Not a good year so far
 

I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt, black cow and 10..10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.
MJ

Not a good year so far
 

In article
" writes:
I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting
to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow
and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water,
epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated
this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants
and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement??

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.


--
Drew Lawson | Radioactive cats have
| 18 half-lives
|

Not a good year so far
 

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

" writes:

I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting

to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow

and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water,

epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated

this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants

and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement??



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.





--

Drew Lawson | Radioactive cats have

| 18 half-lives

|

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.

Not a good year so far
 

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! |

Not a good year so far
 

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

Not a good year so far
 

On 6/10/2014 1:49 PM, wrote:
I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.
MJ

Do you have squash borers? They decimated our yellow squash but don't
seem to affect the zucchini. Some of our squash is going yellow because
we are getting daily temperatures in the low nineties Fahrenheit.

We have been lucky in that we have had over twelve inches of rain in the
last month. This time last year we were in drought conditions and spent
lots of money watering the gardens. During the winter I put in soaker
hoses in the raised bed vegetable gardens and drip irrigation around the
fruit trees and in the flower/vegetable in ground beds.

How has your weather been? That can be the critical element.

Not a good year so far
 

On Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:05:54 PM UTC-4, George Shirley wrote:
On 6/10/2014 1:49 PM, wrote:

I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.

MJ



Do you have squash borers? They decimated our yellow squash but don't

seem to affect the zucchini. Some of our squash is going yellow because

we are getting daily temperatures in the low nineties Fahrenheit.



We have been lucky in that we have had over twelve inches of rain in the

last month. This time last year we were in drought conditions and spent

lots of money watering the gardens. During the winter I put in soaker

hoses in the raised bed vegetable gardens and drip irrigation around the

fruit trees and in the flower/vegetable in ground beds.



How has your weather been? That can be the critical element.

It has been hot, 94 today, but it is always hot this time of year. I am in Eastern North Carolina. No borers. No squash bugs, no cut worms. I am stumped.
MJ

Not a good year so far
 

On 11/06/2014 4:49 AM, wrote:
I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.
MJ



You'll get a bumper crop if you already have full freezers and don't
want or need a great harvest. Sometimes I dunno why we all bother.

Not a good year so far
 

On Tuesday, June 10, 2014 2:49:33 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt, black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large amounts of produce.

MJ

Here is another thought. The 10.10.10 I have is 2 years old and has gotten wet. Not wet enough to dissolve, but wet. Will this stop the effectiveness? I also forgot to mention the spent coffee grounds that I put in the dirt. They can't be bad can they? They are supposed to be good for everything else.
MJ

Not a good year so far
 

Not a good year so far
 

Not a good year so far
 

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 8:39:22 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
said:



Here is another thought. The 10.10.10 I have is 2 years old and has gotten wet.

Not wet enough to dissolve, but wet. Will this stop the effectiveness?



Did it develop a slight amonia smell? That would have been some of the nitrogen

disappearing.



I also forgot to mention the spent coffee grounds that I put in the dirt.. They can't

be bad can they? They are supposed to be good for everything else.



Generally, I either use coffee grounds spread thinly over the surface or mixed with

other organic mulch (generally, shredded leaves). Otherwise, they go in the

compost.



I'd worry that mixing them "fresh" into the soil would alter the pH or tie up some

N as the coffee grounds start to decay.



--

Pat in Plymouth MI



"Yes, swooping is bad."



email valid but not regularly monitored

No there was no amonia smell. One of the thoughts of "raw" coffee grounds it to also deter the fire ants. Don't I want less Nitrogen anyway to increase fruit production? Anyone else in North Carolina or close? I am getting the feeling that I am over thinking this and it is just too early for mass production. Still feeling the affects of a long crappy winter?
MJ

Not a good year so far
 

On 6/11/2014 12:51 AM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 11/06/2014 4:49 AM, wrote:
I have had a hard time with peppers that are now finally starting to
take off. Now the zucchini and yellow squash is turning yellow and the
fruit are shriveling up and dying. Plenty of sun, water, epsom salt,
black cow and 10.10.10. Too much? I am so frustrated this year. There
is the whole vole problem, slow growing plants and now this. Ideas or
words of encouragement?? My freezers are empty, I was counting a large
amounts of produce.
MJ



You'll get a bumper crop if you already have full freezers and don't
want or need a great harvest. Sometimes I dunno why we all bother.
Amen! We had a bumper crop last year even with drought, this year we're
getting plenty of rain but the crops aren't doing as well as last year.
Picked a zucchini a couple of days ago, we had gone out of town for
three days and came home to a zuke that was four inches in diameter and
fifteen inches long. Cut it and it had tiny seeds and was very firm,
turned it into a large squash casserole for dinner. I guess it rained
while we were gone and squash of every kind suck up all the water they can.

I rearranged the big freezer last week, still have produce from 2009
through 2013 in there, all neatly vacuum bagged and labeled. All the old
stuff is now at the front. I think we need a walk in freezer, maybe in
the spare bedroom. G

Not a good year so far
 

On 6/11/2014 7:39 AM, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
said:

Here is another thought. The 10.10.10 I have is 2 years old and has gotten wet.
Not wet enough to dissolve, but wet. Will this stop the effectiveness?

Did it develop a slight amonia smell? That would have been some of the nitrogen
disappearing.

I also forgot to mention the spent coffee grounds that I put in the dirt. They can't
be bad can they? They are supposed to be good for everything else.

Generally, I either use coffee grounds spread thinly over the surface or mixed with
other organic mulch (generally, shredded leaves). Otherwise, they go in the
compost.

I'd worry that mixing them "fresh" into the soil would alter the pH or tie up some
N as the coffee grounds start to decay.

Coffee grounds are very acidic, definitely will alter the pH and also
will tie up nitrogen as they decay. I only compost it, along with other
acidic food stuff.