24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening


I agree that certain things compete if they have similar growing times. But lacking space and wanting to experiment is fine. And fun. I put a row of watermelon radishes down the middle of my carrot row last year. They did great lacking the space. Not sure how the variety would do, i did not want to give them prime real estate.
Different growing speeds can work. I don't harvest carrots till late sept.-oct.
I grow a variety of beet for the greens. Wanting to try a new variety of arugula, i added some seeds in the same spot. It was a good grower for me and long gone salad before the beets greens were of a good size. Last year i put golden beets with the beet greens, 25%, and they did well together. Golden beets are big. The beet green beets are tiny.
I plant way to tight but my soil is good and fed and not roto-tilled. Well mulched. Put to bed properly in the late fall.
Very tempting for a young, or small garden, to want to try a variety of crop. Plant less of each and save some of those seeds for next year.
My sugar snaps are massive now. Still a few weeks to go. This weekend i'll put a row of baby French bush in a row just behind. They will like the shade to get established and do well as the snaps come out. All other pole beans went in last week on the other side of the trellis. It is a little hop and jump to get crops to work well together in small spaces. But it also stretches out the garden work so it is not at all a 'chore'.
I put three tomatillos down the middle of the bean bed. Smart? Who cares. They like it there. Always have.
I have a challenging location. Altitude, high winds, lots of storms, Full sun. Heat during the day and cool at night. Salad planted tight with shade frames. I have salad all summer. My neighbors give up early July.
If a crop does not do well one year, try again for three years. Every season is different for everyone. I've had first frost as early as August 28th. Last year was October 12th.
Last year i had no fruit. This year is see a possible explosion. Cherry tree is full. A black raspberry patch i did not plant. Must have been deposited by birds a couple yrs ago...

Friggin birds. They steal so much stuff! Lately they've made off with all sorts of peppers. Their favorite thing is to pick the leaves off of my pepper plants, twirl them for a few seconds and then drop them. They've also shredded many eggplant leaves and dug up all of my watering basins. Thanks birds!

For me it would be deer... they seem to think my yard is their dining room. They come back every night, and anything not fenced off is eventually eaten. All of DW's hosta is eaten down to bare stems, same for every violet on the property. Our tulips never even get to bloom any more, before they are mowed down. Any new trees or bushes are goners unless I fence them - and fence them high, since they will lean on the fence & eat as far as their neck can reach.
The neighbors 5 houses down have a beautiful garden, several kinds of hosta, no fences... and the deer never touch it. They seem content to mow everything in my yard to the ground. I'm not fond of venison, or of hunting... but I might make an exception in their case. >:-(


It could be one of the African orange-fruited eggplant, I am growing one of them this year ("Striped Togo", S. aethiopicum), and the foliage is very similar to that of the photo. However, I think that Floral_UK's guess of S. nigrum or one of its wild relatives is more likely, they are pretty widespread.

picked 2 divas off my mud room potted plant this am!
Have gotten more since I added some fertilizer and watching moisture level more closely than before.
Nothing from tasty jade since last post.
To be clear - only 1 plant of each, planted into the pots in march, kept under lights until the mudroom was warm enough.
Only get sun till about noon - and with only the 2 plants - getting about 3-4 cukes/week.
I want 3-4 cukes/day!
These were just experiments though - and waiting on the outdoor cukes....regular, straight eight, marketmore, etc.
next time - 2 of each indoors!

I just received some Diva seeds in the mail from Parks seeds. I was looking forward to getting a lot of cukes in the fall. Down here in New Orleans we don't get freezing temps until late Nov. or early Dec.. The weather begins to cool off around mid Sep. I plan on planting them end of July. I have to pollinate cukes and squash with an artist brush (I call it commiting adultery with my plants). I'll keep ya'll posted on my exper with diva.

Likely too warm for them to set. Beans are subject to the same ambient air temp nd high humidity limitations for viable pollen as are all the other fruiting plants - above 95 day, above 75 nights, 50% humidity, etc. equals tacky, clumpy, non-viable pollen. Try again with a fall planting after the heat breaks.
Dave


Nah, impossible given the location and issolated plants. I think it's likely some bacteria/fungus. I noticed it's worse in the wet sheltered sections, only affecting weaker varieties, and it's the tail end of the wet season here (June). We just had 2-3 days of no rain and full sun today - they look better already.
I'll keep an eye on them. In the interests of science, ill use a diluted hydrogen peroxide spray on a couple of the worse ones when it rains and see what happens.


You are correct lacyvail! I was racking my brain why i purchased plants a few years ago...but a few things are always on that 'buy' list. Often it is a difficult to start perennial. Rosemary i always do cuttings. My local mountaintop garden center is terrific and a 2 min drive so i have a few things that are difficult that i rely on them do do the deed and dirty work.
info here Chris...
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/French_Tarragon_Plant/herb_plants

buckwheat is a summertime cover crop that I use for weed suppression for 4 week period. it doesn't like cold weather. I am in zone 5 and my winter cover crop is annual rye or cereal rye with tillage radishes or turnips mixed in. you are in zone 7 but I bet it is still to cold for buckwheat


Runners will regrow from lower buds if the tops are broken off. They twine by their stems so the best support is something straight and single like strings, poles or bamboos rather than net or trellis. Can you post a picture of the damage? Snails love young runner plants.

Beans prefer to climb on something a bit more flexible. I use a jute twine that can be compost end of season during clean-up.
But i know what you mean. If they grab hold to something stiff, like chicken wire, when young shoots, the plant continues to grow, bend, and break.
I have chicken wire on frames as cages surrounding my peas and beans that are trellised. Some shoots will reach out and hold onto the cages but i coax them off and give them the proper twine to climb.
-at least i think i know what you mean. : )


Maybe I need to give them a little aphrodisiac :)
It's odd.. there are some on the tomatoes, but no interest in the squash.
I skipped a day (because we wanted to run a river -- that's one thing this summer is great for: white water!). Today I fertilized the one flower that was way open yesterday and somewhat open today (along with the ladies who opened today). Wonder if it works to fertilize a day late? Will find out -- I marked the stalk.
I did, however, hear her singing Roberta Flack's "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long."