24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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ltilton

Lettuce should work. I don't think brassicas would do very well.

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greenmulberry(5-Iowa City)

I think lettuce, arugula, spinach and the like would all do fine. You will need to punch some holes in the bottom to let it drain.

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tdscpa(z5 NWKS)

Impossible to advise you. You need a soil test to determine if you need to fertilize.

I have a soil test done annually, and get fertilizer recommendations. If my soil has adequate N-P-K when I plant, I am advised to not add (side dress) fertilizer during the summer, as watermelon does not need it. (Not a big user of N, and P & K will stay in place in your soil through the growing season.)

Spend the $15 for a soil test from your state Ag. college for a test and fertilizer recommendations and forget asking for opinions from people who have no idea where you even live.

I tell them what I am growing, and I am advised when and how much to fertilize onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, beans, peppers, muskmelons, asparagus, and not to fertilize lettuce, carrots, radishes, and watermelons beyond the beginning of season basic fertilizer added to the whole garden.

The cost of the test will save you money you will otherwise spend on unneeded fertilizer.

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edweather(Zone 5a/b Central NY)

Yes you can double the dose to get the 10 10 10. If they look like they are growing well your ok. Mine are really starting to run, but I grow in containers and the fertilizer requiremants are different. Growing in the ground requires less fertilizer.

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

I agree with OnTheGreenFarms advice.
After certain time, any new growth or flower will materialize any harvestable fruits.

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Slimy_Okra(2b)

NEVER prune eggplant!

Zoysia, just ignore those websites that tell you to prune eggplant. It's a load of steaming manure. There is nothing to be confused about - take the advice of eggplant growers on this forum.

Every sucker or shoot you prune away is costing you eggplant fruit. Secondly, there is a perennial misconception about eggplants needing to ripen. Eggplants should never, ever be allowed to ripen. They are not tomatoes. Ripe eggplants are inedible.

Why are indeterminate tomatoes pruned? Well, because if you're an intensive grower with limited space, you'd stake them, train them vertically, and cram as many tomato plants as you can into that space. You're basically converting horizontal space to vertical space, with a significant drop in production per plant, but this is compensated for by increased production per square foot.

When space is not an issue, and fungal problems are minor, pruning is unnecessary at best and deterimental at worst. A healthy, bushy plant, whether that is a tomato, eggplant, or pepper, will yield you the most fruits.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

What kind of damage are you looking for? The eggs don't cause any problems.....it's what hatches from those little eggs that are the trouble makers.

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AiliDeSpain(6a - Utah)

Squash bug eggs!!! I just got done inspecting my butternut plants for them and found five clusters. Inspect all of your leaves and you are sure to find more. Like others said soak the plants and the adults will crawl up to dry out on the leaves. That is how I hunt them. lol.

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flowergirl70ks

I think in my case it is extreme heat. Mine are not acting like they do normally, they take forever to grow after they set on. I like to pick about cuc size and its taking at least a week to get one that big.

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glib(5.5)

It is just lack of pollination. Either use the small paint brush (male first, then female), or change the flora around. Bees don't rate squash blossoms highly if they have a choice.

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oldkugirl

Thanks digdirt, that sounds pretty reasonable. I'll cut off the water for a day or so and hope they scare over. One other thing I forgot to mention is that I gave them a little miracle grow yesterday. Do you think that may be related in some way? Would spraying the cracks with a little hydrogen peroxide be helpful?

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oldkugirl

Thanks digdirt, that sounds pretty reasonable. I'll cut off the water for a day or so and hope they scare over. One other thing I forgot to mention is that I gave them a little miracle grow yesterday. Do you think that may be related in some way? Would spraying the cracks with a little hydrogen peroxide be helpful?

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farmerdill

If they have not turned brown, you can use them. Probably best in cooked dishes like soups, casseroles, baked dishes. They tend to get a bit tough and strong tasting for using raw with dip.

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swtbttrfly23

Nope, not brown! I was thinking of pickling some of them (making a giardinaire) and then puree some into a nice soup. Thanks for your help!

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

Maybe it's yellow jackets or some other type of wasp taking care of them for you. On numerous occasions I've watched yellow jackets hunting, killing, and flying away with cabbage worms. I've also watched them doing the same thing with asparagus beetle larvae and also, unfortunately, with swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.

Rodney

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myluck(5 In)

I think thats what is strange, no dead carcasses. And whatever is taking care of bussiness is doing it before any damage is done to the plant. Could something be attacking the egg? I don't know what the egg looks like.

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missemerald(7 (Virginia))

Actually, we didn't use much fertilizer at all.. . but they probably got run off from the tomatoes (used Miracle Gro for Tomatoes, but not very often). Will the beans recover from it? Is there some kind of fertilizer that we can use to encourage bean production? Hubby wondered if, since the beans seem to be all growth and no bean, the plant will recover in time?

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myluck(5 In)

Teperature affects beans. I was picking every other day a weak ago. We were in the 70s then last week was in the mid 90s, not a bean. This weak is low 80s will see if they start up again. The plants are still growing and look good

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farmerdill

Stress, probably inconsistent water. Watermelons, contrary to popular opinion, don't like an abundance of water. We have had a wet spring and summer this year and the poorest excuse for watermelons I have had in over 60 years. Not unhappy tho, Things that have been "iffy" for years are producing in abundance.

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cugal(5b-6a NE Ks)

Thanks farmerdill! I've never had much luck growing watermelon, so I'm not terribly shocked at this occurrence! Just hadn't experienced this particular problem......... LOL!

I use drip fertigation & mulch well, but may have got things too wet........ I dunno.....

And yes, if your garden is producing anything in these turbulent weather times, one should be grateful.

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springtogarden(6A)

I think this is beautiful! I will do this someday.

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ill_gardener(5B)

Saw the pictures in flickr. They are beautiful. I loved the free veggie box idea. God bless you.

Sam.

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sneed(7)

I was spraying the leaves lightly with a milk/water combination. I had been over-head watering them with a sprayer hose, but I switched to just letting the water pour out of the hose onto the soil last week.

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

If organic use only is the goal then there are a number of ORMI approved fungicides available that would have been far more effective than some milk and water combination. As a fungicide its effect is minimal at best. Given the decline of the plants in the pics it may well be too late to save them now. Not that I would pull them but I'd sure start spraying the new growth with a real fungicide.

Dave

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

Looks like pepper maggot damage to me. Since the grub is inside the pepper, spraying seven isn't going to help. If you do a search over on the Hot Pepper forum, you might find out how to control it but I believe that covering the plants with floating row covers are the only effective way.

Oh, and the straw has nothing to do with this pest.

Rodney

This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 20:03

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Agree. Pepper Maggots. See info sheet below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper Maggots

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pnbrown

There were many threads about this in the past, some may be cached.

The take-away was: make sure you use a "late" variety or the tower-building is a waste of effort. You can easily search to find lists that will tell you if carolla is early, mid, or late.

Be advised that a 3x3 or 4x4 area will not produce much poundage even in a best-case scenario. Towers and bins do not defeat the laws of nature, no matter what one may read about it.

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glib(5.5)

and, you need to rotate, if there is one vegetable that needs to be rotated it is potatoes.

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elisa_z5

Check to see if they are the male flowers doing this -- they come first. (and if they are the male flowers, then they are acting normally.) They won't have a fruit. The females, which come later, do. However, these are most certainly some sort of hybrid from the cross pollination from last year, so you're not guaranteed a good type of squash. The hybrids can be bitter, or they can be good. It's a toss up.

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