my neighbor gave me some cucumbers... which I dispose... but I like pickles.

how does i maake pickel forrm?

7/8/2014 2:12:16 PM

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-refrigerator-pickles-10000001646440/

google "refrigerator pickles" for more recipes

7/8/2014 2:16:25 PM

ha. dispose/despise. yah....

7/8/2014 4:09:56 PM

Quote :

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

for p4

7/10/2014 1:25:29 PM

Shake n feed time release beads twice a year... may and august... miracle gro in the hose attachment every week or two... i don't have to water that much here.

7/11/2014 12:15:42 AM

Caterpillars are now out in full force on our tomato plants. Any suggestions?? We've used the "garden-friendly" insect spray...and while it seemed to work at first...it doesn't appear to be deterring them anymore. It's gotten a little ridiculous.

7/11/2014 11:04:28 AM

Maybe beer traps? Not sure if they work for catepillars, but they work for bugs.

Squirrels have been decimating my tomato plants, i'm finding half-eaten tomatoes all over the yard and on top of my fence, it's the first time this has happened.


^^^^^you can also just buy "pickling spice"

7/11/2014 2:44:57 PM

Well, my carnivorous plants are doing well...maybe except for one, which happens to be my favorite one. My white-top pitcher sent up a flower first thing this spring, only a single pitcher, then a bunch of phyllodia. The flower never opened, but it's still standing. I guess I should just clip it. I'm wondering if it just got too hot for it, but all of my other plants that sent up flowers bloomed. One venus flytrap grew a hell of a flower stalk, then flowers all did well until it went to the seed development, when everything just withered and died off on the stalk. Kinda bummed. I was looking forward to some seedlings.

7/15/2014 10:28:40 AM

Seems like my tomato plants (well, 2 of 3) are taking forever to ripen. Any ideas?

also here is today's haul:


[Edited on July 16, 2014 at 2:46 PM. Reason : ]

7/16/2014 2:18:56 PM

not sure, my tomatoes have started ripening over the last couple weeks.... i made a bunch of spaghetti sauce for freezing so they wouldn't rot.

7/16/2014 3:02:03 PM

In-laws' hard work pay off.





[Edited on July 19, 2014 at 8:18 PM. Reason : ;]

7/19/2014 8:17:38 PM

Anyone know what's going on with my cucumber plants? They're still producing good fruit, they just look like shit.

I *just* fertilized with some organic fertilizer (not too powerful...don't remember the numbers, but they were low) so if that will help maybe it will take a few days.

7/21/2014 10:52:22 PM

ugh, cucumber plants are the worst. they have so many diseases. the angular leaf spots are an indicator for downy mildew, but some of the other areas look like cucumber mosaic virus, which affects 1200 species of plants (aka lots of other ones in your garden)-- also has the symptom of random areas of yellowing and necrosis. got any other weird-looking plants around (even weeds or flowers)?

as downy mildew progresses (with wetting, usually), areas on the underside of the leaf will grow grey fuzz. If it's crazy wet, even on the top side of the leaf.


The virus(es-- it could also potentially be another mosaic virus, such as watermelon or zucchini, tomato, or tobacco mosaic viruses...) are transmitted by aphids, and possibly thrips or other bugs. If it is a virus, the fruits and flowers will likely become affected- stunted size, distortions, ring-shaped discolored areas on fruit and white stripes on flowers- but it may not occur if the plant has a specific fruit gene (precocious). Do you have another weird-looking plant around, even a weed or flower?


Anyway, you probably know the recommendations, but here they are.

1. You're best off destroying the plants in either disease case, as they can both infect other plants.

2. If you're still getting good fruit and are attached to them, clean up the worst of the damage and destroy the infected material and disinfect everything before touching other plants.

3. Treat for bugs. Aphids, thrips, cucumber beetles. kill those guys. Treat the other plants just in case. shake plants to get pollinators away, then go to town with insecticidal soap. Sevin if you have to.

4. Keep the leaves dry when you water/abandon foliar fertilization. Try to shelter the plants from rain.

5. Try to observe the progression of the disease-- do areas turn yellow followed by browning, or does a brown spot appear, then yellowing areas appear around it, or do they just occur simultaneously? How is the new growth affected? Re-check your symptoms here in a few days.

6. Look for resistant varieties next year!

7/22/2014 10:07:20 AM

Awesome thanks for the comments...I actually was about to PM you to ask for assistance

So the reading I've been doing (thanks to you) on downy mildew states that it needs cooler temperatures to survive, and is normally gone when it gets warmer out. Does that mean the chances of it being DM are pretty low, or is that still potentially it? I don't recall seeing any

As far as the mosaic stuff goes, fruit are currently unmarked/unaffected and are still of yummy quality and I'd say the leaves have been like that for a couple weeks at least I wish I woulda done something sooner. I'll see what the flowers look like.

