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I'm back with more pepper concerns: Healthy pepper:  Sad pepper:  The only real difference between the two is that the sad pepper is in a slightly smaller pot, and the happy pepper had a bunch of bugs crawling around in the soil until recently. I've been watering them both from the base/trough of and not directly in the planter, and both have been receiving a nitrogen-rich plant food every week. The sad pepper was growing bigger (despite not producing fruit) than the other for a long time. Any guesses or suggestions? I'm thinking I'll move the sad pepper over to the shade so it only gets an hour or two of direct sun a day, in stead of from sunrise until noon.
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Jun 8, 2019 07:20
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Grand Fromage posted:So I forgot to bake this Japanese sweet potato I had and Gstu posted:I'm back with more pepper concerns: If they're being properly watered and it isn't too much sun, the next guess is some kind of fungal wilt, which is caused by fungi in the soil. If that's what it is, chances are the plant is toast. Sometimes plants with fungal wilt will get over it on their own, but there's no soil treatment or anything like that that I know of. Getting the soil hot enough will kill fungal wilt fungi, but that'll usually kill the plant as well. Since it's in a container by itself and fungal wilt propagates through the soil there's not much risk in just seeing how it goes. You will want to sterilize the container before putting anything else in it. Same with the soil. If you have compost that'll get hot enough to sterilize it, that'll work. Leaving it out in the Summer sun under black plastic or something like that will do the same thing. That's not to say it absolutely is fungal wilt, but if it ain't sun or water, that would be my next guess.
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Jun 8, 2019 10:12
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Something else worth considering is that the sad one is by a wall. I've had walls nuke my plants in the past when they got lots of sun. That plus the smaller pot could be drying it out too quickly.
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Jun 8, 2019 17:55
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That's interesting. What is special about being near a wall in the sun?
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Jun 8, 2019 19:35
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Internet Explorer posted:That's interesting. What is special about being near a wall in the sun? I'm no expert but the wall would get hot and reflect back light and heat, I think. The other one's in front of a window and the glass lets light through so doesn't get as hot or reflect as much. I think. 5th grade science.
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Jun 8, 2019 19:42
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Yep. We have 100-degree days here, and our white cinder block wall that gets lots of sun will fry plants left too close to it. Probably not a common problem though.
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Jun 8, 2019 19:48
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It's interesting to me because we have potted plants sitting on a trellis next to a pillar that also absorbs heat. But with this plant, the leaves on the far side of the pillar and closest to the sun wilt first. So maybe the pillar doesn't absorb enough light/heat. Still interesting.
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Jun 9, 2019 01:30
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Any suggestions for a reputable seed site/catalog that would include some variety of Brussels Sprouts? Not Baker Creek
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Jun 10, 2019 14:14
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Dukket posted:Any suggestions for a reputable seed site/catalog that would include some variety of Brussels Sprouts? Not Baker Creek I've been quite partial to West Coast Seeds. They tend to have a good selection of most vegetables and I've had near perfect germination rates. The main caveat is they are based in Canada, so there's a few seeds that can't be shipped across the border, but I don't think brussel sprouts are one of those.
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Jun 10, 2019 17:51
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Dukket posted:Any suggestions for a reputable seed site/catalog that would include some variety of Brussels Sprouts? Not Baker Creek I like seed savers exchange. Ive ordered some sprouts from there that I started from seed that are doing well so far in my garden.
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Jun 10, 2019 18:23
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Dukket posted:Any suggestions for a reputable seed site/catalog that would include some variety of Brussels Sprouts? Not Baker Creek
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Jun 10, 2019 21:15
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I like Johnny's Selected Seeds. Here's their brussels sprouts: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/brussels-sprouts/
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Jun 10, 2019 21:27
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Finally got my garden planted yesterday, right before a few days of a ton of rain are expected. Everything looks healthy and green today after a night in the 50s and a day of rain (except maybe a few of the scrawnier tomato seedlings) so I think I pulled off everything ok. Was too exhausted to take pictures so I'm hoping by next weekend I'll have a bunch of shots of everything that's popped up from all the rain. Tomatoes, different kinds of peppers, bunch of herbs. Nothing special. 50/50 store bought and home grown from seeds. I planted some onions in one section because I bought a box of it Lowes a month ago for $4 on impulse. I had forgotten entirely about it and a bunch of the onions had started to already sprout in the box. I had no idea what I was doing so I just kind of buried them all scattered under some dirt and I'll see what happens. It was just $4.
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Jun 10, 2019 22:30
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STAC Goat posted:I had no idea what I was doing so I just kind of buried them all scattered under some dirt and I'll see what happens. It was just $4. They'll do fine. If you'd spent  for a dozen artisinal heritage OP organic noGMO seeds in a month's time you'd have one scrawny leaf sticking out of a corner of the bed. Don't ask how I know this.
