23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Your extension agent may be able to tell you when the cabbage root fly is active in your area. Covering with floating row cover, in soil which was free from plants in the cabbage family the year before, may be the best protection in spring.
I have better luck with turnips in the fall here (though I haven't seen maggots). Hakurei and Oasis are similar, and I think Oasis has a little more vigor and crack resistance in cold or rainy weather.
White Lady comes close to these in flavor and texture, and may be earlier (thus avoiding the cabbage maggot in some instances). Pinetree notes that Tokyo Cross often escapes the maggot because grows so fast that you can pick it before the worms are a problem. I think White Lady could be tried this way, too. Tokyo Cross is as mild as the varieties above, but not as sweet or flavorful.
Near here, commercial turnips are sown in September while it is still quite warm (or hot) and harvested as the weather cools down (if all goes according to plan). As noted above, August would likely be a good time for you to plant.
Henry Field is selling a variety that looks similar to the "summer turnips" above called "Frosty Sweet". It is supposed to resist bursting and bolting, but I haven't tried it.
I also like a variety called "Just Right" for fall. This variety is rather late in forming a substantial root (though tops grow quickly). When the root finally forms, it remains tender and tasty to a large size. "Just Right" is more cold-tolerant and weather-tolerant than Hakurei or Oasis, and is only recommended for fall. I plant them just after the others, and harvest them into quite cold weather. I get them from Twilley's, a commercial catalog with no on-line catalog. I think you could call and order seeds even if you didn't want to bother with a print catalog. They also sell "White Lady", as does Park.
All of the varieties above (with the possible exception of Frosty Sweet) have tops which are far sweeter and less "turnipy" than standard turnip greens, and without the hairs. Makes me wonder if they are a cross between turnips and something else. The tough midrib should be removed from larger leaves.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cabbage Maggot
This post was edited by carolync1 on Tue, May 28, 13 at 15:24
That is great news! Thanks a bunch. I thought I had heard of pruning it by cutting of the vining head, but I couldn't remember for sure.
seysonn, I broke maybe six inches of it off. I was trying to move it where it would train up the trellis, and when I grabbed it, it just broke off.
All your follow up questions are answered in detail in the article Brittany linked for you above. It even includes how-to pictures.
You can also find all the answers in the previous discussions here about how to plant and grow potatoes that the search will pull up for you.
Dave
kawalinko;
I already said to cover the seed by 3 to 4 inches of soil. IN OTHER WORDS plant it 3 to 4 inches deep, Under the seeds there should be good soil too b/c the roots will grow downward and sideway. For example, if you plant them in raised bed of 12 inch high. Then dig a hole 6" to 7" deep, place seeds, cover 3". In effect the seeds are in a hole. later on when they shoot, you fill up that hole and build hill around it even higher.
ABOUT THE EXISTING SPROUTS: again no matter there is a sprout on the seed or not, has to be covered by about 3" of soil. If, just in cast sprouts are longer than 3 to 4", then cover the sticking part with hey/straw/peat moss...etc.
Some of my crowns did not come back, for the first year we were allowed a real harvest.... :(
Amazingly - also had a large mint bed disappear....3x4 foot area filled with mint that was originally transplanted from a 3" pot 8 years ago.....have never heard of such a thing....supposedly - you can't get rid of mint even when you want to....
I think it was too dry and too frequently above freezing for some of these perennials....
You said that feeding triggers them in and out of the fruit cycle. Is this true for all plants?
Sure as all plants have a circadian rhythm, a cycle to their growth and development that is triggered in response to light, soil and air temps, available nutrients and moisture, etc.
But it is especially crucial in fruiting plants vs. leafy greens and root crops. That's why the timing of any supplemental feeding of them is so important.
For example, one usually side dresses corn at various growth stages of its development, tomatoes and peppers are normally fed after first fruit set and then in approx. 6 week cycles since that is their approx. vegetative growth vs.fruit set cycle.
In a well-amended garden soil where the nutrients are always available to them to use as needed or where the particular plant is not a specific nutrient hog (like corn with N) supplemental feedings may not be necessary. But in poorly amended soil and especially in containers, supplemental feeding is vital.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Circadian Rhythyms
400 Watts of metal halide is a lot of light for sure. I expect that probably is enough, but it is beyond my area of personal experience.
Unlike fluorescent, which is only moderately warm, I believe metal halide lights get quite hot, so they have to be kept at a safe distance from the plants.
Like I said, you should go on over to the garden web forum dedicated to growing under lights. Those people seem to know what they are doing, and it is a specialized subject. I put a link below.
Best regards,
McKenzie
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Under Lights
Diatomaceous earth took care of an underground golden ant colony under my cukes.
Perhaps some orange oil treatment - I made my own by letting rinds (orange and lemon) covered with water stew in a crock-pot on high all day. Strain out liquid into jar when cooled.