I'm going to try and get rid of the worst of the damage as you say, and give em a shake 'n soap...and I'll probably do the same (shake 'n soap) to nearby plants (as it's not feasible to remove plants at this time).

Thanks again!

7/22/2014 10:46:27 PM

I've had my hydroponic rail system up and running for about 3 weeks now, and difference in root structures of different plants is pretty neat. It's easy to see why cucumbers are so damn indestructible.


Bibb Lettuce


Cucumber - the roots are about as long as the vine. These all got transferred out to the outdoor garden after the pictures were taken, since I was afraid the root balls were going to clog the rails. The original plan was to use them as natural shading from afternoon sun for the lettuce, but I'll just use netting instead.


Tomato Plant - I thought the root ball would be a lot bigger than this, but this plant was the least healthy of all my tomato plants and is why it's not in the dutch buckets with the rest of the tomato plants. Some of the dutch bucket plants have massive root systems visible at the top of the hydroton. I'll transplant it outside in a couple of weeks to free up more room for lettuce.

[Edited on July 26, 2014 at 11:58 PM. Reason : .]

7/26/2014 11:56:41 PM

So what's everyone's plan for fall plants? What are you planting and when are you planting it?

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-8001.html
http://www.southernstates.com/articles/winter-vegetables.aspx
http://pender.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/71/VegPlantingGuide.pdf

Quote :

"Zone eight ranges from the rainforests of Washington eastwards along the western and southern borders of the U.S. and across to the coast of North Carolina. Winters are mild and the growing season is prolonged; minimum temperatures range from 10 - 20º F with the first fall frosts around the middle of November. Prepare your ground in August/September for October planting of: Beets Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Kale Lettuce Peas Spinach"

7/30/2014 9:14:27 PM

I've never had much luck with beets, but I'll probably try them again because I really like them.

Will probably also do some kale, collards, lettuce, spinach and broccoli. may also try brussel sprouts and peas. Plan to plant them later this month or early September.

8/1/2014 10:10:27 AM

I plan on doing kale and broccoli outside and a bunch of bibb and romaine lettuce in the greenhouse.

8/1/2014 11:32:26 AM

are you all doing the broccoli from seed? if so when are you starting those?

8/1/2014 11:36:19 AM

Good or bad idea... build a small greenhouse in my garage at one of the windows? The window is in a small nook, so only have to frame 1.5 sides. Add lights and a heater. need insulation?

8/1/2014 1:51:07 PM

I'll start them from seed in rockwool cubes sometime next week in the greenhouse, then probably transfer them outside in mid September. let them get the benefit of extra CO2 and transfer them once the temperature breaks.

8/1/2014 4:40:21 PM

I've successfully stuck to a foliar fertilization schedule this summer, and i'm really seeing the results. If you guise are paying for plants and inputs, but not foliar fertilizer, you should rethink your strategy for next year. It may have doubled or tripled my yield in some cases.

8/5/2014 10:38:28 AM

Quote :

"are you all doing the broccoli from seed? if so when are you starting those?"

I was wondering about this too.

Am I going to need to start these from seeds or does anyone know a garden supply that does fall seedlings?

8/5/2014 11:14:37 AM

I know Logan's does fall seedlings, I've gotten broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc. from there before.

[Edited on August 5, 2014 at 11:17 AM. Reason : ^^interesting, i didn't do any of that this year. and i've had a pretty crappy year.]

8/5/2014 11:15:33 AM

Quote :

"I've successfully stuck to a foliar fertilization schedule this summer"

Can you share some info on how you do it? What do you use, how often etc...

Also do you do any soil fertilizing?

8/5/2014 11:32:33 AM

GREEN JAY,
Thanks for the info on the cucumber stuff! It looks like mine have downy mildew. At first I thought that some weed killer from my neighbor had gotten spots on them when she sprayed. I guess it is time to go to ACE hardware and get a fungicide.

8/5/2014 1:21:03 PM

I've got figs like crazy. they started ripening on Friday and I've picked all I can fit into my dehydrator each day since, and I'm leaving a bunch out there.

For some reason the deer leave this tree alone (and tomatillos for some reason, nobody is touching those), so it's kinda nice to finally really get something out of my garden.

8/5/2014 9:46:44 PM

^^ yeah the amount of rain we've had in cary recently really caused lots of mildew/fungus problems on my garden as well. Same thing started on my cucumbers and spread to the squash, zuchinni, and melons - before I knew it half the garden was yellow/brown and pretty much out of control.

Too much rain CAN be a bad thing, I guess.

8/6/2014 3:29:15 PM

i thought i mentioned treating powdery mildew with powdered milk solution in this years thread, but i guess it was last year's. anyway, you can use it as a treatment or preventative. it kinda worked on my squashes last year. 2 parts milk to three parts water... and powdered milk works fine if you have a lot to spray. make sure you hit both sides of every leaf, and it needs to be repeated once a week.

