I thought you might like to see my little experiment with covering da zukes against Mr. SVB
Both of these beds were planted at the same time with the same varieties and the plants came up at the same time.
Here is the uncovered:
At that same time, here is the covered:
That time I tied the thin row cover over a PVC frame I had made.
"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner." -- Duncan Hines
Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 26, 2014 20:44:34 GMT -5
Ellie,
I'm glad you had some luck with the cover; I tried covering a row after 10 yrs. of growing nothing SVBs, and did not get a single squash before they all died from it. That is when I realized that they are coming up out of the ground, and there is something else they are growing on - probably weeds in my garden!
My zukes do seem to growing faster. I uncovered them today, and already they are larger than the first ones. I added a piece of mosquito dunk, along with some water soluble "bloom" fertilizer to the reservoir. We'll see what happens.
I'm glad you had some luck with the cover; I tried covering a row after 10 yrs. of growing nothing SVBs, and did not get a single squash before they all died from it. That is when I realized that they are coming up out of the ground, and there is something else they are growing on - probably weeds in my garden!
My zukes do seem to growing faster. I uncovered them today, and already they are larger than the first ones. I added a piece of mosquito dunk, along with some water soluble "bloom" fertilizer to the reservoir. We'll see what happens.
What will the mosquito dunk do?
Don't know why the ones I had covered didn't have any damage from SVB coming out of the ground. Maybe the black plastic helped? But they could have come out of the planting holes. I made a post in the zucchini section (I think it was) that said the adults don't feed. (don't know if that is true or not) Do you mean that the larvae are growing on weeds?
Darned bugs.
"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner." -- Duncan Hines
Don't know why the ones I had covered didn't have any damage from SVB coming out of the ground. Maybe the black plastic helped? But they could have come out of the planting holes. I made a post in the zucchini section (I think it was) that said the adults don't feed. (don't know if that is true or not) Do you mean that the larvae are growing on weeds?
Darned bugs.
Those dunks kill the mosquito larvae, and mosquitoes can lay the eggs in that reservoir - it's a small opening, but they can find it! The dunks have BT israelensis, and also work against fungus gnats. One dunk treats a much larger area than the 2 gal. reservoir, so I break it into quarters, which is still more than needed.
I would not be surprised that the SVB adults don't feed, as this happens in a lot of insects. I assume it is the larvae in those "weeds" or whatever they are growing in, and they pupate in the soil, and wait to come out the next season - right into my garden!
Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 7, 2014 23:16:38 GMT -5
Today I uncovered the zukes and harvested 6 zukes, about 6-7 inches, but I also pulled a bunch of undeveloped ones - looked like the unpollinated ones on a regular squash plant! I also cut a bunch of the overgrown portion from it - it had grown off the one side and kept pulling the cover over, and it kept blowing out from under the bungee cord on the other side. I finally moved the EB to an area that does not get the wind, like in the other location (though it will get a little less light). I also used a bunch of spring clips to attach the cover to the bungee cord - we'll see if it works. I also added a drip emitter to the hole, so it will emit more than the eggplant EB, and set the timer to water every 8 hours, instead of 12. I figured that maybe it was drying out some before the next watering, even though it tested totally wet when I'd check in the morning, and when I'd start working in the evening - after each watering. Maybe this is why all those undeveloped squash were there.
Hopefully the increased water will help. I imagine it does take a lot of water to grow those huge leaves and fruits.
I've had mixed results with parthenocarpic cucumbers (I haven't grown parthenocarpic zukes yet). Some varieties develop nearly every fruit perfectly, and other varieties have had lots of undeveloped or partly developed fruit. If they had not been parthenocarpic cucumbers, I would have assumed that the blooms were not pollinated, or were inadequately pollinated. I wonder whether some parthenocarpic varieties are just pickier about environmental conditions, since many of them were bred for greenhouse production under controlled conditions.
What I am saying is that you've proven that this method of covering the Earthbox works - you have healthy plants safe from SVBs. If the increased watering does not work, you may want to try other parthenocarpic zucchini varieties to see if another type might produce more reliably for you.
Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 7, 2014 23:17:50 GMT -5
I got a few more very small zukes, but I finally gave up on it, and after a few weeks of neglect, it got PM. No SVBs still, so that was a success, and the PM didn't show up until well after I stopped spraying with oil/bicarb weekly. Next year I'll try a different variety, and hopefully I'll get better zukes. If the parthenocarpic don't work again, I'll have to try a bush variety, and hand pollinate it.
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