Nice! Some of my tomatoes, peppers and okra started coming in this weekend.

6/2/2014 9:35:26 AM

And back to the okra that was discussed earlier. In my experience it doesn't really start to take off until later in the summer. But when it does you really have to stay on top of it. You'll be picking okra pretty much every day.

6/2/2014 9:39:48 AM

We're pulling up the bibb lettuce this week....what should we put down in it's place that withstand the sun and heat? A buddy suggested beans.

6/2/2014 11:29:44 AM

I was moving my maters into a larger pot and noticed little white bugs in the pot of one of them. What are they and what should I do, if anything?

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5117/14307705246_319da82a9d_k.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/14329104732_9ef295a1ec_k.jpg

6/2/2014 6:03:12 PM

Hmm...the bugs were just in the soil? Not on the leaves or stem at all?

Finally at an apartment with enough yard space to a do a little gardening. Didn't do too much this year, but I've got a few bell peppers planted, a few Omar's Lebanese tomatoes, some grape tomatoes, and San Marzano tomatoes. All in containers...transplanted about 2-3 weeks ago. I started them in a potting soil heavy in nitrogen...18-6-6 or something like that I think. (It's what was available...my parents own a wholesale nursery so I snagged some of the potting soil they use...not necessarily ideal for vegetables since it's more of a mulch mix, although I did mix in some black kow with it). The tomatoes are coming along fine. But my peppers are showing a little yellowing on the leaves. They're growing fine...but the yellowing is worrying me a bit. I wouldn't really expect it to be a nutrient deficiency since the original soil had plenty of nitrogen. They don't look terrible, and like I said, they're growing fine. It's not like they're stunted. Ill probably give it a few more days before I start to worry much about it

[Edited on June 2, 2014 at 7:36 PM. Reason : L]

6/2/2014 7:24:49 PM

^ yeah actually they didn't appear to like the light. when i exposed them they scurried back under the dirt.

when do you plan on feeding those plants?

6/2/2014 9:16:53 PM

termites?

6/3/2014 9:32:48 AM

Quote :

"what should we put down in it's place that withstand the sun and heat?"

if you've got the room, any summer plant: tomatoes, peppers (bell, jalapeno, banana...), okra, summer squash, zucchini, cucumber, etc.

6/3/2014 9:42:37 AM

Just googling I found a few possible culprits but I don't know what they are for sure. I'm not familiar with anything like that. Although this sounds like it may be close to your issue. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bonsai/msg1016063719029.html?7 but there's really nothing all that definitive there

When the tomatoes get closer to fruiting I'll probaby give em some fertilizer. And I'm thinkin I'll give the peppers a shot of 10-10-10 or something here in the next day or so since they're not really green like I'd like.

6/3/2014 9:48:49 AM

One of my Amelia tomato plants is only like 2/2.5 feet tall and is trying to produce fruit. It already did that once and i removed them. I should continue to do that until it's bigger right?

^^^ maybe...i'll try to take a sample to a gardening place. If they are termites, that sounds pretty scary

[Edited on June 3, 2014 at 11:25 AM. Reason : ]

6/3/2014 11:12:37 AM

Garden is coming along, got my first jalapeno this morning. The new banana trees are taking root and the fig trees are recovering from being cut back to the ground. Hops are really looking good!

I also split some more banana tree and am experimenting with splitting the hops. I just offloaded 20 banana trees a few weekends ago and now I have 12 more that will be ready soon. I also have 10 hops plants that are slowly getting started.

6/3/2014 11:35:44 AM

^^ yeah thats generally what I do

6/3/2014 4:09:22 PM

Best time to plant a fig? I got one as a wedding present this weekend and I'm all like "fuck, I thought you were supposed to plant these in fall?" It's fruiting already and about 3' tall, if that helps in identifying the age.

6/4/2014 12:00:54 PM

Best time is in the fall. I'd just put it somewhere cool and shady for the summer, and repot if the pot it's in is small for the size.

