 |
| Royalty Purple Pod Bush bean growing at The Orchard |
Q. I am a fan and follow your column religiously. I have
planted a garden for the first time this year. Out of three tomato plants two
gave a good yield, the other had blossoms but nothing. The cucumber plants are
growing like crazy, and have a bumper crop of cukes, but now they are turning
yellow, and some are deformed. The leaves are turning yellow, and there are
hundreds of these tiny little flies all over. I have sprayed with water but
they come right back. The string beans have tons of blooms, but no beans, even
though the vines are growing like crazy. My dill didn’t make it. I have some
sorrel, and the basil did well. My strawberries gave three or four little
berries, and that was about all.
+compressed.jpg) |
| Dragon Tongue bush bean growing at The Orchard. Very susceptible to crown rot by the way. |
I need and
would like to take some classes, if I could find the time, but my husband has
dementia, so I am kept quite busy. If you could shed a little light on my
problem I would appreciate it. Do you think I should tear it all out, and start
to get ready for Fall planting?
production book. He was retired from Michigan State University and was a
celebrated horticulturist and vegetable scientist living in Overton, NV, after
retirement. He has since moved to Utah.
read through this and follow his planting guide for time of year for planting
things. It is pretty hot right now for alot of things to set fruit. Many have
trouble setting fruit when tempertures top 95 to 100F. Your beans are out of
season now.
Start
ripping out the things that are not producing or producing pooly. Reamend those
spots with compost, a GOOD compost. Good composts are expensive. Use a preplant
fertilizer at the time of planting high
in phosphorus and mixed with the composted soil where you plant. If you are
organic, use bone meal or equivalent high in phosphorus.
Variety
selection is important. Record which varieties worked for you and which did
not. If you plant at the right time, your beans and cucumber production should
be better.
of stress or poor pollination. Poor pollination (cukes require about 8 to 10
visits by a bee) result in crooked cucumbers. However, fruit shaped like a
lady’s figure may be the result of drought during its development or not enough
visits by bees. As temperatures get hotter, bees are less efficient as
pollinators. They spend alot of their time and energy trying to cool down their
hives or homes. We have to rely more on our native pollinators like the
leafcutter bee.
cukes to form. As temperatures drop and if you keep your plants alive and
healthy, you should see your production pick up again. However, replanting
cukes from seed will also work and then you get the advantage of having
younger, more prolific plants.
sure what they are or if they are causing problems but if you feel they are
then usually frequent applications of insecticidal soap like Safers can reduce
pest problems if sprayed directly ON the insects. This means spraying UNDER the
leaves as well as on top of the plants. Never spray plants when they are in
bloom unless it is at dusk or a few minutes after sunrise.