24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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daniel_nyc(7a)
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zzackey(8b GA)

Where do you live? Maybe you planted at the wrong time. Buying large vegetable plants is a mistake. Cucumbers grow easily from seeds planted in the ground.

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

<Is it bad to fertilize a light dosage of organic soluble fertilizer mid season for brassicas?>

In general I'd say no, no harm done. But not all "organic soluble fertilizers" are the same. There are hundreds of them available. Some are straight N, some high K or P and some are strictly micro-nutrients. So all have different effects. To answer your question accurately one would have to know at least the brand name or the nutrient focus of the one you are talking about?

Plus your row BS could be inconsistently healthy for reasons other than nutrients so you need to really ID the problem first. So what are the less-than-ideal symptoms?

Dave

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marketgardener

Hi Dave, some of the plants are healthy and large, while others are dwarfed in comparison. I also think I may have planted my first crop of BS too early because the sprouts on them are growing loosely and some taste bitter. I think the heat hit them unfortunately

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Peter (6b SE NY)

It took all summer for them to head out - late August. I didn't think it was going to happen.

They can last more than one year and produce an abundant crop the next year, but it is unlikely in our climate AFAIK. They are a lot of work, needing to be started indoors in early February and set out early for vernalization but after frost... kind of a challenge.

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yolos - z 7b/8a Ga.

Something ate all my broccoli one year. I saw rabbit poop around the garden so I assumed it was rabbits but I guess it could have been something else.

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garden through the season
Posted by lovegardening84
10 Comments
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John Donovan

The healthier the soil is the faster plants can bounce back from pests. Beautiful harvest.

Just curious are those stunted carrots or are the smaller variety?

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

Where are the weeds?????? ;)

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ilovecucumbers Zone 6b, NE PA

An update: I'm seeing them now. They're very, very tiny, but there. I finally remembered my Johnny's Seeds password, and could look up the variety I am growing. Diablo, which is 110 days to maturity, but then you add 20 days for direct seeding. So yeah, they're right on time. Sorry to have wasted your time, and thank you for your responses.

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maplegarden172(7a)

I have "diablo" as well in addition to "nelson". The heat has really stunted their growth but they are forming small sprouts now.

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karlsmom(5)

Thanks!

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springtogarden(6A)

I had to pick some early last year and they all ripened up. I have a short growing season and thieves. Even had a thief pull one off that wasn't all green but very light with green and white and for some reason the thief left it by my plot. It ripened and was delicious too.

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trinq

I had hollow heart in some big ones--doubtless due to inconsistent watering (capillary method, using only rainfall), but I also had a couple that were totally mushy and very stinky inside. Same cause?

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moventurer(3A)

Hollowheart most likely, as was mentioned previously. Spacing "gold" varietals too closely can cause hollowheart all by itself, regardless of moisture levels.

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Compost acorn-like squashThink it will taste any good?
Posted by Peter (6b SE NY)
4 Comments
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Peter (6b SE NY)

Really? It looks just like an acorn squash to me, except the shape.

I haven't tried it yet no. I'm not really concerned, if it tastes bad/bitter I won't force it down. :)

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glib(5.5)

I have eaten many mongrels, they all tasted OK except a few that were high quality. The best, in fact, was a butternut shaped squash with a Hubbard rind.

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Miss_Moose (Winnipeg, Canda. Zone 2)

Isn't that so true! I myself was really shocked to come to this conclusion! I think this knowledge should remain in healthy circulation in the community. I wish there was a way to de-salinate the diaper-gel. My husband mentioned vinegar which might do the trick, but then it would be very acidic, and I almost wonder if it would liquify the diaper-gel. I honestly got curious yesterday and tore apart an unused diaper, shook out the crystals and now have about 2 cups of gel. I'll add vinegar to it and see if it completely breaks down. If not, then perhaps the acidic properties could be neutralized with calcium carbonate, as other neutralizers are just basically made of more salt, such as baking soda, which would bring us back to square 1.

