Posted on 07/24/2009 3:59:59 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning to all of you gardeners. There is only one more week left in July and hopefully everyone is enjoying their summer gardens and enjoying the harvest. If you are planning a Fall garden now is the time plan what you will be planting and when to plant. The key to successful winter gardening is knowing the average date of the first killing frost in your region. You then plant your winter crops early enough to let them reach their full maturity before that killing frost. Local garden authorities can give you information about the timing of first frosts and the hardiness of various crops for your area.
Went out of town on Thursday. Came back today to lots of yellow pears, 3 ripe romas, 2 other ripe large tomatos, 2 HUGE cucumbers and of course the never ending jalapenos....
Made some yummy jalapeno salsa. :-)
I have a question for everyone, my green beans have been a total failure so far. So far, only one long bean and that was weeks ago. I have several other bean plants that grew about a foot this weekend while I was away, but no beans. Lots of flowers, just no beans.
I also have several ears of corn almost ready to pick. Yum...
If you’ve had large temperature fluctuations as most of us have had this season, or it’s been cooler than normal, especially at night, then that would effect your bean pollination and production.
I have enough to pick tomorrow, but they’re still blooming their heads off with less production than usual. It’s been downright COLD here some evenings this summer, rain or overcast days, little heat and less sun than normal.
Everyone’s having problems with one thing or another this season, which IS pretty normal, all things considered. ;)
The only peppers I have that ARE producing are the Mucho Nacho jalapenos. A few Corno de Toro on, and a few Fat-n-Sassy, but the plants are really struggling. They want sun and HEAT, Baby, and it’s beyond my control to give that to them. :(
Similar weather here in the northeast; but my peppers are doing VERY well...all in containers; though. Neighbors who planted in the ground are taking a beating. Love that container gardening...
We have had lots of sun, but not a lot of heat.... Thanks for the bean advice.
I’m a little ticked though, a friend of mine has had a bumper crop of beans!
We had green beans with dinner tonight...but from a friend who is also having a bumper crop, LOL!
I’ve got PLENTY-o-Zucchini! I’ve been hiding that in just about every meal I’ve made for the past two weeks, though.
I think my family is on to me, LOL!
The only thing that the rabbits have gone after as far as I can tell is my 3rd line of defense. The marigolds. They love eating the marigolds. I have fence, chemicals and marigolds. I am wondering if they would have even been interested if it weren't for the marigolds.
My tomatos are dropping blossoms. Could this be from the cold nights we have been having? The low last night was 46, but it is grtting into the 70s or even low 80s in the daytime. Do you think spraying with blossom set would help? I think I will give that a try.
The most frequent cause of tomato blossom drop is temperature.
•High daytime temperatures (above 85 F / 29 C)
•High Nighttime Temperatures (Below 70 / 21 C)
•Low Nighttime Temperatures (Below 55 / 13 C)
William, Thanks! It is probably the low temperature at night. There is a person who has a personal weather station that lives close enough I can see their house from mine. I can check temperature from his site. The high temperature for July was 94F and the low was 41F. Last night it got down to 43F. I don’t think there was a day this month with the low temp at night above 55F. Only a few nights where the low got to the low 50’s and the rest was in the 40’s. I sprayed tomato and squash flowers with blossom set spray today and will watch to see if that helps.
“Do you think spraying with blossom set would help? I think I will give that a try.”
We’re having the same problem here, and I’ve sold a lot of blossom set spray this season; more than normal. And, yes. It’s due to the cool nights. And drought also effects blossom set, as does too HOT of weather. You can’t win, LOL!
It’s up to you. I sell it because people want it, not because I, myself, use it. No one has come back to me in nearly four years and said, “This stuff don’t work” so it must work!
Diana, Thanks. I did mail order the blossom set spray from Jung’s on-line site! I thought this was an unusually cool summer, but looking at the nearby personal weather station records for 2008 I found that last year’s low temp for July was 38F and for August was 36F. I will report back how the blossom set works.
Bummer but you should see and smell my Tomato plants. Double Yuck!
That would be POTATO plants!!!
Sorry about your ‘taters.
By the time I saw the blight and researched it, it had spread to all my plants [10]. Some info said to pull out and destroy all the infected plants .... that would have been all my plants and I dreaded the thought! So I pruned all the offending branches [nothing to lose] rushed to the garden shop and got a chemical which I applied. Sadly it rained heavily 2 hours after the application.
I think I’m going to wait until tomorrow and re-apply.
Interesting that it spread the moment our temperature in the NE finally hit the 90s ... it’s been cool AND wet here all summer. I learned I should have been spraying the plants since the start. C’est la vie.
Are you losing all your potatoes?
From multiple garden centers. I read about the plants with the Alabama problem, which made me curious.
3 of the plants are common [jet star, big boy, beefsteak] ... the seven others are heirloom varieties.
The spot where I planted the tomatoes was an old flower bed, in a relatively new place where I am living. So I had no history of what was in the soil. I beefed up the soil with humus and store-bought Miracle-Gro garden soil before planting.
What astonished me, was how fast this spread ... and the timing with the humidity and temperature increase.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.