What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

If you don’t have SVB, consider yourself lucky….

Apparently, it’s not in the western states. True? I’m not sure, but if it’s true, I’m a little jealous. Evil bugs.

 

[Acre4Me]

@Dr Evy SVB is terrible. Last year they ruined much of my squash. So, this year we used bug netting on the usual targets: pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash. I also had some vining winter squash, and cucumbers, on trellis. The SVB hit the buttercup squash. I had to pull all of it out. So far the winter squash look ok.

Various sources indicate they fly around through July laying eggs. One source said through Aug! But, I’m more inclined to think it’s through July. I recently uncovered some pumpkins. I’m leaving one pumpkin covered, and my zucchini and yellow squash until Aug 1.

Once the grub destroys your plant, it drops to the ground and then matured into the evil adult through the winter. So, when you turn over the dirt, it disturbs and hopefully kills them.

My neighbor is a source for SVB and squash bugs. He lets pumpkins randomly grow from rotting Halloween pumpkins and decorations, then they get majorly attacked by everything. Currently his pumpkin patch looks terrible. I was over there today, and squash bugs were everywhere. I didn’t have gloves on so I couldn’t search for SVB. But it’s still July and his patch looks really bad. No, I don’t think he will do anything different this year, he will still put out pumpkins to rot then grow the following year.

 

[Wolfie2]

Once the grub destroys your plant, it drops to the ground and then matured into the evil adult through the winter. So, when you turn over the dirt, it disturbs and hopefully kills them.

This hasn't been my experience I hardly plant squash family plants 'cause of them. And when I get rid of a crop I will till and plant something else. Either another veggie or a cover crop.. I grow both summer and winter crops, both food and cover, so the garden goes 365 Days/yr. And I still can't grow cucumbers!

 

[Acre4Me]

Garden today:

Potatoes harvested. Now there are peas planted along the trellis, and then beets planted on the right.

The SVB destroyed buttercup removed and peas (2 other kinds) planted on either side.

Onions removed from this bed. There are parsnips growing on the one end, and they will stay until after a hard freeze. We will get this bed prepped for something…turnips, mustard, most likely.

This bed was all garlic. But, now only the back half is still garlic. The fairground was planted 2-3 weeks ago with beets and carrots. When we remove the other garlic, I may plant more beets and something else.

The other bed planted a few weeks ago. Green beans (Jade) on both sides and carrots in the middle.

 

[Acre4Me]

This hasn't been my experience I hardly plant squash family plants 'cause of them. And when I get rid of a crop I will till and plant something else. Either another veggie or a cover crop.. I grow both summer and winter crops, both food and cover, so the garden goes 365 Days/yr. And I still can't grow cucumbers!

We can’t grow cucumbers either. It’s frustrating!!

 

[Acre4Me]

Day 10 of this hell.
Crawled in bed last night with the start of a sinus headache. Woke up with one at 5am, took tylenol and went back to bed.
oozed out to the sofa at 10am for more meds and slept there until 230pm, fully expecting my left eye to explode off my head.
This strain is every bit as mean as the March 2020 I had.

One of the cherry tomato plants I bought as a new variety was mislabeled and is actually a useless currant cherry.
DH likes the new orange sunrise ones I found, so I'll save some of those seeds.

Supplies for the new next box came today. Don't know if I'll rally enough to put it up today or not.

Ugh! . I hope you start to feel better very soon.

 

[TJAnonymous]

If you don’t have SVB, consider yourself lucky….

I've been lucky because I planted my zucchini inside the hoop house. I still have to deal with squash bugs but I'll take them over SVB any day!

Next year I'm going to try to do my squash outside the hoop house with the vertical post method. I've thought a lot about SVB and how to protect my squash. Here's my thoughts. I might try both and see which works best.

Option 1- cut some 4" corrugated drain pipe into 4" - 6" sections. Cut each section vertically so it can be snapped around the post & vine to act as a cover/protector. Stuff steel wool and/or tulle around the top & bottom opening of the drain pipe. Can also spiral-wrap the tulle around the drain pipe.

Option 2 - use either foil or lightweight polyester and simply spiral wrap the vine & post. Add new sections as needed.

 

[TJAnonymous]

What does it mean when you aren't getting any female flowers?! I've only gotten 4 males on my zucchini period...this is 3rd week like this.

It's likely the heat. The plants will not produce both types of flowers if it is stressed. Naturally stress can be caused by many things - intense heat or cold, lack of water, over watering, nutrients being out of whack, etc.

Mine have not been producing either since mid-to-late June which is about the time when we started getting triple digit weather every single day.

 

[Sueby]

Hey all.

I'm keeping my squash & cukes covered for a couple more weeks - till I leave to go camping. Hopefully the SVB is gone by then. I saw a single cucumber beetle under the netting today & I have see squash bugs on the uncovered cucumbers. I have some new squash I planted in the old garlic bed, we'll see how they do - I'm going to grow them vertically too so hopefully that helps with the bugs. Man do I hate all of these bugs! It makes it so hard to enjoy the garden. But I have to say I will cover everything next year too, as much of a pain it is to hand pollinate everything every day - the lack of bugs is spectacular.

With that said, the trellised bush squash under the netting has almost outgrown the cattle panel hoop! I can't believe how tall it is!

 

[Sueby]

Ohhh, my counters are supposed to be installed today!!! They called to confirm yesterday so...

I can't fit the dang suyo long cukes in the bathroom sink to wash them. I need my sink back!