I've got three against the north wall of my house in gallon pots that I rooted from shoots that grew out of my fig tree in my garden, they've been going for a few years now sitting in full shade. I don't have anywhere to plant them, but I don't want to throw them out.

6/4/2014 12:05:10 PM

I've never had much success with figs. There's one at my grandma's house that's been there since they bought the house (50+ years now) and while it had a rough year (maybe bad winter combined with some neglect) it seems like it'll come out of it. May not fruit much this year, but it should be alright in the future. But I've tried to plant figs in various spots in the past and just haven't had much luck. Oh well. I'd imagine, like most plants, once they're established they aren't that difficult to grow. But it's the first couple of years that are the hardest.

[Edited on June 4, 2014 at 1:14 PM. Reason : ff]

6/4/2014 1:13:32 PM

I think I put too much fertilizer down around my peppers too early. Their leaves have looked crinkly and discolored. And a few of the mole peppers plants grew very long and spindly and can hardly support themselves.

I'm already getting lots of okra. Tomatoes should start turning any day now.

6/24/2014 5:08:58 PM

One of my cherry tomato plants is producing cherries the width of your pinky nail...and they look to be ripe. Do varieties come that small or is something wrong?

Also I'm going to have extra Carolina Reaper peppers...currently the world's hottest pepper. If you want some send me a PM and I'll let ya know when they're ready.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Reaper

6/24/2014 5:33:58 PM

6/24/2014 8:14:32 PM

I've got a fig tree that does pretty well, it did take a few years to get going, but now it's at the point where I'm hacking branches off every fall to keep it under control.


Also, my tomatoes caught cucumber mosaic virus and vine borers cut half my zucchini vines completely in half. It's always something.

6/26/2014 6:03:01 PM

i think you can replant fig branches (shove them in the ground, and stabilize them) and they will grow into trees.

at least thats how they were done at my parents and a few people around our hood.

6/26/2014 7:08:03 PM

Had a Cherokee Purple tomato plant just randomly die. Other tomatoes should start ripening in the next several days. Bell pepper plants are getting big but no peppers yet. Jalapenos and mole peppers and okra are starting to become plentiful.

7/1/2014 10:07:14 AM

I've got a small red pepper plant (1.5-2ft) that's trying to grow a couple peppers...think i might clip the fruit for now.

I've also got a tomato plant which has a bunch of yellow leaves, ever after fertilizing (it's actually pictured above, but yellowing has got worse). Should I give it some more?

[Edited on July 1, 2014 at 10:21 AM. Reason : ]

7/1/2014 10:20:37 AM

I think the yellowing might be blight (i've been using baking soda solution to fight it)

And I'm still learning stuff, but I think I over-fertilized my plants this year. I've read that it can cause pepper plants' leaves to curl, which is exactly what happened.

[Edited on July 1, 2014 at 10:46 AM. Reason : ]

7/1/2014 10:45:58 AM

All my green peppers are getting brown rotting spots on the as they are growing. It's not happening to any of the other peppers just the green ones. Any thoughts?

7/1/2014 1:13:34 PM

anyone successfully growing heirloom tomatoes outside?

ive got 2 that are pretty tall, growing out of pots, and i think the heat is getting to them.

i might just keep them out and hope for something, or maybe get lucky once weather cools off.

7/1/2014 5:58:37 PM

I grow two varieties: German Johnson and Cherokee purple. I would have had a monster Cherokee purple but a rabbit got to it before I could take it off. I'll have my first German Johnson over the weekend. My tallest GJ is about 5 ft. I'm growing them in raised beds. I am expecting they will be 8 ft tall by the end of summer.

My biggest problem with heirlooms are bugs and birds (usually) beaking them before I can get them off the vine.

[Edited on July 1, 2014 at 10:22 PM. Reason : ]

7/1/2014 10:20:35 PM

One of my cherokee tomatoes is almost dead, another looks like its starting to. It looks like it hasn't gotten enough water or the heat is making it wilt, but my other tomatoes seem to be doing fine.

7/2/2014 9:28:30 AM

Quote :

"ive got 2 that are pretty tall, growing out of pots, and i think the heat is getting to them."

