Garden thread

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  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Has anyone had blossom drop in your tomatoes? I planted 4 plants: 2 Rutgers (heirloom red slicers), 1 yellow pear, and one Lemon Boy (yellow slicer). My plants have all thrived but the Lemon Boy has not set a single fruit. All the rest are setting lots of fruit and I have just started harvesting so I know the problem is not the soil, water, or nutrients. I am wondering if the Lemon Boy was just not the right variety for my space. I have never had this issue in 40 years of growing tomatoes (off and on depending on where I was living). I pulled it out yesterday. If it hasn't set fruit yet, it is not worth it.

    Any thoughts?

    Welllll . . . it still could be weather-related, or nutrient related. Usually blossom drop is a stress reaction of some kind, and it's absolutely the case that different varieties have different heat preferences, different resistances to diseases, different sensitivities to nutrient deficiences or other sub-ideal conditions, etc. Plants are weird. ;)

    ETA: Could try hand pollinating, if you can catch 'em at the right time.

    Does that happen with pumpkin plants too? I noticed tons of blossoms, lots of bees, but the blossoms drop off and...nothing. I have a couple pumpkins growing but the majority of blossoms produced nothing.

    And as far as tomatoes, my plants look like bushes, but some plants have as few as 2 flowers while some seem to be growing several tomatoes of quite a good size(none turning red yet though, soon). All 6 tomato plants came in the same pack; I did have to transplant 3 of them because they were dying when I first planted them(in a hot place where the soil wasn't that good). It's weird because my sister's tomato plants are skinny and scraggly but have tons of tomatoes growing. :/
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    LoveyChar wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    @lovelychar How did you get your sweet potato slips going?? I tried to do that a few months ago and all they did was rot? Did you simply get a regular sweet potato from the store? When I looked for the how-tos online it said you could either do a whole potato or cut it in 1/2 so I did the 1/2. Not sure if that's my mistake? Also, I didn't buy an organic potato or anything?

    I still really love(!!) your corner space and have the perfect corner for something like that, even picturing in my head what I could plant there. :) But I also picture having to buy 100 bags of gardening soil. :/

    I wanted to add two important things: I change the water every Thursday, same day every week whether it looks like it needs it or not (I just use city water out of the tap). And two, I read a blog this woman wrote about her experience with sweet potato size and their slips and the outcome in size of the potato and she said that the big and the small both produced small so she uses a medium and it works best for her to produce nice sized sweet potatoes. I used a medium size, four toothpicks (3 would work) to elevate potato, a mason jar and potato half in water and half elevated above. It takes a month or so.

    Thanks so much :) I'll need to keep this info for next year. For some reason sweet potato plants are hard to come by in our region and I couldn't find any by the time I knew my potato wasn't going to sprout forth and multiply. :/

    At my garden center you have to get on a list for sweet potatoes if you want any chance of getting them ;)

    I had pretty good results with Georgia Jets from Burpee one year but I see from my notes to a friend that I wanted to start them earlier next time (but there wasn't a next time because I moved and don't have the room for sprawling plants here):

    "A note about sweet potatoes - my Georgia Jets spread like crazy. Burpee said 40" but it was more. I had them in a dedicated bed, so it didn't matter. They were trying to encroach on the cucumber's bed and vice versa, lol.

    Next year I will warm up the soil with black plastic and start them a little earlier. I was delayed due to trying to get them locally but finally gave up on Morrison's and got them at Burpees. This is one of those plants that seed companies will only ship when the time is right for you to plant them."

    https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/sweet-potatoes/sweet-potato-georgia-jet-prod000945.html
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,826 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Has anyone had blossom drop in your tomatoes? I planted 4 plants: 2 Rutgers (heirloom red slicers), 1 yellow pear, and one Lemon Boy (yellow slicer). My plants have all thrived but the Lemon Boy has not set a single fruit. All the rest are setting lots of fruit and I have just started harvesting so I know the problem is not the soil, water, or nutrients. I am wondering if the Lemon Boy was just not the right variety for my space. I have never had this issue in 40 years of growing tomatoes (off and on depending on where I was living). I pulled it out yesterday. If it hasn't set fruit yet, it is not worth it.

    Any thoughts?

    Welllll . . . it still could be weather-related, or nutrient related. Usually blossom drop is a stress reaction of some kind, and it's absolutely the case that different varieties have different heat preferences, different resistances to diseases, different sensitivities to nutrient deficiences or other sub-ideal conditions, etc. Plants are weird. ;)

    ETA: Could try hand pollinating, if you can catch 'em at the right time.

    Does that happen with pumpkin plants too? I noticed tons of blossoms, lots of bees, but the blossoms drop off and...nothing. I have a couple pumpkins growing but the majority of blossoms produced nothing.

    And as far as tomatoes, my plants look like bushes, but some plants have as few as 2 flowers while some seem to be growing several tomatoes of quite a good size(none turning red yet though, soon). All 6 tomato plants came in the same pack; I did have to transplant 3 of them because they were dying when I first planted them(in a hot place where the soil wasn't that good). It's weird because my sister's tomato plants are skinny and scraggly but have tons of tomatoes growing. :/

    How long has the pumpkin thing been going on? Some blossom drop early is kinda normal. The squashes (pumpkin is basically a squash, Cucurbita genus) have separate male & female flowers. It's not unusual for the boys to pop open first, then they get sad because they can't make baby squash, and the girls aren't there yet to make whoopee with (with bees or whatever as intermediaries), so the first round of boy blossoms get super sad and drop off. The girls are sometimes a little later, so the boys who show up later do their pollinating thing, then drop off (still can't make babies), but you start seeing pumpkins so the drop is less evident. However, if it's been a while, and you're pretty sure you've got enough girl/boy mixing for a square dance, then something else is interfering with pollination, possibly weather since you mention ample bees. (You can tell the male & female blooms apart: Google will show you photos, if you ask.)

