24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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

Agree with the others. Trying to contain a butternut and its vines to a limited area is futile. It will go where it wants. I don't understand about the raised bed sitting on top of a rock bed but if that means the squash will be laying on rocks you will want to put a layer of straw mulch or something under them.

Dave

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laceyvail(6A, WV)

I've been using the following technique for butternuts for several years and it works great. I have a non raised but permanent bed garden and I can't handle an immense butternut wandering everywhere. Also, I visually inspect every single leaf throughout the growing season about twice a week for squash bug eggs. Here's what I do. When I can see that there is a good fruit set and the vines are getting to the 5 ft length, I cut off the growing tips of the vines, and any side vines that are starting. This keeps the plant in bounds and makes the leaf inspection not quite so daunting. I get great squash and have gotten as many as 18 butternuts from two vines growing in one hill.

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Richard Gomes

Does Neem oil work on stink bugs? I used it this morning on them before leaving for work.

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jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Yes, marmorated stink bug. A nymph (youngster). Home-use pesticides don't work on them. (May knock them down but they recover.)

Better is to be very direct: Flick into soapy water or squash on sight.

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

"I believe that corn is an exception here, in that, for example, sweet corn and field corn cross pollinate and the effects are seen in the first generation. Of course, in that case, the fruit is the seed."

The same holds true for beans and peas. If cross pollination occurs, the pods will still grow true but when dried the seeds inside can be different than what was originally planted.

Rodney

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Louise

I'm growing melons for the first time this year. Since space is limited, I chose smaller varieties, papaya dew and Minnesota midget cantaloupe, so I can trelles them. Everything I read says that any cross pollination will not be apparent in the fruit. But, some of the developing melons are football-shaped like a papaya dew with the end to end striping of the cantaloupe. Has anyone seen this before?

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Friend or foe in veggie gardenyellow flower volunteer
Posted by lafontainemegan1234
17 Comments
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ZachS. z5 Littleton, CO

Puncture vine... Looked that up myself too. Turns out I'm very familiar with it, but only knew them as goatheads. Wretched things, used to dig them out of equipment tires and have actually gone through a tire on a Kawasaki Mule on me.

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tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM

Devil's eyelashes? So very appropriate. The seeds/goatheads survive for millennia, waiting for enough moisture to germinate or for you to be stupid enough to till the soil and bring them up. Any time I see it, it gets pulled immediately, even if it is growing in a parking lot crack. It is a compulsion.

It turns out that we do have desert spoon, too. However, it and all of our cacti, agave, are on the natural parts of the property, where I do not weed (we are on acreage). They are no fun when we are collecting rocks. I think buffalo bur first made it into my garden with a load of wood chips from the transfer station. At first I was curious as it did look like watermelon leaves but once I saw those burs, I pulled it. Curiosity ended there.

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Arlene Pauly

I've been cutting them open and looking in side and but at this early age I think they all look like zuchinni seed pattern ? - (chickens eat them either way so it's all good - I just didn't know if I should eat it - I guess I will try it ) thanks

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little_minnie(zone 4a)

It all depends what all varieties are around you of the same species. Summer squash and many winter squash are the species C. Pepo and they all cross. The diversity of culinary use in the species is too high to think a volunteer will be good for anything, unless you last year planted a very limited amount of varieties. Like if around you was just summer squash and some acorn/ dumpling types they may be good to eat as immature. But if you had pumpkins and gourds it wouldn't be worth bothering. C Pepo is not a good species to let freely cross.

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Marianne W (zone 10A)

Not according to Native Seed/SEARCH. They show the berries with blossom end pointing down.

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wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

I raised them for some years from the old Garden Catalogs like Shumway. They seem to have dropped them any more. The photo at the top is close, but not quite like the usual picture of them.

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

That looks more like a mechanical injury (such as from wind) or splitting caused by excess water. The plant seems to be buried too deeply, which may be a contributing factor.

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weirdtrev

That is not one plant that is 8 or 9 plants that were never thinned. Each stem is a separate plant. Sometimes they come that way from the store. It makes it look like a fuller healthy plant in those big containers, so they look more worthy of the price tag. That should have been thinned to 2 or 3 plants

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winorchids(nor CA, USDA 9b, sunset 7/14)

I thought so (about the material) but I went to 2 local nurseries and neither had any and finally went to a Friedmans (like Home Depot) and this was what they showed me they had. I thought maybe since it mentioned it "blocks insects" that I was just wrong about the material. Oh well. At least I knew enough to be worried it would kill my plants with the greenhouse-like effect! I am a bit baffled that it was impossible to find given how often I've heard it mentioned here and other gardening pages. I have tulle I can use.

Do you really think it is too late to apply given that I have not yet had a run in with/seen these pests and these are in containers (not in ground) and the planting medium was fresh at time of direct seeding a month ago? I assume if they aren't in my containers yet then I wouldn't be trapping them inside with the cover, but only preventing them from finding my plantings to come. Does it not work this way? The websites I've read mentioned some of these pests become a problem in July so to prevent then, if you hadn't earlier. Or is my newbie pest logic off completely?

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Jean

Bridal tulle from the fabric store works well at less cost.

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June Trinh

if they are anything like tomatoes, they won't set in extreme heat. that may be why they produce flowers in July and August but you won't see fruit till September.

if it was daylight sensitive, it wouldn't produce flowers at all until the right time

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laura_al (zone 10; sunset 24) Santa Barb

I put in six plants this spring, Toma Verde, that I grew from seed. I lost a few to cutworms, but had back up plants, so I was able to replace the lost ones. Now the smallest plant has full sized fruits. the largest plant, sprawling and covered with flowers is just starting to get little lanterns. they are definitely fun and interesting to grow. I try to give them a shake every day.