How big are the pots? Any fruit?

Here's that one mater plant I was talking about...needs more fertilizer?

7/2/2014 9:47:54 AM

I think your tomatoes look like they are developing disease, sadly... they certainly have signs of stress, anyway. Remove all yellow or brown leaves to the trash ASAP. Try to spread out those containers a little so more air can circulate. Using nitrate-based rather than ammonia-based fertilizer and fastidious grooming can slow the progression of bacterial disease... but once the main stems are blocked by bacterial colonies or fungal hyphae and decay, the plant will be toast.

Have they wilted from needing water, especially more than once? it can also cause the kind of damage seen in picture 1... but all that dead tissue will give other diseases a place to get started, and the plant is more vulnerable to disease when it is stressed... and fruit quality is certainly affected as well. The mulch was a good idea from that standpoint.

TLDR takeaway: Keep the plants clean and evenly moist, and hopefully you can beat back whatever's started there (likely fusarium).

7/2/2014 12:12:29 PM

Why is this the 3rd year in a row that my squash plant seems to have rotted away? Any way to prevent this? My zucchini plant is doing great and producing just the squash plant is not...

7/2/2014 12:45:58 PM

Do you have squash vine borers eating away the base of your squash stems? They got me several years in a row, even after trying to prevent them (wrapped panty hose around the stem, insecticide, etc.). So I didn't even plant any this year in protest.

7/2/2014 12:56:32 PM

Quote :

"I think your tomatoes look like they are developing disease, sadly... they certainly have signs of stress, anyway. Remove all yellow or brown leaves to the trash ASAP. Try to spread out those containers a little so more air can circulate. Using nitrate-based rather than ammonia-based fertilizer and fastidious grooming can slow the progression of bacterial disease... but once the main stems are blocked by bacterial colonies or fungal hyphae and decay, the plant will be toast. Have they wilted from needing water, especially more than once? it can also cause the kind of damage seen in picture 1... but all that dead tissue will give other diseases a place to get started, and the plant is more vulnerable to disease when it is stressed... and fruit quality is certainly affected as well. The mulch was a good idea from that standpoint. TLDR takeaway: Keep the plants clean and evenly moist, and hopefully you can beat back whatever's started there (likely fusarium). "

Thanks so much for the information/suggestions!!

I've used some sort of organic fertilizer, once, a couple weeks ago. I'll link to it when I get home. Luckily my other 2 tomato plants are fine. It might have wilted once or twice long ago; I don't put too much water on it, but I don't let the soil get dry either. The mulch has definitely helped out with soil moisture.

In addition to getting rid of yellow leaves I'll try to spread them out a bit...the three tomato plants are all over each other. Limited sunlight might be an issue too...they might see 6 hours a day of direct sunlight

What do you mean by fastidious grooming? I've never trimmed or groomed my tomato plants...any suggestions? A link would be cool too.


[Edited on July 2, 2014 at 3:14 PM. Reason : Thanks again]

7/2/2014 3:12:02 PM

^^Yep that's def it.

Researched and they said there is little you can do too it sucks.

I have managed three 15+inch zucchini though this year for the first time so I guess take the good with the bad...

7/2/2014 4:04:50 PM

^ Aren't you supposed to cut them before they get long? Smaller = more tender/tastier I thought...

7/2/2014 4:13:16 PM

yeah, they get woody if you leave them too long.



by grooming them, i just mean removing all of the leaves that are dead, yellow, or have spots on them. when it rains or you water, drops of water that hit these leaves make the organisms responsible for disease splash off the affected leaves onto other leaves, facilitating the spread of disease. so if you see yellow leaves or spots or whatever, just go ahead and pull that shit off the plant asap.


^^^^Is the affected squash planted in the same place it was last year? it's hard in our tiny gardens, but rotating the crops helps minimize disease and pests. GIS 'powdery mildew squash' to see another disease to look out for. you can try an antifungal treatment if you think you have plants that are affected with that stuff. last year i used powdered milk with some success, though copper and sulphur sprays are available at garden centres.

