Veggies rock!!

[jinman]

They are doing pretty good.

They sure look healthy to me. Your hydrangeas make me jealous. NICE!

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

I wish mine was as clean and neat as you folks, they look awesome. That week I took off in the motorhome, hurt my garden, the weeds got ahead of me.

I fertilized everything one last time today and watered it in. Wouldn't you know a popup storm hit, had maybe an inch or two of rain. Lots of lightening too, almost lost power a few times. Don't get me wrong I am glad to get the rain, we won't even know it by morning its so dry here, but hope it didn't wash away my fertilizer.

I canned 6 quarts of tomatoes today. I now have 16 quarts, I would love 30 tomatoes and 30 juice but doubt that happens. I am picking them pink and letting them ripen on my patio table. In a few days likely 6 more quarts.

I know from the blooms going to get green beans at least once more, but I want tomatoes.

I gave the lady next door a bunch of my turnips, snow peas, and cherry tomatoes.

 

[Bartcephus]

I'm getting tomatos! Squash is going gangbusters, okra starting to produce, went through a whole bed of onions, habenero peppers are producing.

Some of the potato plants have grown... but have as yet to see any "produce"

My corn, peas, beans, cukes, and several of the peppers didn't make it???? One watermelon plant has survived, but the first fruit on it turned black! it was about the size of a "new potato" What could be causing that??? Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[jinman]

I'm getting tomatos! Squash is going gangbusters, okra starting to produce, went through a whole bed of onions, habenero peppers are producing.

Some of the potato plants have grown... but have as yet to see any "produce"

My corn, peas, beans, cukes, and several of the peppers didn't make it???? One watermelon plant has survived, but the first fruit on it turned black! it was about the size of a "new potato" What could be causing that??? Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks

Bart, if you are getting squash, you'd better be checking for squash bugs and cucumber beetles. I am treating my plants every 5 to 7 days with liquid Sevin to control those beetles and squash vine borers. The bugs on my squash this year have been the worst I've ever seen. I think they also carried in a virus because my yellow squash have green stripes on them. That's the first signs of a virus which will eventually kill the squash. It will make the stems turn woody and slowly make it hard for the plant to take up water, leading to eventual wilt and death.

The other pest I've seen lots of is spider mites on my beans. My bean plants are still blooming and trying to produce, but the mites seem to eat the blooms and prevent beans from forming. I first noticed webs down in the plants when picking beans and so I sprayed them with Sevin. Of course, beans have one of the longest wait times after spraying to harvest, so I'll have to wait awhile for them to recover. In one or two days, I've seen a great improvement in the way the bean plants look. I'm hoping they will survive and give me a couple more big messes of beans. They sure are tastey.

You said several of your plants died and the melons had fruit turning black. This is what's called "damping off" I believe and is normally associated with the melons being too wet. Melons need to be planted on hills so that the soil around their roots drains well. They will send deep roots to look for water and don't like being in a place with "wet feet." The other plants dying could be a bug or disease. Can you describe what the plants did before they died? Did they turn yellow or maybe wilt? For too much water, the plants normally turn yellow at the bottom and then slowly die off. For bugs, the plant often wilts or has holes eaten in the leaves. Aphids like to hide under leaves and also arond bloom stems. If you see something that looks like black pepper on your okra blooms, take a spray hose and wash off the aphids. Also, soapy water is wonderful for killing aphids. Very young plants are subject to being killed mostly by soil borne pests like cutworms. Every part of a plants life brings new pests.

I know how depressing it is to have a garden looking good and then have stuff just die off. We've all had that happen, but it seems you've had especially bad luck. It's always a challenge to balance the correct amount of watering, fertilizing, and insect control. Every year, I learn something new. So far this year, all I've lost is my sweet peas, so I think I've done good. But, there's always a new surprise waiting around the corner.

 

[randy41]

Bartcephus-my guess is that the fruit turned black because of lack of pollination.

 

[jinman]

Bartcephus-my guess is that the fruit turned black because of lack of pollination.

Absolutely! I didn't think of that. If it was the tiny fruit, not being pollenated would make it do exactly that. The same thing happens with squash and cucumbers. I always toss lots of unpollenated squash.