23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
My research on wireworms (in my potatoes) led me to hope that they would decline on their own, as I found several mentions that they were most prevalent in areas that had recently been sod.
So I made sure to plant my potatoes in the older parts of my garden that hadn't been sod for at least 3 years, and I did experience much less wireworm damage. Just a correlation.
How long has your carrot planting area been garden?
~emmers
"Beneficial nematodes" are the answer. I tried then a couple of years ago for lawn bugs, but also watered them into the vegetables, just to be safe.
Since then I've had no problems but notice some signs in my carrots again. So I'll use them again in the spring.
They come loaded on a sponge which is transferred into a watering can and sprayed onto the wet ground. The todes seek out the insect larvae, enter and lay eggs, killing the larvae off.
They seem to kill all sorts of problems, in fact any insect which spends part of it's time in the soil is killed off.
The seed came from what was meant to be waltham butternut, but i guess it could well have been an F1 or have been cross pollinated itself. In this case i did not grow the originating squash myself and maybe this is a good lesson for me. Previously i always kept my own seed, but last year i didn't get any as my squash didn't grow to maturity as we had a miserable summer.
I think technically we can. Do we have a choice with rain ? It is overhead irrigation. It happens all the time.
If you do that, make sure it is done early in the morning so everything is dried during the day, to minimize bacterial diseases.
Color of leaves indicate the state of Nitrogen, in most case. I dark green like the one seen, tells me that the soil is rich in nitrogen and thus the plant get more thirsty. Just like us when we eat too salty food.
Drooping and getting leggy , and not being unable to stand up, is because of the lack of light. They need light as long as they are indoor. And the light source should be so close that they don't grow two high to reach it. But generally, it is very difficult to keep cucurbitacea indoors for two long. I rarely start them indoors and even do not like buying seedling from nurseries unless it is something special. Direct sowing is the simplest way to go.
Highly appreciate your responses.
Unfortunately that one just died. The stem was able to hold on, but the leaves just fell off just hanging on to the stem.
One of the other stem is also falling down and I dont know what to do. Outside the temps are too high for me to do planting.
The leaves are not crisp to suggest they are thirsty, infact they were very soft to the touch - very very soft. Was it a problem of under watering?
It seems I will try out outside. At the moment the daily highs reach 95F between 11 am to 3 pm. Is it ok to sow them outside now and shade them during the above time with a 50% cloth? Is it advisable to try or a waste of time? I thought the forecast temp graph on the link below will provide you with a much better picture of the present and forecaster weather situation over here.
I have some other tomatoes and pepper seedling also inside. I am waiting for their true leaves to come before I plant them in their final containers for outdoor world. How long does it take for the true leaves to emerge. It has been some time now (around a week but still no sign of true leaves).
Any suggestions?
Here is a link that might be useful: Dharan Saudi Arabia - 30 day Weather Forecast
My good friend Thomas Jefferson grew artichokes in Northern VA (Zone 7) as perenials by overwintering them. I am attempting the same with globe artichokes (6 plants in a raised bed). I have already added more topsoil around the plants and a 1 - 2 inch layer of leaf mulch. Next, I intend to cut the plants down to about 12 inches and cover them with leaf mulch. I will then cover the mulch with flower pots that have a rock anchor on top to protect them from being blown over by the wind. I will keep the soil most during the winter.
Ah crap. I bought that one as a pack of 4 seedlings from the supermarket and it was the only one that had survived (the rest i'm pretty sure were eaten by snails). It was already in the ground. Luckily I've been drying out some seeds that are just about ready.
Yeah, I'm in Australia. So it's just entered spring.
Texas has higher absolute temps in summer, that is true, bit it also tends to have soil that hold much more moisture than florida sand, so on moisture content it may be about even.
Also I am talking about different crop families entirely; for example pigeon pea may be productive in circumstances too harsh even for cowpea.
I was thinking you had to be taking about a different crop family. Point noted. I'm not sure I want to devote my home garden to millet, sorghum, maize and cowpeas but, if I did, I might well be able to put away my hose!
I plant my garlic in the fall and sometimes they do come up by November if the temperatures remain mild. To me this not a problem, but as i am in Norway and temp can get to 0F, i always put a layer of straw on the top of the bed to act as an insulator for over winter.
Ralph
You don't have to mulch them. I've left garlic plants in the garden for two winters and the plants are fine. I do this because from one clove, you get 6 new bulbs...each clove in the first summer's bulb makes a whole bulb the following year. They're very hardy.
"And, IMHO, if you haven't grown or tried a Jimmy Nardello pepper yet, you have really been missing out on something (although I find the thin walls to be rather disappointing)."
Considering how many people cook and make salads with sweet peppers...Jimmy Nardello and Aji Dulce types (various) are grossly underused in most countries. They're thin, but rather uniquely and richly flavored.
Thanks Tom,. sometimes we have different tastes and preferences, like Jalapeno, that came up.
I have stopped growing bell peppers for more than one reason.
--- Not very tasty and flavorful.
--- They are always available in the produce section, at a reasonable price.
--- Honestly, I could not grow them successfully.
Just this past season , I bough a bell plant with 4 good size tomatoes on it. @ $3.95 I though it is worth trying it. Well, what you know, they were the only peppers all season long it had.
BACK TO POINT>
I have a pepper grow list . Right now all I am lacking is ALMA PAPRIKA. I may try Jimmy Nordella, if I have space for it.
The grasshopper lives :-) Still hanging out in my pepper plant, which I thought for sure would be spent by now but continues to pump out more jalapenos than we will ever, ever eat... Perhaps this particular grasshopper is a lucky one?!?
The grasshopper lives :-) Still hanging out in my pepper plant, which I thought for sure would be spent by now but continues to pump out more jalapenos than we will ever, ever eat... Perhaps this particular grasshopper is a lucky one?!?
I'm not in Virginia, but I am in Utah zone 6a and planted and grew Imperial Star Artichokes for the first time this year and am attempting to overwinter them. We already had our first light frost about a week ago and this did not phase my chokes, but in anticipation of a hard frost sure to come soon I prepared my chokes today for overwintering.
This is what I did:
Cut the foliage down to about 6 inches. Covered them with about six inches of compost, then put about one foot of straw over each plant.
I have four. Fingers crossed that at least a few survive!
Good Luck!!!
AlliDeSpain I you didn't put the mulch or straw right up to the base of the vegetables, right? I think it would choke the art out of them if you did! :)