23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
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.
10% IS too strong. Just because you haven't burned anything with this solution yet doesn't mean that it is innocuous. 10% ammonia has a pH of 10.5, which is indeed caustic to plant tissue. Furthermore, it can cause ammonium toxicity if applied on a regular basis, as well as nitrogen excess. In other words, there are three distinct issues you could end up facing.
I would strongly suggest you don't use ammonia for anything except perhaps the slugs, and even then avoid getting it on the plants. Aphids can be hosed off with water.
If the plants are planted in the garden (not still in 6 packs or small pot) then don't worry about it. If the plant can't support the fruit it will either drop the blossom or abort the fruit. It is quite common IME for squash to either have only 1 sex of blooms early on (usually male) or to drop its first few female blooms all on its own.
Dave
This was all I could find. Maybe there's been a renaming?
http://www.stclareseeds.com/cart/Pea-Dwarf-Grey-Sugar.html
Here is a link that might be useful: link
So Dave - then it seems like it would be a good idea this round to use the liquid form yeah based on your last comment? It doesn't say whether this would replace the dry side dressing treatment but I'm guessing it would? So then I would side dress again in August? Sure seems like a long time away....
Sounds like it should be ok as a tea then based on that info. But since you are working on getting your micro herd developed too I'd feed again in mid-July 'cause I find I get better results with a 6 week cycle rather than 8 weeks during the high heat of summer.
Or as an alternative, side dress them with more fresh compost. The herd has to eat. :)
Dave
In my opinion, beetle traps with lure is not for a small garden. I used them once and had all neighborhood beetles in my yard whole summer long. Without lure yellow sticky pads catch some of the beetles, but much more they catch flies and whole pad is covered in one day. I ended up with planting my cucumbers in permanent tulle cover on trellis(planting only parthenocarpic types ) and other plants (zucchinis , melons ) are all covered while small, until they start flowering. I noticed, the beetles do not harm older squash that much as cucumbers, just because squashes are less prone to the wilt then cucumbers. I don't know about pumpkins(don't grow them). If plants are still very small I think you still should cover them. The beetles are not that fast moving in very early morning hours(right after dawn) , so you can pick them all and make a cover right after that. Shaking them off in the soapy water or using portable hand held vacuum works the best, Smashing disturbs the plants as well. Continue to check under cover if you miss any. Tulle is a good cover for it - you can see through very well. Good luck!
Several things. First, the use of the peat pot (or whatever the material is). You'll find lots of info about them on this and other forums. The consensus on them is that the peat really needs to be stripped away prior to planting. This is just what I've read but they don't seem to let the roots through as they claim. Or if you are going to plant them as is, then the pot rim has to be buried beneath the surface of the soil or else they dry out too quickly.
Second, "We had one cold night and they looked a little shocked. Now this is what I see in my window box. Did I plant them too early?"
How cold did it get and how cold has it been? Cucumbers need warm weather.
Third, how big is this window box and what was it filled with?
Lastly, yes, I would reseed directly into the window box. Assuming that it's big enough to accommodate a cuke in the first place AND assuming that it's warm enough for them to grow. Cucumbers are best direct seeded although in your location I can understand the reason for starting indoors (short season). This one, even if it survives (not likely) won't grow well due to the stresses it's gone through.
Rodney
Hi Rodney,
Thanks for your help. Good to know about the peat pots - I just tried them this time as I had been told that they have quite a delicate rooting system and I thought it would be helpful. These are baby cucumbers and the window box is approximately 1 X 2 ft. As much as I am attached to these little guys, you're right if it does survive it may not be as productive anyway. I hope for a long summer. It did get quite cold, but I had it sheltered under a patio table. Part of me wonders if the soil was dryer that the cold wouldn't have shocked them quite so much. I'm using ProMix for Veggies - I've had such good results with it for my tomatoes and other veggies I have planted this year and I would recommend it to everyone. I will cut my losses, and say goodbye to these babies and plant some new ones not to waste the short season. At the very least I could probably just use the same soil and ensure it's draining. I'm facing south so I think I might have some good results with the warmth and keep them out that way. *sigh*
ANOTHER CONSIDERATION:
once your plants (like tomatoes) grow big they will shade most of the bed. So the plastic is shaded most of the time also. Its advantages under such conditions are:
---- retain moisture (reduce evaporation)
---- prevent rain water to go down(to some extent)
Disadvantage: In hot days, it can get real hot under black plastic. If some roots are growing under it can be cooked. It also prevents air from getting into the soil. Micro organisms and roots can appreciate some air.
So all in all there are trade offs that one has to weigh and decide what to do. I can leave them on since we have relatively cool summers and I get no more than 6 hours of direct sun.
What seysonn says is right, except that if the bed is shaded, it won't get hot under the plastic. The temp in the shade is the air temp. I agree that soil aeration is important, thought if you have enough perforation in the plastic to allow water to get through, that won't be a big issue.
Flea beetles, maybe? They love my young eggplants, haven't noticed them by onions, though.
Here is a link that might be useful: flea beetles
Oh wow, I way underestimated how big these plants would get! You will laugh when I tell you that I had two other rows of veggies in between the zucchini row behind and the squash/cucumber row! Needless to say, those didn't make it as the zucchini took off and I ripped them out. Well at least we have tons of zucchini, and the cucumber vines are loaded with babies, so no big loss on my yellow squash plant, I suppose. I plan on building more raised beds next year and we will try again.
That looks like some type of inorganic problem. You haven't used any weed killer (glyco, etc) in the area have you? IT can really drift and a very light exposure would causes plants to look this way. Certain other chemicals could do the same, as could salt or certain other things. Any chance you got the dirt from an area that had been exposed to some inorganic substance? Give some thought to these scenarios and any substance that could have affected the plants or soil. Of course, its just one of many possibilities. Good luck.
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."