23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
As a result of this thread, now I almost wish I had some current quackgrass or bindweed problem to experiment on -- till half and use other techniques on the other half! I am feeling awfully curious :).
I am also wondering if a project I did this winter on a bed with quackgrass counts as tilling. I never thought of it that way, but maybe it, like, totally does :).
What we had was a raised bed with huge perennials (rootballs 3 and 4 feet across), and quackgrass that was mostly eradicated... except for inside those root balls.
I got some strong friends and we removed the plants, took them out to the lawn (already full of quackgrass), hosed off their roots and picked out the grass rhizomes, then sifted through the remaining soil in the bed and removed the grass runners.
I guess I think of tilling as having a purpose of chopping up the weed roots, and we were doing the opposite -- keeping them whole so we could get all the bits. It did involve an enormous amount of shoveling, though, and inadvertent but real mixing of soil and disruption of soil layers. Tilling? Not tilling? Accidental tilling?
After replanting I added some compost on top, and covered the whole business with road fabric and then about 6" or more of leaves and other mulchy substances.
Weather has been sporadic, sunny yet windy, dry, now a cold snap.
Then you likely planted them too early and you are seeing weather damage in addition to the spraying issue. Squash is a summer, a warm weather crop. Young seedlings easily suffer from wind burn if not protected from the wind. And even larger plants will not tolerate cool soil and drastic changes in weather exposure without damage developing.
In too cool soil the roots cannot absorb nutrients and the leaves show the resulting damage. Damaged leaves quickly develop more damage when exposed to wind, rapid changes in air temps, and sprays.
Bring out the fungicides early with some plants but only when they are also planted out at the proper time in the proper soil temps etc. Pesticides come out of the garden shed only when there are actual pests doing actual damage. :)
If the weather cooperates, these plants might recover ok but if they don't you still have plenty of time to plant new ones once the warm weather stabilizes.
Dave
Go to Walmart. Go to the gardening section (usually this will be the area inside the store, not in the outside nursery section) with the other pots. Look for a dark green heavy plastic bag folded up into a clear plastic bag with a handle.
These are potato bags. I used them for the first time last year, and they worked great. They're heavy durable plastic, pre-punched and riveted drainage holes in the bottom, and a velcro flap on the side. Put dirt in it, put potatoes in it, forget about it until end of season when the plants start to die back. Harvest potatoes.
Its pretty much that easy. Potatoes are incredibly idiot proof plants.
Old Time Tennessee Vining Pumpkin Squash (southern exposure) has no trouble ripening in 6b VA when planted in mid June. The fruits will store for a year in the basement, no kidding.
This year I'm trying Dickinson pumpkin, one of the bigger moschatas. I would like to hear any comments from people who have grown it.
Thanks for the tips. I just remeasured some of the corn today and noticed one of them has actually grown 2" since I started this thread. The night time temps have been mid 40's to low 50's.
Once again should I add a little bit more blood meal since the 1tsp per plant helped and did not burn the plants or should I wait a couple more weeks?
Personally I think it is still to cold to push it so I would wait a week or so. But as long as you keep it in small doses with at least weekly spacing it probably can't hurt.
The fear is that once the soil warms up more and the temps warm up into a more normal range it might shoot up too fast and be weak stemmed - been there, done that.
Next year plan on later planting, ok?
Dave
Well folks, I went and tasted each plant, and pnbrown and carol are right -- they have turned bitter since the last harvest, to varying degrees with the different varieties.
And the one with green leaves tinged red, and making a little cabbagelike head, is the least bitter. Maybe I should save seed off that one -- or just nom it :).
Ace is one variety that always gets good recommendations whenever this question comes up here.
But unless you are growing from seed yourself - and it is awfully late to do that now - then you are likely stuck with whatever transplants you can buy locally. Around here at least the selection isn't all that great - California Wonder being the most common.
But rather than bells consider one of the many sweet roasting type peppers like Marconi if you can find them.
Dave
This question was asked a few years back. Seems tricky to source. Someone on the linked thread says it is the same as Pentland Brig but I am not convinced. I've grown PB and there was no indication from the seed company that it was perennial.
You can get Daubenton over here but not sure how easy it is to find in the States. http://www.pennardplants.com/products.php?cat=401
Here is a link that might be useful: Kale question
Oh, good, Dave. I was outside doing my chores and suddenly thought, "what if what I wrote came off the wrong way? Crud!" Glad to see it didn't.
I think that's why I included experience in the mix. I know you are right, but with everything I'm learning( a whole new soil type, all the ins and outs of growing produce for the restaurant, etc.) I just haven't been able to hit my stride on the soil improvement yet. But the seasons keep rolling and I want to grow things and learn even though my conditions leave something to be desired. Maybe it is hard to explain, but learning to mulch still takes learning.
Sweetquietplace- your dead spot sounds alarming, unless you know what is causing it, maybe? The way you described it I imagine this circle of yellow, dying plants right smack in the center of your garden. Eek!
"Successful gardening requires effort on the part of the gardener. There is a well documented correlation between the amount of effort put into the garden and the success of that garden, the more the better; the less the worse."
I agree 100%. IMHO this is the number one issue new gardeners need to understand and it encompasses all the issues brought up by others here, including the OP. A gardener can have the best soil, the best varieties, the best weather, even the best of intentions, and if the garden ends up becoming a dense stand of 3 foot tall weeds and grass due to neglect and inattention, it will surely fail.
I want every new gardener to be successful but, unfortunately, lack of commitment or simply comprehending that a commitment is necessary are the primary reasons why I have seen most new gardeners fail or simply just give up after a year or two because they feel gardening is too much work for them.
Rant ON/
BTW I hear it all the time, and I find the excuse of not enough spare time available to be a big bunch of baloney. It all comes down to proper personal time management. People will tell me that they can not find the time to do proper garden maintenance but then I find out that they do have the time to sit on the couch in front of the television to watch the latest pathetic installment of some lame reality McShow or tasteless sh*tcom. Life is all about priorities, and that speaks volumes...
/Rant OFF
Have a good day.
-Tom
Last year, my potato patch lost all of its leaves from a cold snap that wasn't even freezing temperatures (33 degrees F) in late April. They came back but it took them a while to get going again.
I agree that some cover will definitely be helpful.
What varieties specifically?
Late varieties have a much longer DTM so they are normally planted at the same time in spring as any other variety. If you wait until later you risk the soil temps being too warm for them, slow growth and low production. Or if there should be an early winter onset then low production because they were planted so late.
But if you want to wait then no longer than 2-3 weeks after your last frost or the soil gets too warm.
Come fall you don't have to dig them as soon as the vines begin to die back. They can be left in the ground for weeks prior to digging if the weather cooperates.
But the bottom line is that potatoes are an early spring planted crop for specific reasons, regardless of the type.
Dave
Thanks im trying to give them a lot of space. I plan to fill that with soil all the way and try and get like 12 cuc plants. Can I do more in that space?
As the season goes on, and the cuc plant gets taller. The bottom leaves seem to start to die, possibly from getting less sun. Is this normal? Should I just clip them off so there is just the stem of the plant on the bottom
This trellis is awesome!