23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I DID send a photo to Dixondale and got another email back from their President which I include below. (to me this is still a mystery)
Uneven irrigation of onion fields increases the incidence of this disorder.
Fields that are over-irrigated, allowed to dry completely and then over-irrigated
again often have many split bulbs. This condition is more prevalent in areas
of the field were stands are thin or uneven. These openings can provide an
entrance for secondary microorganisms, which cause bulb decay.
The Sterling variety is not particularly prone to this splitting of bulbs but the
other varieties may have been more evenly irrigated. We have had no other complaints.
Is there anything different about the soil or drainage in the area you planted the Sterling?
Bruce L Frasier
President
Dixondale Farms, Inc
Well, it seems they are doing their best to help you understand. They have a good reputation, so probably the problem does lie somewhere in your planting area if not in the cultivar. Or maybe a better way to say it is if all other things are equal, maybe that cultivar isn't suited to your conditions. I understand the explanation just fine, it's the same thing that causes splitting in fruits like tomatoes and melons, splits in carrot roots, etc. Were these in a low spot in your garden maybe? You thought you were keeping them evenly watered but weren't? I still haven't seen an onion split from the roots before, but I'm willing to concede that my experience is limited to quite a few less onions than the folks at Dixondale. :)
Sounds like lack of pollination. You could try hand pollinating, or just wait to see if conditions get better for pollination. On my eggplant, I had several flowers bloom and then die, but I now have loads of fruit growing.
Info from the below website:
What to do for eggplant blossoms drying out due to a lack of pollination:
An eggplant flower is normally wind pollinated, meaning it does not rely on insects like bees and moths to pollinate it. A pollination problem can occur when the weather conditions are very wet or very humid or are very hot. When the air is very humid, this causes the pollen eggplant flower to become very sticky and it cannot fall down onto the pistil to pollinate the flower. When the weather is very hot, the pollen becomes inactive because the plant thinks that it cannot support the stress of an additional fruit along with the hot weather. In a sense, the plant aborts the blossom so as not to stress itself further.
Eggplant flower hand pollination:
If you suspect your eggplant flowers fall off due to a lack off pollination, then you can use hand pollination. Eggplant flower hand pollination is easy to do. All you need to do is take a small, clean paintbrush and move this around the inside of the eggplant flower.
I am in Wi about an hour for the twin cities. My peas are doing really well. I planted them later than I should have and they are right now at their most productive phase. They are only getting about 5-6 hours of sun, which I think is helping them survive the warmer weather we are having now. I am growing Super Sugar Snaps, Oregon Sugar snaps and Mr. Big.
We had an unusually dry June & so far no rain in July. We can go from the 90's back down to the 60's the next day, but mostly we've been having pretty sunny weather this summer (so far...).
I don't remember ever having tomato plants grow to 5" before August, but that's what I'm seeing this year. Kind of a nice change.
How about your weather? I think you guys are getting our rain.
So, am I correct that I could/should harvest & replant towards the end of summer?
Yes, setting out basal bulbs and/or top sets in late summer at a good spacing (6-8 inches) with some compost or manure will result in bigger plants than just letting them "walk".
We had a lot of rain until a couple of weeks ago but it's now getting a little dry. Looks like rain today.
Nila, thanks for the tip on using almost open flowers. I was able to get two male flowers from a close neighbor today -- his plants were a fraction of the size of mine, and no female flowers, but lots of male flowers. Go figure.
Are your squash inedible because of cross pollination this year, or were the seeds of cross pollinated fruit?
We have never seen rain like this, the area 20 miles from us received 5.5 inches in one day. We only got around 3 that day. I don't have a rain gague at my house. My figures are just by what the local news says and the old guy down the road. Regardless my raised beds are soaked.
Well I think the worry is over. The tomato beds went from water soaked to a semi dry crust today. The beans are still not looking great yet but the beds are drying. I was really sweating it for a few days. Last night draining must have helped. At this rate we will be watering again by the weekend.
I believe that it is possible to over-hill potatoes. There's a point where hilling is beneficial and a point where it does nothing. If you do a search here for 'potato bins' you'll see evidence of this. The thought was that you could plant your potatoes in the bin and continually build up both the bin and the soil around the potatoes in the hopes of increasing your yield. But when people took their bins apart they were sorely disappointed by the results.
Rodney
If the seedlings are already in full sun then I don't see a reason why you would need to shade them. Just keep them well watered and they should be fine. Why do you feel like they need to be shaded? And what type of veggies are they?
Rodney
I can't afford a shade structure made specifically for gardening right now,
Not sure there is such a thing. Why do you feel you need to be shading the garden? Late start with what specific seedlings? Do you understand that most gardeners do not shade their gardens?
Is it that you are trying to grow early spring crops now? If so then shade isn't going to help as the soil temps are what count and they are already into summer crop only temps.
Please clarify exactly what the goal is, ok?
Dave
Don't know how close UCONN ext is to you/her, and what they charge, but state CAES lab has offices in Windsor and the main plant pathology lab in New Haven. They won't charge anything to look at it, you can call to see if pathologist is in the office today and can even get answer on the spot if you bring it in while he/she is there
Here is a link that might be useful: CAES Plant Disease page
As I mentioned above there is a simple test you can do for fusarium - slice open part of the stem lengthwise. Brown pith, sometimes gooey, inside the stem is a definitive diagnosis. Pics of the appearance of the infected pith are available online for comparison if needed.
Dave
Just try to get rid of the snails/slugs. The slimy substance is the "foot print " of the snails. If you are concerned, just wash it off with spray bottle filled with water.
But the main thing is to kill and/or keep the snails away.
Iron phosphate pellets will work for the snails and are considered organic. They come in various brands like Sluggo, Escar-go, and the one I have is Slug Magic (which brings some amusing pictures to mind). The slime trail left behind isn't anything to worry about and actually was a very helpful clue to the nature of your pest. Cheers!