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Avonnow
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Location: Merritt Island, Florida

What are you changing

I already changed one thing, I started earlier. I already have lots of beans coming in and peppers and lots off peas and lettuce. I as someone else stated will not plant anything we don't eat alot of. Last year I had Okra and eggplants in spades, while it was nice to see it all growing - other then me, most in the family just tolerate it. So only a couple of those. I want to really try to get squash to grow, I had a horrible time and I am committed to see what I can do to get these to grow without worms. I currently have some growing with the Tulle around them so they are totally encased, sun, water get in, but hopefully this will limit the bugs. - I pray I can find a way to grow squash of any variety. :wink:

TWC015
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Location: Jefferson Co., Arkansas

I need fewer tomato plants. I had way too many last year and could not keep up with tomatoes or stink bugs.

I also need to change my watering habits. I tend to underwater, thinking the plants have enough water in the summer when they really don't

Avonnow: squash plants are the hardest plants for me to keep alive. They are so easy to get started, but mine always die rapidly from diseases or bugs. Between the powdery mildew, squash bugs, and squash vine borers, I can only get about a week's worth of fruit off a plant before it dies. It seems there is always a squash bug waiting for a seedling to pop up and kill it. Last year was particularly bad for squash plants because the squash bugs were really getting out of control and we had very little rain and temperatures around 100°F almost every day in July and August.

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GardenRN
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avonnow and twc, advice for your consideration....

As your squash vines get growing good (after about 4 or 5 ft of growth), bury parts of the vine as it goes so that it develops new roots. That way, if any part or parts of the vine get damaged or dies, the rest of the vine has multiple root systems still feeding it. So only part of the vine will die. This also helps fruits develop faster and so you may get more from the plant before the bugs or disease kill the plant....if they're going to.

TWC015
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Location: Jefferson Co., Arkansas

Thanks for the advice, I'll try that and see if it helps the squash plants.

I love the C. moschata species of winter squash. I never have any trouble with these since squash bugs and vine borers prefer the C. pepo and C. maxima squashes.

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Avonnow
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Location: Merritt Island, Florida

Hey TWC015 - you are throwing around big words, now I have to read on the types of squash. Always learning, anything though to get a squash. I will try that with the vine. I will also let you know if they find a way in through the tulle. I know some lay dormant in the soil, so I expect some to get in. I also will have to hand pollinate or watch carefully how long I take the tulle off when flowers arrive.

sixshooter
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Location: Davison Mi

GardenRN wrote:avonnow and twc, advice for your consideration....

As your squash vines get growing good (after about 4 or 5 ft of growth), bury parts of the vine as it goes so that it develops new roots. That way, if any part or parts of the vine get damaged or dies, the rest of the vine has multiple root systems still feeding it. So only part of the vine will die. This also helps fruits develop faster and so you may get more from the plant before the bugs or disease kill the plant....if they're going to.
Never thought to do this. Awesome awesome tip.

garden5
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Location: ohio

I'm going to give some of my squash plants more space. I crowded them last year and got terrible production.

I also want to try to do more gardening in beds rather than in one big block. This way I won't be going through the till...compact...till...compact monotony.

dan1003
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Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:10 pm
Location: Richmond, Va

I'm going to start fewer cayenne peppers and more paprika (not very productive last year, but delicious!). I'm also starting everything later this year since I won't have as much time to play the hardening-off game.

The big additions this year are two fig trees and blackberry bush. I might also try to put up a better fight with the birds for control of the mulberry tree.

Yard-long pole beans were a HUGE success last year and they will make a big return, along with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

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ThePepperSeed
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Location: Midwest

Starting a little later
Better soil
Fewer beans
More Jalapenos

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gixxerific
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Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

This year I am trying to not have as horrible a year I did last year. :lol:

But I will try to be even more proactive in insect prevention. Meaning putting foil around my squash and pumpkin. I could go on but you get the idea. The bugs were bad, very bad for me last year.

