23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Hot, dry, & windy. Sounds as if you might be in SoCal.
As for the wind, rig a temporary windbreak or set the pot in a sheltered place, even if in the garage for several days.
If root rot, the roots (especially the tips) will be dark and unhealthy looking.
Jean,
who gardened for 30-some years in LB, CA
yes in socal indeed. hellish weather the last few days...feels like october!
i was afraid it had a disease but fingers crossed it is just the conditions which i can change.
i will keep it more consistently moist - and protect it from the wind. thanks jean!
It is a low dose fertilizer, which is fine but different plants need different amounts of feeding and at different times. So it isn't a set schedule for the whole garden. Broccoli and cucumbers need more N than tomatoes and peppers but tomatoes need a bit more than peppers do.
It also depends on how much you amended your garden soil before planting. If you added lots of good compost nutrients to the soil before planting then only the broccoli and cukes may need some after the first couple of weeks or so. Tomatoes and peppers after the first fruit set and then approx. every 6 weeks or so. But those are just very general guidelines.
You learn with time and experience to tell when the plant needs feeding rather than going by a day of the week.
Dave
I'd go with 12" minimum as the plants get at least that wide. Otherwise they will be laying/falling over out of your box. Plus that would make the box useful for other crops as well. Can't do much at all with only 4 inches width.
Dave
If the lilies look like they've been chomped from the top (esp. the flower buds just chopped off and disappeared) I'd suspect deer. I'm not sure about calla, but they love Asiatic lilies.
Strawbery leaves? Again, if they're totally gone not just holey, it might be deer. Though if you've got a lot of grass around I don't know. But deer did eat my strawberry leaves late last fall before I had mulched. I'd assume that they'd have plenty else to eat in the spring though since they haven't touched mine since I took the winter pine bough covering off.
We've had the same Maple!! Broccoli is so unpredictable. Ive had plants that I babied sit all season and never produce a head at all.....and I've had plants survive through Nebraska winters (fall planted) produce beautiful heads in early spring! I stopped planting cauliflower because of their unpredictability. But man home grown broccoli is so good!!! I may experiment this fall with overwintering again. That happened accidentally but was a nice surprise.
My broccoli report:
Winter sowed 2 varieties... packman and early girl hybrid. Germination was good and I planted out about the 15th of April. The plants have grown well... big leaves, but haven't grown to tall. I have heads forming, with the largest one being about the size of a silver dollar and they don't look like they are getting to the flowering stage (still tight heads). Like everyone else's, we've had wildly fluctuating weather temps (lows to 25 some nites in april and almost 90 the other day).
A little off topic, winter sown cabbage and cauliflower are doing well and hope to harvest cabbage sometime in the next 30 days.
Happy gardening!
Tom
ps, will try to get a picture in the next day or 2.
I agree with those who say to wait until garden advice is solicited, it will be both really heard and appreciated then.
I think it is disrespectful to personally confront people about their grocery choices, that is like telling them that they are children and cannot make their own decisions.
If one has strong feelings about nutrition, write articles, contribute posts here, etc.
Do not approach people in person in public about their grocery choices because they 'might not know'. For one thing, there are scientific disagreements and just because one reads a few articles, does not make one the purveyor of the absolute truth.
UPDATE ON MY TOMATILLO PLANT
As I mentioned in my previous posting, I suspected that tomatillo (or at least some cultivar of it) is DAY LENGTH SENSITIVE. I was right.
REPORT:
My lone tomatillo has been growing since early June, producing hundreds and hundreds of flowers. Until in mid august I just saw one balloon. .
Come mid September, the plant is loaded with pods. The timing coincides with the day length nearing 12 hours. On the tag om my plan said: MEXICAN variety. So no wonder, that it did not do anything when we had 16 hours of day light and warmer weather.
I have challenged the theory that you need more than one plant to fruit, in the past and this is the second time I have proven it otherwise.
---------------------- P.S
as I read more posts , i can tell that a lot of growers reporting that their tomatilloes are suddenly producing lanterns from early September on. Again this is when daylight length approaches 12 hours.
This post was edited by seysonn on Sun, Sep 22, 13 at 5:17
Bump it!
This thread satrted 8 years ago.
There are a lot of interesting discussions and reports. The subject of tomatillo's fertility seems to be still not well understood. I, myself, have experimented with SINGLE plant , 3 times in 3 different season and have gotton the results proving that a single tomatillo plant is self pollinating and fertile. My last experiment was in 2013 season. Albeit , it came too late in the season here in PNW and the fruits inside the husk did not grow to full size
I was going NOT TO plant tomatillo this year, but just to prove myself for the 4th time, I am going to plant JUST ONE again this year. I am going to plant it in a pot this time.
I suspect, MAYBE, tomatillo is daylight/length sensitive and it won't set fruits when daylight is like 13 to 16 hours. That is why my plant last year suddenly burst into husks in August.
Anther issue maybe the variety. As there are tomatoes that are tolerant to cold or hot weather probably there are similar tomatillos too. I will do a search about it and will report it here.
Do you think it's too late for bean seeds then, should I look for plants and get them in the ground as soon as possible? My plan is to wait a week or two to plant tomatoe and pepper plants and get some beet and cucumber seeds in the ground this weekend. Do I need to stager plantings, mostly tomatoes and peppers I mean, so all plants don't ripen and provide at the same time. Thanks so much everyone, you been so helpful so far. I really appreciate it.
Do you think it's too late for bean seeds then,
Not at all. Beans prefer warmer soil or they just rot. Even down here we are are just now planting beans. jimmy56 may be in a very different garden zone than you are.
You don't need to stagger plant tomatoes or peppers as even determinate tomato types will produce for the season. Indeterminate types will produce until killed by frost or disease.
Please keep in mind that as mentioned above you need to research how to grow each of these vegetables individually and there are lots of "how to grow ______ in a home garden" info sites. Each vegetable has different needs.
And expect some set backs too and roll with them. It is impossible to learn everything you need to know in 2 weeks or even 2 years.
Dave
I'm wondering if it might be the fertilizer. How much did you put down and what kind? Has it rained more than it did last year? Is it hotter? What's in your compost? That sounds like an awful lot of watering to me. I know it is really hot there, but still...
I have had the same problem with raccoons in the past. I am now trying "The Three Sisters." The squash should deter the raccoons.
Here is a link that might be useful: Three Sisters Garden
So i think i am about to have some major pollination issues with my corn. I only plant 8 at a time in 2 sq feet. I always hand pollinate and never have had any issues, but this year it has been raining monsoon style during my pollination period and I can't seem to get any pollen to drop from the tassels. I was able to get a little dust in my glass only one morning and I think I was able to successfully pollinate only one set of silks. Does anyone know if the rain may have actually helped pollinate them by washing the pollen over the silks? by the way Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil
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.
You all are fantastic! Thanks for the informative answers. And yes, Ohiofem, I have never tasted potatoes that good before! I was very pleased with the flavor and texture.