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Post by daylilydude on Apr 25, 2020 4:39:32 GMT -5
Do you have a vegetable you wish you could get to grow well, but so far it's not going your way?
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 25, 2020 7:48:36 GMT -5
I guess that my biggest challenge is growing summer squash. The Squash Vine borer is a terrible pest of squash and they always get into my summer squash no matter what I have tried.
I don't use pesticides so I have to rely on staggered planting to get decent amounts of squash.
This is probably my most difficult vegetable to grow but we like it so it's worth the extra trouble.
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Post by paulf on Apr 25, 2020 9:06:27 GMT -5
Since the lady I have lived with for 49 years has taken over growing most of the vegetables we grow the one difficulty is potatoes. No problem in growing, just in harvesting. There are lots of potatoes, just not really big, nice ones no matter the variety. I have tried several methods, even the trashcan method to no avail.
This year it is the 'dig a trench, put in the whole seed potato, cover lightly with soil, then add straw and mulch as the plant grows up and continue covering with straw and mulch up to ground level' method. I get new potatoes but not baking sized. Must be the soil is not right for spuds.
On the fruit side, melons are my bane.
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 25, 2020 9:37:01 GMT -5
paulf , 2 years ago I read somewhere that planting the seed potatoes a foot apart gave much bigger potatoes. I did that and sure enough I got really large, baking sized Kennebec potatoes finally after having the same problem as you did for several previous years. As you know I use the straw method but I do not dig a trench, I just scratch back the soil a bit, lay down the seed potatoes cover lightly with soil and then cover with straw. One year I tried a trench and got less production. I felt like maybe it kept the tubers and roots too cool and damp. I don't know for sure but now I don't use a trench.
DSC00880 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by octave1 on Apr 25, 2020 10:23:07 GMT -5
Sweet corn. I never grew a decent crop of corn ever.. On top of that it gets ravaged by raccoons, so I don't really have an incentive to try to do better. Thankfully it's cheap enough to buy in season, and after a couple of dinners I am good.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 25, 2020 10:25:34 GMT -5
Spinach and cauliflower are the two that just won't grow well for me! Spinach bolts, before it's produced much at all, and I've tried many varieties, and fall plantings, and even indoor! Cauliflower is another one that either bolts, or just doesn't really get very large, before summer heat, and doesn't do well to grow late, either, despite all those other brassicas that do well for me.
Cilantro is an herb that acts like spinach for me - bolts before I get enough for one use!
There are other plants that are easy to grow, but I'm not going to be growing, due to pests. The SVB prevents me from growing most squash. I've tried everything, including covering the plants, to seal them off, which works with pepper maggot flies, but these things show up, no matter what I tried, and often killed the plants before a single squash developed. And I only grew potatoes once, because of the insects they attracted, which didn't bother them, but wiped out many other plants. I don't like them enough to deal with that, plus, I don't have a root cellar.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Apr 25, 2020 11:06:40 GMT -5
Summer squash, due to SVBs. I am trying again (which is probably stupid and futile). SVBs usually start up in May and my plants aren't blooming yet.
Spinach is very hit and miss for me. Usually a miss, but a couple of times spinach has done really well, just often enough to keep me trying! It helps when we have a cold winter.
Cauliflower is also hit or miss for me, but usually it's a miss. I keep trying, though, because I like cauliflower.
I never got beets to make a harvestable root...which is okay, since it turns out I don't care for beets. (Yes, I tried growing beets before I tried eating them. Then after I failed at growing them a couple of times, I bought some beets from the store eat and realized there was no reason for me to grow them again.)
For fruits, strawberries. I get a few small (but tasty) berries, and that's it. Frustrating, because I love strawberries.
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Post by spike on Apr 25, 2020 11:29:15 GMT -5
Hit or miss for me would be broccoli, turnips, carrots and beets. Brussels Sprouts refuse to cooperate with me. I love them and they mock me. As long as the rains are reasonable and Noah and his dang arc are not floating through my garden >,< I do pretty well with everything else.
