23,821 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

We have clay and we get all sorts of split and stunted carrots - we are managing to improve them over the years - but my aunt has a garden that has been producing lovely veges for years - look at the carrot she got this year! Not sure how to explain that!


Stake or cage the plants vertically for easier harvest. Left uncaged & unpruned, the plants will become monsters spreading 5-6 feet in all directions - and nearly impossible to get into without injury. If they have already begun to spread, drive poles in on either side, run strong twine under the vines, pull the vines up gently & tie to the poles.
There should be no need to hull them. When the berries are fully ripe, the thorny calyx surrounding the fruit will peel back, and the berries should separate with a gentle pull. Some of mine are a little harder to pull off (usually the largest ones), and they will tear a little. Some of the smaller ones will drop off on their own, and can be picked off the ground.
The berries spoil quickly unless refrigerated (especially if torn) and should be used within a day or two. Toward the end of the season, when cooler temps arrive, most of the near-mature berries will ripen. At this time, you can cut off complete trusses & allow them to finish ripening indoors. Lay them in a single layer on trays, to avoid puncturing the berries on the thorny stems of others.
You should be aware that some ripe berries may crack on the plant. Wasps will feed on these, especially as Fall approaches & food is scarce... so thorns are not the only reason to be careful.



I had the same problem with a Black Beauty zucchini planted in a raised bed. The plant was prolific in growing and putting out male flowers. It only produced one 8" squash. The few females that did appear after that did not pollinate because the flowers never bloomed and the tiny squashes succumbed to an early death. The entire plant finally fell victim to stink bugs and a SVB in mid-August. I had much better luck with a straight neck yellow squash plant before it too, got discovered by those darn bugs.


This summer had female flowers on my yellow squash but less than 1 a week. SVB became a problem and I had to cut open about 1 foot each vine. One of the vines survived the surgery. Now at the end of September temperatures have dropped to 50 degrees at night and 70 during the day. The plant is only getting about 2 hrs of sun a day, the leaves have powdery mildew and the vine has been cut up dealing with the SVB. Not good conditions for a squash plant. Almost all the flowers are now female and it is flowering heavily. I counted 12 yellow squash although they are growing slowing due to the lack of sun.Perhaps the stressful condition has encouraged female flowers.




Qbush, the peas I put in were "Sugar Lace" (snap) and "Green Arrow" (shelling).
"Sugar Lace" was old seed, so I over-sowed; but the germination was still poor. In the past, I actually had better germination if planted in warm soil, so I suspect it was the age of the seed. To make a bad situation worse, one whole row died off in the summer heat. Only a partial row remains, but it was a long row, so there will still be plenty to snack on.
"Green Arrow" was also old seed, but had pretty good germination, and much less summer die-off. The longest row was planted adjacent to a long row of bush beans, and the two seem very happy together... a little too happy, with the peas clinging to the beans. I've had to separate them (carefully) while picking the beans. The peas seem to have benefited from the moisture & cooler soil under the bean canopy, that part of the row is lush & full of pods.
All the beans ("Tenderette") and peas were planted the same day. The bush beans matured first, before the end of August. To my surprise, both peas are maturing at about the same time; I expected "Green Arrow" to be a week or two later. I'll be snacking on snap peas while picking shelling peas, which should be pleasant.
Still no frost in the long-term forecast; looks like I'll be picking bush beans & zucchini for awhile yet, and getting more cukes than I expected. 10+ more days of moderate temperatures should give at least some of the "Bush Table King" acorn squash time to mature, there are about 70-80 that have reached full size. Never tried planting acorn squash so late, it will be impressive if they make it.
This wasn't the garden that I planned; none of the seed crops planned for the rural plot were planted, and will need to be put off until next year. Still, it looks like it will be a good harvest & a full freezer.
"Those same cranes come to my place in central florida in the winter. I'll ask them if they felt ok about eating Zeedman's crops...."
Well maybe if you had fed them better, they wouldn't be so hungry! ;-)

