23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
So, I saw the picture of "Black Forest" zucchini. So, for the record, are any zucchini vining? Or is the "bush" cultivar basically part of the definition of a zucchini. I can't see using something like a topsy turvy to hang any zucchini plants from that I've heard about. Are there exceptions?
Here is a link that might be useful: me
Okay reporting my formal review of this that I submitted to burpee
If anyone looks at the reviews burpee keeps responding to people that want refunds that they are either over watering or that they planted in ground temp below 65 degrees (even though in the product description it clearly states 55) .... I did neither of these things.
"Meh.... Not impressed,... Good & bad about this but not enough good for me because I have room to grow corn
The bad:
I've been growing corn for twenty years. No burpee...the soil was not too cold nor did I overwater the plants (you responded to someone's review demanding a refund that they are sensitive to over watering) if they are that sensitive it needs to be In the care info. I did two sowings. Got around 50 % germ the first time and about 60% the second time. For the price of the seeds I would expect better germination than that & the seeds looked very shriveled and tiny.
The good: they grew very quickly.64 days to harvest exactly. I had absolutely zero pest problems from either sowing and the plants never showed any sign of stress. In other words,the ones that did germinate did not need to be babied. Plants grew to be between five and six feet tall. The corn tasted very good also once harvested.
Meh: the first sowing I spaced at recommended seed spacing (close) pollination was OKAY. I got one ear per plant on about 75% of the plants., the ears tasted good but were no where near as big around as other corn varieties. I was not upset about this because I assumed they wouldn't be as large as some others being a shorter variety. There was not two to three ears per plant at all.
The second sowing I spaced further apart. More traditional distance. I got better pollination and second & third smaller ears (not unusual).
Choose for yourself but read reviews. this variety did have some good qualities but I think burpee needs to work on the germination issue. There's way too many negative reviews about the germination to believe that everyone just planted at the wrong time & no one knows what they are doing."
Make sure the corn is far enough from trees, fences, buildings, etc so squirrels can't jump onto it from above, then string an electric fence around it with the bottom hot wire very close to the ground, 2" to 3". Once your fence is up and running, inspect it periodically to make sure its not grounding out somewhere. I use a "10 mile" charger, hot enough to burn vegetation that touches it.
Drewski - the bigger they get, the more they won't transplant. What people are saying you need to do now is cut all but one* of those off entirely. They're too big to pull out, you'd damage the roots of the ones you want to keep.
*I say one because you have others planted at what looks like 4" apart in a row.
It isn't ideal but you can make it work. I have one trellis made out of it and while they climb it fine picking can be difficult now and then because you can't get your hand through those holes.
I just cut out some random wires here and there to make some 4x4 holes to reach through for picking. If you have smaller hands you may not even need to do that.
Dave
Best thing to fight the Cabbage Loopers is called Bacilus thuringiensis aka Bt aka Garden Safe Bt Worm & Caterpliiar Killer. I get it at Lowe's; I would imagine just about any store with a decent garden center has it. This is my first year growing broccoli and I;m wondering about head formation, too. Good luck!
Edie
Looks fine.. The very first leaves(cotyledon) Alway die off, they are there to produce food for the plant so she can get off to a good start.. They always die off, you plant looks fine... If the new green foliage looks fine, I wouldn't worry.. Water thoroughly, then le it dry out.. You want it like a consistency of a rung out sponge.. It seems like your growing them fine, get on growing my friend!
Joe
Thanks for info Anne and Dave, forgot to mention I grew the potatoes in multi purpose compost that I bought so maby it was mushroom compost of some sort. Also we had bit of rain last week so that would explain a lot then. New to this site and gardening in general, iam from Scotland. Will add location in future posts.
Nick
Thanks for info Anne and Dave, forgot to mention I grew the potatoes in multi purpose compost that I bought so maby it was mushroom compost of some sort. Also we had bit of rain last week so that would explain a lot then. New to this site and gardening in general, iam from Scotland. Will add location in future posts.
Nick
Bush Slicer, Little leaf, Fanfare. Even the bush varieties my develop short vines (depends on variety) but vertical trellising is the solution for small spaces.
Why not post over on the Sq Foot Gardening forum here for their recommendations and on the Container Gardening forum too?
Dave
Hot and sticky (though not as hot as Nancy's!) here. Planted more peppers yesterday and a couple of tomatoes that were starting to blossom in 1 gal pots. Was going to plant the rest of my peppers today (maybe 12 or so, have 61 in the ground, I always end up planting more than I originally planned - in this case b/c somene gave me some new varieties). But more severe T-storms predicted tonight/tomorrow so didn't want to risk them. Some of the ones I planted yesterday were leaning, had mulch (hay) blown over them just from a brief storm yesterday. Of course Thurs they had predicted strong storms and we got some wind (thought it was going to rip the squash out) but only 1/2" of rain. Been picking up branches all month, DH keeps fixing the road whenever it washes out.
Near Denver, CO - 'been in the mid 90's and near 100 off and on - mostly on. I figured I was ripped off by the nursery. I planted seeds but one out of 12 germinated - again too late. I think it was first week of June - couldn't get the garden prepared before that. I understand no seed will germinate when temps are over 85. Bummed.
Westy
I have a problem with a zucchini squash plant. I had a female flower and I was anxiously awaiting it to open. I went to check it at 6am this morning. It wasn't open, but the tip appeared to be brown. I opened the flower and the ovum (?) was brown. Is this going to be able to be pollinated or is it bad? Is it the heat or other factor. This plant has already produced a few good squash.
Adult Agapostemon splendens (Lepeletier), a sweat bee.
Pollinator...good to have.
Here is a link that might be useful: sweat bee, figure 3
The pots warm quicker and squash like the warmth.
"The one in the ground has compost-ammended loamy soil."
Due to the temps and quality of the soil the roots will not spread as fast and will produce a smaller plant in the beginning. But, unless the bugs don't get to it, it will probably produce longer and have higher quality fruit.
I'm guessing the bigger potted plant is in Miracle Grow Organic potting mixture? It most likely has more nutrients.
I grow a couple of tomato plants in buckets every year as sacrificial tomatoes just to get early home grown tomatoes. I get them about a month earlier.
But they stop producing when the others that are in ground take off.
If you had dug a big hole and put the same potting mix in the ground and used something like black plastic to give heat then the results would probably have been about the same for the in ground.
Wertach, you got it! The plant in the MG pot is the largest and has started producing harvestable squash. I would have thought the in-ground soil is of better quality and better nutrient content than either potting mix because of all the high quality home made compost! Then again, the weather here has not been conducive (cold, windy, very wet) so if it ever gets to be summer-like I should have more zukes than I know what to do with... I'm a big fan of chocolate zucchini bread!