23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Did her other pumpkins turn out ok? To me judging from the size and skin tone it looks like an immature large pumpkin variety that would have grown much larger and would have developed a more "pumpkin look" if it were left on the vine to grow. Best guess.
Sorry sdg, this side of the forum is rather sleepy. As you may have already found out most hail damaged gardens survive ok in time, unless of course it was one of those hail storms that look like it snowed. Hope your's survived ok by mid July.
edited to add :
But your squash probably didn't make it past the July borers, they're worse than hail!
This post was edited by vgkg on Thu, Aug 8, 13 at 18:05
No need to be embarrassed. The name broccoli raab throws most people. But it is actually a turnip. Grow like you would grow any turnip. It speciallizes in growing a seed head which remind some folks of a broccoli floret.
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing broccoli raab
Deleting duplicate post.
Here is a link that might be useful: Melon Meter App
This post was edited by jimster on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 13:32
Thanks Wayne, the coopertown seedless sounds good, and yellow doll has been one of my favs for years now. Too bad the smallish melons have a shorter shelf life than the Big Boys, at least that's been the case here. Crimson Sweet & Lanthum sugar baby types do grow well here so I may opt for a mid size as bernadette mentioned and pick em' at their peak. Really love the Big Raspas....maybe just one plant...I can feel that hernia already :)
As planatus says above, it's probably a bit late for brussel sprouts now. His suggestion about direct sowing of kale is a good one, if you like it. A detailed description of how to plant kale can be found here:
http://alan-chadwick.org/html%20pages/techniques/garden_plants/veg_photos%203.html
Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick
Lacewing larvae. Just ordered mine yesterday. If you insist on spraying, do what Rodney said, about 3-4 days apart at dusk. Rinse plants with plain water a couple hours later or in the morning. Then move onto a weekly schedule after that.
And if that don't do it, try the same with neem oil.
Kind of difficult in AZ. One shouldn't use ANY pesticide when the temperature is over 80F. At dusk, it's well over 80 there, no?
if so, then do the spraying first thing in the morn before it's too hot. Make sure you rinse before the heat comes for the day.
Kevin
I sprayed with just a dishwashing soap and water, it looks like it got a good amount of the little suckers, and plants seem fine, I will keep with this until I can tell if it goes one way or the other. It was a little disconcerting seeing the entire leaves covered with insects. We are finally cooling down here only 100 to 108 degrees this week with lows dropping a little below 80, Thanks for the info.
Your string is awesome. :)
I started Guelph Millennium from seed in 2004 (if memory serves) and have a bed of two dozen here myself. Wonderful, wonderful asparagus variety. Our patch is completely neglected a still produces thumb-thick spears for a good six weeks and ferns taller than my six-foot hubby.
The last three or four years, we've been having the same issue with something eating the sides of the top of the shoots, causing them to curl. What's different in our case is that the nibble seems to be happening *before* the spear breaks the soil level. Because of that, my suspects are either asparagus beetle larvae or cutworms.
I've been over to my local greenhouse here in town and to Early's in the city and both places have recommended Sevin. I'm not comfortable using something that indescriminate, though, so I'm still in wait-and-see mode. Last year was the worst year yet (over half the spears had damage), which is why I was looking into control measures. This year, though, there were only a handful here and there. I wonder if the seemingly never-ending winter thinned out some of the pests.
Roughly what percentage of your spears are being damaged? Are you able to wait it out and see if this is something long-term or short-term or is the damage too much?
A mistake I learned I'd been making was using the ferns themselves as winter mulch (seemed simplest just to tuck them over where they lay). Apparently that provides ideal habitat for asparagus beetles to overwinter. I'll be doing away with them this fall and using straw instead. Hopefully that will improve the situation next year. We'll see.
macky77 my asparagus is also Guelph Millennium. :)
I never even thought that they may have been eaten when the were below the dirt but I think its very unlikely. I check (and count) everyday and I'm pretty positive they were fine one day and nibbled a few days later.
We are having a bad year for grasshoppers and about the time I noticed the nibbling we were at the peak (hopefully) of the infestation. Out of the now 60-ish spears maybe 1/2 dozen were nibbled so I'm not too concerned - just annoyed and wanting to prevent further damage.
It seems like every spear that was nibbled had enough damage done to halt their growth but I noticed new spears coming up beside the damaged ones already.
As for the asparagus beetle, I'm not sure how far north you are but I think we are safe from threats of them - unless of course you'll actually caught them!!
If your spears are being damaged below the surface could it be grubs? (japanese beetle larva) We had grub issues in our potatoes a few years ago - they would eat holes in the potatoes and leave exposed tracks around the potatoes making them very difficult to store. We ended up spraying with nematodes a few times in one year and haven't had much of an issue since.
We got the nematodes from Natural Insect Control - http://www.natural-insect-control.com
They were also very helpful in identify the pest. It might be worth contacting them to see what they have to say.
I planted 25 crowns of asparagus this year so you're a year ahead of me but I can tell you what I've discovered in the process.
I was told that a "light" harvest can occur the second year and the following years you can normally pick what you want. When they say "thin" I've heard(read) it being compared to the thickness of a pencil.
Asparagus have male and female plants and the male tend to produce larger spears because the females put more energy towards seed production. I planted Guelph Millenium which is an all male plant so I don't get seeds and my spears will(should) be larger.
When I talk to people about asparagus I compare them to a tulip. The crown is like the bulb where energy is stored for next years spear productions. The more asparagus you allow to go to fern the more energy the crown stores for next year - don't remove the fern until it has died back in the fall or you may not have any asparagus next year because the plant was unable to store energy for spear production. Thin spears are generally female and are a result of little energy being stored, larger spears means more energy was stored.
When your female plants go to seed you can either pick the seeds or allow them to drop and then next year you'll also get asparagus growing from those seeds.
I don't see anything wrong with harvesting from the second growth as long as the spears are aren't too "thin." :)
When you're done harvesting your asparagus for the year and allow it to fern out I read that this is the time to fertilize. Fertilizing with a high nitrogen fertilizer allows the fern to grow and therefore transfer energy into storage for next year.
Like I said, this is mainly what I've read and don't have much first hand experience yet. Good Luck
Thank you for the replies! I went out to the garden this morning to see if I could figure out how many male/female blooms I have. Of about 30ish blooms, I could only identify 3 females. I guess that could be my problem, huh? Any clue why there are so few females?
Very nice explanation!
Plus it gives me a better idea on what to grow. Picking the right variety can save a gardener headaches all season long!
I think I'll try Diva.
Thanks!