24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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uscjusto

I'm not a pepper grower but I was thinking about it.
Are the peppers in the photos spaced out sufficiently?
Looks a little tight.

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shermthewerm(8 PNW)

The peppers look nice & green, but a little small to be fruiting. One thing to keep in mind when you're planting is the watering needs for the vegetables, Cucumbers need a lot more water than peppers, so it's going to be tricky to keep the cukes well-watered without over-watering the peppers.

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

Just try to get rid of the snails/slugs. The slimy substance is the "foot print " of the snails. If you are concerned, just wash it off with spray bottle filled with water.
But the main thing is to kill and/or keep the snails away.

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sunnibel7 Md 7(7)

Iron phosphate pellets will work for the snails and are considered organic. They come in various brands like Sluggo, Escar-go, and the one I have is Slug Magic (which brings some amusing pictures to mind). The slime trail left behind isn't anything to worry about and actually was a very helpful clue to the nature of your pest. Cheers!

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lonmower(zone8 Western Oregon)

I DID send a photo to Dixondale and got another email back from their President which I include below. (to me this is still a mystery)

Uneven irrigation of onion fields increases the incidence of this disorder.

Fields that are over-irrigated, allowed to dry completely and then over-irrigated

again often have many split bulbs. This condition is more prevalent in areas

of the field were stands are thin or uneven. These openings can provide an

entrance for secondary microorganisms, which cause bulb decay.

The Sterling variety is not particularly prone to this splitting of bulbs but the

other varieties may have been more evenly irrigated. We have had no other complaints.

Is there anything different about the soil or drainage in the area you planted the Sterling?

Bruce L Frasier

President

Dixondale Farms, Inc

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sunnibel7 Md 7(7)

Well, it seems they are doing their best to help you understand. They have a good reputation, so probably the problem does lie somewhere in your planting area if not in the cultivar. Or maybe a better way to say it is if all other things are equal, maybe that cultivar isn't suited to your conditions. I understand the explanation just fine, it's the same thing that causes splitting in fruits like tomatoes and melons, splits in carrot roots, etc. Were these in a low spot in your garden maybe? You thought you were keeping them evenly watered but weren't? I still haven't seen an onion split from the roots before, but I'm willing to concede that my experience is limited to quite a few less onions than the folks at Dixondale. :)

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laceyvail(6A, WV)

Bacterial wilt resistant cukes include County Fair (a great cuke) and Little Leaf--both bacterial wilt and downy mildew resistant.

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ltilton

I've tried some of those last year. Bacterial wilt killed them.

Also, the cukes that claim resistance all seem to be pickling varieties.

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fern1knits

Sounds like lack of pollination. You could try hand pollinating, or just wait to see if conditions get better for pollination. On my eggplant, I had several flowers bloom and then die, but I now have loads of fruit growing.

Info from the below website:

What to do for eggplant blossoms drying out due to a lack of pollination:

An eggplant flower is normally wind pollinated, meaning it does not rely on insects like bees and moths to pollinate it. A pollination problem can occur when the weather conditions are very wet or very humid or are very hot. When the air is very humid, this causes the pollen eggplant flower to become very sticky and it cannot fall down onto the pistil to pollinate the flower. When the weather is very hot, the pollen becomes inactive because the plant thinks that it cannot support the stress of an additional fruit along with the hot weather. In a sense, the plant aborts the blossom so as not to stress itself further.

Eggplant flower hand pollination:

If you suspect your eggplant flowers fall off due to a lack off pollination, then you can use hand pollination. Eggplant flower hand pollination is easy to do. All you need to do is take a small, clean paintbrush and move this around the inside of the eggplant flower.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/eggplant/what-to-do-for-eggplant-blossoms-drying-out-and-falling-off.htm

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mandolls(4)

I am in Wi about an hour for the twin cities. My peas are doing really well. I planted them later than I should have and they are right now at their most productive phase. They are only getting about 5-6 hours of sun, which I think is helping them survive the warmer weather we are having now. I am growing Super Sugar Snaps, Oregon Sugar snaps and Mr. Big.

