23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
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.
Farmerdill, what a bright red lettuce and it's looking very healthy too. I would rather have a dense, crunchy lettuce too, but, I read a book called 'Eating on the Wild Side' last year that reviewed all the research being done on the nutritional content of vegetables and fruits and the author suggests that nutritionally speaking, a red loose leaf lettuce is about as good as you can get as far as lettuce goes. So I've been eating more of that mixed in with the other lettuces I prefer.
One of the lettuces I am trying is Sierra. It is only about four inches in diameter now so it will be a few weeks before it ends up in a salad.
Here is some of what Specialty Produce has to say about Sierra health benefits.
Red Batavia lettuces include Pasquier, Polonaise, Rouge Grenobloise, Rustica and Sierra. Sierra lettuce benefits from both its Batavian heritage and its anthocyanin content. The level of anthocyanins in any food plant increase its red coloring, its nutritional value and its perceived value as studies prove that persons respond more favorably to red colored fruits and vegetables.
...................Because of Sierra lettuce's substantial levels of anthocyanins, it contains health boosting antioxidants. Anthocyanins have some of the strongest physiological effects of any plant compounds. Anthocyanins' health benefits include anti-flammatory and anti cancer properties as well as diabetes preventative qualities.
Here is a link that might be useful: Sierra Lettuce description at Specialty Produce
Find them and squish them. Bt K variant may kill them but probably not before they nip the plant. Diatomaceous Earth supposedly controls them but is ineffective when wet and will kill beneficial insects, and you'll probably still lose the seedlings. Beneficial nematodes will work, but they're expensive and take time.
I gave you a 100% cure(since I started using them)to prevent them from nipping your seedlings. No toothpicks? Use twigs. Use nails.
Kevin
Could you post pictures of the plants? There are many possible causes, most of them far more likely than any possible virus disease. But to be able to ID we'd need photos and much more information or a detailed description of the symptoms.
No point in ripping them out until you know what the real cause is and the symptoms you describe so far could be nothing more than too much water.
Dave
Japanese Hops is considered invasive.
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/huja1.htm
Use the needles as mulch, or leave them where they fall! People pay big bucks for "pine straw".
They compost nicely, but a bit slowly, by themselves if you keep them moist. Mixing them with grass clippings is one way to speed up the needles and keep the grass from going stinky.
Lots of advantages and the only disadvantage is they are very slow to decompose as mentioned already. No problem when used as mulch. In the compost bin you want to add lots of nitrogen (greens) to speed them up or you can find your pile sitting dormant for a year.
Dave.
Hi everyone - I just wanted to follow up and show you how my tomatoes are doing these days. They recovered from the intense wilt and I think it was a combination of inconsistent watering/inconsistent moisture in the soil and the dreaded Santa Anas. I have a shade cloth setup now to use when necessary (we shall see what happens in September/October yikes).
Also, it turns out it is a San Marzano not a cherry - I had mixed up the tags. LOL. Oh, and I had posted about BER with this plant - probably also caused by inconsistent moisture - and that's also cleared up. I have a new method of watering using a 32oz yogurt container with pinholes in the bottom which I set on the soil several inches from the base of the plants and fill up so that it slowly moistens the soil. I've also stopped pruning it so hard and am letting it branch out, though trying to keep it vertical. Now I am waiting for the first ripe fruit.
Just wanted to give an update and say thanks to all of you for your help! I am learning so much. And so much still to learn. ;)
Thanks for your response and time to answer. Your thought is my thought, except they won't allow any herbicides on the plot, which I suppose only means I need to weed the grass more vigorously. The plot was mowed about a month ago and in the last week many sprouts of new asparagus are coming up that haven't been there in decades. Pretty impressive plant it is. I'm marking them all with stakes and will mulch and fertilize around them. Later, I will add grass clippings. Any further thoughts you might have would be most welcome. Thanks again.
This is a reply to a really old link but others may benefit... I would dig up the whole bed in the fall and replant it. Do this when the 'ferns' start to turn a bit brown. There will also likely be lots of extra crowns to transplant to other locations, as there will not be room in the current bed to put them. At that time, remove the sod, and dig out the soil to asparagus planting depth, and sift it to remove as many roots as possible. Then plant the asparagus as recommended for your area, but mulch with lots of leaves (or other organic material like old hay or straw - not herbicide applied grass clippings - as some herbicides could harm the asparagus). Put on six inches or even more. It will compact overwinter and asparagus comes up through heavy mulch while grass does not. Next year you should have more asparagus that ever. Keep vigilant and weed out every blade of grass. I use POAST - a grass herbicide myself! But I replant too.
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!!