Discussion Board

My 'maters and beans and melons really aren't setting fruit. Cukes, zucchini, peppers are all doing great.

I'm in the mid South (Zone 6b), red clay soil on top of an old chicken coop site (no chickens there for about 2 years), amended with composted manure and hay (from the horses) and bone meal. I do supplement feeding with a little Miracle Grow for tomatoes/vegetables. Full sun site, gets ample water.

Any suggestions??

Do your tomatoes usually set fruit this early? I'm Mid-Atlantic so I know your season is longer and earlier than mine. I'm just now getting some blooms on my tomatoes.

Just a thought..... You may be feeding them too much. Tomatoes are descended from wild weedy plants. Too much nitrogen makes for lovely green plants, but not so much in the way of fruit. If your soil is nice and healthy from your composing and all, the supplemental feeding is not necessary. I did a cover crop and spread out whatever compost I had, used some liquid fertilizer when transplanting in May, and that was it. I had plenty to share. Columbus, Ohio is zone 6b, I think, well, depending on the winter.

The melons may be a pollinator issue, but then if your other cucurbits are setting, that doesn't make sense. I don't know, do melons require cross pollination?

I'm wondering if there's too much N in the soil from the old chicken coop.

Faith, they should be set and big by now and spending June ripening.

Plumerias, I don't know about cross pollination requirements, but I will go at them with a Q-tip. We have ample pollinators, but that doesn't mean they are doing a good job on the melons. I fed the tomatoes once, other than amending the soil with compost prior to planting.

Thanks everyone.

When I grew cantaloupes I didn't need to do any manual pollenating. I let nature do it's thing. But maybe with the lack of bees (not in my area thank God).

I had just read about tomatoes like lower nitrogen. I always used miracle grow before but now using a lower nitrogen fertilizer.

I'm getting blooms.

OH and I did see one pepper starting.

I finally have a couple of baby watermelons and tomatoes. The cantaloupes are still being stubborn. Maybe no crop this year.

I remember one year Chile (on the board here) didn't get any squash because all the plants were male.

Tomatoes are starting to set some fruit.

Went to the co-op this week to ask about the melons. I have plenty of flowers and enough plants that it would be statistically unlikely to have just males. Plus, I'm getting some that look like they are starting to fruit, but they yellow and fall off before really setting. They have an ovule like a female, even though they don't grow into fruit. The lady at the co-op says they might not be getting pollenated. Which would be strange since they are right by the cukes, which are heavy with fruit. She also thought they might be all males. I added some phosphorus in case that was the problem.

On the plus side, the watermelons are doing well!

if the cukes have fruit that you have something pollinating for you - for sure. hehe my lawn is so full of clover. I keep there to keep the bees around to help my pollination.

unfortunately I'm not that educated on looking at the blooms to tell what is male and what is female. Just my train of thought if watermelons are working, then there must be something wrong with the plant. I am sure you've searched the web. I really would be interested in what you find. This little forum really helps me and educates me. I have had no formal training, and very little help on learning to garden.

My sweet potato plants are doing nothing. Not growing or anything. Now I wish I hadn't tried it. I'd love to have some kind of melon. I use grow canatloupes back in 1980. The second year, they ate up by rats. So I decided not to grow melons until I am in the country. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate rats.