    Tomatoes plants that are very well-fed will sometimes over-produce vines, and under-produce fruit. If you have richer soil, or a more lavish hand with fertilizer, that could account for differences between your tomatoes, and your sisters. But I'm speculating.

    :)

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Has anyone had blossom drop in your tomatoes? I planted 4 plants: 2 Rutgers (heirloom red slicers), 1 yellow pear, and one Lemon Boy (yellow slicer). My plants have all thrived but the Lemon Boy has not set a single fruit. All the rest are setting lots of fruit and I have just started harvesting so I know the problem is not the soil, water, or nutrients. I am wondering if the Lemon Boy was just not the right variety for my space. I have never had this issue in 40 years of growing tomatoes (off and on depending on where I was living). I pulled it out yesterday. If it hasn't set fruit yet, it is not worth it.

    Any thoughts?

    Welllll . . . it still could be weather-related, or nutrient related. Usually blossom drop is a stress reaction of some kind, and it's absolutely the case that different varieties have different heat preferences, different resistances to diseases, different sensitivities to nutrient deficiences or other sub-ideal conditions, etc. Plants are weird. ;)

    ETA: Could try hand pollinating, if you can catch 'em at the right time.

    That is kind of what I was thinking, my conditions are great for the other varieties but not for the Lemon Boy (they are all planted in the same garden bed). I did try hand pollinating and still no fruit set.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,826 Member
    So, here's the rationale for the "don't buy basil plants, buy basil seeds" suggestion I made early in the season.

    I got a late start, planted seeds in a big pot around the end of June (I think it was 6/29). About 5 weeks later, and they've grown in thick, and at a height to start thinning - could've strarted thinning a week ago. A whole seed packet is close enough to the price of a small potted plant, possibly 2. (My seed packets are manufacturer-marked $2.49 (USD) but I think I paid a little less.) I'll have basil to keep cutting in small amounts until frost. I'd get more from the same amount of seeds if in the ground. (I stuck my hand in the photo for scale.)

    klbdkx61qk9g.jpg
    l9dhbtg1fkkk.jpg

    I thickly-planted dill seed in a similar pot at the same time. It's still small (like 6-8"), but I thinned enough today to use in the pasta with chevre I had for lunch, and it'll keep on coming. Cilantro's a little slower, with a lower germination rate, but it's around 4-6" now, too.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,990 Member
    Since yesterday was August 8, I shouldn't have been surprised to see this on my porch:

    n4k0omji4dpo.jpg


    It is huge. Silly neighbors....

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    Speaking of zucchini, I got this email today:

    https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/best-zucchini-bread-recipe-ideas/

    I haven't made that particular chocolate/zucchini bread, but that (or chocolate zucchini cake) is my favorite.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    from the garden after the rain
    granny smith
    032b1n3dx5h0.png

    elderberry
    z7a0fu1z171l.png
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,990 Member
    Even though there's still a Marketmore cucumber and what I was told was a delicata out there, I cleaned/prepped part of one of the beds yesterday and planted my fall lettuce/salad greens. I hope it wasn't too soon.

    I need to get more beet seeds, but I'm just minimizing my shopping trips.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    from the garden after the rain
    granny smith
    032b1n3dx5h0.png

    elderberry
    z7a0fu1z171l.png

    Beautiful!
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    So, what does everyone plant for fall? I have never done fall plantings :p I want to get some cold frames set up on the south side of the house, against the brick. My husband is worried about bugs (currently surrounded by pea gravel), but our old house had mulch up to the foundation? Really wanting to do garlic again this year, I did it years ago and it was a satisfying harvest.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    Wow, first we were over run by green beans. Now that they're done, we've got cucumbers coming out our ears. Lol
    I picked 12 of them just today.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I've never done fall planting either, but maybe this year I will.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    So, what does everyone plant for fall? I have never done fall plantings :p I want to get some cold frames set up on the south side of the house, against the brick. My husband is worried about bugs (currently surrounded by pea gravel), but our old house had mulch up to the foundation? Really wanting to do garlic again this year, I did it years ago and it was a satisfying harvest.

    This year I am planting fall blooming crocus. These are the ones that produce saffron. The closest to fall planting I do is second plantings of spring crops like lettuce and spinach
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,990 Member
    So, what does everyone plant for fall? I have never done fall plantings :p I want to get some cold frames set up on the south side of the house, against the brick. My husband is worried about bugs (currently surrounded by pea gravel), but our old house had mulch up to the foundation? Really wanting to do garlic again this year, I did it years ago and it was a satisfying harvest.

    I cleared out part of a bed a couple days ago and planted greens. I need to get more beet seeds, and then have to figure out what gets torn up to plant them, or what I can plant them under. I don't even bother trying to grow fall carrots anymore.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    no fall planting.
    got one tomato. i've got a few peppers ripening and a few more tomatoes. i had green beans and blackberries. wildlife got those
    not a plant but i do like my birds and refilled my bird feeder and set up a suet feeder
    3w7zlfsmea0e.png