THREE SISTERS

[lazy gardener]

Your temperature is the problem. Too hot for the fertilization. Female flowers on squash, cukes, melons and other related plants have the tiny fruit at the base of them, while male blossoms only have a stem. When it cools down a bit, your plants should start producing again.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

I dont know a female flower from a male lol, its been in the 100's for the past couple weeks.

Here is a good video explaining how to tell a female blossom from a male one

 

[Fluffnpuff]

Got a small update on my 3 sisters.

I harvested 3 ears of my bloody butcher. Despite being completely dark red they aren't completely hardened yet. I would put the eta of red cornmeal to be 1.5-2 months away.





When planting my cover crops i decided to use a new combination that i hope will turn out to be a cool garden hack. In one of my rows i mixed hairy vetch, austrian winter peas, and small fava beans. This pic is from today. Super anxious to see how this patch looks come next april. I"m pretty sure that at some point the fava beans and peas will die due to cold, but the vetch should still live through winter.

 

[Arielle]

THat bloody butcher ear looks too good to be true. I'm envious.

My summer squash did produce just a few edible sized fruits. Not sure why but vine borers seem to be the cause of the damage to the vines at /near the point of first foot of the roots.

THe lemon squash are very cute and really pretty. look just like a small lemon. Unusual taste.
THe white acorn looking one is very misleading: it is asummer type not a winter type.
Two others look like mini striped watermelons; definitely need to be picked when a bit smaller than I did. THe seeds were too big already when the fruit is 8 inches long and 8 around the middle. I scooped out the middle, chopped the remaining and tossed in askillet with onions, and tomatos and garlic. Yum.

THe 3 sisters are of corn and squash was a totoal loss. Just not enough light. Talked to an old Maine farmer and he said for 100 x 100 gardenarea he cleared 300 x 300 in the woods. No wonder my little area failed. Live and learn and cut down more trees this winter!!

Thanks everyone for posting pics!! Inspiring!!

 

[Fluffnpuff]

My summer squash did produce just a few edible sized fruits. Not sure why but vine borers seem to be the cause of the damage to the vines at /near the point of first foot of the roots.

I hate svb's. Every year i have at least one type of squash that's a near total loss. Out of an entire packet of pattypan squash i planted in late summer, i only got 3 squash. Squash vine borers wiped the rest out. In addition to the pattypan disaster, i lost most of my Jarrahdale pumpkin plants.

The c. pepo and c. maxima branches of the squash/pumpkin family are typically the most vulnerable to svb's. The c. mixtas and c.moschatas generally do better in areas that have svb's

 

[Arielle]

Quote: A good reason to plant a big variety of squash!!

I did wonder if management could alter the effect of the borers. Seeing the whitened vine was depressing . . . .

 

[Fluffnpuff]

A good reason to plant a big variety of squash!!


I did wonder if management could alter the effect of the borers. Seeing the whitened vine was depressing . . . .

I try to never plant a long row or block of solid c. pepo or c. maxima. I interplant it with c. moschata and c. mixta. I'm not sure if that actually helps. I think of the svb's as enemy archers firing a volley at my squash plants and the c. mixtas and c. moschatas are my heavily armed knights that arrows bounce off of. I spread my vulnerable troops out.

Maybe i played too many role playing games as a kid.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: LOL

Seriously, strategies like that CAN work. I dont know enough about this pest, but I wonder if their are any companion plants that help. Or like some veg, to put a collar on to stop the cut worms . . . Always looking for an organic solution.

 

[lazy gardener]

In the case of vining squash, you could purposefully bury a portion of the vine intermittently at the leaf nodes. It would then take root there to help feed the vine, so if borers took out the main stem, the other roots might keep the vine going well enough to produce fruit.

 

[Arielle]

In the case of vining squash, you could purposefully bury a portion of the vine intermittently at the leaf nodes. It would then take root there to help feed the vine, so if borers took out the main stem, the other roots might keep the vine going well enough to produce fruit.

Ahhh!!! That explains what I thought I was seeing. I poked and prodded gently at a vine when I thought that is just what I was seeing, but where I poked it was not rooted . . so I thought I was seeing things!!

Glad to know I'm ok!