23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I have had it with the seed companies that show in the big box stores.
Beets, totally different than on the packet. Broccoli that just shot straight up. Have you ever seen 4 feet of stalks and tiny heads. Pole beans, red flowers when they should be white, Cucumbers when I wanted melons, the list seems endless.
I now will only buy from the bigger guys, like Johnnys, even if it costs extra for international shipping.
Jalapenos are notoriously all over the place with their heat. It's kinda a characteristic of their profile.
It's not uncommon to have low/no heat jalapenos along with normal and hot-as-hell on the same plant harvested at the same time...as well as early season low-heat production.
Why this happens...no one can nail it down.
There's a lot we don't know about peppers. We don't even know how they signal themselves to ripen, for instance. It's known it's not ethylene influenced (or enough of an influence to be noted as an influence), but not much is known about what chemical/physiological signals are present when true pepper ripening is taking place. If this can be found out, and it can be influenced by external chemical inputs (such as ripening tomatoes with ethylene post-harvest), then ripe colored bell peppers could be a whole lot less expensive one day.
This post was edited by nc-crn on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 18:36
Based on your picture, and as Flora pointed out , they are to crowded. At this pint I would keep 3 good ones and pull the rest. And then pour about 1" thick soil on the exposed roots and straighten them up a bit so they are not touching the ground.
Also get rid of the roted,dried ..leaves. They are magnet for disease. .
BTW: some criters are helping themselves there. Do you have slugs or snails ?
pattypan, I've never heard of pinching off the flowers, and I never do. Seed potatoes might be a good idea to try once and see how they do for you. They can be expensive when mail ordered, but nice and cheap if you can find them locally at a feed type store. (I can get them at Southern States.)
No problem with the temps for curing SP here in Fla. but i have been washing mine after harvest and read this damages the skin. Without refrigeration mine would be stored @ temps warm enough to promote sprouts. They lasted about 6 months last year, any suggestions how can Make them keep them longer?
I start shallot seeds indoors in late January. The little plants are stiffer and slightly faster growing than bulb onion seedlings, but basically handled the same way.
If I have any shallots left in March, I plant them. Many people plant shallots in fall, but mine are still fully dormant then and tend to rot over the winter. Mine don't break dormancy until late winter, hence the spring planting.
Nila, here in Mississippi, culinary sages are green through the winter but typically rot out in the humid heat of summer. I treat them as cool weather annuals and replace them each year...about now. Time to look for transplants. I love tricolor with pansies, but I haven't seen any the last few years.
Long time since I have visited this thread. I have some questions for my experienced artichoke growers. My plants that seem to have went dormant during the hot summer months are now putting out new leaves. I know that there is probably not time for a second crop of chokes but I want to prepare to try and overwinter them for next year. I don't see myself starting them from seed again nor do I want to dig them, however I want to try and overwinter them in the ground eventhough I know the likely hood of them surviving in my zone is small.
So my questions are:
When do I cut them back?
How far do I cut them back?
Do you take off all of the leaves?
What is the best way to protect the roots from frost?
TIA!!!
Here's whats on the short list, Jim!
TOMATOES - Aunt Gertie's Gold, Rutgers, Cherokee Purple or Black Krim, Matt's Wild Cherry (my favorite!), Black cherry (another favorite of mine), one more red or black roma style or beefsteak style
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SWEET PEPPERS - If I can find Big Bertha, I'll try those again, Napolean Sweet, maybe a bullnose pepper - I had good luck with those in the past.
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HOT PEPPERS - I'm being a "Plain Jane" with these - Jalapenos, Habaneros, Cayennes, Hungarian Hot Wax (a favorite of mine) seriously considering Beaver Dam
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EGGPLANTS - I've generally had good luck with smaller ones, but the Ichibans had tough skin and that was about it. So I'm thinking Diamond, Gretel,& Fairy Tale (still need to do some homework on Pot Black)
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POTATOES - I had good luck growing Yukon Golds. I need to look up Pontiacs.
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CUCUMBERS - will probably try a few Straight 8's but was looking for more fancy - Boothby's Blonde did well here. I have seeds for a Greek one (maybe from Fedco?) that I'm thinking of trying too.
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SUMMER SQUASHES - definitely the Tromboncinos, Yellow Crook neck,Yellow Straightneck and a zucchini (don't know what one)
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WINTER SQUASHES - Waltham Butternut (A favorite), Acorn (don't know which one yet - DH's favorite, Adapazzari (King's Show - if I still have seeds), Spaghetti squash(???)
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MELONS - they're a real trick to grow here. The two I had luck with were Pike and Noire Des Carmes. I have to try and find the seeds again for these. The dogs ate them when they were puppies and decided the seeds were delicious for both - sigh
That's the list for right now!
This post was edited by booberry85 on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 8:47
Delicata cross?
Mongrel. I have eaten excellent mongrels, so give it a try.