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Post by guruofgardens on Apr 25, 2020 15:50:24 GMT -5
Eggplant and cauliflower do not like my soil - or something. The eggplant plant will grow, flower, and then may produce a small fruit or two. Cauliflower will not head, only put out shoots. Melons - our growing season is too short to grow presentable ones.
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Post by coppice on Apr 28, 2020 3:26:32 GMT -5
Pawpaw was my biggest lift. I got one only to grow in the first four years of trials from seed. I stopped freezing or drying seed and I got them to grow every year. This year I have gotten them to start under lights--so that I may have bigger seedlings that over winter better. All in all about a twenty year lift.
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Post by farmerjack41 on May 3, 2020 22:02:42 GMT -5
Carrots for sure. Trying to keep them damp enough to sprout. Have best luck covering the seeds with boards, but not a total answer.
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Post by carolyn on May 4, 2020 6:30:25 GMT -5
Brussel Sprouts. dang. I grew about 50 of them last year and I don't think I managed to get 5 plants to make large enough sprouts to harvest. WHAT is the magic key? pinching them out doesn't work, ripping off all the lower leaves didn't show any improvement... what do crop farmers do when they are planting ACRES of them? surely they don't do any of these silly things we do to get a crop. not on acres of plants....
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Post by september on May 4, 2020 9:49:35 GMT -5
Carrots - my own fault because I sow too thick and thin too little and too late. But if I sow thinly, then most don't germinate and I have big gaps. Maybe one year in five I have a good crop. Good spinach too is rare here, gets put in too late and then bolts in heat. The best spinach I ever had were fall seedlings left in the ground over the winter under a late fall lettuce hoop covering. Man, did those take off the following spring.
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Post by Hensaplenty on May 4, 2020 13:15:32 GMT -5
Summer squash for the same reasons mentioned. Heavy pest load. Still keep trying though! :-)
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Post by ahntjudy on May 9, 2020 0:09:48 GMT -5
This year, probably kale...Only because of the cabbage moth which is very prevalent here... All the kale plantings need to be covered up well...and I don't have the kale all in one spot which does make it kind of a pain...
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Post by paquebot on May 9, 2020 7:16:17 GMT -5
farmerjack41, if you happen to have any burlap, that will also work to keep carrot seed damp enough to germinate. My most obstinate thing was broad beans. Tried various varieties and even brought some back from England. If it were not poor pollination, it would be aphids. Effort wasn't worth the one little bowl that I'd end up with. Martin The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by farmerjack41 on May 9, 2020 21:29:33 GMT -5
Yes, I agree burlap is the ticket. Hard to find any more around here. Bought some at a fabric store once and it was so poor. Did not last five minutes. At one time you could get large burlap bags from the hop growers, but now they have gone to a different material when they bale hops. This last seeding I put down row cover and then thin layer of grass clippings. Seems to be helping. Big problem I have is the wind drying the top of the soil so fast.
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Post by carolyn on May 10, 2020 7:26:23 GMT -5
This year, probably kale...Only because of the cabbage moth which is very prevalent here... All the kale plantings need to be covered up well...and I don't have the kale all in one spot which does make it kind of a pain... Use dipel or spinosad (same product) it is a natural bacteria harmless to mammals or other insects. it only works on caterpillars.
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Post by spike on May 10, 2020 16:45:57 GMT -5
Marion tomatoes >,<
So my cousin and his lady live next door to me. GUESS HER NAME! She knows I start from seed so . . .
She gives me this pack of seeds from 2018 and tells me how her friend bought them for her cause they are named after her. She tells me how expensive these seeds were because they are organic!!! ($1.99 sheesh) Now I do not take orders on my seed starting. I grow for my needs and share extras but okay FINE!
These nasty suckers were refusing to do anything. Tried 10 seeds at a time 3 times and nothing. Again I was informed how EXPENSIVE those seeds were cause they were organic (again right on the package $1.99) grrr Like I have nothing better to do with my time than to grow these VERY EXPENSIVE ORGANIC tomatoes. (I may be cranky) >,<
Finally I managed to get 5 of these suckers to start so am so crossing my fingers!