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drmbear

I prefer my jalapenos ripe red, and I grow a lot of them. I think the flavor is improved immensely over when they are still green - though I will harvest and eat all the green ones at the end of season just before frost. Plus, if you want to make anything like chipotle, it is best done with ripe jalapenos. The great flavor just hasn't developed in green ones, in my opinion.

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beesneeds(zone 6)

Ripening on the plant is for sure a preference.. some peppers I like to pick fully ripe, others at the.. hmmm, juvenile stage? Not sure what that green fully sized but not turned to full ripe color is called.

And I for sure understand the "don't feel it in the kitchen" action. I professionally cook most of the week, and don't always feel up to doing canning at the end of the day, lol.

I've left peppers on the plant before.. what's the worst that can happen, the pepper gets extra ripe and turns color? So what. Every pepper from juvenile to full on ripe has it's own characteristics, and all of them are good IMO. Honestly, with some peppers, it's harder to wait till fully ripe, hehehe.

Something I really love is a product called "green bags". It's a produce bag that's meant to help extend shelf life of produce. And they really do work well. I've often picked a couple peppers at a time as they are good, or beans, or other produce... and kept the bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge for days till I either have enough of whatever, or the gumption to face the pickling.. and the first pick 3-5 days ago is just as good as todays pick.

For example, yesterday I picked eight wax and banana peppers- not really enough to bother pickling up. But I have another dozen or more peppers that are almost ready over the course of the next 5 days or so. Which would make a small batch of canning. So I tossed the peppers into a green bag, and into the crisper.. and those will hold till I get the rest picked for pickling.

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Marianne W (zone 10A)

There's no need to destroy your plants! Nurse them through the heat so when it is cooler you'll have a mature plant ready to churn out the fruit for you. I don't know of any variety that goes wild in the heat. Instead, just accept that summer is no longer for buckets of tomatoes--that's now what fall is for.

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gumby_ct(CT it says Z5)

Gumby is still in CT unfortunately.

Sandhill grows their own seeds and have plenty to choose from. I like the Green or Black Zebras but they have plenty of heirlooms to explore. They still use the 'ol fashioned business model - sounds like a family run business too.

You can easily go overboard so be careful - you will run out of room to plant then the seeds can go bad.

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zzackey(8b GA)

Have you fertilized them?

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noinwi

Well, this just me, but my zucchini did this although it was a little larger than your squash. It is in a raised bed but it's been so hot here I've had to water a lot, which washes the nutrients out of the soil. I gave my zukes a shot of epsom salts(1 tablespoon to a gallon of water) and the next time I watered I did the same amount of Miracle Gro in a gallon of water and I alternated these feedings until the zukes greened up. It took about a week or so before I saw improvement, then I went back to just watering.

If I were you, I'd keep using the Dynagrow formula when ever I watered until the plant shows improvement. Eventually you'll want to switch to a fert that is higher in Phosphorus(the P in N-P-K)to promote flowering/fruiting. HTH

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Waki922(7b No VA)

Thanks. I had a ton of those ornamental gourds last fall in a display on the porch and many of them were chewed up by the squirrels, or dragged away and I found them all over the yard. Makes sense now. I will let it do its thing and maybe have freebies for another ornamental gourd display this fall : )

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gumby_ct(CT it says Z5)

I would let it stay on the trellis. I think the vine will hold just fine.

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farmerdill

one rule of thumb is 5 weeks from pollination. Does vary with variety of course.

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galinas(5B)

Thank you, looks like there is still a chance)

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Cucumbers supportVertical? Horizontal ? I choose horizontal.
Posted by daniel_nyc(7a)
42 Comments
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catherinet(5 IN)

Daniel......to answer your questions about my swing set trellis.........I start the cucumbers from seed in the ground along the one long side all at once. I tend to over-plant the seed.....maybe 1 seed every 1-2". The 2 ends of the swing set I use for snow peas early in the season. The one open end of the cucumber side is so I can easily get under the swing set without having to go around it. I don't plant anything on a trellis on the other side of the swing set, but rather plant things under it. The swing set has to placed so that the cucumbers don't shade whatever I've planted under it. This year I have a raised stock tank under the swing set, filled with peppers and cherry tomatoes. Using the swing set has worked great for growing lots of things! Although this year, it has flooded numerous times and isn't doing so well. :(

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daniel_nyc(7a)

Nitsua… LOL !

Sey wrote: > HOW DO you CRAWL UNDER THAT THING TO PICK ?

Sey, I already explained, but I will explain again:

The trapeze is 3 ft. / 5 ft. x 15 ft.

Please see the picture above with the frame in the driveway.

So, 5 ft. divided by 2 = 2.5 ft.

My arm is about 2 ft. So only the cukes in the worst location might be difficult to pick up from the long sides. But those can be easily picked up from the… (5 ft.) SIDE.

Also: three quarters of the cukes "sit" on the frame.

Three quarters of those that "hang", can be pulled through the net.

Doing the math... there are very few who have to be picked up from under the frame.

And anyway, always, any cuke that "hang" can "sit" if I want to.

I had no problems whatsoever.

Catherinet wrote: > I tend to over-plant the seed.....maybe 1 seed every 1-2".

I like that over-seeding. Cucumber roots are not very big.

Also, interesting setup you have there.

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