Other than that it will be a free for all as usual, find and empty spot and fill it. :D

I may actually try to use the shade cloth I purchased instead of letting it sit in my basement. As well as use it to cover plants for the above insect invasion.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

my NEW PROJECT! experiments last year:

- Last fall~winter: indoor mushroom cultivation
- Seed starting: Big Tomato Experiment (lots of mostly heirloom varieties ), Salvia and Begonia, Hot Peppers
- Spring planting: Ruth Stout and Emilia Hazelip style hay-mulched raised bed; Potato Tower/Silo; Front Yard Edible Landscaping

my NEW PROJECT! (I.e. experiments) experiments for this year:
(Last year's successful seed starting experiments, hay-mulched raised bed technique, potato silo, etc. are a given at this point. On-going from previous years are Edible Landscaping, rice growing, espalier/fruit tree pruning, bonsai training/styling, sheet mulched new beds, etc. Was unable to repeat mushroom experiment but will again this fall)

- fall~winter: overwintering hot and bell peppers; cover crops
- Seed starting: mostly my own and friends' saved tomato seeds; TPS potatoes; mostly C. moschata varieties for SVB resistance, Armenian cuke; Winter Sowing early spring starter transplants
- Spring planting: COMPANION/SUCCESSION PLANTING; direct seeding under poly-tunnels for super-early spring starters and warming up beds for tomatoes, sweet potatoes; CORN!; MELONS!
- Must DO project: build bird-proof berry bed cage!

Probably many more ideas still waiting to be articulated/implemented 8) :wink:

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farmerlon
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Location: middle Tennessee

Avonnow wrote:..., anything though to get a squash. ....
Around here, the joke is to not leave your car unlocked when you go to town in the summertime; people will "break into" your car and leave a squash!!! :D :lol:

Best of luck with your squash growing efforts.

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rootsy
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Location: Litchfield, Michigan

Taking a very different direction this year and introducing a permanent bed system with drip irrigation in an attempt to reduce compaction and tillage. I am phasing in an IPM system. Beds will be covered with plastic mulch, drip irrigation run beneath. Hairy Vetch will be planted between the mulch strips. I hope to get a 5 year window out of it.

For pumpkin ground I will be crimping the annual rye grass and buckwheat to form a straw / mulch layer and will then no-til pumpkins into it. Hopefully this will help lessen disease pressure, weed pressure and pests.

Also adding some tobacco to my product line...

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

rootsy wrote:For pumpkin ground I will be crimping the annual rye grass and buckwheat to form a straw / mulch layer and will then no-til pumpkins into it. Hopefully this will help lessen disease pressure, weed pressure and pests.
GREAT rootsy! I've read a lot about no-till agriculture on larger scale than backyard gardening like mine, but you're the first member on this forum (as far as I know) that will be implementing this technique utilizing crimper etc. heavy machinery. :D Hope to be hearing back from you on your experiences and results. 8)

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rootsy
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Location: Litchfield, Michigan

The idea isn't really new.... You can plant an annual in the fall and let it winter kill or you can crimp and kill before planting...

I would no-til the sweet corn if I had a planter capable of such. On my scale it is cost prohibitive at this point. I just keep muddling along with my 40 year old equipment. It is getting to the point where I need to do something, this small seeded SH2 I am planting is difficult to singulate in a plate planter and I end up thinning quite a bit by hand...

When I say no-til of pumpkins I will be either setting with a mechanical transplanter onto which I have attached a no-til coulter to cut the trash ahead of the shoe or I will be planting seed with a hoe... Walk, chop hole, toss in 2 seeds, cover with foot and compress with same...

I am planting roughly 3/4 of an acre of pumpkins this summer... The straw mat should aid in keeping the fruit separate from the ground and I am strongly considering a U-pick operation instead of me cutting, wind rowing, picking up, washing, organizing at point of sale... Saves me a lot of work.

As a full time Mech Design Engineer My time is limited and the past 2 years have really begun to take a toll with the amount of time required to maintain my operation. It is literally a full time and a half job on top of my off farm full time job... By October all I want to do is hibernate.

no-til pumpkins into a cover crop straw layer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gspMfZMbZK4

Brant
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Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:40 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

This year I installed a drip irrigation system. I have a very small garden, just two rows about twenty feet long. I mulched it, then put in drip irrigation with a timer. It should be almost maintenance free this year.

I am growing tomatoes, onions, green beans, and peppers again but obviously in small quantities. I am wondering about the spacing... Can I put the onions between the tomatoes? And do my pepper plants really have to be two feet apart? Tomatoes are the only thing in the ground right now...

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alaskagold
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Location: Alaska

I wouldn't put your beans next to your toms, onions or peppers. They aren't very good companion plants.

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Alan in Vermont
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Location: Northwest Vermont, Champlain Valley

rootsy wrote:I would no-til the sweet corn if I had a planter capable of such. On my scale it is cost prohibitive at this point. I just keep muddling along with my 40 year old equipment. It is getting to the point where I need to do something, this small seeded SH2 I am planting is difficult to singulate in a plate planter and I end up thinning quite a bit by hand...
I'm kinda glad to hear somebody else is having problems with new corn in old planters. I can get my Brinly to set the spacing right but doubling and tripling on seed. I'm going to try filling the plate pockets with JB Weld and grinding a smaller pocket in that. I also need to thin the plate around the pockets as they are not only too big around/across but also too deep top to bottom. I can do the JB weld thing and not hurt anything as I can heat the plate and burn it out if it doesn't work. Once I take a grinder to the edges there is no real easy way to undo that if I get it wrong.

