23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Yesterday I planted a 10 ft. line of NP seeds. It's rather early for our zone, but ground temps are good. The weather has been fantastic and is supposed to stay warm and sunny for another two weeks. It that happens, we should be in the clear regarding frost or near frost temps. If it doesn't, all I've lost is a line of seeds.
I prefer to direct sow cucumbers and I'll trellis this line.
I kept reading that they needed to be "certified seed potatoes" or something like that.
The difference is that certified seed potatoes are specifically grown in sterile soil to ensure they are as close to 100% disease free as possible.
I generally find that its a waste of money for anyone but major planters (actual farmers doing acres of plants) to bother with them. Potatoes you buy in the grocery store will be very unlikely to be diseased (and most of the diseases that matter you could see just by looking at the malformed tuber), and they will grow just fine.
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That said, yeah, plant now. A potato will only die if the tuber freezes pretty much solid. Assuming you're planting the normal 6-8 inches deep, it will basically never freeze that hard anywhere south of the arctic circle. While it may grow up and then have the top die back due to freezing, the tubers will be safe and will just sit there happily waiting on warmer weather.
The method of weed control you use will vary with the type of weed. Annual weeds that germinate from seed can be smothered by all sorts of mulches. Perennial weeds that keep coming from the root no matter how many times you sever or kill the tops are an entirely different story.
For the best results, identify your weeds first.
Couple of different possibilities. Start with the easiest - look at the underside of the leaves. Do the spots go all the way through? Look for aphids, squash bugs, spider mites.
If no pests than it's the most likely, especially given your weather - Downey Mildew. The spores can come from all sorts of sources - the mulch, pests, the soil, even the air. Treatment is fungicides sprays.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Common Cucurbit Problems
My Eggplants are growing faster than expected too. I always start them the same time as my peppers, and I dont remember them growing so much faster. They were started March 8th, a week earlier than last year. I had to pot some of them up to 20 oz cups. Lots of my pepper plants have blooms, but thats the usual for me and I always just leave those to grow.
Another thought. I assume you plant in a potting, or starter mix. I germinate my seeds in damp paper towels, then transfer to potting mix upon germination.
I have found that the deeper I plant the newly germinated sprouts, the more likely they are to emerge without the seed shell sticking the cotyledons together, or with both cotyledons still encased in the seeds. (Helmet heads.)
You might try planting seed slightly deeper, and packing down the potting mix a little firmer, which should encourage better scrubbing-off of the seed shell.
"Looks like I have finally received my last blizzard and freeze for this cycle."
We can only hope! I am planting my tomatoes this week one way or another. They won't live much longer in their little pots.
Ekgrows, have you tried asking your question on the hot pepper forum? They may have some more ideas for you.
Lynn
Ahh but these parasites, if they exist, will survive how long exposed to the elements? Plus this assumes that no parasites already exist normally with in soil. They do. tapeworms, whipworms, roundworm, hookworms, misc. protoza, to name just a few. Not to mention all the bacteria and fungi.
As mentioned "Gardens grow in dirt" and it will never be a sterile process, nor would it work if it was. Thus the "wash your hands and wash your food" guideline in gardening.
While pregnant women are advised to avoid dealing with litter boxes due to the possibility of toxoplasmosis they are also advised not to raise chickens or other fowl or be exposed to manures while pregnant due to histoplasmosis, not to work with garden chemicals, and many other things. But we aren't talking about pregnant women and the OP has already pointed out that they are not growing root vegetables or other low growing crops.
So scare warnings about unrelated issues serve no point.
Dave
I can't use row covers. All of my cucurbita are going to grow up trellises via ties. I don't have much land space so..
The brand is Garden Safe, and it is a tablespoon per gallon.
The reason I need to spray at night is because neem oil degrades in uv light. So if you spray at night it allows the neem oil to work longer. Plus, neem is also an anti-fungal, so I don't think it will be a problem to spray the plants at night.
We have alot of dew in the summer. I read where if you start your squashes from seeds they have a better resistance from the squash bugs. Plant your seeds in pots and then transplant them. I also read that planting petunias near your squashes deters the squash vine borers. I am going to try that this year. I hope it works! I lost some beautiful squashes to those nasty bugs last year.
