23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

In an attempt to "rotate" my crops, I just don't plant the exact veggies in the exact spots as the year before. Although it probably does not benefit anything, it seems like a good idea to me to alternate crops so that they remove and replenish different nutrients during different years.

It helps by reducing the amount of "specific" fertilizing that I have to do (e.g. amending the soil with extra of certain chemicals because the veggies grown there consume it all). Heavy feeders like potatoes are moved every year in my garden. This year I grow zukes and squashed in the same spot as last year the it seems that the borer bugs remembered where to find food, sadly ;)

If you have a small space for actual garden bed, but have the potential for buckets and containers, that's another possibility for literally rotating the crops...

No.. Same reasons, even when I had a much larger veggie garden plot, I never really did that.. I made a 40 foot long trellis fence system for beans, its not like I could tear that down and move it around easily.

Comparisons to decades ago is pretty moot, as both invasive bugs and fungal desease has spread tremendously since then. But they at least had it right, mix in the manure and good things happen next year.

But I mostly agree with everyone, each fall my compost pile goes from my summer collected spot to my veggie beds, then augmented with more compost or manures.. this has to be done yearly. I took a year off 3 years ago and my garden the next year was pretty pathetic.

I have monster 4" long grey and black spotted slugs, plus the little regular ones. Fortunately I grow mostly in containers, but they will climb containers in a minute. This year I bought a roll of the conductive copper tape. The Chinese narrow stuff from ebay for a few bucks for 30 meters worth. Better than $11 for a few yards of the stuff Home Depot sells. I wrapped it around 3 containers, and have not seen 1 slug above (or below) the copper tape.

I have rather large Hosta in my backyard that doesn't get assaulted by slugs. I know that slugs are a problem in my area because of the chatter in the local garden center. However, I've found using the gum balls that drop off the gum trees in my yard are a HUGE slug deterrent.

Now I collect them and sprinkle around the base of my plants. The extra bonus is the balls are slow to break down so they act as mulch too.

Thanks for the input everyone. I bought this plant in early spring and honestly didn't do much reading up on them. I know the tag said mature size of cucs is 6-8" but they didn't look quite done to me. Obviously they were perfectly done and I just didn't know it! That's what I get for not ooking into this sooner. Maybe I'll make some slippery jacks :)

Thanks again

You shouldn't let a pickling cuke get to 8" - if it's not turning yellow and bitter by then, it's going to be seedy anyway.

Picked my first Little Leaf today! This was very prolific for me last year, this year I don't know (ask me in 2 weeks!), that is a great cuke, even if you do let it get bigger it doesn't get bitter. Sold a lot last year as "salad" cukes - just the right size for 1 or 2 people.

3 of us ate cucumber salad last night using 2 Picklebush that were a few days old (so too rubbery for pickling), a splash of vinegar, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Now to pickle the ones that didn't sell at last night's market.

I think it is something that underneath and it is a creature. Could be mole looking for grubs. Gophers and moles are active when there is nobody around.
Don't forget that cucumber has also lateral roots going on all direction and is not limited to just a single tap root. So it is possible that gopher ate some of it and gave the plant shocks and went away.

In the early stages of bacterial wilt my plants acted the same as yours - wilt, then perk up like they might pull through, then wilt again. If this is your problem, soon enough they will wilt and not perk up, then start to yellow and die. Hope your issue is different.

I was never able to get the sap test to work, but I have not had the problem since I switched to County Fair F1 as mentioned above. (I also tried Diva but prefer the county fair even for slicing.)

Ok, I will be sure to check. I think I am going to call the company where I got the dirt from and ask them where the top soil is from. I had my wonderings about it and you confirmed that I should be suspicious. If I keep it, I think I am going to dig everything in, add more compost and try to start over. There a few cooler months left!

A lot of what is sold as "topsoil" is subsoil with maybe some compost (or decomposed wood chips, commercial "composts" aren't usually balanced) mixed in to make it darker.

I thought it was roughly 60 days from flower to ripened fruit. Seems about right. I can only ever track the first flowers to the first fruit, though. Cherry tomatoes are a bit faster, which makes sense since the fruits are smaller.

Great thanks for all of your feedback! I'm not sure what kind of tomatoes they are I am a first year gardener so next year I will definitely look before I plant!

I agree with that Dave, but what about all the other bugs we ill like hornworms, SVB, etc?
How does your let nature take its course idea play out when those bugs are eating our crops?

but what about all the other bugs we ill like hornworms, SVB, etc? How does your let nature take its course idea play out when those bugs are eating our crops?

Crop protection is a totally different issue than killing bugs just because they bug you. Especially if they are not doing any damage to crops.

There are too many folks who would kill ANY caterpillar in their garden just in case it might be a hornworm rather then first make sure it is a hornworm. Kill any spider in case it might be a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse when, like wasps, common garden spiders are one of the best pest controls there is.

If it is a hornworm and it hasn't already been neutralized by wasps then you pick it off and kill it. If you don't know for sure then you watch and wait to see if it does any damage. It might very well be a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Either way you don't nuke the garden...just in case.

Same for SVB. If you won't use row covers on the squash then you risk SVB and you have to monitor the plants during the SVB egg laying periods. But that doesn't mean you have to kill any and all moths that fly by the garden on the off chance one might be an SVB mama.

So like I said, you don't kill a bug just because it is a bug. First you make sure it is a bad guy and is actually doing damage. If it isn't then leave it alone and let it do its thing and you often discover it is a big help in the garden.

Dave

If the stalks are skinny and the leaves not very deep green, don't get your hopes high for a good harvest.

In addition to knowing what variety it is, it would help to have a closer view of the corn that way we could tell better if its stressed or deficient in some way.

Yes, the male blooms are mostly in the center of the plant and the females out on the vines.

Thanks for the feedback

Actually, I think the PNW fits as a region predicted to experience disproportionate change. Same with the coastal northeast of north america which was predicted to have wetter and warmer winters and that has pretty clearly happened.

Contrast to, for example, Florida, which being nearer the equator has experienced less climate change.

Of course, it could be that DH and I are now retired and the kids are grown and gone. We now have the time to focus entire days on our garden. Yes, the weather is warmer, but the garden is also getting consistently watered. Whatever the reason, we are getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.

pluck off the flowers and give it some afternoon shade. is that your soil or much?

Also looks wet! Not a fan of that mulch for vegetables. Wood chips tie up nitrogen.

This post was edited by edweather on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 10:16