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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

It is time for beans. Generally. in most places that daily highs climb over 85F, peas will not do well, instead there is an opportunity for beans. ...got to go with the flow.

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shermthewerm(8 PNW)

We had an unusually dry June & so far no rain in July. We can go from the 90's back down to the 60's the next day, but mostly we've been having pretty sunny weather this summer (so far...).

I don't remember ever having tomato plants grow to 5" before August, but that's what I'm seeing this year. Kind of a nice change.

How about your weather? I think you guys are getting our rain.

So, am I correct that I could/should harvest & replant towards the end of summer?

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pnbrown

Yes, setting out basal bulbs and/or top sets in late summer at a good spacing (6-8 inches) with some compost or manure will result in bigger plants than just letting them "walk".

We had a lot of rain until a couple of weeks ago but it's now getting a little dry. Looks like rain today.

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smoochas(zone 7a-NYC)

Thanks Rodney, So for production sake, its best to let the tip keep growing and also all the suckers? So that there will be new spots/armpits for new cukes to grow?

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uscjusto

If you keep pinching the growing tip, new growth will occur in the middle of the vine still.
Vines will grow out from the middle of the main vine.

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

len, what nancyjane_gardener basically has is a raised planter with a bottom, on legs, and with a total soil depth of 1 foot.

Rodney

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nancyjane_gardener(Zone 8ish North of San Francisco in the "real" wine country)

weirdtrev that's exactly what I have! Sorry I didn't describe it better!
We jacked it up enough to hold it for now, but will have to do some re-building after the season. Nancy

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wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

I agree with rita.

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

Agree. Mine were finished 3 weeks ago. In your zone you probably got another week but that's it.

Dave

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elisa_z5

Nila, thanks for the tip on using almost open flowers. I was able to get two male flowers from a close neighbor today -- his plants were a fraction of the size of mine, and no female flowers, but lots of male flowers. Go figure.

Are your squash inedible because of cross pollination this year, or were the seeds of cross pollinated fruit?

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tcstoehr(8b Canby, OR)

Cross pollination will not affect any qualities of the subsequent fruits. But it will affect the fruit of plants grown from the cross pollinated seeds.

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Rio_Grande

We have never seen rain like this, the area 20 miles from us received 5.5 inches in one day. We only got around 3 that day. I don't have a rain gague at my house. My figures are just by what the local news says and the old guy down the road. Regardless my raised beds are soaked.

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Rio_Grande

Well I think the worry is over. The tomato beds went from water soaked to a semi dry crust today. The beans are still not looking great yet but the beds are drying. I was really sweating it for a few days. Last night draining must have helped. At this rate we will be watering again by the weekend.

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SandraMort(6)

Len, I understand that. I was concerned that he might be adding mulch too often. Is there such a thing?

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

I believe that it is possible to over-hill potatoes. There's a point where hilling is beneficial and a point where it does nothing. If you do a search here for 'potato bins' you'll see evidence of this. The thought was that you could plant your potatoes in the bin and continually build up both the bin and the soil around the potatoes in the hopes of increasing your yield. But when people took their bins apart they were sorely disappointed by the results.

Rodney

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weirdtrev

Make sure to hand pollinate that corn if you want anything edible. Three stalks will not give you full size ears without help pollinating them.

Below is an image of the silk:

And this is what your corn will look like if you don't hand pollinate.

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fern1knits

I've heard that gently placing a paper bag over them when you shake the stalks will help with pollination. I was going to try doing that with my first corn crop this year... though, I'm worried that I started them too late.

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theforgottenone1013(MI zone 5b/6a)

If the seedlings are already in full sun then I don't see a reason why you would need to shade them. Just keep them well watered and they should be fine. Why do you feel like they need to be shaded? And what type of veggies are they?

Rodney

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

I can't afford a shade structure made specifically for gardening right now,

Not sure there is such a thing. Why do you feel you need to be shading the garden? Late start with what specific seedlings? Do you understand that most gardeners do not shade their gardens?

Is it that you are trying to grow early spring crops now? If so then shade isn't going to help as the soil temps are what count and they are already into summer crop only temps.

Please clarify exactly what the goal is, ok?

Dave

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