23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I slightly disagree with Dave here. You certainly CAN let the pepper plant go ahead and do its thing. But the total harvest will likely be greater if you continue pinching off buds from a very small plant until it reaches a larger, more mature size. That is because the plant will then devote more energy to getting bigger and the bigger plant can bear more fruit.
So you can do exactly what Dave says. But whether you should depends on what you are trying to achieve. For earlier fruit, do it. For greater harvest, keep pinching a little longer.
Angie
Angie - Is there any research that supports the claim of "greater harvest"? How long do you recommend pinching after planting?
Since the plant grows in approximately 2 week cycles of foliage growth and then blooming, if all blooms are removed prior to transplanting then new blooms shouldn't appear for another 10-14 days.
Pinching those blooms it ends up being almost a month after planting (assuming proper planting time and proper transplant size). That would seem to greatly reduce production since it would put many growers into the high heat periods where blossom-drop and dormancy become the main issue.
Dave
A few years back I left a large uncarved Halloween pumpkin outside where it fell on the ground near our front porch. In the spring long before the last frost, I saw that dozens of seeds had sprouted. Many survived the freezes and even snow, so when the weather warmed up, I culled all but the two largest seedlings and mulched them with several inches of compost. It was in dappled shade with only a few hours of morning sun. I tried to train it to climb up a tomato cage, but after climbing to the top and back down again it began wandering into the lawn, chasing the sun. The vine grew another 15 feet and it began blooming profusely. The flowers were the size of dinner plates and quite beautiful. Toward the end of summer, it produced a couple pumpkins. They were the size of basketballs and still green when we had our first hard freeze. It was a great conversation piece. Since then I've tried purposefully growing pumpkins in whiskey barrels with good sun and fertilization, but never was able to produce another fruit.
Virginia's own 7 Spring Farm Supply will sell you whatever row cover you want by the foot. I use tulle a lot in summer, but keep two weights of row cover on hand for use at other times of year. Wouldn't be without it.
Here is a link that might be useful: 7 springs farm supply row cover
No "suitable for container" does not mean it can't do well in the ground. It will likely do better in ground. Yes, there is a greater yield from the green than the red IME. As farmerdill said above, the red is a low-yield variety primarily grown for its appearance.
Dave
In my experience, red burgundy is high yielding (lots of side branches on the plant if you give it enough room) but I live in the South and maybe all okra does really well here. The nice thing about red burgundy is that the pods remain tender even when you pick them when they are quite long. I'm a big fan of this variety.
- Anne
Agree thin it down to three plants max and 2 would be better IMO. You can tell the difference between the 2 varieties by the leaves and assuming you aren't saving seeds you can cross pollinate them by hand with each other if needed.
Dave
Well, unfortunately once you have it it's just about impossible to get rid of it. Most people rely on prevention and plan to be done with cucurbits about this time. Some people leave infested summer squash as a kind of sacrificial crop in the hopes that the worms will stick to that and leave melons and such alone. (They seem to prefer summer squash over any other plant, given a choice.)
You can try spraying with spinosad or dusting with BT, but both of these are more effective as preventives than cures since the worms go into the fruit where nothing can reach them, and the moth hides except late at night, so she's not there to be poisoned.
Next season plant early, use row covers, and either hand pollinate or plant parthenocarpic varieties that don't need pollination. (Bees can't get under the row cover to pollinate for you.)
I'm afraid there's no simple solution once you've got them.
Some people do harvest the infested fruits and soak them so that the worms come out, but personally I'd rather throw the squash away than eat it after that. If you have chickens you can make them very, very happy by giving the wormy squash to them. They love pickleworms.
I do believe this worm to be pickleworm..I have picked off as many as I can see and daily I go out and scour the leaves searching for them then I smush them. I have little squash forming and I have hopes that I'll kill off enough of their population before they eat through my squash!!
Any signs of pests at all? Thrips can do that. The condition known as Blossom Drop is another possibility tho you usually can't see the bean yet when that is the cause.
Then there is what is called fruit abortion that can be caused by excess nitrogen, which is common if you over fertilize beans as they don't tolerate N much, or weather stresses.
If you are growing them as always and have had success in the past with your methods then I tend to guess it is unusal weather stress of some sort.
Dave
I really do think that the little plant is a Rhubarb. Look at the vein pattern - just the same as on your big plant, I bet. Pull a stem from the large plant and compare smell, texture, and how it is attached at the base. Is it possible your large plant set seed? Seed grown plants can be very variable.
I can tell you for certain it isn't sorrel or chard.
I have attached some close-up pictures! The cucumbers are "bush champions" fyi.
gosalsk - thanks for your words. I suppose the best way to avoid fungus is avoiding excess moisture?
Here is a link that might be useful: Close up pictures of the leaves
I would do a tomato in one, and bush beans in the other. You could always sneak some argula or the like around the tomato - they takes some shade and doesn't get very big.
Another that I enjoy is Kale - we get hotter than you and I grow it all summer. Its traditionally a cooler season veg but it hasn't been my experience with it.
I am in NJ as well, and my eggplants (in containers) are doing well. I don't think it has to do with the temps...
IMO it has to do with the moisture levels, could also be the pH of your mix.
Earthtainers should have some type of mulch cover over them to prevent top watering. Not having a mulch cover could be one of your issues.
Are you doing anything to prevent them from getting excess water during rain?
Excess moisture levels and pH levels that are outside of a normal range can cause all sorts of nutrients problems.
Yes Dave, I am experimenting with organic soil mix that is based on plant base and natural mineral base.
If I have to increase Ca or Zn what can I add to soil?
As we all know, when experimenting with unproven methods or methods that have proven troublesome problems will arise. They are expected, even anticipated, and when they arise 9 times out of 10 it is due to the experiment itself and no outside influence.
But the main problem is that it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for others to provide helpful information when asked without making the situation worse.
So while I could say add lime for calcium and a zinc chelate for zinc. But the real problem is likely the skewed pH of your mixture and in that case you can add all you want and it won't make any difference as they will be bound up and not available to the plant because of the pH..
So given the symptoms you need to first determine the pH of you mixture and adjust it as needed and adjust the perk of the mixture so that you can better stabilize the moisture levels.
How you can do that I can't say without a detailed recipe of the mix you made. Best guess is it is too acidic and draining poorly so too wet but that is just a guess.
Dave