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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:52 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:16 am
Posts: 89
Location: southeast NH, USA
Is this a new garden? If you did well with this plot before, but are failing this year, I do not know enough to have any suggestions. But if it is a new garden, I would start with a complete soil test. Contact your local agricultural authorities (in my area, it is a state university) and ask about the process. I paid $20 for mine, and it was a real eye opener!

CT


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:06 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:34 am
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Location: semi-rural Nebraska 41ºN
It sounds like your soil needs some improvement. What is the soil like, where you planted? Have you added organic matter? An inexpensive way to improve the soil over the winter is to collect bags of leaves, chop the leaves if possible, or go over them with a mower, then dig this into the soil. By spring the leaves will have decomposed and your soil will be soft and rich. I agree with glassbird, a soil test can be helpful too.

If your soil is low in nutrients you can get organic fertilizers, such as rock powders, that will correct the problem. Once you have enough organic matter built up in the soil (might take a couple of years) you won't need to add these fertilizers every year. I use some alfalfa meal (nitrogen source) now but otherwise the nutrients stay in balance from the mulch we add every year.

With enough organic matter (leaves, compost, mulch), enough nutrients and enough water, your garden should flourish.

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:40 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:38 pm
Posts: 1515
Debbie-
What time of day did you take these pix? Most veggies need all day sun, but especially tomatoes. They really need full sun, am-pm. The hottest time of day is the later pm. It looks like there is a lot of shade where they are planted.

Sort of looks like snails eating the plant leaves. Try setting some beer out in small flat dishes that they can crawl into. They crawl into the dish, then drink the beer, then can't crawl out & drown. Bad to use snail bait. Kids & Pets-a no-no.

Jan


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:43 am 
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:36 am
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Location: Traveling North America
Yes, there are both male and female flowers, but I cannot find a good set of pictures to help you to know the difference. Obviously, you need both to be open at the same time for pollination to occur. Do you have multiple plants?


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:47 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:45 pm
Posts: 4132
Location: Falls Church, VA
it didn't look that bad Debbie. I've had a really hard summer and bad growing year, and believe me, I keep thinking this is the worst I've ever done.

Now that our break the records summer is starting to cool a bit, I'm amazed at how plants are taking off. I might have a garden after all.

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:31 pm 
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Google "zucchini blossoms male female" on Google Images. It's the best I can find to show you the differences. The male flower has a long, slim part that attaches it to the plant. The female's is shorter and has a slight swelling at the base, which, when fertilized, becomes the fruit. If you're going to go to the trouble to pollinate by hand, do it very early in the day.

Next year consider planting some flowers in your vegetable garden. Choose a variety of flower types so as to attract a lot of different kinds of pollinators and other beneficial insects. Bees aren't the only insect that can do the deed.


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:32 am 
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Also, if I remember correctly, each flower is only open for one day.


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:13 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:34 am
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Location: semi-rural Nebraska 41ºN
debbie, I think that you can take a male flower that hasn't opened yet, pull the petals off carefully to open it, and use it to pollinate a female flower that HAS opened. However I would guess that they both have to be fresh & living--I don't think picking and saving the male flower for a few days would work, or I would have read about this technique in my seed-saving books.

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diagnosed with lyme disease March 2010

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:17 am 
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Location: semi-rural Nebraska 41ºN
She thinks you're 'messing with nature,' but she eats factory produced eggs...? Ay-yi-yi (facepalm).

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10th yr on program: age=58, BMI=18, b/p=110/70, tc=126, McD=100%.
diagnosed with lyme disease March 2010

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:21 am 
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Location: Falls Church, VA
I haven't every gotten into pollenating my own veggies. I do watch to make sure I see bees or butterflies by them though. So I guess we are lucky to still have something flying around.

For the first year in many, I finally am seeing honey bees. They are sticking to the clover but I am so excited to be seeing them. I keep wondering if a neighbor might have started a hive. It's not something I'd expect in my area but you never know. I'm also amazed at how many people have dug up part of their lawn to put in a garden.

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:23 am 
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Location: semi-rural Nebraska 41ºN
debbie, if you do get a zucch, I'm sure it will be the most delicious one in all of history!!!

Here's an article about the farm ("facility") in Iowa where the egg outbreak started...the details are pretty interesting. This company is known for sloppy practices and cutting corners, but they are rich and powerful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/27eggs.html?hpw

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10th yr on program: age=58, BMI=18, b/p=110/70, tc=126, McD=100%.
diagnosed with lyme disease March 2010

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:39 pm 
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debbie wrote:
Alright, the female zuke flower opened just in time for it to get cold and of course the bees and butterflies arent flying. So I did grab a male flower, pulled off the petals and touched the stamen to the female. Hopefully that was enough. Because of the heat we had for a couple of days, the zuke doubled in size, but now I am not so sure how it will do. We have at least 4 days of under 75 degrees before warm returns. Lovely.


That should work.

Also did you know that you can eat the male flowers? I used to eat them stuffed with cheese and deep fried so I'll have to work on finding a healthier version. They don't have to be cooked. One warning though is make sure you don't have a bee in it if you go to take a bite!

I'll also second the comment of interplanting some flowers. Borage works well to draw lots of pollinators to the garden.


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:31 am 
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Location: Falls Church, VA
Debbie
Does your frost come that early? My tomatoes still have and are growing more blossoms so I'm hoping for the tomatoes to last a while since I didn't get many this summer.

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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:00 am 
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Debbie, if you wait until after frost to eat your carrots they will be even better! The sugars start to convert when it's cold and they are amazing then!


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 Post subject: Re: My garden sucks!!!!
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:58 pm 
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Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:49 pm
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Location: Los Angeles,Ca, USA
Our squash--we had several types --were doing ok, then when it got hot they just dryed up. I think my hubby got water on the leaves and they sort of got moldy.
I never thought of hand pollinating.
I have wondered about the flowers as well. I was thinking that a few petals chopped up and just added to a dish. Or could they be dried and then made into a powder to add color. I will have to try it out next year.
Any way I think your garden looks great. Ours is really at the end. We sure got lots of tomatoes.

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