23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Peppers are often overwintered indoors. Plenty of threads about how to do this here on GW, see link below. One of the keys, as mentioned, is don't overwater.
I am hoping to grow one that will overwinter outdoors in my zone 9 garden. My Rocoto pepper (c. pubescens) survived last winter mostly unprotected and is in it's second season producing like a champ. But that is a hot pepper, I want a sweet pepper that will do the same.
Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg090801272024.html
My first planting of cukes has looked awful for a month. The last few cukes were misshapen and then for a couple of weeks, nothing. I was ready to pull the vines, except that up at the top there were healthy looking new sprouts.
So I waited, and now I see new cukes growing. It's like the vines needed a 2nd wind. And yes fertilized and watered to give them a boost.
ltilton: That is correct. In July, the sun rises at 5AM, and sets at 10PM.
florauk: I don't remember planting beans. When they came up I thought that it was a watermelon. When they made pretty flowers, I came here and that is when I learned what it was.
I pulled one off today:
It is a mongrel. It has happened to me many times. I have always eaten my mongrels. This year I had a zucchini turn into a bottle shaped gourd (I ate it, nothing special). Two years ago I had a winter squash, nominally a butternut, with butternut shape and Hubbard size and warty rind, which was one of the best tasting squashes I have ever had (I saved the seeds). I had to tie it to the trellis because it would have broken the vine. One other zucchini made a giant vine and is blooming only now. This has happened with both Territorial and Johnny seeds. With Territorial melon seeds I had a veritable house of ill repute, and numerous soapy tasting melons.
Lettuces are not grown in Summer. Please see below link.
Personally I only grow Romaine Lettuce, aka Cos Lettuce. I grow them from Fall to Winter and Spring. In Southern California, we don't get any freeze... well some.. but not a lot. I've never started them indoors; I always had sown them directly in-ground.
Not sure how cold it gets up where you are. But Summer isn't the time to grow lettuce. And they don't really need much TLC. Possibly you're over doing it?
If you want to grow them indoors, then get a pot (about 3 to 5 gallon sized) with water retainer on the bottom. Put it next to a window where it will get enough sunlight.
Here is a link that might be useful: lettuce growing
This post was edited by Avocado101 on Mon, Aug 26, 13 at 22:57
"Lettuces are not grown in Summer" That's rather a categorical statement. It depends where you live, what your climate is like and which varieties you choose. In many climates they can be grown throughout the summer.
Nightrun86's seedlings just look etiolated to me. ie they need more light. I'd be interested to know what his/her outdoor temps are at the moment. Maybe they don't need to be inside at all?
Unfortunately, old corn stalks have very few nutrients to add to garden soil. Even in compost, they will need some nitrogen-rich materials to help them break down. When you put corn stalks or fresh leaves or sawdust into the soil, they suck much of the nitrogen out of the soil to use in their own decomposition process. This is counterproductive to building soil fertility.
I would collect all the corn stalks, make a flat layer of them over some good soil outside your garden beds, and then start a compost pile over them. They will assist in air entering the pile from below, which will speed up composting. After six or eight months, aided by the nutrients above them in the pile, they can be added to soil if they look like they have rotted adequately. The website below has a lot of information on composting. Click on "Techniques" then on "compost."
Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick
Nutrients aren't everything. The stalks will produce humid acids and feed the earthworms, who will turn the soil over the years. I think grinding vegetable residual in place is the way to go, and I do it all the time. There is no possibility of increasing the nutrients in the soil by taking it away and composting it elsewhere. Caveat: if the vegetable is diseased, I prefer to bury it.
As long as you can count on at least sixty days before your first frost, it should be fine to sow another crop of lettuce. Some people are not aware of a method to save leaf crops even if hit with a light frost. If you notice during the night that the weather has turned cold, go out into the garden the next morning before the sun hits it and check for frost. If so, spray the leaves with water from the hose and this will melt the frost and save the plants. This was a method taught by famous horticulturist, Alan Chadwick, at his demonstration garden at the Univeristy of California. For more helpful information see the following website.
Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick
I live in zone 8a and ONLY grow lettuce in fall, winter and spring. Summer is too hot. I am anxious to sow lettuce too, but will wait about 3 more weeks before I sow. Temperatures are too hot. I sow quite a lot of plants and most years, they will stand most of the winter. I harvest as I need them.
Preserving summer squash methods are limited. As often discussed on the Harvest forum there - the food preservation forum - sliced they dehydrate well into zucchini chips and will store for months that way. I doubt the chickens would care if they get them as dried chips.
Otherwise, they can't be canned but you can freeze them shredded in ziplock bags.
Dave
I've kept large zucchini inside on the counter for 2 months or more in the fall. They were okay to dice and add to soups or shred and add to baked goods: not so good for stir fry, etc. I've used overgrown zucchini along with pumpkins, winter squash, etc. for fall decorations on the porch. The zukes were fine out there for several weeks of mild weather. Freezing wrecks them, of course.
You should be able to easily store an older zucchini with a tough skin for a few months if you aren't concerned with how it tastes to you. I'd try a dry place such as a garage or shed and avoid the moist, humid cellar. I'm not sure if storage all through the winter would work, though. Check them weekly and let the chickens feast more often if the zukes aren't doing so well.
Well, OK. Jokes on us. It turns out this was a cantaloupe. It became obvious as it matured, with the net-like skin, and once harvested, was solidly orange and entirely cantaloupy inside.
The lesson here is that, when immature, cantaloupe and honeydews look almost identical.
Ah, the pleasures of volunteers.
NO melon/cantaloupe there.
On the top right hand I see squash. Lobed leaves)
The rest are most likely cucumbers.
With cucumbers, once they start flowering, you should harvest fruits within 2 to 3 weeks. That is what I like about cukes: You don't have to wait for months. Summer squash is also like cucumber.
FWIW, I have both butternut squash and canteloupes, and the leaves and look a lot like those in the picture, though of course the leaf size in the picture isn't very obvious. The lobes in the picture are sort of pointy, though, and mine are sort of rounded. That may well point to cukes. All the cukes I've ever grown have lobed leaves.
Well the eggplants are still there but they are the size of chick peas. The rest of them I guess I should just leave be. The psrt I took off was the dried up flower at the end of the fruit. I kept tge outer part that holds the fruit.
This post was edited by krissylovesplants79 on Tue, Aug 27, 13 at 9:07
psrt I took off was the dried up flower at the end of the fruit
That won't hurt anything IF the bloom has actually been pollinated. But there is no reason to do it either. If you leave it alone it will fall off on its own. Not all blooms will set fruit and sometimes what you think is a small fruit the size of the pea is just the ovule of the bloom that will shrivel and die.
But basically it doesn't help the plant in anyway for you to do "house-keeping" on it and you can do damage so yes, it is best to just leave them alone except to monitor for pests.
Dave