I'll add some white vinegar to the diaper gel and update you in a bit. Who knows... perhaps we may end up with a safe, salt-free plant gel! Wanna get in on this patent?? Loll

Update: I didn't realize it, but calcium carbonate separates and releases salt when it reacts with an acid. I didn't even think about it's hidden salt properties, since I didn't see Na in the compound structure. ( CaCO3 )

Update: Vinegar turned the diaper gel into soup.

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Dou Simon

That is really a good content. Just want to share one thing: we can use super absorbent polymer (also called SAP) to help plants grow well--help them absorbing water. But potassium polyacrylate type SAP is much better than sodium polyacrylate type.

References: SOCO Polymer

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glib(5.5)

right, it can not be the change in pH. This is interesting. I note that if you have a sea buckthorn anywhere nearby you can put overwintering branches with fruits in the hole with possibly similar results. They have about 700mg/100 g of fruit. But the best option is probably to buy ascorbic acid for pools, at less than 10$/lb.

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elisa_z5

I did think about the ascorbic acid/potatoes love acid idea, but this was an un-limed area, and my soil ph before liming is 5.4, so the potatoes were probably already happy with the ph.

Just looked up Sea Buckthorn on Webmd and found out is it used to treat pretty much everything. Sounds like a good thing to grow, though the cheap ascorbic acid idea sounds more practical :)

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Priya J

Thank you for the valuable advice about warm temps! I'll look for rucola selvatica, as suggested, and shade the plants I have.

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Priya J

Just wanted to update carolb_w_fl and anyone in my situation: I probably had a combination of factors contributing to my problem.

1. I happened to come across wild arugula (rucola selvatica) and have been planting that alongside a new packet of regular arugula. You were right, I can tell it deals much better with heat!

2. That seed batch seems to just be poor quality, with none of them managing to make it to adulthood. Another brand gave me noticeably better results, even if not as robust as back home in Wash DC.

3. The weather here has cooled somewhat (afternoon highs are about 5-10 degrees lower than May/June), which helped. I also moved plants to semi-shade. Cool season lasts until January, so I'll make the most of it!

4. I tried watering with ice water, or putting many cubes on the soil and letting them melt in, hoping to lower soil temp. I can't tell if that alone has made a difference, because factors 1-3 are confusing the experiment. But it doesn't seem to hurt, so I'll keep doing it every few days.

Thanks again!

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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

I don't deliberately plant flowers in the vegetable garden but I selectively leave those which self sow there. So there are Opium poppies, nasturtiums, aquilegias and Nigella every year.

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carolb_w_fl(zone 9/10)

Don't forget blooming crops too - my basil, mint, fennel, arugula, chicory & garlic chives are all good attractors - & I grow spilanthes for the flowers.

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zzackey(8b GA)

I read you can put vegetable oil under the silks to stop corn worms. I've never tried it.

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Chad Chambers

Cool, thanks for the $0.02 farmerdill!

I grew some Silver Queen in my nursery (I work for a seed company, but I'm not a corn breeder) and it did well. The biggest issue we had in the Texas Panhandle this year was heat during pollination and the corn in my garden was questionable for a while. The silks didn't emerge until the tassels were almost done shedding pollen. So an earlier hybrid would also help to beat the heat.

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farmerdill

If seeds have not formed, yes they will be similar to a young butternut or a Trombocino.

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donnabaskets(Zone 8a, Central MS)

Thank you! That's what I will do.

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Alisande

Thank you, Peter. Yes, I saw a lot of PM on my winter and summer squash plants this year. It was not my best season.

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Jim's(6 East end of Long Island)

All of my butternut vines have died about halfway out from the base and still get plenty of new growth. I have about 6 large squash per vine and seem to be doing fine, except for the dead leaves/stems on the back end. The main part of the vine appears to be still green and healthy. I thought this was just a basic growth pattern of the vine. My vines are about 100 days old and I definitely have no SVB on these plants.

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