23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Thanks, folks!

I was trying t figure out how much to harvest now, and how much to leave, and you really helped me out :).

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!!!

I think they are supposed to be 6 inches tall or something, and you are supposed to mound some leaves around them, but not right up the stem. I could be wrong though.

Thanks Wayne for your response! I'm assuming the shuck is the stuff covering the cob? And dang, we just got a whole ton of rain. Guess I have to cross my fingers that the squirrels don't realize what I have in my garden!!!

The shuck is the tan/white covering over the ears. This can be left on to hang them with.

Black Krim are often recommended. I grew them for the first time and plants had low productivity and very bland tomatoes. I'm starting to think the seeds I bought were the result of cross pollination.

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

Blood meal is high nitrogen, not a good choice. Bone meal would be a better choice, if applied earlier. But I think you need a good quality liquid fertilizer for fast action if you want beans yet this season from those plants. Fish emulsion may be your best choice if you insist on organic.

Looking at the leaves, they look like young, healthy plants that ought to be producing better fruits.

I see that you live in Texas. Your beans were probably stunted by summer heat. They are probably hard or leathery. Or maybe even hollow. Take them off and see if the plants will produce more. Most green beans prefer temperatures from about 75 to 80 degrees. The varieties developed in New England are total failures in my garden. I think Tendergreen has reasonable heat tolerance for an older variety. But some newer varieties are much better in heat.

The best advice I can give from my experience in hot summer bean-growing is to try Contender for your first crop (before the soil is warm enough for white-seeded varieties). It resembles a "blue lake" type when young and is a stringless Southern "beany" type green bean if you let the seeds develop to about half their mature size. Seeds are larger than with most "blue lake" types, and if any pods get away from you, you can shell the seeds out as "shellies". Don't plant it in the fall. Cool weather makes the pods very fibrous.

Second crop could be Brio, Festina or Espada. Festina and Brio are concentrated-set varieties. Espada has a more prolonged harvest and some later beans may be affected by heat. You could probably get some beans from Tendergreen if planted early enough.

Nash does better in hot summer weather than any variety I have tried. Beans still curled when temps went above 104 degrees for a few days. I pulled the plants in July.

For fall, Brio works well with a late August sowing here if the seeds sprout successfully. Matador is also recommended. You can also plant varieties which can be used as shellies if cool weather toughens the pods, like Black Valentine or Coco Rose de Prague. Dark-seeded beans may have trouble absorbing water and sprouting in light, hot soil.

This post was edited by carolync1 on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 11:34

I love the Christmas tree lights idea.
Sounds enchanting. Maybe when I take down my electric fence I'll put some lights up out there in the low tunnels in the snow!

Use the C9 bulbs, they put out some heat. LED types don't put out much, if any at all.

If you do not have any fruits by now, I am afraid, if you get any from now on, won't mature.

As has been said some gourds family are night bloomers and their flowers are WHITE. The flower will open after sundown and will close at down. This is the time that bees have gone home. Only moths can pollinate them. If there are no moths you will not get any fruit. The other alternative is HAND pollination.

I know these, b/c I have grown bottle gourds in the past and have done hand pollinating.

What is a passive greenhouse?

Maybe it's just that there is no such forum for english-speakers (opportunity knocks?).

By stand-offish I merely mean that english speakers and northern europeans in general are much more reserved than latin language-speakers, as a generality. In brazilian portuguese they refer to this latter attribute as "calor-humano".

Regarding the situation between Mestizos and the more pure Colonials, yes, I think what you encountered is normal. No doubt what I see on that Spanish forum for the most part is Colonials interacting with Continentals.

I now return y'all to our more sheltered lives and gardens.....

Hi Blicky, and welcome.
I got a grin out of you defining Stonehenge for us. That is actually one of the things they do teach us about :)
Sounds like winter solstice 2012 there was quite a celebration! Cool to live so close.

I enjoyed your blog -- great photos! And very nice greenhouse.

Elisa

Now is a good time to take your borings and send them in, since now is a good time to add some of the ammendments mentioned. My county extension office offers soil tests for free, but I really like the UMASS testing laboratory as it gives more info about the soil (like mineral levels) They charge $10.00.

Here is a link that might be useful: umass soil testing

As I said above, contact your local county ag extension office - every state has them - for soil tests. The costs differ slightly state to state, here it is $15 for a full profile and $10 for just pH and basic NPK.

Bone meal is sold most anywhere that garden supplies are sold but it is only one of many sources of phos available.

Dave

eeeeyew on the cole slaw!!!!!!! rofl

"Flat" hose nozzle setting is like a power washer and gets all the dirt off my nails and hands. Best to do it when dirt is fresh and not dried on.

I thought those little white butterflies were nice and innocent. I used to let them fly freely and land on the plants.
NOT ANYMORE!

Aside from the new discovery of some worm, I still believe that the damage on the leave of the pak choy, SHOWN IN THE PHOTO, is environmental. Just look very closely to the big leaf on the left side. There are 4 tiny holes on it. it cannot possibly be the work of any worm, caterpillar, slug, snail,(maybe only flea beetle)... But it can be due to some object falling from a nearby tree (pine needle, just example). If this incident happens when the leaf is smaller, the holes will grow bigger as the plant tissue are pulling. I have personally, observed and monitored such things on eggplant leaves. The flea beetles make small holes and as leaves grow, the tiny holes get bigger and if it happens to be near the edge, the leaf would look like as if it has been torn.

Harsh water jet can also do similar damage on tender leaves, especially if there was some debries on the leaf.

I use my paper mulch (just a roll of Kraft paper) to suppress weeds and because I thought it'd be more breathable (not retain as much moisture) and not plastic, which I'd have to pick up at the end of the season.

I tried black paper a while back and it definitely warmed the soil.

~emmers

I live in cool summer climate Pacific NW at 500' in a clearing in the woods. Shade from tall trees, lack of air circulation from woods blocking airflow, wet spring weather, and lack of direct sunshine until sun position heightens in early summer = cool, wet spring soils that dislike mulch, tilling, or germinating seeds.

To combat this I add lots of organic matter in the fall, do not till in spring, wait until tulips drop petals to mulch the strawberries and spring planted vegetables.

Prewarm soil for heat lovers by removing mulch, adding black plastic, or red plastic for tomatoes. I do not direct seed any heat lovers, but do transplants waiting until soil is 60 degrees as well as day & night temps. Before then they need cold frame protection.

Hope it helps.

Oats can be raked into the soil if you want to plant it now.

In my zone 7 Red Russian Kale, Corn Salad (mache lettuce), and flat leaf parsley do a good job of covering until I can plant again in spring. All reseed, but are easily smothered with mulch. I don't know if they'll reseed in your area.

Sheet mulch with a layer of newspaper topped with your choice of veg garden mulch. I like dried grass clippings or partially composted shredded leaves. Both are lightweight & make a nice carpet. Mixed with coffee grounds they become nearly invisible from a distance if that matters.

So I got a very late start on my fall lettuce last year...so my cover crop ended up being black seeded Simpson. In early spring I tilled that bed heavily and racked out the dead lettuce and thoroeghly cleaned the bed... Three weeks later I am harvesting volunteer lettuce...very early, a welcomed surprise and oh so good.