23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I plant corn in early July in zone 5, for fall harvest. I would think that you'd do even better in your zone. I've also planted beans late like that for a fall crop. I would think that since you've got the number of days to harvest putting you well before frost, you'll be fine. Things will grow slower with the shorter days of late summer, though, so add some days to harvest time for your second crops.
You've made a good choice between beans and corn, with a nitrogen fixer preceeding a heavy feeder, and vice versa. But you probably knew that already :)
I'm in North Carolina too (Triangle area) and I've had good luck with late plantings of beans. I have never had luck with corn because the cute little tree rates (also known as squirrels) always destroy them, so I can't give you any advice there.
The 65 days for the beans refers to when they start producing. They will continue to produce for some time. So I'm not sure you're going to be able to follow the beans with corn because it'll probably be too late in the season. Unless you rip the bean plants while they still have more to give.
-Anne
Did it actually go into the garden, into the area where the plants are growing? If so then, per their website FAQs, depending on the amount it will kill any broad leaf plants growing in the garden. Pulling and transplanting them won't save them. So all you can do is wait and see what dies and then replace it.
If it wasn't distributed into the garden itself, just around it then it shouldn't pose any problems that I know of. Had it been a liquid rather than a granular it would be a very different story.
Dave
I can make you feel better. I mistakenly grabbed a bag of weed and feed fertilized at HD, thinking it was regular fertilizer. Then I used it to side dress everything in my vegetable garden. Luckily, most of the established plants weren't too affected, but I'm still seeing some impact to the peppers and onions. Just yesterday, I was looking at the types of herbicides in weed and feed and learned that residual effects are fairly short term for these herbicide types. I also re-learned that weed and feed fertilizers are a really poor product for many reasons and that Canada has banned them completely.
No common ants don't attack plants but they will harvest/eat dying or rotting organic matter like dying leaves of lettuce laying on the ground. So if the lettuce is dying something else is causing it and the ants are just enjoying the buffet.
Wilted and cut off at the base sounds like cutworms.
Dave
In the end I did not have that many, and also in the last few years I have been eating far more root vegetables than in the past. I ate them all in a month, so I can vouch for one month in refrigerator type conditions (my garage, in a plastic tote, close to 100% humidity and below 40F).
I understand my problem now. They're definitely stressed, I will start new peppers from seed right on the ground (hopefully my cat won't damage the seeds by waalking on them). And yes I have mulched quite a bit of organic compost as a fertilizer at the beginning of the season.
OK, so counting days on the calendar, that puts it August 11 for 78 days. So that helps me to plan a little better. I don't have to put in for the exact dates off right now but I do have to let my boss know about when - so it will be sometime the 2nd week of August. I know what we have planted is probably not a big deal for most people - 4 30' rows, but for us old folks who move slower these days and working 12 hours a day by the time I add in my drive time, there is not enough time between when I get home and have to go to bed to do anything. Thus I will need a day or so to get it all picked and processed. Then I might need a vacation from my vacation to get rested up!!! :^)
Thanks all for your help.
Edie
I think if you haven't seen any new growth in two weeks, you probably arent going to get any. I wouldn't replant though. It looks to me like you've got an awful lot growing in a very small space. I don't know where you are, but here in California, this is how big a few cucumber plants can get.
Have you had success with this much planting in that small and shallow a space in the past?
I agree with Lori that it looks way over-planted to me but I can't tell what all the plants are either.
I agree that you might as well pull those 2 plants and pitch them. They are a lost cause. Whether you replant or not depends on the variety you choose and what you past success with this area has been.
And unless you saw them do it, I wouldn't assume that bugs did all that damage either.
Dave
My plants have been growing slowly as well, although I seem to see growth spurts after we have a couple days of warm, sunny weather. I'm in Brooklyn, NY and we've had a lot of cold, overcast days here the last couple of weeks. Looks like we'll be having some consistent warm weather soon though.
I always remember a hippie guy I ran into at the nursery the very first year I wanted to plant a garden. Among all kinds of sound and helpful advice he'd given me, I'd asked him if it was a good time to plant the plants I had in my cart. He shrugged and said, "Sure, you can plant them now. They'll just sit there and do nothing until the weather turns, but when it does, you'll be ready."
Dave
I removed all of the pot piece be piece (it was kind of moist) and the bottom plus cellophane when I planted it. Really don't like those jiffy pots. I'm going to cut the seedlings and leave 3 of them for now.
By "ton of room", I mean I spaced them 12 inches (the one to left and all the other watermelons are yellow doll and sugar baby) There is about 20in rows between the melons and the tomatoes. The "raised" beds are about 14 in.
Another question, They have about 30 feet to grow in all directions, except for tomatoes. There is a a chain link fence surrounding the yard about 15 foot from some of the melons, some are only 3 feet from the fence, Can I "guide" the melon vines towards the fence and the melons farther from the fence also?
Thanks again
Dave
Good job on the pot!
Not quite the "ton of room" I pictured but yeah I'd still try for 2 good vines. I tend to chicken out when it comes to just 1 plant of anything - too many things can happen with it and you end up with nothing.
It may get difficult to access in there once they all get running - kind of a creeping green jungle all over but you can always cut one of them back if need be.
Vines will go where vines want to go no matter what you do it seems but you can always try to guide them where you want them to go. Once years ago I tried driving small wood stakes in the ground to tie the vines to in the hopes of keeping them going in that direction. They just did 90 degree turns on me instead. :)
Dave
Bt is your best bet. It is organic, it works well and best of all, only targets the caterpillars not the good guys. I use the Garden Safe Bt Worm & Caterpillar Killer, but I have to order it online, since nobody around us seems to carry it.
Just leave them in the containers. peas and beans generally don't appreciate being moved, and the lettuce ought to be ready for picking soon anyways.
By the time all is said and done it will be too late in my opinion to be planting out your warm season plants, but just about the right time to begin planning and planting the fall crop.
I agree with keeping things in container for the rest of the year and putting fall veggies into the ground. You'll have plenty to do. I have managed a late crop of bush beans by using a low tunnel of Agribon fabric to protect them from a light frost we usually get mid-September. I think Swiss chard tastes the best when weather gets colder. Love it when the cold sweetens it up.
As far as you critter damage goes, I wouldn't sweat. I had one that was rendered to a stick with only one or two little leaves after a hail storm last month, it has grown back to (almost) it's original size in just a week or two. As long as you have one good node left, it should recoup just fine!
I've grown basil both in containers and in the ground, and have never had the issue you describe. It makes me curious if you've got something else growing on the deck. Do the two plants look the same? Photos would definitely help. Good luck with the transplanting. I think it will grow back just fine, despite those lousy critters!