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Jun 10, 2019 23:17
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Moved all my project peppers to bigger pots. Habanero, Bhut Jolokia, chocolate Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, 7 Pot Bubblegum, Black Pearl, and Fatalii. Excited for the choc scorpion and the bubblegum as I've never had either of them and I have heard great things about both. Also finished a batch of hot sauce last week - I fermented garlic cloves and habaneros for six weeks in a salt brine then drained and pureed with some apple cider vinegar and balsamic to get the right consistency then added some smoked paprika and cumin. Holy poo poo is it fantastic. I will never buy hot sauce again. edit: regarding Gstu's sad pepper - the woman that I got the scorp and the 7 pot from mentioned that excessive nitrogen can actually prevent peppers from fruiting. I know nothing about any of this, just relaying what she told me. FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jun 11, 2019 |
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Jun 11, 2019 00:58
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Try adding some of the brine next time too. It’s fantastic. I made a dozen woozy bottles from last year’s peppers and I really shouldn’t have given any away because I’m running out. I also used some of the Reapers for hot BBQ sauce that was also good. My cayenne this year are already a foot tall almost, and they’ll go with the Datil this year probably for sauce. Some will also get Caribbean Reds, but they’re looking a little behind. Tells me I need new grow lamps. The rest of them and the Reapers if I get any will get made into some super hot sauce that will not be enough for me for the year. I may get to even use my own garlic this year.
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Jun 11, 2019 02:10
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STAC Goat posted:Finally got my garden planted yesterday, right before a few days of a ton of rain are expected. Everything looks healthy and green today after a night in the 50s and a day of rain (except maybe a few of the scrawnier tomato seedlings) so I think I pulled off everything ok. Was too exhausted to take pictures so I'm hoping by next weekend I'll have a bunch of shots of everything that's popped up from all the rain. Onions are pretty easy to grow, next year do yourself a favor and do some shallots. If you are a serious home cook, you can save yourself a pretty significant amount of money by growing your own. Don't be super surprised if your onions don't have huge bulbs, they like a lot of cool weather, but even if they are small, they will still be pretty tasty, and you can always use the tops as green onions!
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Jun 11, 2019 02:10
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Yeah, I cook with a lot of onions (and sometimes shallots) so it seemed worth the try. I learn by throwing something at the wall and then learning from my mistakes. So next year I might actually have a plan if I get a few good bulbs this year.
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Jun 11, 2019 02:27
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Jhet posted:Try adding some of the brine next time too. It’s fantastic. I made a dozen woozy bottles from last year’s peppers and I really shouldn’t have given any away because I’m running out. I also used some of the Reapers for hot BBQ sauce that was also good. I bottled and gave away half of what I made and expected people to hate it because none of them are really into super hot stuff, but everyone has loved it so far. One guy already blew through the 6oz that I gave him. I think everyone was just expecting heat and nothing else, so the fact that it packs a lot of flavor surprised them. I think I want to try adding some kind of fruit to the next batch (replacing the garlic). Maybe pineapple or blueberry. Will have to experiment a bit.
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Jun 11, 2019 02:58
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This has been a very frustrating growing season so far. I kind of expected it, as it's the first year in our new house, and our garden is about 3000 ft lower in elevation than before. Despite starting them inside in February, none of my broccoli decided to start growing vigorously until about two weeks ago, just in time for it to start bolting this week. My greens are bolting, which isn't unexpected, but my swiss chard hasn't even given a harvest and it will probably be done next week. My tomatoes are slow to grow, but they are growing, i suspect that a little more fertilizer and some more warm weather will fix that problem, and I think I gambled too hard on my last batch of radishes, they don't seem to be growing very thick roots, so they might just get used for greens. Postives: the radishes that I've harvested were fantastic, french breakfast if any of you are looking for a new variety, the flavor is great, little spicy, but not a ton of bitterness, the greens were amazing. I roasted a bunch of turnips that I picked this weekend and they were great too, I should have grown more, but I haven't ever had much luck with turnips so I wasn't trying to get my hopes up. I'll start more in late july for a fall harvest, along with some rutabega. Honestly, if you want to sell somebody on home gardening, I think the best veggies to do are tomatoes and root veggies, nothing compares to fresh picked carrots, beets etc...
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Jun 11, 2019 03:29
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 What the hell is eating my plants? Every. single. thing. in my garden looks like this right now. Peppers, tomatoes, even the rhubarb and hops plant shows signs of the same thing. Is it aphids or something? I should say that since I sprayed everything down with insecticide soap it hasnt appeared to get worse. Question on zucchini too, is it to late to replant a few zucchinis? Im in zone 4a, my couple that survived the initial squirrel salvo got ate alive by whatever the above bug thing was and I thought I'd try to plant some more from seed. BaseballPCHiker fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Jun 11, 2019 |
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Jun 11, 2019 13:17
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Thanks for the catalog recs!
