23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Maybe it's yellow jackets or some other type of wasp taking care of them for you. On numerous occasions I've watched yellow jackets hunting, killing, and flying away with cabbage worms. I've also watched them doing the same thing with asparagus beetle larvae and also, unfortunately, with swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.
Rodney
Stress, probably inconsistent water. Watermelons, contrary to popular opinion, don't like an abundance of water. We have had a wet spring and summer this year and the poorest excuse for watermelons I have had in over 60 years. Not unhappy tho, Things that have been "iffy" for years are producing in abundance.
Thanks farmerdill! I've never had much luck growing watermelon, so I'm not terribly shocked at this occurrence! Just hadn't experienced this particular problem......... LOL!
I use drip fertigation & mulch well, but may have got things too wet........ I dunno.....
And yes, if your garden is producing anything in these turbulent weather times, one should be grateful.
Actually, we didn't use much fertilizer at all.. . but they probably got run off from the tomatoes (used Miracle Gro for Tomatoes, but not very often). Will the beans recover from it? Is there some kind of fertilizer that we can use to encourage bean production? Hubby wondered if, since the beans seem to be all growth and no bean, the plant will recover in time?
If organic use only is the goal then there are a number of ORMI approved fungicides available that would have been far more effective than some milk and water combination. As a fungicide its effect is minimal at best. Given the decline of the plants in the pics it may well be too late to save them now. Not that I would pull them but I'd sure start spraying the new growth with a real fungicide.
Dave
Looks like pepper maggot damage to me. Since the grub is inside the pepper, spraying seven isn't going to help. If you do a search over on the Hot Pepper forum, you might find out how to control it but I believe that covering the plants with floating row covers are the only effective way.
Oh, and the straw has nothing to do with this pest.
Rodney
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 20:03
Agree. Pepper Maggots. See info sheet below.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper Maggots
There were many threads about this in the past, some may be cached.
The take-away was: make sure you use a "late" variety or the tower-building is a waste of effort. You can easily search to find lists that will tell you if carolla is early, mid, or late.
Be advised that a 3x3 or 4x4 area will not produce much poundage even in a best-case scenario. Towers and bins do not defeat the laws of nature, no matter what one may read about it.
Check to see if they are the male flowers doing this -- they come first. (and if they are the male flowers, then they are acting normally.) They won't have a fruit. The females, which come later, do. However, these are most certainly some sort of hybrid from the cross pollination from last year, so you're not guaranteed a good type of squash. The hybrids can be bitter, or they can be good. It's a toss up.
This thread is leaning towards urban gardening but I have seen threads with people complaining about contamination in rural lands. Pesticide/Fungicide/Herbicide and fertiliser were used much more liberally post WWII. A lot of those chemicals are no longer allowed but still reside in soil currently farmed on.
If you have access to virgin soil, untouched by human activities you are very lucky. An urban plot may have better quality soil than an old farmstead, and vice versa of course.
should present no problem, as most of that fall out is probably not in a soluble form, if you use raised beds all the better. we are growing a tree barrier between us and unsealed road 70 meters away, this should block a lot of dust that will contain residuals from vehicles.
len
Here is a link that might be useful: lens bale garden
Benefin is used in commercial lettuce fields to give the direct-seeded lettuce a head start against the weeds. I guess I've eaten lettuce grown in those fields since I don't always buy organic lettuce.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG//r441700111.html
Oryzalin has been widely used in orchards and fields, from almonds to walnuts
Again, we've all probably eaten fruit, vegetables, and/or nuts grown in soil treated with this.
Would I eat the vegetables in your garden? Not knowingly - and after doing an internet search on these 2 chemicals I'm going to think more carefully about what I buy in the grocery store, even if it's not on the "Dirty Dozen" list. It's your choice whether you want to - I'd contact the manufacturer and tell them how much you put down, when, and what crops you're growing. Since they labeled it for ornamentals and not veggies, the lawyers will probably tell you it's not advised.
Here is a link that might be useful: Beyond Pesticides Oryzalin info
I don't grow it intentionally (there's no need!) but I do take advantage of what grows naturally. I did find the information below on a Google search, on one of the weed management sites from Purdue university. Granted the information was intended to suppress the plant, not to encourage it - we can use knowledge any way we want to, right? :-) I linked the source, too, if you want to look.
"Brown seeds germinate readily, while black seeds are more dormant. Many of the seeds remain on the plant until early winter and these small, smooth seeds have no other apparent adaptation for dispersal other than their high density and ability to spread from site to site by various means, including equipment transfer. The seeds also can survive well in the digestive tracts of cows, sheep, and horses, so manure is considered a possible source for introducing seed.
Seed dormancy in common lambsquarters contributes to
its success as a weed. Under certain conditions it can
remain viable in the soil for several decades. In fact, viable
seeds have been recovered from medieval ruins in Europe
(Mohler and DiTommaso). Most seeds require some
time before they are ready to germinate. Light, strong
day and night temperature fluctuations, and the presence
of nitrate in the soil increase common lambsquarters seed germination (Mohler and DiTommaso, 2006).
Some research suggests that only 10 to 30% of the current seasonâÂÂs seed will germinate under favorable conditions the following season (Forcella et al., 1997)."
When growing quinoa, a close lambsquarter relative, it's recommended to refrigerate the seeds before planting if nighttime temps are much over 60. I wonder if something similar might be helpful for lambsquarters, especially if as the source cites, strong day and night temperature fluctuations are useful?
Here is a link that might be useful: Pudue
This post was edited by LilyD74 on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 10:17
Wow, thank you, Lily!
Sounds like if I want to grow in flats (which I do), I should put the trays in the fridge at night and somewhere warm during the day.
I had no idea about the brown and black seeds! I had noticed the different colors, but I thought the brown ones were immature. I mostly planted the black ones O_o.
Does anyone grow them for the seed, for eating? I saw something in my previous web searches about the seeds being found in the stomachs of neolithic folks in england. Seems like you would need a lot of plants for one bowl of food, but that's true for any grain/seed crop.
I did include semi-mature seedheads in my last dish of greens. Crunchy and tasty.
Thank you for including your summer high temperatures.
It does seem a difficult time to grow cauliflower. Could you put them in a shady place for a while where it will be a bit cooler? You could then put them in the ground next month. The main problem would be that they would bolt before forming nice heads. Since they were free, there's no harm in trying. You could plant a few now and a few next month.
Here is a link that might be useful: What's Growing On?
If they have not turned brown, you can use them. Probably best in cooked dishes like soups, casseroles, baked dishes. They tend to get a bit tough and strong tasting for using raw with dip.
Nope, not brown! I was thinking of pickling some of them (making a giardinaire) and then puree some into a nice soup. Thanks for your help!