On Tuesday, June 10, 2014 4:37:47 PM UTC-4, Drew Lawson wrote:
In article

" writes:

On Tuesday, June 10, 2014 3:29:05 PM UTC-4, Drew Lawson wrote:



Um, vole problem? What are they doing?

As the gophers taught me 3-4 years ago, fertilizer does no good if

the plants don't have roots anymore.





My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.



That was last year for me. I was all ready to ramp up canning and

about all I got were occasional snacks. So far things are looking

good, though not as far along as I'd like.





The voles ate about 20 pepper plants in all. We made cages for

them with a bottom so that problem is gone I

think. I still have traps and decon out for them. Haven't lost any plants lately.



That would be frustrating. I only get that from the slugs and the

deer, with the deer mostly stepping on seedlings.



My only other thought is from reflecting on my problems last year

-- are you sure they have enough water? Last year (and similar so

far this year), we had frequent rains, but not much rainfall. I

kept not watering because it had just rained. In fact, it had

rained about 1/10", and most of that just evaporated.



My plants had enough water that they didn't wilt, but not enough

to grow when they should have been.



Hopefully other's are more helpful. I'm no expert. I just have

many years of playing in the dirt.



--

|Drew Lawson | Mrs. Tweedy! |

| | The chickens are revolting! |

Yeah pretty sure it is not water. The irrigation systems run at 3 am and 6 pm for right around 20 -25 minutes. Plenty.
I have many years of playing in the dirt too and that is why I feel so frustrated. I Know How To Do This... and it is not working. I am going to be out of town for a week, maybe when I get back the gardens will be chuck full of produce. The cucumbers seem to be doing well. I have them on a trellis this year and they seem happy about that. Put in an electric fence 3 years ago to finally keep the deer out. As long as I remember to unplug it we get along just fine. Been zapped more than once though.
MJ