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Jun 11, 2019 13:53
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Tiny slugs and caterpillars will take bites like that. During the rainy part of spring I’d see mostly slugs munching the leaves but now that it’s warmer and dryer there are lots of caterpillars. Just have to be vigilant about your killing sweeps. Especially during and after the rain.
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Jun 11, 2019 16:48
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Yiggy posted:Tiny slugs and caterpillars will take bites like that. During the rainy part of spring I’d see mostly slugs munching the leaves but now that it’s warmer and dryer there are lots of caterpillars. Just have to be vigilant about your killing sweeps. Especially during and after the rain. What are sweeps? Or is it like killing on your sweeps? I have a habit now of getting down and looking up from under all my plants regularly getting rid of potential fuckery and its maybe helped?
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Jun 11, 2019 16:52
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:What are sweeps? Or is it like killing on your sweeps? I have a habit now of getting down and looking up from under all my plants regularly getting rid of potential fuckery and its maybe helped? Particularly when we had two weeks of rain and overcast weather I would go out in the morning and in the evening and check certain plants for slug activity and kill all the ones I’d find. There are certain plants they liked more than others that I would check under the leaves etc. I tried setting out beer traps but the catch was pitiful. Particularly when it’s raining I’d go out during the rain and you’ll see way more of them. Next year I plan to start slug baiting and trying to control the population much earlier in late winter. Several pages back I saw someone suggest going out with a flashlight at night to get them and someday I may do that but our toddler goes to bed so late I’ve never had the energy for it. As for it helping I don’t have any illusions that it’ll get rid of the slugs but it’s minimized some of the damage.
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Jun 11, 2019 20:05
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One of my favorite parts of watching people get into gardening is watching them go from “i wouldn’t hurt anything and I think slugs are cute” to “DO THEY MAKE NUCLEAR WEAPONS THAT WORK AGAINST BUGS AND SQUIRRELS?!?!?? WHY ISN’T NERVE GAS AVAILABLE FOR CIVILIAN USE?” in about a month. I don’t have a slug problem, but I have swarms I’d those black and red grasshoppers that turn into the huuuuge yellow and black ones. I’ve doused them in spinosad when they’re young and it does nothing. Neem oil does nothing. When they get big I get scared of them and think they’re all going to gang up on me one day and so I try not to offend them after mid June.
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Jun 11, 2019 20:22
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I think spinosad and neem are best against suckers rather than chewers. I honestly just smash things with my hands and feet when possible. Or chop them in half with my pruners.
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Jun 11, 2019 20:29
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I couldn’t bring myself to get a pellet gun for the squirrels— caging everything mostly took care of the problem. But slugs and other invertebrates, no quarter.
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Jun 11, 2019 20:58
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Yeah, as a hella suburban kid I used to think it was awesome when I'd spot a rabbit in the bushes occasionally. Now, I see the ending screen of Doom as a happy ending.
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Jun 11, 2019 21:49
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I might cage my peppers. Right now I have these cheap little trestles but I doubt they'll support them when they get big and have fruit. Protection against pests is a bonus. I have a fence up which is mostly there to keep out the deer. I imagine it might lessen the smaller guys but it won't stop them. I have buckets in my garden this year to collect rain water. Partly that's just for some free water but mostly I read somewhere (maybe here) that it might get the animals away from the tomatoes since they're mostly looking for water. I dunno. I can't think of any harm as long as I dump it regularly enough not to have mosquitos nesting. I've never really done pesticides or worried that much about bugs. A few years back some of those pretty caterpillers mowed through my entire herb garden when I was occupied for a week. Last year I found a ton of stuff on my herb pots. I feel like i have worse luck with them in pots than I do when they're in the ground, for some reason. I also laid mulch this year I think I read that's supposed to help. I dunno. The good thing with the spacing in my garden is that I can clearly see everything so I'll just have to remember to keep an eye out. Here's my garden after a day of rain. Everything seems to look good. Some of those little tomato plants or shaky and the habanero plants seem very sun scorched. But I think I'm mostly ok on the transfers. Its probably the best survival rate I've ever had, plus the cleanest, most organized garden I've ever put together.    I'm pleased and optimistic for this summer. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Jun 11, 2019 |
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Jun 11, 2019 21:52
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My garden plot at work was finally tilled, so I was able to put in some seeds. 2 bean teepees, 3 rows of corn (a bit low but I was planning on hand-pollinating anyway so hopefully it'll work out), 2 zucchini, 2 sunshine squash, 2 rows of beets, 3 rows of carrots, a scattering of blue nigella, and a few rows of zinnias. Hopefully at least one of those things works out! I'm not sure I'll have enough time for the squash to finish, I'll just have to hope for the best on that one.
