Gordon wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in
:

Gordon wrote:
Hi group,
Newbie here. Two years ago I moved into a new house and
for the first time in a long time, I have room for a garden.
So this summer I planted a garden just to see how things
would work out. Well, we didn't get steller results. But we
got something. Based on the results of or first season,
I have a bunch of questions.

Where are you, what is your climate?

Ah, yes. That would be a key bit of information. Wouldn't it?
I am in Portland, OR. We have two seasons: It's Raining, and
Rain's Coming.

Ah yes, the home of the great Linus Pauling, where hoseholders compliment
each other on the decoration of their mud room.

The odd thing is that looking at the statistics on WikiP Sydney (for an
example I am familiar with) has more rain and only a little more sunshine,
yet Sydney is not noted for being wet or gloomy.



For those who are currious; I planted:

Corn: The sqirrles ate about half the corn seeds out of the
ground before they could sprout. The stalks never got higher
than about 5 feet and the ears were very small. I had one
ear that had fully developed kernls but the ear was only a
few inches long.


Corn needs full sun, long warm or hot days and plenty of water. It
is a heavy feeder, requiring fertile soil rich in nitrogen, this
does not mean burying them in urea or ammonium sulphate. Failure of
any of these conditions will give reduced plants and cobs.
Incomplete cobs that have "bald patches" instead of kernels is due
to inadequate fertilisation. There must be one grain of pollen for
every kernel. Corn is wind pollinated so it is better to plant in
blocks not rows to make the precess more efficient. If you do get a
good crop of corn you will discover there are many birds and animals
that like it very much and they will race you to the ears unless you
exclude them.

The corn was a big experiment. To tell the truth; I wasn't expecting
much. I may plant another cluster (yes, I planted in clusters) next
season just to act as a barrometer to see if I get any improvememt.

Tomatoes: 4 types, All did reasonable well.

Zuchinni (harvested 4 vegitables), Egg plant (3), Yellow
crookneck (3), PattiPans (about 12), Lemon cuces (about 12).


Those are fairly poor returns on cucurbits, I would expect to get a
dozen or two fruit from a zuchinni or a cucumber. Are they in full
sun, well watered and fed? Did they have room to get sun and full
root development? Do you have bees active?

I lost several fruits that fell off the vine while they were small.
I'm not sure why. Also, not every blossom developed fruit. Perhaps
this is a pollination issue? I wonder if planting some flowers
(marigolds?) in the garden would attract bees?

As far as feeding and watering; The soil was initially very poor
and I mixed in peat moss and the leaves that I used as winter
mulch to try and create a looser more loamy soil. I also mixed in
a bit of plant food as well. The plants were watered daily and
well soaked.


Sweet pea pods and Bush beans (both did well)
2 kind of Lettuce (continuous crop, not too big leaves.)

Radishes and carrots (did not develop well).

Strawberries: These just showed up. Squirrls ended eating the
berries before I could pick them.

Currently I have all the leaves from the yard raked into the garden
to provide weed control.

I think I'll ask my questions indiviually.

David


It is hard to say without seeing what has happened but one possibility is
too wet and not enough sun. Corn and cucurbits (any plant that needs
energy to make fruit) need full sun. Extended periods of rain or cloud are
equivalent to heavy shade. Also cucurbits in particular are susceptible to
fungi which is made worse in such conditions, powdery mildew for example can
set them back very badly.

D