23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
That's looking a lot like downy mildew.
Look under leaves for signs of black/white moldy looking spots that may be present on some of the leaves.
Avoid overhead/spray irrigation in the future if you're doing that currently.
It's one of those things that you can't take care of easily once it's shown up...you have to be preventative and lower risk before it shows up.
I planted Fordhook or Jackson Wonder... can't remember now. I have the same thing happening. A few shot up vines about 24" long. I put in a string trellis along the edge of a 4x4 raised bed and have about three 36" vines on it now. I would not bother trellising or staking. Just turn the runners back over the plant mass and let it go.
If your concern is the lower leaves of squash family, potato, tomato, ...then those are normal. Plants abort theirs lower leaves, and even branches, when they are no longer functional or needed.
Judging from the squash picture, it looks pretty normal. But a light doze of top dressing with an ALL PURPOSE fertilizer can help with color and vigor.
When I grow eggplant, I start off staking it with a 2ft piece of bamboo just so that it has support, but as it grows, the plant gets sturdier, and I find it no longer needs the bamboo. I don't cage my eggplant, but some prefer that method to keep the plant somewhat contained and supported (eggplant can get pretty big as it grows).
You can find tomato cages and stakes at your local garden supply store. Just make sure (if you go the cage route) to not get one that's too narrow. In my experience, my eggplant likes to grow a bit wider than my tomato plants.
Your plants look awfully close together. Is that four eggplant in 2 or 3 sqft? As they get bigger, they'll probably get too crowded.
This post was edited by Sromkie on Thu, Jun 27, 13 at 13:55
Got to agree you are way over-crowded there. Something has got to go. I eggplant in 2 sq. feet max. As for the holes, not an issue. Leaves get holes from lots of things - even just from whipping in the wind.
Those 3 ring tomato cage things ae a waste of time and money for tomato plants but work good for eggplants but you don't have enough room there to use them.
Lots of good articles on the web on how to grow various vegetables. Just Google "how to grow________ (name of vegetable)".
Dave
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow eggplant
Those may be being sold more for potted plants where you would want to lean towards higher N to get foliar growth early on and use the lower N one for getting the foliar growth to ease up and the plants to develop and maintain flowers and/or fruit. It is likely the Higher N fertilizer will be more acidic than the other, haven't scrutinized the labels yet.
It does not mater who made them or selling them, they are basically different.
5-3-3- is richer in N, for things like leafy greens, 46%N, 27%P, 27%K'(comparatively)
3-4-4 is the opposite. 27%N, 36.5%P, 36.5%K. This better for things that flower/root/fruit. I would use this one for tomatoes.
I think they manufacture each element(N, P, K) separately and then mix them at various ratios with inactive ingredients.
If the flowers haven't opened up then the reason is probably related to the growing conditions. A squash flower won't get pollinated unless it opens (usually). Also, a female flower won't get pollinated without a male flower and if it doesn't get pollinated the plant aborts the fruit and the fruit shrivels (unless it's parthenocarpic, which means it doesn't need to get pollinated to set fruit).
If the plant is healthy the only thing I can suggest is to just wait for better weather and see if the problem corrects itself.
Rodney
Agree that if there have been no male flowers (some find only males and no females) then the plant is stressed and simply isn't ready to reproduce.
So there is no pollination problem since there is nothing there to pollinate them with. Usually they only open very early in the AM anyway - like just after dawn - so you may not see it.
As to why the plant is stressed, there can be many reasons. The rain is the most likely from the info you provide but nutrient levels and air temps and age of the plant also play a role.
I suggest you review the FAQs here on growing squash for more details.
Dave
Asiatic Garden Beetle. I have problems with them every year. They do look sort of like junebugs but are the size of japanese beetles. I don't know of any good control other than row covers. In daytime search around the base of the plants that are chewed and you will find them in the dirt and can add to your soapy water collection there. My basil lives under a structure from the moment it is transplanted because of those guys. Other crops they get into are chard, beans (especially cowpeas and long beans), and sweet potatoes. Basil seems to be the most attractive to them. Good luck!
Another cover crop is FENUGREEK. It is edible with many benefits, its root is a nitrogen fixer and its gree will be also rich in nitrogen. You can buy the seeds real cheap from Indo-Pakistani grocery store, by the pound, half a pound ..
You can plant it as a companion plant too.
I use buckwheat as a short-term summer cover all the time. In late July, it doubles as a nurse crop, because I pull out square-foot holes and plant fall seedlings amidst the shelter of the buckwheat. Buckwheat plants pull out really easy, so instead of turning them under I gather them and compost them.
A big problem with 3 sisters is the corn we grow today is nothing like the corn we grew a couple hundred years ago.
There's not many varieties of 8-12+ ft. corn out there...which was a lot more common back during the "supposed" popularity of 3-sisters type gardening. Many modern varieties top out at 5-6 ft....which many vine type beans can more than out-grow.
There's also fertilization issues in play (corn needs a lot of N, beans suffer pod set issues with excessive N).
It's one of those things that generally works better on paper than IRL, but it's not like it's impossible.
I ordered some seed from baker creek it is an Indian field corn variety I cannot remember the name of right now, I am not concerned if the corn works or not, and for that matter the beans I wanted to plant a small pumpkin patch and thought that planting corn interspersed would help with a little shade break midday, but saw the three sisters thing and it seemed like a plan I ordered rattlesnake beans if they work they work if not no big deal, just an experiment. I was going to border the North side and West side with sunflowers it is in the Northwest corner of my backyard and is walled off with a brick wall anyway it gets full sun from 7am until 6-6:30 pm the planting area is 16' by 16' and I wanted the pumpkins to grow out all over the yard.
Yes, I was thinking of bedding under higher plants like tomatoes and under the shrubbery in the front yard landscaping.
The front yard landscaping may be ideal since the bed can have wood chips for mulch that also feeds the mushroom bed. It also would not be disturbed for annual planting.
One other spot would be under the fig tree after it gains some more height and spread.
I was hoping for someone on the forums to affirm and get me off to a good start with advice.
Yes, in my experience stropharia in the sun does not work. You may have tomatoes in there now, but next year the mulch will be in the sun and the fungus will suffer. So anywhere full shade, make your bed there. The northern side of the house is fine, I keep them under some arborvitae, which is hard on my back but good for them.
Two important things, the chips have to be fresh, from a live tree, which is not a conifer. Most chips from a tree company will, in fact, be from dead trees, which are already well inoculated with something else. I know a tree guy and he knows what I want. The other thing, start it well. Lots of moisture initially, perhaps a tarp on top to retain moisture. I now do only logs, and I always start them (summer or winter) in plastic bags in the basement, after soaking. They do get a bit moldy but the fungus takes 100% of the time. Once it is established, it is robust.