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Jun 12, 2019 03:41
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BaseballPCHiker posted:
My guess would be something with rasping mouthparts that scrapes off the upper layer of leaf cells to feed on the juices. The rasped area goes necrotic leaving holes in the leaves. If these were fruit trees I'd be looking for pear slugs (sawfly larva). Since it's not, thrips or mites maybe? They leave similar damage and are so small they're difficult to see.
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Jun 12, 2019 05:59
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To me it looks just like what flea beetles do to my veggies in the spring. Neem oil works for them.
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Jun 12, 2019 11:05
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Hexigrammus posted:My guess would be something with rasping mouthparts that scrapes off the upper layer of leaf cells to feed on the juices. The rasped area goes necrotic leaving holes in the leaves. If these were fruit trees I'd be looking for pear slugs (sawfly larva). Since it's not, thrips or mites maybe? They leave similar damage and are so small they're difficult to see. Marchegiana posted:To me it looks just like what flea beetles do to my veggies in the spring. Neem oil works for them. Thanks for the advice. I had some insecticide soap laying around and have sprayed down everything with that first. Going to see if that keeps things from getting worse before going out and buying some neem oil. Also if anyone is in the Twin Cities area and wants some rhubarb hit me up. Its about to take over a large chunk of my garden.
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Jun 12, 2019 13:41
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BaseballPCHiker posted:
PM sent Our garden is such a train wreck and my ADD tendencies aren't helping to get things in order.
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Jun 12, 2019 15:28
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Yiggy posted:I saw someone suggest going out with a flashlight at night to get them Also found that the beer traps I put down are empty....
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Jun 12, 2019 22:04
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I go a stabbin'. Cleaner than dirtying my clippers with slug slime, cause I just throw the pick+catch into the bushes where it'll decompose This was a particularly big boy 
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Jun 13, 2019 15:10
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Quick update from my tiny apartment and chily balcony. Munich and specifically the western side of it got ravaged by a brief and particularly brutal hailstorm on Monday, and I managed to get back home in time to save my plants from complete destruction. They took a whole lot of damage, but four days later, they've mostly recovered. I still have a couple of issues with chlorosis here and there, mostly because I started fertilizing "by ear" instead of regularly with a proper schedule, so I'm working on getting control of that in the next couple of weeks. My trimming has been complete rear end over the last two months since its the least-fun part of cultivating plants, and I almost have a reluctance you'd see in butchering your own livestock when doing it, so a lot of my plants have grown "unhealthily tall", and that bit me in the rear end particularly during Monday's storm. Here are my two Reapers and a Chocolate Habanero. I was getting ready to trim the top because they were getting a bit tall and branching out too much in the crown, but they took the brunt of the storm on account of sitting on the railing, and the storm took off almost the entirety off the leaves along the main stem, so I guess I'll have to let them grow a little more.  The White Fantasy survived mostly intact due to sitting in the lee-side during the storm. Sorry for the super-bright image, I still need to learn the camera on this new phone.  My Purple Cayenne lost a bunch of leaves on the bottom, but since it has three main branches above it, they mostly survived.  This is my main Lemon Drop, already post-trim. It's bushy as gently caress now that I've trimmed back some of the shredded branches/leaves, and still doing well.  My Cocktail Tomato didn't give the remotest of fucks it seems. It pretty much went "lol how are storms even real, like, just walk away from the wind and keep growing taller"  My baby Red Habanero was too short to get affected by the storm on account of being surrounded by its taller wind-break sisters.   My Hungarian Chilis that I cultivated from a work colleague's chili were chilling (heh) inside and were fine, but of the 23 seeds that took root, only 13 plants actually managed to brave the first transplantation into a new pot. I'm trying to figure out what I hosed up, because the first batch of 11 is the one that is struggling/dying almost entirely, while the second batch, without a single exception, is thriving.  Gonna clean up the rest of my balcony and then tend to my little ones some more. I really need to work on my trimming discipline.
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Jun 14, 2019 16:14
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We planted a blackberry bush last fall and are eat up with blackberries this summer (yay!). I expected it to actually "bush" but ended up staking the fruiting branches when I netted it and it's done great. My question is, how do I prune this thing? Youtube tells me to cut off every branch this year that made fruit, but they're talking about the less-compact plants and it doesn't say whether to do it after this run to produce a second fruit in the fall, or if these branches will produce again in the fall on their own (or none will), or what. So should I go ahead and clip the fruiting branches after this season? Or let them go until late fall? Or just leave the bush alone entirely?
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Jun 14, 2019 16:43
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BlackBerry is a super aggressive weed around our parts. You’ll want to trim it a bit just to keep it under control. It’ll send roots out radially and start growing in all directions so I suppose just stay on top of that and you’ll be fine.
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Jun 14, 2019 17:02
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