8/6/2014 3:30:18 PM

I trimmed my backyard bush last night and got bitten.

8/6/2014 3:34:57 PM

One of my okra plants is about 10 foot tall, but pretty thin. I'm having to support it with string.

8/11/2014 1:34:20 PM

Is it too early to plant broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts...temp wise? Right not I've just got the seedlings sitting outside.

8/19/2014 7:36:28 PM

I think you ought to be able to plant those any time now.

8/19/2014 8:39:51 PM

I did broccoli, cauliflower and sprouts in 3 gallon pots...hope they'll be ok. Did some of the sprouts in 7 gallon tubs too, 2 per. We'll see. Spinach is going in a shaded area that only gets 2-4 hours of direct sun. I've been told they don't need much...

New cucumber plants have been planted (7 gallons) as well.

8/19/2014 8:56:38 PM

I planted my fall garden about 3 weeks ago. I want several rotations of crops on things like lettuce, peas, etc. The rain has helped keep them from bolting and drying out.

Does it make sense for me to plant my fruit trees, bulbs and wildflowers all together in the fall?
I want to get ahead of next spring, when I'll be busy with other projects (kidding goats, bees, etc.).

8/21/2014 4:45:03 PM

Looks like my squash plants are getting some sort of fungus. I've cut off the worst of the leaves and am gonna hit then with a 3% hydrogen peroxide unless I hear a better idea...

8/22/2014 9:49:49 AM

may be fungus, but check for vine borers at the base of the stem

8/22/2014 12:35:23 PM

i got cool weather seedling a couple weeks ago and transferred them in small pots... i want to put them in the ground but i'm afraid the 90+weather and direct sun would kill them, so i'm keeping them in the shade right now. Got a couple kinds of collards, couple kinds of lettuce, spinach, kale and brussel sprouts

9/3/2014 12:34:13 PM

Quote :

"Looks like my squash plants are getting some sort of fungus. I've cut off the worst of the leaves and am gonna hit then with a 3% hydrogen peroxide unless I hear a better idea..."

Didn't help...didn't see ^^ until just now

New cucumber plants already have some white shit on some of the leaves. Doused them in some old skim milk. We'll see...

9/3/2014 1:05:23 PM

vine borers got my squash every time i tried. I'd get a few squash and then they'd die. the last year i even wrapped the base of the stem in panty hose and sprayed them every week, but they still got them.

9/3/2014 1:11:55 PM

Time to spray with some Insecticidal Soap huh?

9/5/2014 12:26:01 PM

Also does anyone know of any other natural anti-fungal treatments? The skim milk did pretty well...but it looks like it might not have been 100% so I'd like to have a Plan B (or C in this case) if I'm right.

9/5/2014 12:30:27 PM

I use a baking soda mixture, i think i read that it's supposed to help. Also, I think the copper-based fungicides you buy at the store are somewhat "natural". It's not toxic like incesticide. I think.

9/5/2014 3:15:36 PM

Does anyone know enough about how to distinguish between Asiatic Bittersweet and the native (albeit threatened) American Bittersweet? We have this vine in our yard that had climbed into two trees and strangled out this year's tiger lilies. We pulled up enough vines and roots of it to fill the back of my truck. Google was fairly helpful, but what I want to know is if the American Bittersweet is prone to strangling out other plants and reaching up into branches.

9/5/2014 9:11:33 PM

American bittersweet has smooth stems, while the oriental has thorns. American bittersweet bears the fruit at the vine terminals only, while oriental bears it along the vine. If that does not clear it up for you, please post an in-focus picture of a section of vine pulled away from the plant and placed on something solid-colored, with a closeup of the leaves and fruits.

9/9/2014 10:26:28 AM

My victory garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxtw4AlIUlA

9/9/2014 12:48:58 PM

you're not using tap water are you?

How did you get around Parkwood telling you to remove the garden by Christmas a few years ago?

9/9/2014 1:29:25 PM

Unfortunately I am using tap water & I mention this specifically in the video.

I got around having a garden by writing letters to all my neighbors about how the HOA rules are being selectively enforced, and could easily be used against them by a petty tyrant on the board of the HOA. This resulted in a year long battle between myself & the dark forces of our community which eventually culminated in their submitting to my assertion of sovereignty & not bothering me anymore.

This summer my garden produced over 40 pounds of squash, and their ridiculous rules are still on the books.

9/9/2014 1:55:33 PM

omg, you are eating so much neurotoxin!

9/9/2014 2:10:48 PM

Yes, way more than I would like.

I try to mitigate by distilling my water & avoiding it elsewhere wherever possible.

9/9/2014 2:34:02 PM