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Post by octave1 on May 10, 2020 20:12:09 GMT -5
paquebot , last year I had loads of broad beans without planting any! I got rid of an "old" bag of dry broad (fava) beans dumping it in the compost, and raked the compost on a vegetable bed the following Spring without thinking much. Unexpectedly all of the beans germinated, although I never intended to grow any. Since it looked like a gift, I did not have the heart to pull those plants even if the bed had been destined to tomatoes. I sort of ignored them and they grew really thick, of course they were never spaced, but I was OK because I know that Fava beans enrich the soil where they are planted. I also harvested and ate quite a few fresh Fava beans, but at some point I let it go until the August heat did them in and they became compost (again). I don't know if any of them will come back again from the dry pods, they might, just hope they pick the right spot this time. I'd like to add that these Fava beans were brown and small when dry, and not as flat as "regular" fava beans. They were definitively Fava beans but not a variety that I was/am familiar with. The plants only grew to to 2-3 ft, but they were loaded with blossoms and later pods. Perhaps if you can identify the variety you may be able to acquire the seeds, which I'm sure you can grow without any problem.
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Post by september on May 10, 2020 21:33:52 GMT -5
Now I do not take orders on my seed starting. I grow for my needs and share extras but okay FINE! At least you finally got some going! I got a little irritated at my sister a few days ago, she was badgering me on whether I would have enough Snow White cherries in my give-aways "because everyone likes them". I got snippy and told her I grow for myself and am more interested in new varieties than growing stuff I've grown before, and I like big tomatoes better than most cherries anyway. Of course, I AM growing Snow Whites, Black Cherries, and Sungolds which I know she likes and I do keep one plant of each for myself, but I don't like being expected to grow and supply them to her friends. Like spike said, they are welcome to all my extras, but don't tell me what to grow! I have too many plants as it is, without making more work for myself.
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Post by spike on May 10, 2020 22:01:51 GMT -5
don't tell me what to grow THANK YOU! And if you are going to give me old arse seeds yelling at me how expensive they are and how organic they are is gonna make me wanna pop ya one!
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dirtguy50
Pro Member
My avatar got in trouble for digging in the garden
Posts: 255
Zone:: 6b
Joined: February 2014
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Post by dirtguy50 on May 10, 2020 22:09:44 GMT -5
Carrots. They hate me.
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Post by carolyn on May 11, 2020 7:28:31 GMT -5
don't tell me what to grow THANK YOU! And if you are going to give me old arse seeds yelling at me how expensive they are and how organic they are is gonna make me wanna pop ya one! Oh nononononononno... if you want me to grow seeds they have to be fresh seeds. not sold on a different year date than present.... no way no how don't expect anything from old seeds. its a good luck, I will give them a try. don't expect much... they are old. then laugh at the "expensive" bwa haa haaa haaaa haaaaaaaa. those were cheap!... you should see some of the seeds I skip over... some are 1.00 a piece.
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Post by brownrexx on May 11, 2020 8:51:11 GMT -5
I don't like being expected to grow and supply them to her friends. I once had someone tell me that she doesn't bother with the work of a garden because her MIL gives her veggies. I thought that it was rude that she expected her MIL to provide her with veggies. Some people are like that.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 11, 2020 12:04:10 GMT -5
I would have asked her what she gives her MIL in exchange for all of those veggies and the hard work and expense that goes into raising them. (If she said she doesn't bother with the work of a garden, she clearly understands that gardens require work.)
I hate that entitled attitude.
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Post by brownrexx on May 11, 2020 14:16:56 GMT -5
I hate that entitled attitude. Me too.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on May 11, 2020 23:05:54 GMT -5
English peas. The season between warm enough to sprout the seed and hot enough to kill the plants grew too short several years ago. Too bad because they are so much better than canned. Same thing for Sugarsnap Peas.
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Post by domination2580th on Aug 21, 2020 11:34:04 GMT -5
Broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce for me...
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