Hi. I'm new to your forum, and just found it by googling 'ants and sunflowers'. I've noticed ants crawling all over my sunflowers as well, and have noticed the stem right under the flower dropping off. It seems to do this after the flower has past it's bloom, so that's good at least. But have been wondering why the ants are attracted to it in the first place - so interesting to see that this is a common problem.
I found a site that discusses it, and thought this info was telling:
Ants and Aphids
Ants are attracted to aphids because of a sticky, sweet substance they produce when feeding, called honeydew. Honeydew isn't the sole food source for ants, but when an aphid colony is in the area, the ants can harvest this nutrient-rich substance continually with less labor than what is required to constantly locate new food sources. Because of this, ants protect aphid colonies ferociously, warding off pests and parasites, as well as helping the immobile aphids multiply by spreading them out on infested sunflowers.
So the ants aren't directly hurting the sunflowers, but because they are getting rid of the other pests that can get rid of the aphids which are harming the plant, the ants are indirectly doing harm!
It goes on to say you need to get rid of both simultaneously in a "two phase process":
Ants can be excluded from sunflowers with the application of a 4-inch wide sticky barrier placed onto a layer of protective masking tape or heavy paper positioned below the first set of leaves. Bait stations loaded with sweet ant bait and placed at the base of the plant give the ants an alternative food source that will slowly eliminate the entire colony. Make sure that the ants can't gain access by climbing a nearby plant or structure by applying sticky barriers to anything that may be touching the affected sunflower.
Eliminate aphids from single plants with blasts of water from a garden hose. Once dislodged, the pests are unable to reattach before they die. Insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils sprayed directly onto the aphids will kill these pests on contact, preventing them from attaching to other sunflowers.
Here's a link to the site: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ants-raising-aphids-sunflowers-65493.html
I haven't looked at my sunflowers for signs of aphids, but I now suspect I will find them when I do. I think your pic of your sunflowers shows aphids, nfrichardson.
Marj

I am sure there are various kinds of ants. But the ones I have seen in the garden, are tiny black ones that are very active , working almost around the clock. Bu I have yet to see them to cause any damage. There are yellow ants that are very aggressive but not a pest. The mound that we see is actually what is dug up to make their home, not their actual home. I have often seen them to make hills after some heavy rain that has flooded their underground nest.

Mainly into apples now, freezing cored, peeled and sliced ones for apple bread and pies and sweet/potato casseroles; pot of apple sauce going now, probably more sauce and apple butter tomorrow. Summer crops gone. Fall crops just starting, mainly lettuces for eating now, but collards and broccoli are looking good.

There are many online sources. I've bought fingerling potatoes from Potato Garden and Jung Seeds. They are fairly expensive because of the shipping, but you can be confident they are disease free. I've also planted organic fingerlings I got from the grocery store. In spite of the advice not to do that, I had my best harvest with the grocery store potatoes. I got close to 20 pounds of potatoes for each pound of Russian banana potatoes I planted.

There's a farmers market out by I-95 on the north side of Melborne I believe. I got my French fingerlings from Fresh Market...did great. If your hands are full of arthritis, fingerlings are difficult to hold on to while scrubbing and preparing to cook. French fingerlings are a little bit thicker around and easier to grasp. Check with your extentsion agent for best time to plant. In the meantime you can start working the plot where you're going to put them. Potatoes like an acid soil so you need to consider that.

Historically, strains of P. coccineus with white seeds were selected by the Dutch. While the species can outcross with some pole beans, it is also possible that some level of genetic diversity remains in your strain. White seeds are associated with white flower color, too.

Thanks everyone for your comments, I have just been out in the garden to take down the bean row and collect the dried beans that are left on , The bean pods are all about 1 foot long and i have started to remove the beans from the pods, and to my amazement i now find i have pure black seeds in some pods as well as the white ones in other pods.

Maybe you should do a little research into soil before you start planting vegetables in containers. The potting mix is the most important ingredient in getting healthy vegetables. Whether you're talking about soil or compost, spent means most of the nutrients are used up and the structure has broken down.
From the Urban Dictionary:
Spent as an adjective:
1. Used up; consumed
2. Having come to an end; passed
3. Depleted of energy, force, or strength; exhausted
And no, compost that is not finished composting is not a good media to use in a pot. You might get away with it mixed into garden soil, but you also might end up burning roots (especially if it includes manure) and attracting vermin.

Hmmmmm! The friend I made reference to got his plants from an entomoligst friend that has greenhouse grown these plants for the past three years. That said, Rodney may be on to something! I'm clueless about the science of plant reproduction, so I didn't want to attempt to propagate these seeds if they weren't likely to grow true.....
As farmerdill mentioned, there are a great number of facsimiles out there, but my friend has his heart set on growing this one, so I'll start some for him in the spring....



As the others mentioned, the green stuff is the larvas poop, not eggs.
If you only have a few plants you don't need to spray bt, just find the larva and squash them. Once you know what to look for, they're easy to spot and kill.
-Mark
The next time, cover them wit nylone tulle. The white butterflies lay the eggs. I learned after my cabbages were destroyed.
Of all the butterflies , I dislike those white ones. Ghirrrr !