I am also trying artichokes in zone 6a/Utah. It has been a cool spring over all. I grew mine from seed and set them out in late March. They honestly have not grown much at all and two of mine died. I believe the fluctuating temps were too much for them despite my efforts to protect them from freezing temps.
With that being said I think they will start to take off once the weather is consistently warmer.
I have lost alot of the older leaves which yellow and get crunchy. I just trim them off. I think older leaves yellowing is normal. Can you post a pic so we can see what yours look like?
I just want the better eating pepper.
And that's the problem. Not only are all these factors affected by various growing conditions but they are very subjective in nature. So consistent opinions/descriptions is almost impossible. Especially so with flavor.
What tastes good to one person is yucko to others, what is good production to one person is poor production to others, what is sweet to one is hot to others, what is a favorite to some is a don't waste the space to others, etc.
All any of us can do is try them and see how they do in our garden and on our taste buds.
Dave
Well, if you ask my husband or me about the Corno di Toros, we would both give you a different answer from tasting the same pepper.
So, from my experience, if you have a strong or sensitive sense of taste/smell, the Corno will have heat to it.... If you don't, then they are only a sweet pepper. :)
I'm in the same area, NC piedmont, I've had my tomatoes in the ground for almost 3 weeks now. They're growing more slowly than in previous years, but are about 2' tall already and looking nice and healthy. I even have a few small tomatoes forming. This is without any kind of protection. (WOW = Wall of Water, a kind of plant protector for cold weather).
I actually came here today because I've been holding off on transplanting my peppers and eggplants. But I think I'll go ahead and do it today.
Eventually they will die and fall off anyway.
There's a couple of school of thoughts battling here...
If you leave them on the plant to naturally fall off, the nutrients/sugars/etc that can be translocated (moved) to other parts of the plant will leave the leaves and help the plant elsewhere before dieing off and forming a nicely sealed wound.
On the flipside...the weakened/expose tissue that's damaged and on the plant can invite disease, though it's not a major issue. The leaves are touching the soil or exposed via soil splash through rain/watering can invite pathogens into exposed tissue...still, this isn't a very major issue though it sounds a bit sketchy unless you've had disease issues in that soil in the past.
I'd remove any broken/exposed-tissue yet still "alive" leaves dragging the ground at the very least if you don't want to worry about removing everything, but even if you do nothing the plant will take care of getting rid of the leaves, itself.
It's a limited view, but the non-burnt leaves shown look really healthy and the plant(s) will most likely make it through this as if nothing happened without any additional help. They'll just grow more greenery and keep on chugging along.
This post was edited by nc-crn on Sat, May 4, 13 at 23:31
Thanks, nc-crn. I'll remove damaged leaves at ground level and make sure plants are trellising, then continue checking to make sure that they don't become bug infested or diseased. This particular bed is new, so shouldn't have any inherited problems, but I'll keep an even closer eye on the older ones. After resuscitating them after a little surprise freeze we had a few weeks ago, I was devastated to see this damage. I've learned a valuable lesson about making sure my plants are well-hydrated during periods of high winds. I thought that since it was cloudy, I wouldn't need to water as frequently. :(
Well, in fact spring is much earlier there, is the point. At least six weeks earlier than where I am, off the Cape. Cherry trees bloom in early March there, late April here. The same maximum frost indicates that similar flora will dominate in both zones, but doesn't say much about the extent of hot or cold weather within the yearly cycle.
I wouldn't start string beans in MA yet. They want warm soil, and it's been going down in the 30s at night recently. I started everything late this year, and my peas are at about 2-3 inches and the spinach is just starting to expand. The best thing you can do is to keep a notebook of when you plant and the weather. Experience at your location will teach you what you can and cannot do.
You want to keep the surface soil moist to make it easy for seedlings to break the surface; so keep misting at least twice a day.
Carrot, beets and radish need to develop tap roots long enough to find moisture for themselves several inches below growing surface. That means keep misting until they develop at least 1 set of true leaves. Peas also need continual moisture until true leaves. After that you can back off the misting and consider adding much--unless you're growing intensive spacing.
"Constantly moist" is for germination only so they can break the soil surface as mentioned. That is where misting plays a role.
Once germinated water needs switch to what is normal for the plant and the soil it is in.
Dave