23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I have not seen any white "butterfly" around the garden but that doesn't mean that it hasn't been visiting. I will keep an eye out for it. Are the holes damaging to the plant's health or future production? I will use some organic spray on the garden in the morning. Maybe that will help....
If it's cabbage worms, the standard defense is to use Bt. I only grow a dozen or so brassica plants at a time (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts) so I've been able to just handpick any caterpillars I find and not bother spraying. I also cover young plants with a wire cage covered in tulle to protect them when they are small. If you make your cage big enough, you could keep them covered all the time; that would also keep out the cabbage worms.
If it's slug damage, try putting out low bowls of beer in the evenings and see how many you catch. You could also go out at midnight (not sunset) with a flashlight and see if there are any on the plant. I finally resorted to slug killer (Sluggo, etc.) and was able to take care of them with a single application. (Though I keep an eye out for new damage and can always apply more.)
dunno if i can suggest much, yep make the beds at least a good foot deep +, ensure their is drainage a layer of small rocks in the bottom, we only water by hand as needed, which is once or twice a week in the heat of summer, if we get good rain then no watering at all we do mulch heavily.
our beds are 6mX1m and about 500 to 600mm high
len
Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page
The length described sounds to me like they are being picked maybe a little early, but just about right (seed development or lack thereof is a better indicator than length). My experience is that younger beans are more tender, the toughening fiber occur more with age. Maybe pick a variety of ages and see which she likes, if any. Otherwise maybe a high water content makes them have more crunch and she should leave them out on the counter for a day and they'll go limp. Limper. Or perhaps the variety is just that way... Good luck!
Female flowers have a small 'baby' squash on the end. The male flowers don't. The stamens are different too, but on zukes the baby squash is obvious enough that that's the easiest way.
One male flower can be used to pollinate multiple female flowers. I walk the garden every morning and look for open female flowers, if I see any, I pick a male and just walk through and swirl it in them all.
Also most weeds have not seeded yet. Hoeing now, without worrying about vegetable plants, has its advantages. It is not all bad news, and next year there will be fewer weeds. Lettuce seeds will not germinate now, it is too hot. Beet and carrot seeds will struggle too, and peas will not germinate either (all this for direct seeded). But many brassica seeds (komatsuna, bekana, arugula, napa, turnip,kale) will germinate just fine. In fact it is too early for bekana and arugula.
The poster was working with containers. When you're doing square-inch gardening, the point is to keep it going and have fun.
In winter I like keeping a pot of scallions in the sunniest window. I weaken them terribly with constant snipping, but wouldn't be without them.
The plants will self regulate and produce between 3 and 5 good fruits each, more if it is a small-fruited variety. At this point, you just let em run. Unlike most C. pepos, spaghetti squash stays close to the ground and develops supplemental roots where the stems touch the soil. Even if the primary crown is lost to borers, strong plants will keep on going.
It'll be inedible now. Pull and toss.
If it's heirloom, you can collect the seeds and replant them in the Fall.