24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening


How did you try to hand pollinate?
Tomatillos can't really self-fertilize, they need companions, which you have. How I fertilize mine is I pick a flower from one plant, walk it over to the other plant and rub the flowers into each other. I've found that anything short of that does nothing for me or the tomatillos.

I live in Denver, (z5) and have grown tomatillos for a few years running. The first year, I experienced pretty much the same thing - tons of flowers - no fruit. Eventually, I just stopped paying attention and decided that the plants were attractive enough to leave in the garden and I went on with my summer. Then came August, and one day I noticed there were literally hundreds of tomatillos in various developmental stages. By the end of August, I was overwhelmed with tomatillos. They were on the plant, all over the ground, piled on my counter, and I was running out of ways to eat them. These days I only grow two or three plants, which is just the right amount for me. I generally use them in chili recipes, substituting chopped tomatillos for half of the tomatoes.



BTDT ... and this year was a record. Glad to know I'm in good company :-) Since I, too, had some older seeds and thought there'd be a lower germination rate, I decided to start the seeds en masse, in rows in the trays, then prick out and transplant the seedlings to individual cells/pots. It looks like they all came up and I'm now going to have to find homes for them all - peppers, eggplant, and lots of heirloom tomatoes.

I can only tell you what I have been doing with mine for more than 50 years now. But I'm sure someone will come along and disagree.
Once the ferns turn brown I cut them off at ground level, clean out any weeds that may have sprouted, mulch with a 3-4" layer of compost and composted manure, and water it all well. Throughout the winter if low rain or snowfall I make sure to water the beds well about once a month. Mid February I feed the beds well with more compost. After the first harvesting I feed the beds once again and keep it well watered throughout the summer.
Dave


Ants do too "eat plants."
Carpenter ants (big black ants, see http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_ant_carpenter.htm) will chew holes in the main stem and suck the juice that comes out. They usually do this right below a leaf stem, and then the whole leaf droops and wilts or just falls off. I have seen them do this many times. I used to wonder too what made those leaves droop - and I have dozens of all different kinds of sunflowers.
These ants do not herd aphids, they just look for weak places and when they find one, they will continue to chew until the damage is done - the whole sunflower may topple. Watch them carefully and you can see them testing leaf edges and such for weak places.
Planthoppers can also do the same thing - ants love to tend planthoppers too, not just aphids, They milk them for honeydew and will protect them from ladybugs and other predators. Planthoppers inject toxic saliva that keeps the juice flowing and so can kill the whole stem and damage big patches of leaves. Watch how ants will attempt to drive off your lady beetles! Look for groups of hopper on the underside of leaflets. Planthoppers killed one of my newly planted weeping willows in just such wise.
Holes in leaflets can be caused by inchworm moth caterpillars (family Geometridae), psyllids (like tiny flies) and plant bugs in the family Miridae. Psyllids and plant bug damage will usually show some mosaic-like brown spots where they feed.
Don't blame the birds! It's always insects of some sort. Be on the lookout for weevils on your hollyhocks, too!
-Bruce (cirrusimage.com)


My reaction is umm umm good! It does have a laxative effect that reduces with boiling and draining a few times, I do it 3 times and I hardly ever notice any affect. I have more affect from fresh onions than poke.
You said "i didn't feel anything different right away". Did you get sick later?
It is kind of late to pick it. You should only use young tender leaves and stop picking any when the stems start to turn purple. Usually around mid May here.
If you used leaves only and no stems there should be no problems. I have ate fried young tender stems and they are good too.
I have been eating it every spring for 60 years with no problem, my Mama fed it to me as soon as I was old enough for solid food! My family including all of my aunts uncles cousins, ETC. have been eating it also. No one has ever gotten sick!
I remember a lot of people with arthritis would dry the berries and take one a day for it.
There are a lot of nutritious great tasting wild foods out there that many people are afraid of.
If you remember tomatoes were thought to be poison at one time and parts of tomato plants are poisonous. Same with potatoes which are poisonous if exposed to sun.
If anyone decides to eat anything wild they should be sure to identify it properly and how it should be handled, cooking and harvesting. Never, ever, even touch or eat anything that you are not 100% sure of! There are a lot of "look a likes" out there!


I love fava beans--I have successfully overwintered them in my zone 7 garden. The timing of my spring planting was not good this year, or the weather heated up too fast, so no bean--but I will be harvesting the green tips to eat this weekend. Any bean that you can eat fresh or dried is a winner with me.

yes, blanching and light frosts remove the bitterness (just like light frosts sweeten a number of other veggies). Those I eat in January, the last ones, have zero bitterness. For storage, the best way is to bury them under lots of straw outside. They need to be right at the freezing point, but there has to be air circulation. I do not have straw anymore, so I store them in a tote. The outer stalks do tend to rot under these circumstances, but again, they are so abundant. My wife makes a pretty good soup with the coarser, outer stalks that survive, involving good stock, crumbled sausage, garlic and celery (the latter two, we have lots of). croutons also. but for me they are best raw, with a cup of olive oil, vinegar and salt to dip into.






Agree. California Blackeyes are the standard. They are not peas in the common sense of the word. They are cowpeas and more closely related to beans.
No trellis, minimal nitrogen if any, limited watering (although in your zone you may have to water more than I do here). Just when in doubt, don't water them.
Hopefully yours came already inoculated like rhizo said. If not you can buy inoculate separately for next time. Gets you a much better crop.
Dave
OK, cool. Sounds like I am on the right track. And I am not sure about pre-inoculation -- there was no indication on the packaging, however, I did add as much inoculant as I had just in case. Overall, my main challenge is growing enough peas to be able to eat! It takes more space than I have available here. I am planning to eat these green, so maybe a small handful here and there will be fine for salads or a side dish of mixed vegetables. Thanks for the tips guys!