I have also had trouble getting modern corn planted shallow enough. Some of these corns don't have enough energy in the seed to break through more than an inch of cover. I set one of my garden tractors up with a custom built sleeve hitch that lets me adjust the planting depth. Last year that cured the buried seed syndrome, now I just need to get the plate issue resolved.

tedly
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Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:38 am
Location: Cheese mines of Wisconsin

New this year:
Putting up a rabbit proof fence around the garden - the furry varmints destroyed most of the stuff last year. :evil:
Figure out how to get rid of the @#$! gophers! :evil:
Better weed control. This means getting my tubby butt out there with a hoe more often. :(
Implementing more insect control measures.
Ringing the garden with Marigolds.
Expanding from 20'x30' to 30'by 30', and possibly another smaller section.
More potatoes and onions, those are the things I used the most last year.
Expand out the herb selection.
Pay closer attention to companion planting.
Start some things earlier - lettuce, peas, carrots, etc...
Still working on getting the soil where I'd like it to be.

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rootsy
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Location: Litchfield, Michigan

Alan in Vermont wrote:
rootsy wrote:I would no-til the sweet corn if I had a planter capable of such. On my scale it is cost prohibitive at this point. I just keep muddling along with my 40 year old equipment. It is getting to the point where I need to do something, this small seeded SH2 I am planting is difficult to singulate in a plate planter and I end up thinning quite a bit by hand...
I'm kinda glad to hear somebody else is having problems with new corn in old planters. I can get my Brinly to set the spacing right but doubling and tripling on seed. I'm going to try filling the plate pockets with JB Weld and grinding a smaller pocket in that. I also need to thin the plate around the pockets as they are not only too big around/across but also too deep top to bottom. I can do the JB weld thing and not hurt anything as I can heat the plate and burn it out if it doesn't work. Once I take a grinder to the edges there is no real easy way to undo that if I get it wrong.

I have also had trouble getting modern corn planted shallow enough. Some of these corns don't have enough energy in the seed to break through more than an inch of cover. I set one of my garden tractors up with a custom built sleeve hitch that lets me adjust the planting depth. Last year that cured the buried seed syndrome, now I just need to get the plate issue resolved.
Sh2's don't like to be stuck in more than an inch - inch and a half and they require double the moisture of the Su and Se types to germinate properly. They are temperature sensitive (don't germinate well under 60 F). Make sure you get the slot closed up tight.

Finding plates for my IH plate planter is no issue. Ebay is riddled with them and you can buy them new if you want to spend the coin. These are all plastic, though the old cast iron plates will work.

The problem is really the inconsistent size of the seed. The shrunken kernel is sometimes round, sometimes flat, depends where it came from on the ear. It is graded but isn't anything like field corn or other genetic types of sweet corn. If you are going to make your own plate you really need a way to try it out before you stick the planter in the ground. A makeshift seed plate tester just to see how the plate is dropping seed over a distance. I generally just trip my planter to engage the plate drives while the wheels are up and pull it across the driveway.

One other very important item is the shoe on your planter. It needs to be a sharp V and most used planters are anything but. A round bottom in the slot allows the seed to bounce and it creates a compaction zone on the bottom of the slot.

I really need an IH 400 Cyclo and a popcorn drum...

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rootsy
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Location: Litchfield, Michigan

Without reading back I am not sure if I mentioned laying plastic and drip tape to plant into. This is going to be a 5 year deal where the plastic will remain permanently with drip tape beneath. I'll be putting a cover of vetch and oats between rows and I will mow the oats off to cover the plastic.

In order to lay plastic I needed a plastic mulch / drip tape layer... New ones are entirely too expensive for my small operation to absorb and used ones around here are like hen's teeth... So.. As any self deserving engineer should do, I designed my own... I also built it... Just waiting to test it... Once the ground thaws and dries out. It is designed to handle a 3 or 4 foot wide roll of plastic up to 16 inches in diameter and a drip tape roll in excess of 22 inches in diameter. I have less than $200 into it as I had the disk hillers already.

[img]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n27/jaroot13/MULCHLAYERASSY.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n27/jaroot13/CID__0226111711a.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n27/jaroot13/CID__0226111711.jpg[/img]



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