23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Nothing says you are "supposed" to prune them. Pruning is strictly optional and is NOT required for any reason. In some situations it may have some advantages, in other situations it is detrimental to the plant and to fruit production.
Without knowing where you live or even your garden zone there is no way to know if your plants might benefit from pruning or not.
The Growing Tomatoes forum here is the place for this question and you will find many discussions there about it as well as a FAQ on Pruning.
Dave
If a raw leaf tases bitter to you, try blanching the leaves first in rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds and then into another pot of boiling water briefly. That's how bitter wild greens are handled in order to get rid of some of the bitter principle. ('Course, spinach greens are a lot less durable than dandelion greens!)
Just a thought. Of course, anything composted is never really wasted! :-)
I always plant Swiss chard in addition to spinach. Slower-growing but more reliably tasty for weeks beyond the time spinach has bolted.
Earlier posters correctly addressed the issue of not pruning the ferns since they are strengthening the roots for next year.
However, looks like you have at least 3 plants within a pretty small area. Asparagus needs a good, fertile soil to do well, so be sure to top-dress it with a good couple of inches of compost after frost (which is when you can/should remove the dry,yellowed ferns) and on top of that add 4-6" of chopped or shredded leaves. This also will serve the important task of keeping out weeds. A generous sprinkling of blood meal in early spring would not be amiss, either, to give it the nitrogen this hungry green plant requires.
Thanks, weedlady. There are 2 crowns in a 3' circle. I will have plenty of compost to add this fall, and will remember to add the bloodmeal in the spring. We mainly grow enough to munch on as we cruise the garden...kinda like the cherry tomatoes later in the summer.
Two crops? Yes.
Two large central heads? No
It's a first crop of the large central head, a second (third and fourth, too) of smaller side shoots.
Plants will continue to put out side shoots as long as the weather doesn't fry or freeze them too much and water, etc. is available. If you don't cut them regularly, they will flower like hers. Yes, you can "rescue" them at any time by cutting off the flowers and trimming them back. You may, or may not, feel the resulting small side shoots are worth it.
I often prefer to get the plants out of the garden after the early harvest and restart with new plants later in the year for another large head harvest followed by small side shoots into the early winter. I don't like to deal with the summertime broccoli pests and prefer the taste of cool weather broccoli anyway.
When to harvest : You can harvest them any time that fruit is over 5" long. Pickling one will not be much longer than that anyway. Basically, smaller ones are tender and tastier. But You want to get a good mileage by letting it grow bigger, but not to the point that the seeds inside start hardening and the rind getting tough and brownish. So you can experiment different sizes and find out which one tastes better.
It's possible for herbicide damage, I guess. I don't use any herbicides, but I live on a corner lot of a relatively busy street, so who knows what has come by on cars. The lot next to ours is an open field. I don't think they use herbicides but I can't be sure. I do not see similar damage on any of my other plants (12 other containers).
I'm hoping it is not viral :( It's probably too late to start another tomatillo plant and get much from it, and I had a difficult time finding the seedlings anyway.
I just recently started my garden in my atrium (located on the southeast corner of my home) here in Vegas about two months ago and my plants were doing fine. I have 2 Tomato plants, a habanero, 2 morning glories. the hab seemed to stop growing (which i read somewhere that it was normal), my tomatoes are healthy and thriving.
This past week has been (Chronicles of Riddick you step into the sun you burst into flames) hot, so the last two days I have noticed that leaves are turning crispy (still green not brown) and falling off. Today I watered in the am (5-6) and my hab was fine and happy, but I just checked them all the habs leaves are crispy and falling off.
The plant food I use is an up to two month Scotts blend and they have another month before i feed again. My plants receive 4-7 hour of direct sun
Any suggestions on how to keep my habs from dying I want it to produce at least one pepper before it dies.
This post was edited by Demannu on Wed, Jul 3, 13 at 19:45
I'll say it again... Mulch., mulch, mulch! 3-4 inches if need be. As mentioned above, evaporation is one thing, but you guys are struggling because of SOIL temps. Shade cloth, sheets, trees are all very helpful too for that afternoon heat. Try to rig something up when those afternoon temps hit 95 and up. When it cools off in the evening, pull the shade off. Make it a daily ritual, if you can. Otherwise, plant in containers that can go under partially shaded patio covers.
But, MULCH!
Good luck.
Kevin
Quintoga: In a Southern California tract home backyard, yes. Real estate is always at a premium here... even if it is just veggies. 1st time growing melons--- from what I've read, you don't want to let them dangle on a trellis. I make slings out of pantyhose.
pnbrown: lmao --- I have a flyswatter just for the loopers and spray BT almost year round.
Thanks for the props.
Kevin
Yup. Powdery Mildew. Throw them in the trash and don't reuse the soil for susceptible replants.
Is it possible your pots do not have drainage holes? If they do not, when it rained, your pots filled up with water and it had no place to go. Therefore, death by drowning.
If you know better than this, I apologize. My neighbor across the street had this happen with tomato plants in a half whisky barrel this year. He's an M.D.
The other possibility that comes to mind is that your pot might be too small. I have grown bush cucs in pots successfully, but it takes a BIG pot (18" in diameter or bigger) for ONE vine.