24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

There are varieties that are both little and round. If you have a "bunch" you most likely have a small variety. Yes they do need to be picked before seed formation. Incomplete pollination does occur when there are not enough pollinators around. Usually does not apply to the whole crop, just one fruit here and there. Each seed has to be pollinated and can be missed by an insect in a hurry with no back up.

ok thank you! just want to make sure they're not poisonous or anything in the off chance i left one in. there were only a couple between 5 eggplant and i cut them right out. UGH!!!!
making the most delicious smelling eggplant parm right now using home made tomato sauce with tomatoes and basil from the garden! can't let those worms stop me!!

>> Donna R(5), Glad to be of help. Anyway I was trying to think of how to explain it as I can not get a photo at the mo as the irrigation lines are not in place - just doing a new garden - so here is attached a rough picture of the plan. The blue lines are the water flow, the pink are the connectors - a mix of Elbows (the corner ones), and Tees and the Cross (4 way) and where the black line is is where the hose connector goes.
So the water flows all ways and will equalise itself instead of just running along the top line (where the hose is) then down the lines and stopping at the bottom line like the next pic.
The squares at the end of the lines are the stops. As my long lines are only 3m (about 10ft) I do not have the line going across the middle like in the top picture.
The hose is short and right there also is the seaweed fertiliser barrel so every now and again I just change the tap hose to the seaweed hose and all plants get their seaweed fertiliser delivered the same way!
I also run everything on timer so I do not forget to turn off the hose and use up all of my tank water or seaweed fert in one go!
Feel free to ask for any other clarification or anything else that you may want to know :D

Have the same problem here and it will be to your advantage in the long run to get them out of there if at all possible. Otherwise build a raised bed on top of the area and incorporate the existing 10" of soil into it.
Dave
PS: Tomatoes are tap root.

I agree with Dan. Slightly shallow spot, but workable. Edit: also agree with Dave, if you want deeper rooted crops, try to remove. or...
If you want to put in some elbow grease, you can rent a drill with a masonry bit (preferably a hammer drill) and for a small amount, you can buy a set of wedges and feathers. You just drill holes in the rock, insert the feathers, and fairly lightly tap in the wedges. It takes a little work, but not too bad. After exposing some of it, in half a day or so even a fairly large rock can be knocked back quite a bit. Just watch a DIY vid to learn how to take pieces off of larger stones.


That's interesting. I'll try to keep things a little more organized next year and look for that. It really is a PIA to have to examine every flower in detail to have any success with hand pollination. Cantaloupe flowers are small, and the m/f distinction is subtle.

If you look closely in your 2nd picture you can see how the big, dying leaf is blocking the sunlight from a set of smaller new growth--probably why the plant is dropping some leaves.
The droopyness can be from watering problems. It is ok for eggplants to go a bit between waterings. Are you watering it everyday and it isn't +100 out everyday? You might be watering too much. Let them go a day or two between waterings to see if that helps. They shouldn't need quite as much/often water as tomatoes and there's a decent chance that the roots are clogging up the pot's drain hole preventing the water from properly draining now that they're so big (I assume your pot has a drain). A mature eggplant's root ball will easily fill a 5 gallon pot.


Wish it were that simple. If it was, I'll repeat, sugar would be a standard ingredient in fertilizer. It is fantastically cheap, so if it worked at all, fertilizer manufacturers wouldn't hesitate to use it, and mark it up accordingly. It isn't a standard ingredient, for good reason. It has been studied, and it doesn't work.


We ripen them every year at the end of the season, when we want to clean out the veggie garden but there are a bunch of green tomatoes left. Spread them out on sheets of clean newspaper in a cool dry place, not touching. Check and remove any that are going bad. They will all ripen. They won't be as good as vine ripe, but they will still be way, way, way better than any tomato you can buy at the store.

Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish
Flavorful green tomato relish is the perfect relish for hot dogs and hamburgers, or stir some into your dressing for pasta or potato salad.
Ingredients:
•8 cups finely chopped (processed or ground) cored green tomatoes
•2 cups finely chopped (processed or ground) peeled onions
•4 bell peppers, part red, finely chopped (processed or ground)
•1/3 cup pickling salt
•2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices
•1/2 teaspoon celery seed
•1 clove garlic, chopped
•2 1/4 cups white vinegar
•1 2/3 cups packed light brown sugar
Preparation:
Combine the chopped vegetables and salt in a large stainless steel pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place (about 65° tF to 70° F) for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight.
Pour the vegetables in a colander over the sink and let drain. Rinse with cool water and use your hands to squeeze out any excess liquids.
Tie the pickling spices and celery seeds in a cheesecloth spice bag.
In a large stainless steel or enamel-lined pan, combine the vinegar, the spice bag, chopped garlic, and the vinegar. Put the vinegar mixture over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the drained green tomato mixture and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, stirring often, for 1 hour.
While the mixture is cooking, prepare the work area, canner, jars, and lids. See Preparing Jars for Canning and Boiling Water Processing.
Fill hot, prepared jars and remove any air bubbles with a small plastic spatula, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Clean jar rims and fit with lids and rings. Process in a covered boiling-water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, remove the cover, and let jars stand in the hot water for 5 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely.
Makes about 7 half-pint jars of relish.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/picklesrelishes/r/r90712a.htm

Personally, chimayo is my favorite. Here in New Mexico, at this time of the year the chile is labeled as hot, medium, or mild. You can buy it a 20 lb sack or larger. Most places, roasting is free (and the smell of chile roasting is indicative of fall). Even Wal-Mart roasts chile in my town. I would say that heat is like a jalapeno in that you do not always know what you are going to get. Some jalapenos have no heat when you buy them and that often depends on weather conditions. Here it is recommended that you sample the chile before buying the bag because once roasted, there are no refunds (somehow I have not been able to do that, but I a not a fire eater so I am not likely to complain that the chile is not hot enough). For those who are inclined, it is a good idea to ask if the chile is at least grown in the U.S. as with many other crops, cheaper chile is brought in from Mexico and it is an important industry. Happy eating.


The ones typically marketed are green house grown. They can also be grown in high tunnels. This prevents pollinating insects from getting to them. If grown in the open, they will probably be pollinated by insects just like a regular cucumber. Some folks resort to hand pollinating cucumbers, but usually there are enogh pollinating insects around to do the job when the plant is in the open.

Is it safe to eat the one that grew?
Well since you say it "tastes good" you have already eaten at least some of it so what is the point of posting your question about safety after already eating it?
Why would a pepper plant ever produce only one pepper is the more important question. The answer to that is the poor growing conditions the gardener provided.
Dave
<Spelling doesnt matter>
But it is rude and disrespectful to the reader to not even make a minimal effort.


Many beans will be dry inside if they start to grow and then the soil gets dry or/and the weather gets hot. It is not because of the variety you are growing, although some varieties take heat better than others. Rattlesnake is one variety that does okay with higher temps if soil moisture is adequate.
If it gets hot before bean pods begin to grow the flowers will drop and no pods will form. No dry insides, but no beans at all til things cool down some.





Maybe Downey Mildew (based on just that one leaf in the center) but can't be sure from the photo. You can Google lots of pics of it to compare to your plants. I would also check the undersides of the leaves carefully as aphids and especially spider mites can have that same effect on leaves.
Dave