24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I'm not sure if it ever got down to 55 since they've been out but possibly. I've had that happen in the past some too and stunted their growth but at some point they recovered, still not to full potential but ive never had one literally stay 2". I'm doing some soil testing today so we'll see what that comes up with. Thanks!

Here is my stunted pepper.

They were planted at the same time but the little pale green puff was germinated earlier and was left in the cool evening air by accident. The other two plants are about 24-30" tall. I know a local farmer and I asked him last year why some plants just stay tiny or don't grow. He shrugged and said, 'sometimes they just don't". Not the most analytical explanation but suppose it has some merit.



The mulch might help. One thing I have seen at some nurseries is a lettuce bowl. They plant a bunch of seed in a wide, shallow pot (Kind of like a bowl). As the lettuce grows, it shades the the soil as it is sown pretty thick. A packet of seeds that is a blend of lettuces would be a good candidate for such. If done in pots, the color of pot could be critical. Too dark and it may absorb too much heat for summertime lettuce.



Thanks glib, I wasn't thinking about the gus getting through the weed cloth! I don't have them in rows, so the weed cloth wouldn't work. Maybe I'll go with some newspaper (not too thick as to crust up, but thick enough to help against new weed seed) and some wood chips. Our main problem is that we are right next to horse fields with some nasty weeds that blow in during the winters! Once those get established it's hell to get them out! Nancy

Yes, by saying poison I should have said the "active" bait. The system I used is actually advance not advantage. The active ingredient for treatment is Diflubenzuron & considered a Toxic level 3 by the EPA. I would not want it in my edible garden, I also wouldn't use pressure treated would for raised bed edible garden. But that's just me. Hopefully with monitoring this will eventually drive the colony out & keep future infestations from happening. Here are 2 links for more info.
http://www.doityourselftermitecontrol.com/termitebaiting.htm
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/infoservices/pesticidefactsheets/toxic/diflubenzuron.php

It doesn't become rainfast. You apply it to the pest problems as a last resort, any insect that comes into contact with it may be affected. It will wash off in rain, but it also degrades in sunlight.
What is the name of the product you're using...perhaps it has added ingredients that make it last longer.

When one doesn't first fully understand the use, methods, durability, how it kills and what it kills, its water resistance, its rate and frequency of application and all the other factors associated with the use of a pesticide should they be using them?
Just because a pesticide is labeled 'organic' does not mean it has no negative side effects or that its use can't be abused.
For starters: Pyrethrins Fact Sheet
Dave


PHI is the length of time after application that harvesting is PROHIBITED. If the label says 3 days, you may harvest on the fourth day.
I don't mean this in any way but kindly, mjacobbe, but I worry that if you are not educated in the meaning of some of the label terminology, that you might not be able to make sense of the entire label.
Is there anyway we can help you with interpretation? Labels can be very complicated documents and not having a full understanding of the contents in their entirety can be dangerous.

Yeah, Romanescos are an extremely vigorous and rigid squash. I've broken them trying to manage their growth. Depending on how long the vines, they will branch and can produce on those branches. I can't say for certain yours will produce, but if they've branched, then it's possible. It may even toss out a branch at the nearest internode back from the break and continue on like nothing happened.

The white tail deer have begun eating my kennebec potato leaves. This is the first time I have ever had non-sweet potatoes leaves eaten. They started with buds and are coming back every night until now the plants are only a foot tall. My question is, will I still get potatoes or will production stop when the leaves are gone? I'm in the Maryland and the plants were not mature.

It is nice that so many people are now in favor of compost in place. Traditional composting is good for exercise, like going out in midwinter to turn a pile, and bad for nitrogen content. It is also negative for earthworms and fungal flora, which are deprived of the food they need, and which are the two best friends a gardener has.

I do sheet composting I would say...adding rotted horse manure with a lot of hay in it...leaf mulch,...and the crop residues chopped up in situ.
I even till these things in and have added other texture improving material to my silty clay soil to improve friability [looseness and workability].






Here is one of mine. I have another one on the plant growing which is a little bit more symmetrical.
I'd like to know if a spaghetti squash is supposed to have a lot of seeds when it's ripe. I just cut open a yellow one that looked ripe on the vine and it had very few seeds.
Yes it normally has a quite large seed cavity filled with seeds if mature. If there were only a few then it was likely not mature and ready for harvest yet. Was the stem on it hard, dry and brown? The cavity in the pic is full of hundreds of seeds.
Dave