23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Thanks for the info Itilton.
It is starting to get really hot and around here broccoli is a early spring crop. I was busy with the end of the semester and got them out late. If they do head how they will immediately bolt (what they did last year when it got extremely hot very early) would they make it and produce in the fall if I cut off any late heads that they put on (and they bolt). Probably not but just hoping!

Thanks!

They're going to head(at least some) before they bolt. The trick is to cut the heads right before the florets look like they're starting to separate. Right when they start to head, keep a daily eye on them and do this with any side shoots because they have a tendency to separate even quicker.

Regarding the cauli-- I've often had to wait for a heat spell to kick them into heading. I'd just let them keep going though even if they DON'T head in the summer. It'd be a nice little experiment. They just may kick back in and since they are a biennial, who knows?

Mulch heavily and keep soil moist and, at least, your broccoli will get you some form of harvest.

Good luck.

Kevin

Oh goodness...you're missing a treat if you've never tossed some purslane in a salad.

With purslane, try to keep ahead of it flowering. Pull the plant when you see it. Don't let it go to seed. Flowers are tiny and hard to see. After a few years it will be gone. But be vigilant this year.

Are you trying to let it go to seed? I would harvest some of them lower leaves and eat them. I let my vates go to seed and just harvested the pods.

Thanks folks...not trying to let it go to seed, just need to be better about harvesting the leaves. We'll see if we can get this plant back on track!:)

Cindy is exactly right....you've described the behavior of leafhoppers perfectly.

I agree with Cindy...leaf hopper behavior. I had two "in the act" do that to me on a cuke plant. I knocked them into a bucket of soapy water.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leafhopper Garden Pest

I think a garden only attracts more mosquitoes if there is more standing water in it. Moist soil doesn't do it for them. Well, actually, floodwater mosquitoes do lay eggs in moist soil, which can dry out, but the dried eggs won't hatch unless the soil is later covered in water. Those eggs can wait a year or more for that flood and then be viable. Actually, I could imagine ponds happening in lawns that would never happen in well mulched, friable garden soil. I *never* get puddles in my garden, even after heavy rains. But I do get water collecting in the various pails and receptacles I leave around my garden.

Standing , stagnant water is the place for mosquitoes to breed. Otherwise they are not attracted to your garden like bees, etc.

Another issue is: how big is your property, how is the properties in the surrounding ? Mosquitoes have wings and can fly over the fence from your neighbor's backyard too.

The bottom line not to have any standing water. Although, in the shade where it is moist can be a place for mosquitoes to breed and live.

From what I've read, Bermuda grass is the worst. Where I live it isn't usualy too bad, because it tends to die in the summer unless it is irrigated. I wouldn't till it. It sounds like anything you do to push it deeper just makes it harder to get rid of. Since it is only one bed, maybe you should just pull out all the rhizomes by hand or with the aid of a small shovel or spade. You want to clean an area larger than the box so you have a buffer zone.

Here is another idea, but it is probably too late. Consider building your box with a solid bottom of plywood. That will hopefully stop grass for many years. Just set the box right on top of the grass. Put drain holes in the side of the box near the bottom, and check them for rhizomes daily. I'm sure rhizomes will eventually creep in to the box and take root.

If you are willing to wait until next year, you can solarize a generous patch (larger than the veggie box) this year and do the box next year. The grass will still recover, of course, but it will take a while, and you can defend the dead zone between the box and the edge of the lawn.

Just my 2 cents.

--McKenzie

Agree with Buford. Bermuda and zoysia grass are similar to mints that have runner roots that spread. That is why it is hard to get rid of and contain it. But as BUFORD said, it is easy to pull them up. I would recommend to get rid of the top layer with roots AND then till or turn it over THEN carefully and patiently remove any remaining roots, as much as possible.

I am against CARDBOARD SHEETING. Though it might but block the grass from spreadin and coming up , it will also block the plants roots and drainage.

There are baby grasshoppers all over my yard and garden. They seem to especially enjoy the eggplant leaves, which are now full of holes and raggedy. They've also been devouring petunia blooms. The little critters are fast and hard to squish, and when they are on the thorny eggplants -- ouch! The grownups prefer to munch on the citrus tree leaves. I've never seen so many before. I will look into that Nolo bait, may be worth it for me this year.

I saw one more today! The fight is on! Nancy

What slimy_okra said except let me add to it. Water or soap or neem oil will take care of them but you have to be diligent. Spray them off with a water nozzle a couple times a day about 3 days apart for a week or 2. Then, soap the next week about 3 days apart for one week and once every 2 weeks thereafter if the water didn't reduce the populations sufficiently.

Funny slimy mentioned cabbage worms -- I don't see any indication either. In fact, I've noticed through the years that(compared to other brassicas) the caterpillars don't attack KALE as much.

And Yes... BT for all my Moth(caterpillar) needs. Good stuff.

Kevin

using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito

Great simile! Slimy.

Dave

I'm in your zone - it's difficult to get lettuce to grow here during the summer. High temps cause lettuce to get bitter. I'm trying it under my tomatoes to see if some shade will help.

Last fall I planted mesclun mix and Swiss chard in September. We ate salad from the end of October through May! Best $2.00 investment I've ever made! Lol. I planted them across my 3 foot wide bed in 2 rows. Basically just 1/4 inch apart. Then I thinned them to every other plant or so. I wasn't too particular about it, just 1/2 to 1 inch. We picked them young, so they didn't need a ton of room. Pick them from the outside and they will keep producing for you.

The plant in your picture looks like Swiss chard. Mine bolted too once the weather got hot, along with the mesclun lettuces. Chard needs to be planted further apart - 4-6 inches is what I did. We cut those young and ate them in salad. If you let them get bigger you can cook them like collards. Very good!

Here is a picture at the end of the season. I pulled most of what was in this bed by the time this was taken. There was more chard and spinach in the middle. I'll be adding lots more mesclun this time around. That's it in the back.

This post was edited by lm13 on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 17:26

I'm such a newbie at this, I even got my zone wrong. lol... I knew it was 8 (using a scale without a and b)... However, i thought it went to 7b... Nope, still 8, but 8b...

at any rate,, i do understand the difficulty in giving all permutations on one seed packet. However, getting past that, the in-row spacing seems to be too large as well... I used the 6 inches suggested, and I have a ton of space between my plants.. My next planting, I'm going for the very tight 1/2 - 1 inch and see how that works...

Of course, if i had any idea of what the mature version of what i am growing looked like then it would be a lot easier!! :-)

thanks for the replies

Thanks sunni! yep, def. Asiatic Garden Beetle,but also found 2 huge balls of Japanese beetles,like 4-6 stuck together doing whatever...around 11:00 pm on my eggplants ew, I was pretty sure I read somewhere that they come out at the sunniest time of the day...it was a surprise.

Thanks everyone for your input.
Earwigs are a problem here every year. I don't know why they are so prolific...but every year at this time there is a population explosion, then about a month later their numbers decrease.
I have decided to just deal with it, all my plants are past seedling stage so they are able to withstand some damage.

Yep. PM. As Seysonn mentioned, a milk solution or neem can help control it. There's also a baking soda solution -- google it.

In any case, you want to spray off(with a water hose/nozzle) as many of the spores as possible before applying the solution.

Also, try to keep from touching other plants AFTER you've touched affected plants to prevent the spread of spores.

Kevin

Or you could try an actual fungicide.

PM is one of those diseases that's easier to prevent than cure.

Adding absorbable Calcium with Vitamin D in the soil will do the job.

Apropos to NC's post, I think I over did it with wood ash on some of my bean plantings this spring, as some areas had very poor germination and failed seedlings.