anne


Might try the California forum, turaloora. But, I'm sure it's possible, especially if all you want is green bells. Colored bells take forever to ripen even where I'm at. You'll probably have to manipulate the environment. Like black containers or if in ground, black plastic mulch.
Kevin

Well, I'm 40 miles north of San Francisco but still along the fog belt. I have good luck with peppers, with some caveats. I grow my own from seed (Johnny's Seeds Ace and Lipstick). I've had zero luck with starts I've bought from Lowes or Home Depot. I have good luck with my own starts. I also don't expect to get the giant bells you buy in the store. Mine end up smaller. And like Kevin said, I don't wait for them to turn red, though some will.
I've had amazing luck with chile peppers, like Anaheim chiles. My problem is, I don't eat the hot ones as much as I do the bells. Thus, I try varieties like Lipstick, smaller ones but still sweet.
I also plant them in the hottest spot in my garden, making sure they get as little shade as possible. Important when the sun doesn't clear the fog until noon, heh.

It appears to me that your plants needed more nitrogen. But probably it is too late at this stage.
According to your sample harvest, your potatoes are almost there. They are very much like their cousin, tomatoes. It take roughly from 90 days to 120 days from seeding to harvest, depending on the variety.
I also do think that those leave have some kind of fungal disease . I would just clip all the affected ones. On the other hand, since they have reached their maturity, there should not be a reason to be alarmed. I would just let them be there as long as possible. When the stems get woody and brownish then it will be the sign that there is no benefit getting to the roots from the foliage.


Be sure to plant it in blocks rather than long narrow rows for best pollination. Would also suggest staggered plantings rather than all at the same time.
I use blood meal for the 2 staged supplemental side dressings needed.
But I also plant on 6" centers so would plan on 200 - 250 seeds per row and thin if needed to avoid spaces that don't germinate.. Spacing can be adjusted depending on if you are planting by hand or with a seeder.
As for garlic - do you really plan to plant 90 foot rows of garlic? If you use the normal 6-8" spacing that's a LOT of garlic!
Dave
Thanks for the Corn suggestions. I am considering using one of those manual wheel seeding things. It has two wheels, a chain on it and a place for the seeds in the middle.
For the Garlic, I'm growing to be able to sell it. I have 400 plants growing right now, so I should be able to get 2000 max next year.