"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
. ..

Thanks Doug,

I sent you an email earlier. I'm not sure if you received. Knowing
how hotmail can be configured, I'm thinking I might need to be
put on your list or somesuch. The email was in regards to the
www.powells.com website.

Got your message and replied to it via email. I use hotmail only for
newsgroups, and check it every few hours on weekdays. Weekends....rarely.


I have a squash plant that I seeded about a month ago in a pot.
The leaves are starting to wilt. There's a pic at:

http://www.microcosmotalk.com/images/garden/

It seemed to need more water. I'm wondering though how long
it can last in a pot. It already looks like it has overgrown the pot.

To determine the problem, get it out of the sun and keep it constantly moist
for one day. Not sitting in a tray of water, but don't let it dry out. If it
doesn't perk up, carefully inspect the stem down near the soil line. If you
find a hole chewed in the main stem (which affects all future stalks), shoot
the plant and give it a nice burial (in the garbage, not your compost pile).
You have a squash borer. In his book, Crockett said he was sometimes able to
pick out the creature with a knife, but usually, it's hopeless. Don't panic
and start spraying all sorts of crap on the plant. Go get some seeds and
plant a few more. They grow very quickly, which is why squash is one of the
top choices when showing impatient little kids how to grow things. The best
way to insure against the borer is just to grow extra plants and don't put
them all in the same place. There've been years when I have 2 adjacent
plants murdered, but a 3rd one 50 feet away was untouched.

Another thing: I see you're using a clay pot. They look good, but they can
be tricky for plants grown in the sun. The clay acts like a wick, drawing
moisture out of the soil, so it dries out more quickly. And, many plants
fail completely if their roots are not kept cooler than the plant at ground
level. For plants which require sun, like squash, you're between a rock and
a hard place. It has to be in the sun, but it may dry out while you're at
work. Suggestions:

1) Switch to a plastic pot.
2) Use a much larger pot, even if the plant looks silly until it reaches
full size. More soil will hold moisture longer.
3) Fill all pots to within an inch of the top. Yours looks like you didn't
do that.
4) Try and shade the pot, but not the plant, if the plant needs sun. Do this
by grouping pots together. Once the plant is big enough, it may shade the
pot. Squash probably won't when it's full-sized. The stalks are so long that
the leaves will be outside of the diameter of the pot.
5) After watering, soak the outside of the clay pot thoroughly.
6) Add some shredded cedar mulch (not chunks).

Squash (and melons & cucumbers) like rich soil. Yours looks like soilless
potting mix. Pick up a bag of composted cow manure and sprinkle some one
top. And, keep some 10-10-10 granular fertilizer handy. Comes in 25 or 50 lb
bags, usually. It should last for years unless you're overdoing it.



Also, when I started planting the corn I was under the impression
that there were female seeds and male seeds. But I have one
corn plant by itself that has three or more stalks growing out of
it and it looks like one stalk can make it's own corn grow. :-)
In another area, I have three corn stalks growing, those are partly
shaded and one stalk is only one stalk but is over 6 feet talk. All
three stalks seem to be doing very well.

Is that true ? And if that is true, do most plants grow their own
male and female stalks ? And if that is true for most plants,
then perhaps I should be asking, which plants have male and
female seeds ?

No male or female seeds. Corn plants make tassles at the top - they look
sort of like the artists' depictions of wheat on cereal boxes. Pollen comes
from the tassles and drops straight down onto the corn silks - the stringy
things you remove along with the husks when you get ready to cook corn. Each
silk leads to a kernel of corn. If there's insufficient fertilization, you
get corn with less kernels. And, if it's very rainy when the pollen is being
produced, it'll wash away some of the pollen, which is why you sometimes get
corn with lots of empty spots where kernels should be.

The wind helps get the pollen loose from the tassles, and onto not only the
plant from which the pollen came, but to adjacent plants as well. This is
why home gardeners need to plant differently than farmers. You shouldn't
plant a straight row of corn unless you can grow SEVERAL rows. For home
growing, the best way is to plant in "hills" - small circular groups of 5-6
plants. Better fertilization that way.

Here's a resource that'll keep you busy for a while:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/menugard.html