23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

In my cool climate, Annie Oakley has been by far the best-yielding. I suppose that may not be the case everywhere. Clemson Spineless is a dud here.

Grew CS when I lived in SoCal, and was pretty happy with it. Kept me in okra all Summer, but then, I had a lot of plants. It grew to over 6' tall there, with few branches..

As mentioned by Slimy_okra, the choice of okra may depend upon the location & climate. In my Northern location, summers are hot, but short... so I need a variety that bears quickly, and can tolerate a few cool nights. "Pentagreen" has proven to be reliable for me. It bears quickly, and will branch heavily if given space (I use 18-24" spacing between plants).

Tried to grow CS when I moved here, but it doesn't do well in this climate. That was the case for quite a few varieties that I tried, including some that were described as "good for the North". Most would start to get leaf browning just about when they started flowering, and only bear for a week or two before dying. "Pentagreen" has proven to be more robust... I recommend it for those of us who get snow & summer in equal measure.

"I knew a gardener was being born." Good on you, Susan! Not every child has contact with gardening at home.

Our daughter wanted to bring on of my big tomato starts to school for show-and-tell this spring (Grade 1). The Black Krim was ready to go out and had flowers already, so I just put transplanting off a couple of days so she could take it to school. I said they could open up one or two flowers to look at the structure and tip it out of the pot to see the roots. Apparently her classmates found the roots the most fascinating part. :)

Susanzone5, that is such a cool story! Thanks for sharing. That is why I started this thread. You just never know what cool plant might make it indoors. Glad you got to share some of your gardening with your students. I love the idea of bringing a plant for show-and-tell! I bet if more kids were exposed to plants, we'd have more kids interested in gardening and eating veggies.

What makes the wood spongeworthy (ha ha) is that there be fungi in it. No fungi, hugel does not work. And there is a difficulty in that most fungi eat either hardwood or conifer. They have very specialized enzymes. If you are in a place without conifers, and you bury dry pine, it might not work. Really, hugel was invented to get something out of large rotting logs or firewood which had taken too much rain. If the log is rotten, there are short term benefits as well as long. The benefits are essentially a strong micorrhyzal flora, lowering water and fertilizer needs. You also have a long term barrier (leaky of course) for all your percolating chemical fertilizers, and the wood is slightly more water retentive than clay, and significantly more than sand.

Based on what glib says, framing lumber won't workin a hugel or buried deep in a raised bed as that kind of wood isn't spongeworthy or doesn't have a lot of fungi breaking it down.

Maybe I'll just find another use for this junk wood.

Those are sort of old wounds that have healed.
Maybe some slugs (or other insects scratched/ ate the skin.

Thanks! they are really not hurting anything... so for now I'll leave them be... there is a insect war going on out there (I've seen some pretty amazingly huge insects out there this year) so hopefully there will be some casualties in my favor.

Go, Dan! I am betting they will be fine. I have found in past years that I actually get more snaps (and better tasting ones) from the fall crop than from the spring one....the weather only gets cooler as time goes on. By the time the plants start blooming, you should be over the hump. (or close)

Thanks, Donna. They're lookin' good. Actually, we have a cold front on the way, which will reduce the heat stress on them. That's where the temperature drops to the mid-90s. Get out your sweaters! Yeah, that's what a mid-August cold front in central Texas looks like ...

If you can get 15 bells off a plant that size you're doing just fine...especially that far north.

We like green peppers and we'll probably grab a few. It's just been fun to watch.

I know every time I work in the garden I stink. My DW says "you smell like the outside."
Sometimes I don't even sweat, I'm just harvesting a few tomatoes, and I still end up with the outside/garden smell.

Smell, pleasant or offensive is a subjective thing
A lot of people love the small of tomato leaves. I do not care one way or the other.

Daconil is sometimes now labeled Fung-oil. Active ingredient is chlorothalonil. Probably the most effective very-wide-spectrum fungicide available to home growers.

This post was edited by ltilton on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 20:05

Depending on where you live in Zone 7, your best bet might be to plant a new crop of cucs. You have plenty of time to make a good crop. In my area, once the plants have been producing about two months, they start to succumb to all kinds of pests (pickleworms especially) and fungii. I think they are just old and tired, so I cut my losses, pull them out, and replant. If I had room, I would have a new crop ready to come on, but I don't. The break from them makes us glad to have them again in a few weeks.

Too bad they let it get that size... Magda, when picked at a fairly small size (no more than 1/3 the size of that one) are absolutely delicious.

Edie

True Magda is an excellent mideastern zucchini as is Barq. this one is definitely not Magda or any one of middle eastern varieties.

These types including Basima, Alexandria etc light green with no grey zuke markings even when oversize.

If the end of the ears continue to not develop, I have to wonder if they had enough phosphorus and potassium [in relation to N] to develop the grain. How are any other garden crops doing?

I am wondering if the problem is drought damage...see link.

Here is a link that might be useful: tip fill

This post was edited by wayne_5 on Fri, Aug 9, 13 at 22:05

Given the adequate spacing I'm inclined to agree with Wayne, probably not enough water. The bottom part of that ear is fully mature. The tip 40% indicates a lack of some factor most likely water.

Water deficit is easy to see on corn. The leaves wilt and curl at first during the hottest part of the day. When they are wilting most of the day you will get ears like that picture.

A picture of the plants might help if further assistance is needed.

Thanks guys, I will just have to keep checking. The baby ones grew rapidly but these sicilian varietys I planted later and seem to take longer.

Thanks guys, I will just have to keep checking. The baby ones grew rapidly but these sicilian varietys I planted later and seem to take longer.

Generally, potatoes need about 3 months( plus /minus 2 weeks) .
So I would plant the fall crop about 90 to110 days before my first frost date. Also, consider planting early varieties so that you won't be caught by surprise if you get a real early frost.

P.S>
I WOULD USE THE BEST OF ANY THING FOR PLANTING, JUST LIKE BREEDING IN ANIMALS WORLD.

Yukon Gold is an early variety of potato, which means you should have plenty of time to get a crop in.

Also keep in mind that the relevant factor is soil temp, not air temp. Plant them deep and use cold water, also a mulch to keep the soil cool and damp.