23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Weird stuff going on this season. The top 4 or 5 inches of several of my garden plants are breaking off overnight. Since I'm having a HUGE slug problem this year, I'm wondering if the raccoons are picking them off the plant and breaking the stem. Wish I had a nightvision camera.
I once found a horse hair worm in a puddle as a child and carefully carried it home to my Mom. She kindly put it in a jar and we looked it up together. What a trooper! Though I think she was mostly trying to make sure it wasn't some horrible parasite. Since I'm not an insect, we were good to go. She did make me release it out into the pond.
This may be what we've seen!
I agree, the flea beetle damage I see here is usually even a little more extensive and the tiny perfect holes. I've seen them on my radish leaves but not so much on my tomatoes. Maybe someone with a better eye for pest damage can say what it is?
I read it's a different species of FB that attacks tomato, potato, peppers than the brassicas. Looks like I have both. The ones I've seen on tomatoes move a little slower than I'm used to but still...
I posted to my BWF group and hope someone can confirm this is FB damage - I was worried it looked like gray spot, but if it's confined to the determinates which are isolated (by 1000ft) from main crop I can afford to wait and see. As wet as our weather has been the past few weeks (and forecast for more named storms this year) I may have to start a regular fungicide spray program.
Funny that it's the hybrids (Best Boy and Independence Day, with SuperSweet 100 being lesser affected, maybe due to hardening off location) that are the worst. Then again, the seed packets don't list any disease resistance.
A quick google showed johnnyseeds had black jet. It said you can choose organic or non-organic. Victory seeds was sold out of most of its soy beans. Victory's site noted that it's a tough year for soy, and that too many sources are gmo.
Black soybeans are also low in carbs.
I would not use it. Because of the reasons you already mentioned and also I don't think it is deep and sturdy enough. You can buy 6" by 6ft(5/8" thick)cedar boards from HD or Lowes for about $1.50 a piece. With six of them ($10.00) and a few wood screws you can may a box : 6ft by 3ft one ft deep. You also need 2"x2" cedar for 4 corners.Cedar will last for years.
So the whole thing will cost under 12 bucks.
they have also 5 1/2" by 5ft by 9/16". which cost $1.36. with this one the boxe will be 5ft by 2 1/2ft by 11" deep.
ps: I have made 8 of them.
I blanch for 5 minutes at boiling point and then set the ears out to cool off. Once cool, they are put in a vacuum bag and the air is pulled out and the bag is sealed.
On cooking the ear, I bring the water up to boiling for another 5 minutes and then eat.
OK do this.... get a thin metal wire and poke it into the hole. you might impale it and kill the grub looking booger... given the small amount of frass it might not be that far inside. flexible wire that bends might be better. Also if you can get a syringe, mix up some BT solution . (natural caterpillar killing bacteria, common at gardening centers) and inject it into the hole. you can inject the rest of your main vine every few inches for good measure. That should do it.
This post was edited by ccabal on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 22:37
I might add, looking at your picture it seems the stem is swelling up about an inch above where the red circle you drew is... I bet the borer is in there. so if you inject, make sure you do it above that. Or if you poke with the wire, make sure you poke upwards.
I am impressed this year with my tomato plants I started indoors under lights. I was really looking forward to trying a few new [to me] varieties and did not want to get my hopes up but most of them are doing very well. The Brandywines red and yellow gave up but the others are big and blooming. It was very encouraging to try more varieties next year. Bring on the canners.
kim
Figures this would be my first year to try proper gardening (instead of one or two potted veggies).
Tomatoes from transplants are okay, but I wouldn't say they're thriving. Squash: I planted four mounds and only got two plants to germinate on one of them. I replanted the others last weekend. Peppers from transplants are growing and seem to be fine. Of a row of bush beans only three came up, and those three were half eaten by something. These were also replanted last weekend. Cherry tomatoes are struggling to grow but are laden with tiny immature fruits. Lettuce is thriving (surprising since I planted it so late). Carrots are okay, but that was mainly my fault in sowing them too carelessly.
Looks like the next week is supposed to have some sun and warmth. I'm going to get some herbs going in pots and see if I can't get something to eat out of all this work.
My lawn is going bananas though. I can barely keep the grass low enough to see the clover. :)
You need to go out very early in the morning to pollinate by hand. Female flowers open around sunrise and then close up pretty early. Male flowers stay open longer. I grow my squash under floating row cover tents to keep SVBs off them. I grow only 3 vines at a time, so it takes 2 minutes to do the hand pollination, as long as I get out early enough.
Sugar Snaps were way late to take off this year in SW MO, but there are now plenty of flowers and a couple of little peas. I will be feasting on right off the vine on those in another day or two.
My first few peas harvested June 7; still quite small but at their sweetest.
The picture is of peas planted together late February, pre-sprouted. The bright green ones are Alaska, approaching 5 ft tall. The lower, darker green plants are Maestro which only grow to about 2 ft and look to be much more productive.
The photo (sorry it's sideways but I don't know how to change it on the forum) is from June 6th, a full 104 days from sowing. Later plantings made around March 25 are at almost the same stage; maybe 2-3 days behind after just 73 days, so the early start was almost no advantage. My catalogs claim normally 60-62 days to maturity.
I also have some very low-growing Novella in a double row and I'm going to see how well they hold themselves up with no staking. So far it looks as if they'll be fine. They have amazing numbers of aggressive-looking tendrils for hanging on to each other.