23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
In case anyone is wondering, especially since they're owned by Monsanto and there's a ton of misinformation out there about them...Seminis's registered trademark on their X3R stack isn't a patent on resistance to bacterial speck.
It's simply the registered trademark on the "name" they've given to the trait stack they developed and bred into their plants. It's like "Certs mints with Retsyn"...rather than "Certs mints with copper gluconate and flavoring". Anyone can put copper gluconate and flavoring into their mints...they can't call it or market it as Retsyn, though.
Thanks for all the great advice. I had never heard of SVB until joining garden web. I did surgery on a declining pie pumpkin this morning. I pulled out two white squishy bugs and fed them to the chickens.
I just planted a second round of squash in a different bed but don't want the tender new plants to be eaten from within before fruiting. I checked for eggs this morning and did not find any. I have been using neem oil to combat aphids on my brussels sprouts. Does anyone know if neem oil helps combat SVB or squash beetles?
I had fun frying them buggers when I got home yesterday!
When I put the torch on the plants the adults came out in numbers and got fried also!
I got a lot of them, but I'm sure some escaped!
Hishigata, I read somewhere that neem helps. I plan to get some on the way home.
Probably your pH tester came with some kind of rough guidelines for different vegetables, fruits etc !
But in a home garden we cannot and it is not feasible to provide a perfect pH for each vegetable we grow. But fortunately most veggies thrive in a range of pH. Probably that range is 5.7 to 7.2. From what I have gathered, again, most plants prefer slightly acid soil( say 6.8). However, thre are a group of garden plants that prefer slightly sweet(alkaline) soil (say 7.2)
But with regard to your measurement (pH =5), I think that if far too acid for just about any garden veggie.. And another thing is that soil pH cannot be changed overnight . It will take months for lime to become effective. There are some fast acting sweeteners. Also, deficiency in things like phosphorus and magnesium can contribute to soil acidity. Therefore, in my opinion, applying those elements can raise soil pH.
I have grown this and other varieties, and don't know how they would do from early summer planting. I grow them twice, once in spring from seeds started indoors 6 weeks before last frost, and again in early August. The spring plants are good, but the fall plants are phenomenal! In summer, sometimes I sow a nurse crop of buckwheat and rip out holes for planting the fennel, which benefits from a bit of shade and shelter on hot days.
Many thanks for the info. I went out at 6 this morning and found three female blossoms open. I proceeded to hand pollinate and actually found a bee deep down in one. So earlier to check will be my habit from now on. Again thank you for taking the time to help me !!!!
I would say fertilize and water more often. Also mulch the hills with straw, pine needles, to keep the roots cooler and maintain moisture longer.
I think on the trellis they loose water much faster under Texas sun as opposed to laying down on the ground. That is one reason they need moisture.
PS: Post a picture , if you may. So people here can help you better.