Here is some info (go to the website to see how it is made):
Citrus oil is a natural, non-toxic insect deterrent and wards off fire ants, flies, aphids, mosquitoes, even fleas and may even help control the spread of West Nile Virus. Although safe to spray, citrus oil can irritate sensitive skin and damage the eyes.
If you are planning to spray plants instead of using harmful pesticides, citrus oil can be quite harsh and some plants may be sensitive to the oil. To preserve plants, be sure to dilute the mixture further, by adding one gallon of water for every two ounces of oil. The oil is great to spray on anthill mounds...
Here is a link that might be useful: How to make citrus oil to control insects
I used it for my squash because they were being hit pretty hard with critters eating up the leaves so I figured it wouldn't hurt everything else. Perhaps I was wrong. Lows are 72 and highs are 85 and its overall mildly humid. A storm is coming this weekend, so maybe the barometric pressure is causing this issue. Fertilizer wise I have not used anything since I transplanted, besides my fish food fertilizer on day one.
The general guidelines for pesticides are
(1) use them only when actual pests are present AND doing actual damage.
(2) to work they have to come into contact with the bug. They are preventatives so you can't use them to try to prevent pests from coming to the garden.
(3) first identify the pest and then use a pesticide that is specific for that pest.
(4) always follow the label directions when it comes to mix rates, application frequency, and time of day for application.
(5) know your pesticide, what it works on and what it is made of.
When these guidelines aren't followed then far more beneficial insects are killed than pests. Numerous studies show that as much as 95% of the "bugs" (insects) in the average garden are either beneficial insects or what are called "neutrals" that do no damage.
Squash has 2 primary pests - squash vine borers and squash bugs. Organocide doesn't list either of them on its label for use. So what pest issue were you having with the squash?
It lists only:
Citrus rust mites
Spider mites
Armored and soft scales
Mealy bugs
White-flies
Aphids
Leaf-rollers
Leaf miner
Fungus gnats
Thrips
Sago Palm Scale
Glassy Winged Sharpshooters
Organocide is and oil-based spray (97% oil and 3% emulsifiers) so when applied to the pepper and tomato blooms the oil can coat the reproductive parts of the bloom and gum up the pollen and prevent pollination from happening.
92% of the oil in Organocide is fish oil which is very high in nitrogen. So given your weather conditions the odds are that the primary cause of your problems with blossom drop is all the unnecessary spraying you have been doing.
Hope all this helps you resolve the issues.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Organocide Pesticide
It may go without saying, but you can start harvesting some now for fresh use if you like. I think there is something special about the flavor of a young bulbing sweet onion on the grill. We just slice them in half, pull of any lower/outer leaves that are brown or tough and grill the whole thing. Yum!
ChicagoDeli,
1- worm castings should not go anywhere. They are like rotted leaves, compost etc.
2-A bucket over a small plant , in cloudy, rainy day/night, even under partly sun, should not hurt it.
3- depending on the size of your garden and the number of plants, there could be different method. I used to cover my sowed beds(before and around germination time) with plastic during the nights and down pours. But your BUCKET FO A PLANT is also is a practical way.
Moschata squash are not immune to SVB, but I have found that the odds of getting a crop from unprotected Moschata squash are a lot higher here in Maryland than with other varieties of squash. Tromboncino is a very vigorous vining squash, best grown on a trellis so that the squash end up straight and not curled up. I'll be interested to hear how the tatume squash do; I've not heard of them before.
I'm growing loufa gourd this year, pretty different from zucchini but shaped like zucchini and edible when it's small. I'm going to try and use it in stir fries to see if it's any good. If not, sponges galore! I am so tired of fighting the SVBs...thought I'd give it a chance.
So with tulle over your plants, how will the bees get to the flowers?
jonfrum;
luckily with tomatillo, tomato , pepper, eggplant.. you don't need insects help that much. some wind or tapping can do it, because, each flower is self sufficient in terms of its sexual needs : D
Hi Ajsmama,
There is a LOT of good land in PA, but we are in Schuylkill Co just south of the coal region and it is all shale and rocks on our little hill. I think whatever topsoil we had washed down to the surrounding land long ago. I needed no gravel for the driveway, lol, and the 'soil' dries out very early in the Spring (actually - it is too gravelly to ever really get muddy!) but it needed a lot of amendments to get a garden going. We had a full truckload of composted mushroom soil delivered each Spring for several years and it helped, along with 5 years of collecting bucket after bucket of rocks. I used all the rocks to make an nice long ramp to get up to our garden shed. It was much easier to get a garden going on our old place which had heavy clay and few rocks, but it was so muddy for so long into the Spring it used to drive me crazy.
started corn 3/1,planted 3/7, and growing good. I start in cells and transplant.