23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Here in zone 5 WV the traditional planting day for the crops you mention above is either memorial day or June 1st (depending on which farmer you're talking to). If you can get a forecast a week out around memorial day that says no frost, and night time temps not much lower than 50, then tomatoes can go out. Last year this time it was HOT.
Good luck with your shivering plants! Hope they make it.

I've always gone with 5/15, if the forecast is favorable.

Problems happen when the forecast changes. Latest cold snap wasn't predicted early enough.

I've done teepee trellises before the problem I ran into was that harvesting can be a bit tricky. It seems there always a few cukes hiding in there that I didn't see.

I go with 8 foot poles and then slide rolled fencing onto the poles.

Cucumbers like gourds etc can climb by getting grip by their tendrils. But a slightly sloaped trellis can be easy on them.. you can guide them at first and then tie their vines, now and then, to trellis, to be stable.

Store bought potatoes work ok, providing the variety is suited to your area. Long season potatoes do not do well in south for example. The other danger is introducing a disease. Seed potaoes are grown under very stringent conditions and must be certified disease free.

Yes, tomatoes and potatoes are cousins.
When they flower, start setting tubers. So if you have a small fruit, then you have even bigger potatoes in the ground. But still growing. Mine are just about to flower. I see small buds coming.

I have grown potatoes in ATL, GA. I harvested in July. They wont set fruits(in the ground , nor grow them bigger , when soil tems get arouhnd 75F or so.

Have the same problem here my house is about 15 -20 feet from the veggie garden. The person applying the treatment asked if I were growing any veggies along the base of the house (I'm not) as that would be the only location to be concerned about. Even though the landscape slopes toward the garden he said it would not be impacted.

Very good to know. I was getting really sad about the prospect of pulling all these healthy young plants. Thank you.

I think it is the right plant. Coloring is right and the plant tag description talks about the long slender fruits. They just goofed on the picture.

Not a nice day here. Breezy and drizzel. But I got my new eggplants planted.

I first saw fall brassica seedlings growing in a greenhouse in Tennessee where it was at least 90 degrees. Since then I have been amazed at how much heat they can take. In fact, if you start too late and the plants are not big enough to take advantage of late summer warmth, b sprouts, broccoli, rutabaga etc won't make a good crop.

Some people set up an outdoor nursery bed for growing seedlings in summer, but I let mine germinate indoors and grow them on the deck, under a glass-topped patio table. It filters a little sun and keeps my little nursery from getting swamped by thunderstorms.

It's hot summer when I set the seedlings out, so I cover them with flower pots for a couple of days after transplanting, and then install a tulle tunnel to prevent aggravation from cabbageworms and armyworms. B sprout seedlings take several weeks to outgrow that little setup, but eventually the plants get huge and produce all through Oct and Nov.

I'm going to start some broccoli too.

I'm mainly thinking of herbs such as lemon and bee balm to attract bees and enhance flavor...

Ok, attracting pollinators is always a good thing! Even tho most veggies are self pollinating it is always handy to have them for the squash and such. All around the edges of the garden works well for that purpose. And they aren't picky either - most any flowering plants will get their attention.

Improving taste is another matter since it simply can't be proven/documented in any way and some problems can result depending on how planted - shading from the bigger plants, needing very different nutrient and water needs, competing for nutrients and water, attracting pests that can harm the primary crop (as marigolds do with aphids), etc. Again borders work ok, mixed in with the vegetables needs to be done with care.

A herb garden or patch or even in a separate row that is just herbs is a great thing to have and since herbs prefer much lower nutrient needs than vegetables they thrive best when away from all the heavy fertilizing is. Mixed in with the tomato plants and such - not so much.

Experiment with some placements and see what works for you best.

I posted this question in the companion planting...and got no replies

Yeah that's a problem and a clue as to the fading popularity of it. There is still alot of information to read there but it isn't active. When the fad was hot and heavy years ago it was pretty aggressive in this forum with all its claims and things got pretty heated so was given its own forum. Over time and with experience and questionable results the fad and the forum has pretty much faded. It just never developed into all it was initially cracked up to be.

Dave

I think I'll try bordering a bit and see what works... Not all that concerned about the flavor thing as anything out of the garden is gonna be delicious anyway! :-) I'll just stick with a couple that I know the bees like and maybe something small and colorful to catch their attention.

Thanks again, Dave! So glad I discovered this wonderful online community of gardeners; It's really helped tremendously! :-)

If it wasn't so rainy and windy, I probably wouldn't have covered anything. I did it out of an abundance of caution considering evening temps will be in the lows 40s until Tues night, wind gusts approaching 40mph Sat/Sun, and saturated soil in raised beds.

It wasn't fun fighting the wind and rain trying to cover those beds in plastic. I had to cut the sheets in my shed and then try to staple them over my cages and trellises into the bed frames while the wind played games with me.

I was so frustrated when I finished that I forgot about the strawberry seedlings on my deck until Galiana's response raised my eyebrows. Will have to check on them later.

Supposed to get down to 38 and gusts up to 32 mph tonight. Pouring right now - glad we covered the strawberries yesterday afternoon. I've already got some good-sized berries. Blueberries, apples, and raspberries (just starting to flower) may be toast by morning.