[Edited on July 4, 2014 at 11:17 AM. Reason : ]

7/4/2014 11:13:20 AM

Squash vine borers got me again this year, 2nd year in a row. Got a few nice squash first at least.

7/7/2014 10:48:48 AM

Anything worth planting at this time of the year? We got a ton of kale from our plants this year, but the insects finally took over and we pulled them all out this morning. So there's room for some new stuff...just don't know what would do well starting in the middle of the summer.

Our tomato plant is straight ouf of control this year. Its the longest we've had one last, so we didn't know it would get this big. In addition to the original tomato cage, we added one more and just added 5 more stakes to keep it from taking over part of the yard. Ridiculous.

7/7/2014 11:49:36 AM

^^^ thanks again for the advice. followed it and the plant is doing great.

i've got 2 zucchini plants that are about 1.5-2 feet high and no signs of fruit yet (i'm figuring they come later in the season anyway though)...they've got some flowers but they don't open very often for some reason. my gf said she looked at the flowers and said she only saw one male or female flower, can't remember which. all that to say have any of you hand fertilized your zucchini plants, or have you never had an issue there?

7/7/2014 11:53:54 AM

I second the "what can I plant midsummer?" question to replace what didn't make it...

7/7/2014 2:37:59 PM

Not much, but there are a few according to this table:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/plantharvestguide20081.pdf

7/7/2014 3:04:01 PM

Oh well

Looks like I will be giving Broccoli and Spinach a run in august.

7/7/2014 3:31:13 PM

it's not too late to plant hot-season beans, like chinese long bean, if you get on it by this weekend...cucumbers might do OK too.

basil, cilantro or dill will give you a baby crop. gotta use it before it bolts though. arugala or mustard greens will also do a quick crop whenever. i still have volunteer borage seeds sprouting too.

[Edited on July 7, 2014 at 4:01 PM. Reason : ]

7/7/2014 3:54:56 PM

bolts?

7/7/2014 4:06:16 PM

Bolting is growing flowers and seeds instead of leaves or vegetables.

Here's basil bolting:

7/7/2014 4:12:10 PM

haha, i didn't realize that bolt wasn't widely used. the term is used specifically for leafy crops, whose flavor changes or fade when the plant begins flowering. it refers to the sudden change in height that occurs when the flowers form.

bolted lettuce:

[Edited on July 7, 2014 at 4:23 PM. Reason : ^and what he said]

7/7/2014 4:22:48 PM

that bastard blight is creeping on my tomatoes... i don't think i'm going to do much to fight it.

7/8/2014 10:00:47 AM

So how often do you all fertilize during the growing/producing season for your veggie plants...and what do you use?

Quote :

" i didn't realize that bolt wasn't widely used."

I'm sure it is I'm just new to all this shit.

Made some pickles...

7/8/2014 10:10:58 AM

Went to the beach last week and my neighbors weren't home so nobody was around to water my tomatoes and peppers. Got back Saturday night and they were in pretty poor shape (as you'd expect), but have since started to look a lot better. I've picked a few grape tomatoes, a few bell peppers, but haven't gotten any Omar's Lebanese tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes yet. I've never grown those varities before and just tried them on a whim.

On a related note, I'm moving from NC to Georgia this week. I'm going to try to the throw a few of these plants (all in containers) onto the truck I'm moving in, but I'll be strapped for room and may have to toss a few. We'll see how it goes.

Also, anybody have any advice on planting carrots from seed? I picked up some seeds for the hell of it and figured I'd give it a go. I'm assuming it's best to wait to start those until the fall maybe once it cools down some.

[Edited on July 8, 2014 at 11:25 AM. Reason : Thanks]

7/8/2014 11:23:41 AM

I've never heard of "bolt[ed]"...I've been gardening for a few years, but definitely not an expert. Have always heard it referred to as "flowering".

7/8/2014 11:25:57 AM

I think it's a pretty common gardening term, but I could be wrong.

7/8/2014 1:49:36 PM